Alderbury Common. Here, a horse-drawn railway was constructed to bring goods to the existing road and the last few miles were completed by wagon. The eastern section of the canal began in Redbridge, at a junction near the end of the Andover canal. It followed the shore of the River Test to the town, and went through a tunnel near the present railway tunnel () below it, where the tunnels obliquely cross). It divided after emerging: one branch went south to the shore near the God's House Tower (a gaol at the time) and the other ran northeast to the coal depots of the Itchen near the Northam bridge, providing a link to Itchen navigation. The paradox of constructing a canal so near a navigable waterway was lampooned in contemporary verse: Southampton's wise sons found their river so large, Tho' 'Twould carry a Ship, 'twould not carry a barge. But soon this defect their sage noddles supply'd, For they cut a snug ditch to run close by its side. Like the man who, contriving a hole through his wall To admit his two cats, the one great, t'other small, Where a great hole was made for great puss to pass through, Had a little hole cut for his little cat, too. Poet Laureate Henry James Pye The contemporary rationale was: During the eighteenth century the Test estuary was shallow, marshy, silted and difficult to navigate, with mud flats near its shore. Only during the twentieth century, with the construction of the New Docks, it would be dredged and drained to become a deep harbour. Different types of craft (seaworthy sailing vessels and horse-drawn, flat-bottomed, shallow barges respectively) were needed for marshy estuaries and canals. There was only one landing point on the route, at Millbrook; boats on the canal could load and unload at any point, which was considered important in this urban area. The canal would also provide better protection than the estuary from poor weather and sea conditions. Its promoters envisioned the canal as the centre of a future network of canals; however, that never happened. The canal was unsuccessful, and there was never a time when all portions were open simultaneously. There were serious engineering and financial problems, including bankruptcies. After a few years it began to deteriorate, and between 1820 and 1851 it was filled in and grassed over. Many Southampton residents are unaware of the