Bridge 27 - Middlewich Branch

Despite the heavy rain I decided to venture out for a short walk along the canal with the twin aim of getting a blip and a geocache. It was actually quite enjoyable once I was out and I was fortunate that this boat was coming out of the lock on the other side of the bridge.

Last March there was a major breach between this lock at Stanthorne and Wardle Lock and the canal was closed for several months. It reopened in December with the repairs costing 3 million pounds.

It seems that the breach was caused by the lock paddles being left open at both ends. They were then closed at Wardle but Stanthorne remained open so the water built up and overflowed at the lowest section of the towpath. The overflowing water started to wash away the embankment until it collapsed. This is only a brief summary and more details can be found here canal breach.

It is worth looking at the link just to see the photograph at the head of the article. In the far background you can see bridge 27 at Stanthorne where my photo was taken. 

A quick google search on Stanthorne canal breach will show some other amazing aerial photos.

Thanks to this of you who had a quick look at my blog page yesterday. Wordpress actually tells me how many people clicked on the link. I published the article this morning and it seems to have gone down well.