Mass Movement - Buxworth, UK
Posted by: 
dtrebilc
N 53° 20.118 W 001° 58.075
30U E 568724 N 5910067
This cast metal plaque is one of a series that gives information about the Bugsworth canal basin and tramway interchange.
Waymark Code: WMKYHV
Location: East Midlands, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 06/15/2014
Views: 1
Bugsworth Basin
The 18th Century had seen the development of the canal network in the UK to carry heavy goods, and led to towns such as Manchester become the first large industrial towns.
There was a demand for limestone and grit stone from the nearby quarries to be transported to Manchester and beyond and so the Peak Forest Canal was built with a connection to the Ashton Canal at Ashton-Under-Lyne.
The canal had a series of 16 locks to lift the canal a height of 209 feet from Ashton-Under-Lyne to this point, but the final rise to the quarries was to high for a canal. So a horse drawn tramway was built to form a connection between the canal junction here and the quarries themselves.
Much of the output from the quarries was loaded directly onto the canal boats but there was also a total of 19 lime kilns on this site to process the limestone into quick lime.
The wagons from the tramway took the limestone at a high level to the top of the kilns. After processing the processed quick lime was extracted from the bottom of the kiln and loaded onto the canal boats. A model of the site and information panel on the other side of the canal describe the operation of the site.
The site operated between 1796 until the 1920s. The canal and this basin was closed down and allowed to become derelict. However in the 1960s and 1970s leisure boating became popular and many canals were renovated and re-opened for leisure purposes.
Most of the Peak Forest Canal reopened 1974 and at that time terminated at Whaley Bridge. The remainder of the canal and this basin was reopened in 1999. However a major leak from the canal needed further renovation and it didn’t fully re-open until 2003. Much of the tramway has also been converted into a walking trail.
The basin is now protected as
Scheduled Ancient Monument number 242 under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979.
It should be noted that the name of the nearby village changed its name from Bugsworth to Buxworth in 1930, but the basin continues to be called Bugsworth basin.
Each of the signs have their own colour. This one is blue and gives some background information about why the area developed.
MASS MOVEMENT
When the Peak Forest Canal opened
in1796, canal mania had gripped
the country. This was the time of the
Industrial Revolution. Factories and
building sites demanded more and
more raw materials. Canals allowed
safe transport on a massive scale
It was a monumental enterprise. In 1808
alone, workers moved enough limestone
at Bugsworth Canal Basin to fill over
2,000 canal boats. It would take you six
hours to walk along an imaginary line of
so many boats.
Horses hauled boats at about 4 miles
per hour. A journey from Bugsworth
to Manchester took around 10 hours
because the crews had to negotiate 34
locks on their way.
There are also two engraved pictures on the sign with the following captions.
Quarry workers filling wagons with limestone for delivery to Bugsworth.
A canal boat filled with limestone in the Upper Basin