<P> The arrival of the railways resulted in significant change for the Company . Tolls were reduced to retain the traffic, wages were increased to retain the workforce, and they sought amalgamation with a railway company . The Nottingham and Gainsborough Railway offered £ 100 per share during 1845, but this was rejected . Tolls decreased from £ 11,344 (equivalent to £ 920,000 in 2016), during 1839 to £ 3,111 (equivalent to £ 270,000 in 2016), in 1855 . Many of the connecting waterways were bought by railway companies, and gradually fell into disrepair . In an attempt to improve the situation, the Company toyed with the idea of cable - hauled steam tugs, but instead purchased a conventional steam dredger and some steam tugs . The cost of improvements was too great for the old company, and so an Act of Parliament was obtained in 1884 to restructure the company and raise additional capital . Failure to raise much of the capital resulted in another Act being obtained in 1887, with similar aims and similar results . A third Act of 1892 reverted the name to the Trent Navigation Company, and this time, some improvements were performed . </P> <P> With traffic still between 350,000 and 400,000 tonnes per year, Frank Rayner became the engineer in 1896, and the company were persuaded that major work was necessary if the navigation was to survive . The engineer for the Manchester Ship Canal, Sir Edward Leader Williams, was commissioned to survey the river, while negotiations with the North Staffordshire Railway, who owned the Trent and Mersey Canal and had maintained its viability, ensured that some of the clauses from previous Acts of Parliament did not prevent progress . A plan to build six locks between Cromwell and Holme, and to dredge this section to ensure it was 60 feet (18 m) wide and 5 feet (1.5 m) deep was authorised by an Act of Parliament obtained in 1906 . Raising finance was difficult, but some was subscribed by the chairman and vice-chairman, and construction of Cromwell Lock began in 1908 . The Newark Navigation Commissioners financed improvements to Newark Town lock at the same time, and dredging of the channel was largely funded by selling the 400,000 tonnes of gravel removed from the river bed . At 188 by 30 feet (57.3 by 9.1 m), Cromwell lock could hold a tug and three barges, and was opened on 22 May 1911 . The transport of petroleum provided a welcome increase to trade on the river, but little more work was performed before the beginning of the First World War . </P> <P> Increased running costs after the First World War could not be met by increasing the tolls, as the company had no statutory powers to do so, and so suggested that the Ministry of Transport should take over the navigation, which they did from 24 September 1920 . Tolls were increased, and a committee recommended improvements to the river . Nottingham Corporation invested some £ 450,000 on building the locks authorised by the 1906 Act, starting with Holme lock on 28 September 1921, and finishing with Hazelford lock, which was formally opened by Neville Chamberlain on 25 June 1926 . A loan from Nottingham Corporation and a grant from the Unemployment Grants Committee enabled the Company to rebuild Newark Nether lock, which was opened on 12 April 1926 . </P> <P> During the early 1930s, the Company considered enlarging the navigation above Nottingham, in conjunction with improvements to the River Soar Navigation, between Trent Lock and Leicester . There were also negotiations with the London and North Eastern Railway, who were responsible for the Nottingham Canal between Trent Lock and Lenton . Plans for new larger locks at Beeston and Wilford were abandoned when the Trent Catchment Board opposed them . The Grand Union refused to improve the Soar Navigation, because the Trent Navigation Company could not guarantee 135,000 tons of additional traffic . The Company also considered a plan to reopen the river to Burton, which would have involved the rebuilding of Kings Mills lock, and the construction of four new locks . An extra set of gates were added to Cromwell lock in 1935, effectively creating a second lock, while the Lenton to Trent Lock section was leased from the LNER in 1936, and ultimately purchased in 1946 . </P>

Where does the river trent start and end