The Sankey Viaduct in Newton Le Willows. It's hard to overstate the importance of this bridge. It's history is one of many 'firsts'. The first major railway viaduct in the world, on the first inter city railway line in the world, built in 1830 to cross the Sankey Canal, the world's first industrial canal. One year prior to opening, the line hosted the historic Rainhill trials, which resulted in an innovative solution - the self propelled steam locomotive, winning the competition for the chosen mode of transport on the groundbreaking new railway. The rest is history, and the world would never be the same again. Today the modern day boundary between Cheshire and Merseyside runs directly beneath the viaduct.