Canal Boat — November 2017

50 November 2017 Canal Boat canalboat.co.uk

Returning to Marple, we’ll now take the

other direction from the junction, heading

northwards along the length of the canal

which forms part of the Cheshire Ring. But

before setting off, now is a good time to

visit Marple: even though the closest

approach to the town centre and shops is

a little further north at Bridge 18, that

would mean stopping quarter of the way

through one of the canal’s two major

engineering features – the mighty flight

of 16 locks.

Built out of massive stone blocks, the

locks are some of the deepest on the

narrow canal network, averaging out at

around 13ft: to put that in context, these

16 chambers lower the canal almost as far

as the much longer Tardebigge flight of 30

locks on the Worcester & Birmingham.

Building costs delayed completion until

1804, four years after the rest of the canal,

during which time yet another horse

tramway linked the two halves of the

incomplete waterway (the canal’s engineer

Benjamin Outram was so keen on them

that it’s been – completely erroneously –

suggested that ‘tram’ was a contraction of

‘Outram’), and they were one of the

challenges facing the canal’s restorers

after the Lower Peak Forest and Ashton

canals fell derelict in the early 1960s.

The upper locks are in an urban setting,

with houses backing onto the locks (and

onto the offside extensions added to offset

the short length of some of the

intermediate pounds). But as the canal

descends towards the Goyt, the

surroundings become more wooded, to

the point that it’s not at all obvious that

the canal is carried on a major

of its major engineering features. The

tremendous three-arch stone-built Marple

Aqueduct has had its problems over the

years – ranging from an emergency repair

involving metal plates and bolts in the

1860s to a threat of demolition following

frost damage 100 years later – but recent

restoration, removal of vegetation and

construction of access paths and steps

have returned it to its original splendour,

embankment pierced by a railway tunnel

at one point.

Despite dropping more than 200ft, the

canal is still 100ft above the river – as

becomes obvious when it turns a bend

after the bottom lock, passes under a

railway, and launches out onto the second

Typically rural scenery on the Upper Peak Forest

Looking north from Marple Junction

THE CRUISE GUIDE

Peak Forest and Ashton canals

PORTLAND BASIN MUSEUM

Rebuilt after it was gutted

by fire in the 1970s, the

warehouse overlooking

Dukinfield Junction now

houses a free museum. It

features displays of local

insdustrial heritage, a

re-created street scene from the 1920s, and an

educational play area. Closed on Mondays

SEE ALSO

MARPLE WOODLEY

(^6) 4 MILES / 16 LOCKS
The restored Bugsworth Basin complex
TO MACCLESFIELD
HYDE BANK TUNNEL WOODLEY TUNNEL

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