Macclesfield Canal
The Macclesfield Canal is a canal in east Cheshire, England.
Route
The canal runs miles ( km) from Marple Junction at Marple, where it joins the Upper Peak Forest Canal, miles ( km), southwards (through Bollington and Macclesfield), before arriving at Bosley.
Having descended the 12 Bosley Locks over the course of about a mile (1.6 km), the canal continues through Congleton to a junction with the Hall Green Branch of the Trent & Mersey Canal at Hall Green stop lock (the branch itself joins the main line a mile further on at Hardings Wood, near Kidsgrove).
History
The canal gained its Act of Parliament in 1826 and was completed in 1831 at a cost of £320,000. As with so many UK canals, the arrival of the railways led to the decline of the canal. After World War II the canal started to suffer from a lack of maintenance and the threat of closure hung over it until the 1968 Transport Act came into force.
The canal is home to Britain's oldest canal cruising club, the North Cheshire Cruising Club. It was formally founded in 1943 although it has pre-war origins. The cruising club played an important role in preventing the canal from closing.
When it appeared that Harecastle tunnel, on the Trent and Mersey Canal, might have to close permanently because of mining subsidence, one of the solutions mooted was to make a connection between the Leek Branch of the Caldon canal and the Macclesfield canal at Bosley, via Leek and possibly Rudyard Lake; however Harecastle tunnel remains open to navigation.
Features
The Hall Green Branch, whilst originally built by the Trent & Mersey Canal Canal Company, is often considered as part of the Macclesfield Canal in modern maps and Guidebooks.
There are no tunnels on the Macclesfield Canal, but there are several impressive embankments, e.g. at Bollington and High Lane on the upper section, and over the River Dane on the lower section, close to Bosley bottom lock.
The Macclesfield Canal is renowned for its elegant roving bridges, locally known as Snake Bridges.
See also
External links
- The Macclesfield Canal
- Canal maps
- Macclesfield Canal Virtual Cruise
- North Cheshire Cruising Club (warning: may cause problems with some browsers)
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