66016 leads 66150 over the Sawley Cut before heading over the River Trent itself at Sawley with 6D44, 11:09 Bescot – Toton, 11th February 2016. The opening of the Trent and Mersey canal in 1777, which joins the River Trent at Sawley was the beginning of twenty years of investment in the waterways around Sawley with the opening of the Soar Navigation (joining the Trent opposite Trent Lock) and the Erewash Canal (joining the Trent at Trent Lock) in 1779, and the Derby Canal in 1795 (which joins the Erewash Canal at Sandiacre). Also from 1783 the main river channel was dredged and consolidated with improvements to the banks and towpaths, and the erection of two weirs at Sawley. These had to be bypassed by two short canals, or 'cuts', the Sawley Cut of 1793 and the Cranfleet Cut of 1795.
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