Cheshire Ring | |
---|---|
Specifications | |
Length | 97 miles (156 km) |
Locks | 92 |
Status | Canal ring |
Navigation authority | Canal & River Trust & Peel Holdings |
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.
Because it takes boats approximately one week to complete the circuit, it is suited to narrowboat holidays that start at and return to the same location. The route has 92 locks and is 97 miles (156 km) long. It passes through contrasting landscapes between Manchester city centre and rural Cheshire with views of the Peak District and the Cheshire Plain. [1]
The term "Cheshire Ring" first appeared in the Inland Waterways Association (IWA) Bulletin in 1965, [2] where it was coined as part of a campaign to prevent the abandonment of, and restore navigation to, part of what had been known as the Peak Forest Circular Route between Manchester and Marple. When commercial carrying declined after the Second World War, sections of the Rochdale, Ashton and Peak Forest canals that make up the urban part of the ring had gradually fallen into disuse, and by the early 1960s were impassable, with little depth of water and many locks in an unusable condition. There was a risk that the canals would be abandoned, and infilled, as they were becoming stinking eyesores. Perseverance by the IWA and the Peak Forest Canal Society paid off, and on 1 April 1974, following restoration, the ring was re-opened to navigation.
The Rochdale Canal (unlike most other canals in England) was not nationalised in 1947, and remained in the ownership of the Rochdale Canal Company. Both the Rochdale Canal and Bridgewater Canal escaped nationalisation as a result of being owned subsidiaries of the Manchester Ship Canal company.
In 2002, as part of the restoration of the Rochdale, ownership of the Rochdale Canal Company passed to the Waterways Trust, and British Waterways became the navigation authority, bringing to an end the £35 toll that had been charged to use the one-mile section through Manchester which had deterred some boats from attempting the ring.
Since 1977, a marathon-style 96-mile (154 km) canoeing race has been organized called the Cheshire Ring Race. Traversing five canals, it starts and finishes at Higher Poynton on the Macclesfield Canal. Participation is open to individual paddlers, crew boats and relay teams. The race is held under the aegis of Macclesfield And District Canoe Club (MADCC). [3]
Canals and places on each (clockwise from Ducie St Junction, just north of Manchester Piccadilly station):
The Trent and Mersey Canal is a 93+1⁄2-mile (150 km) 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 Middlewich, it is a wide canal.
The River Dane is a tributary of the River Weaver that originates in the Peak District area of England. The name of the river is probably from the Old Welsh dafn, meaning a "drop or trickle", implying a slow-moving river.
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 eleven locks, was completed in 1732. An unusual clause in the enabling Act of Parliament stipulated that profits should be given to the County of Cheshire for the improvement of roads and bridges, but the navigation was not initially profitable, and it was 1775 before the first payments were made. Trade continued to rise, and by 1845, over £500,000 had been given to the county.
The Ashton Canal is a canal in Greater Manchester, England, linking Manchester with Ashton-under-Lyne.
The Peak Forest Canal is a narrow locked artificial waterway in northern England. It is 14.8 miles (23.8 km) long and forms part of the connected English/Welsh inland waterway network.
Poynton is a town in Cheshire, England, on the easternmost fringe of the Cheshire Plain, 11 miles (18 km) south-east of Manchester, 7 miles (11 km) north of Macclesfield and 5 miles (8 km) south of Stockport. Poynton has formed part of the Cheshire East unitary authority since the abolition of the Borough of Macclesfield in 2009.
The IWA National Festival & Boat Show run by the Inland Waterways Association is one of the key annual events on the United Kingdom's inland waterways. Generally referred to as the "National" it serves several functions:
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 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.
A canal ring is the name given to a series of canals that make a complete loop.
A large number of canals were built in Cheshire, England, during the early phases of the Industrial Revolution to transport goods and raw materials. This resulted in a significant canal network which is now enjoyed by holiday-makers, anglers, walkers, and others.
The Manchester and Salford Junction Canal was a canal in the city of Manchester. It was originally built to provide a direct waterway between the Mersey and Irwell Navigation and the Rochdale Canal. The canal opened in 1839 and was abandoned in 1922.
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.
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.
This is a list of places of interest in Cheshire, England. See List of places in Cheshire for a list of settlements in the county.
The North Cheshire Way is a 71-mile (114 km) long-distance footpath in Cheshire, England. It runs approximately eastwards from Hooton railway station on the Wirral peninsula to Disley railway station on the edge of the Peak District, where it connects with the Gritstone Trail. There is a 6-mile (9.7 km) spur from Chester to Croughton.
The Dane Valley Way is a long-distance footpath through Derbyshire, Staffordshire and Cheshire, England. It runs from the Pavilion Gardens in Buxton to the end of the River Dane, where it enters the River Weaver in Northwich.
The ceremonial county of Cheshire, which comprises the unitary authorities of Cheshire East, Cheshire West and Chester, Halton and Warrington, has returned 11 MPs to the UK Parliament since 1997.