Rochdale Canal Footbridge 98a – 2000 – Manchester, UK - Bridge Date Stones and Plaques on Waymarking.com

Details of the bridge
At this point the Rochdale Canal is running through the centre of Manchester and has tall buildings on either side of the canal.

Originally the buildings next to the lock were warehouse but some of them have been converted into apartments as part of a redevelopment scheme in the area. Bellway Homes the developer installed the footbridge as part of this work. It allows the canal to be used as a walking route through Manchester with access to both sides.

The date is on a split round stone set into the canal towpath and also into the start of the surface of the bridge itself.

Canal locks often have bridges near locks to allow boat users to get to both sides of the lock to operate the gates. However this is a broad canal and the gates often have narrow footbridges built into the lock gates themselves. All bridges on the canal are numbered starting at Sowerby Bridge and their original bridge numbers have been retained. When a new bridge is built on the canal, the bridge is given the number of the nearest previous bridge but with a letter suffix. In this case the bridge has been given number 98a indicating that this is a brand new bridge rather than a replacement one.

The Canal History
The Rochdale canal is 32 miles long and connects Manchester on the west side of the Pennine Hills and Sowerby Bridge on the east side. The Rochdale Canal was completed in 1804 and is one of three canals that cross the Pennine hills. This is the only one that doesn’t use tunnels. In addition it was a broad canal with bridges and locks that allowed boats of 14 feet width to pass through.

The one downside of not using tunnels is that it originally had 92 locks. These days two of them have been combined into one deep lock.

Competition from railways and roads subsequently led to a decline in goods being carried and by 1937 the only section left in operation was at the Manchester end of the canal.

In 1965 there was talk of abandoning the canal but by this time leisure boating had become very popular in the UK and there was a campaign to keep it open. Work was started and the canal slowly re-opened in a number of different stages. The whole length finally reopened in September 2007.

All the locks on the canal have a standard length of 72 feet (22 metres).

Date built or dedicated as indicated on the date stone or plaque.: 2000 Date stone, plaque location.: At ground level at each end of the bridge Road, body of water, land feature, etc. that the bridge spans.: The Rochdale Canal Website (if available): Not listed Parking (safe parking location): Not Listed

Visit Instructions:
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Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log   09/24/2023 Poole/Freeman visited it