Nanney's Bridge Middlewich Branch

[MHS]

CRT have closed the canal and towpath at Nanney's Bridge no8 on the Middlewich Branch of the Shroppie. A bus struck the bridge on the 3rd May and their latest update says they will review the closure on 15th May. 
The towpath has been fenced off and there are signs which say canal closed. There is minor damage to the parapet on the non towpath side and it's not even over the water.
The road is still open and most boaters are ignoring the signs and passing through.
It's ridiculous to take so long to even assess the damage. As it's on the four counties and it's now May, they or the highways should really be dealing with this quicker. 

[trane]

Thanks for the update. I was wondering whether to take a risk and head up that way. With the LLangollen breach and the Cheshire ring not available to boaters, you would think that CRT might want to prioritize keeping the Four counties open.

 

[MHS]

53 minutes ago, trane said:

Thanks for the update. I was wondering whether to take a risk and head up that way. With the LLangollen breach and the Cheshire ring not available to boaters, you would think that CRT might want to prioritize keeping the Four counties open.

 

If you're travelling from Middlewich and can't / or decide not to go through, you can just turn round at Aqueduct Marina. 
We passed through yesterday no problem. 

[ditchcrawler]

We made the decision to divert at Gt Haywood and take the Shroppie as I had no idea how bad/slight the damage was

[MHS]

The damage is minimal. You will cruise under half a dozen bridges every day with more damage. 

5 hours ago, ditchcrawler said:

We made the decision to divert at Gt Haywood and take the Shroppie as I had no idea how bad/slight the damage was

The damage is minimal. You will cruise under half a dozen bridges every day with more damage. 

[junior]

Perhaps by saying the canal is closed to navigation and issuing a stoppage notice they are doing their bit to minimise their liability should something go wrong, but by not physically blocking the canal they are giving boaters the option to crack on if they want to.

[MHS]

10 hours ago, junior said:

Perhaps by saying the canal is closed to navigation and issuing a stoppage notice they are doing their bit to minimise their liability should something go wrong, but by not physically blocking the canal they are giving boaters the option to crack on if they want to.

That's exactly what we thought too. 

[Llamedos]

If I was doing the four counties ring I think I'd go through, but if I knew I needed to return that way again in a week or two I'd probably be slightly more wary. 🤔 

 

You never know what their structural engineer might decide. 

[trane]

Update from CRT-

Update 8 May 2026, 2:06pm

 

Following a recent collision at Bridge 8 (Nanney's Bridge) on the Middlewich Branch of the Shropshire Union Canal, Cheshire East Highways closed the road as a precaution to help keep everyone safe. Although barriers were put in place, they have unfortunately been repeatedly moved, and vehicles are continuing to cross the bridge. The collision has left part of the bridge parapet unstable. Our teams are concerned that continued vehicle use could cause further material to fall into the canal or onto the towpath below. For this reason, and in the interests of our customers' safety, we feel it is necessary to keep both the canal and the towpath closed for the time being. We are working closely with the local highways authority to see what additional traffic control measures can be put in place to prevent further damage. Once traffic on the bridge is properly controlled, the risk to boaters and towpath users will reduce significantly. At that point, we will inspect and make safe to reopen canal and towpath. We are very sorry for the disruption this situation is causing. If anyone has any information about the incident or the vehicle involved in causing the damage, please contact our Customer Service team on 0303 0404 040.

A further update will be provided on or before Wednesday 13 May.

[ditchcrawler]

That is what I suspected was the case

[trane]

I'm not sure why this is any different to any of a number of other bridge strikes. Aston Bridge near Stone was damaged last year by a lorry taking a short cut to avoid roadworks--details of the lorry were reported to CRT. The damage appears identical to that recorded in the pictures above-a section of the parapet had become detached but remained in place. And several months later the towpath and canal remained open, and may still not have been repaired (I haven't checked it this year)

[ditchcrawler]

An interesting update, CRT have installed barriers at the bridge to stop the traffic and boats can pass again 

[PeterF]

Just in around 16:00 (cross posted with Ditchcrawler)

 

Navigation and Towpath Closure Completed Bridge 8 Nanney's Bridge Following our last update earlier today, our teams have this afternoon installed robust barriers to prevent road traffic from using the bridge and have put diversion routes in place. Initial inspections have now been completed, and as a result we can confirm that the canal and towpath are now back open.

Edited Friday at 15:34 by PeterF

[ditchcrawler]

CRT blocking the road off