Whitelands Mill Ashton-Under-Lyne Huddersfield Narrow Canal
Former cotton mill. The first Whitelands Mill was built in 1875 . This is the No. 2 mill of 1883. Both mills were closed in 1933 and No. 1 was demolished soon after.
The Huddersfield Narrow Canal runs for 20 miles between Huddersfield in West Yorkshire and Ashton under Lyne in Greater Manchester, UK.
The summit of the Huddersfield Narrow Canal is the highest navigable waterway in Britain.
Standedge Tunnel on the Huddersfield Narrow Canal is Britain's longest canal tunnel.
The canal has a total of 74 locks. It connects end on with the Ashton Canal and the Huddersfield Broad Canal.
The Huddersfield Narrow Canal re-opened to navigation in May 2001.
The story of this canal begins over 200 years ago at a time when a network of canals was being constructed through many parts of Britain.
The canal was due to open five years after work on it had begun. However, when 1799 arrived, while the canal had been constructed to each side of the tunnel, the tunnel itself was far from open.
The canal took 17 years to construct rather than the planned 5 years. The costs rose to £396,267, which was more than twice the original budget. Standedge Tunnel alone cost £123,804 to construct. The shareholders had no return on their investment for 30 years.
The canal did enjoy a short period of relative prosperity until 1845, when it was bought by the Huddersfield and Manchester Railway Company, whose line was to follow a similar route to the canal. The railway company did not fear competition from the canal, but as they were building a tunnel alongside the canal tunnel, they wanted to use the canal to remove spoil from their excavations. They did this by boring short connecting passages so that boats could be loaded in the tunnel.
Once the railway was open, the railway company had no reason to promote the canal, which fell into slow decline and was eventually closed in 1944.
Information from the Pennine Waters website.
Whitelands Mill Ashton-Under-Lyne Huddersfield Narrow Canal
Former cotton mill. The first Whitelands Mill was built in 1875 . This is the No. 2 mill of 1883. Both mills were closed in 1933 and No. 1 was demolished soon after.
The Huddersfield Narrow Canal runs for 20 miles between Huddersfield in West Yorkshire and Ashton under Lyne in Greater Manchester, UK.
The summit of the Huddersfield Narrow Canal is the highest navigable waterway in Britain.
Standedge Tunnel on the Huddersfield Narrow Canal is Britain's longest canal tunnel.
The canal has a total of 74 locks. It connects end on with the Ashton Canal and the Huddersfield Broad Canal.
The Huddersfield Narrow Canal re-opened to navigation in May 2001.
The story of this canal begins over 200 years ago at a time when a network of canals was being constructed through many parts of Britain.
The canal was due to open five years after work on it had begun. However, when 1799 arrived, while the canal had been constructed to each side of the tunnel, the tunnel itself was far from open.
The canal took 17 years to construct rather than the planned 5 years. The costs rose to £396,267, which was more than twice the original budget. Standedge Tunnel alone cost £123,804 to construct. The shareholders had no return on their investment for 30 years.
The canal did enjoy a short period of relative prosperity until 1845, when it was bought by the Huddersfield and Manchester Railway Company, whose line was to follow a similar route to the canal. The railway company did not fear competition from the canal, but as they were building a tunnel alongside the canal tunnel, they wanted to use the canal to remove spoil from their excavations. They did this by boring short connecting passages so that boats could be loaded in the tunnel.
Once the railway was open, the railway company had no reason to promote the canal, which fell into slow decline and was eventually closed in 1944.
Information from the Pennine Waters website.