Description: There were a number of swing bridges on upper part of the Nottingham Canal between Trowell and Langley Mill. This view shows the remains of Marriott's Bridge (No 20), near Field House, Trowell. Looking east. The heavy planks set in iron runners allowed sections of canal to be drained for maintenance.
The Nottingham Canal extended from the River Trent at Nottingham in a generally north-westerly direction for 14.7 miles (23.6 kilometres) via Lenton, Radford, Wollaton, Trowell, Cossall, and Awsworth to Langley Mill where it connected with the Cromford and Erewash Canals. Its main purpose was the movement of coal from mines in the Erewash Valley to Nottingham. Opened in 1796, it was later acquired by the Great Northern Railway but, apart from the Nottingham-Lenton section (which was transferred to the Trent Navigation Company and, via its link with the Beeston Canal, remains in use today), it was abandoned in 1936.