Marple Lock Flight is a flight of sixteen

canal locks A lock is a device used for raising and lowering boats, ships and other watercraft between stretches of water of different levels on river and canal waterways. The distinguishing feature of a lock is a fixed chamber in which the water lev ...

, situated on the

Peak Forest Canal The Peak Forest Canal is a narrow ( gauge) locked artificial waterway in northern England. It is long and forms part of the connected English/Welsh inland waterway network. Route and features General description The canal consists of two level ...

Marple Marple may refer to: Places * Marple, Greater Manchester, a town close to Stockport, in England ** Marple Bridge, a village within the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, in Greater Manchester ** Marple railway station in Marple, Greater Manchest ...

, a suburb of

Stockport Stockport is a town and borough in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt and Tame merge to create the River Mersey here. Most of the town is within ...

History

Whilst the rest of the canal was opened to navigation by 1796, insufficient money was available to complete the necessary flight of locks to connect the two halves; a temporary tramway was therefore installed until such time as the locks could be completed, which finally happened in 1804. With the end of commercial carrying, the locks became dilapidated and, by the early 1960s, the flight had become impassible. Pressure in the late 1960s from the Peak Forest Canal Society and the

Inland Waterways Association The Inland Waterways Association (IWA) is a registered charity in the United Kingdom and was formed in 1946 to campaign for the conservation, use, maintenance, restoration and sensitive development of British Canals and river navigations. Not ...

, who wanted to save the

Cheshire Ring The Cheshire Ring is a canal cruising circuit or canal ring, which includes sections of six canals in and around Cheshire and Greater Manchester in North West England: the Ashton Canal, Peak Forest Canal, Macclesfield Canal, Trent and Merse ...

, resulted in the restoration and re-opening of the flight in 1974. Today, the location of the flight, with easy access to public transport and its scenic merits so close to a town centre, make it a popular destination with walkers; during the summer, small crowds can often be seen around the locks as boats pass through.

Features

The sixteen locks raise the canal by , over the course of about a mile (1.6 km). Whilst this is a single flight, it can be divided into three different sections, each with a distinctive environment: *The lower section (locks 1-8) climbs through 8 locks in a heavily wooded section, with little nearby habitation; *The middle section (locks 9-12) lies alongside a municipal park, with housing close at hand on the off-side bank; *The final top section (locks 13-16) rises steeply through four closely spaced locks, with housing on both sides and a road accompanying the canal, to arrive at

Marple Junction Marple Junction () is the name of the canal junction where the Macclesfield Canal terminates and meets the Peak Forest Canal at Marple, Greater Manchester, England. The water of the two canal companies was kept apart by a stop lock in the narro ...

References

{{coords, 53.406, -2.064, display=title Canals in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport Lock flights of England Marple, Greater Manchester