Hardings Wood Junction () is a canal junction near

Kidsgrove Kidsgrove is a town in the borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England, on the Cheshire border. It is part of the Potteries Urban Area, along with Stoke-on-Trent and Newcastle-under-Lyme. It has a population of 26,276 (2019 census). ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and the point at which the

Macclesfield Canal The Macclesfield Canal is a canal in east Cheshire, England. There were various proposals for a canal to connect the town of Macclesfield to the national network from 1765 onwards, but it was not until 1824 that a scheme came to fruition. There ...

(or, historically, the

Hall Green Branch The Hall Green Branch of the Trent and Mersey Canal is a canal in east Cheshire, England. It runs for one mile from Kidsgrove to Hall Green, where it makes an end-on junction with the Macclesfield Canal at Hall Green Stop Lock. History The Macc ...

) joins the

Trent and Mersey Canal The Trent and Mersey Canal is a canal in Derbyshire, Staffordshire and Cheshire in north-central England. It is a "narrow canal" for the vast majority of its length, but at the extremities to the east of Burton upon Trent and north of Middle ...

. It opened in 1831.

History

The Trent and Mersey Canal was authorised by an

Act of Parliament Acts of Parliament, sometimes referred to as primary legislation, are texts of law passed by the Legislature, legislative body of a jurisdiction (often a parliament or council). In most countries with a parliamentary system of government, acts of ...

in 1766, and construction began at once. After rising through 40 locks from Shardlow on the

River Trent The Trent is the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, third-longest river in the United Kingdom. Its Source (river or stream), source is in Staffordshire, on the southern edge of Biddulph Moor. It flows through and drains the North Midland ...

, the canal had a short summit section, most of which was through the

Harecastle Tunnel Harecastle Tunnel is a canal tunnel on the Trent and Mersey Canal in Staffordshire between Kidsgrove and Tunstall. The tunnel, which is long, was once one of the longest in the country. Its industrial purpose was for the transport of coal to ...

, before it began its descent through another 36 locks to reach Preston Brook and the

Bridgewater Canal The Bridgewater Canal connects Runcorn, Manchester and Leigh, Greater Manchester, Leigh, in North West England. It was commissioned by Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, to transport coal from his mines in Worsley to Manchester. It was ...

. It was completed in 1777. From the time of its opening, there were plans for a canal through

Macclesfield Macclesfield is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Bollin in the east of the county, on the edge of the Cheshire Plain, with Macclesfield Forest to its east ...

, but no firm action was taken until 1824.

Thomas Telford Thomas Telford FRS, FRSE, (9 August 1757 – 2 September 1834) was a Scottish civil engineer. After establishing himself as an engineer of road and canal projects in Shropshire, he designed numerous infrastructure projects in his native Scotla ...

produced a survey in 1825, and an Act of Parliament was obtained in 1826, but although it was based on Telford's design, he did not oversee the work, which was managed by William Crosley. At the same time, Brindley's original tunnel at Harecastle was sinking, and Telford's new tunnel was authorised in 1823, which would be larger than the old one, and would incorporate a towpath. It was slightly longer, at but was completed in just over two years, opening on 16 March 1827. The Trent and Mersey were keen to ensure that none of their limited water supply was lost to the Macclesfield Canal, and obtained an Act of Parliament in 1827, which gave them powers to build the first of it, to Hall Green Stop Lock. They insisted that the water level of the Macclesfield canal should be maintained higher than their section, which was known as the

, so that water passed from the Macclesfield Canal, rather than to it. The canal, and hence the junction, opened in 1831.

Location

The junction lies close to the northern portal of the Harecastle Tunnel. The Trent and Mersey Canal turns to the west after leaving the tunnel, and the Hall Green Branch initially turns off to the south. There is a sharp right-hand bend, after which it runs parallel to the main line, which descends through two locks. There is then another sharp right-hand bend, and the branch crosses over the main line on an aqueduct. The Macclesfield Canal is long from the stop lock to

Marple Junction Marple Junction () is the name of the canal junction where the Macclesfield Canal terminates and meets the Peak Forest Canal at Marple, Greater Manchester, England. The water of the two canal companies was kept apart by a stop lock in the narro ...

, and ascends through a single flight of 12 locks, located from the stop lock. Since both canals are now managed by British Waterways, the Hall Green Branch is usually considered to be part of the Macclesfield Canal. The summit level of the Trent and Mersey is long, and ends close to the junction at lock 41. Travelling south, the other end of the summit is at lock 40, just after Etruria Junction, where the Caldon Canal joins the main line.

Bibliography

* * *

References

{{Coord, 53.0883, -2.2470, display=title, region:GB_scale:2000 Macclesfield Canal Trent and Mersey Canal Canal junctions in England Kidsgrove

History

Location

See also

Bibliography

References