Words Deborah Mulhearn Photographs Ian Lawson, Walter Menzies and courtesy British Waterways Cheshire’s beautiful and fascinating canals are at the forefront of the nation’s canal renaissance. Cheshire’s canals are perhaps the most diverse in the ago – to young and distinctly urban The Peak Forest Canal touches country. From the fascinating industrial heritage of the landlubbers are negotiating the locks. Boating Cheshire only briefl y, but has one of mighty Manchester Ship Canal, which cuts across the holiday companies are doing great business. its most spectacular features: the Northern edge of the county, to the dramatic Pennine The Cheshire Ring, a 97 mile long circular Marple Aqueduct and the fl ight of 16 scenery of the Macclesfi eld Canal in the east, and the route which is made up from parts of the locks that lift the canal 46m above serene beauty of the Llangollen Canal in the south-west Macclesfi eld Canal, the Peak Forest Canal, the Goyt Valley. The Trent & Mersey corner, they not only cover most of the county but also the Bridgewater Canal and the Trent & Mersey Canal, built to link the River Trent span the history of British canal building. Canal, has never been busier. and the River Mersey, was one of the Cheshire’s proximity to Liverpool and Manchester, “There’s a weird and wonderful mix of earliest canals to be completed, in the hub and heart of the industrial revolution, and to the features specifi c to Cheshire’s canals,” 1777. It runs for 92 miles and has River Mersey, meant that it was quickly criss-crossed explains Peter Birch of British Waterways even more locks – one section with by canals in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. (BW), which owns most of the county’s canals. 30 locks raises the canal by 90m It was the lockless Bridgewater Canal, running from “They were designed by different engineers and is sometimes known as Worsely to Manchester, that set off what came to be and built by local teams of navvies using ‘Heartbreak Hill’. known as ‘canal mania’ when it opened in 1761. local materials.” At the unique Anderton Boat In their heyday, Cheshire’s canals carried millions Constructed prior to the modern concept Lift, boats are lifted between the of tonnes of goods, including crude oil, coal and salt. of standardisation, locks, weirs, sluices, walls, Trent & Mersey Canal and the But that didn’t last long. By 1830 the railway age had bridges, tunnels, towpaths, wharves and River Weaver. This imposing metal arrived. The canals, slow and sure, were no match for aqueducts are all different, not only from each structure was built in 1875, at a the exhilarating 30 mph speeds notched up by the new other but also from the rest of the country. point where the two waterways run locomotives. Their role in the country’s economy went At Beeston, for example, an unusual cast iron parallel about 120m apart but with a into terminal decline and investment fi zzled out. lock was built in 1805. height difference of 15m. It was built During these wilderness years, the Inland to ease the movement of cargoes, Waterways Association and other dedicated groups particularly salt, to and from campaigned to save canals from closure and promote the Mersey. them for recreational use, with volunteers giving up The boat lift was in use until their weekends to repair and reopen lost and 1983, when it became a victim of the dilapidated waterways. post-war decline in the waterways. Now, after decades of under-use and neglect, Seven million pounds from the the national canal network is fl ourishing again, and heritage lottery fund allowed it to Cheshire, with its 135 miles of interlinked, navigable be restored and it reopened in waterways is at the heart of this new canal mania. “We’re so used to conformity now…that 2002 to lift leisure boats. Today it is A new generation of holidaymakers has been this local distinctiveness is another reason for one of the most successful tourist attracted by the colourful narrowboats and slow pace the popularity of the canals,” says Birch. There attractions on the canals. of life on the waterways. Everyone from Hollywood were also incredible engineering feats, as Crucially, Cheshire’s canals superstars Harrison Ford and Calista Flockhart – the canals were hewn through hills or carried are open for business as well as spotted on the Llangollen Canal a couple of years across valleys and even existing waterways. pleasure. Having recognised the 20 power of canals to bring in money Llangollen Canal, which borders his fi elds holds the appeal. People have lived overlooking canals and drive regeneration, everyone at Swanley Hall Farm near Nantwich. A dairy since they were built, though in the past it was mainly from property developers to heritage farmer struggling to stay in business, it made because they worked there. The Duke of Bridgewater organisations and local councils sense to Cope to try to diversify. built a fi ne house at Runcorn to oversee the building of are now involved in restoration. The “Opening a marina is our answer as it will a fl ight of locks on his new canal in the 1760s. It’s now business of making canals and their provide another source of income that will tucked in-between new apartments. Also at Runcorn, infrastructure commercially as well allow us to carry on other farming activities” Urban Splash is working with Halton Council to develop as culturally viable once again says Cope. Forty per cent of the marina’s 315 two sites next to the Bridgewater Canal. is booming. moorings were booked before it opened in Boat builders have seen business September 2006. “A new generation of soar. As well as recreational use, But it’s not all just about boats anymore. more and more people are buying Alongside the canals, schemes include holidaymakers has been boats to live on, too. From retired everything from repairing towpaths to building people to fi rst timers looking for an new canalside pubs and housing. attracted by the colourful alternative lifestyle or those who Tower Wharf in Chester Basin on the have been squeezed out of the Shropshire Union Canal is a collection of old narrowboats and slow pace housing market, a well equipped buildings, in poor repair. It houses Taylor’s canal boat is now a much desired Boatyard, one of the last boatyards to build of life on the waterways fl o a t i n g h o m e . wooden boats. BW is working with Chester City – including Hollywood Boatbuilder John Dowsett, Council and a range of other individuals and director of Northern Marine Services organisations to secure the ailing fabric of the superstars Harrison Ford in Lymm, has seen a tremendous yard’s buildings and restart the business. increase in demand over the past fi ve On the other side of the county at and Calista Flockhart.” years. “It started to build up about Macclesfi eld, a conservation area has been ten or twelve years ago but it was created on the Macclesfi eld Canal. Working For the people that have lived and worked on the canals gradual until the last four or fi ve years with BW and English Heritage, Congleton all their lives, their renaissance is welcome. Maureen when demand shot up,” he says. and Macclesfi eld Borough Councils have put Shaw grew up on the working barges, loading crude oil “The downside is that many together a grants programme for heritage at Stanlow and taking it to the gas tar works at Banbury boat owners are having diffi culty structures within the area. and Leamington Spa. She still lives at Wardle Lock in fi nding moorings and marina British Waterways is also working with Middlewich. “It wasn’t all castles and roses,” she says. spaces,” he warns. Cheshire County Council and local borough “We worked night and day, pulling gates and paddles, To address this problem, councils to create the Weaver Way for walkers walking behind with the horses.” British Waterways is encouraging and cyclists, featuring footbridges and paths that Maureen sounds a warning note about life on landowners to consider new uses to intersect with the canals. On the heritage side, the canals, especially the cold winters, taxes and support the canals. Farmer Michael Lion Salt Works on the Trent & Mersey Canal at depreciation in the value of the boats. But as she says, Cope noticed the big increase in Marston is being developed as a museum. “The canals are vibrant now with holidaymakers and you canal boats passing along the For some people, it’s canalside living that can live comfortably on a 50 ft boat.” 21.