The Rochdale Canal
The Rochdale Canal is a broad canal in Northern England
allowing passage of craft up to 14 feet.
It runs for 32 miles across the Pennines linking the
Bridgewater canal at Castlefied Basin (Manchester) with the Calder and
Hebble Navigation at Sowerby Bridge ( West Yorkshire) and encounters 91
locks on that route, ( originally 92, by 3 and 4 are now combined ).
The origins of the canal go back to 1776 when a party of
48 Gentlemen paid James Brindley to survey possible routes between Sowerby
Bridge and Manchester, two
alternatives were suggested, but nothing jhappened until 1791 when John
Rennie was asked to do another survey for the sme purpose, later requesting
additional options for branches to
Rochdale, Oldham and limeworks near Todmorton.
The route chosen was very similar to one of James
Brindley’s suggestions with an application made to Parliament in 1792, which
failed on objections made by local millers, concerned at loss of water to
their enterprises. A second application made in 1794 was approved and the
Rochdale Canal Company was formed with due authority to proceed with the
project.
Construction got underway fairly quickly with the waterway
opening in workable sections as progress began, so as to provide immediate
income for the project, where possible, though a further 3 Acts of
Parliament still had to be applied for to
allow additional capital to be raised at various stages.
The official opening was in 1804, though work on the canal
continued for another 3 years.
Once fully operational the canal offered direct completion
to the Huddersfield Narrow as well as a wider channel and a passage not
hindered by the Standedge Tunnel, which as a single width tunnel with no
towpath was becoming a major bottle neck on the Huddersfield Narrow.
Consequently the waterway flourished in its early years becoming the major
route across the Peninnes. It even managed to survive competition from the
Manchester and Leeds Railways which arrived in 1841, though Tolls had to be
cut to do this.
By the beginning of the 20th Century however
profits had diminished and financial troubles were
looming. The reservoirs were sold to
the Oldham and Rochdale Joint Waterboard in 1923 and most of the canal
closed in 1952, when an Act banning public navigation was sought, though
most of the canal had been unused for some years by then.
Restoration started in the 1960s with the first restored
section reopening in 1974, between
the Junction with the Ashton Canal and the Bridgewater canal. The Rochdale
Society was then established to protect the line of the canal ( already cut
by the M62 motorway) and to encourage further restoration with the 16 mile
Todmorton to Sowerbty bridge section being the next to open, followed by the
Todmorton to Helen bridge section in 1983. The entire eastern section to the
summit was opened by 1990.
This was followed by work to re-join the canal with the
Calder and Hebble, which provided a connection to the national system again
July 2002 saw restoration restore the complete line of the
canal again from Manchester to The Calder and Hebble.
The canal is now a popular leisure route with boaters
forming part of the Pennine ring.