Page:The Canal System of England.djvu/35

 them, by the way, very insanitary)—the Netherton Tunnel, 9,081 feet, the Dudley, 9,516 feet, and the Lappal Tunnel, 11,385 feet in length, in many places cut through the solid rock. The great reservoirs which feed the system are the largest in England, they are six in number and the largest has a capacity of 105,000,000 cubic feet.

VI.—

The present structural conditions of the English Barge Canal System are deplorable. The few exceptions mentioned above, such as the Weaver, and the Aire and Calder, still continue to prove the wisdom of their management.

On no important through route, as far as the writer has been able to ascertain, is it possible for anything but narrow boats to travel the entire length, whilst many canals have become so shallow for want of dredging that they form an impassable block to all through traffic; such for example is the case on the Kennet and Avon, a long canal on the most direct Thames-to-Severn through-route. It might be expected that, at the least, those Canals helping to form important through routes would have been kept in good working order and repair—but such is not the case.

The Ouse and its tributaries were investigated in 1890 by the Board of Trade, and it was then reported that