Bates Bridge Over The Bridgewater Canal - Runcorn, UK - Arch Bridges on Waymarking.com

The Bridgewater Canal
"The Bridgewater Canal connects Runcorn, Manchester and Leigh, in North West England. It was commissioned by Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, to transport coal from his mines in Worsley to Manchester. It was opened in 1761 from Worsley to Manchester, and later extended from Manchester to Runcorn, and then from Worsley to Leigh.

Often considered to be the first "true" canal in England, as it relied upon existing watercourses as sources of water rather than as navigable routes. Navigable throughout its history, it is one of the few canals in Britain not to have been nationalised, and remains privately owned. Pleasure craft now use the canal which forms part of the Cheshire Ring network of canals." link

The Bridge
There is a nearby information board that tells us the history of this bridge. "Bate's Bridge is a traditional brick built bridge and dates from the time when the canal was opened nearly 250 years ago. Many of the bridges on the canal from here to Manchester and Leigh are similar to Bate's. The bridge was probably designed by the Canal engineer James Brindley.

The bridge was originally not for public use, known as an occupational bridge. It was a crossing point for local farmers.

The iron stump next to the bridge is the kingpost of a hand worked crane. The crane used to put in stop planks that were used to keep water back in the case of emergency. You can see the slots in the coping at the edge of the canal if you look carefully.

On the north bank of the canal, close to the bridge was the extremely large Highfield tannery. It was the largest in the town and the last to close in 1968.

On the opposite side of the canal was the smaller but still large Royal Oak Tannery."

On most UK canals the bridges are numbered, but on the Bridgewater Canal they are named, the style of the nameplates is white background with green lettering.

What type of traffic does this bridge support?: Pedestrians and cyclists What kind of gap does this bridge cross?: The Bridgewater Canal Is the bridge still in service for its original purpose?: No - used to be a farm track but now a footpath Name of road or trail the bridge services: Unnamed footpath Location: Runcorn, Cheshire Length of bridge: Not listed Height of bridge: Not listed Date constructed: Not listed

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