the northern end of the canal would be cut off by the closure of the Lower Peak Forest and the Ashton Canal, but vigorous campaigning and a growing restoration movement resulted in the passing of the Transport Act 1968, which effectively assured their future. As part of the Inland Waterways Amenity Advisory Council's Recreational Framework for Britain's Canals initiative, published as a policy document in 1975, Macclesfield Borough Council designated the whole canal as a Conservation Area in June of that year. Features The following are all Grade II listed structures: Five aqueducts (Biddulph Valley, Canal Road, Dane, Pool Lock, Red Bull) All twelve locks Bridge numbers 1, 2, 4–12, 33, 35, 36, 38–41, 43, 44, 50, 52–64, 66, 67, 69, 70, 72, 74, 76, 77 Pool Lock footbridge Warehouse adjacent to bridge number 1 Drydock at Sluices Weir and Culvert carrying Shores Clough under the canal Disused tunnel under canal near Canal Road, Congleton at Fourteen milestones Five distance markers Two sets of stone fence posts The Hall Green Branch, whilst originally built by the Trent & Mersey Canal Company, is often considered as part of the Macclesfield Canal in modern maps and guidebooks. Hall Green Stop Lock survives, with its rise and fall of about a foot (0.3m); this was to prevent the Trent & Mersey losing water to the Macclesfield in the event of a breach in the latter. There are no tunnels on the Macclesfield Canal, but there are several impressive embankments, including those at Bollington and High Lane on the upper section, and one over the River Dane on the lower section, close to Bosley bottom lock. The Macclesfield Canal is renowned for its elegant roving bridges, locally known as Snake Bridges. Proposed connection In 1992, the magazine Waterways World carried an article about a trip made by John Liley from the Caldon Canal feeder, across Rudyard Lake, and ending at the Macclesfield Canal feeder at the top of Bosley Locks. He had made the journey as a boy, and had used a portable dinghy for some of the route. This led to a number of people suggesting that the route could be made fully navigable, to effectively create a new cruising ring. The idea was examined again in 2004, in an article about the lake, in which it was stated that the feeder, which is about long, and the streams which feed into the