Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The canal follows the Goyt valley, clinging to the left side and offering spectacular views
out over it through not infrequent breaks in the dry stone walls. The canal is popular. The
towpath is much used by walkers, who appreciate the fine views.
Just one part of the Buxworth canal terminal complex
.
The bridge carrying the A6015 at New Mills is heavily shored. Its courses of stonework
show a marked dip above the canal. Road vehicles are reduced to single file in an effort to
keep the two forms of traffic apart.
New Mills, inspiration for the New Mills clog dance, has had textile printing, engraving, a
canal foundry and engineering industries. The largest mill is Swizzles Matlow's sweet fact-
ory and the smells emanating are likely to produce a craving for their Refreshers and Love
Hearts. The canal user should plan ahead by carrying a suitable stock.
Fencing off an old stone quarry has produced a field of the kind that only goats can
fully appreciate. The resident family have trodden paths in places that gravity should have
placed out of reach. A copse follows, banks of wood sorrel sloping down to waterside marsh
marigolds. These are followed by neatly mown lawns each side of the canal at Disley. Here
are some of the best views of all. It is easy to understand why this has been the scene of two
breaches, the first in 1940 and the other in 1973, which swept away four cruisers after the
bank collapsed, owing to a prolonged spell of torrential rain.
The Ordnance Survey have placed a trig point just 200m from the canal at Marpleridge.
Oak trees and yellow-flowered gorse bushes cover fields to the west of the canal. Breaks in
an ivy-covered wall and a stand of pine trees allow a last look across the Goyt valley to Mel-
lor Moor and beyond. This is excellent touring country.
By this stage the high land on the west is already subsiding and the canal leads out on to
a peninsula, where it is joined by the Macclesfield Canal emerging under a roving bridge to
