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.

Marple Locks

The flight of 16 locks at Marple raise the level of the Peak Forest Canal by 64 metres. The canal was opened in 1796 but the locks were not completed until several years later due to lack of funds. A temporary tramway connected the two sections of canal.

This watercolour painting depicts a lock on the lower part of the flight.

Canal Bridge and A Beerhouse

A newly acquired photograph ( copies are available on Ebay).  

The picture is undated although it is earlier than 1924, the year when the bridge was rebuilt. Reconstruction took over a year during which time the road was closed. A  rickety footbridge allowed pedestrians to cross. 

The building next to the bridge had been a beerhouse. Strangely it had two names both of which were in official use at the same time. The pub, The Jolly Sailor/Traveller's Call had closed in  1908, the license renewal having been refused on grounds of disorderly conduct.  This was a common reason given by the police when  a  pub was closed under the 1904 Licensing Act. This was a measure to reduce the number of pubs and beerhouses in Britain and hopefully reduce drunkenness. Also known as the Compensation Act because it provided for a payment to the licensee for loss of earnings. Note that the extension to the side of the house is of 2 storeys and much longer than at present. It is not known when it was rebuilt. It is now the White Cottage,a holiday home.

In the foreground is the stone parapet  of the Furness Vale Aqueduct.  This carries the canal across Furness Brook and also over an abandoned road. Look under the bridge and you will clearly see the roadway at the side of the brook. The Mid 19th century tithe maps show that this was a continuation of Old Road and passed under the canal before joining present day Station Road in the vicinity of Calico Lane. It was probably abandoned when the present alignment of Station Road was constructed.  This, together with Marsh Lane,had been a turnpike road managed by the Thornsett Turnpike Trust.  The tollbar was at the bridge over the Goyt. Look at the parapet and you will see a variation in the masonry where the toll cottage once stood.   John Warren's diary records an occasion when the son of the tollkeepers, the Southern Family, fell from the "battlements" of the bridge onto the rocks below.

The ground to the right of the parapet, where a modern house now stands is said to have been at one time a village tip.

Neighbours in Bugsworth

Bugsworth Basin Heritage Trust has taken over the work of the former Inland Waterways Protection Society. Formed in 1958 this organisation has been instrumental in the restoration and management of this once busy inland port.  The Heritage Trust has a brand new website full of historical information as well as a guide to the canal basin.  http://www.bugsworthbasin.org/
The Protection Society published a quarterly newsletter containing articles about the restoration of Bugsworth as well as news and historical features of the canal system. An archive of newsletters between 2001 and 2012 is available online: http://old.bugsworthbasin.org/pages/news.htm

Don't miss our December meeting when Ian Edgar tells the story of the restoration of Bugsworth Basin.

Hadar

Narrowboat Hadar is visiting Furness Vale this weekend.

Built in 2007, Hadar is a replica of a "Star" class boat of the Grand Union Canal Carrying Company. This freight operator was in existence between 1934 and 1949 when their assets were nationalised. Theirs was one of the larger canal fleets which at it's peak consisted of 186 pairs of boats.  The original "Star" class was built at Yarwoods boat yard at Northwich in the mid 30's; all of those boats being named after stars although the name "Hadar" was not used at the time. This boat has an extended cabin to provide extra living space which reducing her cargo capacity to 8 tons.