September 2022
It stands out among canals for its climb through unrivalled Pennine beauty in parts with no less than 92 locks in 32 miles. At Ducie Street Junction, the Rochdale continues its climb north while the Cheshire Ring follows the heavily locked Ashton Canal to Portland Basin and southwards on to the Peak Forest Canal.
Having shaken off the outskirts of Greater Manchester, the canal goes through the short Woodley Tunnel ( 167yd/ 153m) followed quickly by the slightly longer Hyde Bank Tunnel (308yd/282m).
The glorious 300ft Marple Aqueduct, designed by engineer Benjamin Outram, carries the canal across the River Goyt 100ft below, while a parallel viaduct huffs past with those fast trains that once stole trade from the canals. Whatever old rivalry led to the dynamic construction of a canal and a railway hugging so closely, it’s the treat of the traveller today.
Marple Lock Flight is equally charming with its cluster of 16 beautiful locks built into a canalscape of local stonework. Near the top of the flight, a tiny cobblestone tunnel was built on the towpath for horses that pulled canal boats more than 200 years ago. And a second, even tinier passage hiding by the lock side was for boatmen working the lock.
At Marple Junction the Peak Forest Canal continues southwards to Bugsworth Basin, once the largest and busiest inland port ever created in England’s network of narrow canals.
The site opened in 1796 and handled more than 600 tons of limestone each day at its peak. Today it’s a tranquil basin surrounded by lungfuls of lush Peak Forest views and a fascinating trail to follow packed with information panels.
The Cheshire Ring takes the Macclesfield Canal south from Marple Junction. Along this canal, one of the last canals to be built in Britain, opening in 1831, greenery is magnificently in charge, with uninterrupted calm along its first 16 lock-free miles.
At Bollington, the Bollington Discovery Centre is housed in the huge Clarence Mill, one of the finest cotton mills in Europe in the 1800s.
Macclesfield is the namesake of this canal. The world-famous ‘Silk Road’ runs all the way from China to Macclesfield. China began producing silk fabrics in 3500BC, but the practice didn’t reach England until the 18th century. High production costs in London drove silk merchants to seek lower prices in provincial towns such as Macclesfield, where handloom weaving in garret houses was gradually being replaced by weaving in large mills. At the height of the silk trade, Macclesfield had become the world’s greatest producer of finished silk, with 120 mills and dye houses.
Silk is still produced there, albeit on a much smaller scale.
A flight of 12 locks at Bosley break the lock-free calm. And at Congleton, two of the canal’s unique snake bridges swirl with perfectly spiralled brickwork that once enabled boat horses to swap sides on the towpath without needing to be uncoupled from their narrowboats.
At Hardings Wood Junction, the Cheshire Ring turns back on to the Trent & Mersey Canal. The mighty ‘Heartbreak Hill’ (the hill lives up to its name with the workout required to wind through this heavy series of locks) is followed closely by the Wheelock Flight before the ring comes full circle at Middlewich.
The Cheshire Ring treads peaks and plains in an uplifting trail. The route is packed with thrills – from the Waterways Wonder that is the Anderton Boat Lift to the fascinating Marple locks. It journeys from the vibrant heart of Manchester into a calm rural waterscape with peaks and river valleys shadowing the canals.