Page:Rivers, Canals, Railways of Great Britain.djvu/563



RIBBLE RIVER.
46 George III. Cap. 121, Royal Assent 12th July, 1806.

THE act for improving the navigation of the Ribble was obtained in 1806, under the title of 'An Act for improving the Navigation of the River Ribble, in the county palatine of Lancaster;' and by it the proprietors were incorporated as "The Company of Proprietors of the Undertaking, for the Improvement of the Navigation of the River Ribble," with powers to change certain parts of the channel of the same, and to place marks, buoys and signal posts near the obstructions in the same, more particularly at its mouth, beginning the work at Penwortham Bridge near Preston, in Lancashire, and running by Kirkham, in the said county, to the sea. For executing these works the proprietors are empowered to contribute £2,000, in shares of £50 each; but should this sum prove insufficient, they may raise £1,000 in addition, either on security of the works, or by subscription amongst themselves. They are authorized to appoint pilots and to demand according to the following scale as

TONNAGE AND PILOTAGE RATES.
For every Foreign Ship or Vessel, double the aforesaid Rates.

Government Vessels, Vessels carrying Stones or Merchandise within the Limits of the Port of Preston, Vessels coming from or going to the Leeds and Liverpool Canal and the Douglas Navigation or either of them, through the present or any future Communication made between them and the Ribble, are exempted from the Rates and Duties. Vessels under Fifty Tons may be Piloted by their Masters, and no unlicensed Person is to be fined for assisting Vessels in Distress.

This work commences at Penwortham Bridge, near Preston, and proceeds for a distance of about eleven miles to its mouth in the Irish Sea, in a direation nearly due west; it is crossed not far from its commencement by the railway bridge belonging tothe