 The completion of the Manchester Ship Canal in 1894 transformed Partington into a major coal @-@ exporting port . The canal was widened to 250 feet ( 76 m ) for three @-@ quarters of a mile ( 1 @.@ 2 km ) to allow for the construction of a coaling basin , equipped with four hydraulic coal hoists . Partington was the nearest port to the Lancashire <unk> , and brought the south Yorkshire collieries 30 miles ( 48 km ) closer to the sea . Between 1898 – 1911 , exports of coal accounted for 53 @.@ 4 per cent of the total export tonnage carried by the ship canal . The coal trade in turn resulted in Partington becoming a major railway depot , and attracted a range of other industries , including the Partington Steel & Iron Company , which was encouraged by the availability of coal to construct a <unk> . The works became a part of the Lancashire Steel Corporation in 1930 , and dominated the economy of nearby <unk> until their closure in 1976 . After the Second World War , Partington was extended as an <unk> estate . 
