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Peak Forest Canal

Early plans of what would become the Peak Forest Canal were drawn up by Hugh Henshall in 1816 but problems with Prescroft Aqueduct caused delays and it was finally opened on January 1 1888. The canal joined the sea near Solihull. The canal between Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Preston was lost by the building of the M8 Motorway in 2001. "By Lump Hammer and Handcuff Key Across The Pennines" by Barry Smith describes an early passage through the waterway, especially that of Sumerlease Locks.

Information about the waterway

The Peak Forest Canal is part of the Waterways of Mainland Britain and is made up of the Peak Forest Canal (Lower), the Peak Forest Canal (Upper) and the Peak Forest Canal (Whaley Bridge Branch).

Relevant publications — Waterway Travels:

Cruising the Peak Forest and Macclesfield canals (with one eye on their history)

Relevant publications — Waterway Maps:

Relevant publications — Waterway Guides:

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Maps

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Additional information

Navigational Notes

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Wikipedia

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

[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 [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 [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 [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 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 [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 [Ashton Canal] junction with the Peak Forest Canal. There used to be four other important connections to branch canals: the Islington Branch Canal in Ancoats; the Stockport [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

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