ADDITIONS TO OUR ARCHIVE
by Peter Keen

2: Fidlers Ferry

After the railway companies took over the canals, they were generally left to decay and hopefully disappear, eliminating unnecessary expenditure. On the Sankey, swing bridges were replaced by permanent low level crossings, sections were filled with household waste and lock gates allowed to rot.

West of the Ferry Inn, the first southern extension of the canal had accessed the Mersey via two locks but the construction of the Warrington to Widnes railway line obliterated the approach to the westernmost lock so it was demolished. The surviving lock met the river almost at right-angles so silting had always been a problem. With no maintenance the lock became impassable and the canal inaccessible. The canal itself had also suffered a considerable amount of siltation as it was on a long straight stretch with a sluggish through-flow of water.

Boats at Fidlers Ferry were isolated from the river and Warrington Council was persuaded to invest funding in restoring the lock and the canal behind it to form a marina. SCARS has previously been fortunate in obtaining from Warrington some photographs of the installation of new lock gates in the 1970s but possessed no records of any of the work on the canal or lock which led to their reopening.

Following a meeting at a recent event Mr. Eric Hall of Penketh has kindly loaned some photographs showing this work being carried out and given permission for them to be copied and added to SCARS' archive.

His picture (right) of the lock chamber shows just how big a problem the siltation was. The depth of the deposit is probably more than twice the depth of the lock gates shown.

The canal itself was so badly choked that machines had to be brought in to load the infill onto heavy tipper trucks for disposal. It is unfortunate that owing to the construction of weirs to maintain the water level in the marina, the silting problem within the canal is now almost as bad as ever.

The photo (left) of the lock entrance with the buildings behind shows the old swing bridge across the lock head which has been replaced with one capable of carrying heavy road vehicles. The bridge in the distance has now reached the stage where it too needs replacing and there is some controversy regarding who is responsible for this work, British Waterways or Warrington Council.

The shot of lock gate timbers (right) with what appear to be fresh joints would suggest that a rebuild was in progress but the present gates give no indication that this was done. Perhaps there was a change of mind at some point in the work and it was decided that complete new gates would be preferable.

The warning sign (left) for the railway line is unusual, and is probably the work of the Ferry Inn since it carries no indication of railway origin. This area has for many years been an attraction for the people in Warrington, and continues to attract visitor in search of some fresh air and a quiet drink beside canal and river.

The inn management clearly took its responsibility seriously enough to put up the sign to protect its customers.

These glimpses into the past are quite unique; pictures taken during a local walk, but now a valuable record of that point in time. SCARS is grateful to Mr. Hall for allowing access to his work.

Below:  A view of the new works on the marina, after the channel had been dredged.

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