In August 1842, near this spot, Industrial militants called Chartists, in protest at wage cuts by the mill owners, sabotaged the canal.
Canal boats were tied up and not allowed to pass, the horses were driven away from the boats and the boatmen were told that there boats would be sunk if they went any further.
The Chartists then moved on to pull Top Lock to pieces. The heads of these protests were Christopher Doyle of Manchester and Joseph Taylor of Marple Bridge. The Chartists feared that due to over-production, the mill and factory owners of the North West, were proposing to cut the workers wages by half.