A LOOK today at Middlewich, which in its day was a busy canal town with Lock 75 on the Trent and Mersey canal known as the Big Lock as it is the only lock that is more than 14ft wide on that canal.

It was built when the canal length to Northwich was started; it was then the intention to construct the canal wide enough to take large salt barges.

When it was completed, the plans were changed.

All the other locks and the nearby aqueduct were constructed for narrowboats.

The pub itself is built into the bank on the side of the lock.

From the front, it is a traditional two-story pub situated in Webb’s Lane. From the rear on the canal, it has three storeys.

Initially, it was built with a stable block at the side for canal horses, and this is now part of the restaurant.

The door from the lock once led to the boat people’s bar while upstairs, the more pretentious locals could be spared the presence of the slightly unkempt people from the working boats. This bar is now a function room.

Years ago, there was a large factory next to the pub; The factory was built in 1897 by the Anglo-Swiss Condensed Milk Company, later Nestle’s, to take advantage of the canal in the distribution of the products that were manufactured there.

It was at one time Middlewich’s largest employer, and during the summer months, it employed around one hundred people producing two hundred cases, each containing four dozen cans of condensed milk, milk and cocoa powder daily.

When the factory was sold it became a British Crepe Company, employed in textile printing, until the 1970s when it was severely damaged in a fire.

As can be seen in the modern photo, it has been completely redeveloped.

As for the Big Lock pub, it is closed for several weeks for a full refurbishment.