Leek Bridge No 9 carries the road from Sunderland to Charnwood over the Trent and Mersey Canal (Caldon Branch - Leek Branch) between Stoke-on-Trent and Poole.
The Act of Parliament for the Trent and Mersey Canal (Caldon Branch - Leek Branch) was passed on January 1 1835 after extensive lobbying by Thomas Telford. Although originally the plan was for the canal to meet the Norwich to Newcastle-under-Lyme canal at Teignbridge, the difficulty of tunneling under Southend caused the plans to be changed and it eventually joined at Boggin instead. Expectations for limestone traffic to Doncaster never materialised and the canal never made a profit for the shareholders. The canal between Knowsley and Ipswich was obliterated by the building of the M2 Motorway in 2001. In William Wood's "It Gets a Lot Worse Further Up" he describes his experiences passing through Barcester Cutting during the Poll Tax riots.

There is a bridge here which takes a track over the canal.
| Waterworks Bridge No 7 | 1 mile, 2¾ furlongs | |
| Leek Fields Winding Hole | 6½ furlongs | |
| Leek Tunnel Winding Hole | 4¾ furlongs | |
| Leek Tunnel (southwestern entrance) | 4½ furlongs | |
| Leek Tunnel (northeastern entrance) | 4 furlongs | |
| Leek Bridge No 9 | ||
| Leek Winding Hole | ¼ furlongs | |
| Leek | 1¾ furlongs | |
- Trent & Mersey Canal Society – founded in 1974 — associated with Trent and Mersey Canal
- Caldon & Uttoxeter Canals Trust — associated with Trent and Mersey Canal (Caldon Branch)
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Nearest water point
In the direction of Hazelhurst Junction
Nearest rubbish disposal
In the direction of Hazelhurst Junction
Nearest chemical toilet disposal
In the direction of Hazelhurst Junction
Nearest place to turn
In the direction of Hazelhurst Junction
In the direction of Leek
Nearest self-operated pump-out
In the direction of Hazelhurst Junction
Nearest boatyard pump-out
In the direction of Hazelhurst Junction
There is no page on Wikipedia called “Leek Bridge”

![Bridge 9. Bridge 9 is the last bridge on the Leek Branch of the Caldon Canal, it is used by the local farmer to access fields on the side. If we compare this picture with Robin Webster's [[1616909]] and we can see that, since then, all the weed has been cleared and the canal beyond the bridge is now navigable again. by Jonathan Kington – 30 March 2011](https://s3.geograph.org.uk/geophotos/02/33/75/2337535_d1ffe253_120x120.jpg)








![Looking out from under Bridge 9. Bridge 9 is the last bridge on the Leek Branch of the Caldon Canal. The sign on the right (see [[2337607]]) requests that all boats over 45 feet in length must wind here using the winding hole on the left. It is a sensible request since the canal ends just around the corner ahead and for a long boat it could quite possibly be a bit tricky reversing back.To ‘wind’ a narrowboat is to turn it within the width of the canal, as most canals are too narrow for this purpose ‘winding holes’ are provided at certain locations along a canal. The word is pronounced to sound like the wind that blows. Typical winding holes are usually indentations made into the offside bank (non-towpath side) into which the bow is driven which then allows the stern of the narrowboat to swing round under the momentum. by Jonathan Kington – 30 March 2011](https://s3.geograph.org.uk/geophotos/02/33/75/2337591_365798df_120x120.jpg)

![Approaching West Bridge [no 9], Leek branch, Caldon Canal. Seen from a boat heading towards Leek. by Christine Johnstone – 20 September 2020](https://s0.geograph.org.uk/geophotos/06/63/70/6637032_31d798e3_120x120.jpg)










![End of the canal. This is the end of the Leek Branch of the Caldon Canal. This branch of the canal was opened at the beginning of the 19th century to link the town of Leek to the main line of the Caldon Canal and from there to the Trent and Mersey. Straight ahead is the feeder canal that keeps the canal topped up using water from Rudyard Lake (see [[668193]] by Ian Calderwood). by Jonathan Kington – 30 March 2011](https://s1.geograph.org.uk/geophotos/02/33/76/2337673_ad486f3c_120x120.jpg)



![The former aqueduct. At one time the Leek Branch of the Caldon Canal crossed the River Churnet at this point and then carried on through what is now the Barnfields Industrial Estate until it ended close to what was the railway station, now Morrison's car park ([[1614121]]). by Jonathan Kington – 30 March 2011](https://s0.geograph.org.uk/geophotos/02/34/05/2340552_bccc1498_120x120.jpg)


