Peak Forest Canal Effective Transport - Mountbridge, UK - UK Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

The Peak Forest Canal
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 Buxworth, 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.

The upper part of the canal opened in 1796 and although the Buxworth Basin was the busiest part of the canal near here, there was also a short arm of the canal that led to a smaller basin at the town of Whaley Bridge. This short arm was .5 miles long and at this point at the junction there is a horse tunnel. In effect the canal is carried over a lower tow path on an aqueduct formed from a stone arch bridge.

This tunnel was used by horses towing boats to and from Whaley Bridge and allowed the access to the main part of the canal. It is an English Heritage Grade II listed building.

This sign gives information about the tunnel, the use of canal horses in general and the first wharfinger on the canal.

The text on the sign is a follows.

PEAK FOREST CANAL
Effective Transport

Horses were vital for the growth of
industry alongside the Peak Forest Canal.

This tunnel was built to allow horses coming from and
going to Whaley Bridge Basin – to walk below the canal
and return to the towpath on the other side where they
were re-hitched to their boats. It is said that only new
horses needed to be accompanied. More experienced
animals knew the tunnel so well that they would follow
the path to the other side on their own.

Boat horses
The combination of boats and
horses was designed for efficiency.
A single horse hauled a boat loaded
with around 25 tons of limestone
or coal. Sometimes a single horse
hauled two loaded boats at a time
on the Peak Forest Canal

German Wheatcroft
The Peak Forest Tramway and Upper Peak
Forest Canal opened for trade in August 1796.
German Wheatcroft became the first
wharfinger or manager of Bugsworth Wharf.

He was also responsible for company business
at Whaley Bridge, Furness Vale and the company
limestone quarries at Dove Holes. As his duties
were so wide ranging, the company provided him
with his own horses and a stable.

Tramway horses
Horses were used on local tramways to bring
limestone to the canal. Once the tramway
wagons had been unloaded a team of
4 to 5 horses working in line was used to haul
12 empty wagons, or 6. Loaded with coal
back up the tramway.

Horses also shunted wagons around wharfs
and basins – such as Whaley Bridge Wharf
or Bugsworth Basin.

Type of Historic Marker: Information board Historical Marker Issuing Authority: British Waterways (now the Canal and River Trust) Age/Event Date: 08/01/1796 Related Website: [Web Link] Give your Rating:

Visit Instructions:
Please submit your visiting log with a picture of the object and include some interesting information about your visit.

Recent Visits/Logs:

There are no logs for this waymark yet.