What is now popularly known as the Shropshire Union Canal is the 661/2-mile main line of a whole network, which acquired this generic name in a series of amalgamations. It is in effect one of the last great magnificent main lines of the canal era. It was created in 1835 when Telford's Birmingham & Liverpool Junction Canal was linked to his earlier Chester Canal as an alternative through route from the Midlands canal network near Wolverhampton to the Mersey Estuary at Ellesmere Port, and later to the Manchester Ship Canal. It also acquired an important branch to the Trent & Mersey Canal at Middlewich.

In the Shropshire Union Canal Through Time the author creates a pictorial exploration of this major waterway's history to the present day - a canal which he has ran boats on, lived on, and has boated extensively. The magnificent terminal transhipment basins at Ellesmere Port now house the National Waterways Museum. As one of the museum's founders, the author give a particular insight into the story of this now popular tourist attraction.