We looked at the effect of the canal on domestic fuel last week. Time now to look at other uses. Clough Mill installed a steam engine in around 1820 and as we know the steam mills rapidly took over textile production. However, before we look at that market we should realise that over the years there were other uses for coal. Barlick had several large lime kilns, one of them on the Wharf at Coates and they all used coal. By the late 19th century many mills had gas works for lighting and by 1885 we had Bracewell's large gas works next to the Corn Mill which later became the municipal gas works. These were served by the railway as well as the canal after 1870 but prior to that all the coal was brought in on the canal.
The coal was unloaded from the boats by hand labour and then moved to the mills in two ton horse drawn tipping carts. We know what the charges were from sources like the Calf Hall Shed Company's minute books, in 1900 the cost of cartage from Coates wharf to Wellhouse Mill was 6d a ton and to Calf Hall Shed, because it was furthest away, 9d a ton. Butts Mill was 7d a ton. The average wage of a carter would be about 20/- and they would each do about ten loads a day. A small mill like Clough would burn about 15 tons a week in summer and double that in winter because of the heating load. Gas retorts are harder to estimate but I know from the Council Minutes that the municipal gas works used 8,800 tons in the year 1928/1929. My best guess is that by 1914 the Barlick mills were burning at least 350 tons in an average winter week. That's a lot of horses and don't forget, horse muck and hay! Much of the horse fodder would come in by canal. I've always puzzled over the fact that in contemporary photographs you never see any evidence of this army of coal carts. When you think about it the streets must have been full of coal carts as well as the normal traffic of the town. I suspect that the pictures were mainly done on Sundays when the trade was resting.
This has been a very brief overview of the effect of the canal on the coal trade but we should also look at the other goods transported by canal and what the effect of that trade was on the internal economy of the town. It looks like another article next week to cover that! For this week I'll leave you with the thought of hard working Barlick families enjoying what was in 1800 the unheard of luxury of sitting round a cheerful coal fire at night. That must have been life-changing. If the canal did nothing else it gave ordinary people some comfort!
A typical coal delivery at the mill by horse and cart.