Grand Junction Canal Nene at Northampton, to the turnpike road at Old Stratford (north-west of the modern Milton Keynes), and to Watford in Hertfordshire: those to Daventry and Watford were not built. The branch to Old Stratford was amended before it was built (see below). The branch to Northampton was delayed as the plans of the Leicestershire and Northamptonshire Union Canal to reach Northampton and thus join with the Grand Junction came to nothing. The link to Northampton was made by a tramroad transferred from Blisworth Tunnel, with the 5-mile (8-kilometre) canal from Gayton being opened in 1815. The link to Leicester was
Harecastle Tunnel towpath was removed to increase the width of the tunnel and improve air capacity in the tunnel. Harecastle Tunnel Harecastle Tunnel is a canal tunnel on the Trent and Mersey Canal in Staffordshire between Kidsgrove and Tunstall. The tunnel, which is long, was once one of the longest in the country. Its industrial purpose was for the transportation of coal to the kilns in the Staffordshire Potteries. The canal runs under Harecastle Hill near Goldenhill, the highest district in Stoke-on-Trent. Although described singularly as a tunnel, Harecastle is actually two separate but parallel tunnels built almost 50 years apart. The