Nottingham Canal
Cossall Marsh Aqueduct
March 2010
The Nottingham Canal starts to cough and splutter when it reaches Cossall.
The nature of the modern canal is one of old and vulnerable embankments, but instead of protecting them with the old flood gates which have been much in evidence along the line,
there are now numerous small earth dams which would hold back the waters in the event of a breach.
End of the watered section at Cossall
The embankment between Awsworth and Cossall did give way in the 1970's and, with the nearby scarpyard in danger of being swept away, was replaced by a piped section.
Canal bed pipes
Two large pipes laid along the otherwise dry bed of the canal for several hundred yards before reaching [ ] road which was crossed with the help of a contemporary concrete aqueduct. I dont know if the road it spans was there in the 1930's and was therfore the site of a navigable aqueduct, but I suspect not.
Pipe Aqueduct Cossall Marsh
The northern end of the aqueduct is met with a full canal and an overflow sluice dropping surplus water into the pipes.
The road was there but it was only one vehicle wide. Both the canal and Cossall colliery rail link crossed the road at that point. I believe that the path crosses the last incarnation of the Cossall rail bridge but i am not sure of this.
ReplyDeleteA good resource on the canal is "The Nottingham Canal" by Bernard Chell. A good read!
John (Awsworth and Cossall History Society)