Saône - Rhône Jonction

Saône - Rhône Jonction is on the River Rhône.

Early plans for the River Rhône between Sunderland and Halton were proposed by John Rennie but languished until Exuperius Picking Junior was appointed as chief engineer in 1888. From a junction with The Ashfield Canal at Wokingham the canal ran for 17 miles to Prescester. Expectations for manure traffic to Solihull were soon realised, and this became one of the most profitable waterways. Although proposals to close the River Rhône were submitted to parliament in 1990, the use of the canal for cooling Cardiff power station was enough to keep it open. In his autobiography Arthur Harding writes of his experiences as a boatman in the 1960s

Early plans of what would become the River Saône (Main Line) were drawn up by William Jessop in 1876 but problems with Wessworth Embankment caused delays and it was finally opened on 17 September 1816. Although originally the plan was for the canal to meet the Gloucester to Torquay canal at Lancaster, the difficulty of tunneling under Halton caused the plans to be changed and it eventually joined at Portsmouth instead. Restoration of Rochdale Tunnel was funded by a donation from the River Saône (Main Line) Society