Closure of busy towpath on Peak Forest

A popular and busy section of towpath on the Lower Peak Forest Canal is to be closed for 18 weeks.

The blockage will be near railway bridge "A" which means the towpath will be closed between the junction with the Ashton Canal at Portland Basin and Stanley Lift Bridge in Dukinfield.

The closure will be from Monday 28th November 2011 to Friday 6th April 2012 to allow work to proceed on the United Utilities water quality improvement project.

An alternative pedestrian route from Portland Basin is to cross Dukinfield Aqueduct on the north (left) side, then cross the footbridge over the entrance to Portland Basin Marina. Turn right and walk to the top of Charles Street. Turn right along Astley Street then almost immediately sharp right down the lane to Stanley Lift Bridge (and the reverse).

Between Monday 28th November 2011 and Friday 25th May 2012 a temporary bridge will in place across the canal to provide access to these works. This bridge will have a restricted headroom of 6 ft 4 in for boats, which is lower than surrounding bridges.


Dukinfield Aqueduct, Peak Forest Canal

Marple Locks: Half Day Stoppages

There will be two half-day stoppages at Marple Locks on the Peak Forest Canal next week.

The entire lock flight will be closed on Tuesday 29th November from 12.00 noon to 5.00 pm, and again on Wednesday 30th November from 8.00 am until 1.00 pm.

The stoppages are to allow the verification of the SCADA gauge. SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) gauges monitor lock usage and water flow.

Wigan Stoppage

A stoppage has been announced on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal in Wigan.

The pound between Locks 86 (Henhurst Lock) and 87 (Bottom Lock) has de-watered overnight. This affects the canal between the junction with the Leigh Branch and Wigan Pier.

BW is investigating the cause and running water down to re-fill the pound, which is not currently navigable.

This is the stretch of water outside the windows of BW's North West offices!

Update, 22nd November, 8.30 am:
BW has discovered that there is damage to one of the wooden cills at Lock 87 that helps make the gates watertight. BW staff are carrying out repairs. The navigation remains closed.

Update, 28nd November, 10.30 am:
Cill repairs are now complete and this part of the canal has now been re-opened to navigation.


Looking from Lock 87 towards Lock 86 in Wigan.

Huddersfield Waterfront Progress

Former Sellers Engineering site looking east towards Chapel Hill

The photos in this article show the current situation at the former Sellers Engineering site where the tunnel beneath the site is being opened out and the Huddersfield Narrow Canal being brought back up to the surface as part of the Huddersfield Waterfront development.

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All the concrete tunnel roof sections have now been removed. The concrete struts will remain in place until the tunnel has been partly filled to bring the level up ten feet to the new canal bed level.


Wider section of canal under construction

The canal will run through most of the site using the tunnel's current profile, meaning the channel will only be around 3 metres wide. Towards the eastern part of the site a wider section is being constructed which will allow boats to moor and to pass. A new lock will be constructed just beyond this wider section to take the canal down to the level that ran through the tunnel.


Former Sellers Engineering site looking west towards Longroyd Bridge


Lock 3w - the gates and paddles have now been removed.

The lock shown in the photo will be partly filled to bring the bottom up to the level of the canal bed above the lock. Boats will pass straight through the lock to reach the new channel, with a new lock replacing this one to be built at the other end of the development.

When the development is complete, walkers will be able to follow a path alongside the canal right through to Chapel Hill. Please see the October report for more background information about this project.

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