John Rennie and the Rochdale canal, UK Available to Purchase

John Rennie was appointed surveyor/engineer for the Rochdale canal in June 1791, a position he had already held on a number of other proposed canals. His assistant on the Rochdale was William Crosley from Halifax, and it was Crosley and his assistants who seem to have undertaken much of the groundwork with Rennie providing an outline for their work, and approval and adaptation of the end result. Of particular importance during this phase of setting out the canal were the water supplies, and it may have been here that Rennie’s knowledge was most required. The water supply to the Rochdale canal was particularly difficult, given the number of existing water mills in the area. Rennie’s correspondence tells much about the state of hydraulic engineering, as well as his capabilities, at the time.