Huddersfield Narrow Canal
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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 Canal 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.
Contents |
[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 438 feet 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 with the marking out of 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 water level. It would then be possible to construct the appropriate embankments and cuttings.
As engineer, Outram provided an oversight of the work, whilst also occupied by other projects. The day to day management was carried out by contractors employed and organised by the canal company committee. 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. The Stakes Aqueduct was already in use and had to be replaced immediately. Outram had built it of stone and, due to its low height, it had needed to be constructed in four short spans. The narrow openings had impeded the unprecedented overflow and 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. In 1875 cross bracings were added to reinforce it. The Stakes Aqueduct is the oldest surviving aqueduct of its type that is still in use for its original purpose.
[edit] The Standedge Tunnel
Although the canal uses 74 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 has been left with a natural rock surface.
[edit] The "Black Flood"
In 1810, the Diggle Moss reservoir gave way and Marsden was again flooded, 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 down the valley.
[edit] Completion
Despite multiple problems, the building of the Huddersfield Narrow canal showed that the technique 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 and although moderately successful for a while 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, which had a similar number of locks, but was twice as wide, with no long tunnel. The Standedge tunnel proved to be a real bottleneck, having been constructed without an integral towpath. Narrowboats had to be 'legged' through, eventually by professionally employed 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 opposite end of the tunnel before the boat convoy arrived. This journey was made at least twice per day, for over twenty years. The construction of a double railway tunnel parallel with its route affected the revenue that was brought in and 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 and Liverpool (both broad canals). The canal is now entirely used by leisure boaters.
 Aspley Basin, near the junction between the Broad and Narrow canals |
 Tunnel below Wakefield Road connecting Aspley Basin with the short arm of the Huddersfield Broad Canal that leads to the junction with the Huddersfield Narrow Canal. The actual junction between the two canals is at lock 1 of the Huddersfield Narrow Canal. |
The Huddersfield Narrow is part of the South Pennine Ring, which is a circular route crossing 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, 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 due to the large numbers of locks, which are not generally clustered in flights, unpredictable and planned engineering stoppages (as temporary closures are called on English canals), caused by water shortages, bank failures and maintenance work. Some densely urban sections are unpopular with people seeking rural England. As a result of the frequent stoppages, planning for a trip on the Huddersfield Narrow or Rochdale canals should include consulting the British Waterways website.
[edit] A Pylon
Curiously, the canal runs through the legs of an electricity pylon,on the western side of the Pennines, which is believed to be the only occurrence of this type in the world.
