The first inland canal in Britain was built by the Duke of Bridgewater near Manchester. The Duke also owned coal mines and the main cargo was coal to Manchester. Later he built an extension westwards to join the river Mersey at Runcorn.

This canal, now known as the Trent and Mersey, was surveyed by Brindley in 1758. He shared a vision of a "Grand Cross" of canals linking London, Liverpool, Bristol and Hull, the most important ports. It was started in 1766 but not completed until 1777 because a very long tunnel had to be built.

Again Brindley was the consulting engineer for the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal. It joined the Grand Trunk to the river Severn and opened in 1772. The Thames and Severn Canal (opened 1789, but not designed by Brindley) together with the Stroudwater Navigation, linked the Thames and London to the Severn.

Yet more of Brindley's canals. These twin canals made the first link from the growing canal system to the Thames at Oxford. They provided the first route to London. The route opened in 1793, after Brindley's death.

London's main line route from the north opened in stages. Brentford to Uxbridge was opened in 1794. The Paddington Canal (also known as the Paddington Arm, or branch) opened in 1801 from Hayes, Middlesex, to Paddington. The whole route was opened in 1805. As usual it was a long tunnel which delayed the opening of the whole route.

The Grand Surrey Canal (1807) and the Croydon Canal (1809) were the main waterways south of the river Thames. The Regent's Canal was started in 1812 and completed in 1820. It extended the network from Paddington through north London.