Ashton Canal | |
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Specifications | |
Length | 6 miles (9.7 km) |
Maximum boat length | 70 ft 0 in (21.34 m) |
Maximum boat beam | 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) |
Locks | 18 |
Status | Navigable |
Navigation authority | Canal & River Trust |
History | |
Principal engineer | Benjamin Outram |
Date of act | 1792 |
Date of first use | 1796 |
Date completed | 1797 |
Date closed | 1961 |
Date restored | 1974 |
Geography | |
Start point | Ashton-under-Lyne |
End point | Ducie St Jn, Manchester |
Branch(es) | Hollinwood Branch Canal, Stockport Branch, Islington Branch Canal |
Connects to | Huddersfield Narrow Canal, Peak Forest Canal, Rochdale Canal |
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The Ashton Canal is a canal in Greater Manchester, England, linking Manchester with Ashton-under-Lyne.
The Ashton leaves the Rochdale Canal at Ducie St. Junction in central Manchester, and climbs for 6 miles (9.7 km) through 18 locks, [1] passing through Ancoats, Holt Town, Bradford, Clayton, Openshaw, Droylsden, Fairfield and Audenshaw to make a head-on junction with the Huddersfield Narrow Canal (formerly the Huddersfield Canal) at Whitelands Basin in the centre of Ashton-under-Lyne. At Bradford, the canal passes very close to the City of Manchester Stadium (currently known as the Etihad Stadium for sponsorship reasons), which was originally built to host the 2002 Commonwealth Games.
Apart from the Rochdale and Huddersfield Narrow canals, the Ashton Canal only currently connects with one other canal. Just short of Whitelands, at Dukinfield Junction/Portland Basin a short arm crosses the river Tame on the Tame Aqueduct, and makes a head-on junction with the Peak Forest Canal. [2]
There used to be four other important connections to branch canals: the Islington Branch Canal in Ancoats; the Stockport Branch Canal from Clayton to Stockport (Heaton Norris); the Hollinwood Branch Canal from Fairfield to Hollinwood; and the Fairbottom Branch Canal (itself a branch of the Hollinwood Branch Canal) from Waterhouses to Fairbottom. There was to have been a fifth branch, namely the Beat Bank Branch Canal (itself a branch of Stockport Branch Canal) from Reddish to Beat Bank in Denton, but this was abandoned before completion.
Many of the canal locks are now listed buildings. [3]
Manchester and Oldham Canal Act 1792 | |
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Act of Parliament | |
Long title | An Act for making a Navigable Canal from Manchester, to or near Ashton-under-Lyne and Oldham, in the County Palatine of Lancaster. |
Citation | 32 Geo. 3. c. 84 |
Dates | |
Royal assent | 11 June 1792 |
Ashton Canal Act 1798 | |
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Act of Parliament | |
Long title | An act to enable the company of proprietors of the canal navigation, from Manchester to or near Ashton under Lyne and Oldham, to finish and complete the same and the several cuts and other works authorised to be made and done by them, by the several acts passed for that purpose, and for amending the said acts, and granting to the said company further and other powers. |
Citation | 38 Geo. 3. c. xxxii |
Dates | |
Royal assent | 26 May 1798 |
Text of statute as originally enacted |
The canal received its act of Parliament, the Manchester and Oldham Canal Act 1792 (32 Geo. 3. c. 84) in 1792. It was built to supply coal from Oldham and Ashton under Lyne to Manchester. [4] The first section between Ancoats Lane to Ashton-under-Lyne and Hollinwood was completed in 1796, followed by the lines to Heaton Norris and Fairbottom in 1797. Although there were plans to link it to the Rochdale Canal, it opened as an isolated waterway.
Benjamin Outram was retained to complete the final section between Ancoats Lane and the Rochdale Canal including the Piccadilly Basin. It included the unique Store Street Aqueduct, built on a 45 degree skew and believed to be the first major such structure in Britain and the oldest still in use today.
The section was completed by 1798, but the necessary extension by the Rochdale proprietors to the Bridgewater Canal was not built until 1800. Although the Huddersfield Narrow Canal was open as far as Woolroad by 1798, neither it, nor the Peak Forest Canal were complete. In fact it was another ten years before the former connected to Yorkshire and the east coast.
With little but local trade in its early years, the canal struggled financially and a dividend was not paid until 1806.
It then prospered until competition from railways, and later road transport, greatly diminished traffic, and through traffic had ended by 1945. Traffic on the branches ended in the 1930s. Following nationalisation in 1947–48, traffic did not revive, and all traffic had ceased by 1958, after which maintenance was run down. By 1961, combined with vandalism, the canal had become unnavigable, and its retention for pleasure use seemed unlikely.
The Ashton Canal was one of seven stretches of canal, formerly designated as remainder waterways, that were re-classified by the British Waterways Act 1983 (c. ii) of 8 February 1983. Under the act, a total of 82 miles (132 km) of canal were upgraded to Cruising Waterway Standard. [5]
In October 2021, lock numbers 13 and 15 were one of 142 sites across England to receive part of a £35-million injection into the government's Culture Recovery Fund. [6]
Pressure from the Inland Waterways Association, combined with the formation of the Peak Forest Canal Society, led to a campaign to reopen the Ashton, with the major organised volunteer clearance of the section though Droylsden in September 1968, known as Operation Ashton. Further campaigning, and the growth of local authority support, led to its restoration, along with the adjacent lower Peak Forest Canal, and reopening on 1 April 1974. [1]
The restoration of these two canals opened up the Cheshire Ring, an immediately (and still) popular one-week leisure cruise circling much of east Cheshire. With the opening of the Southern Pennine canals, the Ashton is now also part of the South Pennine Ring (Rochdale and Huddersfield Narrow) and the longest Pennine Ring of all (Outer Pennine Ring - Leeds & Liverpool and Huddersfield Narrow).
It used to be common to hear reports of unfortunate incidents along the Ashton, such as thefts from boats and intimidating, or at least unnerving, behaviour on the part of some local youths and children. This, for a time, caused boats to go through in convoys. [7] [8] [9] Today the Ashton Canal is increasingly valued by the communities through which it passes, and although many boaters still advise others to cover the Ashton during early hours, and not in school holidays, reports of problems often turn out to be the repeated telling of old stories. However, incidents do still occur, as in August 2014 when a number of boats were attacked by hooded youths. [10]
The locks are renowned for debris (shopping trolleys, wheely bins, rocks etc.) which can result in blocked lock gates, but Canal & River Trust workers are soon on site to clear any reported incidents. Portland Basin is a good overnight mooring after ascending the Ashton locks, for those who do not wish to proceed beyond Romiley.
There are current campaigns to restore the Hollinwood Branch and Stockport Branches.
The following structures along the canal are Grade II listed: [11]
Point | Coordinates (Links to map resources) | OS Grid Ref | Notes |
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Dukinfield Junction | 53°28′57″N2°05′59″W / 53.4824°N 2.0996°W | SJ934984 | Huddersfield Narrow Canal & Peak Forest Canal |
Fairfield Lock 18 | 53°28′40″N2°09′01″W / 53.4777°N 2.1503°W | SJ901978 | Stub of Hollinwood Branch Canal |
Top of Clayton Locks (No.16) | 53°28′42″N2°09′54″W / 53.4784°N 2.1650°W | SJ891979 | Flight of 9 locks |
Jn with derelict Stockport Branch | 53°28′50″N2°10′41″W / 53.4805°N 2.1780°W | SJ882982 | Clayton lock No.11 |
Bottom of Clayton Locks (No.8) | 53°28′58″N2°11′16″W / 53.4827°N 2.1879°W | SJ876984 | |
Top of Beswick Locks (No.7) | 53°29′09″N2°11′51″W / 53.4858°N 2.1974°W | SJ869988 | Flight of 4 locks |
Bottom of Beswick Locks (No.4) | 53°29′07″N2°12′16″W / 53.4854°N 2.2045°W | SJ865987 | |
Top of Ancoats Locks (No.3) | 53°28′53″N2°13′13″W / 53.4814°N 2.2203°W | SJ854983 | Flight of 3 locks |
Ducie Street Junction | 53°28′48″N2°13′49″W / 53.4799°N 2.2303°W | SJ848981 | Jn with Rochdale Canal |
The Calder and Hebble Navigation is a broad inland waterway, with locks and bridge holes that are suitable for 14-foot-wide (4.3 m) boats, in West Yorkshire, England. Construction to improve the River Calder and the River Hebble began in 1759, and the initial scheme, which included 5.7 miles (9.2 km) of new cuts, was completed in 1770 and has remained navigable since it was opened. Significant improvements were made, including the Salterhebble branch to Halifax, opened in 1828, and ever-longer cuts to bypass river sections. Trade was assisted by the opening of the Rochdale Canal in 1804, which provided a through route from Sowerby Bridge to Manchester. There were plans to abandon the river sections completely in the 1830s, but these were modified as the needs of mill owners and other riparian landowners were recognised.
Tameside is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England, named after the River Tame, which flows through it, and includes the towns of Ashton-under-Lyne, Audenshaw, Denton, Droylsden, Dukinfield, Hyde, Mossley and Stalybridge. Tameside is bordered by the metropolitan boroughs of Stockport to the south, Oldham to the north and northeast, Manchester to the west, and to the east by the Borough of High Peak in Derbyshire. As of 2022, the population of Tameside was 232,753, making it the 8th-most populous borough of Greater Manchester.
The Huddersfield Narrow Canal is an inland waterway in northern England. It runs just under 20 miles (32 km) from Lock 1E at the rear of the University of Huddersfield campus, near Aspley Basin in Huddersfield, to the junction with the Ashton Canal at Whitelands Basin in Ashton-under-Lyne. It crosses the Pennines by means of 74 locks and the Standedge Tunnel.
The Huddersfield Broad Canal or Sir John Ramsden's Canal, is a wide-locked navigable canal in West Yorkshire in northern England. The waterway is 3.75 miles (6 km) long and has 9 wide locks. It follows the valley of the River Colne and connects the Calder and Hebble Navigation at Cooper Bridge junction with the Huddersfield Narrow Canal near Aspley Basin in Huddersfield.
The Rochdale Canal is in Northern England, between Manchester and Sowerby Bridge, part of the connected system of the canals of Great Britain. Its name refers to the town of Rochdale through which it passes.
The Ashton, Stalybridge and Liverpool Junction Railway was opened in 1846 to connect the industrial town of Ashton-under-Lyne to the developing railway network, and in particular to the port of Liverpool. It was a short line, joining the Manchester and Leeds Railway at Miles Platting and the connection to Liverpool was over that line and the Liverpool and Manchester Railway.
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 were already suggestions by that date that a railway would be better, but the committee that had been formed elected for a canal and the engineer Thomas Telford endorsed the decision. The canal as built was a typical Telford canal, constructed using cut and fill, with numerous cuttings and embankments to enable it to follow as straight a course as possible, although Telford had little to do with its construction, which was managed by William Crosley.
The Stockport Branch Canal was a 5-mile (8 km) branch of the Ashton Canal from Clayton to Stockport.
The Hollinwood Branch Canal was a canal near Hollinwood, in Oldham, England. It left the main line of the Ashton Canal at Fairfield Junction immediately above lock 18. It was just over 4.5 miles (7.2 km) long and went through Droylsden and Waterhouses to terminate at Hollinwood Basin. It rose through four locks at Waterhouses (19–22) and another four at Hollinwood (23–26). Immediately above lock 22 at Waterhouses was Fairbottom Junction where the Fairbottom Branch Canal started. Beyond Hollinwood Basin there was a lock free private branch, known as the Werneth Branch Canal, to Old Lane Colliery, which opened in 1797. It is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest and a Local Nature Reserve.
The Fairbottom Branch Canal was a canal near Ashton-under-Lyne in Greater Manchester, England.
The Beat Bank Branch Canal was an abortive canal near Manchester, England. It was to leave the Stockport Branch Canal in South Reddish and it was to be lock free but with a short tunnel. It was to follow the contour above the right bank of the River Tame, firstly in a northerly direction and then easterly as it followed the meandering course of the river upstream. It was to terminate at or near to the coalmining hamlet of Beat Bank in Denton where it could also secure supplies of coal from nearby mines at Haughton Green.
The Oldham, Ashton and Guide Bridge Junction Railway (OA&GB) was a British railway company, which opened in 1861, connecting Oldham, Ashton and Guide Bridge. The company survived until it was nationalised in 1948.
The Cheshire Ring is a canal cruising circuit or canal ring, which includes sections of six canals in and around Cheshire and Greater Manchester in North West England: the Ashton Canal, Peak Forest Canal, Macclesfield Canal, Trent and Mersey Canal, Bridgewater Canal and Rochdale Canal.
The South Pennine Ring is an English canal ring which crosses the Pennines between Manchester and Huddersfield. It covers parts of five canals, and includes passage through the longest canal tunnel in Britain. It has only been possible to cruise it since 2002, when restoration of the Huddersfield Narrow Canal provided the return route across the Pennines.
The North Pennine Ring is a canal ring which crosses the Pennines between Manchester, Leeds and Castleford. It follows parts of five canals, and shares much of its route with the Outer Pennine Ring, which uses a different route for the southern crossing of the Pennines.
The Outer Pennine Ring is an English canal ring which crosses the Pennines between Manchester, Leeds and Castleford. Its route follows parts of eight canals, and includes the longest canal tunnel in England. The ring was completed in 2001, with the opening of the Huddersfield Narrow Canal. Much of the route is shared with the North Pennine Ring, which crosses the Pennines by a different route on the southern leg.
Dukinfield Junction is the name of the canal junction where the Peak Forest Canal, the Ashton Canal and the Huddersfield Narrow Canal meet near Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, England. The area has been designated by Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council as a conservation area.
The Hulme Locks Branch Canal is a canal in the city of Manchester. It is 200m in length and was built to provide a direct waterway between the Mersey and Irwell Navigation and the Bridgewater Canal. The canal opened in 1838 and was superseded in 1995 by a new lock at Pomona Dock 3. As both of its locks remain closed, the canal is now overgrown.
Manchester is a city in Northwest England. The M4 postcode area is to the northeast of the city centre, and includes part of the Northern Quarter, part of New Islington, and the area of Ancoats. This postcode area contains 67 listed buildings that are recorded in the National Heritage List for England. Of these, eight are listed at Grade II*, the middle of the three grades, and the others are at Grade II, the lowest grade.
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