Bridgewater Canal embankment near Dunham Massey collapses after heavy rain

Dramatic video footage captures a section of the Bridgewater Canal collapsing after a night of heavy rain. One side of the canal embankment imploded near the village of Little Bollington, on the edge of Dunham Massey Park.

Daniel Kaye, from Timperley was out walking his dog at around 9am today (Wednesday) when he came across the scene. He said: “It looked like a bomb had gone off.”

The location is just a few hundred yards from the popular Swan with Two Nicks pub. Both the canal and the River Bollin are nearby.

Daniel said: “It is part of the canal that runs around Dunham Massey. Either side is banked up and it goes across a small valley. I believe it breached in 1970 as well. When I turned up one side of the embankment had such collapsed.

“It looks like a bomb has hit it. As I was walking along the towpath I was thinking the canal does not normally flow like this and the level was a lot lower than normal. Then I could hear running water like a waterfall. I know the River Bollin runs underneath and thought that must be flowing really heavy then.

“Then as I carried on walking I could see how it had come in on itself. Where the steel supports were for the canal groundwork the embankment had just collapsed. I could see a tree had fallen down and the footpath had disappeared.

The Bridgewater Canal near Little Bollington today and it was breached when swollen by heavy overnight rain.

“The water has flooded all the fields next to it and was stretching to the wall where Dunham Massey Park is. I understand this part of the canal is not part of the Canal and River Trust. I spoke to a guy who was moored up near it and I think it is Peel who owns it.

“When I walked further up the canal they had stop locks and either farmers or canal workers were putting them in to try and stop the flow. As I walked back towards Altrincham the level of the canal had drastically dropped. All the fields were totally flooded.”

The National Trust owned Dunham Massey park and gardens is a site of Special Scientific Interest, and home to a herd of fallow deer, as well as owls, bats, buzzards, woodpeckers, meadow ants and rare species of beetle. Over 225 different species call it home in 300 acres of parkland.

In January 2021 Storm Christoph brought exceptionally wet weather to the region causing the Swan with Two Nicks pub to flood.

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