Northern Canals Association Meeting : April 2007
by Peter Keen

This popular assembly took place in the site offices of Middlewood Locks Restoration Project beside the course of the Manchester Bolton and Bury Canal. This section of the canal from the River Irwell westwards had been filled in for many decades but is currently the first phase of the restoration scheme for the whole canal.

The meeting was first addressed by John Fletcher, the IWA National Chairman, this time as a member of the MB&BC Restoration Society. His presentation took in the history of the canal, engineered by Mathew Fletcher, a remote ancestor of his. The coal mines which once lined the banks are now all gone, but there remain among the reeds fragments of the container vessels which carried the cargoes. Though a comparatively short waterway (15 ¼ miles) it packed a variety of engineering into its length, including 17 locks, (single and staircase) aqueducts, boatyards and maintenance yards, with a unique feature in the form of sets of three stop plank slots rather than the usual four. The end of the canal's working life was brought about by the collapsing of its banks in two places. The money was not available for rebuilding so the canal died.

Special reference was made to the section at present undergoing restoration. Over the years since it was opened new roads and railway viaducts have been built across it so there have been many changes as its channel was realigned, locks moved and tunnels built then demolished.

The next speaker was Fran Littlewood the B.W. senior engineer for the project who took up the tale from where John had left off. Following excavation by the contractors the canal's complicated documented history can be traced in the surviving structures. Lock chambers buried for fifty years have survived as structurally sound features, needing only bits of pointing and new gates whilst old canal walls have been retained and strengthened with new materials.

Entrance Lock, now tunnel one entrance. Photo: Peter Keen

Fran explained that the physical work was only one part of the work. Before that could be started an immense amount of preliminary planning had been necessary. The restoration was nearly scuppered from the outset by the building of the new relief road, but John's late wife Margaret had been instrumental in getting the road levels to be such that adequate clearance was available to the restored canal. Planning applications as always had to be contended with and no less than 12 legal agreements had to be reached with local landowners and these all had to be finalised together or further complications would have developed. The canal burrows beneath the relief road then immediately passes below a railway viaduct so lengthy negotiations were necessary with each of the bodies responsible before work could commence.

After a suitable refreshment opportunity in various local hostelries, the party reassembled for a site visit, commencing on the bridge overlooking the site of the original lock from the River Irwell into the canal. Here the lock walls have been excavated and used as the base for new tunnel walls, necessary to get underneath the new road. A landing stage will be provided at this entrance when the canal is brought back into use. Having passed beneath the road, a dual carriageway, the tunnel continues below the multi track railway viaduct to the new first lock, a much deeper one than the original number one.

Lock two looking west to lock three and tunnel two. Photo: Peter Keen

Beyond the lock is a straight section of canal leading to lock two, in exceptionally good condition, now lacking only its gates. A new road bridge across the tail of the lock has unfortunately created problems in that there is limited space for the top gate mounting and no room for a conventional balance beam but Fran was confident that both could be solved. Another straight stretch lead to a further lock, again in good condition, then a shallow curve to a blocked tunnel entrance, the limit of this construction phase.

Just over 400 metres of canal will have been restored by the end of the project but it will have literally opened the door to further restoration and has probably got the greatest engineering problems settled. Other obstacles like missing aqueducts will be large projects but will be simple to address in comparison to the current works.

Course of canal tunnel below the road, below the railway to new deep lock behind the wall. Photo: Peter Keen

The meeting adjourned to base for a round up of Society news. In the vast majority of cases, despite the present financial climate in the waterway world, Society representatives gave positive statements about progress on their canals. These ranged from the appointment of a new president for the Cromford Canal ( Brian Blessed), increased Council support, the granting of planning permission and the inclusion of sections of two canals in private development projects.

A major lesson for all the Societies present was that they should get their waterways included in their respective Local Development Frameworks (LDFs) at the earliest opportunity to bring them to the attention of the local authorities and to safeguard their futures.

In all, the meeting was excellent, with the talks, the exchange of information and the site visit combining into a beneficial and enjoyable event. 

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