This is an original milepost. The most obvious thing about its location is that
it doesn't stand alongside the canal. Instead, it stands alongside the horse
path that leads over the top whilst the canal passes through Saltersford tunnel.
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There are no towpaths through the tunnels on the Trent & Mersey (with the
exception of the Armitage Tunnel, which is now reduced to a cutting), so the
horses were led over the top whilst the boats were "legged" through the
tunnel.
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The land above the eastern end of the tunnel suggests that the tunnel was
probably built by digging a cutting, constructing the canal and the tunnel roof,
and then infilling the cutting. This method would have been more practical if
the land were too unstable to tunnel directly (which the need to tunnel rather
than follow the edge of the valley suggests).
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