SJ6641 : Audlem: Shropshire Union Canal above lock 1
taken 22 years ago, near to Coxbank, Cheshire, Great Britain

Audlem: Shropshire Union Canal above lock 1
This marks the southern extremity of the village: the parish boundary, and that between Cheshire and Shropshire, runs along the far edge of the wood to the left and crosses the canal through the overflow weir on the right bank.
The towpath is now in fine condition, but when I moved to Audlem as a child in 1969 simply getting to this point from lock 1 involved a struggle, climbing up the cutting side to avoid stretches of towpath that had eroded into the canal. Beyond here to Adderley the towpath was occasionally eroded and almost entirely covered in nettles. In hindsight, the 1960s probably were part of the canal's lowest point, between the end of freight transport and the explosion in leisure use. In those days this stretch of the canal was quiet enough to see kingfishers regularly; now the cutting between this point and lock 1 regularly houses overnight moorings.
The towpath is now in fine condition, but when I moved to Audlem as a child in 1969 simply getting to this point from lock 1 involved a struggle, climbing up the cutting side to avoid stretches of towpath that had eroded into the canal. Beyond here to Adderley the towpath was occasionally eroded and almost entirely covered in nettles. In hindsight, the 1960s probably were part of the canal's lowest point, between the end of freight transport and the explosion in leisure use. In those days this stretch of the canal was quiet enough to see kingfishers regularly; now the cutting between this point and lock 1 regularly houses overnight moorings.
The Shropshire Union Canal
The Shropshire Union Canal (from Autherley to Nantwich) was engineered by Thomas Telford and opened in 1835. There are long straight sections of this canal which required either embankments or cuttings to avoid the need for locks. Although this was a more difficult procedure, the end route was shorter and the progress for horse drawn working boats could be maintained with (hopefully) no stoppages. The canal (formerly the Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal) was opened at a time when railways were making serious inroads into the canal companies' businesses.
The current Shroppie north of Nantwich was formerly the Chester Canal, opened in 1779, and has wider locks and bridges. Boats up to nine feet in beam can still navigate this section; Telford's canal accommodates only narrowboats up to seven feet in beam.
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- Grid Square
- SJ6641, 13 images (more nearby
)
- Photographer
- Christopher Hilton (find more nearby)
- Date Taken
- Tuesday, 26 December, 1995 (more nearby)
- Submitted
- Tuesday, 31 January, 2012
- Geographical Context
- Weather (from Tags)
- Subject Location
-
OSGB36:
SJ 6609 4106 [10m precision]
WGS84: 52:57.9493N 2:30.3794W - Camera Location
-
OSGB36:
SJ 6604 4113
- View Direction
- South-southeast (about 157 degrees)
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