'Cathedral of the canals' celebrates 150 years

Anderton Boat Lift is one of two working boat lifts in the UK

A landmark known as the "cathedral of the canals" has been celebrating its 150th anniversary with a Victorian fair.

Designed by Edwin Clark in 1875, Anderton Boat Lift in Cheshire raises vessels 50ft (15m) from the River Weaver to the Trent and Mersey Canal and attracts about 100,000 visitors every year.

The pioneering structure meant goods did not have to be transferred between boats and therefore had a smoother passage between the Potteries in Staffordshire - known as a hub for ceramic production – and the port of Liverpool.

Destination and attraction manager Ani Sutton said it was an "amazing structure" that had enabled cargo to travel from Northwich to all around the world.

The huge iron structure uses two water tanks as counterbalances to transport the boats up and down in what has been described as an "engineering masterpiece".

The lift meant goods did not have to be transferred between vessels

Canal and River Trust north west director Jon Horsfall said: "Anderton Boat Lift took the canal world by storm when it formally opened to boat traffic on 26 July 1875.

"It was a huge success and attracted distinguished engineers, scientists and guests from all over the world to marvel at the ingenuity of its creation."

Ms Sutton said it remained "absolutely a landmark" and was an ancient scheduled monument.

"That means it's got international recognition throughout the world," she said.

"There's nothing quite like Anderton Boat Lift so it's really significant to Northwich, it's really significant to the UK but also internationally."

'Spiralling costs'

A Victorian fair was held over the weekend to celebrate the structure's history.

Volunteer Simon Brooks said it had a "wow factor".

"I, like everyone else that works or volunteers here, am absolutely passionate about the fact that we've got a great feat of Victorian engineering that we want to preserve for future generations."

Mr Horsfall said preserving it as a working monument was "increasingly a challenge" and "spiralling costs" had led to a postponement of a major planned upgrade.

There had also been a problem with the lift gates for the last six months, he said.

"We are hopeful this will be sorted out by our charity's engineers very soon and the boat lift can resume its task of transporting around 3,000 boats a year between the two waterways."

Regal reopening

Commercial traffic on the waterways declined during the 1950s and 60s, while the use of river water as a hydraulic fluid caused major corrosion problems.

In the 1980s, the lift was declared structurally unsound and was closed.

Ms Sutton said "a wonderful group of volunteers, many who are still with us and still involved in the lift, really fought to get this open again".

It was restored after more than £7m was raised to pay for repairs and began operating again in 2002, before the then Prince of Wales officially re-opened it in 2003.