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We're just morning up at Marple 
Junction at the end of the 

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Macclesfield Canal. 
Well, I suppose it's really the 

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beginning of the Mac because the
Junction Bridge is bridge number

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one, but there's a historic 
warehouse here that's under 

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restoration, and that's what 
we'll be finding out about in 

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this episode of the Water Rd. 
Well, I've said it before and 

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I'm certain I'll say it again, 
but there's something a bit 

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special about canal junctions. 
Marple is where the Macclesfield

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Canal meets the Peak Forest and 
it's a lovely setting with an 

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elegant junction bridge, far 
reaching views of the hills and 

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lots of historic buildings. 
The Peak Forest Canal was here 

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first with a flight of 16 locks 
opened in eighteen O 4 joining 

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the upper part of the canal to 
the lower which is a level 209 

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feet down. 
It was built to take goods 

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including Derbyshire limestone 
to Manchester. 

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The Macclesfield Canal came 
later being completed in 1831, 

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linking to the Trenton Mersey 
and opening up trade routes to 

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the Midlands. 
The area would have been a hive 

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of activity because this was 
also a centre for cotton 

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spinning. 
Right by the junction is the 

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warehouse at Marple Wharf, which
is currently being restored by a

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community interest company and 
I've been speaking to its chair,

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Sue Ingham. 
Sue, you're chair of the Marple 

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Wharf project. 
It's a really important building

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for this part of the canal, 
isn't it? 

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What is history? 
It certainly is one of the most 

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iconic buildings in Marple. 
It was a former transshipment 

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warehouse back in the early 
1800s, so probably we don't know

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for sure when it was built, but 
it was probably around 18201830 

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and it's on the side of the 
Macclesfield Canal as it meets 

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the the Peak Forest Canal. 
So it would be a really 

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important warehouse for various 
boats, probably Samuel Ono's 

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boats for the mill down in 
Mellor to come in and unload its

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cotton and coal and lime, of 
course, because we have the lime

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kills just across the way there.
I mean, one of the main things 

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about it that boaters will spot 
is that it's got like a wet dock

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that comes all the way through 
it, hasn't it it? 

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Has it's called actually a 
finger dock? 

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It actually comes right through 
the building out into this 

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garden area and that's where the
boats would have gone in to be 

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undercover. 
So obviously things like lime, 

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which wouldn't be good to get 
wet and also cotton, you 

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wouldn't want those kind of 
goods to start getting wet. 

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So they would come into the 
finger dot and be unloaded via 

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the cranes, actually into the 
into the area and stored there 

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before going off by horse and 
cart to the various places. 

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Obviously it was in use in the 
1800s. 

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When did it stop being used and 
what sort of state has it been 

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in in recent years? 
I think it was still in use in 

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the early 1900s for goods 
actually. 

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I've got some really super 
photographs of the butty boats 

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being used in this stretch of 
the canal. 

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British Waterways then acquired 
it, I don't know exactly when, 

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and used it as offices for many,
many years and then probably, I 

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would say it must be about 10 or
12 years ago, they ceased using 

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it and since then it has 
obviously fallen into decline. 

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So what sort of state was it in 
when the the Marple Wharf 

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project got hold of it? 
The roof needed replacing. 

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It was in a pretty, pretty dire 
Strait really. 

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Obviously needs a lot of work 
doing it still needs quite a bit

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of work. 
But we've, we've made a great 

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deal of progress, not least in 
actually buying the building, 

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which was a huge undertaking 
actually to, to raise the money 

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to actually buy the building. 
And then we, we are actually now

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in the process of renovating and
refurbishing it. 

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So some of that money came from 
the lottery, I think didn't. 

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It some of it did. 
In fact a lot of it came from 

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the lottery initially though. 
I mean this is a fantastic 

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community project. 
It's actually the community who 

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raised just under £200,000 via 
we launched an investment bond 

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scheme. 
A lot of people in Marple 

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purchased £100 bonds. 
They could purchase more than 

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that and many people did, but 
that raised just under £200,000 

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and that meant that we could 
apply for the Government's 

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levelling up fund, the Community
ownership Fund. 

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And because that's a match fund,
we were unable to to buy the 

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building and start the 
renovations. 

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And that happened in 2022. 
What we did then, we managed to 

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buy the building, remove all the
roof and replace it. 

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And actually we were able to 
replace nearly all the original 

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tiles. 
We only had to find a few from 

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various archive places. 
We then got inside and ripped 

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out the horrible partitions, the
1960s partitions that were in 

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the first floor and expose the 
beam. 

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So the the first floor is going 
to be an absolutely beautiful 

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space. 
We also repointed the entire 

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outside in what's called lime 
mortar pointing. 

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That would have been the 
original mortar that would have 

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been on the building. 
Having done that, we then had a 

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quite a pause whilst we started 
applying for National Lottery 

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Heritage Fund grants last year. 
We were very successful in, I'm 

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quite excited about it actually.
So we actually secured just 

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about £900,000 to finish the 
refurbishments and the 

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renovations and that's where we 
are now. 

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OK, well look, I know it's a bit
of a building site in there, but

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shall we go in and have a look? 
Yes, please. 

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Let's do. 
Right, so we're inside now and 

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it's a, it's a bit of an empty 
shell at the moment. 

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What's it going to be like in 
here when it's all finished? 

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It's going to be a heritage 
centre with a heritage shop and 

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also a really lovely cafe. 
The cafe is going to be run by a

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local restauranteur, all things 
nice. 

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And so people will be able to 
come in, have a coffee and cake,

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they'll be able to browse the 
shop. 

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But the main thing is there's 
going to be a really interactive

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museum exhibition, and it's all 
focused on the Industrial 

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Revolution and how Marple 
changed from this rural little 

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town into a nationally important
industrial powerhouse. 

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And that was pretty much down to
one man really, wasn't it it? 

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Was Samuel Ono. 
Some people call him the father 

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of Marple. 
We're doing something really 

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exciting actually. 
We're working with AI 

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specialists, technology 
specialists, and there's going 

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to be a character of Samuel Ono 
exhibit, an interactive exhibit 

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where people can go and actually
have a conversation with Samuel 

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Ono. 
It's really exciting and we're 

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we're really at the cutting edge
of AI technology working with 

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this, this company called 
Anymind AI and that that's going

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to form quite a big part of the,
of the exhibition because we are

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in quite a small space. 
It's not huge and it's 

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multifunctional with we will 
rely quite a lot on digital 

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interpretation so that people 
can get the overview of the 

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industrial revolution here in 
Marple as well as Samuel Ohno, 

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they can find out more about 
the, the working boats, the 

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people who lived on them. 
For example, we will be 

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installing an authentic what's 
called butty boat into the 

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finger dock in the garden and 
and people there will be able to

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learn about how how families 
lived and worked on the canals. 

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We will have another character 
mind, probably the wife of a 

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bargeman, and she you'll be able
to have a conversation with her 

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about life on the boat. 
So that's the ground floor and 

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then you've got the the first 
floor as well. 

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We have the the first floor is 
going to be it's purpose 

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designed, dedicated to health 
and well-being activities like 

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Tai chi, aikido and yoga. 
Again, it'll be a beautiful, 

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airy space in a really lovely 
location. 

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Probably about 45% of the 
capacity is already reserved by 

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various groups in Marple and 
that will obviously help us to 

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generate income to allow us to 
have this exhibition for for 

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free. 
So it's spring now. 

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When are you hoping everything 
will be done? 

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It's still a bit of a building 
site here, but all being well, 

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we're hoping we will be open in 
September, I think. 

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I think we probably will. 
Be well, I wish you all the best

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of luck. 
Thank you so much. 

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Well, it's been great to hear 
about the work of the Marple 

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Wharf project and it's going to 
be a real asset to the town. 

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And that's all from here at 
Marple Wharf. 

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The Water Rd is produced and 
presented by me, Adam Porten. 

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Next time, I'll be introducing 
you to our newest crew member, 

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Mack, the Border Terrier puppy, 
and we'll be hearing about other

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pets who live aboard. 
He always turns heads but 

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obviously when when we're here 
on the on the Moor and we can 

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lay him out in the garden, but 
when you're walking up and down 

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the torfach as well. 
It's it's a. 

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Good conversation stuff there. 
Are lots of people stopping? 

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I wonder what we're doing 
walking and talking. 

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Thank you for listening to The 

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Water Rd.