Harding's Wood Canal Junction.
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Visit websiteThe Macclesfield Canal runs 26 miles (42 km) from Marple Junction at Marple, where it joins the Upper Peak Forest Canal, 16 miles (26 km), southwards (through Bollington and Macclesfield), before arriving at Bosley.
Having descended the 12 Bosley Locks over the course of about a mile (1.6 km), the canal continues through Congleton to a junction with the Hall Green Branch of the Trent & Mersey Canal at Hall Green lock. The branch itself joins the main line a mile further on at Hardings Wood Junction, near Kidsgrove. It was completed in 1831.
The Trent and Mersey Canal is 93.5 miles (150 km) long. As its name implies, it was built to link the River Trent at Derwent Mouth (in Derbyshire) to the River Mersey, a connection made via the Bridgewater Canal, which it joins at Preston Brook in Cheshire. The idea of a canal connection from the Mersey to the Trent ("The Grand Trunk") came from canal engineer James Brindley. It was authorised by an Act of Parliament in 1766 and opened in 1777.
Just North of Harecastle Tunnel, the Trent & Mersey (T&M) features one of the only two "flyover" junctions on the English/Welsh network. The Hall Green Branch leaves the T&M Mainline (which runs E/W here) on the south side, but then crosses over the main line and travels a short distance north to join the Macclesfield Canal at Hall Green Stop lock. (These days, some guides do not refer to the Hall Green branch, simply treating it as part of the Macclesfield Canal.)
The actual junction where the branch leaves the main line is a normal right angle junction called Hardings Wood Junction. The branch leaves the main line on the South side, then immediately turns 90 degrees clockwise. It runs westwards alongside the main line, maintaining the original level while the main line drops through two locks. At Red Bull (the name of the pub and small settlement called "Red Cow" in Arnold Bennett's novels) the branch turns 90 degrees right, to head North and cross the main line on Poole Lock aqueduct. It then immediately crosses the A50 on Red Bull aqueduct, carrying boats North to join the Macclesfield Canal at Hall Green.
There is only one other such junction on the English canal network. It is on the Caldon Canal, which itself joins the T&M in nearby Stoke-on-Trent. At Hazlehurst Junction, the Leek Branch leaves, and subsequently crosses, the Caldon Canal main line.
By boat: Just north of the Harecastle Tunnel. (see entry for Harecastle tunnel)
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