Navigation Guide - Huddersfield Narrow Canal
BW booklet
Ken Wright reviews this booklet.:
I have a particular interest in this publication, having been one of four 'private' individuals, representing various canal interests, who helped to put the booklet together. I was the canal society person and the others were John Fletcher (IWA), Keith Noble (Boat owner) and Nigel Stevens (Hire Boat Operator, Shire Cruisers).
This is a first edition of a fairly complicated little document and, consequently, there are some hiccups in it! Having said that, it is very informative, very well presented and very necessary!
This is a genuine "pocket-book" being half A5 in size with 14 pages of text and 5 pages for notes.
The front cover is a picture of Saddleworth Viaduct and Lock 23w (rapidly becoming the picture of the HNC), inside the front cover is a map of the inland waterway system (very small scale and omitting the Barnsley Canal!) which folds out to reveal an A5 map of our Canal. This map contains 31 beer mug signs, 13 train station signs, 15 stars, one 'M' a BW 'bridge' and NO KEY! There are various omissions; Saddleworth Museum, Brownhill Visitor Centre, the name 'Dobcross' which is referred to in the text and so on. Probably the worst feature of the booklet and very needful of a complete revision for the next edition.
The main purpose of the booklet is to be complementary to the Boaters' Handbook, reviewed above, giving additional information specific to the Huddersfield Narrow, and it does just that. There are details of boat dimensions and our "little problem" with boat widths, Plain English to the fore, "any modern or historic boat a fraction over 6'10" will get stuck"! (My exclamation mark!)
The Huddersfield Narrow is idiosyncratic, to say the least, and the booklet covers all the quirks and foibles in a simple, easily understood manner.
There are some areas which remain unclear. The types of facilities available at various locations, cross-referencing of Standedge Tunnel details, the 'downhill rule' for coping with narrows, etc., and a few more.
All in all, a good try. If you ask why, as one of the group who put the booklet together, I didn't spot the errors and omissions earlier, it is only because the four 'private' advisors never saw the final draft, a serious omission on BW's part. Due to lack of time? Hardly, the booklet is a year late anyway.
Carping over, it is still a good read and well produced. The next edition will be terrific! And, the Society is well represented by having its initials included on the front cover as part of a mock-up of a bridge number plate.
I liked this demonstration of the 'readable' style. "If you come to a low pound, don't run the water down, call British Waterways whose enthusiastic staff will help you". "Hear, hear" to that!
P.S. A professional comment from Nigel Stevens, whose hire boats have been plying the route regularly for over a year now. "It's very pleasing to see the canal operating more smoothly this year, after much effort by BW staff. Better information for boaters plays its part in this, and our customers (who mostly don't already know the canal) will find this guide useful."
With this, plus John Lower's excellent guide, the Geoprojects map and a new Pearson's, we are very well equipped.
by Ken Wright
Available from British Waterways National Office, tel 01923 226422 or North West Office, tel 01842 405700.