Huddersfield Narrow Canal
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The Huddersfield Narrow Canal is an inland waterway in Northern England. It runs just under 20 miles (35 km) from the junction with the Huddersfield Broad Cana near Aspley Basin at Huddersfield to the junction with the Ashton Canal at Whitefields Basin in Ashton under Lyne. It crosses the Pennines by means of 74 locks and the Standedge Tunnel.
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[edit] Building the Canal
[edit] Planning
The canal was first proposed in 1793 at a meeting in the George Hotel, Huddersfield. Its engineer was Benjamin Outram on the recommendation of William Jessop. His plan was to start from the Huddersfield Broad Canal and follow the Colne valley with a climb of 438feet to its summit, where it would pass through a tunnel at Standedge before descending through the Tame valley to the Ashton Canal near Stalybridge. There were many mills along its route which promised ample trade. However there was the possible problem of the loss of their water supplies, so Outram proposed to build a number of reservoirs.
[edit] Construction
Construction began in 1794 beginning with marking out the route. The practice was to set up a line of pegs or stakes about 150 feet apart so that their tops would indicate the intended the water level. It would then be possible to construct the appropriate embankments and cuttings.
Outram as engineer provided an oversight of the work, occupied as he was by other projects, but the day to day management was carried out by contractors employed and organised by the canal company committee itself and progress was slow and erratic. It was also unfortunate that Outram was seriously ill for long periods between 1795 to 1797. The company was also short of money, partly because the costs had been seriously underestimated, but also because shareholders were not honouring their pledges.
In 1799, severe floods damaged earthworks along the canal and of the various reservoirs. In particular, overflow of the Tunnelend reservoir devastated the village of Marsden. Two aqueducts were also destroyed, diverting the company's already stretched funds. One, the Stakes Aqueduct was already in use and had to be replaced immediately. Outram had built it of stone and, due its low height, had needed to be of four short spans. The narrow openings had impeded the uprecedented flow, so Outram replaced it with a single span cast iron structure similar to the Holmes Aqueduct on the Derby Canal.
Outram set out to overcome the problems with the Holmes Aqueduct by making the walls thicker where they joined the baseplates, which also were thicker. However a major stress was the compressive force along the top of the wall plates where they bow outwards or inwards and in 1875, cross bracing was added to reinforce it. Neverthe less, the Stakes Aqueduct is the oldest surviving aqueduct of its type still in use for its original purpose.
[edit] The Standedge Tunnel
Although the canal uses 73 locks to climb and descend the Pennnines, there would have had to be many more without the digging of a very long tunnel through the Tame/Colne watershed (the Colne flowing down to Huddersfield and the River Calder, and the Tame flowing down to Stockport and the River Mersey). The canal tunnel is 3 miles 418 yd (5,209 m) long making it the longest canal tunnel in the United Kingdom. It is largely brick lined but in some places the tunnel passes through naked rock.
Layout of the tunnel was difficult. It would be necessary to lay out a straight line across the mountain top and calculate how deep below the canal would be. At intervals, pits would be sunk to the requisite depth and the tunnel dug outwards from their bases.
In addition it was necessary to drive drainage adits. Outram had given his opinion that the hill was composed of gritstone and strong shale and should not present any difficulties. In fact he had not expected the need for a lining. It was an extremely ambitious undertaking for the time and Outram was not yet an established engineer, though he had gained experience with the Butterley Tunnel on the Cromford Canal. Nevertheless more than the expected amount of water entered the workings.
The adits allowed so-called 'water engines' to be used. These were simply two buckets on a rope which ran over a pulley at the top of the shaft. One bucket would be filled with spoil from the workings and the other would be filled with water which counterbalance the spoil causing it to rise to the top. Once unloaded, the water would be drained allowing the spoil bucket to fall for another load. Although steam engine pumps were tried, they proved inefficient and expensive to run. A further problem was maintaining an adequate air supply for the workers. This was achieved by injecting water in a fine spray at the top of the shaft, which would carry sufficient fresh air down with it.
Before completion, a severe misalignment was found in the tunnel due inaccuracy on the part of the surveyor who originally laid it out.
The tunnel was finally pierced through in 1809.
[edit] Re-financing
By 1804, work was well behind schedule and financially overstretched. Digging was progressing at each end of the tunnel, but the central section was untouched. Moreover there were problems along the canal from unworkable economies of design and bad workmanship, but also the disorganising effect of interference by the canal committee who, to be fair, were not experts in engineering matters, but were periodically starved of funds. In 1805, a further Act of Parliament was sought to raise more investment and Thomas Telford was asked to prepare a programme for completing the work.
[edit] The "Black Flood"
In 1810, the The Diggle Moss reservoir gave way and Marsden was inundated yet again along with much of the Colne Valley. Houses and factories were wrecked and five people lost their lives. The force of the water was such that a fifteen ton rock was carried two miles.
[edit] Completion
Despite these problems, the building of the Huddersfield Narrow showed that the techniques of quantity surveying had advanced greatly. Telford's report covered every expenditure to the last bucket: it was followed to the letter and the canal finally opened in 1811.
[edit] Operation
The canal operated for approximately 140 years.
The canal was moderately successful for a while, but its width (limited to boats less than 7ft wide, number of locks, and long tunnel made it much less profitable than its main rival (the Rochdale Canal, similar number of locks, but twice as wide and with no long tunnel. The Standedge tunnel was a real bottleneck: as it was built without a towpath, boats had to be 'legged' through (eventually by professional leggers). A company employee would chain the tunnel entrance behind a convoy of boats, and walk over Boat Lane (accompanied by boat boys and girls leading the boat horses) to unchain the other portal before the convoy arrived. He made the double journey twice (or more) per day for over twenty years. The canal trade was severely hit by the bulding of a railway parallel with its route (despite its vital contribution to the project: see below).
[edit] Standedge Rail Tunnels
After the canal opened, three railway tunnels (two single-track, one double) were cut by the London and North Western Railway. Cross-passages were dug linking to the canal tunnel in order to use it to remove spoil. The single rail tunnels are 3 miles 57 yd (4803 m) long long; the double-line tunnel is 3 miles 60 yd (4806 m). They are the third-longest rail tunnels in Britain (after the Severn Tunnel and the Totley Tunnel on the Sheffield-Manchester route. As the tunnel runs parallel to the canal tunnel, it is obviously level for the whole length, and the only length of level track on the line where water troughs could be installed in the days of steam. Only the double line tunnel is currently used for trains.
[edit] Closure
The canal was abandoned in 1944.
[edit] The Canal Today
In the late 20th century, the canal was successively restored until it was fully opened to navigation in 2001, when it again became one of three Pennine crossings, the others being the Rochdale and the Leeds/Liverpool (both broad canals). The canal is entirely used by pleasure boaters.
The Huddersfield Narrow is part of the South Pennine Ring. This is a circular route which crosses the Pennines twice - the other crossing is the Rochdale Canal. The canals are linked at the western (Lancashire) end by the Ashton Canal and at the eastern (Yorkshire) end by the Huddersfield Broad Canal and a length of the Calder and Hebble Navigation. The South Pennine Ring takes in Huddersfield, Golcar, Slaithwaite, Marsden, Saddleworth (Diggle, Uppermill and Greenfield), Stalybridge, Ashton, Manchester, Failsworth, Rochdale, Littleborough, Todmorden, Hebden Bridge, Sowerby Bridge, Elland, and Brighouse. The moorland scenery and apparent isolation of the upper reaches of the Ring would normally be a big attraction to leisure boaters, but boater numbers are relatively small because of the large numbers of locks (not generally clustered in flights), unpredictable stoppages (as temporary closures are called on English canals) caused by water shortages and bank failures, and some densely urban sections (unpopular with people seeking the "real England", despite being more typical of England than the green countryside that only a small proportion of the English now live in). As a result of the frequent stoppages, planning for a trip on either or both of these crossings should involve consulting the British Waterways website [waterscape.com].
[edit] Using the Standedge Tunnel
The canal tunnel itself is a popular attraction even for non-boaters (visitor centre and tunnel trips). It is the highest (above sea level), deepest (below the moorland) and longest (from portal to portal) canal tunnel in England. A convoy of boats is towed through the canal tunnel by an electric tug, shadowed by a support vehicle using one of the abandoned single-track rail tunnels. Passage is free of charge, but must be booked in advance to be guaranteed. The width of the tunnel is slightly restricted, and British Waterways staff will gauge a boat before allowing it into the tunnel. The widest boats, and those with insufficient "tumblehome" (the narrowing of cabin sides towards the top) may not be allowed in. Boats at the margin may get through by taking on weights (such as barrels of water) to reduce the airdraught. Boat crews ride in the tug (also used as a tour boat by the visitor centre at the Marsden end) or walk over the top. For a good walker, "Shanks's Pony" is the quicker option, as the tug takes about 2.5 hours ! Spare places in the tug may be used by non-boaters with a "Hiker's Ticket".
[edit] A Pylon
Curiously, the canal runs through the legs of an electricity pylon.
