Hollinwood Branch Canal

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The Hollinwood Branch Canal was a canal near Hollinwood, in Oldham, England. It left the main line of the Ashton Canal at Fairfield Junction immediately above lock 18. It was just over 4.5 miles long (7.48 km) and went through Droylsden and Waterhouses to terminate at Hollinwood Basin (Hollinwood Top Wharf). It rose through four locks at Waterhouses ( 19-22) and another four at Hollinwood (23-26). Immediately above lock 22 at Waterhouses was Fairbottom Junction where the Fairbottom Branch Canal started. Beyond Hollinwood Basin there was a lock free private branch, known as the Werneth Branch Canal, to Old Lane Colliery, which opened in 1797.

The Hollinwood Branch Canal was comparatively rural in character apart from mills and factories at Droylsden. Its main purpose was to carry coal from numerous local collieries to the many mills and factories in the neighbourhood of the Ashton Canal. Passengers were also carried along its length.

This canal was extensively used until about 1928 when trade began to decline rapidly due to competition from railways and roads. However, this was not the only problem as mining subsidence was becoming serious and it unofficially closed in 1932, although parts of it remained navigable. It was not until 1955 that most of it was officially closed and the short remaining section from the main line at Fairfield Junction was officially closed in 1961.

Fortunately, much of the line of the former canal remained intact and there are now plans, to re-open it again as an amenity canal and these plans have the support of local authorities. However, the problems of restoring this canal are far more challenging than those of restoring the Stockport Branch Canal. Not only is it suffering from the effects of mining subsidence but also its line has been severed twice by the Manchester ring road, which would require the construction of aqueducts to cross it. Another aqueduct would also be requires to replace one across a railway that was demolished some time ago. The line up to Hollinwood Basin could not be restored because buildings now obstruct it but there are plans to connect the rest of it to the Rochdale Canal by means of a short new canal from just below the site of lock 23.

The Hollinwood Branch Canal at Waterhouses is unique among Britain’s canals and it is now part of the Daisy Nook Country Park owned by the National Trust. In 1,320 yards (1,207 m) it included every type of canal feature, as well as some more unusual ones as well. Over this length these features were once to be found, starting and ending with road bridges over the canal:

A road bridge (Waterhouses Bridge)
A tunnel (Waterhouses, Boodle or Dark Tunnel). This was opened out in the 1920s.
A single-arched stone aqueduct over the river Medlock (Waterhouses Aqueduct)
A flight of four locks (19 –22), the inner pair of which were staircase locks in that the top gates of the lower lock were also the bottom gates of the upper lock (Waterhouses Locks)
A small brick-built hut by lock 21 that is believed to have been used for the payment of wages
A canal junction where the Fairbottom Branch Canal started (Fairbottom Junction)
The towpath of the Fairbottom Branch Canal crossed the Hollinwood Branch Canal on a swivel bridge located across the head of lock 22. This particular feature was the only one of its kind.
An overspill weir crossed by the towpath on a low pier of stone blocks
A lock-keeper’s cottage, which doubled as an office for the collection of tolls
A pumping engine (beam engine) used to back pump water from the canal below lock 19 to the canal above lock 22
A wooden flume over the pump house yard used to carry the water from the pump house back to the canal
A footbridge over the canal having a wrought-iron balustrade (Occupation Bridge)
A cast-iron aqueduct over Crime Lane (Crime Aqueduct)
A lake at the side of the canal that resulted from canal works at the time construction. As built, the canal severed the course of a brook and a culvert was made below the canal to accommodate this. A landslip blocked this and the waters were impounded on the offside of the canal. The new lake and canal became one and the lake was officially known as Crime Bank Reservoir but it is far better known by its later name of Crime Lake.
A road bridge (Crime Bridge)

Mention must be made of a neighbour of the pumping engine known as ‘Fairbottom Bobs’. This was a Newcomen steam engine (more accurately a Newcomen atmospheric engine) used to pump water from a coalmine. The water was pumped along a wooden flume for a distance of about 219 yards (200 m) and then discharged into the Fairbottom Branch Canal at Fenny Fields Bridge.

In 1929 this engine was dismantled and taken to the USA by Henry Ford who had it completely restored. It was then placed in the Henry Ford Dearborn Museum at Detroit.