Manchester, and the cotton industry in particular, depended on the Port of Liverpool. But the high port charges were hated so much in Manchester that a number of people looked at ways of bypassing Liverpool completely. In 1894, after a long struggle in Parliament, the Port of Manchester was created with the opening of the Manchester Ship Canal. The need for a ship canal
In the 18th century the Mersey and Irwell rivers were improved so larger vessels could use them. Liverpool had for some time collected dues (fees) on all goods brought in by sea even if the material was going to Manchester. As the cotton industry expanded across the region feelings against the Liverpool docks increased.
In 1825 a Scottish engineer, Robert Stevenson, drew-up a plan that would allow sea-going vessels to load and unload at Manchester. He proposed the construction of a canal 45 miles (72km) long that would run south of the Bridgewater Canal and avoid the River Mersey completely. The scheme was rejected in Parliament at about the same time it approved the Liverpool and Manchester Railway.
The idea was taken-up by William Chapman who proposed the Manchester and Dee Ship Canal but he was too vague over the route for it to be taken seriously. In the late 1830s both Sir John Rennie and Henry Palmer looked into the problem. Both of these engineers made suggestions but neither of their plans were ever developed. | 
