The Macclesfield Canal - part 1

The Macclesfield Canal, in American that's Mack-els-field, is one of the last canals to be built and was completed in late 1831. Its original purpose was to provide a short cut from Manchester to London, but ended up serving the mills, mine, and quarries of the area. The original canal extended 26.5 miles from the stop lock at Hall Green to the junction with the Peaks and Forest Canal at Marple Junction. All of it dug by hand!

This is our boat approaching the Hall Green stop lock mentioned above and the lock was the last image in the previous post.

As you can see below, there isn't much difference between water levels from the "high" side to the "low" water level. (High on the left)

Stop locks served exactly that purpose - It stopped traffic so boats could be measured for toll purposes. Also, it stopped the flow of water from one company's canal into the other if a loss of water or low water supply occurred on the other canal.

At the Marple junction end of the Macclesfield Canal is this warehouse. The roof may have extended partially over the canal as cover for unloading cargo. Notice the narrow passage, again we are moving from one canal system to another, so stop and get measured.

At the far-end of the building (from previous image) there is a doorway where narrowboats could pull into the warehouse to unload.

This is one of the many mills mentioned in the opening paragraph. Some stand abandoned, some have been converted to apartments or mixed use of offices and shops.

All the locks on the Macclesfield Canal are in one flight of 12, the Bosley Locks.

In the locks you notice the side walls are large blocks of rock, as opposed to the brickwork inside many locks. 

The hill above is The Cloud or Bosley Cloud. It is the southern end of the Pennines, the mountain chain that forms "the backbone" of England. The notch cut in the brow of the hill is the quarry that was used to obtain rock for the building of this flight of locks and canal.

Here we are moored just below the Bosley Locks, around the canal corner in the distance. From this mooring we took a short hike and discovered the views below.

Looking back toward the canal you realize the canal is above you, and not just a little bit. 

Through the miracle of Photoshop, here is what I mean.

We also took a ground level image of the aqueduct that carries the canal over the River Dane.

More on the Macclesfield Canal in the next post.