Extending the Bridgewater into Runcorn

THERE have been quite a few schemes for extending the Bridgewater Canal up into Runcorn, and here comes another one.

Volunteers, under the name of The Runcorn Locks Restoration Society have secured a £50k grant from the government to re-open the locks into Runcorn in an ambitious plan, Alan Tilbury reports.

Too ambitious

But perhaps it is too ambitious and somewhat OTT, as it includes not only a lift 'similar to Anderton' but an inclined plane similar to the former one at Foxton, too!

The society's dream is of a ‘Runcorn Riviera’ featuring a marina with bars and restaurants along the waterway, making it a 'massive tourist attraction' reports Chairman Graham Wallace, describing  the incline plane as 'a bit like a railway but for water', adding:

Good tourist attraction

"Put that with a boat lift, an historic lock chamber and you have got a pretty good tourist attraction of national interest.

"We hope to build a marina, a visitor centre, a community hub with art. It will be rare and unique. It will bring the footfall everyone will want to see how it looks."

How much it all would cost is not yet considerend.