Joint meeting 20th November 2020   Speaker: Martin Buckland   A canal is defined as an artificial waterway which may join up rivers whilst rivers are natural waterways. Canals have locks and need to be able to climb hills such as The Cotswold Canal for example which climbs 106.68 metres. Canals were good at moving fragile goods such as pottery. A horse carrying about 2 cwt was slow and could break the product compared to a barge with a horse pulling 20 cwts in safety. Irrigation was the origin of the canals. Between about 520 and 510 BC the Persian Emperor, Darius I built a canal linking the Nile and the Red Sea and the Grand Canal in Venice built between 3rd Century BC and 13century AD is used for irrigation and transport. The Pont du Gard the ancient and highest Roman aqueduct bridge  built in the first century AD to carry water over 50 km used only basic surveying equipment. Britain’s canals were started by the…