Canal Boat — November 2017

canalboat.co.uk Canal Boat November 2017 53

deviation around missing lengths) it’s

possible to explore the line through to

the splendid Daisy Nook Country Park

and beyond.

Back on the main line, two locks

(formerly duplicated) begin the steep

descent into Manchester as the canal

passes through a mainly residential area.

Surroundings become industrial again

as the Clayton flight of nine locks follows

• look out on the south side for the start of
  the Stockport Branch, another abandoned
  arm that’s proposed for restoration but in
  the meantime can be explored on foot for
  much of the way.
  Industry and housing are briefly left
  behind as the canal passes Sport City, site
  of the 2002 Commonwealth Games, which
  now incorporates the Manchester City
  football ground and the National Cycling
  Centre. It was created on a former colliery
  site and you can tell from the huge
  variation in the height of the four Beswick
  Locks that mining subsidence has affected
  the levels over the years.
  Old pictures of the final length through
  Ancoats show an LS Lowry style

landscape of mill chimneys: there are

fewer today, but a fair number survive and

have found new uses.

Alongside them in recent years, some

striking new buildings have been created

• including one called ‘Chips’ because its
  design was inspired by some French fries
  on a plate. You’ll either love them or hate
  them, but you certainly can’t ignore them.
  Through the middle runs the canal,
  passing through its final three locks
  (complete with surviving cottages).
  The modern (if rather less
  unconventional) Piccadilly Village housing

development surrounds the last few

hundred yards as the canal crosses Store

Street Aqueduct, turns sharp right, passes

under the last bridge and meets the

Rochdale Canal at Dale Street Basin.

Turn right to cross the Pennines on

another restored route; left to descend

into the dark cavern of the Piccadilly

Undercroft, with a lock completely hidden

under 1970s buildings; or moor up here,

explore the city centre and reflect on how

far you’ve come from the hills of Whaley

Bridge and Bugsworth. CB

9 4 MILES / 18 LOCKS 10 MANCHESTER

TO CASTLEFIELD

TO ROCHDALE

Manchester

Marple

16

Hyde

Woodley Tunnel

Pea

k (^) F
ore
st
Ca
lan
Ashton Canal
To Rochdale and
Sowerby Bridge
To Castlefield and the
Bridgewater Canal
New Mills
Whaley Bridge
Bugsworth
Basin
Furness Vale
Hyde Bank Tunnel
Romiley
Huddersfield Narrow Canal
to Huddersfield
Dukinfield Junction
Stockport Branch
Rochdale Hollinwood Branch
Canal
Macclesfield Canal
to Macclesfield
Marple Aqueduct
Ashton-under-
Fairfield Lyne
Clayton
Strines
Disley
Tame Aqueduct
DISTANCES
Upper Peak Forest Canal:
6 miles no locks, Lower Peak
Forest Canal: 8 miles 16 locks,
Ashton Canal: 6 miles 18 locks.
LOCATION
The canals link the Rochdale
Canal in Manchester, the,
Huddersfield at Ashton and the
Macclesfield Canal in Marple

FAIRFIELD MORAVIAN

SETTLEMENT Just a few

minutes’ walk south from

the canal, an unexpected

oasis of historic buildings

and quiet streets founded

in 1785 as a centre for

evangelical work by the

Moravian Church. See the church, visit its

museum on Summer Saturday afternoons, and

stroll around the charming streets.

SEE ALSO

Beswick Locks, accompanied by Sport City Passing old mill buildings near Ancoats

The ‘Chips’ building overlooks Ancoats Locks

STOCKPORT BRANCH (RESTORATION PROPOSED)