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| Hollinwood Branch Canal - what next? (2) |
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Beyond the bridge is Tesco's Superstore and a gap by the side of it where the canal once ran. Trying to restore the canal looks impossible and so I decided I would turn back on my expedition. Then I remembered that same feeling in Stalybridge 28 years ago. This time I must continue! A short distance further is Greenside Lane Bridge, which still exists. Maybe things are not so bad after all! The canal cannot be followed until Cliffords Bridge (now Sunnyside Road). This was originally a swing bridge (and a footbridge). Beyond here the canal route can be more easily spotted. The route is infilled and is a grassy, public footpath. |
 The canal route beyond Sunnyside Road. Photo: Bob Gough. |
 Footbridge over the railway. Photo: Bob Gough. Shortly after crossing the railway, the footpath follows the line of the towpath through the Medlock Valley all the way to Daisy Nook Country Park. Quite a lot of this stretch of the canal is weeded up, and partly in water. Some of it shows the effects of mining subsidence (the towpath wall has been raised up). |
A little further, past some playing fields and a rather forlorn running track, the canal skirted Lumb Clough and crossed the railway on an aqueduct. Now there is only a modern footbridge. (left) The canal in water in the Medlock Valley. Photo: Bob Gough. |
 Motorway crossing and footbridge. Photo: Bob Gough. |
When I last walked along the Branch, the M60 had not been built. Now this motorway slices across the canal, and only a footpath bridge was constructed. There is no canal, and getting the Branch restored here looks expensive! Once again I wanted to turn back. But just a short distance further is the 'fairy-tale' location at Daisy Nook: aqueducts, a junction, four locks (two as a staircase pair), all forming an amazing sight. Next page |