Many thousands of route miles of canal and navigation once used to criss-cross England, serving collieries, iron mines, steelworks, towns and villages. From the start of the twentieth century onwards, many of these canals closed down as a result of lack of trade. Many of the lost canals are in the Midlands, the heartland of Britain's canal network, but they include the exotically named Tamar Manure Canal and the Royal Arsenal Canal. Andy Wood gives...