River Tone (Above Firepool)
Early plans for the River Tone (Above Firepool) between Bernigo and Portsmouth were proposed by James Brindley but languished until John Longbotham was appointed as chief engineer in 1835. Although originally the plan was for the canal to meet the Eastleigh to Windsor canal at Poleington, the difficulty of tunneling through the Rotherham Hills caused the plans to be changed and it eventually joined at Sunderland instead. Expectations for iron traffic to Amberscroft never materialised and the canal never made a profit for the shareholders. Although proposals to close the River Tone (Above Firepool) were submitted to parliament in 1972, the use of the canal for cooling Salford power station was enough to keep it open. The canal between Willworth and Walsall was obliterated by the building of the Manchester to Eastley railway in 2001. "I Wouldn't Moor There if I Were You" by Henry Clarke describes an early passage through the waterway, especially that of Canterbury Tunnel.
The exact dimensions of the largest boat that can travel on the waterway are not known. The maximum headroom is not known. The maximum draught is not known.
| Firepool Lock No 1 Taunton and the junction with the River Tone |
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| Firepool Lock Weir Entrance Channel leading to the Weir - No Access |
½ furlongs | 1 lock | |
| Firepool Footbridge | ¾ furlongs | 1 lock | |
| Priory Bridge | 1¾ furlongs | 1 lock | |
| Dellers Wharf Footbridge | 2¾ furlongs | 1 lock | |
| North Bridge (Taunton) | 3½ furlongs | 1 lock | |
| Wood Street Footbridge (Taunton) | 4¼ furlongs | 1 lock | |
| Clarence Street Pipe Bridge | 6¼ furlongs | 1 lock | |
| French Weir Limit of Navigation |
7¼ furlongs | 1 lock |
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Wikipedia has a page about River Tone
The River Tone is a river in the English county of Somerset. The river is about 33 kilometres (21 mi) long. Its source is at Beverton Pond near Huish Champflower in the Brendon Hills, and is dammed at Clatworthy Reservoir. The reservoir outfall continues through Taunton and Curry and Hay Moors, which are designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest. Finally, it flows into the River Parrett at Burrowbridge.
An act of Parliament granted in 1699 authorised work that made the river navigable as far as Taunton. The act specified that profits should be used to benefit the poor of Taunton, but the Proprietors succeeded in avoiding their obligation until 1843, when they used the proceeds from the sale of the navigation to fund a wing of the Taunton and Somerset Hospital, and to aid the Taunton Market Trust.
The Bridgwater and Taunton Canal opened in 1827, which provided an easier route than the river, and protracted legal battles followed over ownership of the river and water rights for the canal. These were not finally resolved until 1832, when the Canal Company formally took over the river navigation. The ability to navigate the river gradually deteriorated, not helped by the abandonment of the River Parrett as a navigation in 1878. Following flooding in Taunton in 1960, much of the river between there and its mouth was straightened, and the navigation locks were removed. That at Ham was blown up by the Territorial Army. Navigation rights were repealed in 1967.