I sincerely hope you don't mind me starting up a thread in Local History, with the same name as one in General Discussions.

The reason for this is to retell a tale my Grandmother used to tell when she was still with us.

Her mother was from Whaley Bridge and when the Union Road Bridge was opened at New Mills, she (my Great Grandma) and other relations went on a trip to the opening celebrations. This was by horse-drawn barge from Whaley.

Apparently the opening celebrations were marred by a great downpour, and the Whaley contigent retired to the Beehive to take shelter (and refreshments). This would have been the old Beehive that was higher up Albion Road, and was knocked down when the "new" Midland mainline was built in 1902ish. This is the line across the viaduct, that goes under Albion Road, just above WIrksmoor Road, but I digress.

When it was time for the trip to return to Whaley Bridge, pretty well everyone was the worse for wear with drink, but they managed to get the horse and barge fastened together with the towing tackle. Fortunately, the horse knew its way back to Whaley Bridge, as those who should have been looking after it were soon among those sleeping it off in the barge. This arrangement worked perfectly, until they reached Bridgemont, where the horse "automatically" clip-clopped down the slope to the tunnel, even though no-one had disconnected. This pulled the barge out of the canal and up onto the towpath, waking up the passengers and crew somewhat abruptly!

My Grandma always referred to the tunnel as Nanny's Nick. Anyone else heard that name for it, or indeed the tale above?