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waterwayPROFILE THE ASHTON & PEAK FOREST CANALS From the centre of Manchester to the glorious Peak District, James Francis Fox explores this enthralling and hugely varied 21-mile route History l Cruising l Food & Drink l Attractions Downloaded by David A Calverley from waterwaysworld.com www.waterwaysworld.com July 2016 53 History The Ashton Canal was proposed by an Act of Parliament in 1792 to connect Manchester to Ashton-under- Lyme. Although the main line was a mere 7 miles, a number of branches were also built, creating a narrow canal network of nearly 20 miles. Principally used to carry coal, the canal initially struggled but by the middle of the 19th century its annual tonnages were in the region of half a million. Bought by the Manchester, She eld & Lincolnshire Railway in 1846, carrying continued – but inevitably The huge Ashton Canal clean-up of 1972, called declined. By 1957, the year before it closed, the ‘Ashtac’, close only 17 tons are recorded as having been to Portland Basin. carried. In 1961 vandals set fi re to Lock 11, virtually destroying it, and preventing the use of the canal as a throughroute. By elsewhere, the Peak Forest Canal Society improved over the last decade or so, this point local councillors and anxious was formed in June that year, with the and there’s no need for such measures. parents were demanding its infi lling and aim of restoring both waterways. The Nevertheless, there are still occasional for some time it looked as though the campaign was arduous. Its fi rst landmark reports of antisocial behaviour and Ashton would be consigned to history. was the historic IWA Rally of 1966 at boaters are advised to cover the Ashton In 1794, an Act was passed for the Marple, which made BWB’s refusal to in daylight hours only. Naturally, care building of the Peak Forest Canal from the countenance restoration work untenable. needs to be exercised when mooring Ashton Canal at Dukinfi eld, through Marple Two years later saw volunteers descend en overnight or leaving a craft unattended. and up into the Peak District. Its primary masse for a largescale dig and cleanup The locks on the Ashton are renowned purpose was to transport limestone, which called ‘Operation Ashton’ – an exercise for debris, which can result in blocked was delivered by tramroads from the repeated in 1972 under the ‘Ashtac’ banner. lock gates, but Canal & River Trust high Derbyshire quarries to basins at both By then, BWB had been brought round, workers are soon on site to clear any Whaley Bridge and Buxworth. The latter, and the Ashton and Lower Peak Forest reported obstructions. And, as befi ts known as Bugsworth Basin, was particularly canals reopened to navigation in 1974. an urban canal, it is heavily used signifi cant, handling over 600 tons of by walkers, cyclists and anglers. limestone per day by the end of the 19th Today Debris on the Peak Forest Canal can century. With the coming of the railways The Ashton and Peak Forest’s mix of also be a problem – particularly on the the canal began to lose business and in the densely urban and spectacularly rural lower section. Once south of Hyde, the 1920s both the tramways and Bugsworth scenery provides a rich and diverse canal becomes rural and by far the biggest Basin closed. Later, the lower section of route for today’s leisure boaters. challenge is the 16lock fl ight at Marple. the canal and Marple Locks fell into disuse, There was once a time when the As the Ashton and Lower Peak while the harsh winter of 196162 caused Ashton Canal was so feared that craft Forest canals form part of the Cheshire serious frost damage to Marple Aqueduct. travelled it in convoy, with boaters putting Ring, they can be busy in peak season. In 1964, the British Waterways Board in 12hour stints at the tiller to pass Similarly, the Upper Peak Forest’s large identifi ed both the Peak Forest and through as quickly as possible and avoid marinas and popular Bugsworth Basin Ashton as candidates for formal closure. unwanted attention. Thankfully, the canal destination can make it a hive of boating With the IWA busy fi ghting battles and its environs have been signifi cantly activity during the summer months. Ashton Canal Piccadilly Village attempts to retain Ducie Street Junction engineering breakthrough a sense of the to Portland Basin for canal engineer Benjamin canal’s past. 18 locks, 6 miles Outram when it was built Cruising time: 4½ hours in 1798. Like other such structures it’s most impressive The Ashton Canal starts at when viewed from below. Ducie Street Junction in central Immediately beyond Manchester, a stone’s throw the aqueduct is Piccadilly from Manchester Piccadilly Village – a fairly new housing Station. Amid the highrise development that attempts apartment blocks, its meeting to retain a sense of the canal’s point with the Rochdale historical character through the Canal is rather understated installation of replica cranes, – marked only by a modest elegant footbridges and canal bridge. While the latter heritagestyle lighting. Thomas canal heads west down the Telford Basin, on the south the towpath side is sharply will need a Canal & River Trust famously arduous ‘Rochdale side of the canal here, o ers contrasted by the former cotton Tkey for the antivandal locks, Nine’, the Ashton runs in the safest local moorings. mill and original canal cottage and some degree of patience the opposite direction, its At Ancoats Lock 1 – the ahead. The latter marks the for the hydraulic paddle gear. fi rst halfmile dominated by fi rst of 18 that raise the canal point where the Islington Arm Above Lock 2, a liftbridge fl ats and modern housing. 167ft to its summit at Fairfi eld heads north under a brick on the towpath side opens to After a sharp 90˚ turn, look Junction – the marriage of towpath bridge. The Ancoats a brand new canal arm leading out for Shore Street Aqueduct. modern and historic continues. Locks are fairly deep with an to the ‘New Islington’ urban Its 45˚ skew represented an The glassfronted tower on average rise of 8ft each. You village. As well as colourful Downloaded by David A Calverley from waterwaysworld.com 54 July 2016 www.waterwaysworld.com Profi le Ashton & Peak Forest canals Heading up Ancoats Locks. The original canal cottage beside the Islington Arm. Scandinavianstyle houses, this is also home to a marina and Walking a handful of visitor moorings. The Upper Peak Forest is As far as modern architecture one of the most appealing goes, the standout structure afternoon walks on the is the Chips building beside Lock 3. In an e ort to meet canal system: a manageable the developers’ requirements length, with excellent views, for “something di erent”, a pub at each end and architect Will Alsop devised return train transport. View of the Etihad this colourful, eightstorey In certain quarters, the Stadium from the canal, stack, which has river names Cheshire Ring, including which forms part of the emblazoned across it. the Lower Peak Forest SportsCity complex. A sense of the old Ashton and Ashton, is promoted is glimpsed above the three as a longdistance walk. locks, where derelict mills, Clayton Flight – nine locks more salubrious surroundings Meanwhile, the Tame Valley horizonhogging gasometers which remain much as they’ve at Clayton, the two Fairfi eld Way and Goyt Way o er and ubiquitous gra ti create always been. Some will hurry Locks lift the Ashton to its a valleyfl oor viewpoint to a postindustrial scene that through, but anyone with a summit. The last time WW complement the higher looks like something straight nose for industrial heritage visited, we noted the potential vistas of the towpath. out of a 1980s Ken Loach fi lm. will fi nd this an interesting of Fairfi eld Junction to be a From Bugsworth and However, it is not long before cruise. A good number of the third regeneration hotspot for Whaley Bridge, there are the 21st century makes its mark canalside factories are still in the Ashton. It’s now partway the infi nite possibilities on the canalside again, in the use, and there is even a touch there, with new apartment provided by the Peak shape of SportsCity. The venue of greenery amid the somewhat blocks overlooking the canal District, and you’ll fi nd for the 2002 Commonwealth rundown surroundings. and the fi rst 100 yards or so of OS Landranger map 110 Games, it represents the largest After Lock 10, the deepest the Hollinwood Branch restored. the perfect resource. concentration of sports venues narrow locks in Britain, look Yet it still has a quiet, almost in Europe, and is home to out for the redundant towpath Britain’s worldbeating cycling bridge to the south. This was team and Manchester City FC. the entrance to the 5mile, For physical exertion of a lockfree Stockport Arm. It di erent kind, this is also the was closed in the 1960s, but is location of the four Ashton now proposed for restoration. Locks, raising the canal by 38ft At Lock 16, the top of the and providing a good view back fl ight, it’s wise for a crew over Manchester city centre. The member to stay on the bank. top lock, past the road bridge, Not only are there two manually retains its 1865 lock cottage operated swingbridges along – incongruous but reassuring here, the pound is susceptible in such a modern area. to low water levels: you may For now, SportsCity is the need to run up to the next A moored boat on limit of regeneration.

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