A very British canal

A scene from under one of the many bridges over the Rochdale canal near Walsden. The cottages may have once belonged to people who worked this canal which was built very much for the industry in these parts. The post on the left is a guideway for the 'Route 66' bicycle way that passes along here.

- "The Rochdale Canal in Northern England runs for 33 miles, between Manchester and Sowerby Bridge in West Yorkshire, part of the connected system of the canals of Great Britain. In Sowerby Bridge it connects with the Calder and Hebble Navigation. In Manchester it connects with the Ashton and Bridgewater Canals. The canal was re-opened to navigation along its entire length in July 2002 and forms part of the South Pennine Ring. Its name refers to the town of Rochdale through which it passes. The Rochdale is a broad canal because its locks are wide enough to allow vessels of 14 feet width.

A revised Rochdale Canal Bill was passed in 1794 and construction began. By 1799 the canal was open between Sowerby Bridge and Todmorden and from Manchester to Rochdale. A proposed 1.6 mile tunnel between Walsden and Sladen was replaced by more locks and a higher summit level at 600 feet. The resulting shorter summit level meant that many reservoirs were required to prevent the summit level drying up and to maintain an available supply of water for the 92 locks.

The canal opened through to Manchester in 1804. This made it the first trans-Pennine canal route, as the Huddersfield, experiencing much difficulty in the Standedge Tunnel construction, did not open until 1811. The Leeds and Liverpool, with a much longer route, was not fully opened until 1816. The canal remained profitable for some time but by the twentieth century the tonnage being carried was in sharp decline. In 1937 the last boat made the through journey across the Pennines on the Rochdale Canal.

In 1952, the canal was closed apart from the short section between Castlefield and the Ashton Canal junction at Piccadilly. The Ashton was abandoned in 1962 and by 1965 the nine locks on the Rochdale through Manchester city centre were almost unusable. Enthusiastic supporters re-opened the Ashton in 1974 and the Rochdale Canal in Manchester was made good.

The Rochdale Canal Society was formed to promote the restoration of the canal and in the 1980s and 1990s small scale work began to re-open stretches of the canal between Todmorden and Sowerby Bridge. This involved restoring bridges and locks to navigable condition.

In 1996 the canal was opened to navigation once again between Sowerby Bridge and the summit level. "


Nice full screen.