No crocodiles in the canal ... but a whole load of restoration work
THERE are no crocodiles in the Peak Forest Canal – one of the funnier statistics in Revealing Oldknow’s Legacy project facts just released. A false report of a crocodile turned out to be a crayfish in the canal at Marple!
Nearly £2.5 million has been spent, plus 4,000 volunteer hours expended over four years digging up and beautifying the remains of Samuel Oldknow’s Mellor Mill, his lime kilns near Top Lock, and conserving the 218 year old Marple Aqueduct, which still carries narrowboats.
In 1961-62 ice nearly destroyed the aqueduct, but public pressure saved it from demolition.
Unfortunately there are problems with bulging walls in one or two of the 16 locks from the aqueduct, but Mellor Archaeological Trust celebrated remarkable achievements in an event for volunteers at Roman Lakes Leisure Park tearooms recently beside Oldknow’s original mill reservoirs, which once drove the water-powered machinery at his 1790 muslin mill.
A new heritage trail map guides you from the aqueduct up the flight of locks to the lime kilns and over Brick Bridge down past the ruins of Mellor Lodge and the mill to Roman Lakes and back via Marple Bridge and Brabyns Brow, with plenty of refreshment possibilities and heritage features en-route.
Heritage Lottery money funded the project, with support from Canal and River Trust, Stockport Council and hundreds of volunteers.
Other statistics revealed include 208 weeks worked, 40,000 team emails sent, 15.5 hours doing TV interviews, four boat trips over the aqueduct, 444 hours in meetings, 1000s of site visits, 40 surveys and reports, 368 archive items at oldknows.com, thousands of cups of tea and 500+ pieces of cake consumed!
Now chairman, Bob Humphrey Taylor’s team are planning landscape maintenance schedules for the structures which will keep volunteers busy for years to come.
All of this came about after John and Ann Hearle alerted archaeologists to strange marks in the field near their home at the Old Vicarage, Mellor, one dry summer.
Digs from 1998 onwards revealed an Iron Age hilltop settlement with roots going back to Mesolithic times. Mellor Archaeological Trust was born.
You can see finds and results from these digs around Mellor at Stockport Museum, Market Place, next door to Staircase House, and Oldknow’s original Georgian townhouse, with a blue plaque, can also be seen on Hillgate, now converted into modern apartments. »»Stockport Heritage Magazine features stories about Marple canal and Oldknow in back copies on sale at Staircase House, St Mary’s Heritage Centre, and online www. stockportheritage magazine.co.uk