The Trent and Mersey insisted that there should be no direct connection at Middlewich, and instead built the short Wardle Canal to join the two, charging large compensation tolls for traffic passing along it.

The railway company closed 175 miles (282 km) of canals in 1944, but the Shropshire Union main line and the Middlewich Branch were spared, and passed into the jurisdiction of the British Waterways Board following nationalisation in 1948.

There is no commercial traffic on the waterway, but transition to the leisure age has resulted in two marinas being constructed to provide moorings for pleasure craft.

There was no money left for the Middlewich Canal, and a plan to save costs by building it with narrow locks did not find favour with the shareholders, and so no work was done.

The total cost, which included wharves and warehouses at Barbridge Junction, was £129,000, but trade was meagre until the new link to Autherley was completed some three years later.

Tolls on the Middlewich Branch were initially maintained at a higher level than on the rest of the canal in order to avoid undercutting traffic on that route.

[8] The new company was independent for less than a year, as the London and North Western Railway (LNWR) offered them a perpetual lease in 1846, which was formalised by Act of Parliament in June 1847, although it was not fully implemented until March 1857.

[9] The Shropshire Union attempted to deal with the problem of high tolls on the Wardle Canal by proposing a 327 yards (299 m) bypass in 1852, arguing that the Middlewich Branch was "almost useless" without it.

[11] Some traffic on the branch was lost when the Anderton Lift was opened in 1875, providing a link from the Trent and Mersey to the River Weaver and the Manchester Ship Canal.

In 1944, the LMSR obtained an Act of Parliament to close 175 miles (282 km) of the canals for which it was responsible, which included much of the Shropshire Union system, but the line from Ellesmere Port to Autherley and the branch to Middlewich were retained.

[14] Apart from the first mile at Middlewich, where the canal is bordered by housing, the route is entirely rural, passing through farmland and woods, with superb views over the valley of the upper River Weaver.

[28] Bridge 5A carries the railway line from Crewe to Chester over the canal, and there is a large marina shortly afterwards, followed by Cholmondeston lock, which raises the level by 11.25 feet (3.43 m).