A Big Anniversary For The Huddersfield Narrow Canal
The concrete cap is broken at the Dungebooth Lock, between Uppermill and Dobcross, 30 years ago today. In the middle is broadcaster Anthony Burton. (picture: Huddersfield Canal Society/David Finnis)
Today is a major date for the Huddersfield Narrow Canal. Not only is it the 200th anniversary of the official opening of the Standedge Tunnel, it’s also 30 years to the day since work formally began to re-open the canal.
Events have been taking place over the weekend to mark the bicentenary of the tunnel, including guided walks. Volunteers and charity fundraisers have also been moving boats through the tunnel between Diggle and Marsden using the traditional technique of legging (for more details and pictures of the festival so far, see here).
But the tunnel is only one reason why 4 April is an important day for the canal. As the picture released by the Huddersfield Canal Society and published above shows, it was on this day in 1981 that the formal restoration of the canal began, with the removal of concrete capping from the Dungebooth Lock between Uppermill and Dobcross.
The photo shows historian, writer and broadcaster Anthony Burton doing the honours with a drill. Among those looking on are Chris Farrar of the Huddersfield Canal Society, then-Mayor of Oldham Cllr John Crowther, and David Chadderton from the Saddleworth Historical Society. They are standing third, fourth and fifth from the left respectively, in the crowd on the right-hand side of the image.
The canal had been closed in 1944. But volunteers from the society began to campaign for its restoration during the 1970s. Although work began in 1981, it wasn’t until 2001 that the canal was finally re-opened along its full length.
The bicentenary celebrations for Standedge Tunnel will continue in September, with a one-day family festival at Diggle Tip.
You can get more information about the canal, the society and its history by visiting the society’s website here.
Author: Jude Gidney - Editor
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