FURNESS VALE HISTORY SOCIETY: A Walk Along The Towpath

We will start our walk along the towpath at Bank End Bridge. We're in New Mills here but it is an appropriate place to begin.

A track leads down from the A6, crosses the railway and then the canal bridge No 29. This was an old pack horse route from Higher Disley to Goytside and Low Leighton. On the Newtown sidee of the Bridge, opposite the towpath was Bank End Wharf. This served the quarries which were on the other side of Buxton Road. If the footpath is followed downhill, it reaches the River Goyt and Goytside footbridge. This has long since been been a crossing point. Just through the gate on the left is the outlet from a sough. This tunnel drained water from the Bank End Colliery workings which were mostly located around the area of the quarry. Until a few years ago, there was no protective grille and the tunnel was often used to access the mine.

Follow the towpath towards Furness Vale and after about 300 metres we reach the site of Bank End Colliery Engine House on the opposite bank. There was an 80ft deep shaft here a little distance from the canal. Tubs of coal would be raised from the workings and taken on a short track to a canal side tippler where narrowboats were loaded. The colliery closed in 1921. Maps of the local colliery working show a lengthy tunnel from the field opposite Yeardsley Hall Barns to Bank End Engine house. This is marked on some maps as a roadway but is more likely to have been a drainage sough and probably continued down to the River Goyt.

We soon reach Bridge 30 known as Carr Bridge or Mellors (after the 19th Century residents of Carr Farm). The swing bridge has been renovated on several occasions and looks quite different on old photographs. The track whcih starts opposite St.John's Church, leads downhill to Carr Farm which dates back to at least the 16th Century. The name Carr comes from the Norse word kjarr meaning brushwood marsh or swamp. Two escaped German prisoners were found at the farm during World War I.

On the west bank of the canal is Furness Vale Marina which stretches as far as Station Road. There are moorings for about 100 boats. About mid way along is the site of a lime kiln. The marina was first developed by Joe Bratt in the mid 1970s and extended towards Carr Bridge in 1993. There are plans to further extend to marina on the Newtown side of the bridge.

Heading towards Furness Vale we approach a row of cottages on the left. This was originally known as Furness Row or Canal Row but is now called Lake View. There were about 20 homes here but the number has reduced to 14 through conversions. Just before the row of houses was a wharf which served Furness Vale Printworks. The business had been established in 1794, just two years before the opening of the canal.

After passing the last house, take a look at the stone wall. The builders left their mark in the form of the words OXO and BASS set in the stonework.

The dry dock which is now covered by a shed is used by a boat painter. A stone building which still stood in 1960, spanned the dock and Richard Fox had his 19th century boatbuilding business here. He had moved to Furness Vale from a small canalside building in Bridgemont. Fox was a leading methodist and played an important role in the local congregation for much of his life.
Alongside was a wharf serving Furness Vale Colliery and Brickworks. A 19 inch gauge tramway ran from the mine, through the brickyard where there were several sidings, down to the canal bank. The photograph of the wharf shows loading chutes between the tracks and waterside.

Just before the road bridge, the canal crosses a small aqueduct. This is a listed structure and crosses the Furness Brook as well as a narrow roadway. This road which appears on the mid 19th century Tithe Map, is believed to have been the original route to New Mills.It would have extended from Old Road and joined the present Station Road near Calico Lane.

Furness Bridge was rebuilt in 1924/1925. The original stone structure was demolished and replaced by the current cast concrete bridge. During rebuilding, a wooden footbridge stood alongside. Alongside the bridge was a small coal wharf and chute owned by L. Hall & Sons.

The building next to the bridge was built in 1839 as a beer house. It had two names: The Traveller's Call or the Jolly Sailor. It was closed in 1908 when the license was refused on the grounds of disorderly conduct. This was a common reason given by the police when a pub was chosen for closure under the 1904 Licensing Act. This legislation sought to reduce by several thousand, the number of beerhouses and hopefully reduce consumption of alcohol. Licensees were compensated for loss of earnings and Mrs Roberts who owned the pub continued to live there for some years after closure. It was eventually occupied by Reuben Wharmby who moved his greengrocery business here from Furness Row. The extension to the rear was originally of two storeys. It has now lost its upper floor and is a holiday let. At the side of this building was Albert McKiernon's coal yard.

Back on the canal towpath, we'll head in the direction of Bridgemont. We soon reach bridge 32 known as Bongs, Bangs or Yeardsley Bank Bridge. Here a footbridge links a route down to Waterside with two footpaths leading up to Buxton Road. The path on the left leads to a level crossing over the railway. The right hand path leads to the tunnel under Buxton Road. There was once a short tramway from the Furness Vale Quarry, through the tunnel to two canal wharves owned by Johnson's enabling stone to be transported by narrowboat. There was a swing bridge here and its semi-circular base is still evident. This would have allowed access to the fields beyond the canal.

The next bridge (No 33 Greensdeep) carries New Road over the canal. The road between Bridgemont and Bugsworth was privately built by the owners of the Britannia Mill and Carrington House. This was the last toll road in the area and the gates in Bugsworth did not come down until 1919 when the Council took ownership.

Next to the bridge is "Bankside". Beside the house were Atkin's Tea Rooms, a popular destination for Edwardian day trippers. A combined ticket from Manchester would bring passengers by train to Furness Vale where they would board a passenger boat for the final part of the journey.

This was not the only passenger service on the canal. Before the coming of the railway, The Ashton Packet provided a weekly boat to Whaley Bridge. Here is a newspaper story from those days:
"Having very much enjoyed an excursion to Lyme Hall by the Ashton Packet, I would recommend it through the medium of you paper, to the attention of those who wis to take a pleasant trip at light expense. The packet leaves the Dukinfield Station, on the Sheffield Railway, every Wednesday morning, on the arrival of the first train from Manchester; passes through Hyde, Atherlow, Marple and Disley, and goes forward to Whaley Bridge. It reaches Marple about eleven o'clock, and the hour occupied in getting it through the locks may be very agreeably spent in going to see the beautiful prospect from the church. Those who intend to visit the hall, leave the packet at Disley about noon, and meeti it on it's return from Whaley Bridge at 4 1/2 o'clock pm. The delay of the boat at Marple affording the opportunity of taking tea, everything is comfortably provided, at a very moderate charge, at an inn near the locks. The arrival at Ashton is in time for the last train at Manchester.
To parties of pleasure and lovers of nature, the pleasantness of the sail, and the delightfully picturesque scenery with which the neighbourhood of some of the above named villages abounds, render the trip exceedingly attractive. And even persons on business, who wish to visit Compstall, Ludworth, Mellor, New Mills, Hayfield, Chapel-En-Le-Frith and Buxton will find it a convenient and agreeable mode of conveyance."

At Bridgemont is a footbridge and alongside, the base of a former swing bridge. In later years a lifting had taken its place. The bridge carried the main drive from Buxton Road to Bothomes Hall; the gate pillars still stand next to the footbridge.

Bothomes was built in 1670 as a dower house by the Legh family of Lyme Hall although for much of its life, the Kirk family were the owners. It passed into the ownership of a farmer, John Robinson in the 1840s. Racehorses were kept and it is reputed that a Derby winner is buried in the grounds. Here the story becomes confused. George, Prince of Wales, visited Bothomes in 1805, reputedly to see the Derby horse, Elias. This however, was long before the stud farm and there was never a runner at Epsom by that name. The Jockey Club can find no trace of any such horse. The Kirks returned to Bothomes in 1910 when it came up for sale and they and their successors lived there until at least 1952.

The house and land were compulsorily purchased by the Department of Transport during construction of the by-pass and quickly fell into ruin.

Ringstones Colliery closed in 1896. The site is now occupied by the caravan park. An aerial ropeway carried the coal down to Bridgemont where it was loaded into narrowboats for transportation. The ropeway, through Ringstones Clough, passed the Blandola Works. A stone pillar is the only remaining evidence of its existance.

The building of the by-pass has altered the appearance of canal-side Bridgemont. The former boat dock has been obliterated and a bridge crosses where Mr Fox's paint shop once stood. This is the same Mr Fox whom we met at Furness Dock. He was a builder and painter of narrowboats and it was here that his business started. His wife established the Bridgemont Mission. For many years, the top floor of her husband's workshop served as the Mission Hall.

Both of Bridgemont's pubs were popular with boatmen. It is said that narrowboat captains would often leave the horse to pull the boat around the perimeter of the village whilst enjoying some refreshment. Timed right, the boat would just be passing on leaving the hostelry.

Alas, we can no longer enjoy a pint at the Dog and Partridge so now we must either walk on to Buxworth or return home to Furness.

This article first appeared on the History Society Facebook Page. Photos of Bank End Engine House courtesy of New Mills Local History Society; Canal Basin courtesy of Chris Simpson; Marina Excavation by Jack Ford