South Pennine Ring

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The South Pennine Ring is a canal ring which crosses the pennines between Manchester and Huddersfield.

[edit] History

Whilst the concept of canal rings had begun in the 1960s with the Cheshire Ring, the South Pennine Ring is a recent addition, as it was only with the restoration of the Huddersfield Narrow Canal (dubbed the impossible restoration) and the Rochdale Canal in 2001-2002 that the ring became a possibility.

The term was coined as a marketing tool by British Waterways, and was later taken up by waterways enthusiasts in coining the North Pennine Ring and Outer Pennine Ring to describe the three possible rings that incorporate the three transpennine canals.

[edit] Popularity

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 a number of factors. These include

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 being unpopular with people seeking rural England
operating restrictions on the number of boats that can pass through the Standedge Tunnel.

As a result of the frequent stoppages and the need to book passage through the Standedge Tunnel, planning for a trip on the Huddersfield Narrow or Rochdale canals should include consulting the British Waterways website.