\paperw3360 \margr0\margl0\ATXph16380 \plain \fs20 \f1 \fs22 Improvements in transport were the most significant revolution within BritainÆs industrial revolution of the eighteen
th century. However, it was developments in \b \cf4 \ATXht10721000 coal-mining\b0 \cf0 \ATXht0 that stimulated the beginnings of the transport revolution. Colliery wagons were in use early in the century, with horses drawing coal to the riverside. Some
of the wagonways demanded the construction of huge arches, bridges and embankments. In the early 1800s, stationary \b \cf4 \ATXht10781000 steam-engines\b0 \cf0 \ATXht0 were brought into operation for winding up sets of wagons from collieries below. And
by 1825, George StephensonÆs locomotive engine was drawing coal- and passenger-wagons on the Stockton to Darlington Railway. By 1875, nearly five hundred million passengers were being transported by railway every year. Yet \cf4 \ATXht10901000 æ\b railway
mania\cf0 \ATXht0 Æ\b0 itself was preceded by the development of a widespread canal network. This was pioneered by the Duke of Bridgewater, whose waterway between his coalmines at Worsley and Manchester was opened in 1761. Before the end of the centur
y there was not a large town in England that was more than fifteen miles from a canal. \par
