Family Fun Day 2010
The Society's Family Fun Day will take place on Sunday 4th April 2010 at Brownhill Countryside Centre.
Click here for more information about the Fun Day.
John Maynard in 1995
Co-founder John Maynard dies
[Bob Gough]
Members will be saddened to hear of the death, on 1st January, of John Maynard, the Society's first Chairman and co-instigator of the Society itself in April 1974. John was one of four people who instigated the inaugural meeting that formed the Huddersfield Canal Society.
His funeral will take place on Thursday 14th January, 2.00pm, at Huddersfield Crematorium.
Canal Accounts for 1847
[Trevor Ellis]
While visiting a recent postcard fair, I was offered a copy of the Balance Sheet of Income and Expenditure for the Huddersfield and Manchester Railway and Canal Company to 31st December 1847. These accounts were for a half year and were to be submitted to a meeting held at Huddersfield Station on 25th February 1848.
In order to try to relate these to the happenings on the canal, I first checked Hadfield's "Canals of the British Isles", from where it appears that the accounts are only three years after the H.M.R.C. Company was formed. He also says that the whole undertaking was vested in the London & North Western Railway in 1847, suggesting they may even be the final separate accounts. However, there are a number of discrepancies between the accounts and Hadfield, which led to me checking Stanley Chadwick's "All Stations to Manchester", though the same numerical discrepancies appear there. From that account it is also not entirely clear when the L.& N.W.R. took over full management - possibly not until the line was completed from descriptions of a Directors' celebration of the opening of the whole line on 13th July 1849.
There is no single valuation for the Narrow Canal in the accounts, though there is a figure for Sir John Ramsden's Canal. The Narrow was paid for by an exchange of shares as part of the amalgamation, while the Broad Canal was purchased separately from the Trustees of Sir John Ramsden. Thus the accounts show "5551 (5552 in Hadfield/Chadwick) shares at £30 per share given to canal proprietors in commutation", totalling £166,530 (around £12,989,340 today, based on an internet site which quotes £100 in 1847 as being equivalent to £7,800 at current prices) plus "Money payment to proprietors of 620 canal shares (687 in Hadfield/Chadwick), at a rate of £25 per share" totalling £15,200 (equivalent around £1,185,600), which would value the Narrow at £181,730 (around £14,174,940 today) (£183,730 according to Hadfield).
The accounts show the amount paid for Sir John Ramsden's Canal in the period covered by the accounts as being £45,912 1s 9d (around £3,581,156). Hadfield quotes a price of £46,560 and suggests it was bought in 1845, whereas according to Chadwick, the transaction was to take place a year after the Huddersfield and Manchester Railway and Canal Act of 21st July 1845 - the accounts suggest that payment may have been later still and there is some mention that the authorised capital of the Company had to be increased, which may have caused delay. It is possible that some of the discrepancies in the shares may be due to the total liability appearing in the minutes, while the accounts show actual payments made for shares, though this still would not explain the Broad Canal discrepancy, on what was a straight cash purchase.
The railway side of the business at this time is noticeably smaller than the canal - income from "Coaching" £2,478 17s 6½d (approx. £193,362), "Parcels and Mails" £141 9s 6½d (approx. £11,037), "Merchandise" £117 11s 10d (£9,173). Total income was £2,757 12s 1d. (equivalent to £215,093). The reason for this is that the railway had only recently opened from Huddersfield to Cooper Bridge on 2nd August 1847 and it would be nearly two years before the line to Manchester opened. According to Chadwick, quoting from the minutes of the meeting in the February, 121,801 passengers had been carried since the opening.
The Narrow Canal account shows "Dues" as £3,015 13s 7¼d out of a total income figure of £4,218 16s 4¼d (equivalent to £329,066). The Broad Canal had income of £1,345 6s 3d (£104,933). Among the items of expenditure for the two canals are those shown below.
It is interesting to note that the Tunnel accounted for around a quarter of the repair costs on the Narrow. The higher cost of "sludging" on the Broad is presumably down to the fact that it receives its water from the river. The figures for lock-keepers on the Broad suggest that as many as four may have been employed, given a wage of around 13s or 14s per week paid on a comparable canal at that period and that these accounts only cover six months. (Two lock cottages are known, though that at Lock 1 is double.) The figure of £531 7s 7d for the Narrow would give a figure of around 30, which seems high, but that would give two people to every 5 locks or so, comparable to the Broad.
Both canals show a profit at this stage and clearly the railway had not made any significant impact on their freight traffic by replacing them as carriers, with most of its business being in the "coaching" trade. Work in Standedge Tunnel must have had some effect on the through traffic on the Narrow Canal but it is difficult to tell how much from Chadwick's account. He does mention that, in the Summer of 1846, work was mainly on the shafts and approach cuttings, but from the fact that the railway tunnel was to be completed by January 1849, there must have been some effect in this period from the 40 boats mentioned as being engaged in moving spoil out of the tunnel. However, the lack of any alternative would certainly not have given the Company the luxury of closing the canal tunnel as happened with the building of the final tunnel in the 1890s.
Forty Years at Standedge!
[Martin Clark]
On 23 September, Mr Fred Carter celebrated 40 years working with BW on the Huddersfield Narrow Canal.
Huddersfield Canal Society presented Fred with a handwritten citation along with honorary life membership of the Society to mark his 40th Anniversary of working on the Huddersfield Narrow. It was presented to him by Ronnie Rose, a long standing member of the Society who has come to know Fred very well over the years.
Fred, a former textile worker and keen motorcyclist found his mode of transport ideally suited him for a job at BW. 40 years ago they were looking for someone to keep an eye on the Canal and the company 'car' happened to be a motorcycle! After several years on the Canal, Fred moved on to monitoring the Standedge reservoirs.
Fred is now often found steering the passenger boat or acting as Tunnel guide. His genial manner combines with his extensive knowledge off the tunnel to guarantee an interesting journey!
Recently, Fred played part in the trials at Standedge Tunnel that have been carried out to test whether boats can pass through the Tunnel under their own power. He has made over a thousand passages through the tunnel and knows every bit of it. "I'm used to the dark, they won't let me drive boats in the daylight now!" he laughed.
Scales Tipped Again at Mossley Docks
[Alwyn Ogborn]
Following my story about the massive bream caught near Waggon Road bridge 91, known by some as Mossley Docks, I witnessed the landing of another, rather large, such fish on Sunday 25th May. John Gibson, who lives in Mossley, was casting his line just in front of our temporary mooring outside our workshop and managed to hook the aquatic creature he is shown holding.
He asked me if I would take a photograph on his mobile telephone of him holding the bream and since John had helped me with a little job earlier in the day, it was a fitting thank you to oblige. No keep net being available, it was released back into the canal immediately after.
The weight of the bream was estimated at 2 - 3 lb., and it bears out the reputation of this section of our canal as being a favourite spot for large fish.
John's dad, Stephen, likes to fish for pike near here and the two other pictures are of pike caught within feet of where our boat is now, one from the towpath and one from the offside bank. Fearsome predators by all accounts, I am told they even take ducklings given the chance.
John says he fishes at this spot most weekends, alternating with the Diggle area, although I have no feedback of the success at that venue.
Canal's Cilly Season
[Martin Clark]
Lock gates maintain a water-tight seal by fitting very closely to the shaped stone work along their hinge line or 'heel' and their bottom edges against wooden blocks bolted to the lock structure forming a 'cill'.
The position of the cill is often marked in paint to warn boaters to keep clear when descending a chamber; avoiding the risk of the stern being caught on the cill.
Recently, at the tailgate of Lock 13W, (above) the bolts securing one of the cill timbers came loose and as the lock filled, pressure of water under gate forced the cill block up and washed it several metres downstream.
The photo (right) shows the position of the missing wooden block from the lower cill.
The block was retrieved and can be seen propped against the stop planks which form a temporary dam, allowing the chamber to be drained and repairs to take place.
At Lock 17W, the top gate seal is made by thin piece of wood fixed to larger wooden block.
Recently, a boat left the lock while the pound above was low and with limited freeboard, accidentally caught the cill, breaking the thinner piece of wood (see photo, right), thus compromising the seal.
Consequently the lock chamber would not empty easily (with water gushing under the gate) and more seriously, a boat on its descent would be in danger of being swamped.
A similar problem happened with the upper cill of Lock 20E near Slaithwaite, also in June. All of these problems led to stoppages until the repairs were carried out by British Waterways staff.
"CBW" Stones - A Theory
[Trevor Ellis]
This is an attempt to explain the "CBW" stones by linking together some pieces of circumstantial evidence and a bit of history.
I was intrigued having read the article in Pennine Link, and having a copy of the Act, I decided to look at the reference of 11th. May 1837 to stones being set up.
This proved to be a red herring as the Act clearly refers to the setting-up of milestones and this would appear to be one of a number of cases of the Canal Company, in its early days, neglecting to carry out its obligations, presumably to save money.
What caught my attention was a couple of sections in the Act giving the Company toll-free access to the warehouses on Sir John Ramsden's navigation and even the right to maintain that section of canal should he fail to do so.
Perhaps this might go some way towards explaining why the (now disappeared) stones on the Broad Canal existed. Then it occurred to me that, with those at Lock 1E, the stones seemed to define the limits of the warehouse area - the missing one I recall near the old coal hoppers was at the side of a gate.
Thinking about the other stones, it would appear that most of them bear a relationship to former wharf or warehouse sites and this might go some way to explain why they seem to be in groups with long stretches of the Canal having none at all:-
The next one west from Aspley is just below the old Lock 3E, where there was formerly a large Canal Company warehouse. Any "pair" to it will have disappeared under Sellers.
The two at Milnsbridge are either side of the old wharf area and the Factory Lane access. We need to be careful about the one at Lock 9E as it is in a wall that was rebuilt by one of the Community Programme schemes, as witness the pvc drains in it. This probably explains the stone's position at the bottom of the wall - being "a nice big bit", they probably used it as a foundation! However, I doubt that it has moved far along the canal as they tended to use as much material from the site as possible.
Those near Lock 15W may well be an old wharf site, adjacent to the main road between Mossley and Greenfield, though again the central one of these can't be guaranteed as it is located in a later, brick, wall.
Alwyn Ogborn's yard is part of the old "Mossley Docks" area. Sadly there is not a lot of original walling still standing around here, so this could be the only stone surviving at this site.
Grove Road is a known wharf and the stone clearly marks the eastern end of the wharf - again any "pair" to this stone will have vanished when the canal around Lock 8W was infilled or when BW rebuilt the old coal yard as their depot.
If my theory is correct, it is possible to speculate on where there may have been others. Ignoring probable private or minor wharves; Slaithwaite (again probably lost when the canal was infilled), Marsden (probably either side of Warehouse Hill, given what we now know about the history of Tunnel End warehouse?), Woolroad (one near the old drydock below Lock 25W and another disappeared in the former infilled section?), at least one more at Mossley, and a couple around Lock 1W and the former warehouse there would be my suggestions.
This "wharf" theory does require a few stones to have disappeared, but nothing like the number that would be implied by them being boundary posts, and it is possible to explain why several of them might have gone.
So what were they for? One of the more colourful bits of local history concerns the "Slawit Moonrakers", who were supposed to have used their moonraking to cover up the recovery of smuggled goods from the canal. This supposedly happened soon after the opening of the Canal, 1802 being the only suggested date I have found.
If this kind of thing was as regular as suggested by John Sugden in his "Slaithwaite Notes", then the Company would have needed to limit where such cargo could lawfully be unloaded - could the "CW" be "Company Wharf" or even "Customs Wharf"?
I prefer this to the "Canal Wall" theory, which always seemed to be an exercise in stating the obvious - surely they would have used "HC", "HCCo" or something similar? If the Company later gained "Bonded Warehouse" status for some of its wharves, could this explain the added "B"?.
Greenfield Marina
Photo of the progress on construction of new marina at Frenches Wharf, Greenfield.
Click to see larger image.
Standedge Tunnel Transit
Keith Noble writes about possible solutions to the problems of transiting Standedge Tunnel. Read more.
Developing Sellers
Proposals are at an advanced stage to re-develop Sellers' site in Huddersfield, re-building the canal line through the site. See pictures and further details.
Can you solve this Letter Puzzle?
When walking the Narrow, keep a look out for examples of these curious stones. Usually located in a towpath wall, so far we know of ten examples. The 'C' and 'W' are deeply incised and the 'B' is made of metal, mortared into a rectangular recess.
There has been much discussion about their significance; the meaning of the C and W, the later endorsement with the letter B. I am indebted to a Mr Eckersley of Mossley who directed me to an example which lacks the letter B. The stone is marked C and W, widely spaced, with no marking between the letters.
The carved letters come in different styles, but consistently C and W, hence they have a clear purpose.
Here are a few suggestions Society members and colleagues have made:
• Canal Boundary Wall
• Course of Waterway (B problematic)
• Culverted Watercourse (B problematic)
• Company Warehouse (B - Bonded)
• Company Wharf (B - Both sides)
• Capped Well (B problematic)
An on-going puzzle! Of course, if you have some good ideas or know their true meaning, please do get in touch.
Marina Controversy
The photo on the right shows the site of the proposed major development at the Knoll Mill-Frenches Wharf site, Greenfield, with its proposed 'marina'.
After a controversial down-sizing of the original scheme to six berths and a major diversion in the towpath, the scheme has been re-instated to something closer to the original proposal: 14 berths and a bridge over its entrance to maintain the line of the towpath.
This follows responses made to Oldham Council by various interested organisations.
In addition to the 'marina' the site is to include a supermarket, pub, apartments and houses.
Lock gets its balance beams back
Lock 2W of the Huddersfield Narrow Canal, by Plantation Steet in Ashton, has once again got balance beams on its tail gates! Boaters will be relieved to know that the hydraulic gate and paddle mechanisms have been consigned to history!
The bridge that crosses the lock tail was widened during the period when the canal was shut. When the canal was restored, there was no room for traditional balance beams, so a hydraulic system was introduced instead.
Operating this lock was time-consuming and required considerable effort. The tail gates also leaked badly where there was a big gap between them near the top when they were closed.
The hydraulic mechanisms have now gone completely, to be replaced with well-designed steel crooked beams and geared gate paddle operation along with brand-new gates.
The tiresome hydraulic tail gates and paddles remain at nearby Lock 1W, however.
During this winter's repair work around Lock 2W, 12 tonnes of waste material were removed from the lock chamber! Further east along the canal, 100 Tesco and Somerfield shopping trolleys have been removed from the canal at Stalybridge.
World Canals Conference Visit
On Thursday 14th June, 2007, delegates to the World Canals Conference, being held in Liverpool, visited Stalybridge to learn how the restoration of the Huddersfield Narrow Canal has regenerated the town.
The delegates visited the town in two coaches as part of their tour of North-West canal locations.
Society Chairman, Neville Kenyon, welcomed to visitors to Stalybridge Civic Hall and introduced Alan Stopher, Tameside Council's Assistant Executive Director of Property Services, who was closely involved with the restoration of the canal through Stalybridge.
Mr Stopher delivered a presentation to the guests, explaining how the restoration had been a catalyst for the town's regeneration and how it had drawn around a hundred million pounds of investment into the town.
After the presentation, the visitors were given a short guided walk around Armentieres Square and Lock 6w, then along part of the restored canal.
The slides shown during Alan Stopher's presentation can be viewed here.
New Gates for Diggle
As part of much needed environmental improvements at the Diggle entrance to Standedge Tunnel, a new set of gates have been fitted to the portal. The works are being jointly funded by Oldham Council and the Canal Society who have made a £12,500 contribution to the £37,500 total being spent. The design, by local artist Joy Williams, reflects the Tunnel's history in depicting a boat being legged through the tunnel.
Locally based Securiguard Shutters Ltd were commissioned to manufacture the gates and helped with some of the design; sub-contracting the fabrication to William Rigby (Sheet Metal) Ltd.
Society Chairman, Neville Kenyon, said: "The Huddersfield Narrow Canal Regeneration Group (Oldham) decided to make these improvements because the site is important both historically and from an industrial archaeological viewpoint, yet the entrance and surrounding area was poor. We are delighted with the design of the new gates. They will enhance a rather dilapidated area and the landscaping scheduled for later this year will further enliven this important heritage site."
Laurence Morgan, General Manager, BW Yorkshire said: "We are proud to be part of the improvements being carried out on the Tunnel portal. The canal itself is an important tourism and recreation facility running through Saddleworth and its villages and this kind of investment will encourage more people to take an interest in, and visit, our waterways."
Pulling a Mussel
It's surprising the things that get pulled out of the canal. And even though our volunteer boat crew may be used to shopping trolleys and bicycles, there is a wealth of wildlife lurking beneath the waters.
Local schoolboy Josh Brooke was, as schoolboys do, trailing a piece of string through the water along the Narrow at Mossley, when the 'lure' was snapped up by a large bivalve.
Josh called in at Society director Alwyn Ogborn's yard at Mossley Bottoms, with his monster catch. Now, builders of Dutch Barges know a thing or two about canal life, and the beast was confirmed as a Freshwater Mussel.
Improvising a suitable 'keep pot', the mussel remained healthy for its photo-opportunity before being returned to the depths and hopefully less stringy meals.