We're just morning up at Marple Junction at the end of the
Macclesfield Canal. Well, I suppose it's really the
beginning of the Mac because the Junction Bridge is bridge number
one, but there's a historic warehouse here that's under
restoration, and that's what we'll be finding out about in
this episode of the Water Rd. Well, I've said it before and
I'm certain I'll say it again, but there's something a bit
special about canal junctions. Marple is where the Macclesfield
Canal meets the Peak Forest and it's a lovely setting with an
elegant junction bridge, far reaching views of the hills and
lots of historic buildings. The Peak Forest Canal was here
first with a flight of 16 locks opened in eighteen O 4 joining
the upper part of the canal to the lower which is a level 209
feet down. It was built to take goods
including Derbyshire limestone to Manchester.
The Macclesfield Canal came later being completed in 1831,
linking to the Trenton Mersey and opening up trade routes to
the Midlands. The area would have been a hive
of activity because this was also a centre for cotton
spinning. Right by the junction is the
warehouse at Marple Wharf, which is currently being restored by a
community interest company and I've been speaking to its chair,
Sue Ingham. Sue, you're chair of the Marple
Wharf project. It's a really important building
for this part of the canal, isn't it?
What is history? It certainly is one of the most
iconic buildings in Marple. It was a former transshipment
warehouse back in the early 1800s, so probably we don't know
for sure when it was built, but it was probably around 18201830
and it's on the side of the Macclesfield Canal as it meets
the the Peak Forest Canal. So it would be a really
important warehouse for various boats, probably Samuel Ono's
boats for the mill down in Mellor to come in and unload its
cotton and coal and lime, of course, because we have the lime
kills just across the way there. I mean, one of the main things
about it that boaters will spot is that it's got like a wet dock
that comes all the way through it, hasn't it it?
Has it's called actually a finger dock?
It actually comes right through the building out into this
garden area and that's where the boats would have gone in to be
undercover. So obviously things like lime,
which wouldn't be good to get wet and also cotton, you
wouldn't want those kind of goods to start getting wet.
So they would come into the finger dot and be unloaded via
the cranes, actually into the into the area and stored there
before going off by horse and cart to the various places.
Obviously it was in use in the 1800s.
When did it stop being used and what sort of state has it been
in in recent years? I think it was still in use in
the early 1900s for goods actually.
I've got some really super photographs of the butty boats
being used in this stretch of the canal.
British Waterways then acquired it, I don't know exactly when,
and used it as offices for many, many years and then probably, I
would say it must be about 10 or 12 years ago, they ceased using
it and since then it has obviously fallen into decline.
So what sort of state was it in when the the Marple Wharf
project got hold of it? The roof needed replacing.
It was in a pretty, pretty dire Strait really.
Obviously needs a lot of work doing it still needs quite a bit
of work. But we've, we've made a great
deal of progress, not least in actually buying the building,
which was a huge undertaking actually to, to raise the money
to actually buy the building. And then we, we are actually now
in the process of renovating and refurbishing it.
So some of that money came from the lottery, I think didn't.
It some of it did. In fact a lot of it came from
the lottery initially though. I mean this is a fantastic
community project. It's actually the community who
raised just under £200,000 via we launched an investment bond
scheme. A lot of people in Marple
purchased £100 bonds. They could purchase more than
that and many people did, but that raised just under £200,000
and that meant that we could apply for the Government's
levelling up fund, the Community ownership Fund.
And because that's a match fund, we were unable to to buy the
building and start the renovations.
And that happened in 2022. What we did then, we managed to
buy the building, remove all the roof and replace it.
And actually we were able to replace nearly all the original
tiles. We only had to find a few from
various archive places. We then got inside and ripped
out the horrible partitions, the 1960s partitions that were in
the first floor and expose the beam.
So the the first floor is going to be an absolutely beautiful
space. We also repointed the entire
outside in what's called lime mortar pointing.
That would have been the original mortar that would have
been on the building. Having done that, we then had a
quite a pause whilst we started applying for National Lottery
Heritage Fund grants last year. We were very successful in, I'm
quite excited about it actually. So we actually secured just
about £900,000 to finish the refurbishments and the
renovations and that's where we are now.
OK, well look, I know it's a bit of a building site in there, but
shall we go in and have a look? Yes, please.
Let's do. Right, so we're inside now and
it's a, it's a bit of an empty shell at the moment.
What's it going to be like in here when it's all finished?
It's going to be a heritage centre with a heritage shop and
also a really lovely cafe. The cafe is going to be run by a
local restauranteur, all things nice.
And so people will be able to come in, have a coffee and cake,
they'll be able to browse the shop.
But the main thing is there's going to be a really interactive
museum exhibition, and it's all focused on the Industrial
Revolution and how Marple changed from this rural little
town into a nationally important industrial powerhouse.
And that was pretty much down to one man really, wasn't it it?
Was Samuel Ono. Some people call him the father
of Marple. We're doing something really
exciting actually. We're working with AI
specialists, technology specialists, and there's going
to be a character of Samuel Ono exhibit, an interactive exhibit
where people can go and actually have a conversation with Samuel
Ono. It's really exciting and we're
we're really at the cutting edge of AI technology working with
this, this company called Anymind AI and that that's going
to form quite a big part of the, of the exhibition because we are
in quite a small space. It's not huge and it's
multifunctional with we will rely quite a lot on digital
interpretation so that people can get the overview of the
industrial revolution here in Marple as well as Samuel Ohno,
they can find out more about the, the working boats, the
people who lived on them. For example, we will be
installing an authentic what's called butty boat into the
finger dock in the garden and and people there will be able to
learn about how how families lived and worked on the canals.
We will have another character mind, probably the wife of a
bargeman, and she you'll be able to have a conversation with her
about life on the boat. So that's the ground floor and
then you've got the the first floor as well.
We have the the first floor is going to be it's purpose
designed, dedicated to health and well-being activities like
Tai chi, aikido and yoga. Again, it'll be a beautiful,
airy space in a really lovely location.
Probably about 45% of the capacity is already reserved by
various groups in Marple and that will obviously help us to
generate income to allow us to have this exhibition for for
free. So it's spring now.
When are you hoping everything will be done?
It's still a bit of a building site here, but all being well,
we're hoping we will be open in September, I think.
I think we probably will. Be well, I wish you all the best
of luck. Thank you so much.
Well, it's been great to hear about the work of the Marple
Wharf project and it's going to be a real asset to the town.
And that's all from here at Marple Wharf.
The Water Rd is produced and presented by me, Adam Porten.
Next time, I'll be introducing you to our newest crew member,
Mack, the Border Terrier puppy, and we'll be hearing about other
pets who live aboard. He always turns heads but
obviously when when we're here on the on the Moor and we can
lay him out in the garden, but when you're walking up and down
the torfach as well. It's it's a.
Good conversation stuff there. Are lots of people stopping?
I wonder what we're doing walking and talking.
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