Soon a few years later after it was completed, canal warehouses were built; Oil, mustard mills, glass and gas works were constructed in Uxbridge. Timber yards were also set up so timber could be provided to Buckinghamshire quickly. At this age the brick works were flourishing in Uxbridge and in Hayes.
Due to the popularity of the Grand Junction canal the government allowed a new act to pass. The new act was enabled to help the shareholders of the canal to make some profit and to put some money back in to the economy. The idea was that the transporters had to pay a toll fee on each tonne they were carrying. For Example coal from Oxford was charged at 2s 9d (14p) per tonne on all goods passing through the Thames. The wharves on the lower sections of the river Brent, which was used to for the canals did not have to pay any tolls even to the city of London. White sand and gravel for making roads were allowed to pass without toll, as long as they did not pass through any locks.
The boats made quite a bit of money. In 18 months they managed to make £2,709 by may 1803, the boats were beginning to go in to decline and were ledged to Thomas Horner For 8 years. This made the pub ‘Paddington Packet Boat’ was a must stop for canal using travellers.
These are the traffic going and from the river Thames (in tonnes): Coal 6.650¼, grain 4.968¼, flour 4.612½, sundries 1,821½, and ashes 1,318¼.
Even though the canals were a huge progress in the transport of the cargo, they had many setbacks. Most of all of the Midlands’ canals were built for narrow boats and for light cargo and could not handle the much heavier cargo and could not be used universally and prevented the use of barges; Even after the years of improvements these major defects could not be improved.
The Grand union canal prospered until 1935, when the Great Western Railways were introduced by the act of parliament in august 1835. Their aim was to make a double tracked line from London to Bristol. The next major priority was to appoint an engineer to over see this construction. In 1835 this all-important position went to the 20 year old Isambard Kingdom Brunell. What he lacked in experience he made up in his ability as shown in his original blueprints for the Cliffton Suspention Bridge. The price estimate of the whole route from London to Bristol would cost around £2.800.00 but the line was to be 7 feet 0 ¼ inches (214 cm) broad range instead of the standard 4 feet 8 ½ inches (143.5 cm). Brunel’s argument for its use was increased speed and higher passenger comfort.
The construction of the line started in 1836 at two locations, between Bristol, Bath, Reading and London. Eventually reducing the gap between times, in addition grand station were built at Bristol, Temple meads and London. Paddington together with numerous alter designs such as carriage and locomotive works in Swindon.
The first section of the twenty-four miles from Paddington to Maidenland was completed in May 1838, but it wasn’t until June 1841 that the line from Bristol, soon nicknamed as ‘Brunels billiard table’ was completed at a total cost of £6,500,00. Swindon went in to history by installing the first ever railway rooms for the public.
In 1857 the London and North western and Great Western Railways, the two major companies agreed not to keep on cutting tolls and keep them at a fixed rate.
The area of the railways still continued. The G.W.R had opened right next to the canal near Paddington. The G.W.R built a dock in Hayes and Harlington station and transhipments started to deliver goods along side the G.J.C and the Regents canal.
Due to the popularity, speed and reliability of the railways it slowly had taken business away from the canals and slowly made them inefficient.
Due to the canals the small town of Hayes could be able to grow, but it was due to the railways that made the town of Hayes grow to the size it is today. This is because the railways could deliver goods at a much faster pace. They could also deliver heavier goods like coal, rocks and metals and were much reliable and were able to deliver goods in the same day and could arrive safe, unlike the canals which could take several days to deliver goods from London to Scotland.
