A salt road (also known as a salt route , salt way , saltway , or salt trading route ) refers to any of the prehistoric and historical trade routes by which essential salt was transported to regions that lacked it.
90-622: The River Dane is a tributary of the River Weaver that originates in the Peak District area of England. The name of the river (earlier Daven ) is probably from the Old Welsh dafn , meaning a "drop or trickle", implying a slow-moving river. It forms the border between first Cheshire and Derbyshire on the west and east, and then between Cheshire and Staffordshire where it then flows north-west through Cheshire before meeting
180-534: A scheduled monument in 1994, and work eventually started on its refurbishment in 1999. It reopened in 2002, and is once more hydraulically powered. The use of modern hydraulic fluids is expected to prevent the problem of corrosion suffered when it was originally built. The navigation is managed by the Canal and River Trust (CRT) as far as Winsford Bridge. Beyond this are Winsford Bottom Flash and Winsford Top Flash. Both are shallow lakes , resulting from subsidence in
270-471: A chemical industry developed in the area around Northwich, which became the major source of income for the Navigation. The locks on the river are paired, with two lock chambers side by side, and in most cases the larger lock also has intermediate gates, so that ships of varying length can be accommodated, without undue waste of water. The maximum size of the locks is 196 by 35 feet (60 by 11 m) above
360-455: A different arch of the structure. The weir at Frodsham was built in 1785, although it has been altered subsequently. The main curved section is 49 yards (45 m) wide, and there are two 16-foot (5 m) sluices at the southern end. The adjacent lock, which was designed by Robert Pownall and George Leigh in 1781, was modified in 1830 and later, but most traffic was using the Weston cut by
450-715: A ford along the toll road. Reading downstream, the following crossings are all designated listed buildings or scheduled monuments: Dane Bridge, Hug Bridge, Lymford Bridge (early 19th century), Dane Aqueduct over the Macclesfield Canal (1830), Congleton Railway Viaduct ( West Coast Main Line , 1849), Colley Mill Bridge, Havannah Bridge (early to mid-19th century, originally leading to a cigar factory), Hermitage Bridge (1772) and Shipbrook Bridge. 53°15′N 2°31′W / 53.250°N 2.517°W / 53.250; -2.517 River Weaver The River Weaver
540-400: A hydraulic system. A descending tank caused hydraulic fluid to enter the pistons which raised the other tank. The design was a success, but the fluid became contaminated, resulting in corrosion of the pistons. The lift was replaced by a new design, where each tank was attached to its own counterbalance weight by wire ropes and pulleys, with small electric motors to overcome friction. The new lift
630-474: A lock built on the Barnton cut between 1832 and 1835. The Pelton turbines which control the gates were built to Stoney's patent, and carry plates which indicate that they were manufactured by Hanna, Donald & Wilson of Paisley . Acton swing bridge is a symmetrical bowstring girder swing bridge, which was built in situ between 1931 and 1933, on an island in the centre of the river. It was first swung across
720-603: A loss of trade, which resulted in Bills laid before Parliament in 1711, 1715, 1718 and 1720 being defeated. In 1720 the first act of Parliament , the River Weaver Navigation Act 1720 ( 7 Geo. 1. St. 1 . c. 10) to authorise improvements to the river was obtained by three gentlemen of Cheshire. The act was dated 23 March 1721 and authorised work between Frodsham bridge and Winsford bridge. Rates for tolls were set, which were to be reduced by 20 per cent once
810-566: A major source of marine salt with access to expansive hinterlands in need of it was the wetlands region in Languedoc called the Camargue ; from the salt pans called salines , convoys of boatloads of salt could be carried up the Rhone to Seyssel where it had to be off-loaded and carried by mule train inland to the little village of Regonfle near Geneva, where it rejoined a waterway. Of
900-504: A new cut, lock and weir at Pickerings, but in 1759, the navigation was cut in half by the collapse of a salt pit at Northwich. The commissioners discovered that they could not sue for damages, as the provisions of the 1721 act no longer covered the way in which they were operating, and so a further act of Parliament, the River Weaver Navigation Act 1759 ( 33 Geo. 2 . c. 49) was obtained on 22 May 1760. This changed
990-541: A new lock connected the cut to a basin, and tide gates connect the basin to the Mersey. This cut was called the Weston Canal and was completed in 1810. A fourth act of Parliament was obtained on 2 May 1825, which altered some of the details of the previous act of Parliament, and the River Weaver Navigation Act 1829 ( 10 Geo. 4 . c. lxx) of 22 May 1829 noted that the Weston Canal had been completed. It stated that
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#17327811198631080-524: A south-easterly direction towards the border with Shropshire , fed by tributaries some of which rise in north Shropshire. The first of three canal crossings occurs just before the village of Wrenbury , when the Llangollen Canal crosses its course. After flowing through the village, it passes to the west of the Cheshire village of Audlem , where it starts to flow approximately northwards across
1170-432: A survey. The merchants then offered to take over the navigation, but the commissioners wanted to keep control of it, and paid £17,000 to the undertakers, which repaid the outstanding debt and bought the navigation rights. The deal was completed on 11 October 1758. The commissioners largely ignored the survey which had been carried out by Henry Berry, and decided to enlarge the locks to 17.3 feet (5.3 m) wide. Work began on
1260-428: A swing bridge crosses the lock. The gates are opened by a Pelton water turbine mechanism, and other features include a water levelling mechanism and a system for removing rubbish from behind the gates using jets of water which are controlled mechanically. The lock keeper's cottage is also grade II listed. It was built in the 1850s, but was moved northwards by 20 yards (18 m) during the 1890 reconstruction. Below
1350-487: Is a river, navigable in its lower reaches, running in a curving route anti-clockwise across west Cheshire , northern England . Improvements to the river to make it navigable were authorised in 1720 and the work, which included eleven locks , was completed in 1732. An unusual clause in the enabling Act of Parliament stipulated that profits should be given to the County of Cheshire for the improvement of roads and bridges, but
1440-459: Is larger, with eight arches each carrying a sluice gate. Where the weir stream rejoins the main channel, the towpath is carried over it on Horse Bridge , which was designed by J. A. Saner, the Navigation's engineer, in 1915, and erected in 1916. It is one of the earliest surviving laminated timber structures, and consists of two arches, both over 100 feet (30 m) long. Below the locks, Joseph Locke and George Stephenson built another viaduct for
1530-608: Is near Northwich , and links the Weaver with the Trent and Mersey Canal some 50 feet (15 m) above. It was opened in 1875, to allow canal boats to reach the Weaver, and although closed on safety grounds in 1983, it was refurbished and reopened in 2002. Many of the structures of the navigation are of historical importance, and are grade II listed . They include the Hayhurst swing bridge and Northwich Town bridge, which are believed to be
1620-573: Is possible for pleasure craft to reach the Weaver from the Ship Canal, it is a commercial waterway, and most leisure users are dissuaded from doing so by the amount of paperwork and the requirements of the operating company. Situated just below Northwich, the Anderton Boat Lift is now the normal route for leisure boats to reach the river. Following its closure in 1983, a trust was created to campaign for its restoration. The lift became
1710-456: Is rated good or fail. The water quality of the Weaver was as follows in 2019. Reasons for not achieving good quality include agricultural runoff and the discharge of treated effluent from sewage treatment works along the length of the river. Chemical status was rated good until 2016, but is now rated fail, largely due to the presence of polybrominated diphenyl ethers , which are used as flame retardants in many products, mercury compounds, and
1800-691: The Aurelian Walls ) to Castrum Truentinum ( Porto d'Ascoli ) on the Adriatic coast - a distance of 242 kilometres (150 mi). A modern road by this name, part of the SS4 highway, runs 51 kilometres (32 mi) from Rome to Osteria Nuova in Orvieto . The Old Salt Route , about 100 kilometres (62 mi), was a medieval route in northern Germany , linking Lüneburg (in Lower Saxony) with
1890-573: The Bronze Age (in the 2nd millennium BC ) fixed transhumance routes appeared, like the Ligurian drailles that linked the maritime Liguria with the alpages , long before any purposely-constructed roadways formed the overland routes by which salt-rich provinces supplied salt-starved ones. The Via Salaria , an ancient Roman road in Italy , eventually ran from Rome (from Porta Salaria in
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#17327811198631980-746: The Dane Valley Way , a 48-mile (77 km) walking route from Buxton to Northwich. Although the main river is part of the Mersey catchment and flows into the Irish Sea , a portion of the water can be diverted via canal feeders into Rudyard Lake and subsequently the Caldon Canal . This water discharges eventually into the River Trent and ultimately into the North Sea , having crossed
2070-493: The Ellesmere and Chester Canal in 1830, but felt that water supply would be a problem. New cuts were constructed at Barnton, Crowton and Aston Grange between 1832 and 1835, and they then planned to construct a second lock beside each of the original locks. William Cubbitt was asked for advice on whether the river could be adapted for seagoing ships, and although he said it could, he did not think it would be cost effective. Work
2160-590: The Manchester Ship Canal was opened in 1894. The tidal section of the river below Frodsham now flowed into the ship canal, rather than the River Mersey, and the exit lock from Weston Docks also joined the canal rather than the estuary. A new ship lock was constructed at Weston Marsh, which provided a more convenient route to the ship canal than the alternative route through Weston Point docks. The Weston Canal has been little used since. Although it
2250-402: The Manchester Ship Canal , a new lock was constructed at Weston Marsh, which gave direct access to the ship canal without having to pass through the docks at Weston Point. All water from the river entered the canal nearby, and any surplus was released into the Mersey through the Weaver sluices, which were located just upstream of the junction. A notable feature is the Anderton Boat Lift , which
2340-517: The Mersey Flats at neap tides, resulting in them having to wait for days at Frodsham. In 1796, users of the navigation suggested that it should be extended to Weston Point, where the water was deeper. The trustees wanted to pay for this extension by raising tolls, but the users objected, and it took several years to work out a deal which suited both parties. Finally, the trustees obtained a third act of Parliament on 8 August 1807, which authorised
2430-712: The River Croco near the site of the old Roman fort in Harbutt's Field, and then with the River Wheelock near the aqueduct carrying the Trent and Mersey Canal , and runs the remaining 5 miles (8 km) north to Northwich where it flows into the River Weaver . The River Dane is the longest, cleanest and thought to be the fastest flowing river through Cheshire. The route of the Dane is followed as closely as possible by
2520-719: The Tibetan Plateau . In the United Kingdom an ancient road known as the Salt Way runs from Droitwich Spa , passing Banbury and onto Princes Risborough . The Salt Way is managed by the Salt Way Activity Group. The Vienna Road, later also known as Southern Railway (Austria) that succeeded the road as a railway connection between Vienna and Trieste , was a salt road connecting the two cities via Graz , Maribor and Ljubljana . While salt
2610-676: The early modern period in Europe, Fernand Braudel remarked that in spite of the flux and reflux of economics: "no salt mine was ever abandoned and the scale of the equipment needed put these mines in the hands of merchants from very early days. Salt-marshes on the other hand, were exploited by artisanal methods: the merchants took control only of transport and marketing, both in Setúbal in Portugal and in Peccais in Languedoc . Salt marketing
2700-642: The highland , whence traders distributed them throughout the rest of Ethiopia, as far south as the Kingdom of Kaffa . Before the People's Republic of China annexed Tibet and closed the borders in the 1950s, salt trade between Nepal and Tibet crossed passes through the Himalayas such as the gorges of the upper Karnali and Gandaki rivers. Caravans of pack animals brought rice up from Nepal's Terai and lower hills in exchange for salt from dry lakes on
2790-574: The navigable rivers , where by medieval times shipments of salt coming upstream passed rafts and log-trains of timber, which could only be shipped downstream. And even along Europe's coasts, once long-distance trade was revived in the 11th century, the hot and sunny south naturally outproduced the wet north. By the Late Middle Ages , the expanding fishing fleets of the Low Countries required more salt than could be produced locally;
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2880-449: The salt mines was closed in 1980, ending the thousand-year tradition. In medieval Bosnia , via Narenta was used as a trade route between Podvisoki and Dubrovnik . It is recorded that 600 horses delivered around 1500 modius of salt to Podvisoki. In France , the salt route was longer than a portage between navigable streams. Salt unloaded at the ports of Nice and Ventimiglia could travel by two salt roads leading away from
2970-477: The 1830s were replaced by five much larger locks, and most of the bridges were replaced by swing bridges, which enabled coasters of up to 1000 tons to use the river. Construction of a connection between the river and the Trent and Mersey Canal was begun in 1871 and completed in 1875. Because of the difference in level, a vertical boat lift was designed by Edwin Clark, using counterbalanced tanks which were linked by
3060-455: The Anderton boat lift, and 213 by 37 feet (65 by 11 m) below it. The lock at Weston Point Docks is slightly narrower, at 213 by 36 feet (65 by 11 m). The boat lift is designed for canal craft rather than ships, and so can hold vessels up to 72 by 14 feet (21.9 by 4.3 m) with a draught of 4 feet (1.2 m). Access to the navigation was improved for traditional canal boats with
3150-606: The Cheshire Plain. Shortly afterwards, the Shropshire Union Canal is carried over it on Moss Hall aqueduct. The first significant town on the river is the market town of Nantwich , where a watermill was a feature from the 13th century; 100m further north, an early 19th-century stone bridge, with a single span, crosses the river. Continuing northwards, it passes under the Middlewich Branch of
3240-427: The County of Cheshire, in line with the original act of Parliament. Further improvements to make the river suitable for coasters began in 1856, when Edward Leader Williams was appointed as engineer. He oversaw the complete reconstruction of the navigation between 1870 and 1900, a programme which was designed to ensure that the river remained attractive to carriers, and which ensured its profitability. The 12 locks of
3330-586: The English watershed. In 1451 when the River Dane flooded in Congleton, it destroyed the town's corn mill, half of the timber-framed buildings and the wooden bridge over the river. To prevent it happening again, the river was diverted away from the town. Congleton's textile industry grew from the 14th century, with many water-powered mills built along the river by the 18th century. A small stone bridge over
3420-554: The Grand Junction Railway, is grade II* listed, and a civic celebration was held on its completion, as there had been no deaths and no serious injuries to the workers during its construction. The River Weaver is around 71 miles (114 km) long. From its source in the hills of west Cheshire just south of Peckforton Castle , and within a few hundred metres of the source of the River Gowy it initially flows in
3510-404: The Grand Junction Railway, which was completed in 1836 and is grade II* listed. It has 20 arches, and was built at a cost of £54,440 by a London civil engineering contractor called David McIntosh. A civic celebration was held on its completion, as there had been no deaths and no serious injuries to the workers during its construction. The navigation has since been re-routed, and now passes through
3600-421: The Mersey by the Weaver sluices, just upstream of the junction. The tidal river section below Frodsham has been bypassed by the Weston Canal since 1810, and is no longer navigable, as Frodsham Lock is derelict. The river runs through the Cheshire salt-producing area, but was not deep enough to allow boats to reach the salt mines. It was tidal for around 7 miles (11 km) to Pickering's wharf, and salt from
3690-517: The Shropshire Union Canal before the village of Church Minshull . The aqueduct carrying the canal was designed by Thomas Telford and was built of brick with stone bands between 1827 and 1833. The river flows through a central arch, and there are flood relief arches on each side of the channel. The two waterways run roughly parallel for several miles. They diverge near Winsford , the current head of navigation, and at Northwich
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3780-404: The Trent and Mersey generated significant trade for the Navigation, for in 1793 a system of chutes was constructed at Anderton, to enable salt from narrow boats on the canal to be tipped into Weaver flats moored in a dock some 50 feet (15 m) below the level of the canal. The steady increase in traffic encouraged the trustees to press on with improvements. Witton Brook was widened in 1788, and
3870-607: The Weaver in Northwich . The river rises close to the source of the River Goyt just to the south west of Buxton , at Dane Head on Axe Edge Moor . Flowing southwest, it forms county borders for around 10 miles (16 km) before flowing west through Congleton and past Holmes Chapel . The point on the river where the three counties meet, at Panniers' Pool Bridge, is called Three Shire Heads (sometimes Three Shires Head). Passing just north of Middlewich , it merges first with
3960-528: The Weaver was completed by 1732, at a cost of £15,885. Eleven timber locks and weirs had been constructed, but no work had been carried out on the Witton Brook. The river had been improved by dredging and the construction of a series of cuts, with locks and weirs to manage the drop of around 50 feet (15 m) over the 20 miles (32 km) between Winsford and the River Mersey. Barges of up to 40 tons could reach Winsford, and boats called Weaver flats were
4050-541: The balance was made up with salt from the Iberian Peninsula . "The United Provinces could have been brought to their knees if their supplies of salt had been blocked at the end of the sixteenth century. Spain did no more than dream of this," Fernand Braudel has written. In Ming China , salt as well as rice was shipped from south to north, along the Imperial Canal as far as Beijing . In France,
4140-474: The bridge swings. During the project, river access was only possible by narrow boats and other small craft. Frodsham viaduct, completed in 1850 and built in brown bricks with a cast-iron central arch, was built for the Birkenhead, Lancs & Cheshire Junction Railway by the contractor Thomas Brassey . The engineer for the project was Alexander Rendel . The Environment Agency assesses the water quality of
4230-471: The channel on 10 August 1933. J. A. Saner was again the designer. Dutton locks are of a similar design and age to those at Saltersford, and the Pelton turbines were made by Northern Foundry Co. Ltd. of Oldham, who are described as turbine makers on the cast-iron covers. Dutton sluice, some 160 yards (150 m) to the north-east of the lock, was built in the 1870s, in a similar Baroque style to Hunt's weir, but
4320-629: The coastal area, from Nice up the Vésubie valley, via Saint-Martin-Vésubie at the head of the valley, or from Ventimiglia inland through the Roya Valley , over the Col de Tende pass and into Piedmont . In Ethiopia blocks of salt, called amoleh , were carved from the salt pans of the Afar Depression , especially around Lake Afrera , then carried by camel west to Atsbi and Ficho in
4410-402: The construction of a cut from Frodsham to Weston Point. The trustees insisted that their own engineer, John Johnson, should oversee the work, but the project was too large for him, and ran over time and budget. He was sacked in 1809, after serving the navigation for 29 years, and Thomas Telford was asked to complete the work. He managed the project with Samuel Fowls as engineer. At Weston Point,
4500-435: The cost of construction had been met, and profits were then to be used to maintain bridges and highways within Cheshire. Each year the justices of the peace were to meet to decide which structures should benefit from this source of revenue. The act included powers to improve the Witton Brook from the Weaver to Witton Bridge. Following a plea by the owner of brine workings near Middlewich, who felt they would be disadvantaged by
4590-402: The earliest swing bridges powered by electricity. Both have a sectional pontoon, which is immersed in the river and carries about 80 per cent of the weight of the bridge. Dutton Horse Bridge , which carries the towpath over the weir stream at Dutton, is one of the earliest surviving laminated timber structures. Dutton railway viaduct , which was built by Joseph Locke and George Stephenson for
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#17327811198634680-550: The early industrialisation of salt mining. "Galleries and shafts were now dug to a depth of 300 metres, and enormous winches powered by teams of horses brought blocks of salt to the surface. At its peak, production stood at 40,000 tons a year and the mines employed 3,000 workers. By 1368, the cooperation of the Polish state had been obtained." Since pre-Inca times, salt has been obtained in Maras , Peru, by evaporating salty water from
4770-467: The east of the locks has a walkway supported by rusticated piers and five cast iron arches, which also support the floodgates. The structure is Baroque in style. Northwich railway viaduct spans both the lock cut and the weir stream, and was built in the 1860s. It consists of 48 round arches, constructed of blue bricks and red sandstone, with iron spans over the channels. It is around 980 yards (900 m) long, provides 39 feet (12 m) of headroom over
4860-576: The historic building in which it is housed, and a visitor centre at the Anderton lift, which is popular with boaters and non-boaters alike. There are, however, few facilities for the recreational boater. Rowing is popular on the River Weaver, with competitive clubs in Runcorn , Northwich , and Acton Bridge (The Grange School). Fishing is another pastime which takes place along the river. Several clubs lease fishing rights for different parts of
4950-401: The insecticide cypermethrin , all substances which did not form part of the quality checks prior to 2019. In August 2012, oxygen levels in the river were found to be low, following the death of thousands of fish. The Environment Agency were notified and aerated the water while they investigated the cause of the problem. This was thought to result from naturally occurring algae, which deplete
5040-423: The lock was raised, but subsidence caused by the salt mining resulted in a new lock being needed in 1826. A longer-term solution was provided by the decision to move Northwich lock to a new site below the town. When the work was finished in 1829, Witton Brook lock was no longer necessary, and was removed. New cuts and locks were built through the 1790s at Vale Royal, Newbridge, Hartford and Hunts, and Butty Meadow lock
5130-499: The locks, a five-arched red sandstone viaduct, constructed in 1837, crosses the valley. It was built by Joseph Locke , and carried the Grand Junction Railway . Hunt's locks also consist of a pair, the smaller one from the 1860s and the larger one, with three sets of gates, from the 1890s. Steel semaphore signals control access to the locks, and again the movement of the gates employs a Pelton turbine. The weir to
5220-474: The mines was carried by pack horse to the wharf, where it was loaded into barges. These used the ebbing tide to carry them back down the river. By the early 17th century, coal was being transported into the area so that it could be used to evaporate the brine, and as the industry expanded, there were calls to improve the river to simplify this trade. There was opposition to the initial schemes, however, from landowners who feared flooding and from carriers who feared
5310-405: The navigation was not initially profitable, and it was 1775 before the first payments were made. Trade continued to rise, and by 1845, over £500,000 had been given to the county. The major trade was salt . The arrival of the Trent and Mersey Canal at Anderton in 1773 was detrimental to the salt trade at first, but ultimately beneficial, as salt was tipped down chutes from the canal into barges on
5400-542: The navigation, and also crosses the River Dane . Hayhurst swing bridge carries the A5509 road over the navigation, and was manufactured by A Handyside and Co. Ltd., of Derby and London, in 1899. It is an asymmetric bowstring lattice girder bridge, and its timber-framed weatherboarded control cabin is also listed. This and Town bridge, which is located a little further downstream and is of a similar design, are believed to be
5490-555: The new navigation, the River Dane Navigation Act 1720 ( 7 Geo. 1. St. 1 . c. 17) was obtained on 7 June 1721 to authorise improvements to the River Dane, but did not result in any work being undertaken. Progress was slow, as only Richard Vernon of the original three undertakers was actively engaged on the project, and he could not reach agreement with the commissioners. The stalemate was broken when Vernon died in 1726, and new undertakers were appointed. The work on
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#17327811198635580-548: The opening of the Runcorn and Weston Canal , which was completed in 1859. The canal left the Weston Canal at Weston Point, and provided a link to Runcorn Docks , near which two flights of locks connected to the Bridgewater Canal . This link was severed in 1966, when the Runcorn to Widnes road bridge was constructed. Half of the Runcorn and Weston Canal was filled in at the same time. Significant change occurred when
5670-425: The oxygen on which the fish depend, and may also have been affected by a reaction between hydrogen peroxide , which is used to improve oxygen levels in the water, and traces of detergent. The reaction results in an unpleasant-looking foam building up on the surface, although the foam is not hazardous. The Winsford and District Angling Association, who use the river for fishing, believe it will take many years to restore
5760-635: The plans were revised in 1764 to increase the navigable depth to 4.5 feet (1.4 m), and this work was completed in 1765. The proposed Trent and Mersey Canal was seen as a threat by the Trustees of the Navigation, for it ran parallel to the River Weaver for some distance near Anderton. However, the commissioners pressed on with upgrading the river, completing new locks at Barnton in 1771 and at Acton Bridge in 1778. They also set about repaying their debts, which were liquidated in July 1775, resulting in some of
5850-660: The port of Lübeck (in Schleswig-Holstein), which required more salt than it could produce itself. Lüneburg, first mentioned in the 10th century, grew rich on the salterns surrounding the town. Traders shipped salt via Lauenburg to Lübeck, which supplied all the coasts of the Baltic Sea . Lüneburg and its salt were major factors of power and wealth of the Hanseatic League . After a long period of prosperity, its importance declined after 1600. The last of
5940-459: The predominant vessels. These either sailed up the river, or were bow-hauled by teams of men. The navigation was not initially profitable, and the amount of money owing to the undertakers gradually rose to a peak of £19,659 by 1740. Toll receipts improved, and by 1757, the debts had been reduced to £9,809. In September 1757, merchants from Liverpool complained about the run-down state of the navigation to Liverpool Corporation, who offered to pay for
6030-530: The profits being given to the County of Cheshire, as stated in the original act of Parliament. The Trent and Mersey was completed in May 1777, and had an immediate effect on trade, which dropped by 25 per cent, particularly in the Winsford area. The downturn was short lived, as the salt trade developed, figures reaching their former levels by 1783, and climbing another 40 per cent to 171,719 tons by 1790. Ultimately,
6120-408: The river for activities which include youth training and racing of several types of dinghy sailboats. Their training courses are accredited by the Royal Yachting Association . The navigation has a number of structures which, because of their age, have historic value and are listed on the Listed Building register. At Vale Royal, the lock built in 1860 was retained as a sluice channel when a new lock
6210-427: The river from British Waterways, as it holds populations of bream , three types of carp , chub , dace , eels , perch , pike , roach , rudd and tench . Fishing matches are regularly organised at weekends. The lower reaches of the Weaver between Frodsham railway viaduct and the Manchester Ship Canal are used for sailing. The Weaver Sailing Club is based at Frodsham, and uses a 2.5-mile (4.0 km) stretch of
6300-412: The river navigation. Access to the river was improved in 1810 by the Weston Canal, which provided a link to Weston Point, where boats could reach the River Mersey at most states of the tide, as the water was deeper. The navigation was completely reconstructed between 1870 and 1900, with the original locks being replaced by five much larger locks, capable of handling 1000-tonne coasters. With the opening of
6390-421: The river near Holmes Chapel, Hermitage Bridge, was built in 1772 by a local ironmaster. Some years the river floods widely across the meadows here. Nearby a tall red brick railway viaduct, built in 1841, spans the broad Dane Valley between Holmes Chapel and Twemlow. It has 23 arches and is Grade II listed. It crosses the River Dane at Saltersford, where Cheshire salt traders once drove their horse-drawn carts through
6480-481: The river systems in England. Each is given an overall ecological status, which may be one of five levels: high, good, moderate, poor and bad. There are several components that are used to determine this, including biological status, which looks at the quantity and varieties of invertebrates , angiosperms and fish. Chemical status, which compares the concentrations of various chemicals against known safe concentrations,
6570-468: The river turns to flow north-west across north Cheshire . Below Winsford, the course of the river has been altered several times, by the construction of cuts and locks, to enable small ships to trade on it. The river formerly joined the River Mersey at Weston Marsh, but since the construction of the Manchester Ship Canal , begun in 1887, it has flowed into the canal, from where surplus water enters
6660-424: The river would cease once the lift was opened, but by the turn of the 19th century, although there were 190,000 tons of cargo using the lift each year, 38,000 tons of salt were still being transferred by chute. From the middle of the 19th century, some of the salt traffic transferred to the railways, and the use of pipelines through which the brine was pumped also affected trade, but as that source of revenue declined,
6750-529: The sea (or indeed the river's entry into the Manchester Ship Canal), and tributaries of tributaries are treated similarly. Where a named watercourse derives from the confluence of two differently named rivers these are labelled as (Ls) and (Rs) for the left and right forks (the rivers on the left and right, relative to an observer facing downstream). [REDACTED] Media related to River Weaver at Wikimedia Commons Salt trade From
6840-566: The ship-sized locks remain. For leisure boaters, most of the movable bridges provide a clearance of 8 feet (2.4 m), although the swing bridge at Newbridge, on the Vale Royal cut, only has headroom of 6.3 feet (1.9 m). Boats which require the bridges to be opened must give prior notice. There is a salt museum at Northwich, which was renamed as the Weaver Hall Museum and Workhouse in 2010, to reflect its expanding scope and
6930-399: The six species of fish affected by the incident. Download coordinates as: The following is a list of those named watercourses which enter the river Weaver on its left (L) or right (R) bank. By convention, the left and right banks are as viewed when looking downstream. Tributaries are listed down the page in an upstream direction, i.e. the first tributary listed (Flood Brook) is closest to
7020-458: The time of the 1890s upgrade, and so it retained some of its original features. It is derelict, and water flow is controlled by a concrete and steel sluice erected in the mid 20th century. A red sandstone and limestone bridge carries the A56 road over the channel below the lock. It was built in 1850, and has three 27-yard (25 m) arches. The A56 crosses the main channel on Sutton swing bridge, which
7110-461: The trustees had built a basin, piers and a lighthouse at Weston Point, that the Weston Canal was officially a branch of the River Weaver, and that the trustees would make no additional charges for using the section. No tolls had been collected since 1816, once the construction costs had been repaid. The trustees investigated the idea of a junction canal from Winsford to the Middlewich branch of
7200-491: The two earliest swing bridges in Britain to be powered by electricity. Both bridges were designed by J. A. Saner, who was the Navigation's engineer, and incorporate a sectional pontoon, which is immersed in the river and carries about 80 per cent of the weight of the bridge. Because of the risk of subsidence from the salt workings, the bridges are fitted with screw jacks which allow the deck level to be maintained. Hayhurst bridge
7290-559: The underlying salt mines. It is possible for some canal boats to explore the Bottom Flash, but the depth of water is limited, and great care is needed. The Flash is used for yacht racing by the Winsford Flash Sailing Club, which is based on the 90-acre (36 ha) lake. The Weaver is a river of contrasts, with quiet wooded reaches and heavily industrialised sites. Commercial shipping has largely ceased, but
7380-519: The way in which the debts were managed, and gave the commissioners powers to sue and to appoint a management committee. It also stipulated that all locks should be 90 by 17.3 feet (27.4 by 5.3 m) with a draught of 4.5 feet (1.4 m), but the actual depth exceeded 6 feet (1.8 m). Debts continued to increase, as the commissioners borrowed more money to fund the improvements. The new weir and lock at Pickerings failed in 1761 and both had to be rebuilt. Work had started on Witton Brook in 1756, but
7470-416: Was built in the 1890s. A swing bridge crosses the chamber. The sluice at the upstream end is supported by two cast iron arches on rusticated piers. A swing bridge, made of wood and iron, crosses the small lock, which was the large lock until the construction of the new large lock in the 1890s. This has three sets of gates, and could accommodate a train of four barges when the outer gates were used. Again,
7560-424: Was built in the 1920s. There have been problems with the stability of the road surface, and options to secure its long-term future and appearance were discussed in 2010. A £4.5 million restoration project began in the summer of 2013, with the construction of a temporary bridge to carry the traffic while the swing bridge was refurbished. Work included fitting a new deck and renovation of the buoyancy tanks on which
7650-401: Was built over the top of the old one, so that it could continue to be used until the new one was ready, and the work was carried out by staff of the Navigation, supervised by the engineer J. A. Saner. It was completed in 1906, and continued in use until 1983, when it was closed on safety grounds due to corrosion. It had been expected that use of the chutes to transfer salt between the canal and
7740-555: Was not the primary good traded on this road (roughly 7% of the trade), the historic salt connection is a significant part of Slovenian culture and tradition due to a folk hero Martin Krpan - a story based on oral tradition taking place on the Vienna Road. In medieval Japan, the landlocked and mountainous Shinano Province was supplied with salt by two routes collectively called Shio no Michi . The salt highways of Europe were
7830-622: Was probably quite big business along the Atlantic seabord or the Rhône valley." The vast interior of Poland was salt-starved, its maritime districts lying under rainy skies and fronting the Baltic Sea . By medieval times the process of mining for fossil salt supplemented the age-old techniques of evaporating sea salt in tidal pans. By the 14th century, at Wieliczka near Kraków , Braudel reports that peasant extraction of salt from brine evaporated in large shallow iron pans had been eliminated by
7920-435: Was refurbished in 2004 at a cost of £33.5 million. Winnington bridge, the next downstream, was built between 1908 and 1909, to replace the first bridge which was built in 1901. The original design was flawed, and hence the bridge was replaced after only 7 years. A pedestrian walkway was later fitted on the downstream side of the new bridge. Saltersford locks were built in 1874, using red sandstone and limestone , and replaced
8010-473: Was removed. In response to petitions, the construction of a towing path suitable for horses was started in 1792, and was completed as far as Anderton by mid-1793. It was later extended to Winsford, and bow-hauling of boats by men was ended. Below Frodsham, barges carrying salt had to negotiate a tidal section of the river to reach the Mersey, from where the cargo would be taken to Liverpool or Manchester for distribution worldwide. Water levels were inadequate for
8100-436: Was then started on making the river 7.5 feet (2.3 m) deep throughout, and building double locks suitable for 100-ton vessels which were 88 by 18 feet (26.8 by 5.5 m). By 1845, Winnington, Acton and Hunts locks had been improved. Trade was good, with tolls generating £38,363 in 1845 from the carriage of 778,715 tons of goods. All of the improvements had been funded from the toll revenue, and over £500,000 had been given to
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