Heywood Branch Canal

Heywood Branch Canal
The Rochdale Canal as it heads north under the M62 motorway. The branch was on the now disused route on the left.
Specifications
Status	Abandoned
History
Date of first use	1834
Date closed	1952
Geography
Start point	Heywood
End point	Castleton
Connects to	Rochdale Canal

The Heywood Branch Canal was a branch of the Rochdale Canal from Castleton which led to Heywood. It opened in 1834 and carried traffic until 1937. It was abandoned in 1952, along with most of the Rochdale Canal, and although the Rochdale Canal has been reopened, the junction lies under the embankments of the M62 motorway.

The Rochdale Canal was opened on 21 December 1804, having taken ten years to build, and provided a trans-Pennine link between Manchester, where it connected with the Bridgewater Canal and Sowerby Bridge, where it connected with the Calder and Hebble Navigation. The estimated cost of £291,900 had overrun, with the final cost in the region of £600,000. Nevertheless, trade flourished and between 1827 and 1829, the canal carried 498,402 tons per year, which generated tolls of £36,794. With prospects good, the canal committee considered a branch to Heywood in August 1832, and then sought estimates of the cost of construction and the likely traffic. These were favourable, and the shareholders agreed to proceed at a meeting held on 3 August 1833. No Act of Parliament was obtained to authorise it, as they were able to buy all the land required without dispute. The branch was 1.5 miles (2.4 km) long, and was level. It terminated at a wharf in Heywood, where a warehouse had been built, and opened on 10 April 1834. The opening was performed by the committee, who travelled along the new canal in a boat called The Rochdale.

When the Manchester to Littleborough Railway opened in July 1939, the company ran a packet boat for passengers from Bluepits Station, in Castleton, to Heywood Wharf. The service lasted until late 1840, as the railway company was building a branch line which included a station at Heywood close to the terminal wharf. It opened in April 1841.

The branch was not used after 1937, and navigation rights on most of the Rochdale Canal, including the branch, were repealed by an Act of Parliament obtained in 1952.

The canal left the main line of the Rochdale Canal at Maden Fold Junction, opposite Maden Fold Farm, which was on the east bank. The towpath was also on the east bank and a swing bridge a little to the north of the junction gave access to the west bank. There was another swing bridge over the entrance to the Heywood Branch, although the towpath was on its north bank. The branch headed towards the west in a straight line, passing through the embankment of the London Midland and Scottish Railway, just below the point where the Castleton South Fork turned off from the main line. The modern M62 motorway passes under the railway at the same point. The canal continued to the south of the motorway route, and then turned to the north west, to reach a bridge at Hope Street.