status as an independent customs port was not a success. Few large ships were registered in the port or transferred from the Liverpool register, and on 12 April 1850 it returned to the Port of Liverpool. However, the port's prospects improved with the abolition of the Navigation Acts (which had restricted the use of foreign shipping) in 1849, and an increasing number of foreign vessels began to arrive at the docks. Trade increased so much that the Bridgewater Trustees were having difficulty in coping with the increased trade. In 1853, an act promoted by the Earl of Ellesmere led to the construction of a short canal, the Runcorn and Weston Canal, which connected the Bridgewater Docks to the Weston Canal and Weston Point Docks. This opened for traffic on 25 February 1860. In the same year, the Bridgewater Trustees opened Alfred Dock, which was fitted with hydraulic cranes. At this time, the Runcorn docks were coming under increasing competition from the railways, especially from the St Helens Canal and Railway Company which opened Garston Dock downstream on the north bank of the Mersey. Runcorn was appointed again as an independent customs port on 1 January 1862. In 1862, a telegraph line was installed which linked the dock with the Bridgewater Trustees' offices in Manchester and their dock in Liverpool. From around this time, there was a considerable increase in trade. In April of that year, over 110 vessels entered the port, which was more than could be conveniently accommodated. In order to deal with the increased trade, the Bridgewater Trustees began to build a new dock in 1867 and to remove obstructions from the river. It was named Arnold Dock and opened in 1870. Before the repeal of the Navigation Acts, most of the trade had been coastal, with virtually no foreign trade in 1845. Whereas in 1871, the export trade amounted to 43,000 tons and the imports more than 30,000. The Mersey and Irwell docks were not as successful as there were no major dock improvements after 1829 and the approach channels silted up. On the north bank of the Mersey, West Bank Dock at Widnes was busy especially with importing raw materials and exporting chemicals and fertilisers. The other major materials passing through the port were raw cotton, potter's clay, salt, coal and soap. During the 1870s, the business of the port was beginning to decline because of