The
Trent and Mersey Canal
begins, as you would expect, within a few miles of the River Mersey,
near Runcorn and finishes in a junction with the River Trent in
Derbyshire. It is just over ninety miles long and will take about six
days to cruise.
It is one of the earliest
canals, built by Brindley, with much of historical
interest, passing through some pleasant countryside. It
struggles from the Cheshire plains up thirty one locks,
often called Heartbreak Hill,
to cut beneath Harecastle Hill in a spooky and watery
tunnel one and three quarter miles long. It passes
through the industry of the Staffordshire Potteries out
into rural Staffordshire and then Derbyshire.
Shardlow, near the
River Trent, is one of England's best preserved canal
towns. Try the Swan pub at Fradley Junction which has an
excellent view of the junction. Stone has some
interesting old canal buildings. Shrugborough Hall dates
from the 17th century and is surrounded by a landscaped
park, the Gatehouse is the size of many mansions! An
English Civil war battle was fought just to the north at
Hopton Heath. Josiah Wedgwood was involved in getting the
canal built and the Wedgwood factory and museum are
canalside just south of Stoke on Trent. Middlewich and
Northwich are salt towns dating back to Roman times.
The
canal is known for its tunnels, at Harecastle, Barnton,
Saltersford and Preston Brook. Saltersford has a kink
because tunnelling started at different points and didn't
quite meet in the middle! Preston Brook has a large central
chamber where a collapse was repaired, and cruising
through the pitch dark confines of Harecastle tunnel is an experience
nobody forgets!
The double locks on
Heartbreak
Hill in Cheshire
were built in the last century to reduce queues, but many
are now unworkable and some have been filled in, BW seems to think that
one lock is sufficient! The
locks got their name not because there are so many, but
because they are rarely close enough together to walk and
work easily. Real boatpeople just called them the Cheshire Locks!
The
Caldon Canal starts just south of Stoke on Trent and meanders into the
Staffordshire countryside, running for a short distance along the River Churnet. It has some extremely attractive stretches and the isolated
Consall Forge and Black Lion Pub must be visited, plus the restored
steam Churnet Railway. The canal currently finishes at Froghall Wharf
which can be reached by some boats through the very low Froghall Tunnel.
However the Caldon and Uttoxeter Canals Trust have restored what was the
first lock at Froghall on the Uttoxeter Canal. This canal was closed in
the nineteenth century and a railway built over it. The railway
subsequently closed and part of it is now reopened as the Churnet Valley
Railway. There are hopes that eventually both the railway and canal can
reach Uttoxeter again, running through the Churnet Valley.
Feature Spot -
Hazlehurst Aqueduct on the Caldon Canal where the Leek branch
goes over the Main line to Froghall.
A narrowboat waits to
enter gloomy confines of Harecastle tunnel.
The 'Four
Counties
Ring' links to the
The
Trent and Mersey Canal
begins, as you would expect, within a few miles of the River Mersey,
near Runcorn and finishes in a junction with the River Trent in
Derbyshire. It is just over ninety miles long and will take about six
days to cruise.
