Transport during the British Industrial Revolution
Transportation of goods to factories, and of finished products from them, was limited by high transport costs along roads to their destinations. This was not too severe in the case of light valuable materials such as textiles (woolen and linen cloth) but in the case of dense materials such as coal, it could be a limiting factor on the viability of an industry. In contrast, freighting goods by water, whether on rivers or coastwise was much cheaper. Canals brought the first major change to transportation, and were usually built directly from the mines to city centres, such as the famous Bridgewater Canal in Manchester. Tramways were also common using horses locomotion. River navigations Some rivers, such as the Thames, Severn and Trent were naturally navigable, at least in their lower reaches. Other rivers were improved during the 17th and early 18th centuries, improving the transport links of towns such as Manchester, Wigan, Hereford, and Newbury in England. However, these only provided links towards the coast, not across the heart of England. It was the canals which were to provide the vital links in the transport network. This however changed the perspective on how people viewed the world. Turnpike trusts In