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On 14 September 1968, the Inland Waterways Protection Society received permission from British Waterways to commence restoration of Bugsworth Basin. The IWPS, a splinter group of the IWA, had been formed 10 years earlier, they had visited and reviewed several class C waterways including the Stratford on Avon, Dearne and Dove, Chesterfield, Pocklington, Macclesfield and of course the Peak Forest where they ‘found’ Bugsworth Basin.

The main aims of the IWPS became the restoration and operation of the Basin. Initially led by the indomitable Bessie Bunker, she believed that as the canals had been built by hand, they should be restored by hand. Ian Edgar took over in 1974, thankfully he didn’t share this philosophy or we might still be digging today!

Prior to closure in 1927, for over a hundred years Bugsworth Basin had been a thriving inland port, the largest and busiest on the narrow canal system and the only one to survive intact. Linked to limestone and gritstone quarries by the 6 mile long Peak Forest Tramway it was a large industrial complex with    warehouses, limekilns, wagn tipplers, cranes and a stone crusher.

By 1968 it was silted up and overgrown. Of the many buildings only part of the warehouse in the middle arm (locally known as the monastery garden) and the base of the stone crusher remained, along with some of the limekilns and setts from the tramway. The stone from many of the structures had been taken and used elsewhere.

Alongside the re-excavation of the canal, there were many stone retaining walls to repair and the horse bridge to re-build. Stone had to be sourced and brought back to the Basin, this coming from various locations including Chinley railway station, Broken Banks Farm and Rose and Crown Farm.

Various hurdles were overcome – the proposal of turning the basin into a marina, thus ruining the historical site, was followed by the major threat of the A6 bypass being built through the basin. Ancient Monument status was applied for and granted protecting the basin and forcing the bypass to be diverted around it.

A major problem was leaks (the river course was altered during construction of the basin and as this area is built up on glacial drift it is quite unstable). The basin was opened and closed again twice before finally re-opening in 2005 after a large part of the bottom of the channel was lined with concrete.

The role of the volunteers now changed to management, maintenance and providing information and interpretation of the site for the many visitors. The name was changed in 2014 to the more appropriate Bugsworth Basin Heritage Trust.

When Bugsworth Basin was an industrial area there was hardly a tree to be seen, now there are an abundance of plants and wildlife around the Basin. In 2016 the Peak  Forest Canal from Marple aqueduct to Bugsworth gained Green Flag status. Our wildlife volunteer monitors wildlife around the basin, she is also creating an interactive display for children and planning wildlife watches.

The downside of all the trees that now populate the area is that their roots damage the infrastructure, so keeping walls and the limekilns free of trees takes up a lot of volunteer time. Access in some places can be quite tricky and sometimes specialist equipment is needed. However some jobs are too big for the Trust and we then have to call on CRT, with whom we have a good relationship. So when large trees were cut down last year volunteers cleared the debris and when CRT installed a new feed in the middle basin arm to provide more water for the Peak Forest Canal BBHT sourced and planted new indigenous trees and bushes on the disturbed land.

Leaks are still a constant concern, the lower basin arm wasn’t included in the 2005 scheme and has to be stanked off.  Holes which appear alongside the arms regularly have to be plugged with clay.

On the historical side the trust installed a heritage trail around the basin, with interpretive panels and a diorama showing the basin in its heyday. The utilities building was constructed and what was originally intended to be an office became a small shop. Ideally, we would have a building with exhibitions of the history and restoration of the Basin, along with a shop and café. Over the years proposals have been put forward to rebuild one of the warehouses for this purpose, unfortunately this turned out to be too complex. Another idea was for a new building on land at the bottom of the roadway where the containers housing the workshop, equipment and mess room are. British Waterways wouldn’t allow this due to the close proximity of the high retaining wall which separates the Basin from the Black Brook that runs alongside.

Reluctantly the Trust had to shelve the idea of a permanent integrated building and make the most of ‘container city’. One was turned into an exhibition space, another has recently been fitted out as a cinema room which will have a running display of historic images of the working basin including some glass plates, the Restoration by volunteers and a CRT film of canals in general. As CRT now have a welcome station at the basin this will key in with their activities. The exteriors have been painted and timelines attached along with a panel of artwork, based around the basin, produced by pupils of Buxworth Primary School.

Using redundant balance beams volunteers are making benches and planters, which will be filled with edible plants, for the area alongside.

Being unable to rebuild any permanent historical structures attention has turned to removable artefacts/structures. Recently installed on original tramway lines in the lower basin is a replica Peak Forest Tramway wagon which has been constructed by our volunteers. Following the success of this, further projects are in the pipeline, subject to the necessary approvals.

Visitors to the Basin are full of praise for the restoration and on-going work of the volunteers, as one visitor wrote in the book ‘Fantastic, wonderful what you have achieved here’

CRT arrived at the basin this morning to insert stop planks into the gauging narrow.

The stop planks will remain in place until we have some significant rainfall and  feeder reservoirs start to recover. This will provide us with the opportunity to monitor leakage from the basin and should the water level drop low enough ascertain the amount of silt that has accumulated since the basin was re-watered in 2005.

We started the walk on the Huddersfield Broad Canal (originally the Sir John Ramsden canal as the Ramsdens owned the area at the time) at the locomotive lift bridge. When the canal opened in 1776 to link Huddersfield with the Calder and Hebble navigation there was a swing bridge here, or turn bridge as it was known locally, the road approaching it being called ‘Turnbridge Road’. This is somewhat confusing these days with the bridge now being a lift bridge. The very impressive and unique locomotive bridge, built by the London and North Western Railway Co,  replaced the swing bridge in 1865 and is a scheduled ancient monument. (Thanks to Gerald for the information on the Huddersfield Broad and the Locomotion Bridge).

Having admired the bridge we moved on to our first stop at Aspley basin where goods coming over the Huddersfield Narrow would have to be transshipped to continue on their way due to the shorter, wider locks on the Huddersfield Broad. The A629 dual carriageway runs next to the basin and was one of the culverted blockages hindering the restoration. This was rebuilt during the major works of 1999-2001 (more of that later) although boaters beware – the headroom is pretty limited.

On the other side of the bridge is an attractive stone warehouse, complete with crane. After this it appears as if an arm runs off to the left, but old maps show that it was a goit bringing water from the nearby River Colne to serve Shorefoot Mill, situated at the end of an arm on the opposite side of the canal, and to feed the canal. Only a small section of the mill arm remains but a crane is still in situ.

On to lock 1E and the start of the Huddersfield Narrow.

Work started on the Hudderfield Narrow in 1794 with Benjamin Outram as engineer.  Plenty of trade was anticipated due to the many woollen, worsted and cotton mills along the route. As they would all need water Outram proposed 10 feeder reservoirs for the canal. Progress was slow, partly due to Outram having too many commitments and being ill for a long period. Other setbacks included severe flooding in 1799 which damaged earthworks and various reservoirs, partly devastated the village of Marsden and destroyed two aqueducts, and the Black Flood of 1810 when Diggle Moss reservoir gave way, again flooding Marsden plus much of the Colne valley, wrecking houses and factories and killing five people.

Finally opened to through traffic in 1811, Telford having taken over construction of the tunneln the  canal has 74 locks and the 5,700 yard long Stanedge tunnel, the longest and deepest on the system.

The canal saw moderate success but by the start of the first world war very little trade was left and in 1944 it was abandoned. Most of the locks were filled with rubble and concreted over to form a cascade, eighteen bridges had been culverted and nearly 2 miles of the canal filled in.

In 1974 the Huddersfield Canal Society was formed and they presented the local  council with a comprehensive plan for restoring the canal providing solutions for all the blockages. With the local textile  industry in decline the council agreed to protect the line of the canal recognising that the future of the area may be in tourism.  The society was very active, attracting many members and much publicity for ‘the impossible restoration’. However,  BW wouldn’t let work start until funding was found to maintain the restored lengths which eventually Greater Manchester county council agreed to do at Uppermill. Progress was slow until job creation schemes came into being, this speeded up the restoration and in 1988 the abandoned canal status was removed so navigation could return to the canal. However there were still several significant blockages hindering full restoration. With grants being given by the Millenium Commision and English Partnerships totalling almost £28,000,000 contractors moved in and the restoration gained pace, finally re-opening in 2001 but with only 2 of the original 10 reservoirs in use.

Our next stop on the walk had been one of the major blockages; just past the site of the original lock 2 the buildings of Bates and Co had been built across the canal. The solution to this was to lower the channel by 3 metres taking the canal through a tunnel under the building and relocate lock 2 upstream. The old lock and new deepened section of the canal being braced with beams.

As there is no towpath through the tunnel we followed the well signposted diversion on the roads round the Mill. On returning to the canal we looked back at the new lock 2 then crossed the road to what had been another major blockage.

Sellars Engineering had occupied the area of the former wharf and canalside warehouses. In the 1999-2011 works the canal channel was moved south of the original line, a new lock 3 built upstream and a 300 metre tunnel was built under Sellars. However in 2011/12 this changed. Sellars moved to a new site, the tunnel was opened up and lock 3 moved back down channel, closer to the original. The area around is being redeveloped with buildings for Kirklees College and Huddersfield University.  The former tunnel section of canal remains a narrow.

Our original plan had been to carry on walking up to Milnsbridge but towpath improvements had shut most of the section from here to Milnsbridge so we returned to our cars and drove to Milnsbridge Wharf. Here emergency works had just been completed on lock 9 and CRT had provided us with the following information:

‘The problem with all the locks on the HNC is that water is leaving the chamber into the lock quadrants. Over the years  this had washed away the fines within the quadrant and left voids’. The repairs involved ‘removing stone setts, digging down to a firm level, lining the void with terram, fill with pea gravel and re-laying the sets’.

Having examined  lock 9 there was just enough time to look around Milsbridge wharf, where flats have been built that sit well next to the old stone mills that line the canal.

Then walk down to the interesting lock 8 where the towpath closure ended. Here a cameo of mills buildings surround the canal, the bridge below lock 8 has been widened and the bottom balance beams now protrude over a highish wall making lock working interesting, the iron lower bridge parapet is original and shows the earlier road line and there is an unusual bywash outfall below the lock.

Another short drive took us to Slaithwaite for lunch at the wonderful lock 22 café where we all sat in the sun to enjoy our substantial lunches before sampling the first ice-cream of the day.

The canal alongside the café had been infilled and covered with grass and cherry trees, just downstream lock 22 had been buried for 30 years under a car park. During the restoration this was re-instated. The channel is narrower than originally but this 600 metre section which runs alongside the main road through Slaithwaite is now a very attractive feature of the town, and popular area for visitors.

At the top end of this section the bridge below lock 24 had been widened leaving no space for balance beams, the solution here was to install a guillotine gate, this has presented some problems in recent years but is now back in working order.

From here the canal progresses through attractive tree-lined sections with elegant stone bridges.  Between  locks 26 and 27 was the dam for Shaw Carr Wood Mill. At some time this has been breached through to the canal and causes problems with siltation in the canal.

The route then emerges into glorious open hill scenery with the occasional stone built house and the remains of mill races running parallel – providing plenty of interesting diversions.

Sparth reservoir also runs alongside the canal. Because the canal was due to close due to water shortages two days after our walk, we had expected the water level in here to be spectacularly low, but this wasn’t the case and several swimmers and sun-bathers were taking advantage of the warm weather and beautiful location.

We finally arrived at lock 42E, the top lock on the east side of the canal, and next to Marsden Station. Here we split into two groups, one group carried on to the tunnel and visitor centre and those who had been before and therefore considered another ice-cream more of a priority dropped down into Marsden town centre for the ice-cream parlour.

With its restoration features, stone bridges and mill buildings, and the amazing views as it climbs into the pennines the Huddersfield Narrow remains one of my favourite canals. Walking the canal gives a different perspective to boating and it is well worth doing both if you have the chance.

By popular request  a walk on the west side will follow….

 

 

 

With the hot dry spell continuing many of the canal reservoirs are now at a critical level and the northern canals are already closed or due to close soon. The Macclesfield and Peak Forest will be closed on Monday 13th August and stop planks will be put in to isolate the basin from the rest of the summit section to monitor leakage from the basin. All boats will be required to move out by this date.

This was the second canal non-walk, as it has now been christened, that we’ve organised and it was great to see several retired walkers and welcome new members to the group.

The morning’s visit to the Lion Salt works was fascinating – who would have thought salt could be so interesting? After a welcome by museum staff we were given a brief history and explanation of the site before setting off to explore at our own pace.

Lion Salt works ran as a business from 1894 until 1984. It was built over an underground brine stream, formed where ground water has dissolved salt layers. The brine was pumped up to the salt works by a ‘nodding donkey’ driven by a steam engine. These are planned for restoration in the future.

The salt was then piped across the site to a holding tank and thence to the salt pans. During the restoration a tunnel under the site was found, running from the canal to the centre of the site which was so crowded with buildings this made moving coal from the canal much easier. Next on the tour is the original Red Lion Inn (from which the works takes it’s name), now filled with displays which take the visitor through 2000 years of salt-making, explain the ‘wiches’ of Cheshire and has a recreated office, bar and wallers hut.

After the Red Lion are the pan and stove houses. Pan house No3 shows what it would be like to work there (thankfully without the heat) and has images projected onto the wall and roof, creating an interesting display.

In the stove houses salt would be stacked to dry. Although a new framework supports the building it was good to see the old cast iron structure left in situ.

After this there are displays showing the processes of drying, cutting and packing the salt as well as interactive galleries, where the young at heart can have a play, plus illustrations of the impact the extraction of salt from underground had on the local area, causing subsidence and creating flashes.

Then onto present times – fascinating information about the restoration and how nature has reclaimed the ‘waste howling wilderness’ that had been damaged by pollution from industry – even flashes that were filled with industrial waste.

From here it is a short drive (or 2 mile walk) to the Anderton Boat Lift which had taken the salt boats down to the River Weaver. Here we had a very leisurely lunch and plenty of time to catch up with friends old and new as the trip had been delayed by a computer fault. Luckily by this time the weather was fine and warm and it was a very pleasant spot to wait overlooking the river.

The Edwin Clarke eventually descended the lift and we were finally able to board for a pleasant trip up the river to Northwich, passing Tata chemicals (formerly part of ICI), a sunken concrete boat, and the remains of a wharf now well hidden by reeds.

The boat returned to Anderton for the most exciting part of the day – ascending the lift. The lift never fails to impress and being in the trip boat we had the added benefit of a commentary explaining how the operation of the lift had changed from counter balanced hydraulic to electric with counterbalanced weights when the cast iron hydraulic rams corroded, accelerated by the action of the high salt concentration in the water. Now the lift has electrically powered hydraulic rams, which can be operated independently or counterbalanced. The rams now are made of stainless steel with a ceramic coating to protect from corrosion.

On reaching the top there is a wait while water is pumped between the caisson gate and the aqueduct gate. These are lifted for the boat to pass onto the aqueduct then lowered again before the gate at the canal end of the aqueduct can be lifted – a safety feature of the lift.

We had thought this would be our last non-walk but having been asked many times where next year’s is going to be it seems not!

Ideas on a postcard please.