 On 2 March 1937 the London , Midland and Scottish Railway held a Special General Meeting during which they proposed to abandon the canal from Clifton Aqueduct to Bailey Bridge , from Bailey Bridge to Bury , and the entire Bolton arm from Nob End Locks to Bolton . The proposal was not carried but four years later , under the London , Midland and Scottish Railway Act of 1941 , they abandoned 7 miles ( 11 km ) of the canal , including a section from Prestolee to Clifton and the entire Bolton arm . In 1939 , during the Second World War , the Ministry of Transport ordered a half @-@ mile section in Agecroft piped , to reduce the risk of German bomb damage damaging the adjacent Magnesium Elektron Company 's site . 
