cheshire/lancashire

[alanjohn]

Could someone out there tell me,was there ever some sort of link between Cheshire-Lancashire,some of my family were flatmen in Cheshire,but at least one relocated to Manchester,Lancashire.

[Jan1954]

Depending upon the time frame, it could have something to do with the Manchester Ship Canal. This was opened on 21 May 1894.

It consists of the River Irwell and River Mersey and was made for seagoing ships. It stretched from Manchester to Eastham Locks on the south east side of the Wirral Peninsula. This is in Cheshire - not far from Chester.

Hope this helps,

[uksearch]

Navigable rivers canals have been used since early days. One of the older streets in Manchester is called Quay St.The first "modern" canal was constructed in this area in 1745 and of course the traditional boundary between Lancashire and Cheshire is the River Mersey...so yes there were links.

UK

[alanjohn]

Thanks,i'm probably looking at about 1860/70,but that gives something to look into,
cheers.

[uksearch]

Thanks,i'm probably looking at about 1860/70,but that gives something to look into,
cheers.

There were certainly plenty of canals at that time which were all linked together to form a quite sophisticated inland water way system in this parts. Of course by the dates you are looking at the Golden Age of Canals was at an end.

UK

[MythicalMarian]

Could someone out there tell me,was there ever some sort of link between Cheshire-Lancashire,some of my family were flatmen in Cheshire,but at least one relocated to Manchester,Lancashire.

It may be a little off topic, Alan, but as a girl born and bred on the borders I can tell you that you don't need a canal. You could actually stand with one foot in Cheshire and one in Lancashire in several towns, Dukinfield being one of them. My own grandfather and great grandfather were canal boatmen living in Dukinfield, Cheshire; Ashton-under-Lyne in Lancashire was only half a mile away from where they lived.

[drifter]

Hi I'm a newbie on here, but I had ancestors in Chester who were also flatmen. Would they have worked just on the canals and rivers or also around the coast?

Back then the River Dee was navigable I believe, whereas it has been heavily silted for a very long time now.

Drifter.

[uksearch]

I think that they are called flatmen because they operated flat bottom boats which were mainly used in shallow waters. The Dee was certainly navigable.

UK

[DONNAMCKENZIE]

You could stand on the border of Dukinfield and Ashton-u-Lyne and half of you would be in Cheshire and the other in Lancashire. The border used to have a toll at Alma bridge at the bottom of King Street in Dukinfield. Alot of the the surrounding towns are like that Dukifield also boarders Manchester with Audenshaw and Denton on the other side.

[alanjohn]

Thanks for the info,my ancester is a bit of a mystery but he may still have been around that area if they're that close.Thanks for the geography lesson.