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Victorian British Manchester Ship Canal Bridgewater Canal Police Lignum Vitae Tropical Hardwood Truncheon With Hand Painted Decoration ‘RIDGWATER CANAL POLICEMAN’. Sn 20339 - 20339 The Bridgewater Canal is a 39-mile (65km) canal stretching from Runcorn to Leigh in North West England. Constructed over 250 years ago by the Duke of Bridgewater, it is considered to be the first true canal in England. Built at one level, its route followed the contours of the land to avoid the use of locks. The canal was constructed to transport the Duke of Bridgewater’s coal from his mine at Worsley in Greater Manchester efficiently and cheaply to the rapidly expanding towns and cities nearby. At its peak, over 3 million tonnes of traffic used the Bridgewater Canal. Nowadays, it is a leisure waterway popular with many cruising boaters. The earliest British River Police Force was the Thames River Police, formed by Magistrate Patrick Colquhoun and Master Mariner John Harriott in 1798 to tackle theft and looting from ships at anchor. Shortly after other Police Forces with Sea Borders or large bodies of water within their Force boundaries formed their own River Police Units. The Manchester Ship Canal Police (also known as Manchester Dock Police and the Port of Manchester Police) was a police force in the United Kingdom that was responsible for policing the Manchester Ship Canal & the Bridgewater canal. It was maintained by the Manchester Ship Canal Company between 26 December 1893 opened and 31 January 1993 (a contemporary black & white image of a group of Manchester Ship Canal Police taken July 1894 is illustrated in image 2). This is an excellent original Victorian Police Truncheon of The Manchester Ship Canal Police To an officer responsible for policing the Bridgewater canal. The shaft is heavy lignum vitae tropical hardwood with ribbed lower section for grip. The staff measures 18 ½” length. It has painted decoration featuring a Crown and Royal Cypher ‘V.R’ (Victoria Regina) and ‘Policeman’ along with ‘Ridgewater Canal’ (no doubt an abbreviation or spelling error of Bridgewater, the beginning of the text is absent not rubbed). All of the staff’s Gold, Red & Green decoration is present. The price includes UK delivery. Sn 20339
£595.00
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