Snapes Aqueduct

Snapes Aqueduct
Trent and Mersey
November 2010

This one sits mid way own Wheelock Hill (aka Heartbreak Hill).

Unglamorous but functional.

Anderton Boat Lift Aqueduct

Anderton Boat Lift Aqueduct

Trent and Mersey

21.4.10

I hadnt really thought about the Anderton Boat Lift having an aqueduct till the lift keeper instructed me to move onto it. But when I later viewed it from the side it is indeed an aqueduct, and an impressive one at that.

The boat lift lowers craft 50 feet from the Trent and Mersey to the Weaver Navigation and an approach chute is needed to get boats into the cassions. Both ends are protected by guilloting gates to prevent water loss.

River Dove Aqueduct

River Dove Aqueduct

Trent and Mersey Canal

A classic Brindley aqueduct, built just before 1770 to carry the Trent and Mersey canal over the Dove.

From a design point of view the aqueduct is interesting. The limited clearance between the bottom of the water channel and the normal surface level provided no scope for high arches, which are needed to cope with the significant volumes of flood water which need to pass under it from time to time.

As Brindley was unable to provide the capacity by using high arches he compensated by extending the length of the aqueduct and in so doing increasing the number of smaller watercourses available to eleven.

Judging by the above picture of the aqueduct when the Dove is in flood, the end result is barely enough. Having said that, the aqueduct has stood for 240 years! The need to withstand the huge lateral forces of the river in flood probably accounts for the wider than expected water channel and margins.


By way of a bonus there is an extra arch just to the east of the main aqueduct, which could probably be seen as a separate aqueduct. However, as it merely carries a small side stream of the river Dove I am including it on the same page. If this single arch has a unique name please let me know and I will afford it a page all of its own!

Brindley Bank Aqueduct (Rugeley)

Brindley Bank Aqueduct

Trent and Mersey Canal

Rugeley, Staffs.

Another typical Brindley aqueduct, squat and solid, capable of supporting the masonry, water and the considerable about of puddle clay needed to line its double width channel.

This aqueduct crosses the upper reaches of the River Trent on four low arches, turning at right angles from the line of the contour canal, instead of a squewed structure which would align better. At the time that this structure was erected, skewed arches has not been perfected, so Brindley opted for his tried and tested approach, even in this did mean boats having to perform gymnastics to get onto its southern end.

This aqueduct was photographed by the Captian in May 2009, during one of his kayaking expeditions with Royal Sutton Coldfield Canoe Club - covering waters other boaters would even consider exploring!

There is an excellent put in / out point just upstream on the aqueduct. Out, if you have travelled down river from Great Haywood and in if you are planning a trip downriver to the footbridge at Armitage.

Wether this aqueduct marks the upstream or downstream limit of your canoe trip, the proximity of the river and canal make for a number of excellent circular trips.

Poole Aqueduct

Poole Aqueduct - Red Bull Basin

Trent and Mersey

tuesdaynightclub.co.uk/Tour_04/Tour04_8.html

tuesdaynightclub.co.uk/Tour_04/Tour04_8.html

www.penninewaterways.co.uk/macclesfield/mac1.htm