Middlewich Branch
Encyclopedia
The Middlewich Branch of the Shropshire Union Canal
is located in Cheshire
, in the north west of England, and runs between Middlewich
, where it joins the Trent and Mersey Canal
, and Barbridge Junction
, where it joins the main line of the Shropshire Union Canal
. It is 10 miles (16.1 km) long, and was planned as part of the Chester Canal
, which was authorised in 1772, but the company ran out of money, and construction did not begin until 1827. The Trent and Mersey insisted that there should be no direct connection at Middlewich, and instead built the short Wardle Canal
to join the two, charging large compensation tolls for traffic passing along it.
The canal became part of the Shropshire Union system in 1846, which was taken over by the London and North Western Railway
within a year. Traffic on the branch was always limited by the compensation tolls, and it was not until 1888 that they were abolished. The canal was the location for trials with locomotive haulage of boats in 1888, using a narrow-gauge engine from Crewe railway works, but no further action was taken. The canal became part of the London Midland and Scottish Railway in 1923. The railway company closed 175 miles (281.6 km) of canals in 1944, but the Shropshire Union main line and the Middlewich Branch were spared, and passed into the jurisdiction of the British Waterways Board following nationalisation in 1948.
The canal follows a delightful rural route through farmland across Cheshire, with a short urban section near the junction at Middlewich. Many of the structures are original, and consequently, most of them are grade II listed. There is no commercial traffic on the waterway, but transition to the leisure age has resulted in two marinas being constructed to provide moorings for pleasure craft.
, authorised by an Act of Parliament
in 1766, would draw traffic away from the river and from Chester
. They envisioned a canal from Chester to Middlewich, where it would link up with the Trent and Mersey, with a branch to Nantwich. There was little support, although the Duke of Bridgewater stated that he would not oppose the canal providing that there was no physical connection to the Trent and Mersey at Middlewich. The canal was authorised on 1 April 1772, and the company started to build a line to Nantwich, with locks 80 by. The cost was much more than anticipated, and the canal was opened to Nantwich in mid-1779, after another Act of Parliament was obtained to raise more money. There was no money left for the Middlewich Canal, and a plan to save costs by building it with narrow locks did not find favour with the shareholders, and so no work was done.
With plans to link Nantwich to the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal
at Autherley, to create the Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal
, talks were again held with the Trent and Mersey Canal about a canal from Barbridge to Middlewich. The Trent and Mersey refused to consider the idea until the Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal was authorised, and then insisted that the canal should join a short branch from their canal, which they would build. This would become the Wardle Canal, and goods transferred along it had to pay high compensation tolls. The canal was authorised in 1827, one year after the Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal, and it was opened on 1 September 1833. The total cost, which included wharves and warehouses at Barbridge Junction, was £129,000, but trade was meagre until the new link to Autherley was completed some three years later.
Since the opening of the Ellesmere Canal
in 1797, which linked Chester to the River Mersey
at Ellesmere Port
, the importance of Chester had gradually declined, while Ellesmere Port had correspondingly become more important. Tolls on the Middlewich Branch were initially maintained at a higher level than on the rest of the canal in order to avoid undercutting traffic on that route. In 1838, the canal carried 60,406 tons of iron to Ellesmere Port, and 10,370 tons along the Middlewich Branch, most of it travelling from North Wales to Manchester. Once the Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal was open, the route from Birmingham to Manchester via it and the Middlewich Branch was 5.25 miles (8.4 km) shorter and contained 30 less locks than the route using the Trent and Mersey Canal.
and the Shropshire Canal
network would become part of the new company. A number of new railways were proposed, and parts of the canal network would be converted to railways, but the canal link from Ellesmere Port to Middlewich via Barbridge was to be retained as a waterway. The company became the Shropshire Union Railways and Canal Company, and Acts to authorise three of the new railways were passed in 1846. The new company was independent for less than a year, as the London and North Western Railway
(LNWR) offered them a perpetual lease in 1846, which was formallised by Act of Parliament in June 1847, although it was not fully implemented until March 1857.
The Shropshire Union attempted to deal with the problem of high tolls on the Wardle Canal by proposing a 327 yards (299 m) bypass in 1852, arguing that the Middlewich Branch was "almost useless" without it. However, the LNWR requested that they withdraw the bill from Parliament and they did so. A similar proposal was made in 1868, for a longer bypass, but this was defeated in the House of Lords
. An experiment was carried out on the branch near Worleston in 1888. About 1 miles (1.6 km) of 18 inches (457.2 mm) railway track was laid alongside the canal, and a small locomotive from Crewe railway works was used to haul barges. The trials were suggested by the LNWR's mechanical engineer Francis Webb, and a report was produced by the Canal's engineer G. R. Jebb in 1889. Although the locomotive had successfully pulled two, four and then eight boats at speeds up to 7 mile per hour, no further action was taken.
Some traffic on the branch was lost when the Anderton Lift was opened in 1875, providing a link from the Trent and Mersey to the River Weaver
and the Manchester Ship Canal
. The Shropshire Union continued to protest about the compensation tolls on the Wardle Canal until 1888, when the Railway and Canal Traffic Act was passed and they had to be abolished. The Shropshire Union company was absorbed by the LNWR in late 1922, and the LNWR became part of the London Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSR) within days of the amalgamation. In 1944, the LMSR obtained an Act of Parliament to close 175 miles (281.6 km) of the canals for which it was responsible, which included much of the Shropshire Union system, but the line from Ellesmere Port to Autherley and the branch to Middlewich were retained.
. A large number of the structures of the canal are original, dating from the construction of the canal, and are grade II listed, beginning with the bridge which carries the Trent and Mersey towpath and Booth Lane over the entrance to the branch. It is constructed of brown brickwork, and carries the inscription "Wardle Canal 1829". Both Wardle Lock, which raises the level of the canal by 9.75 feet (3 m), and the adjacent lock cottage are listed structures. Bridges 31, 30, and 29 are all made of blue-brown and blue bricks, with a skewed basket arch. A single-arched aqueduct then carries the canal over the A530 Nantwich road, and another crosses the River Wheelock
immediately afterwards.
The approach to Stanthorne Lock, which raises the level by 11.1 feet (3.4 m) is through a cattle bridge built of red bricks laid in an English garden wall bond, with stone coping and large retaining walls which end in piers with pyramidal stone caps. The relative peace of the branch is disturbed at bridge 22A, which carries the West Coast Main Line
railway over the canal, but beyond the bridge, the views over the Weaver Valley and of Winsford Top Flash open out. After several more listed bridges, the canal passes the village of Church Minshull
and then crosses over the River Weaver carried on an aqueduct with three arches, a large circular central arch with smaller arches for flood relief on both sides, and curved wing walls.
Nanneys Bridge carries the B5074 road over the canal just before Minshull Lock. It is made of brick with a single basket arch, but the parapets are not original, as they have been rebuilt. The lock raises the canal by 11 feet (3.4 m), and is grade II listed because it shows few signs of having been altered since its construction. Bridge 5A carries the railway line from Crewe to Chester over the canal, and there is a large marina shortly afterwards, followed by Cholmondeston lock, which raises the level by 11.25 feet (3.4 m). Benyon's Bridge, Sandholes Bridge, and Rutters Bridge are the final three accommodation bridges, before the canal arrives at Barbridge Junction, where a graceful roving bridge made of red and blue brick with an elliptical arch, carries the towpath for the main line over the branch.
Shropshire Union Canal
The Shropshire Union Canal is a navigable canal in England; the Llangollen and Montgomery canals are the modern names of branches of the Shropshire Union system and lie partially in Wales....
is located in Cheshire
Cheshire
Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...
, in the north west of England, and runs between Middlewich
Middlewich
Middlewich is a market town in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It is east of the city of Chester, east of Winsford, southeast of Northwich and northwest of Sandbach....
, where it joins the Trent and Mersey Canal
Trent and Mersey Canal
The Trent and Mersey Canal is a in the East Midlands, West Midlands, and North West of England. It is a "narrow canal" for the vast majority of its length, but at the extremities—east of Burton upon Trent and west of Middlewich—it is a wide canal....
, and Barbridge Junction
Barbridge Junction
Barbridge Junction is the name of the canal junction located at Barbridge, Cheshire, where the Shropshire Union Canal Middlewich Branch terminates and meets the Shropshire Union Canal main line.-External links:***...
, where it joins the main line of the Shropshire Union Canal
Shropshire Union Canal
The Shropshire Union Canal is a navigable canal in England; the Llangollen and Montgomery canals are the modern names of branches of the Shropshire Union system and lie partially in Wales....
. It is 10 miles (16.1 km) long, and was planned as part of the Chester Canal
Chester Canal
The Chester Canal was a canal linking the south Cheshire town of Nantwich with the River Dee at Chester, providing a route for produce from Nantwich to reach Chester and, beyond it, the sea via the Dee estuary.-History:...
, which was authorised in 1772, but the company ran out of money, and construction did not begin until 1827. The Trent and Mersey insisted that there should be no direct connection at Middlewich, and instead built the short Wardle Canal
Wardle Canal
The Wardle canal is the shortest canal in the UK at .-Description:The canal lies in Middlewich, Cheshire, UK, and connects the Trent and Mersey Canal to the Middlewich Branch of the Shropshire Union Canal, terminating with a single lock known as Wardle Lock...
to join the two, charging large compensation tolls for traffic passing along it.
The canal became part of the Shropshire Union system in 1846, which was taken over by the London and North Western Railway
London and North Western Railway
The London and North Western Railway was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. It was created by the merger of three companies – the Grand Junction Railway, the London and Birmingham Railway and the Manchester and Birmingham Railway...
within a year. Traffic on the branch was always limited by the compensation tolls, and it was not until 1888 that they were abolished. The canal was the location for trials with locomotive haulage of boats in 1888, using a narrow-gauge engine from Crewe railway works, but no further action was taken. The canal became part of the London Midland and Scottish Railway in 1923. The railway company closed 175 miles (281.6 km) of canals in 1944, but the Shropshire Union main line and the Middlewich Branch were spared, and passed into the jurisdiction of the British Waterways Board following nationalisation in 1948.
The canal follows a delightful rural route through farmland across Cheshire, with a short urban section near the junction at Middlewich. Many of the structures are original, and consequently, most of them are grade II listed. There is no commercial traffic on the waterway, but transition to the leisure age has resulted in two marinas being constructed to provide moorings for pleasure craft.
History
The idea of a canal to Middlewich was first proposed by the River Dee Company, who feared that the construction of the Trent and Mersey CanalTrent and Mersey Canal
The Trent and Mersey Canal is a in the East Midlands, West Midlands, and North West of England. It is a "narrow canal" for the vast majority of its length, but at the extremities—east of Burton upon Trent and west of Middlewich—it is a wide canal....
, authorised by an Act of Parliament
Act of Parliament
An Act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. In the Republic of Ireland the term Act of the Oireachtas is used, and in the United States the term Act of Congress is used.In Commonwealth countries, the term is used both in a narrow...
in 1766, would draw traffic away from the river and from Chester
Chester
Chester is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the...
. They envisioned a canal from Chester to Middlewich, where it would link up with the Trent and Mersey, with a branch to Nantwich. There was little support, although the Duke of Bridgewater stated that he would not oppose the canal providing that there was no physical connection to the Trent and Mersey at Middlewich. The canal was authorised on 1 April 1772, and the company started to build a line to Nantwich, with locks 80 by. The cost was much more than anticipated, and the canal was opened to Nantwich in mid-1779, after another Act of Parliament was obtained to raise more money. There was no money left for the Middlewich Canal, and a plan to save costs by building it with narrow locks did not find favour with the shareholders, and so no work was done.
With plans to link Nantwich to the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal
Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal
The Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal is a narrow navigable canal in the English Midlands, passing through the counties of Staffordshire and Worcestershire....
at Autherley, to create the Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal
Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal
The Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal was a canal in England which ran from Nantwich, where it joined the Chester Canal, to Autherley, where it joined the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal...
, talks were again held with the Trent and Mersey Canal about a canal from Barbridge to Middlewich. The Trent and Mersey refused to consider the idea until the Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal was authorised, and then insisted that the canal should join a short branch from their canal, which they would build. This would become the Wardle Canal, and goods transferred along it had to pay high compensation tolls. The canal was authorised in 1827, one year after the Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal, and it was opened on 1 September 1833. The total cost, which included wharves and warehouses at Barbridge Junction, was £129,000, but trade was meagre until the new link to Autherley was completed some three years later.
Since the opening of the Ellesmere Canal
Ellesmere Canal
The Ellesmere Canal was a canal in England and Wales, originally planned to link the Rivers Mersey, Dee, and Severn, by running from Netherpool to Shrewsbury. The canal that was eventually constructed was very different from what was originally envisioned...
in 1797, which linked Chester to the River Mersey
River Mersey
The River Mersey is a river in North West England. It is around long, stretching from Stockport, Greater Manchester, and ending at Liverpool Bay, Merseyside. For centuries, it formed part of the ancient county divide between Lancashire and Cheshire....
at Ellesmere Port
Ellesmere Port
Ellesmere Port is a large industrial town and port in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It is situated on the south border of the Wirral Peninsula on the banks of the Manchester Ship Canal, which in turn gives access to the River...
, the importance of Chester had gradually declined, while Ellesmere Port had correspondingly become more important. Tolls on the Middlewich Branch were initially maintained at a higher level than on the rest of the canal in order to avoid undercutting traffic on that route. In 1838, the canal carried 60,406 tons of iron to Ellesmere Port, and 10,370 tons along the Middlewich Branch, most of it travelling from North Wales to Manchester. Once the Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal was open, the route from Birmingham to Manchester via it and the Middlewich Branch was 5.25 miles (8.4 km) shorter and contained 30 less locks than the route using the Trent and Mersey Canal.
Shropshire Union era
The Ellesmere Canal and Chester Canal companies had amalgamated to become the Ellesmere and Chester Canal company in 1813, and on 8 May 1845, an Act of Parliament authorised amalgamation with the Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal. The Ellesmere and Chester name was retained for the joint company, but plans were already being made for the idea of the Shropshire Union Canal. By July, these plans had crystalised. The Montgomeryshire Canal, the Shrewsbury CanalShrewsbury Canal
The Shrewsbury Canal was a canal in Shropshire, England. Authorised in 1793, the main line from Trench to Shrewsbury was fully open by 1797, but it remained isolated from the rest of the canal network until 1835, when the Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal built the Newport Branch from...
and the Shropshire Canal
Shropshire Canal
The Shropshire Canal was a tub boat canal built to supply coal, ore and limestone to the industrial region of east Shropshire, England, that adjoined the River Severn at Coalbrookdale...
network would become part of the new company. A number of new railways were proposed, and parts of the canal network would be converted to railways, but the canal link from Ellesmere Port to Middlewich via Barbridge was to be retained as a waterway. The company became the Shropshire Union Railways and Canal Company, and Acts to authorise three of the new railways were passed in 1846. The new company was independent for less than a year, as the London and North Western Railway
London and North Western Railway
The London and North Western Railway was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. It was created by the merger of three companies – the Grand Junction Railway, the London and Birmingham Railway and the Manchester and Birmingham Railway...
(LNWR) offered them a perpetual lease in 1846, which was formallised by Act of Parliament in June 1847, although it was not fully implemented until March 1857.
The Shropshire Union attempted to deal with the problem of high tolls on the Wardle Canal by proposing a 327 yards (299 m) bypass in 1852, arguing that the Middlewich Branch was "almost useless" without it. However, the LNWR requested that they withdraw the bill from Parliament and they did so. A similar proposal was made in 1868, for a longer bypass, but this was defeated in the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
. An experiment was carried out on the branch near Worleston in 1888. About 1 miles (1.6 km) of 18 inches (457.2 mm) railway track was laid alongside the canal, and a small locomotive from Crewe railway works was used to haul barges. The trials were suggested by the LNWR's mechanical engineer Francis Webb, and a report was produced by the Canal's engineer G. R. Jebb in 1889. Although the locomotive had successfully pulled two, four and then eight boats at speeds up to 7 mile per hour, no further action was taken.
Some traffic on the branch was lost when the Anderton Lift was opened in 1875, providing a link from the Trent and Mersey to the River Weaver
River Weaver
The River Weaver is a river, navigable in its lower reaches, running in a curving route anti-clockwise across west Cheshire, northern England. Improvements to the river to make it navigable were authorised in 1720 and the work, which included eleven locks, was completed in 1732...
and the Manchester Ship Canal
Manchester Ship Canal
The Manchester Ship Canal is a river navigation 36 miles long in the North West of England. Starting at the Mersey Estuary near Liverpool, it generally follows the original routes of the rivers Mersey and Irwell through the historic counties of Cheshire and Lancashire. Several sets of locks lift...
. The Shropshire Union continued to protest about the compensation tolls on the Wardle Canal until 1888, when the Railway and Canal Traffic Act was passed and they had to be abolished. The Shropshire Union company was absorbed by the LNWR in late 1922, and the LNWR became part of the London Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSR) within days of the amalgamation. In 1944, the LMSR obtained an Act of Parliament to close 175 miles (281.6 km) of the canals for which it was responsible, which included much of the Shropshire Union system, but the line from Ellesmere Port to Autherley and the branch to Middlewich were retained.
Route
The canal is 10 miles (16.1 km) long, and rises from Middlewich to Barbridge through four locks. Apart from the first mile at Middlewich, where the canal is bordered by housing, the route is entirely rural, passing through farmland and woods, with superb views over the valley of the upper River WeaverRiver Weaver
The River Weaver is a river, navigable in its lower reaches, running in a curving route anti-clockwise across west Cheshire, northern England. Improvements to the river to make it navigable were authorised in 1720 and the work, which included eleven locks, was completed in 1732...
. A large number of the structures of the canal are original, dating from the construction of the canal, and are grade II listed, beginning with the bridge which carries the Trent and Mersey towpath and Booth Lane over the entrance to the branch. It is constructed of brown brickwork, and carries the inscription "Wardle Canal 1829". Both Wardle Lock, which raises the level of the canal by 9.75 feet (3 m), and the adjacent lock cottage are listed structures. Bridges 31, 30, and 29 are all made of blue-brown and blue bricks, with a skewed basket arch. A single-arched aqueduct then carries the canal over the A530 Nantwich road, and another crosses the River Wheelock
River Wheelock
The River Wheelock is a small river in Cheshire in north west England. It drains water from the area between Sandbach and Crewe, and joins the River Dane at Middlewich , and then the combined river flows into the River Weaver in Northwich...
immediately afterwards.
The approach to Stanthorne Lock, which raises the level by 11.1 feet (3.4 m) is through a cattle bridge built of red bricks laid in an English garden wall bond, with stone coping and large retaining walls which end in piers with pyramidal stone caps. The relative peace of the branch is disturbed at bridge 22A, which carries the West Coast Main Line
West Coast Main Line
The West Coast Main Line is the busiest mixed-traffic railway route in Britain, being the country's most important rail backbone in terms of population served. Fast, long-distance inter-city passenger services are provided between London, the West Midlands, the North West, North Wales and the...
railway over the canal, but beyond the bridge, the views over the Weaver Valley and of Winsford Top Flash open out. After several more listed bridges, the canal passes the village of Church Minshull
Church Minshull
Church Minshull is a village and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The village is located approximately north west of Crewe and to the west of the River Weaver and the Shropshire Union Canal...
and then crosses over the River Weaver carried on an aqueduct with three arches, a large circular central arch with smaller arches for flood relief on both sides, and curved wing walls.
Nanneys Bridge carries the B5074 road over the canal just before Minshull Lock. It is made of brick with a single basket arch, but the parapets are not original, as they have been rebuilt. The lock raises the canal by 11 feet (3.4 m), and is grade II listed because it shows few signs of having been altered since its construction. Bridge 5A carries the railway line from Crewe to Chester over the canal, and there is a large marina shortly afterwards, followed by Cholmondeston lock, which raises the level by 11.25 feet (3.4 m). Benyon's Bridge, Sandholes Bridge, and Rutters Bridge are the final three accommodation bridges, before the canal arrives at Barbridge Junction, where a graceful roving bridge made of red and blue brick with an elliptical arch, carries the towpath for the main line over the branch.
Points of interest
See also
- Canals of the United KingdomCanals of the United KingdomThe canals of the United Kingdom are a major part of the network of inland waterways in the United Kingdom. They have a colourful history, from use for irrigation and transport, through becoming the focus of the Industrial Revolution, to today's role for recreational boating...
- History of the British canal systemHistory of the British canal systemThe British canal system of water transport played a vital role in the United Kingdom's Industrial Revolution at a time when roads were only just emerging from the medieval mud and long trains of pack horses were the only means of "mass" transit by road of raw materials and finished products The...