The Trent and Mersey Canal
The Trent and Mersey provides a link across the country from the
Mersey (The Manchester
Ship Canal ) via
the Bridgewater canal
to a junction with the river Trent in
Derbyshire near Shardlow.
From the west, starting rather strangely a few yards into Preston Brook
Tunnel, the course of the Trent and Mersey runs 93 miles
to encompass 73 locks and 4 tunnels (Preston Brook, Saltersford, Barnton and
Harecastle ) .
Junctions with other waterways include the River Weaver at the Anderton lift,
the Macclesfield canal, just west of Harecastle tunnel and the Caldon Canal
just east of it. After that the Staffs and Worcester joins at
Haywood Junction and the Coventy Canal at Fradley Junction as you travel further
east.
This was one of the first canals built by Brindley through
some delightful countryside to provide a waterway that effectively connects
the east coast of the country to the west coast, saving a vast distance in
coastal navigation, not to mention risks and cost.
Starting in the
Cheshire plains it climbs the 31 locks of “Heartbreak hill” ( apparently so
named because the locks are too far apart to be conveniently walked and
worked), before tunnelling under Harecastle Hill for one and a quarter
miles, then passing
Staffordshire Potteries and out through the Staffordshire and Derbyshire
fields and meadows. The full journey typically takes about 6 days,
depending on speed and amount of travelling time in any one day.
Notably
along the way it passes the Anderton boat lift - an amazing piece of
restored Victorian engineering which still provides access to the river Weaver and
a short cut to the Mersey avoiding the loop of the Bridgwater canal.
The Tunnels:
Preston Brook Tunnel
1239yrds - 1133m
Single width tunnel.
Signs at the entrance indicate when you can enter - on the hour and 10 mins
after for northbound boats and on the half-hour and 10 minutes after for southbound craft.
Preston Brook tunnel marks the beginning of the Trenta and Mersey from the
West with the actual origin on the canal being a few yards within the
northern portal.
Perhaps as a result of being one Brindley's earliest
attempta at a tunnel of this sort the passage is not quite straight.
Saltersford Tunnel
424 yards – 288m
Single width tunnnel
Northbound Traffic: Entry on the hour until 20 minutes past the hour.
Southbound Traffic: Entry 30 minutes past the hour until 10 minutes to
the hour.
Saltersford tunnel should be approached with caution as it has a bend in it
which
make it impossible to see if the tunnel is empty as you approach the portal. This can
create problems as it is a single width tunnel allowing the passage of only
one boat at a time and there are no passing places. On entering or before,
sound your horn and listen for a response, also watch carefully for any
reflected lights on in the tunnels from oncoming craft.
Barnton Tunnel
572
yards
Single width tunnel, but from pictures I think you can just about see
through this one, which should help.
Harecastle Tunnel
-
2926 yards – 2676 m
Single widthe tunnel operated by BW Staff.
Originally two separate, parallel,
tunnels - Brindley (2,880 yards) and - Telford (2,926 yards)
after the engineers that constructed them.
The Brindley Tunnel collapsed and was considered beyond reasonable repair,
which was later folowed by the demise of the Telford Tunnel, which was then
restored, though in the process the towpath through the tunnel was removed.
Today only the Telford tunnel is useable. Single width tunnel
with boats passing through in batches
in each direction, ventilated by a large fan at the southern entrance.
The greater part of the tunnel provides both good height and width, though
there is a section which is considerably lower, possibly requiring the
person at the tiller to duck a little.
BW Staff and chain gauges at the portals should help identify any potential
problems with air draft before you enter.
The Potteries were of course a major influence in the building of the canals
as Josiah Wedgewood, appointed Royal Potter due top the new technologies he
had introduced to pottery, needed asafe and reliable means of transporting
his wares around the country and to the ports. As such he was a powerful and
influential advocate forth promotion of the canal system and a leading
figure in support of the Trent and Mersey.
