A section of the Bridgewater Canal embankment near Dunham Massey in Greater Manchester collapsed on New Year’s Day after sustained heavy rainfall, resulting in water pouring into neighbouring fields and flooding a sewage works.
The BBC reported that 90mm of rain fell on north west England over the New Year’s period. A major incident was declared because of serious flooding across Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Cheshire, including the breach of the canal. Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service reported evacuating nearly 1,000 people during the incident.
The collapse has attracted widespread public attention: drone footage and photos of the breach have been widely shared across social media and one video became the ‘most watched’ on the BBC news website. Canal & River Trust has issued a statement making clear that the canal is not one of its waterways, and also stressing the vulnerability of all canals and infrastructure of this age to extreme weather arising from climate change.
The Bridgewater Canal is directly owned by the Bridgewater Canal Company Limited, which is owned by Peel L&P, a division of Peel Holdings plc. It forms part of the popular Cheshire Ring cruising circuit and is also an important north-south link between the Leeds & Liverpool Canal at Leigh and the Trent & Mersey Canal at Preston Brook, as well as part of the east-west routes across the Pennines on the Rochdale and Huddersfield Narrow Canals.