| Hurleston Junction | |
|---|---|
 Hurleston Junction: the Llangollen Canal begins here with a flight of four locks raising the water level more than 34 feet (10.4 metres) | |
| Specifications | |
| Status | Open |
| Navigation authority | Canal & River Trust |
| History | |
| Date completed | 1796 |
Hurleston Junction (grid reference SJ625553 ) is the name of the canal junction where the Llangollen Canal terminates and meets the Shropshire Union Canal main line at Hurleston, Cheshire, England.
The Chester Canal was planned as a broad canal running from Chester to Middlewich, with a branch to Nantwich. It was authorised by an Act of Parliament in 1772, but the plans changed and the main line was built from Chester to Nantwich. Lack of finance prevented the construction of a branch to Middlewich. Commercially, the canal was a failure, and after opening in 1779, it lasted eight years until the company collapsed. However, it was reopened three years later in 1790, as the proposed construction of the Ellesmere Canal would make it part of a larger network, and might enable the Middlewich Branch, which would connect with the Trent and Mersey Canal to be built. [1]
The Ellesmere Canal as first envisioned was a huge undertaking, running from the River Mersey to the River Dee and on to Shrewsbury, with branches connecting Ruabon, Llangollen, Bersham, Llanymynech and possibly Whitchurch and Wem. William Jessop was asked to be engineer, and proposed some variations to the route. [2] Opposing factions amalgamated in February 1793, and an Act of Parliament was obtained in April, which resulted in a line from Ellesmere Port to a junction with the Chester Canal opening in January 1797. [3] Work started in early 1794 on a line from Hordley, near Frankton, to Llanymynech, after which it would be joined by the proposed Montgomeryshire Canal at Carreghofa. Llanymynech had extensive limestone quarries, which would provide trade for the canal. The branch was open by autumn 1796, [4] and the first commercial use of the junction was thus in late 1796.
The junction was originally a meeting point between the Chester Canal main line and the Ellesmere Canal branch to Llanymynech. In 1813, the two companies amalgamated, to become the Ellesmere and Chester Canal. [5] In 1826, the Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal was authorised, which would link Nantwich to the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal at Autherley Junction near Wolverhampton. It opened in 1835, [6] In 1845, a further amalgamation took place with this company, and shortly afterwards, it was renamed to become the Shropshire Union Canal. [7] The Llangollen Canal was originally the Llangollen Branch, running from Frankton Junction on the Llanymynech Branch to Llangollen. The Llanymynech Branch closed below Frankton in 1936, following a breach at Perry Aqueduct. [8] Much of the Shropshire Union system was closed by the owners, the London Midland and Scottish Railway, in 1944, but the main line was retained, and the line to Llangollen was retained as a water feeder. [9] The whole length from Hurleston Junction to Llangollen has been rebranded as the Llangollen Canal, and the canal below Frankton Junction, all of which is now called the Montgomeryshire Canal, is being restored.
From the junction, the Chester Canal runs to the north-west, and is level for 4.1 miles (6.6 km) to the two staircase locks at Bunbury. Barbridge Junction, where the Middlewich Branch turns off, was eventually built in 1833, is 1.3 miles (2.1 km) from the junction. Heading in the other direction towards Wolverhampton, the canal is level for 10.7 miles (17.2 km) to the bottom lock of the 15-lock Audlem flight. [10] A roving bridge carries the towpath over the canal just to the south of the junction. [11]
Immediately after the junction, the Llangollen Canal rises through the four Hurleston locks, which raise the level of the canal by 34.25 feet (10.44 m), beyond which the canal is crossed by the A51 road. To the north of the locks is Hurleston Reservoir, which is filled by water which passes along the canal from the Horseshoe Falls at Llantysilio. As well as supplying the canal, the reservoir is used for drinking water, holding 85 million gallons (390 Ml). [12] Around 12 million gallons (55 Ml) flow along the canal each day to supply it. [13]
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 and the manufacturing centres in the West Midlands. However, the canal was never completed as intended because of its rising costs and failure to generate the expected commercial traffic.
The Llangollen Canal is a navigable canal crossing the border between England and Wales. The waterway links Llangollen in Denbighshire, north Wales, with Hurleston in south Cheshire, via the town of Ellesmere, Shropshire. The name, which was coined in the 1980s, is a modern designation for parts of the historic Ellesmere Canal and the Llangollen navigable feeder, both of which became part of the Shropshire Union Canals in 1846.
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 Chester Canal was an English canal linking the south Cheshire town of Nantwich with the River Dee at Chester. It was intended to link Chester to Middlewich, with a branch to Nantwich, but the Trent and Mersey Canal were unco-operative about a junction at Middlewich, and so the route to Nantwich was opened in 1779. There were also difficulties negotiating with the River Dee Company, and with no possibility of through traffic, the canal was uneconomic. Part of it was closed in 1787, when Beeston staircase locks collapsed, and there was no money to fund repairs. When the Ellesmere Canal was proposed in 1790, the company saw it as a ray of hope, and somehow managed to keep the struggling canal open. The Ellesmere Canal provided a link to the River Mersey at Ellesmere Port from 1797, and the fortunes of the Chester Canal began to improve.
Horseshoe Falls is a weir on the River Dee near Llantysilio Hall in Denbighshire, Wales, about 5 kilometres (3 mi) north-west of the town of Llangollen.
The Montgomery Canal, known colloquially as "The Monty", is a partially restored canal in eastern Powys and northwest Shropshire. The canal runs 33 miles (53 km) from the Llangollen Canal at Frankton Junction to Newtown via Llanymynech and Welshpool and crosses the England–Wales border.
The Shrewsbury Canal was a canal in Shropshire, England. Authorised in 1793, the main line from Trench to Shrewsbury was fully open by 1797, but it remained isolated from the rest of the canal network until 1835, when the Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal built the Newport Branch from Norbury Junction to a new junction with the Shrewsbury Canal at Wappenshall. After ownership passed to a series of railway companies, the canal was officially abandoned in 1944; many sections have disappeared, though some bridges and other structures can still be found. There is an active campaign to preserve the remnants of the canal and to restore the Norbury to Shrewsbury line to navigation.
Norbury Junction is a hamlet and former canal junction which lies about 1 mile (1.6 km) to the south east of Norbury, in Staffordshire, England. It opened in 1835, and closed in 1944, although the main line of the Shropshire Union Canal still runs through it.
The Shropshire Union Railways and Canal Company was a Company in England, formed in 1846, which managed several canals and railways. It intended to convert a number of canals to railways, but was leased by the London and North Western Railway (LNWR) from 1847, and although they built one railway in their own right, the LNWR were keen that they did not build any more. They continued to act as a semi-autonomous body, managing the canals under their control, and were critical of the LNWR for not using the powers which the Shropshire Union Company had obtained to achieve domination of the markets in Shropshire and Cheshire by building more railways.
Autherley Junction is the name of the canal junction where the Shropshire Union Canal terminates and meets the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal near to Oxley, north Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England.
Aldersley Junction is the name of the canal junction where the Birmingham Main Line Canal terminates and meets the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal near to Oxley, north Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England. It opened in 1772.
Aston Junction is the name of the canal junction where the Digbeth Branch Canal terminates and meets the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal near to Aston, Birmingham, England.
The Four Counties Ring is a canal ring which links the four English counties of Cheshire, Staffordshire, Shropshire and the West Midlands.
The Middlewich Branch of the Shropshire Union Canal is located in Cheshire, in the north west of England, and runs between Middlewich, where it joins the Trent and Mersey Canal, and Barbridge Junction, where it joins the main line of the Shropshire Union Canal. It is 10 miles (16 km) 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.
Frankton Junction is the name of the canal junction where the Montgomery Canal terminates and meets the Llangollen Canal at Lower Frankton, Shropshire, England.
Horseley Fields Junction is a canal junction at the western limit of the Wyrley and Essington Canal where it meets the BCN Main Line, at Horseley Fields east of Wolverhampton, in the West Midlands, England.
Catshill Junction is a canal junction at the northern limit of the Daw End Branch Canal where it meets the Wyrley and Essington Canal main line, near Brownhills, in West Midlands, England.
Barbridge Junction is the name of the canal junction located at Barbridge, Cheshire, where the Shropshire Union Canal Middlewich Branch terminates and meets the Shropshire Union Canal main line.
Wappenshall Junction is a British canal junction located at Wappenshall, Shropshire. It was created when the Newport Branch Canal joined the Shrewsbury Canal in 1835, and was closed along with the canal in 1944.
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 Liverpool and the industrial heartlands of the Midlands, the canal was opened in 1835, and merged with the Ellesmere and Chester Canal Company in 1845, which became the Shropshire Union Railways and Canal Company in the following year.
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