Lagan Navigational Canal

Places and Features of Interest

Lagan Navigation Canal In 1753, the Irish House of Commons passed an act for making the River Lagan navigable between Belfast and Lough Neagh in order to increase the trade of Belfast and furnish the inhabitants of Belfast, Lisburn, Moira, Hillsborough and other areas along it's route with necessary materials for life cheaper and more plentiful. For the following eleven years an excise duty of one penny a gallon on beer or ale and fourpence a gallon on spirits to be raised off the gauger's walk of Belfast, Lisburn etc. to provide the Commissioners of Inland Navigation with funds for building the new canal. In 1756, construction began on the Belfast-Lisburn section, under Thomas Omer, an engineer of Dutch descent. However, in 1765 work ceased due to flooding in river sections and shortage of funds. Then in 1779 the Earl of Donegall came to the rescue financially and by 1782 a new engineer Richard Owen from Flixton in Lancashire began work on the Sprucefield-Lough Neagh section. Richard Owen was buried in the graveyard of Aghalee Parish Church near Soldierstown and his grave overlooks the Broadwater at the back of the church. The Lagan Navigation Canal was completed in 1794 with twenty-seven locks along its twenty-seven mile length. The Earl formally opened it by making the voyage from Richard Owen's house near Moira to Lough Neagh, where the firing of a cannon and the cheers of an assembled crowd greeted him. During the nineteenth century, as commercial activity increased along the route with horse-drawn lighters transporting crops, coal, raw materials etc, the barge became home to many lightermen and their families. Two well known lightermen were Johnny McVeigh and 'Hell's Fire' Jack McCann, known for his fiery temperament. Soldierstown (or Hamond's Bridge), became one of the few quays used for the shipment in bulk of wheat in the nineteenth century. Hammond's bridge was the scene of an amusing incident concerning the doctor of Aghalee during the wars. Dr Duff was a large man, around eighteen stone and one summer day decided that a cycle ride from Soldierstown back to Aghalee along the Broadwater would be a pleasant experience. At Hammond's Bridge, the towpath is reached by descending a steep slope. However, as Dr Duff descended, he discovered that his brakes were not good and careered down the slope, straight into the canal. Haulermen who guided their horses as they towed the barges along the route, included the notorious Joe McVeigh, born and reared in Aghalee. His trusty steed "Peggy" had to be blinkered at Broadwater, Aghalee where the towpath cut off an ackward loop of water by means of a narrow embankment. This stretch became known as "Hell Hole". Eighteen Lockkeepers who were provided with a house and garden controlled the twenty-seven locks. Their main duty was to help maintain the locks and check permits of lighers and other crafts passing through. Fees were also lifted at either end of the canal i.e. Stranmillis and Ellis' Gut, Lough Neagh. Bank-rangers were engaged by the Navigation Company to clean feeders and drains. They also had the task of removing bodies found in the water and in Belfast, the fee depended on which side of the bank it was taken out. If taken from the far side, the inquest was held at Ballylesson and the fee two bob. However, if taken from the Stranmillis side, it was held in City Hall and the fee five bob. At Broadwater, Aghalee, George Weir was the bankranger and to this day, his family still live there in the Lockkeepers house. At Halliday's Bridge near Moira, a neat brick house was occupied by Hughie Bann who was the bankranger along this stretch of the lagan, another real character of his day. A notable piece of local history was during the severe winter of 1937, when twenty boats spent seven weeks stranded at Aghalee, due to the icy waters. When their supplies and money ran out, the lighterwomen gathered their children and set off on foot to the Poorhouse in Lurgan or wherever they could find food and shelter. During the first half of the last century, commercial activity along the canal was diminishing. Directors of the company made annual inspections on its viability, starting from Lough Neagh to Belfast. During the declining years, William Agnew from Moira supplied the boat for the directors and George Weir from Aghalee navigated. In 1946, on what turned out to be the last inspection, the boat ran aground in weeds at the Broadwater and the directors continued on foot until they abandoned their task altogether at Halliday's Bridge and returned to Belfast by train. This contributed to the death of the waterway as a few years later, the upper reaches were officially closed the traffic and for those people involved with the canal, a way of life had ended. However, in July 1999, a Lagan Corridor Project Manager i.e. Linda Crymble, was appointed with a project team to oversee implementation of the Lagan Corridor Development Vision. It seeks to ensure the sensitive and optimum planning and development of the Lagan Corridor, by utilising the river and it's adjacent lands, in a sensitive, practical and co-ordinated approach through the first two decades of the 21st century. E-MAIL=Linda-crymble@lisburn.gov.uk Although the Lagan Corridor at present covers a 7 mile stretch through the Lisburn area, a proposals to re-open the Corridor beyond to Belfast Lough and Lough Neagh has received widespread support. Craigavon Borough Council and other agencies are also presently working on reopening the towpath from Lough Neagh through Aghalee and beyond, so hopefully in the not too distant future, people can walk the entire route and boats can be seen again passing through Aghalee and the Broadwater, rekindling memories and thoughts of all the characters that spent their lives along the canal.