Viaduct Alongside L&L at Haigh

[MartinC]

Shortly after the top of Wigan flight, 100 yds.in on the offside. None of my canal books mention it, but it appears that there was an arm here. Close up the viaduct looks very substantial. Any local boater able to supply information?

 

 

[bigste]

It was the old springs branch at Aspull which never went far. It was intended to be the Lancaster canal going through to Westhoughton and Salford but never made it. A google search may find some info

Edited August 18, 2013 by bigste

[Pluto]

When first opened around 1797, the Lancaster Canal ended at the main road bridge at Aspull. It was extended to the top of the locks for when the L&LC opened the locks in 1816, and there was an arm almost directly opposite the locks serving a coal mine. The brick engine house was certainly visible recently. Then, when the Springs Branch railway was being promoted circa 1830, the Lancaster extended their canal a little further to force the railway into building a bridge, just in case the canal ended up building their authorised line to Westhoughton.

[bigste]

There is also a short branch at Walton Summit near Chorley where the Lancaster was intended to reach Preston. It never happened but a tramway was built to cross the Ribble.

[Timleech]

There is also a short branch at Walton Summit near Chorley where the Lancaster was intended to reach Preston. It never happened but a tramway was built to cross the Ribble.

 

That was much more significant in length (about a mile?) and was actually used, unlike the one at the top of Wigan. The interchange basin at the end was quite impressive, still there in the late 1960s but probably long gone?

 

Tim

[Heartland]

I believe the Springs Branch Railway, was a mineral line built for the North Union Railway and opened October 31st 1838, In addition to this railway various other railway branches criss-crossed this area built by their successors, the London & North Western Railway. There were also the private railways built for the Wigan Coal & Iron Company

 

Ray Shill

[Pluto]

 

That was much more significant in length (about a mile?) and was actually used, unlike the one at the top of Wigan. The interchange basin at the end was quite impressive, still there in the late 1960s but probably long gone?

 

Tim

There is a business and industrial park built on top of it,. The motorway crosses the canal route further south, and part of the canal was used as a dumping ground for spoil from the motorway.

There is also a short branch at Walton Summit near Chorley where the Lancaster was intended to reach Preston. It never happened but a tramway was built to cross the Ribble.

Not a branch, but the main line of the Lancaster Canal.

[john4647]

 

As far as I can recall, the red line running up to Westhoughton was the proposed route of the Lancaster Canal circa 1793. The other red line running from around the Bank house area was the proposed Lancaster Canal route to Worsley, via Leigh.

The green (ish) line above the red line was the proposed route of the L & L Canal running through Red Moss.

A combination of the two from the Wigan Flight top (around where the map says 'steam engine') was what eventually happened.

[Pluto]

 

As far as I can recall, the red line running up to Westhoughton was the proposed route of the Lancaster Canal circa 1793. The other red line running from around the Bank house area was the proposed Lancaster Canal route to Worsley, via Leigh.

The green (ish) line above the red line was the proposed route of the L & L Canal running through Red Moss.

A combination of the two from the Wigan Flight top (around where the map says 'steam engine') was what eventually happened.

As I said in my earlier post, the Lancaster was originally completed as far as Barkhill, at the road into Wigan, and was extended to meet the L&LC at the top of the locks. Promotional maps, such as the one you illustrate, only give a rough idea as to where the canal will be situated, and this is the case here with the proposed L&LC line. As built it is to the left of the road crossing the Lancaster Canal line, the bridge at Barkhill being the last before the locks. Bear in mind, this is a Lancaster Canal map and not a L&LC one, and was drawn before the L&LC line was authorised the following year. Deviation from the Parliamentary line was also permitted, though within specific dimensions.

 

The junction with the existing L&LC in the centre of Wigan is also conjectural. The section of canal today where the old warehouses are located was built by the Douglas Navigation in 1740/1, and the new canal from Dean Locks joined the old navigation by a right-angle bend in 1780/1. The second right-angle bend on the canal in Wigan is at the junction where the new canal down from Aspull met the original canal basin. The original warehouse here is almost opposite this junction, the one over the end of the arm having been built circa 1820. The English Heritage listing is incorrect for these warehouses.

 

A further branch was proposed off the Lancaster Canal during Parliamentary proceedings for the revised L&LC Bill. It was suggested that the Lancaster could be linked to the M&MBC at Bolton via a five-mile-long tunnel under Red Moss from Adlington Hall.