The opening of the Carlisle Canal in 1823 was a cause (or excuse!) for great celebration. And a lot of people were keen to raise a toast to \u2013 well, anyone and everyone they could think of.<\/p>\n
More than 20,000 people attended the official opening of the Carlisle canal in March 1823. Shops shut, mills workers had the day off \u2013 and there was not only the great spectacle of ships sailing through the city for the first time. There was also a lot of eating and a great deal of drinking!<\/p>\n
The Carlisle Canal ran from a basin off Port Road, Carlisle, to the hamlet of Fisher\u2019s Cross, on the Solway coast.\u00a0In my book, Port Carlisle, a history built on hope<\/em><\/a>\u00a0I didn\u2019t cover the opening in great detail (you can learn more about the book in\u00a0this post<\/a>). Because my book is about Port Carlisle and its pioneers, not just the canal, there simply wasn\u2019t space to include the thousands of of words the Carlisle Patriot<\/i> accorded to what was a momentous occasion for those involved \u2013 and an exciting and original spectacle for those watching.<\/p>\n So here\u2019s more on that day of celebrations.<\/p>\n March 12, 1823.\u00a0Four years after the first spade was sunk in the ground, the Carlisle Canal was ready to go. The canal committee started the great day with breakfast in the Bush Inn while a band played outside.<\/p>\n Soon after 9am the committee proceeded in carriages to Burgh by Sands, where eleven seagoing vessels and several small craft had assembled. They had all been highly decorated with flags, and hundreds of people had gathered there to see them.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, at the city end, crowds grew around the canal basin and along its banks, almost all the way to Burgh.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The canal committee had built a large warehouse near the city basin, and opened two floors for refreshments: 1,000 people were admitted, by ticket, to enjoy wine and cake.<\/p>\n Shortly after 10am, the flotilla got under way, led by the Robert Burns.<\/i> The committee were on board, along with \u2018a large party of ladies and gentlemen\u2019.<\/p>\n By 11am, she had passed the locks at Beaumont, the other vessels following.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n One of the leading lights in the canal committee was Peter Dixon, of Holme Eden (along with his brothers John and George). The whole point of the canal was that Carlisle manufacturers needed better access to the sea, to import raw materials and export their produce.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In 1823, Dixon had a cotton works at Warwick Bridge (Shaddon Mill, with its famous chimney, wasn\u2019t opened till 1836).<\/p>\n On March 12, 1823, all the employees of Dixon\u2019s works followed two flags and a band from Warwick Bridge to the Bush Inn. There, they formed a column and marched to the canal, and along it. They met up with the ships at Beaumont, where the band leading them boarded The Irishman.<\/i><\/p>\n At Knockupworth, the vessels were saluted and cheered by a crowd, with drum and fife and flags belonging to the City guilds.<\/p>\n With all the flags, wiith sailors standing on the masts and rigging, and guns fired at regular intervals on the vessels, and a band (or two), the crowds had plenty to cheer as they went past.<\/p>\n The Robert Burns<\/i> and the Rosina<\/i> each flew a flag of the first pattern of silk-and-cotton gingham, made in Carlisle \u2013 gingham had first been made in the city by Messrs John Hewson some 20 years earlier and it was now a major industry.<\/p>\n The Board of Ordnance had loaned two six-pounder field cannon, and the men to fire them. These were sited \u2018on a slight eminence\u2019 near the city basin.<\/p>\n At about 2.50pm, the Robert Burns<\/i> entered the basin, preceded by a band in an open boat. There was a second 21-gun salute, fired from the castle, and the band played Heart of Oak, Rule Britannia,<\/i> and God Save the King.<\/i><\/p>\n The Robert Burns was followed by the Irishman; the Menai; the Crown; the Miss Douglas; the John; the Nancy; the Henry Brougham; the Sarah; the Rosina; and the Mary, followed by coal and peat vessels. When the last entered the basin, another royal salute was fired.<\/p>\n At around 4pm, about 160 canal company share-holders, and visitors, sat down to \u2018an excellent dinner\u2019 in the Bush Inn, with a band.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n After they\u2019d eaten, the chairman, Dr William Blamire, proposed toasts to the King, the Duke of York and the rest of the royal family, the Army, and the Navy.<\/p>\n He then gave a speech about the benefits of the canal to manufactures, to workers (employment) and to the poor (cheaper coal). Before wandering off topic a bit and talking about the Duke of Cumberland in 1745, then calling a toast to the canal.<\/p>\n The High Sheriff the proposed a toast to the health of Dr Blamire. Who proposed a toast to the Lord Lieutenant, who couldn\u2019t be there.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Captain Halton RN proposed a toast to the the Canal Committee.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n John Dixon proposed a toast to the mayor and corporation. The mayor (William Hodgson) proposed a toast to His Majesty\u2019s ministers (over taxes), the Duke of Wellington, and the Board of Ordnance for the salute.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not clear who, but toasts were then proposed to Lord Exmouth. And \u2018The Port and Trade of Carlisle\u2019.<\/p>\n Mr Rowland Fawcett proposed the health of canal committe secretary William Nanson.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n William Nanson proposed toasts to The Plough and the Sail, Inland Navigation, and Sir James Graham and those members of Parliament who\u2019d supported the canal.<\/p>\n William Halton then thought of one they\u2019d missed, and proposed a toast to the ship owners (may they prosper in their voyages).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n And then the band played Banks and Braces<\/i>. Possibly to give those assembled a chance to recover before\u2026<\/p>\n There was a toast to The Bonny Lasses of Cumberland, and particularly those present.<\/p>\n John Dixon then proposed a toast to the health of ship owner George Head (even though George had just left the room). William Halton proposed a toast to Messrs R Ferguson and sons, who had built the first vessel for the canal: the Irishman. He was sorry \u2018domestic calamity\u2019 had prevented Joseph Ferguson from attending.<\/p>\n The High Sheriff (Edward Stanley, of Ponsonby Hall) got up again, saying a few people round him had asked him to raise a toast to the vice-chairman, John Dixon.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n John Dixon then gave a lengthy speech about what could be achieved by unanimity and the best fellowship (bit of \u2018brotherly love\u2019 creeping in after all the toasts?!) and how they\u2019d \u2018brought vessesl from the sea to our walls\u2019.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n John Dixon concluded with toasts to: the coal trade; the land we live in, and; Mr Justice Holroyd.<\/p>\n Before Mr Pearson proposed a toast to \u2018the strangers who have honoured us with their company on this occasion\u2019. And: \u2018may the Carlisle Canal soon extend to the Tyne\u2019.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n At this point, Mr Halton thought of another toast and proposed: Joseph Lazenby and the Peat Trade.<\/p>\n Mr Lazenby said thank you, and proposed: \u2018The Rose, Thistle and Shamrock\u2019.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Mr Dixon raised the subject of names. The new port needed one, and he thought \u2018New Port Carlisle\u2019 had a nice ring to it. Mr Pearson thought the basin should be called Port Cumberland, or Port William. Mr Halton said no, it should be Port Carlisle.<\/p>\n And they all drank a toast to that.<\/p>\n Mr Halton then called for a toast to the health of Mr Jackson and Mr Nanson, the collector and comproller at the Custom House. And Mr Buck, the engineer. Who said the credit should go to William Chapman (see my book!). Before proposing: the Lord Chancellor.<\/p>\n The mayor proposed: the sub-committee. A toast which was drunk \u2018with strong approval\u2019.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n And members of the sub-committe said thanks. Before Mr Dixon proposed, to loud cheering: \u2018the great cause of Spanish independence\u2019.<\/p>\n After a quick verse or two of God Save the King<\/i>, there followed toasts to \u2018the health of Mr Ferrier\u2019; Dr Blamire (again, but they\u2019d probably lost track!); \u2018absent subscribers\u2019, and; \u2018the captains and seamen of the vessels in the basin\u2019.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n At this point, the Patriot\u2019s<\/i> valliant reporter gave up on detail and simply recorded: \u2018a few other toasts followed\u2019.<\/p>\n A lot of those present left after that, but some of the gentlemen stayed in the seats a further hour.<\/p>\n The Patriot <\/i>said: \u2018We have never witnessed a more-harmonious meeting\u2019.<\/p>\n In the evening, Messrs Dixon and Sons stood every man in their workforce ale, plus bread and cheese, to the value of two shillings in ten public houses.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n And 90 ladies and gentleman attended a ball at the Coffee House.<\/p>\n Mr Slater, of the New Mill, gave each of his workman one shilling and the woman sixpence. Messrs J, R and J Ferguson gave their weavers one shilling each; the warpers and warehousemen dined at the Crown, in Botchergate, and; the women had a tea party. And Paul Nixon \u2018also treated the people in his employment\u2019.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n And one can only imagine that on the morning of March 13, 1833, pretty much everyone in Carlisle, and all its leading lights, had a monumental hangover.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The opening of the Carlisle Canal in 1823 was a cause (or excuse!) for great celebration. And a lot of people were keen to raise a toast to \u2013 well, anyone and everyone they could think of. More than 20,000 people attended the official opening of the Carlisle canal in March 1823. Shops shut, mills […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1557,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[332,78],"class_list":["post-1553","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cumbria-history","tag-fishers-cross","tag-port-carlisle"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Carlisle Canal opening<\/h2>\n
Dixon\u2019s cotton mill<\/h2>\n
Guns galore<\/h2>\n
Toasts at the Bush Inn<\/h2>\n
More toasts<\/h2>\n
And more toasts<\/h2>\n
Into the night<\/h2>\n