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.
Treasure Hunt News
2007's Treasure Hunt in Marsden was modestly supported, but hopes were high for 2008's Hunt in Uppermill; especially as Marketing Officer, Claire, had been actively promoting the event in the media and around Uppermill.
On the day, seven 'teams' took part and the Adjudicator and Hunt compiler, Bob Gough, had to be very strict in his marking to determine an overall winner. Three teams shared joint second place with eighteen and a half points out of twenty, and there was a tie in first place with two entrants on nineteen and a half points!
It was planned to make a random draw for the winner, but one of the 'winners' felt his winning inappropriate and wished the Rambler's Food Pack to go to the other winner.
So, Alwyn and Joan Ogborn were declared winners and presented with the Treasure Hunt prize.
Here are the details for this year:
Sunday 28th June 2009
Treasure Hunt, Slaithwaite
The Canal Society's Administrator, Bob Gough, will be devising another set of devious clues, this time for Slaithwaite village and the canal from the sound of knitting to the abandoned lock.
Collect your treasure map on the day.
Venue: New Street Car Park
Time: 11.00 am
Treasure Hunt Winners 2008
Alwyn and Joan Ogborn, who were the winners of the 2008 Treasure Hunt.
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.