The Huddersfield Narrow Canal runs just under 20 miles between Huddersfield and Ashton under Lyne through 74 locks. The canal was first proposed in 1793 at a meeting in the George Hotel Huddersfield. Work started in 1794, and the canal was officially opened on April 4th 1811. The canal was abandoned in 1944: however, it has since been restored and in 2001 was fully opened to navigation.
As a curiosity the canal runs through the legs of an electricity pylon.
Standedge Tunnels
The tunnels here cut through the watershed between the two rivers: Colne flowing down to Huddersfield and the Tame to Manchester. Both canal and railway had to cut through the hills:
- Canal tunnel
- Standedge Tunnel is 3 miles 418 yds (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. The tunnel was built without a towpath and as such boats had to be legged through.
- Railway tunnels
- Standedge Tunnels were cut by the London and North Western Railway. There are three tunnels: two single-line, one double. The single tunnels are 3 miles 57 yds long (4803m) long; the double-line tunnel 3 miles 60 yds (4806m). They are the third-longest rail tunnels in Britain (after the Severn Tunnel and the Totley tunnel on the Sheffield-Manchester route.
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