Editing Trent and Mersey Canal (section)

==Features==

===Anderton Lift===
[[File:Anderton Boat Lift 2.jpg|thumb|The Anderton Boat Lift]]
On the Cheshire stretch of the canal, between [[Middlewich]] and the northern end of the canal in [[Preston Brook]] Tunnel, is the Victorian [[Anderton Boat Lift]], which lowers boats fifty feet from the T&M to the [[River Weaver]].  It was restored to full operation in 2002 after twenty years of disuse, and was then the only operational boat-lift in the [[United Kingdom]] until the construction of the [[Falkirk Wheel]] in [[Scotland]].

===Harecastle Tunnel===
[[File:South Portal, Harecastle Tunnel, Trent and Mersey Canal - geograph.org.uk - 556217.jpg|thumb|The south portal of the Harecastle Tunnel]]
Another major feature is the [[Harecastle Tunnel]], near [[Kidsgrove]] in the city of [[Stoke-on-Trent]], north [[Staffordshire]]. There are actually two tunnels; the first was built by Brindley and was {{convert|2880|yd}} long, and boats were moved through by men lying on their backs and pushing against the roof with their feet. This was a physically demanding and slow process and created major delays, so [[civil engineer]] [[Thomas Telford]] was commissioned to provide a second, wider, parallel tunnel with a towpath. This {{convert|2926|yd|m|adj=mid|-long}} tunnel was opened in 1827. 

In the 1900s, the Brindley tunnel was closed because of severe subsidence, but the Telford Tunnel – although also prone to the same problems – remains in use, and is the fourth-longest navigable canal tunnel in the [[United Kingdom]].

===Flyover Junction===
[[File:Pool Lock aqueduct.jpg|thumb|Poole Lock aqueduct]]
Just north of Harecastle Tunnel, the T&M features a 'flyover' junction. The [[Hall Green Branch]] leaves the T&M mainline (which runs east–west here) on the south side, but then crosses over the main line and travels a short distance north to join the [[Macclesfield Canal]] at Hall Green Stop lock (some guides do not refer to the Hall Green branch, simply treating it as part of the Macclesfield Canal).

The actual junction where the branch leaves the main line is a normal right-angle junction called [[Hardings Wood Junction]]. The branch leaves the main line on the south side, then immediately turns 90 degrees clockwise. It runs westwards alongside the main line, maintaining the original level while the main line drops through two locks.  At the Red Bull settlement, the branch turns 90 degrees right, to head north and cross the main line on Poole Lock aqueduct. It then immediately crosses the [[A50 road (Great Britain)|A50]] on Red Bull aqueduct, carrying boats north to join the Macclesfield Canal at Hall Green.

===Stoke-on-Trent===
[[File:Raining at Etruria Junction, Stoke-on-Trent - geograph.org.uk - 2446190.jpg|thumb|The junction of the Trent and Mersey Canal with the Caldon Canal]]
The canal passes through the city of [[Stoke-on-Trent]], where it meets the [[Caldon Canal]].

The canal formed an integral part of the 1986 [[Stoke-on-Trent Garden Festival]] and in 1988 was declared a linear [[Conservation area (United Kingdom)|Conservation Area]].<ref name="SOT">{{cite web | url=http://webapps.stoke.gov.uk/uploadedfiles/Trent%20and%20Mersey%20Canal%20CAA%202011.pdf | title=The Trent & Mersey Canal Conservation Area Review | access-date=1 December 2014}}</ref>
The towpath was upgraded in the 1990s and forms part of the [[National Cycle Network]] ([[National Cycle Route 5|Route 5]]).
===Burslem Port Trust===
A charity, the [[Burslem Port Trust]], has been established to renovate the short [[Burslem]] arm of the Trent & Mersey Canal which will extend 3/8 mile into Burslem.<ref>{{cite web |publisher=Burslem Port Trust |url=https://burslemport.org.uk/welcome |title=Home page |access-date=13 July 2021}}</ref>