Huddersfield Narrow Canal
Huddersfield Narrow Canal runs from the end of
Huddersfield Broad Canal to link with the Ashton Canal.
A meeting at the George Hotel in 1793 saw the first
proposals for the canal put
forward by Benjamin Outram who suggested a route based on the existing Ricer
Colne, starting from the Huddersfield Broad and climbing to a summit of 428
feet before passing through
Standedge tunnel and commencing its decent on the other side, passing
Saddleworth and the Thame Valley to join Aston Canal near Aston – under
–Lyne. The route served a large number of textile mills producing cotton and
woollen goods. Water was a problem so a number of reservoirs were also
needed to be constructed.
Work began in 1794, but ran into problems with both cost
being underestimated ( which seems to have been the norm … and often still
is ) as well as shareholders not honouring amounts of capital pledged.
Further to this floods in 1799 saw the destruction of two aqueducts and
damage to various reservoirs, which resulted in the heavy flooding of the
village of Marsden , these events ensuring that already overstretched
funding came under further pressure.
The Stakes acquaduct , which was already being used had to
be replaced by a single span steel aqueduct as the original stone version
was impeding the flow of the river.
The Standedge tunnel was a major feat of engineering ,
with a total length of 5697 yrds : the longest canal tunnel in the UK and
furthermore a single width tunnel without a towpath that meant the boat shad
to be “legged “ through by men lying on their backs on top of the narrow
boat and effectively walking across the tunnel roof, which in most places
was brick, though occasionally native rock.
A second flood in 1810 was caused by the collapse of the
Diggle Moss reservoir led to five
deaths and the flooding of the Colne Valley, wrecking houses and factories
and carrying a fifteen ton boulder 2 miles down the valley.
In spite of these problems the canal opened in 1811 and
operated for about 140 years despite completion from the Rochdale canal,
which was a broad canal without the tunnel and of course the usual problem
of completion from the expanding railway network. The biggest problem was
the Standedge tunnel, which caused delays both as a single tunnel and
because without a towpath it had to be legged through, with the horses
walking over the top.
Eventually the canal was abandoned in 1944, still
surviving many of its compatriots.
Restoration eventually saw the canal reopened in 2001
after a 27 year process of restoration and campaigns by waterway societies
and enthusiasts and it is now used solely for leisure craft wishing to cross
the Pennines. The current route
is largely true to the original with a few small changes, where for
practical reasons the original route was not available.