National Waterways Museum facts for kids
National Waterways Museum
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| Former name | National Waterways Museum at Ellesmere Port The Boat Museum North West Museum of Inland Navigation |
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| Established | 1970s |
| Location | Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, England |
| Owner | The Canal & River Trust |
The National Waterways Museum (NWM) is a cool place in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, England. It's located right where the Shropshire Union Canal meets the big Manchester Ship Canal.
This museum is all about Britain's amazing inland waterways, like its rivers and canals. You can see old canal boats, traditional clothes, special painted canal items, and tools used long ago. The NWM is run by the Canal & River Trust, which looks after many canals and rivers in the UK.
Contents
History of the Waterways
The Port's Early Days
The museum sits on what used to be a busy port called Netherpool. This port was designed by famous engineers like Thomas Telford for a canal project called the Ellesmere Canal. This canal was meant to connect the River Mersey and the River Severn for trade.
The historic buildings you see at the museum are all that's left of this old port. Goods were moved from narrowboats onto bigger river boats here, which then sailed to Liverpool. The northern part of the Ellesmere Canal opened in 1797. It connected Netherpool port to the Chester Canal. People hoped it would make enough money to finish the rest of the canal.
However, by 1805, building stopped because it cost too much, and not enough boats were using it. Plans to build the southern part of the canal were given up.
For the next 40 years, the port was used by boats on the Chester Canal. In 1845, a company called the Shropshire Union Railways and Canal Company took over. They combined several canals, including parts of the Ellesmere Canal, into the Shropshire Union Canal. The port at Netherpool kept working until it finally closed in the 1950s.
How the Museum Started
A museum was started at the old port in the 1970s. It was first called the North West Museum of Inland Navigation. Later, it became "The Boat Museum" and then "National Waterways Museum at Ellesmere Port."
In the 1990s, a group called The Waterways Trust began managing the museum. They received money from the Heritage Lottery Fund to create new exhibits and make the museum better for visitors. In 2012, The Waterways Trust joined with the Canal & River Trust.
The name "National Waterways Museum" used to include two other museum sites. These are now called the Gloucester Waterways Museum and The Canal Museum in Stoke Bruerne.
Keeping the Museum Going
The NWM has a very important collection of items, recognized by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council. However, it has been a challenge to find enough money to care for all the old boats in the collection.
Unlike some other national museums, the NWM gets its funding through the Canal & River Trust. In the past, there were times when the museum had to cut its opening hours to save money. Some boats even had to be sold because there wasn't enough money for their repairs.
But things are looking up! A new project to create a heritage boatyard, with help from lottery funding, has brought new life to the museum. Young people are now being trained in old skills that might otherwise be lost. This helps fix up the boats and keeps these important skills alive.
What You Can See at the Museum
The NWM includes all the remaining parts of the original industrial port. Over the last 40 years, this historic site has been carefully restored. You can explore the old locks, docks, and warehouses. There's also a pump and engine room.
- The Island Warehouse was built in 1871 to store grain. It now has exhibits about how boats were built and the history of canal life.
- The Pump House contains old steam engines that powered the hydraulic cranes and capstans used around the dock. The Power Hall shows off other types of engines.
- The blacksmiths forge is where metal parts for the canal and boats were made. You can often see a blacksmith working there!
- The stables where horses and pigs lived are still there.
- The old toll house hosts special temporary exhibits.
- The Waterways Archive has lots of information about canals and rivers in Britain and other countries.
- Porter's Row is a row of four houses. These were homes for dock workers and are now decorated to show how people lived from the 1840s to the 1950s.
- The NWM has a large collection of historic boats. You can even take short boat trips along the Shropshire Union Canal!
The locks and other buildings at the NWM site are protected as Grade II listed buildings. This means they are important historical structures.
The Museum on TV
The National Waterways Museum has been featured on television shows!
- In 2010, it was one of three museums shown in Richard Macer's BBC Four series Behind the Scenes at the Museum.
- In 2020, the museum was the starting point for series two of Robbie Cumming's Canal Boat Diaries on BBC One. That episode followed a journey along the Shropshire Union Canal from the museum to Audlem.
See also
- Gloucester Waterways Museum
- The Canal Museum
- London Canal Museum
- J. H. Taylor & Sons
- The Daniel Adamson
