Shropshire Union Canal
The Shropshire Union Canal, nicknamed the "Shroppie",[2] is a navigable canal in England. The Llangollen and Montgomery canals are the modern names of branches of the Shropshire Union (SU) system and lie partially in Wales.
Shropshire Union Canal
The canal lies in the counties of Staffordshire, Shropshire and Cheshire in the north-west English Midlands. It links the canal system of the West Midlands, at Wolverhampton, with the River Mersey and Manchester Ship Canal at Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, 66 miles (106 km) distant.
The "SU main line" runs southeast from Ellesmere Port on the River Mersey to the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal at Autherley Junction in Wolverhampton. Other links are to the Llangollen Canal (at Hurleston Junction), the Middlewich Branch (at Barbridge Junction), which itself connects via the Wardle Canal with the Trent and Mersey Canal, and the River Dee (in Chester). With two connections to the Trent and Mersey (via the Middlewich Branch and the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal) the SU is part of an important circular and rural holiday route called the Four Counties Ring.
The SU main line was the last trunk narrow canal route to be built in England. It was not completed until 1835 and was the last major civil engineering accomplishment of Thomas Telford.
The name "Shropshire Union" comes from the amalgamation of the various component companies (Ellesmere Canal, Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal, Montgomeryshire Canal) that came together to form the Shropshire Union Railways and Canal Company. The main line between Nantwich and Autherley Junction was almost built as a railway although eventually it was decided to construct it as a waterway.
Route[edit]
Wirral Line[edit]
The canal starts from Ellesmere Port on the River Mersey traversing the Wirral peninsula to Chester. This stretch, which was completed in 1797, was originally part of the unfinished Ellesmere Canal. The industrial waterway was intended to connect the Port of Liverpool on the River Mersey to the River Severn at Shrewsbury via the North East Wales Coalfields. However, only eight years after the completion of the contour canal between Netherpool and Chester, the proposed project became uneconomical. This meant the planned 16-mile (26 km) mainline from Chester to Trevor Basin near Wrexham was never constructed. Instead the northern Wirral section was joined to the pre-existing Chester Canal; eventually becoming part of the network Shropshire Union.
Although the Ellesmere Canal was not completed as intended, the central section of the Ellesmere Canal was built. These sections now form part of the waterways: Llangollen Canal and Montgomery Canal. Both are actually branches of the Shropshire Union mainline, although in modern times they are considered to be separate canals.
Chester Canal[edit]
In Chester, from the top of the arm leading down to the Dee, the SU follows the old Chester Canal built in 1772 to connect Chester and Nantwich. The canal passes alongside the city walls of Chester in a deep, vertical red sandstone cutting. After Chester, there are only a few locks as the canal crosses the nearly flat Chester Plain, passes Beeston Castle, and the junctions at Barbridge and Hurleston and arrives at Nantwich basin, the original terminus of the Chester Canal.
The two junctions on this stretch are very important links in the English and Welsh connected network.
Canal boats on the Chester Canal near Beeston
A5 aqueduct
Betton Mill on the Shropshire Union Canal at Market Drayton
The well-known bridge with the smallest telegraph pole.
Manchester Ship Canal meets Shropshire Union Canal at Ellesmere Port
1945 bank failure[edit]
On 7 September 1945, the bank of the Llangollen branch of the canal failed near Sun Bank Halt, Denbighshire. Escaping water washed away a 40-yard (37 m) section of the trackbed of the Ruabon to Barmouth railway line. A Great Western Railway mail and freight train was derailed, killing one person and injuring two others. The train's consist was entirely destroyed in the ensuing fire, with the exception of a brake van.[4]
2018 bank failure[edit]
A 70 metres (230 ft) section of northern bank of the canal failed on 16 March 2018 at an aqueduct over the River Wheelock, near Middlewich, leaving 15 to 20 boats stranded on a 1.3 kilometres (0.81 mi) stretch between Wardle Lock and Stanthorne Lock. One boat close to the 12 metres (39 ft) deep hole had to be evacuated, and minor damage to one local's garden was recorded. According to the Canal and River Trust, the breach was caused by a member of the public leaving open a paddle gate on a lock, allowing water into the section of the canal, and causing it to overflow. After emergency repairs costing £3 million, the Middlewich branch of the canal reopened on 21 December 2018.[5][6][7][8]
Restoration[edit]
To promote the interest in, use of, and restoration of parts of the Shropshire Union Canal, the Shropshire Union Canal Society was formed. Today their main restoration activities are on the Montgomery Canal, which is slowly being restored into Wales.
The canal in Chester is promoted by Chester Canal Heritage Trust.