The Huddersfield Narrow Canal: Two hundred years in the life of a Pennine waterway - Gibson & Finnis

The so called 'impossible' restoration of the Huddersfield Narrow Canal has been much celebrated in waterway restoration circles, and the the story of that restoration was comprehensively covered in Keith Gibson's Pennine Dreams (published by Tempus in 2002).
 
Keith led Huddersfield Canal Society's restoration company for many years, so has almost unparalleled insight into the restoration years, and now he has teamed with Dave Finnis, the Society's press and publicity officer from its early days, to produce a new pictorial history of the waterway from its early construction two hundred years ago, through its days of commercial operation, decline and revival right through to the present day.
 
This new book, published by Horizon Press, shows how difficult it was to get the capital together to construct the canal over the Pennines between Ashton and Huddersfield, with the longest canal tunnel in the UK at Standedge. The estimated cost was £183,000 but this swelled to over £400,000 before the work was finished in 1811. This book has been timed to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the canal's opening. Work had taken 17 years to complete and the 20-mile long canal had been virtually hand built. It was a remarkable achievement which the restoration work was to replicate nearly 190 years later.

By the late 1940s, the Huddersfield Narrow Canal created an air of dereliction that permeated the centre of much of the Tame and Colne Valleys, especially in the towns and villages it passed through.  A trip by early IWA members in 1948, after the canal had formally closed, was possibly the last passage through the full canal, and was followed by official vandalism of the dying waterway.  Restoration - deemed 'impossible' by 1970s officialdom, took twenty years and cost over £45 million. The canal had been filled in and even built over in places and whole sections had to be completely rebuilt. However the vision of Huddersfield Canal Society, IWA and the local authorities that backed the restoration has been completely vindicated.

Although use of the waterway by boaters has yet to reach its full potential, whole lengths of the valleys have now been regenerated and new investment has flowed in to the waterway corridor. Waterside development as a result of the improved environment has proved popular, especially in the lower parts of the valleys where the effects of the loss of industry had been severe.  At a time when the Prime Minister advocates 'the Big Society', and volunteers taking on increasing responsibility, Huddersfield, Ashton-under-Lyne, Stalybridge and the Tame and Colne Valleys can be proud to show how it can be done, big time.
 
The Huddersfield Narrow Canal tells a compelling story and includes nearly 150 images. Some of these have seldom been seen before and go back to Victorian times.  This new book is bound to be on the Christmas list for many waterways enthusiasts.  (Published November 2010, softback, 112 pages, £12.99) Order online

Pictures from the book