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With a main line of 127.25 miles, the Leeds and Liverpool is the longest canal in Britain. It links the seaport of Liverpool with the Aire and Calder Navigation at Leeds, forming a through route between the Irish Sea and the North Sea. It was proposed in the 1760s as a joint enterprise between the merchants of Yorkshire and Lancashire, though there were some heated discussions as to the route the canal should take. The route finally chosen was up the Aire valley to Gargrave, then through Padiham, Whalley and Leyland to Liverpool, with a link to Wigan, and work started at each end simultaneously. By 1777, when the canal was open from Liverpool to Wigan and from Leeds to Gargrave, the company ran out of money. Construction ceased until 1790 when the economy improved and more finance was available, but the development of East Lancashire as an industrial area meant the proposed line of canal was altered. When it opened throughout, in 1816, it had been constructed along the route first suggested by the Liverpool merchants, through Wigan, Chorley, Blackburn and Burnley, joining the Yorkshiremen's line at Foulridge.