With plans to link Nantwich to the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal at Autherley, to create the Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal, talks were again held with the Trent and Mersey Canal about a canal from Barbridge to Middlewich.
Since the opening of the Ellesmere Canal in 1797, which linked Chester to the River Mersey at Ellesmere Port,[REF] the importance of Chester had gradually declined, while Ellesmere Port had correspondingly become more important.