The Canal
The canal provides Whixall with perhaps it’s most interesting feature.
In the parish we have both the Llangollen Canal mainline and the Prees Arm. The mainline reaches the Pontcysylite aqueduct and Llangollen and is the most popular stretch of canal in the UK. The Prees Arm never reached Prees and ended at Quina Brook. It now ends at a big hole where the puddling clay for sealing the canal was dug, now known as Whixall Marina.
The Canal was originally the Whitchurch branch of Ellesmere canal then the Llangollen branch of Shropshire Union Canal
The mainline enters Whixall Parish at Platt Lane Bridge (43) and exits on the straight mile long stretch known as the “Quob” at the Welsh border on Whixall Moss.
The flow of water provides drinking water to Crewe and Nantwich from Horseshoe Falls to Hurleston Reservoir, where the Llangollen canal joins the main Shropshire union canal.
Our stretch of canal is popular with boaters because of it’s lift bridges. The heavy reinforced Morris’s Bridge near the old scrap yard is on the mainline. While the Prees arm boasts 2 lift bridges, Allman’s Bridge and Starks Bridge. To visit Whixall Marina to fill up with diesel entails lifting 4 bridges. It really is popular with boaters!
Moss drainage for peat cutting left the canal higher than land and the land is still sinking.
The decline of the canal was principally due to ex WW1 trucks helping to start the road transport industry and the railways as speed became more important.
The Prees Arm is now only open as far as Whixall Marina.
The remainder is now a linear nature reserve up to Waterloo Bridge.
The History of Whixall's Canals
The original plan was to link the Mersey at Chester to the Severn at Shrewsbury. The original plan was not followed and was never finished due to money problems caused by the war with Napoleon.
The canal ended at Grindley Brook wharf but was still commercial even with railway competition until it was linked to the Trent and Mersey Canal in 1833
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Interesting Dates
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
1793 |
The Ellesmere Canal Bill passes through Parliament with the intention of linking the Mersey and the Severn. |
1796 |
Digging starts at Chester and the village of Netherpool becomes Ellesmere Port |
1803 |
Whixall Moss is crossed; Quina Brook is reached; and Grindley Brook is the end of the line |
1805 |
The link is made to Chester and the famous aqueduct at Trevor is finished but only to provide water to the planned canal |
1808 |
The feeder (feeder what?) from Horseshoe Falls near Llangollen is completed |
1813 |
The Ellesmere Canal and Chester Canal companies merge |
1833 |
The link to Middlewich is made |
1835 |
The Chester Canal (Shropshire Union) reaches Wolverhampton |
1917 |
The Weston Arm towards Shrewsbury near Frankton Junction is breached and abandoned |
1944 |
The Montgomery Canal is breached and abandoned but being partially restored since 1996 |
1946 |
The Inland Waterways Association was formed to campaign for the greater use of the waterways and to resist the deterioration and frequent abandonment of the canals that was taking place then. This led to the opening up of local canals for leisure and tourism. |
1955 |
The canal was abandoned with the mainline being kept open for water supply purposes only |
1960s |
The last group of Navvies was retired when steel pilings replaced original wood at Whixall Moss |