them, by the several Acts passed for that Purpose, and for amending the said Acts, and granting to the said Company further and other Powers.' By this act they were empowered to raise a further sum of £30,000, by mortgage of the canal and tolls, or on promissory notes under the common seal of the company, to be repaid in five years, or in default, the holders of the notes were to have the option of becoming shareholders to the same amount.
This canal commences on the eastern side of the town of Manchester, at the end of Dale Street, and near to Piccadilly: thence passing through the suburbs, it crosses the River Medlock; thence to near Clayton, where the Stockport Branch commences. From Clayton the canal proceeds to the village of Fairfield, where the main line terminates, as described in the act, at a distance from Manchester of three miles and three quarters, and with a rise of 162 feet 6 inches, by eighteen locks. From Fairfield there is a branch to the Huddersfield Canal, at the Duckenfield Aqueduct, near the town of Ashton-under-Lyne. This branch is a little more than two miles and a half, and is level throughout. There is, also, a branch to Waterhouses, from Fairfield, where the canal again crosses the Medlock, by an aqueduct, after it has passed through a tunnel of considerable extent. This branch is in length two miles and a half, and is upon the same level as the Ashton Branch. From the aqueduct the branch is continued to Hollinwood, and from thence by the Werneth Colliery Company, to their extensive works near to Oldham. The length from the aqueduct, at Waterhouses, to Hollinwood, is rather more than one mile and three quarters; and the extension to the collieries is one mile. The branch from the aqueduct rises 83 feet, by means of eight locks. From the Hollinwood Branch, one-eighth of a mile from the aqueduct, is a collateral cut to Fairbottom Colliery, of little more than a mile in length, and level. The branch from Clayton leaves the main line between the tenth and eleventh lock from its commencement, and passing by Gaston and Reddish, terminates at Lancashire Hill, on the high-road from Manchester to Stockport, and but half a mile from the latter place.
In the town and suburbs of Manchester, several collateral cuts and basins, have been made from this canal to the various wharfs, quays, and manufactories; thus affording increased facilities to the
