Romiley Canal Bridge - 1797, 1908 and 1992 - Romiley, UK - Bridge Date Stones and Plaques on Waymarking.com

The Peak Forest Canal
It is a narrow canal constructed between 1794 and 1805 and is fourteen miles long. It connects Buxworth with Dukinfield where it joins the Ashton Canal. The main purpose of the canal was to transport limestone from quarries above Buxworth. There are sixteen locks near the town of Marple that raise the canal a height of 210 feet in a distance of 1 mile.

The advent of the railways and later modern roads led to the decline of the canal and it fell into disuse between 1920 and 1960. An upsurge in leisure boat use led to the canal being restored and reopened in 1974.

The Bridge
The bridge carries Stockport Road over The Peak Forest Canal and was originally built in 1797 during the period that the canal was first built. It would undoubtedly have originally been a stone arch bridge similar to other bridges on the canal. However as Romiley developed and road traffic increased the bridge has been modified twice. It is now a girder bridge with brick buttresses and parapets.

There are two stone date stones embedded in the brick parapets. One of the plaques is visible from the canal and looks to be the original dating from 1908 when the bridge was first modified.

BREDBURY AND ROMILEY
U.D.C.
THIS BRIDGE CONSTRUCTED 1797
RECONSTRUCTED AND WIDENED
1908

The second plaque is visble in the opposite parapet, this time on the road side and dates from the second modification in 1992.

STOCKPORT METROPOLITAN
BOROUGH COUNCIL
ROMILEY CANAL BRIDGE
RECONSTRUCTED AND WIDENED
1992

The two plaques also indicate a change in responsibility for the bridge. The original bridge was maintained by the Urban District Council of the towns of Bredbury and Romiley. By 1992 the towns had been absorbed into the much larger Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council.

In England and Wales, urban districts and rural districts were created in 1894 (by the Local Government Act 1894) as subdivisions of administrative counties. link

In 1974, metropolitan counties and non-metropolitan counties (also known as "shire counties") were created across the rest of England outside London and were split into metropolitan districts and non-metropolitan districts. Metropolitan boroughs are a subdivision of a metropolitan county. These are similar to unitary authorities, as the metropolitan county councils were abolished in 1986. link

Date built or dedicated as indicated on the date stone or plaque.: 1797, 1908, 1992 Date stone, plaque location.: Old one on canal side of north parapet, new one road side of south parapet. Road, body of water, land feature, etc. that the bridge spans.: The Peak Forest Canal Website (if available): Not listed Parking (safe parking location): Not Listed

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