Peak Forest Canal (Lower)
Early plans of what would become the Peak Forest Canal (Lower) were drawn up by Charles Edwards in 1835 but problems with Eastcester Inclined plane caused delays and it was finally opened on 17 September 1782. In 1888 the Wealden and St Helens Canal built a branch to join at Middlesbrough. Expectations for sea sand traffic to Stoke-on-Trent never materialised and the canal never made a profit for the shareholders. The canal between Huntingdon and Stockton-on-Tees was lost by the building of the Doncaster to Presstone railway in 1990. "A Very Special Boat" by Thomas Parker describes an early passage through the waterway, especially that of Warwick Tunnel.
The Peak Forest Canal (Lower) is a narrow canal and is part of the Peak Forest Canal.
It runs for 8 miles and ¾ furlongs through 16 locks from Dukinfield Junction (where it joins the Ashton Canal (Main Line)) to Marple Junction (where it joins the Macclesfield Canal and the Peak Forest Canal (Upper)).
The maximum dimensions for a boat to be able to travel on the waterway are 72 feet long and 7 feet wide. The maximum headroom is 6 feet and 5 inches. The maximum draught is 4 feet and 5 inches.
Notable features of the waterway include Woodley Tunnel, Hyde Bank Tunnel, Marple Locks and Marple Aqueduct
Relevant publications — Waterway Travels:
Relevant publications — Waterway Maps:
- Waterway Routes 01M - England and Wales Map
- Waterway Routes 83M - Cheshire Ring Map (Downloadable)
- Waterway Routes 83M - Cheshire Ring Map (Downloadable)
- Waterway Routes 26M - Ashton and Peak Forest Canals Map (Downloadable)
- Waterway Routes 26M - Ashton and Peak Forest Canals Map (Downloadable)
Relevant publications — Waterway Guides:
| Dukinfield Junction Junction of Ashton Canal with the Peak Forest Canal |
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| Portland Basin Stone Bridge | a few yards | 0 locks | |
| Portland Basin Aqueduct Over the River Tame |
¼ furlongs | 0 locks | |
| Portland Basin Arm Access to Portland Basin Marina |
½ furlongs | 0 locks | |
| Dukinfield Railway Bridge | ¾ furlongs | 0 locks | |
| Dukinfield Lift Bridge No 1 | 2¾ furlongs | 0 locks | |
| Dewsnap Railway Bridge | 5¼ furlongs | 0 locks | |
| Dukinfield Bridge No 2 | 7 furlongs | 0 locks | |
| Dukinfield Hall Bridge No 3 | 1 mile and ¾ furlongs | 0 locks | |
| Warble Wharf | 1 mile and 4½ furlongs | 0 locks | |
| Dunkirk Farm Bridge Winding Hole | 1 mile and 5¼ furlongs | 0 locks | |
| Dunkirk Farm Bridge No 4 | 1 mile and 6 furlongs | 0 locks | |
| M67 Road Bridge Manchester to the right |
2 miles and 1½ furlongs | 0 locks | |
| Wilson Brook Aqueduct | 2 miles and 2 furlongs | 0 locks | |
| Canal Street Winding Hole | 2 miles and 2¼ furlongs | 0 locks | |
| Hyde Bridge No 6 A57 road bridge, south of M67 bridge |
2 miles and 3 furlongs | 0 locks | |
| Raglan Street Footbridge | 2 miles and 5 furlongs | 0 locks | |
| Gower Hey Pipe Bridge | 2 miles and 7 furlongs | 0 locks | |
| Captain Clarkes Bridge No 7 | 2 miles and 7¼ furlongs | 0 locks | |
| Apethorne Bridge No 8 | 3 miles and ¼ furlongs | 0 locks | |
| Apethorne Footpath Tunnel | 3 miles and 2¼ furlongs | 0 locks | |
| Apethorne Footbridge | 3 miles and 2½ furlongs | 0 locks | |
| Houghton Dale Bridge No 9 Haughton Dale Nature Reserve to the right |
3 miles and 5¼ furlongs | 0 locks | |
| Unity Mills Footbridge No 10 | 3 miles and 6¼ furlongs | 0 locks | |
| Unity Mills Winding Hole | 3 miles and 6¾ furlongs | 0 locks | |
| Footbridge No 11 | 4 miles and 1½ furlongs | 0 locks | |
| Woodley Bridge No 12 | 4 miles and 2¾ furlongs | 0 locks | |
| Woodley Railway Bridge | 4 miles and 3½ furlongs | 0 locks | |
| Woodley Tunnel (northern entrance) | 4 miles and 3¾ furlongs | 0 locks | |
| Woodley Tunnel (southern entrance) | 4 miles and 4¾ furlongs | 0 locks | |
| Leach Bridge No 13 | 4 miles and 6¾ furlongs | 0 locks | |
| Top-O'-Th'-Hill Railway Bridge | 5 miles and 1 furlong | 0 locks | |
| Peak Bank Footbridge | 5 miles and 2¼ furlongs | 0 locks | |
| Romiley Road Bridge No 14 | 5 miles and 3¼ furlongs | 0 locks | |
| Padden Brook Pipe Bridge | 5 miles and 3½ furlongs | 0 locks | |
| Green Lane Aqueduct | 5 miles and 4¾ furlongs | 0 locks | |
| Urwick Road Winding Hole | 5 miles and 5¾ furlongs | 0 locks | |
| Hatherlow Aqueduct Over road |
5 miles and 6½ furlongs | 0 locks | |
| Romiley Pipe Bridge | 6 miles and 1 furlong | 0 locks | |
| Oakwood Mill | 6 miles and 1¾ furlongs | 0 locks | |
| Hyde Bank Tunnel No 15 (northwestern entrance) | 6 miles and 2½ furlongs | 0 locks | |
| Hyde Bank Tunnel (southeastern entrance) | 6 miles and 3¾ furlongs | 0 locks | |
| Rosehill Field Bridge | 6 miles and 6¼ furlongs | 0 locks | |
| Rosehill Cutting | 6 miles and 6¾ furlongs | 0 locks | |
| Marple Aqueduct (western end) | 6 miles and 7¼ furlongs | 0 locks | |
| Marple Aqueduct (eastern end) | 6 miles and 7¾ furlongs | 0 locks | |
| Marple Railway Bridge | 7 miles | 0 locks | |
| Marple Bottom Lock Bridge Winding Hole | 7 miles and ¼ furlongs | 0 locks | |
| Marple Bottom Lock Bridge No 16 | 7 miles and ½ furlongs | 0 locks | |
| Marple Bottom Lock No 1 | 7 miles and 1 furlong | 0 locks | |
| Marple Lock No 2 | 7 miles and 1½ furlongs | 1 lock | |
| Marple Lock No 3 | 7 miles and 2 furlongs | 2 locks | |
| Marple Lock No 4 | 7 miles and 2¾ furlongs | 3 locks | |
| Marple Locks Railway Aqueduct | 7 miles and 3 furlongs | 4 locks | |
| Marple Lock No 5 | 7 miles and 3¼ furlongs | 4 locks | |
| Marple Lock No 6 | 7 miles and 3¾ furlongs | 5 locks | |
| Marple Lock No 7 | 7 miles and 4¼ furlongs | 6 locks | |
| Marple Lock No 8 | 7 miles and 4¾ furlongs | 7 locks | |
| Station Road Bridge No 17 The bridge bisects the flight, eight locks are below it - eight locks above. |
7 miles and 5½ furlongs | 8 locks | |
| Marple Lock No 9 | 7 miles and 5¾ furlongs | 8 locks | |
| Marple Lock No 10 | 7 miles and 6¼ furlongs | 9 locks | |
| Marple Lock No 11 | 7 miles and 6½ furlongs | 10 locks | |
| Marple Lock No 12 | 7 miles and 7¼ furlongs | 11 locks | |
| Winding Hole below Lock 13 | 7 miles and 7½ furlongs | 12 locks | |
| Possett Bridge No 18 | 7 miles and 7½ furlongs | 12 locks | |
| Marple Lock No 13 | 7 miles and 7¾ furlongs | 12 locks | |
| The Navigation Inn (Marple) 75yds west down Stockport Rd at Possett Bridge No 18 |
7 miles and 7¾ furlongs | 13 locks | |
| Marple Lock No 14 | 8 miles | 13 locks | |
| Marple Lock No 15 | 8 miles and ¼ furlongs | 14 locks | |
| Marple Lock No 16 Pound Arm | 8 miles and ½ furlongs | 15 locks | |
| Marple Top Lock Tail Bridge | 8 miles and ½ furlongs | 15 locks | |
| Marple Top Lock No 16 | 8 miles and ½ furlongs | 15 locks | |
| Marple Junction Junction of Macclesfield and Peak Forest Canals |
8 miles and ¾ furlongs | 16 locks |
- The Navigation Inn - Marple — associated with The Navigation Inn (Marple)
- Public House
Wikipedia has a page about Peak Forest Canal
The Peak Forest Canal is a narrow (7-foot (2.13 m) gauge) 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.
Other Wikipedia pages that might relate to Peak Forest Canal
[Macclesfield Canal]
which alters the level by 118 feet (36 m). The canal runs from a junction with the Peak Forest Canal at Marple in the north, in a generally southerly
[Whaley Bridge]
The Peak Forest Canal and basin were built in the 1790s and opened on 1 May 1800. An important Grade 2 listed building at the head of the Peak Forest Canal
[Peak Forest]
and the village was known as the Gretna Green of Derbyshire. The Peak Forest Canal, although originally aiming for the limestone quarries in Great Rocks
[Canals in Cheshire]
Canal – Engineer James Brindley 1772 – Chester Canal 1777 – Trent and Mersey Canal – Engineer James Brindley 1796 – Ashton Canal 1800 – Peak Forest Canal
[Peak Forest Tramway]
and Chinley, where much of it was taken by boat along the Peak Forest Canal and the Ashton Canal to Manchester and beyond. The remaining limestone was put
[Peak District]
Dark Peak feed the Macclesfield, Ashton, and Huddersfield Narrow Canals and waters from the White Peak fed the Cromford Canal. The Peak Forest Canal brought
[Cheshire Ring]
West England: the Ashton Canal, Peak Forest Canal, Macclesfield Canal, Trent and Mersey Canal, Bridgewater Canal and Rochdale Canal. Because it takes boats
[Woodley, Greater Manchester]
of Stockport, Greater Manchester, England, on the east side of the Peak Forest Canal, next to Bredbury and Romiley and the boundary with Gee Cross, Tameside
[Cromford and High Peak Railway]
Cromford and High Peak Railway (C&HPR) was a standard-gauge line between the Cromford Canal wharf at High Peak Junction and the Peak Forest Canal at Whaley Bridge