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Huddersfield Narrow Canal, 24 January and 12 March


Two lock gate replacements on the Huddersfield Narrow Canal will be open for visitors to observe during this large maintenance project. In total, 15 stoppages are to be delivered over a 23 week period resulting in 45 gates being renewed or repaired – a major feat of winter maintenance by this team.

There will be the chance to see inside the drained lock, watch British Waterways staff at work and chat to BW experts about how this skilled operation takes place.

The new gates have been made at Stanley Ferry Workshop in Wakefield which is one of only two workshops in the country.

24 January

Location: Lock 40E. Parking available at Marsden Railway Station, Station Road (about 2 mins drive away from Standedge Tunnel). From there, it is a 5-10 minute walk down the towpath, past Lock 41, to Lock 40.

Time: 10am-4pm

12 March

*PLEASE NOTE THE DATE OF THIS OPEN DAY HAS BEEN CHANGED FROM 20 FEBRUARY.*

Location: Lock 31W, near the Diggle end of Standege Tunnel, just off Manchester Road near Spurn Lane/Ward Lane, Diggle. Plenty of street parking available in the area.
Time: 10am-4pm

Huddersfield Narrow Canal

The Huddersfield Narrow Canal runs for 20 miles between Huddersfield in West Yorkshire and Ashton under Lyne in Greater Manchester. The summit of the Huddersfield Narrow Canal is also the highest navigable waterway in Britain.

The Huddersfield Narrow Canal boasts Britain's longest canal tunnel (Standedge Tunnel), superb Pennine scenery, and charming canalside towns. A journey along the 20-mile canal reveals a waterway of startling contrasts. Stretches of tranquil, well-wooded countryside give way to dramatic mills and historic industry - a reminder of the days when it was the shortest way of carrying goods and people between Lancashire and Yorkshire.

Reopened with great fanfare after 50 years, the rebirth of the Huddersfield Narrow Canal confounded doubters to become the outstanding success of the canal restoration movement.

The campaign to restore the Huddersfield Narrow Canal took off in 1974 with the formation of the Huddersfield Canal Society. Dubbed the 'impossible restoration', there was initially little support for the scheme. Over the years, however, the Society won over the sceptics and the impossible was achieved with the canal's re-opening. The restored canal and Standedge Tunnel were officially declared open by His Royal Highness Prince Charles on 3rd September 2001.

For more details about Standedge Tunnel visit www.standedge.co.uk.


British Waterways’ Canal Open Days 2011/12 are sponsored by May Gurney. Find out more about the company by visiting www.maygurney.co.uk.

Last updated: 14/02/2012

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