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Stevenston Canal
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Stevenston Canal was a waterway in North Ayrshire, Scotland, built for Robert Reid Cunningham of Seabank (now Auchenharvie) and Patrick Warner of the Ardeer Estate,[1][2] which ran to the port of Saltcoats from Ardeer,[1] and Stevenston with a number of short branches to coal pits along the length of the cut. The canal opened on 19 September 1772, the first commercial canal in Scotland.[3] It closed in the 1830s, when it was abandoned following the exhaustion of the coal mines and the rise of importance of Ardrossan as a harbour.[2][4] At the time of its construction it was said to be the "most complete water system of colliery transport ever devised in Britain."[5]