Album Canals from tarboat

Still carrying

nobody@ipernity.com (tarboat) — Mon, 20 Apr 2026 06:11:32 +0000

tarboat has posted:

Narrowboats Victoria and Alton at the 2016 Bollington boat & folk event on the Macclesfield Canal. These two motor boats were still at work carrying fuels, mainly supplying boaters along the waterways in the area.

Approaching Sutton Weaver

nobody@ipernity.com (tarboat) — Sat, 11 Apr 2026 05:37:03 +0000

tarboat has posted:

Sutton Weaver swing bridge on the Weaver Navigation carries the A56 over the river. It was completed in 1926 and has seen much repair and refurbishment in recent years.

Chlorine world

nobody@ipernity.com (tarboat) — Thu, 09 Apr 2026 06:52:41 +0000

tarboat has posted:

Compressed chlorine storage at the INOVYN ChlorVinyls Limited Rocksavage chemical works. This plant mainly produces chlorine, caustic soda and chlorinated derivatives. I believe that these spheres are no longer used.

The signal was once used to control vessels using Weston Marsh Lock which links the Weaver Naviagation to the Manchester Ship Canal. The Weston Canal running across the image linked the Weaver to the docks at Weston Point and also the now derelict Runcorn and Weston Canal.

Boathouse

nobody@ipernity.com (tarboat) — Thu, 26 Mar 2026 15:58:10 +0000

tarboat has posted:

This is one of the last remaining corrugated iron boathouses on the Macclesfield Canal. These structures were common from the small skiff type of the early 20th century to the ones that held cabin cruisers in later years. The last ones are to be seen on the High Lane Arm which is leased to the North Cheshire Cruising Club. They are disappearing because they are too small to accommodate the modern steel narrowboats that are in the majority today.

Coal delivery

nobody@ipernity.com (tarboat) — Sun, 07 Dec 2025 06:22:27 +0000

tarboat has posted:

As winter draws in the boaters on the Macclesfield Canal need plenty of solid fuel to keep warm and maybe diesel for the engine or central heating. The setting sun glints on the moored boats and the fuel boat Alton as it makes a delivery to the moorings at Middlecale.

Towpath bridge

nobody@ipernity.com (tarboat) — Wed, 19 Nov 2025 17:06:45 +0000

tarboat has posted:

Side bridge on the Stockport Branch Canal at Gorton. Maintenance of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway Company's boats was undertaken at Gorton dock which was located on the Stockport Branch of the Ashton Canal a short distance from the junction with the main line. This is the bridge that carried the towpath across the entrance to the dock. It is dated 1864.

A misty day

nobody@ipernity.com (tarboat) — Wed, 22 Oct 2025 05:30:16 +0000

tarboat has posted:

Red van alongside the Macclesfield Canal.

Top lock

nobody@ipernity.com (tarboat) — Thu, 11 Sep 2025 06:28:44 +0000

tarboat has posted:

The 102ft fall at the Ardnacrusha hydro-electric power station on the Shannon is overcome for navigation by a two-rise staircase lock. The falls are 68ft and 34 ft. This is reaching the top of the deep upper chamber. The locks and power station were completed by 1929.

Topsham Lock Cottage

nobody@ipernity.com (tarboat) — Sun, 22 Jun 2025 06:48:38 +0000

tarboat has posted:

The Exeter Ship Canal was opened in 1566, built to bypass weirs that had been erected on the River Exe and thus enable goods to reach the port of Exeter - originally in barges, later in ocean-going ships. Following successive enlargements and extensions it reached its present form in the 1830s, when the canal basin was also built.

In 1827 the canal was extended two miles south to the present entrance at Turf Lock, giving access to craft of 400 tons. This caused concerns by traders at Topsham who feared being bypassed by the extension. An Act of Parliament allowed a side lock to be constructed into the estuary opposite Topsham. The lock is no longer in use but the lock cottage remains at this isolated location and is now used as a community facility by the Friends of the Exeter Canal.

Boathouse

nobody@ipernity.com (tarboat) — Mon, 02 Jun 2025 06:48:41 +0000

tarboat has posted:

The Packet Boat House below Fairfield Top Lock on the Ashton Canal was built in 1833. The Ashton Canal Company kept their Packet Boat moored in it when not in use. This boat carried mail, passengers and small parcels on regular services between Ashton, Marple, Stockport and Manchester and the journey to Manchester from Ashton took only two and a half hours including 18 locks!

Prince

nobody@ipernity.com (tarboat) — Thu, 03 Apr 2025 06:00:25 +0000

tarboat has posted:

During a morning stroll along the Macclesfield Canal I was delighted to see this narrowboat passing. One of two Royalty Class boats (Prince and Henry) built in 1931 by James Pollock Sons & Co Ltd of Faversham, Kent. The original owner was Associated Canal Carriers Ltd and subsequently the Grand Union Canal Carrying Company.

Lock 11

nobody@ipernity.com (tarboat) — Fri, 28 Mar 2025 07:28:43 +0000

tarboat has posted:

Ashton Canal lock 11 at Clayton in Manchester. Below the lock is where the Stockport branch of the canal headed off to the left. In the background is the Evonik chemical plant

Evonik is a German owned speciality chemicals manufacturer. The company says that Evonik products make tires fuel-efficient, mattresses more elastic, medications more effective, and animal feeds healthier. Its website lists a large range of products including petrochemical antifoulant, gasoline octane enhancer and corrosion inhibitors.

Chemical wharf

nobody@ipernity.com (tarboat) — Wed, 19 Mar 2025 06:14:01 +0000

tarboat has posted:

Wharf on the Manchester Ship Canal serving the Stanlow oil refinery at Ellesmere Port.

Lostock reflections

nobody@ipernity.com (tarboat) — Sat, 08 Mar 2025 05:39:12 +0000

tarboat has posted:

Part of the Lostock chemical works captured in the waters of the Trent & Mersey Canal.

Mode Wheel

nobody@ipernity.com (tarboat) — Sat, 01 Mar 2025 11:38:04 +0000

tarboat has posted:

Mersey Ferry Snowdrop tied up at Mode Wheel Locks on the Manchester Ship Canal. The ship will collect passengers later in the day for a trip to Liverpool.

Hydro lock

nobody@ipernity.com (tarboat) — Sat, 22 Feb 2025 06:46:41 +0000

tarboat has posted:

The building of the Shannon hydroelectric scheme in the late 1920s required navigation to be maintained down to Limerick after the Parteen Weir cut off the old route via O'Briensbridge. This was achieved by building a double staircase lock at the Ardnacrusha power station. Taken from the approach canal this shows the entrance to the lower lock which has a rise of 34ft whilst the top lock has a rise of 68ft. This is the deepest lock in Britain and Ireland.

Lock and bridge

nobody@ipernity.com (tarboat) — Wed, 29 Jan 2025 06:33:22 +0000

tarboat has posted:

Access to the Holiday Inn at Ellesmere Port requires traversing this swing bridge over the canal lock into the docks. A notable feature is the pointless arc of brickwork on the floor beyond the balance beam and running behind the lamp.

Beam aqueduct

nobody@ipernity.com (tarboat) — Sat, 07 Dec 2024 16:23:02 +0000

tarboat has posted:

The Rolle or Torrington Canal in north Devon extends from its mouth into the River Torridge at Landcross 6 miles southwards to the industrial mills and corn-mills at Town Mills, Rosemoor, Great Torrington, and beyond to Healand Docks and weir on the Torridge, where survive the ruins of Lord Rolle's limekilns. This tub-boat canal was completed in 1827 and was closed in 1871 when it was sold to the London and South Western Railway to form the trackway of the proposed new railway from Bideford to Torrington.

Some parts of the canal are still visible today, including this, the Beam Aqueduct, over the River Torridge/ It is now used to carry the entrance drive to Beam Mansion, now an adventure holiday centre.

SND No.4

nobody@ipernity.com (tarboat) — Sun, 01 Dec 2024 06:41:47 +0000

tarboat has posted:

It was mainly used to dredge Gloucester Docks and the Sharpness canal to a depth of 16ft and to dredge the dock at Sharpness to 24ft. At times SND No.4 also worked in the entrance and tidal basin at Sharpness. These operations typically removed 35,000 to 40,000 tons of mud from the canal and docks each year until 1981, when SND No.4 was replaced by a diesel-electric powered dredger. It is now a working exhibit in the Gloucester Waterways Museum.

Innospec

nobody@ipernity.com (tarboat) — Wed, 27 Nov 2024 20:35:00 +0000

tarboat has posted:

Late afternoon sun on the cooling tower of the Innospec plant at Stanlow which manufactures fuel additives and, according to its website, is the world's only manufacturer of tetraethyl lead products.