Initially the new owners invested little in the canal and its condition gradually grew worse. The only benefit being the continued trade along the Bridgewater, but eventually they in turn were bought out by the Manchester Ship Canal Company in the 1890s, who particularly wanted ownership of the Mersey & Irwell, as the ship canal would use the same course for part of its route. Much of the western end of the canal, including the docks at Runcorn, disappeared when the much larger ship canal ploughed through. The few sections that veered off-course would eventually lose their original water supply and become scars on the landscape, such as here in Moore nature reserve where the canal bed and man-made walls can still be found hidden amongst the trees.