Jump to content

Lock 89 Rochdale canal - River Tib drain trap door


deputy

Featured Posts

Not sure if anyone has seen it but there is an amazing video on youtube by a chap called Martin Zero about the recently drained Lock 89 on the Rochdale canal in Manchester city centre. There was always anecdotal stories of there being a canal trap door that allowed the lock to be drained into the ancient river Tib below. Turns out it was true. The calanl originally cut through the river Tib so the Tib was lowered beneath the canal. The video got 2.7 million views all around the world. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZeXcH4hmtY

Edited by buccaneer66
Made link clickable
Link to comment
Share on other sites

You can see the Rochdale crossing the Tib in this map from c1795, at the time the canal was being designed. The Tib passes the end of Bridgewater St and flows up to Garat Lane. The Medlock was navigable at this time up to Garrat, where a tunnel led to a shaft serving a coalyard which would have been just outside the current Picadilly Station. Instead of the deviation canal avoiding Castlefield, there was a culvert under the Bridgewater from the bottom lock on the Rochdale to the stop lock at Hulme. This provided a supply of clean water to the Bridgewater from the Rochdale, and avoided the polluted waters of the Medlock from entering the canal. The bottom lock on the Rochdale was built and controlled by the Bridgewater, and you can still see that it is of differenr construction to those higher up the canal.

1800c, Manchester 1.JPG

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.