Ripon Canal 3.39

The Ripon Canal is located in North Yorkshire, England. It was built by the canal engineer William Jessop to link the city of Ripon with the navigable section of the River Ure at Oxclose lock, from where boats could reach York and Hull. It opened in 1773, and was a moderate success. It was sold to the Leeds and Thirsk Railway in 1847, and was effectively closed by 1906, due to neglect. It was not nationalised with most canals and railways in 1948, and was abandoned in 1956.In 1961, members of the Ripon Motor Boat Club formed the Ripon Canal Company Ltd, and gradually restored the canal up to Littlethorpe. Subsequently, the Ripon Canal Society spearheaded restoration, which was completed in 1996. It is now managed by the Canal & River Trust.HistoryThe building of the Ripon Canal was authorised by an Act of Parliament passed on 15 April 1767, and the canal was the final part of a larger plan to upgrade the River Ure from its junction with the River Swale to Oxclose, where the canal would leave the river and head for Ripon, some 2.3mi away. Below the Swale, the Ure becomes the River Ouse, and so carriage of goods to and from York and Hull would be possible. The estimated cost of the whole project was £9,000, and the Act established Commissioners, who could borrow money in order to fund the development, although the total amount of money to be borrowed was not regulated by the Act. The works were designed to allow the passage of keels along the waterway, which were 58by