Bridge 140 Trent and Mersey Canal - Rode Heath, Cheshire. - Arch Bridges on Waymarking.com

This is a brick built bridge which takes a track over the canal. It is located on the Trent and Mersey Canal next to the Broughton Arms pub in Rode Heath and there is access to the tow path at this bridge.

'Broughton Arms Bridge No 140 is a minor waterways place on the Trent and Mersey Canal (Main Line - Harding's Wood to Middlewich) between Wharf Bridge No 154 (Wheelock ) (4 miles and ¼ furlongs and 14 locks to the west) and Harding's Wood Junction (Junction of Trent and Mersey Canal and Hall Green Branch) (2 miles and 6¾ furlongs and 12 locks to the southeast).' Source: (visit link)

The bridge used to carry a narrow lane connecting Sandbach Road with Cherry Lane and would have been used to access the salt works at this location in the C19th. The bridge now gives access to Rode Heath Rise an open space with meadows and woodlands on the site of a former salt works, an industry prevalent in the area during the 19th century.
It is believed that salt was first extracted in this area in the late 17th Century. In 1775 the Trent and Mersey canal was constructed through the Lawton Valley with a canal basin constructed to offload coal from the nearby Kidsgrove collieries and to export salt north to the Mersey and south to the Potteries and beyond.
By 1838 the site was a hive of industrial brine pumping activity and the site hosted a carpenter’s workshop, blacksmiths, a corn mill, coal yard, dockyard, lime kilns and offices. There were also eleven dwellings on site, a shop and a pub! Source: (visit link)

It is now managed as a meadow and in summer butterflies and other insects feed on the nectar of wild flowers. The meadow is cut each autumn after the wild flowers have shed their seed, ready for the following spring.

The Broughton Arms pub is located next to the site and provides food and drink and is open all day every day.

The Trent and Mersey Canal is a 93.5-mile long canal (150.5 km) in the East Midlands, West Midlands, and north-west of England, from Shadlow to Preston Brook. The first sod was cut by Josiah Wedgwood in July 1766 year Middleport, Stoke-on-Trent. The canal was completed in 1777 and included more than 70 locks and five tunnels, with the company headquarters in Stone. (visit link)

What type of traffic does this bridge support?: Pedestrians, bikes What kind of gap does this bridge cross?: Trent and Mersey Canal. Is the bridge still in service for its original purpose?: No Name of road or trail the bridge services: Access to tow path and Rode Heath Rise public access land. Location: Rode Heath, Cheshire Length of bridge: Not listed Height of bridge: Not listed Date constructed: Not listed

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Date Logged Log User Rating   07/17/2017 dtrebilc visited it