Along the Moors - Lubstree

The Humber Arm

The Humber Arm Was Located Just To The South Of Thomas Telford's aqueduct

The reason for this surge of activity had its origins in the arrival of the Newport Branch of the Shropshire Canal, which was driven across the Weald Moors by Thomas Telford during the early 1830s. While the new waterway provided the east Shropshire coalfield with unprecedented access to the national transport network, the Duke of Sutherland was keen to establish a more direct point of access with the canal for his industrial interests in the north of the coalfield, which were inadequately served by existing facilities at Wappenshall.

The Humber Arm was opened in May 1844 and ran for just over three quarters of a mile from Telford’s aqueduct on Kynnersley Drive to a purpose-built wharf in Lubstree Park. The Act of Parliament which sanctioned the new canal contained a proviso allowing for it to be completely or partially replaced by a tramway and a number of lines were constructed which linked the site to the Lilleshall Company’s various works around Donnington and Lilleshall; from which coal, pig iron and fluxing limestone were all sent for carriage on the waterway.