enshrined in an Act of Parliament obtained in 1815 which authorised the raising of £40,000 in new shares to complete the canal. The new company kept themselves separate failing to notify the Eastern Branch how the work was progressing. Under the supervision of John Williams, the resident engineer, who used Jessop's plans, the new canal was completed in March 1819 although it was not formally declared to be complete until 7 December 1821. It descended through six locks from Newtown and was supplied with water from the River Severn by a water wheel and a backup steam engine. An additional supply came from a weir and feeder at Penarth. The six locks were each deep with the cut being deep and wide at the bottom. As a result of the Western Branch needing to be profitable to allow the branches to merge, a higher tonnage charge was imposed on the Western Branch. On 23 June 1821 a further Act of Parliament was obtained to alter the line of the Tanat feeder and to make a navigable cut from the Guilsfield Branch. This act also stipulated that the consolidation of the Eastern and Western branches would no longer be automatic but would require the consent of the proprietors of each and clarified that the commencement of the Eastern branch was to be taken as the distance of thirty-five yards from the sill of the upper gate of the higher of the two Carreghofa locks. This alteration to the line of the Tanat feeder resulted in it now supplying the pound above the Carreghofa locks whereas it had previously fed the canal below the locks. The cost of the Western Branch was £53,390 which was well in excess of the £22,300 which had been raised by issuing new shares. The company had borrowed £6,000 from the Exchequer Bill Loan Commissioners and the rest from various others, the majority coming from William Pugh. Income on the new branch was meagre so that the company could not meet the interest payments on the loans and factions developed. One group was led by Pugh who complained that the engineer Williams had muddled the accounts since the canal had opened and another group thought that Pugh had borrowed money beyond the powers granted by the Act of Parliament. They wanted the Exchequer Bill Loan Commissioners to investigate the company's financial position. However both parties agreed that