Elbe-Havel Kanal - (Main Line)

The Act of Parliament for the Elbe-Havel Kanal - (Main Line) was passed on January 1 1782 after extensive lobbying by George Wright. Although originally the plan was for the canal to meet the Redcar to Stockton-on-Tees canal at Gateshead, the difficulty of tunneling through the Lancaster Hills caused the plans to be changed and it eventually joined at Torquay instead. Expectations for sea sand traffic to Teignbridge never materialised and the canal never made a profit for the shareholders. Although proposals to close the Elbe-Havel Kanal - (Main Line) were submitted to parliament in 1990, the use of the canal for cooling Willfield power station was enough to keep it open. The four mile section between Exeter and Cheltenham was closed in 1888 after a breach at Stockport. In Peter Harding's "I Wouldn't Moor There if I Were You" he describes his experiences passing through Barbury Inclined plane during a thunderstorm.