At Nob End are the remains of the former workshops of the canal demolished as unsafe in 2012. Next there are two canal cottages and the former canal manager’s house; opposite is the imposing Wellfield House. From Nob End the canal clings to the top of the hillside above the River Croal, remaining on the level into Bolton.
Alongside milestone 8¼ is the overflow at Red Rocks, with a double set of stop plank grooves. The canal continues to the wide area at Top o’ th’ Lodge, formerly a boatyard and coal depot. Beyond more plank grooves is the wide ‘blue wall’ length of the canal, named after the blue brick wall which supports it.
At milestone 8¾ the canal ceases to be in water, but the route can be followed past the demolished Hall Lane and Fogg’s Aqueducts to Darcy Lever. Beyond, Damside Aqueduct once carried the canal over the River Croal,
but it was demolished in 1965.
Beyond, the route can again be followed briefly, but the final approach to Bolton has been obliterated by the dual carriageway of St Peter’s Way (A666). The canal originally ended at Church Wharf, near Bolton Parish Church.
Maps (click to enlarge)
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Farnworth Bridge Aqueduct (Hall Lane)
The canal is in water for ¾ mile, but stops abruptly where the aqueduct used to be. It was rebuilt in 1884-5, but the roadway was only 21 feet wide, and was demolished in 1950; only a length of blue brick remains on the right hand side. The Bolton arm had been largely disused from 1924, and two more aqueducts have been demolished which will make it difficult to restore the canal beyond this point.
Bolton Terminus
The canal formerly ended at a warehouse just beyond the Bolton to Blackburn railway viaduct, built in 1847. The southbound carriageway of the St Peter’s Way (A666) now occupies the span which formerly allowed the canal to reach its terminus. The area to the left is still known as Church Wharf as it lies immediately below the parish church. The warehouse remained in use for other purposes until the 1960s.