later it was dismantled. To the east of the Bridgewater Dock, the ship canal passes under Runcorn Railway Bridge which has a clearance of above the high water mark of the Mersey. This meant that the larger of the tall ships could not pass under the bridge. A lay-by was therefore built for these ships to discharge their cargo, which was carried onwards by a lighter to its destination. The lay-by was big enough to accommodate the largest merchant vessels of the day. While the larger vessels approached the Runcorn docks by way of the ship canal, the smaller vessels sailed up the Mersey and entered the docks through the locks. Decline and recovery From the opening of the ship canal there was a temporary improvement in trade for the Runcorn docks but a decline set in from the turn of the century. There was a short revival after the First World War but this was not maintained. Improvements were made to Bridgewater Docks in 1935 but by 1950 the docks were "virtually moribund". Trade at Runcorn Docks declined from 124,428 tons in 1925 to 32,881 tons in 1951, and at Weston Point Docks from 200,000 tons in 1938 to 40,000 tons in 1954. The old line of locks from the Bridgewater Canal was disused by the late 1930s. They were closed and filled in under the Ship Canal Act 1949. The Ship Canal Act of 1966 allowed the closure of the new line of locks, the old dock area and the Francis and Arnold Docks. The former Tidal Basin of the Bridgewater Docks assumed the name Francis Dock after the latter was filled in. The Runcorn and Weston Canal was filled in to provide additional quay space for modern docks and the old warehouses were demolished. With the construction of the Silver Jubilee Bridge in 1961, communications to the docks were improved and trade began to recover. The dock entrance to the ship canal was widened and the docks deepened. Trade increased from 50,000 tons in 1957 to 773,000 tons in 1973. In the month of December 2014, the Docks saw 50,126 tons of cargo in trade, the highest monthly tonnage recorded in the last quarter of a century. Present day Runcorn Docks is owned by the Manchester Ship Canal Company which is part of the Peel Ports Group. It comprises Francis Dock (formerly the Tidal Basin, now berths