THE RIVER WHEELOCK AQUEDUCT ON THE SHROPSHIRE UNION CANAL (MIDDLEWICH BRANCH) EARLY 2012

The Wheelock Aqueduct on the SUC Middlewich Branch, February 2012.

by Dave Roberts

Jim Moores has been out and about recently gathering photographs for his excellent new Facebook page 

'The Canals & Rivers of Middlewich' and here he's giving us all a glimpse of one of the three aqueducts in the town - one we've talked about in several previous Middlewich Diary entries but have never had the chance of a proper look at, until now. 

Like so many such places around our town, the SUC* aqueduct over the River Wheelock, just yards away from the much better known (for obvious reasons) Nantwich Road aqueduct, is a 'hidden gem'. 

It's very similar to the nearby road aqueduct which was built at the same time but, in the case of the river aqueduct, the large sweeping buttresses on either side,with ornamental stone pillars at the end of them are very obvious:

Actually, this is explained very much better by George Nash in Wych & Water (Middlewich Vision 2009):

'At either end of the supporting revetment are curvilinear piers that terminate to form circular roundels. A similar ornamental arrangement is present on one of the surviving piers attached to the Croxton Aqueduct'

The Nantwich Road aqueduct is lacking these stone pillars and the opulent curves on either side of the road, presumably because of space constraints in the narrow cutting in which it lies. According to George Nash (see above), the road aqueduct is, in any case, smaller than the one over the river.

It seems strange, though, that the river aqueduct, out of sight of the general public, should be given these embellishments and the Nantwich Road one left unadorned.

In the early 1960s,when I was still at Wimboldsley Primary School  I remember playing around this aqueduct with a group of friends.

One of our ambitions was to walk through the aqueduct from one side to the other along the middle of the river.

We never did it, as we were unsure how deep the river was.

In those days, just a short distance into the tunnel (both these aqueducts are more like short tunnels,burrowing into the canal embankment, than bridges) on the Wimboldsley side was what looked very much like an abandoned boat.

Another of our ambitions was to rescue this boat, repair it, and  go sailing all around the canals and rivers of Middlewich,like our heroes the Swallows and Amazons.

That never happened either.

Jim's third photograph shows the River Wheelock flowing on from the aqueduct and heading off towards its meeting with the River Dane at Croxton.

UPDATE (20th February 2017)

When a link to this diary entry was re-published on Facebook in February 2017, Andy Boardman got in touch to say that he too had photographed the aqueduct in 2015. His excellent study, which.gives us an overall view of the structure, is reproduced, with permission, below

Photo: Andy Boardman

See also RIVER WHEELOCK EARLY 1970s

* Shropshire Union Canal (Middlewich Branch)

Note: This entry started a discussion in the 'comments' section (see below) of a 'tunnel' under the canal in or near Norman's wood. 

Jim Moores' Canals & Rivers of Middlewich' Facebook page has photos.

The Norman's Wood 'tunnel' under the SUC Middlewich Branch at Norman's Wood. Is it a tunnel, or more properly a drainage culvert?
Photo: Jim Moores

***********************************************

In  2018 this beautiful but secluded part of the Middlewich canal scene, long hidden away from public view but a great favourite with those in the know,  made the headlines in the most spectacular way possible when a huge breach in the canal bank above the aqueduct appeared early in the morning of  Friday March 16th. We have extensive coverage of this sensational happening on the Middlewich Diary:

A SERIOUS BREACH PART ONE

First published 18th February 2012

Revised and re-published 20th February 2017

and 30th March 2018.

THE JUNCTION INN, LATE 19th CENTURY

The Junction Inn, Brooks Lane 

by Dave Roberts

We're grateful to local photographer Jim Moores for this 'photo of a photo' showing the Junction Inn which, until 1909, stood at the end of Brooks Lane close to the junction of the Trent & Mersey  and the Wardle and Shropshire Union (Middlewich Branch) Canals, giving the pub its name.

 This pub stood on the right hand side of Brooks Lane immediately adjacent to the canal bridge which, of course, still survives to this day. The building's site is today occupied by a modern house complete with  pleasure-boat mooring where once the wall of the pub rose up from the canal bank. Behind the buildings seen here stood Brunner-Mond's Alkali Works, the site of which is largely occupied now by Pochin Ltd.

It's not clear from this picture whether The Junction was another one of those 'stack pubs' so common in the town, with rooms at street level for patrons from the town and another at canal level to cater for the needs of the 'boatees', although a pub in such a position must have drawn a lot of canal trade.

Two of these interesting 'stack pubs' still exist in the town - the Big Lock and the King's Lock (although the configuration of the King's Lock is somewhat different, as the upper storey is at canal level, and the ground falls away behind the pub to give access to the lower storey where stabling for canal horses was once provided).

Another 'stack pub', 'The Navigation', once stood near to the Town bridge, on the corner of Mill Lane and Kinderton Street. An earlier Middlewich Diary entry features a photograph of 'The Navigation' taken at around the same time as this one and bears a striking similarity to it, although 'The Navigation', certainly in its rebuilt form, is on a somewhat larger scale. Take a look here.

When we say that The Junction Inn stood on this site until 1909, we're quoting local historian Allan Earl who, in Middlewich 1900-1950 (Countrywide Publications 1994) tells us that both this pub and 'The Carbineer' on Hightown (seen here) were closed because of the prohibitive costs of modernising them. Added to which, the local licensing magistrate was voicing the age-old opinion that there were 'too many pubs' in competition with them. In all probability although the pub was closed the building would have lived on, possibly as a private house, for quite a few more years.

On the left hand side of the bridge parapet can be seen a sign warning people that the bridge, which was built in the days of horse-drawn traffic, could not stand any amount of weight.

Until quite recently (the 1960s) there was another sign on the opposite side of the bridge which had the same wording but was rather more spectacular in style. It was diamond-shaped and stood sentinel over the bridge 

to warn people that the bridge was not designed to carry traffic weighing more than ' the normal traffic  of the district' or words to that effect, and, in an odd way, was a reminder that Middlewich was one of the far-flung outposts of a railway empire whose territory lay a quite a distance South of us.

This large cast-iron sign, headed 'North Staffordshire Railway & Canal Company' could possibly have dated back as far as 1847, which was the year that the Trent & Mersey was taken over by the railway which connected (and still connects) the Potteries with Cheshire via North Staffs junction at Crewe. At one time the sign was painted in the familiar blue and yellow colours of British Waterways.

Jim also went to the trouble of photographing the reverse of this historic photo, giving us the additional information that the two people at the front of the pub are 'Great Great Grandfather Hough' and 'Landlord Brody'.
We rather fancy that Landlord Brody is the one on the right.
And what of the enigmatic inscription 'Riders Money?'
Well, long-time contributor Cliff Astles comes to the rescue on this one.
'Riders', he says, 'was a house-to-house clothing company which local people used to use when they were unable to get out of Middlewich to do that 'special' bit of shopping. People paid for the items weekly.'

So obviously at some dim and distant point in time, someone wanted to remind themselves, or someone else, to put the money by to pay Riders and, as people will, used the first thing that came to hand. In this case an old photo of the Junction Inn.

Many thanks to Jim Moores, Gwen Hughes and Cliff Astles for the photos and information.

Reformatted 24th April 2020
           

MIDDLEWICH WHARF AT NIGHT by JIM MOORES

Middlewich Wharf, Easter Sunday 2013

We've used many many photographs on the Middlewich Diary over the last eighteen months or so, the vast majority of them  to illustrate something about Middlewich's history or to record a recent event for posterity.

But we're publishing this superb shot of Middlewich Wharf for its own sake, simply because it's such an excellent and atmospheric picture.

It's by Jim Moores who runs the Canals and Rivers of Middlewich Facebook page and also contributes to Bill Armsden's Middlewich Photographers group.

These sites contain some really excellent photographs, both by Jim and by the growing band of local photographers who are busy recording the passing Middlewich scene for future generations to enjoy.

Dave Roberts

SEE ALSO: MIDDLEWICH SUNSET MAY 2013 by FIONA BAKER

12th APRIL 2020

THE BEST OF MIDDLEWICH: THE CANALS AND RIVERS OF MIDDLEWICH (FACEBOOK PAGE)

Croxton Lane Bridge

This  photograph is by Jim Moores and is just one of many superb photographs and videos on  Jim's  Facebook page  The Canals And Rivers Of Middlewich.  Well worth looking at and subscribing to.

THE CANALS AND RIVERS OF MIDDLEWICH