Locks: Ashton Canal

The Ashton canal connects with the Rochdale Canal at Manchester and the Hudderfield Narrow Canal at Ashton-Under-Lyne. There is also a junction with the Peak Forest Canal at Portland Basin in Ashton-Under-Lyne.

The canal runs between Manchester and Ashton under Lyne, UK. It ascends for 6.7 miles and has 18 locks. It was originally built in 1796 to transport coal to the large industrial city of Manchester. As time went on a number of other short canals were built as branches to feed other goods from surrounding towns into the network. In 1800 the canal was extended slightly within Manchester to join the Rochdale Canal which greatly extended the network of the canals connected to Manchester. At its peak it was a successful canal, but competition from railways and then roads caused its closure in 1958.

During the 1960s and 1970s canals started to become popular with leisure boaters. After a long campaign this canal was restored and reopened in 1974. Most of the other small canal links however remain closed, but with junctions at each end it still forms part of a large network of canals

This canal is a so-called narrow canal and the locks can take boats that have maximum dimensions of 72 feet long and 7 feet wide.

The top and bottom locks (1 & 18) are unusual in that there are two lock chambers side by side that originally could be used independently of each other. The second chamber was added in the 1820s because there was a lot of congestion at the start and end of the canal.

Locks 1 - 3 Ancoats locks (24' 0")

Lock 1

Lock 1 and its disused second chamber

Lock 2

Lock 3

Lock 3

Lock 4 - 7 Beswick locks (38' 7")

Lock 4

Lock 5

Lock 2

Lock 6

Lock 7

Lock 7

Lock 7

Locks 8 - 16 Clayton locks (85'?)

Lock 8

Lock 8

Lock 8

Lock 9

Lock 10

Lock 11

Lock 11

Lock 12

Lock 13

Lock 14

Lock 15

Lock 16

Locks 17 - 18 Fairfield locks (14' 4")

Lock 17

Lock 17

Lock 18 and its disused second chamber

Lock 18

Lock 18 looking back at Fairfield junction

Lock 18