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RAILWAY AND CANAL HISTORICAL SOCIETY

TRAMROAD GROUP

Occasional Paper 136

Tramroads and Railways to the Macclesfield Canal

Allan Brackenbury

The Macclesfield Canal was completed in 1831, late in the canal age. Before long it encountered competition from railways and in 1846 it was acquired by a forerunner of the Great Central Railway. Nevertheless it fulfilled a useful purpose for many years and it is still open today. In this paper I am listing the tramroads that served the canal to my knowledge (there may well be others). Curiously there were none in the two main towns en route – Macclesfield and Congleton. I am deliberately omitting the Poynton colliery railway system as this is a separate subject that has been covered elsewhere, most notably in the 'Poynton' book (see Bibliography). My aim is to indicate what is visible in 1998, so this is not a 'historical' paper, but I have added historical introductions.

1. Middlewood

At High Lane the canal crossed the important Stockport to Buxton turnpike (the present A6) and there was a wharf and warehouse at the end of a short branch. This branch is still in use, mainly by North Cheshire Cruising Club, which was founded here in 1943. It has a sharp turn north at SJ 949852; at this point a short arm once led south to a lane at SJ 948851 where it met a tramroad from Middlewood Colliery. The arm belonged to the colliery lessees, Messrs Clayton and Brooke. Middlewood colliery pre-dated the canal; its probable position was SJ 946849, so the tramroad would only have been about 300 yards long, but there would have been links to other pits in the vicinity. Later two railways passed through Middlewood, the LNWR in 1857 and the GCR & NSR joint line in 1869. Both lines provided sidings to the nearby collieries (the joint line not until 1878) but the canal tramroad continued in use until Middlewood colliery closed in 1892.

After over 100 years of closure, there is still something to see of this short 136/2 tramroad. The canal arm has become a gulley in a thicket that serves as the western border of High Lane cricket ground, but it looks more like an overgrown ditch than an abandoned canal. Beyond the lane where it terminated a wall remains supporting a high mound: the loading basin was here. The tramroad's route on the high embankment is too overgrown to be followed (except perhaps by the reckless). Instead walkers are advised to turn right (west) on the lane for a few yards and then take the left track signed 'Footpath to station'. (There are others signs here, including 'Entrance for HGV' and 'No Cycling', which seem strange companions.) Soon there is a left fork to a house named 'Oak Bank'; beyond the house can be seen the tramroad embankment containing an arched bridge over a former lane. In 1960 I followed the lane through the arch, but it petered out disappointingly among spoil heaps. By 1970 this lane had been abandoned and the far side of the arch was filled in to create a garage for the nearby house. On my 1998 visit it was used for storing equipment. Beyond this point the tramroad cannot be traced (except on an aerial photograph, according to a local lorry driver). Later industrial activity, which continues to this day, has disturbed the evidence of tramroad, collieries and other links with the past.

2. Middlecale Colliery

The first edition 1-inch OS map (David & Charles reprint, sheet 27) shows a tramroad from a pit around SJ 952838 to the canal around SJ 951842, a distance of about ¼ mile. Today the canal basin is marked by a winding point and some moored boats. Trees adorn a mound of colliery spoil. There is no obvious sign of a tramroad here, nor in the flat cultivated field on its south, so the tramroad route (if it really was a tramroad) would have run along the farm lane. But near Middlecale Farm the lane turns sharp left (east) and a clear man-made route continues ahead alongside a hedge. The field is too level to warrant earthworks that would tell us whether this had been a tramroad or merely a farm track, but as there is no southern exit from the field, its origin was unlikely to be a farm access lane. The next field contained the tramroad terminus and the coal pit it served, according to the map. There is no trace of either.

3. Kingfield Pit, Adlington

By 1835, soon after the canal's arrival, six coal seams had opened in Adlington and others opened later. Most of the Adlington pits were small and short-lived, but Kingfield (SJ 936820) was large enough to warrant a ¼-mile tramroad, south-east to the canal at SJ 938817, where Adlington Basin was created. The tramroad was straight, up a slight incline to the canal, and wagons were hauled by a stationary steam engine on the canal bank. A trestle bridge crossed the canal to give access to the east side of the basin. A further trestle bridge crossed the GCR & NSR joint railway when it opened in 1869. Kingfield Pit is thought to have opened around 1847 and closed about 1887. In 1874 a railway connection was made north-east to the joint line at SJ 941822 and this closed in 1884.

In the 1970s Adlington Basin expanded to become the busy Lyme View Marina. Here on the towpath is a milestone whose lettering was mutilated as a wartime defence measure, and behind it is a high embankment which carried the tramroad. The route of the tramroad can be joined nearby, just beyond the car park of the Miners' Arms . A gate and stile give access to the prominent embankment which leads directly to the spoil heaps of Kingfield Pit. At one point the embankment has been cut, presumably for ease of cattle access. Curiously there is virtually no trace of the 1874 railway branch, even though it was longer and crossed two lanes: as it kept to the lie of the land no earthworks were necessary. I had lived in Adlington for fourteen years and crossed its course many time before I discovered it, by chance.

On the west side of Kingfield Pit the public footpath continues along a firm route that is obviously man- made – but it wasn't a tramroad. It was actually a road for horses to haul coal carts along to the public lane at SJ 932821 which is still paved with setts.

A further item of interest, although not relevant to transport, is that this part of Adlington (and Middlewood too) became a popular area between the wars for holiday homes, and several weekend chalets were built in the fields close to the tramroad, by hedges and bushes. Post-war planners frowned on this type of residence and gradually from about 1960 their numbers lessened. Now all are gone in this locality, but it is likely that they have left traces which visitors might think were remnants of the tramroad or colliery. 136/3

4. Kerridge

Kerridge Hill produces a fine stone. It has been quarried for over 500 years and is still being worked today. In the 1830s Mr W. Clayton of Endon Hall constructed a ½-mile tramroad from his quarry (later known as Bridge End Quarry) to the canal. It began with a 100 yard, double-track incline worked by a steam winding engine. A flight of 118 steps ran alongside the incline, passing beneath Windmill Lane by Victoria Bridge. The line continued as a single track beside a lane on a more gradual slope and crossed Oak Lane by Mr Clayton's office and weighing machine. There was a saw mill by the canal wharf with loading space for six boats. The tramroad fell out of use about 1870, but remained substantially intact for many years. When the estate was put up for sale in 1910, potential purchasers were informed of the valuable coal and clay deposits which could be carried to the canal on the tramroad, which just needed 'some repairs'. Probably rails were removed during the First World War.

The long-disused saw mill was still there in 1958, but had gone by 1970. Today the wharf has become a boat yard with a dry dock. Its access track is the rough lane that formerly carried the tramroad, on a low embankment, and climbing a slight gradient. Beyond Oak Lane the slope steepens and the embankment becomes more pronounced. Probably tramroad and lane were built together, side by side, as an access track to Endon Hall leaves on the right, similarly embanked. On previous visits I have spotted stone sleeper blocks in the ground: I didn't see any on my 1998 visit, but they may have been hidden by the summer foliage.

Beyond Endon Hall the route crosses another rough lane. Here the incline commenced, passing through the front garden of Endon Cottage, perhaps too close to the house for comfort. Maybe the occupant worked on the tramroad or in the quarry. The 118 steps remained in use as a public footpath, probably until the 1970s, when the right of way was diverted round the side of the garden instead of passing right through it. Now the path goes beside the wall of the next house (Quarry Bank), up some steep steps, then veers left until the original route is regained, and the way continues up the uneven steps and under Windmill Lane bridge to emerge at the incline head. It is an exciting and exhilarating experience to come up these steps, an enjoyable surprise to anyone who isn't expecting it, but a bit of an ordeal to the unfit. On the present route there are only 112 steps.

Unfortunately the incline is followed by an anti-climax. The ground beyond has been disturbed, destroying evidence of a winding engine and possible tramroad continuation. Signs point to Bridge Quarry of Macclesfield Stone Quarries, indicating that the quarry ahead is still in use.

5. Bosley

This was a railway, not a tramroad, but it deserves to be included because it was a canal feeder.

Francis R. Thompstone & Sons Ltd owned Dane Mill, the flour mill close to Bosley railway station. For several years Thompstone was a customer of the North Staffordshire Railway, but a disagreement in the 1880s caused the mill to transfer its business to the Macclesfield Canal.

A ¾-mile 2 ft 6 in gauge railway was built from the mill to the canal, just below the bottom lock where a warehouse was built. A little 0-4-0T steam engine Magnet was built for this railway in 1887. It closed in the 1920s when the company turned to road transport, having some of the earliest motor lorries in the neighbourhood. Rails remained in situ for several years, and probably were removed during the Second World War.

The warehouse at the foot of the locks was still there in a derelict state in 1957, but it had gone by 1965. Concrete blocks can still be located in the undergrowth. The railway's course can be traced in the woodland here as it lies in a cutting. Onward its route is between the River Dane and the NSR line and it is considerably overgrown. Tunstall Road crosses the Dane and nearby is a large flour mill ('Lowerworks Mill' per 1954 6-inch map) which has been extended across the trackbed. Formerly the railway passed east of the mill and then west of Harrington House before crossing the road to Dane Mills' 'Higher Works'. Possibly a 136/4 gap in the trees, between the road and Harrington House's drive, is the railway's route, and one can imagine the site of the skew road crossing to the mill beside the Dane. The mill complex has expanded over the years and now incorporates the site of Bosley railway station. For many years 'wood treatment' has been the principal activity and the current owner is WTL International Ltd.

6. Mow Cop

This was the longest and most dramatic tramroad to feed the Macclesfield Canal, for it was over two miles long, had two inclines, and tunnelled under Mow Cop village. Moreover, although long departed, it has bequeathed names 'Bank' and 'Brake' still in everyday use in the locality. It was built by a Mr Williamson, colliery proprietor, from Stone Trough Colliery (SJ 867563) soon after the canal opened. Starting in a generally northerly direction to Tower Hill, it then swung west. At SJ 866570 it crossed the route of the 1807 Congleton Railway which also had started from Stone Trough; as this had already been abandoned, there was no need for both routes to be on the same level, and there was a difference of about a foot between them. The tramroad continued westward under Mow Cop and descended to the canal by a wharf at Kent Green (SJ 840576). It is shown on the first edition of the 1-inch OS map (David & Charles reprint, sheet 27), but by then the link from Stone Trough had gone although it served two other collieries.

The coal wharf at Kent Green has become a marina, the home of a firm called Heritage Narrow Boats. From it, one can see an embankment in the sloping field beyond the railway: this marks the tramroad's lower incline. A road named Spring Bank climbs on a roughly parallel course and had a skew crossing with the tramroad beyond the incline summit, close to Bank Methodist church of 1839. East of the crossing the road is named 'The Bank' and so is the adjacent village. The tramroad site must be in the garden of 'Hill Top', 41 Spring Bank, before the skew crossing: beyond the crossing its route has become Meadowside Lane. In the acute angle between road and tramroad there is a house with a suitably odd shape.

At SJ 847572 Meadowside Lane crosses Mount Pleasant Road. The first edition 1-inch map shows that the tramroad passed beneath this road and this explains a sudden rise on Meadowside Lane. (But the bridge may have been low by present-day standards.) East of here the tramroad is named 'The Brake'; very soon a lane turns away to reach a hamlet called Brake Village, but the tramroad's upper incline commences ahead. (I am guessing that there were two inclines: the near-level length between the two slopes is about ¼ mile.) The upper incline is well defined, initially in a cutting and then on an embankment. Near its summit at SJ 853571 Halls Road is crossed. Beyond here a security fence blocks access, unfortunately, for the tunnel entrance was around here. It looks as though the ground surface has been disrupted deliberately to prevent anyone finding either tunnel entrance.

The tramroad can be seen again at around SJ 859570 where it crosses a footpath at an acute angle. Its course westward became a clay pit which has now been landscaped. Eastward it can be seen heading for the houses on Church Lane, above Critchlow's lorry yard. Nearby there is a stone sleeper block at a stile (not on the actual tramroad route). Church Road was crossed between nos. 9 and 11, whose garages are now on the route. Opposite it went through the garden of Warwick House and then passed industrial premises. Beyond are fields and the route can be seen as a cutting full of nettles, then an embankment over a stream. After crossing the Congleton Railway it continues as an access track to Towerhill Farm (SJ 867569). Nearby, beyond Biddulph Road, are the ruined remains of the engine house of Tower Hill Colliery, marked 'Danger. Keep Out', and a substantial spoil heap. The old 1-inch map shows that the tramroad forked, one branch ending here, the other continuing south-east to a colliery at SJ 872567. Today there is no sign of this tramroad or colliery, in spite of a hilly landscape. Similarly, there is no sign of the route to Stone Trough Colliery except in the vicinity of the Stone Trough spoil heap. This makes me think that at some time the nearby fields have been levelled to make them suitable for agriculture.

7. Hall o' Lee Colliery

This colliery was at SJ 841566, « mile from the canal. A tramroad led downhill direct to a canal wharf at Kent Green (SJ 837572). When the NSR main line opened in 1848 it crossed over the tramroad which in due 136/5 course was converted into a railway with a connection to the NSR line. The line to the canal continued in use and it was still there in 1895.

The canal loading bank is still visible north of bridge 89. The path that crosses the canal here comes beside the tramroad and they pass side by side under the railway. The spur from the NSR joins on the left, and the route continues as a clear path through woods to the colliery site which is marked by various mounds.

8. Tramroad Bridge

This is not a canal feeder, but as canal bridge 91 is called 'Tramroad Bridge' it should not be ignored. First edition 1-inch OS map reprint, sheet 26, shows a tramroad west from the bridge to a coal wharf at Scholar Green, just west of the main A34 road (SJ 832568). The tramroad route east of bridge 91 ought to be on sheet 27 –but it isn't.

There are now houses on the site of the coal wharf, most of them modern, but no. 203 is older and set back, so it might possibly have been there in tramroad days. Between the A34 and the canal the tramroad's route has become Portland Drive, and on this road is Spring Terrace, a dozen ancient houses with a pavement at a significantly higher level than the road. It is tempting to believe that this is the actual alignment of the tramroad. Between Portland Drive and the canal bridge the route passes outbuildings of a large house with a railway signal in its garden. Then comes the canal, in a cutting with no sign of a wharf. The tramroad continued at the edge of a field and passed under the NSR by a low bridge.

Where did it go next? There are no obvious earthworks to follow. Up to this point a public footpath has been on or beside the course of the tramroad. Here the footpath forks into two, so it is logical to think that one of these follows the tramroad alignment. The southern fork is too, undulating to be of tramroad origin, but the northern path is flattish and might have been a tramroad – and it leads to Hall o' Lee Colliery. This induces the suggestion that in pre-railway days this colliery had two tramroads, one (7) north to the canal for long distance traffic, and the other (8) west to the nearest main road for local customers. If there had been space on (8) beside the canal for a wharf, probably (7) would not have been constructed.

Bibliography

William S. Broster, Bollington and Kerridge (the author, 1980), pp 16-19 (Tramroad 4) Cheshire Ring Canal Walk (Cheshire C.C., 1987), Book 2, p.24 (5); Book 3, p 19 (7) Frank Bruckshaw, Eadwulf's Farm (Adlington Civic Society, 1982), pp 55, 86 (3) George Longden & Molly Spink, Looking back at Bollington (Willow Publishing, 1986), p39 (4) Basil Jeuda, The Macclesfield, Bollington & Marple Railway (Cheshire C.C., 1983, pp 4, 17, 20 (1), p 16 (3) W.H. Shercliff, The Macclesfield Canal: its economic importance to north east Cheshire (Lancashire & Cheshire Antiquarian Society, 1985), pp 108-124 The Macclesfield Express , 21 March 1968, 12 June 1969 (4) W.H. Shercliff, D.A. Kitching & J.M. Ryan, Poynton: a coalmining village (W.H. Shercliff, 1983), pp 14-19, 40-41 (1) Rail, water and tramways (Cheshire C.C., 1986, p.6 (3), pp 17-19 (1 and 2) Basil Jeuda, Railways of the Macclesfield district (Wyvern, 1984), p 63 (5) Tour notes for RCHS North West Group visits, 13 June 1970, 23 June 1979 (1)

October 1998

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