Canal ring

A canal ring is the name given to a series of canals that make a complete loop.

Origin of the term

While there have been canals which formed a ring for centuries, the "ring" terminology was unknown before the 1960s, when it was coined by the Inland Waterways Association as part of its campaign to save the Ashton Canal and Peak Forest Canal from closure as part of the Cheshire Ring.

Working boatmen of old were concerned with getting from A to B as fast as possible, or for the lowest toll, rather than in visiting more of the system, and what are now known as "rings" were simply alternative routes to them. However, with the growth in the use of canals for leisure purposes, circular routes offered the leisure boater an opportunity to see twice as much of the system as was possible with an "out and back" cruise. Hire companies are keen to promote their proximity to popular cruising rings.

Since the Cheshire Ring was born, ever more rings (and variants of them) have been created. The best known are those that can be completed in one or two weeks, although some three-week rings (such as the Outer Pennine Ring) have been given names, and there are innumerable other possibilities for cruising the canals so as to never cover the same water twice that are unnamed.

Canal Ring (New York)

The Canal Ring referred to the group of corrupt contractors and their political supporters who conspired shortly after the American Civil War to defraud the State of New York by overcharging for repairs and improvement of the state's canal system. It defied an "investigation" in 1868 and for years was powerful enough to prevent interference and to defeat unfriendly candidates for office.

The group was finally broken up by Governor Samuel J. Tilden in 1874. Tilden employed a skilled engineer to examine their work and then surprised the legislature by a wholly unexpected special message setting forth in detail the fraudulent methods of the ring. This served as a direct appeal to the people, and so aroused public opinion that the legislature was forced to authorize the governor to appoint a canal commission. The reports of this commission resulted in a marked diminution in the appropriation for canals and the indictment of several officials for defrauding the State.

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