Bridgewater Canal

 After several days of doing lots of locks we arrived at Castlefield Basin in Manchester where we joined the Bridgewater Canal. What is the chief attraction of the Bridgewater? Answer: it has no locks! The Bridgewater Canal was in many ways the first 'proper' canal in the sense of not being just an existing river with locks but a completely separate channel. It was built in the 1760s by Francis Egerton the 3rd Earl of Bridgewater to bring coal from his mines at Worsley into Manchester.

So here is an account of our few days on the Bridgewater:

As we left Castlefield Basin on Friday 28th June this photo was taken looking back. The flats in the foreground are in converted warehouses with the large arches where boats were taken in to unload under cover. The tall blocks behind were certainly not there in Egerton's time and we don't believe they were all here on our last visit 12 years ago.

The Bridgewater heads west out of Manchester. The tram line is on the bridge and behind it you can see the Manchester Ship Canal. The Pomona Lock part way along this 3 mile stretch lets boats down from the Bridgewater onto the Ship Canal.

We came straight past the Manchester United Ground.

And soon came to Waters Meeting the next canal junction. To the right the Bridgewater leads to Worsley and Leigh, to the left to Stretford and Sale. Because we were waiting for the locks at Wigan to open after repairs we knew we had plenty of time so we first went left, though ultimately we needed to go right.

We had arranged to meet our friends, Iain and Ann, at Dunham Massey on the following day. This is a National Trust property close to the canal just west of Sale. Ann, Iain and Helen can be spotted in the left foreground.

A herd of fallow deer roam through the parkland.

And this stag was clearly determined to taste the leaves on the lime trees.

On our way back from Dunham Massey we stopped in Sale principally because we've never visited the town before. Though we found little of interest in the town, a 20 minute walk took us to Walkden Gardens which were a delight being divided into many small areas each with a particular character. The picture is of the Japanese Garden.

After lunch we carried on and moored overnight at the Trafford Centre. Those arriving at this huge shopping and entertainment site by car probably do not realise that there is also provision to 'park' your boat there. We are not usually people who frequent shopping centres, but we thought the architecture and atmosphere at the Trafford Centre was marvellous. Particularly the newer section called Trafford Palazzo was mock Roman with marble columns and statues and let in lots of natural light as this picture shows. Alright the palm trees are artificial but the effect was wonderful.

Here is the fountain in the centre of the new bit. The older part was in the same style but less extravagant.

Last Tuesday we carried on and soon crossed one of the wonders of the waterways - the Barton Swing Aqueduct. Built in Victorian times this carries the Bridgewater Canal across the Manchester Ship Canal. It is the only swing aqueduct in the world and it still swings full of water to allow ships to pass underneath. What a marvel of Victorian engineering. The swinging portion full of water weighs 1,450 tons!

Looking west from the Aqueduct you can see the swing road bridge and in the distance the M60 viaduct which is high enough not to need to swing.

This view also to the west shows the central control tower and just this side of it you can see the shelf that the swing aqueduct sits on when open and to the left of that is the buffer at the end of its swing. We have seen both bridges swung when we took a Mersey ferry day trip from Liverpool to Manchester.

Strangely, soon after the Barton Aqueduct you pass a lighthouse at Parrin Lane. We've no idea why it is there but it is a well known landmark.

Soon we came into Worsley shown here. To the right at the junction ahead leads into the coal mines for which the canal was first built. Miles of underground tunnels allowed the coal to be brought out on narrow boats called 'starvationers' and the coal was then transhipped into cargo vessels on the canal heading for Manchester and further afield. The orange colour to the water here is due to iron ore leaching out of the mines.

We moored close to the new RHS Bridgewater gardens and visited them the following day meeting our friends Iain and Ann again. Here is a view of the Chinese Water Gardens.

I'm not sure whether you will have spotted the coot in the previous picture but here is a close up which shows the partially webbed feet rather well.

The peach trees in the glasshouse were producing fruit.

On election day last Thursday we cruised the final section of the Bridgewater Canal. By some bridges on this canal there is often a small crane like the one in the photo. These are for use in lowering the stop planks, here seen alongside into the canal to separate sections of the waterway if there is a breach.

This part of the Bridgewater was built to link up with the Leigh branch of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal and at this bridge the two canals meet end to end. The sign marks the transition back to Canal and River Trust waters. CRT licence holders like Leo can take a temporary transit licence on the Bridgewater free of charge on a reciprocal basis between the two concerns.

So here ends our cruising on the Bridgewater Canal. The next posting will follow in a few days and will cover our ascent of the 21 lock flight at Wigan as we set out on our crossing of the Pennines on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal.