The Newcastle-under-Lyme Canal was a 3 mile 6 furlongs (6 km) level canal from the Trent & Mersey Canal at Stoke-on-Trent to Newcastle-under-Lyme. It was completed in 1800. The canal has been disused since 1935. Historical timeline 1795 - an Act of Parliament in granted permission for the making and maintaining a navigable Canal, from and out of the Navigation from the Trent to the Mersey, at or near Stoke-upon-Trent, in the county of Stafford, to the town of Newcastle-under-Lyme, in the said county. 1796 - a rival canal, Sir Nigel Gresley's Canal opened and had secured exclusive rights to supply Newcastle with coal for 21 years on condition that the price was no higher than 25 pence per ton. The agreement forbade the Newcastle-under-Lyme Canal from carrying any coal other than for use in the pottery trade. 1800 - the canal opened and because Gresley had exclusive rights to coal carrying, limestone became the main cargo on the Newcastle Under Lyme Canal. 1863 - the canal was sold to the North Staffordshire Railway. By this time the railway company also owned the Trent & Mersey Canal which the Newcastle Canal very much depended on. The canal's shareholders did very well out of the deal considering the route had only ever paid out occasional and very low dividends during their ownership. The railway company did not close down the Newcastle Canal and it continued in commercial use. 1921 - the northernmost part of the canal was closed. 1935 - the remaining part of the Newcastle Canal was closed and the whole waterway was abandoned. present - after its closure the canal was filled in, and today little evidence of the canal remains. The route The terminus of the Newcastle Canal was close to Brook Lane at an elevation of around 110m. A pub named the Boat & Horses still stands near the former basin though the basin itself was converted into railway sidings many years ago during the construction of the Stoke-on-Trent to Newcastle-under-Lyme train line, which began construction on 26 June 1846. Although still extant in 1971 these sidings have also now been removed. The canal headed southeast on the west side of London Road (A34). Where Occupation Street leaves London Road is the spot that would have been the bottom of a planned inclined plane providing a link to the Newcastle-under-Lyme Junction Canal, and then on to Sir