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The Middlewich Branch of the
Shropshire Union Canal The Shropshire Union Canal, nicknamed the "Shroppie", is a navigable canal in England. The Llangollen and Montgomery canals are the modern names of branches of the Shropshire Union (SU) system and lie partially in Wales. The canal lies in ...
is located in
Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's coun ...
, in the north west of England, and runs between
Middlewich Middlewich is a town in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, east of Chester, east of Winsford, southeast of Northwich and northwest of Sandbach. The population at the 2011 Census was 13,595. ...
, where it 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 Mid ...
, and Barbridge Junction, where it joins the main line of the
Shropshire Union Canal The Shropshire Union Canal, nicknamed the "Shroppie", is a navigable canal in England. The Llangollen and Montgomery canals are the modern names of branches of the Shropshire Union (SU) system and lie partially in Wales. The canal lies in ...
. It is long, and was planned as part of the Chester Canal, which was authorised in 1772, but the company ran out of money, and construction did not begin until 1827. The Trent and Mersey insisted that there should be no direct connection at Middlewich, and instead built the short Wardle Canal to join the two, charging large compensation tolls for traffic passing along it. The canal became part of the Shropshire Union system in 1846, which was taken over by the
London and North Western Railway The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. In the late 19th century, the L&NWR was the largest joint stock company in the United Kingdom. In 1923, it became a constituent of the ...
within a year. Traffic on the branch was always limited by the compensation tolls, and it was not until 1888 that they were abolished. The canal was the location for trials with locomotive haulage of boats in 1888, using a narrow-gauge engine from Crewe railway works, but no further action was taken. The canal became part of the
London Midland and Scottish Railway The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSIt has been argued that the initials LMSR should be used to be consistent with LNER, GWR and SR. The London, Midland and Scottish Railway's corporate image used LMS, and this is what is generally ...
in 1923. The railway company closed of canals in 1944, but the Shropshire Union main line and the Middlewich Branch were spared, and passed into the jurisdiction of the British Waterways Board following nationalisation in 1948. The canal follows a rural route through farmland across Cheshire, with a short urban section near the junction at Middlewich. Many of the structures are original, and consequently, most of them are
grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Ir ...
. There is no commercial traffic on the waterway, but transition to the leisure age has resulted in two marinas being constructed to provide moorings for pleasure craft.


History

The idea of a canal to Middlewich was first proposed by the River Dee Company, who feared that the construction of 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 Mid ...
, authorised by an
Act of Parliament Acts of Parliament, sometimes referred to as primary legislation Primary legislation and secondary legislation (the latter also called delegated legislation or subordinate legislation) are two forms of law, created respectively by the legislat ...
in 1766, would draw traffic away from the river and from
Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...
. They envisioned a canal from Chester to Middlewich, where it would link up with the Trent and Mersey, with a branch to Nantwich. There was little support, although the Duke of Bridgewater stated that he would not oppose the canal providing that there was no physical connection to the Trent and Mersey at Middlewich. The canal was authorised on 1 April 1772, and the company started to build a line to Nantwich, with locks . The cost was much more than anticipated, and the canal was opened to Nantwich in mid-1779, after another Act of Parliament was obtained to raise more money. There was no money left for the Middlewich Canal, and a plan to save costs by building it with narrow locks did not find favour with the shareholders, and so no work was done. With plans to link Nantwich to the
Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal The Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal is a navigable narrow canal in Staffordshire and Worcestershire in the English Midlands. It is long, linking the River Severn at Stourport in Worcestershire with the Trent and Mersey Canal at Haywoo ...
at Autherley, to create the
Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal The Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal was a canal in England which ran from Nantwich, where it joined the Chester Canal, to Autherley, where it joined the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal. Forming part of a major link between Liverp ...
, talks were again held with the Trent and Mersey Canal about a canal from Barbridge to Middlewich. The Trent and Mersey refused to consider the idea until the Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal was authorised, and then insisted that the canal should join a short branch from their canal, which they would build. This would become the Wardle Canal, and goods transferred along it had to pay high compensation tolls. The canal was authorised in 1827, one year after the Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal, and it was opened on 1 September 1833. The total cost, which included wharves and warehouses at Barbridge Junction, was £129,000, but trade was meagre until the new link to Autherley was completed some three years later. Since the opening of the
Ellesmere Canal The Ellesmere Canal was a waterway in England and Wales that was planned to carry boat traffic between the rivers Mersey and Severn. The proposal would create a link between the Port of Liverpool and the mineral industries in north east Wales an ...
in 1797, which linked Chester to the
River Mersey The River Mersey () is in North West England. Its name derives from Old English and means "boundary river", possibly referring to its having been a border between the ancient kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria. For centuries it has formed par ...
at
Ellesmere Port Ellesmere Port ( ) is a port town in the Cheshire West and Chester borough in Cheshire, England. Ellesmere Port is on the south eastern edge of the Wirral Peninsula, north of Chester, south of Birkenhead, southwest of Runcorn and south ...
, the importance of Chester had gradually declined, while Ellesmere Port had correspondingly become more important. Tolls on the Middlewich Branch were initially maintained at a higher level than on the rest of the canal in order to avoid undercutting traffic on that route. In 1838, the canal carried 60,406 tons of iron to Ellesmere Port, and 10,370 tons along the Middlewich Branch, most of it travelling from North Wales to Manchester. Once the Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal was open, the route from Birmingham to Manchester via it and the Middlewich Branch was shorter and contained 30 less locks than the route using the Trent and Mersey Canal.


Shropshire Union era

The Ellesmere Canal and Chester Canal companies had amalgamated to become the Ellesmere and Chester Canal company in 1813, and on 8 May 1845, an Act of Parliament authorised amalgamation with the Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal. The Ellesmere and Chester name was retained for the joint company, but plans were already being made for the idea of the Shropshire Union Canal. By July, these plans had crystallised. The
Montgomeryshire Canal The Montgomery Canal ( cy, Camlas Trefaldwyn), known colloquially as "The Monty", is a partially restored canal in eastern Powys and northwest Shropshire. The canal runs from the Llangollen Canal at Frankton Junction to Newtown via Llany ...
, the Shrewsbury Canal and the Shropshire Canal network would become part of the new company. A number of new railways were proposed, and parts of the canal network would be converted to railways, but the canal link from Ellesmere Port to Middlewich via Barbridge was to be retained as a waterway. The company became the Shropshire Union Railways and Canal Company, and Acts to authorise three of the new railways were passed in 1846. The new company was independent for less than a year, as the
London and North Western Railway The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. In the late 19th century, the L&NWR was the largest joint stock company in the United Kingdom. In 1923, it became a constituent of the ...
(LNWR) offered them a perpetual lease in 1846, which was formalised by Act of Parliament in June 1847, although it was not fully implemented until March 1857. The Shropshire Union attempted to deal with the problem of high tolls on the Wardle Canal by proposing a bypass in 1852, arguing that the Middlewich Branch was "almost useless" without it. However, the LNWR requested that they withdraw the bill from Parliament and they did so. A similar proposal was made in 1868, for a longer bypass, but this was defeated in the
House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster ...
. An experiment was carried out on the branch near Worleston in 1888. About of railway track was laid alongside the canal, and a small locomotive from Crewe railway works was used to haul barges. The trials were suggested by the LNWR's mechanical engineer Francis Webb, and a report was produced by the Canal's engineer G. R. Jebb in 1889. Although the locomotive had successfully pulled two, four and then eight boats at speeds up to , no further action was taken. Some traffic on the branch was lost when the
Anderton Lift The Anderton Boat Lift is a two caisson lift lock near the village of Anderton, Cheshire, in North West England. It provides a vertical link between two navigable waterways: the River Weaver and the Trent and Mersey Canal. The structure is de ...
was opened in 1875, providing a link from the Trent and Mersey to the
River Weaver The River Weaver is a river, navigable in its lower reaches, running in a curving route anti-clockwise across west Cheshire, northern England. Improvements to the river to make it navigable were authorised in 1720 and the work, which included ...
and the
Manchester Ship Canal The Manchester Ship Canal is a inland waterway in the North West England, North West of England linking Manchester to the Irish Sea. Starting at the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary at Eastham, near Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, it generally follow ...
. The Shropshire Union continued to protest about the compensation tolls on the Wardle Canal until 1888, when the Railway and Canal Traffic Act was passed and they had to be abolished. The Shropshire Union company was absorbed by the LNWR in late 1922, and the LNWR became part of the
London Midland and Scottish Railway The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSIt has been argued that the initials LMSR should be used to be consistent with LNER, GWR and SR. The London, Midland and Scottish Railway's corporate image used LMS, and this is what is generally ...
(LMSR) within days of the amalgamation. In 1944, the LMSR obtained an Act of Parliament to close of the canals for which it was responsible, which included much of the Shropshire Union system, but the line from Ellesmere Port to Autherley and the branch to Middlewich were retained.


Route

The canal is long, and rises from Middlewich to Barbridge through four locks. Apart from the first mile at Middlewich, where the canal is bordered by housing, the route is entirely rural, passing through farmland and woods, with superb views over the valley of the upper
River Weaver The River Weaver is a river, navigable in its lower reaches, running in a curving route anti-clockwise across west Cheshire, northern England. Improvements to the river to make it navigable were authorised in 1720 and the work, which included ...
. A large number of the structures of the canal are original, dating from the construction of the canal, and are
grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Ir ...
, beginning with the bridge which carries the Trent and Mersey towpath and Booth Lane over the entrance to the branch. It is constructed of brown brickwork, and carries the inscription "Wardle Canal 1829". Both Wardle Lock, which raises the level of the canal by , and the adjacent lock cottage are listed structures. Bridges 31, 30, and 28 are all made of blue-brown and blue bricks, with a skewed basket arch. A single-arched aqueduct then carries the canal over the A530 Nantwich road, and another crosses the
River Wheelock The River Wheelock is a small river in Cheshire in north west England. It drains water from the area between Sandbach and Crewe, and joins the River Dane at Middlewich (), and then the combined river flows into the River Weaver in Northwich. A ...
immediately afterwards. The approach to Stanthorne Lock, which raises the level by is through a cattle bridge built of red bricks laid in an English garden wall bond, with stone coping and large retainin