The Hollinwood Branch Canal
The Hollinwood Branch Canal is found just East of
Manchester a now closed branch of the
Manchester to Aston Canal It was a five mile canal
from Fairfield Locks near Drolsden to a loading basin at Butterworth
Green, with a branch to Fairbottom in the Medlock valley also meeting the
Werneth Canal which ran from the Butterworth Green to the Colliery on Old
road Washbrook in Chadderton.
The principal purpose of these waterways was to service
local collieries.
The Werneth canal closed in with construction of a railway
embankment across its path, with the Hollinwood canal open and in use
until 1932, when mine subsidence
caused problems. Thre Fairbottom branch stayed open to about
1948 after which it became unusable,
with many of the associated waterways declining in a similar fashion.
The canal was built as part of the Manchester Ashton and
Oldbury Canal which was opened in
1797.
Plans for restoration are supported by
the local authorities, who see the advantage of using the waterways
as a local amenity. The first part of restoration being a £100 million
redevelopment of Droylesden is
complete and includes shops, offices and accommodation being built around a
new marina, which opened in 2008.
The restoration project taken on by the Hollinwood Canal
Society is a daunting one including the need to cross the M60 twice ( with
aquaducts?) and many other
challenges.
The aims of the society are “to see the restoration of the canals within Daisy Nook Country Park, the
re-connection of Daisy Nook with the Ashton Canal and the creation of a new
canal link through to the Rochdale Canal.”