Cheshire Ring
Salt, cotton and silk
THE Cheshire Ring takes a gentle route mainly through idyllic Cheshire countryside, clambering high and descending gracefully on a tranquil water road which conceals some of the quietest treasures of the canals, as well as one of the greatest engineering marvels Britain’s canals can shout about – the world-famous Anderton Boat Lift.
Sweeping Peak District views fill this ring as it follows part of the historic Silk Road and briefly, in contrast, visits the heart of Manchester through its secret back door.
Setting off from Middlewich on the Trent & Mersey Canal, the story of salt wraps the canal. Salt has always been vital for human survival, and even language has evolved from the importance of it – Roman workers’ ‘salary’ was paid in salt, and the term ‘worth one’s salt’ is still used today.
Middlewich has produced salt since Roman times and an interesting town trail explains more about the salt works settlement dating back to 150-250AD. The Romans discovered salt here and called the town Salinea.
Then, when canals were built, boats carried the salt industry into a new era.
The Cheshire Ring follows the Trent & Mersey north from Middlewich, passing the Middlewich Branch of the Shropshire Union Canal which heads off to the west. The first few yards used to belong to the Trent & Mersey Canal, and are known as the Wardle Canal, the shortest canal in the country.
Winding its way through the valley of the River Dane, the canal soon arrives at Northwich. The town bears the motto Sal est vita (salt is life), and the story of a town built on the site of brine springs is told in its Salt Museum. Buildings often disappeared without warning, with houses, pubs and even salt works plunging into giant craters formed by the collapse of underground salt mines. Just north of Northwich, Lion Salt Works is a restored industrial heritage site, the UK’s last open-pan salt-making site.
One of the highlights of the Trent & Mersey Canal awaits – Anderton Boat Lift is a masterpiece of engineering and the world’s oldest operational boat lift. It was built in 1875 to lift boats over the 50ft cliff edge from the Trent & Mersey Canal down to the River Weaver beneath and more than 110,000 visitors flock from across the world to see this canal marvel every year.
Following the excitement of Anderton, the canal now prepares for the entertainment of three tunnels – Barnton (572yd/523m), Saltersford ( 424yd/ 388m) and Preston Brook (1239yd/1133m) – and an aqueduct, travelling high with delicious views over the rural valley of the River Weaver below.
Signs at the end of Preston Brook Tunnel announce that the canal has now merged into the Bridgewater Canal. Swinging off to the west is the original main line down to Runcorn, while the ring now cruises quietly north-east along a lock-free stretch. Skirting the edge of Stockton Heath, the noise of the M6 intrudes briefly before the canal travels through the centre of the pretty town of Lymm.
Crossing the River Bollin Aqueduct, there are views across to the Manchester Ship Canal to the north-west and Dunham Park to the east. Dunham Massey Hall is a 250-acre deer park with Elizabethan mill and 30-room mansion, now in the care of the National Trust.
This peaceful route now passes through the suburbs of Sale, under the M60 and through Stretford. At Waters Meeting, the Leigh Branch heads off north-west towards the Leeds & Liverpool Canal, while the Bridgewater Canal passes very close to the end of the Manchester Ship Canal at Salford Quays. The Cheshire Ring now ambles right into the heart of Manchester, meeting the Rochdale Canal at Castlefield Junction.
By the late 1800s, Manchester was spinning cotton for the world in its textile mills. Raw cotton from the West Indies and southern America was brought by canal to Manchester from the port of Liverpool. Chimneys coughed smoke over Manchester skies and hordes of steam-powered cotton mills gave the city its nickname ‘Cottonopolis’. Today it has everything a contemporary city can offer – shopping, eating out, night life, museums and art galleries. It’s also famous for the work of Lowry, the Museum of Science and Industry and a certain football ground.
The lock-heavy Rochdale Canal sets off from the beautifully restored Castlefield Junction, and climbs out of Manchester, passing through the now world-famous gay village along Canal Street before disappearing under a towering office block for one of the locks. The Rochdale, completed in 1804, was the first transPennine water route. Its wide locks were busy with barges carrying goods such as cotton, coal, grain and wool.