Canal steers into choppy waters

THE restoration and reopening of the Huddersfield Narrow Canal was dubbed the impossible dream.

But seven years after its reopening, the 20-mile long canal is proving more problematical than was originally thought.

Some see it as a bit of a white elephant, others the saviour of communities. Geoff Wood tests the water as the controversy grows.

IT’S only a 20-mile stretch of narrow waterway but its history has been written in blood, sweat and tears.

Huddersfield Narrow Canal is the highest in the country, at 656ft above sea level, and boasts the longest canal tunnel in Britain.

The project was started in 1794 and took 17 years to complete.

The canal was finally abandoned by Act of Parliament in 1944 and closed to navigation in the early 1950s.

But in 1974 a group of enthusiasts came together with the purpose of reopening it.

While the enthusiasm of the canal society members was never in doubt, it soon became clear that the restoration would be a massive task.

Early estimates of £9 million to restore it turned into a final bill for £30 million.

Engineers had to clear huge obstacles at Stanedge and Stalybridge and restore thevast flight of locks at Diggle along he way.

But tenacity overcame all these and in 2001 the canal finally reopened.

But just seven years later, there are reservations about how successful it has been — with concerns raised over water shortages and the amount of traffic taking to the water.

An angling leader claims canal boats are staying away from the canal because of the water shortages and delays moving through Stanedge Tunnel.

John Cocks, chairman of Saddleworth Angling Society, said only a tiny percentage of the boat traffic expected on the restored canal had materialised.

At the core of the problem, he said, is a shortage of water in the tunnel between Diggle and Marsden, which acted as a head reservoir at the highest point of the canal.

When a boat travels through a lock, thousands of gallons of water are lost downstream and this iss hard to replace from the top of the system.

Infrequent convoys of canal boats through the tunnel itself are a way British Waterways limits use of the canal, he said.

Difficulties on the Huddersfield Narrow conflict with a national picture which shows that more boats are using Britain’s canals than ever before.

Around 31,000 boats are now on the move in inland waterways — more than at the height of the Industrial Revolution.

A British Waterways spokeswoman said they aren’t aware of any major problems on the canal.

But Dr Bob Gough, administrator of the Huddersfield Canal Society whose job is to promote the use of the canal, acknowledged there are concerns.

At his waterside office at the Wool Road Transhipment Warehouse, Dr Gough said even though the restoration of the canal cost £30 million, they need another £30 million to keep it open.

He said: “It was one thing getting it restored, but a large fund is really needed for maintenance.

“There have always been a number of problems on this canal.

“ It is 20 miles long and has 74 locks and it is not one for a novice canal boater.

“There has always been a water problem and the canal loses water along the network. And there are occasionally acts of vandalism, where someone empties the canal basin to remove the fish.

“British Waterways does its best on a limited budget. But it has to prioritise, and things like dredging are very expensive. A single bucket of mud takes £1 to move.

“But the canal has been a big benefit to communities in its path — and I am thinking of places like Stalybridge which was dying on its feet before the canal came back, and Slaithwaite, over the other side of the hill.

“British Waterways recorded 400 boats going along the canal last year and is hoping for a similar total this year.”

“But this is a high-maintenance canal, which is difficult to maintain.”

Nonetheless, the people of Diggle and Uppermill are expected to delight in the sight of narrow boats sailing past in the new canal era for many years to come.