History of canals revealed

LIFE on the canals 150 years ago has been revealed in a piece of history that might have been lost forever.

A 150-year-old minute book, which was thrown out with the rubbish in the 1940s, was rescued and later donated to the archives of British Waterways.

Among other topics it gives an insight into life on the canal in Saddleworth during the mid-19th century.

Judy Jones, heritage adviser to British Waterways, Yorkshire, decided to enlist the help of the Huddersfield Canal Society in making the document freely available for reference.

The society has been making digital photographs of all 250 pages and is compiling the text on a computer.

Judy said: “The minute book is an immaculate social history document which can now be enjoyed by everyone thanks to the work put in by the Huddersfield Canal Society.”

Society administrator Dr Bob Gough and marketing officer Claire Bebbington have spent more than 120 hours producing a digital version of the book and will be making it available to download via the website at www.huddersfieldcanal.com/minutebook.

Bob Gough said: “Thanks to Claire’s touch typing skills and plenty of deciphering of the hand-written text, we have succeeded in producing a copy of the document.

“Whether you are researching family history or simply curious about life on the canal in the mid-19th century, it is easy to search the document and find references of interest.”