This section of the Sankey Canal and Spike Island have seen water levels reduced drastically in recent months following the closure of Fiddler’s Ferry Power Station.
The canal had been supplied with water by the station since 1983 until it was decommissioned in March 2020. Temporary water pumps had been set up to keep water levels stable but that now too has ceased.
The move means water levels are dropping and wildlife has had to be relocated.
A substantial proportion of funding has been allocated towards dealing with a water level crisis at Sankey Canal.
Halton Borough Council has allocated £500,000 from the environmental fund to carry out work at the waterway on Spike Island.
The project will involve a range of work and support for dealing with issues arising from the water supply crisis at the canal.
The funding – £100k each year for five years – is from a fund set up under the Viridor ‘Runcorn Energy from Waste’ Section 106 agreement.
Hopefully this plan will materialise.
The Sankey Canal was originally known as the Sankey Brook Navigation and later the St.Helens Canal, entirely located within Lancashire, in the northwest of England, connecting St.Helens with the River Mersey.
It is claimed to be the first modern canal in England, or the first canal of the industrial age, it opened before its more famous neighbour, the Bridgewater Canal.
When opened in 1757, it ran along the valley of the Sankey Brook from the point where the brook joined the River Mersey, to a location to the north east of St Helens. Extensions were constructed at the Mersey end of the canal, firstly to Fiddlers Ferry and then to Widnes, while at the northern end, it was extended into what became the centre of St Helens. Abandoned gradually between 1931 and 1963. Since 1985 there has been an attempt to restore it by the Sankey Canal Restoration Society .
More images of the whole canal system are HERE
Direct link to SCARS - SANKEY CANAL RESTORATION SOCIETY HERE