Canal & River Trust
Shropshire Union
Middlewich
Branch Canal
The Middlewich Branch runs between Barbridge, where it joins the main line of the Shropshire Union Canal and Middlewich where it joins the Trent and Mersey Canal. Opened in 1833, it is 10 miles long and descends 43'.
The Trent and Mersey Canal insisted that there should be no direct connection at Middlewich and instead built the Wardle Canal to join the two- the shortest canal on the system at 72 feet plus a few yards either side of the lock - charging large compensation tolls for passing traffic until they were abolished in 1888.
The branch was dominated by through traffic, a transhipment warehouse being built at Barbridge shortly after the opening of the branch, parts of which are still evident today. There were several wharves along the length, the commodities that were transported would have varied from foodstuffs (milk and cheese products) to minerals (coal and salt).
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Sykes Hollow Picnic Area
This amenity area of tables and barbecues was created by the Shropshire Union Canal Society in 2009, with grants from Nantwich Council, British Waterways and the Charles and Elie Sykes Charitable Trust.
Thought to have opened in the late 1960s, up until 2002 it was a working clay pit owned by British Waterways and known as Brabridge or Cholmondeston Clay Pit. The heyday of clay extraction was in the late 1980s, the clay being used for canal repairs. The brick hut was an office for the works.
Colmondeston Railway Experiment
In 1888 about a mile of 18" railway track was laid on the straight towpath stretch between bridges 5 and 6 and a small locomotive named 'Tiny' from Crewe railway works was used to haul boats. Although the locomotive could haul up to 8 barges at 7mph the process proved impractical and no further action was taken.
Church Minshull Canal Branch 12/10/1958
The breach at the present viewpoint between bridges 12 and 13 was purported to have been caused by a burrowing rat and drained 7 miles of canal between Minshull Lock and Stanthorne Lock.
A 3 hour cascade of 20 million gallons of water flooded into the field and the River Weaver below and resulted in a gouge 15' deep by 100' wide. The breach was repaired within a month.
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