Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Other redundant structures include Edge Green Basin, seen as a blocked-off inlet on the
left, and a railway line that once crossed close by. Plank Lane Bridge was a swing bridge
carrying a busy road and opened mechanically by a bridge keeper, until it was replaced by a
troublesome, electrically operated lifting bridge.
The canal takes a rather odd line on its approach to Leigh, a series of wiggles that are so
slight it is not clear why a straight line was not chosen. Beside the canal is a brick warehouse
that has been restored as the Waterside Inn. The Moonraker is close to the canal.
The Leigh Branch meets its Bridgewater Canal equivalent on the far side of the A572
bridge in Leigh. Leigh comes from the Old English word
leah
; glade.
The Bridgewater Canal was the first of the modern canals to be constructed entirely inde-
pendently of rivers. The first section was opened in 1761 and it began the era of canal build-
ing. A contour canal with no locks, it was a broad canal with many features that would not
have seemed out of place later and which served as a model for many canals that were to
follow.
It was constructed to bring coal from the mines of the 3rd Duke of Bridgewater at Worsley
to the centre of Manchester. Construction of the new canal immediately halved the price of
coal in Manchester, made a fortune for the duke and made the name of James Brindley who,
along with John Gilbert, engineered the canal. Scheduled passenger services began in 1776.
The derelict canalside Mather Lane Mill of 1882 in Leigh has an early concrete floor
.
The Stretford & Leigh Branch of the canal was subsequently extended by the Leigh Branch
of the Leeds & Liverpool Canal, which took it on from Leigh.
The limit of the Bridgewater Canal is marked by a stop board that is suspended from a
manually operated iron and timber crane. This is one of a number that were installed to pro-
tect the 50km of water on one level.
