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Originally a small hamlet, Sowerby Bridge in Saxon times, had a little church called St Peters (at the top of the hill), which was, of course, before the Reformation, Roman Catholic. Just before this, in 1526, during the reign of Henry VIII, a new church was built on the banks of the River Calder, but ten years later, when Henry split from Rome, this church became Anglican. For the next three hundred years, there was very little Catholic activity in Sowerby & the adjoining areas. However, in 1836 the foundation stone for St Mary’s church in Halifax was laid. Roman Catholic worship was reborn in Calderdale & there was a growing population in the valley due to the textile & engineering works which were powered by the water, & later steam, of the River Calder. Many Irish immigrants had also emigrated to Halifax and the outlying villages, & were , in the majority, Catholics.
In the 1870s Father Joseph Geary, parish priest of St Mary’s, set up missions in Hebden Bridge and Luddenden Foot. Mass was held in the Co-operative Hall, & the Catholics from Sowerby Bridge were among the congregation. Father Maximilian Tillman became the first parish priest of Hebden Bridge & set about raising funds for the churches of St Thomas’s in Hebden Bridge & St Walburga’s at Luddenden Foot, though these churches are now incorporated to the present parish of the Good Shepherd at Mytholmroyd.
The Hebden Bridge church was opened in 1896, with Father Joseph Russell, the curate at St Mary’s, rented a mission room in Hollins Mill Lane where Masses were celebrated. When the new Luddenden Foot church was opened a year later, Sowerby Bridge was incorporated into that parish & Father Tillman discontinued the local Masses . This meant that the Sowerby Bridge Catholics had the choice of either walking to St Mary’s in Halifax or to St Walburga’s at Luddenden Foot.
This continued until 1908 when Father Tillman was replaced by Father Marchal. His curate, Father Barton Brown, a recent convert from the Anglican church, re-started the Sowerby Bridge services in the old mill off Wharf Street. At the same time Sowerby Bridge was allied with West Vale & Elland under the charge of Father Patrick Kealy. In 1913 a hall was opened under the Victoria Assembly Hall in Bolton Brow, which the Catholics shared with the Salvation army! Father Kealy was also the Minster for the West Vale Catholics.
A new chapter began in the lives of Sowerby Bridge Catholics when a large local house, Underbank Hall, was bought by the church for £1,500. Underbank Hall was a very interesting place. Up until 1800 the house was called Broad Gates & was situated on one of the oldest houses in the district dating back to the 15th century. This was discovered when the house was being demolished in 1983 when the original medieval timber framework was found encased in stone. An old oak beam taken from the one of the old bedrooms of the old hall is carved with the inscription "MAD ANNO DNI 1558 BY L.W. FOR I.W. GODLYNES IS GREATE RECHES IF A MAN BE CONTENTE THEREWYTH" which translates "Made in the year of our Lord 1558 by L.W. for I.W. Godliness is great riches if a man be content therewith. "The families associated with the house were the Waterhouses, Wainhouses, Edwards, Listers, Pollits & Bates.
In 1919 work began on building the first Roman Catholic church. The house was converted into the presbytery & part of the stone used to build the adjoining church, which later became the parish hall. The foundation stone was laid by Councillor Henry Blackburn, a convert to the faith & blessed by Canon Foley & the opening ceremony performed the following year by Bishop Cowgill. In 1921 Sowerby Bridge was designated as a separate parish with Father Kealy as the first priest. The beautiful statue of Our Lady which stands in the grounds was donated by the widow of Mr David Moore, a convert, in memory of her late husband & son Edward who was killed in the first World War.
In 1928 Bernard Blackburn was ordained by Bishop Cowgill & in 1931 Father Kealy celebrated his Silver Jubilee. By then the number of parishioners had grown & Father Kealy put forward the idea that a larger church was needed. In 1934 the foundation stone for the new church was laid by Bishop Cowgill, with Mr Blackburn laying the inscription stone for the Angelus bell tower. Later that year the present church was opened and blessed by Bishop Cowgill in an impressive ceremony with a large number of priests & civic dignitaries attending.
The new church was built in the Romanesque style, designed by Mr Richard Byrom & constructed by W Parker and Son of Sowerby Bridge. It was built from stone from nearby Southowram quarry and had room for 300 worshippers. Work started to convert the old church into the parish hall and over the next few years major efforts were made at fund-raising by all sections of the parish. During the 1930s the church was a busy focal point of activity in the area, with many colourful processions brightening the main street through the small town - Palm Sunday, May processions, the Feast of Christ the King and Corpus Christi, and biggest of all, when all the churches united & donned their best clothes, Whitsuntide.
Father Kealy’s housekeeper , Miss Kitty Davey, trained the children for the First Confessions & Holy Communion and Mr Blackburn trained boys to be altar servers. Also keeping up all the good work were the Children of Mary, the Guild of the Blessed Sacrament ,the Eucharistic League and a St Vincent de Paul group.
In 1939 The Second World War broke out & many of the men from the parish were called to the front. Father Kealy, despite help from his curate Father Geaney, retired the following year due to ill health. He retired to Abergele where he died in 1953. Father Thomas O ’ Kane took over the reins as parish priest. He was a native of Co Derry, ordained in 1930 & served in Dewsbury before taking over St Patrick’s.
After the war life began to return to normal & the parish began to grow again, with an influx of Polish settlers joining the congregation This made the need for more Catholic schools urgent, but at the time there were only two, St Mary’s in Halifax & St Patrick’s in West Vale, both had long waiting lists. For others there were Catechism classes, while the many organisations continued to flourish, the Guild of St Agnes the Children of Mary, Union of Catholic Mothers & a Catholic Men’s Society.
During the 1950s the parish split into two with the rapidly expanding Polish community acquiring its own priest, Father Thaddeus Gaik, in 1951. Both priests worked well together, while Father O’ Kane was a familiar figure around the streets of Sowerby Bridge on his pastoral visits, accompanied as always by his faithful dog Wendy. However, in 1952 he left to take up a new parish in Wath on Dearne, where he remained until his retirement in 1978. He ended his days with the Little Sisters of the Poor in 1985, aged eighty.
As already explained, the Irish Sister of Charity came to Sowerby Bridge at the invitation of Father Roddy, in order to found a school. They were an unusual sight in the little town in their long black habits and veils, but soon they became part of the local scene. As well as teaching, the sisters visited the sick and dying and because of their pastoral role, it soon became apparent that they needed wheels! Accordingly a van was produced by the parish, nicknamed St Michael. However, it was somewhat more temperamental than it’s heavenly namesake and frequently broke down. However, seemingly being dressed in a nun’s habit had it’s advantages and the sisters were never short of offers of help when St Michael had one of his technical malfunctions or refused to get going!
The sisters lived in a house in Victoria Avenue, and it was enlarged in 1965 when another sister arrived to work with the Leeds Diocesan Rescue Society as a local social worker . As the school became more and more under the wing of the Local Education Authority the sisters moved into other areas of work. The worked in Halifax in the parish of St Mary, helping to run the Catholic Deanery Youth Club and also assisting Asian women integrate into the local community. Another sister arrived to work in the Colne Valley area in 1980.
The sisters motto is "The Love of Christ Drives us on " and they certainly lived up to it during their years in Sowerby Bridge. Sadly in 1998, due to changing social circumstances , it was decided that they end their apostolate in the area and the sisters made their sad goodbyes to an area they had come to love.
www.sacredheartandstpatrickschurch.co.uk/history
Taken en route to an optical appointment
A grubby 56088 passes Sowerby Bridge station with an empty MGR set from Fiddlers Ferry to Milford Sidings. 15/3/93.
47363 "Billingham Enterprise" passes through Sowerby Bridge station with 6E31 10:40 Weaste to Port Clarence. 14/6/88. This loco was a frequent performer on this working.
Yelloway Coach Services is an old established north west name - currently it is used by Courtesy Travel, Oldham, which owns this brightly decorated Temsa Opalin.
Buildings alongside the Rochdale Canal outside Mytholmroyd, Calderdale, West Yorkshire.
The Rochdale is a broad canal because its locks are wide enough to allow vessels of 14 feet width. The canal runs for 32 miles (51 km) across the Pennines from the Bridgewater Canal at Castlefield Basin in Manchester to join the Calder and Hebble Navigation at Sowerby Bridge in West Yorkshire. As built, the canal had 92 locks. Whilst the traditional lock numbering has been retained on all restored locks, and on the relocated locks, the canal now has 91. Locks 3 and 4 have been replaced with a single deep lock, Tuel Lane Lock, which is numbered 3/4.
The Rochdale Canal was conceived in 1776, when a group of 48 men from Rochdale raised £237 and commissioned James Brindley to conduct a survey of possible routes between Sowerby Bridge and Manchester. Brindley proposed a route similar to the one built, and another more expensive route via Bury. Further progress was not made until 1791, when John Rennie was asked to make a new survey in June, and two months later to make surveys for branches to Rochdale, Oldham and to a limeworks near Todmorden. Rennie at the time had no experience of building canals.
The promoters, unsure as to whether to build a wide or a narrow canal, postponed the decision until an Act of Parliament had been obtained. The first attempt to obtain an act was made in 1792, but was opposed by mill owners, concerned about water supply. Rennie proposed using steam pumping engines, three in Yorkshire, eight in Lancashire, and one on the Burnley Branch, but the mill owners argued that 59 mills would be affected by the scheme, resulting in unemployment, and the bill was defeated. In September 1792, William Crosley and John Longbotham surveyed the area in an attempt to find locations for reservoirs which would not affect water supplies to the mills. A second bill was presented to Parliament, for a canal which would have a 3,000-yard (2,700 m) tunnel and 11 reservoirs. Again the bill was defeated, this time by one vote. The promoters, in an attempt to understand the mill owners' position, asked William Jessop to survey the parts of the proposed canal that were causing most concern. Jessop gave evidence to the Parliamentary committee, and on 4 April 1794 an act was obtained which created the Rochdale Canal Company and authorised construction.
Rennie's estimated cost in the second bill was £291,000, and the company was empowered to raise the money by issuing shares, with powers to raise a further £100,000 if required. The estimate was for a narrow canal, whereas the act authorised a broad canal, and so the capital was never going to be adequate. The summit tunnel was abandoned in favour of 14 additional locks saving £20,000. Jessop proposed constructing each lock with a drop of 10 feet (3.0 m), resulting in efficient use of water and the need to manufacture only one size of lock gate.
The canal opened in stages as sections were completed, with the Rochdale Branch the first in 1798 and further sections in 1799. The bottom nine locks opened in 1800 and boats using the Ashton Canal could reach Manchester. Officially, the canal opened in 1804, but construction work continued for more three years. A 1.5-mile (2.4 km) branch from Heywood to Castleton opened in 1834.
Apart from a short profitable section in Manchester linking the Bridgewater and Ashton Canals, most of the length was closed in 1952 when an act of parliament was obtained to ban public navigation. The last complete journey had taken place in 1937, and by the mid 1960s the remainder was almost unusable. Construction of the M62 motorway in the late 1960s took no account of the canal, cutting it in two.
When an Act of Parliament was sought in 1965, to authorise the abandonment of the canal, the Inland Waterways Association petitioned against it, and when it was finally passed, it contained a clause that ensured the owners would maintain it until the adjacent Ashton Canal was abandoned. Discussion of the relative merits of restoring the canal or the Huddersfield Narrow Canal in 1973 led the formation of societies to promote both schemes in 1974. The Rochdale Canal Society wanted to see the canal fully re-opened, as part of a proposed Pennine Park
The Rochdale Canal Society worked hard both to protect the line of the canal and to begin the process of refurbishing it. A new organisational structure was created in 1984, with the formation of the Rochdale Canal Trust Ltd, who leased the canal from the owning company. The MSC-funded restoration was approaching Sowerby Bridge, where planners were proposing a tunnel and deep lock to negotiate a difficult road junction at Tuel Lane, so that a connection could be made with the Calder and Hebble Navigation. The entire eastern section from Sowerby Bridge to the summit at Longlees was open by 1990, although it remained isolated from the canal network.
In 1997, the Rochdale Canal Trust was restructured, in response to announcements that there might be large grants available as part of the millennium celebrations. The canal was still at this point owned by a private company, and the Millennium Commission would not make grants to a scheme which was for private profit, rather than public benefit. The restructuring would allow the Trust to take over responsibility for the canal from the Rochdale Canal Company. However, the plan was rejected by the Commission, and in order to access the grant of £11.3 million, the Waterways Trust took over ownership of the canal. As restoration proceeded, boats could travel further and further west, and the restoration of the sections through Failsworth and Ancoats were a significant part of the re-development of the north Manchester districts. The restored sections joined up with the section in Manchester below the Ashton Canal junction, which had never been closed, and on 1 July 2002 the canal was open for navigation along its entire length.
The Rochdale Canal outside Sowerby Bridge, Calderdale, West Yorkshire.
The Rochdale is a broad canal because its locks are wide enough to allow vessels of 14 feet width. The canal runs for 32 miles (51 km) across the Pennines from the Bridgewater Canal at Castlefield Basin in Manchester to join the Calder and Hebble Navigation at Sowerby Bridge in West Yorkshire. As built, the canal had 92 locks. Whilst the traditional lock numbering has been retained on all restored locks, and on the relocated locks, the canal now has 91. Locks 3 and 4 have been replaced with a single deep lock, Tuel Lane Lock, which is numbered 3/4.
The Rochdale Canal was conceived in 1776, when a group of 48 men from Rochdale raised £237 and commissioned James Brindley to conduct a survey of possible routes between Sowerby Bridge and Manchester. Brindley proposed a route similar to the one built, and another more expensive route via Bury. Further progress was not made until 1791, when John Rennie was asked to make a new survey in June, and two months later to make surveys for branches to Rochdale, Oldham and to a limeworks near Todmorden. Rennie at the time had no experience of building canals.
The promoters, unsure as to whether to build a wide or a narrow canal, postponed the decision until an Act of Parliament had been obtained. The first attempt to obtain an act was made in 1792, but was opposed by mill owners, concerned about water supply. Rennie proposed using steam pumping engines, three in Yorkshire, eight in Lancashire, and one on the Burnley Branch, but the mill owners argued that 59 mills would be affected by the scheme, resulting in unemployment, and the bill was defeated. In September 1792, William Crosley and John Longbotham surveyed the area in an attempt to find locations for reservoirs which would not affect water supplies to the mills. A second bill was presented to Parliament, for a canal which would have a 3,000-yard (2,700 m) tunnel and 11 reservoirs. Again the bill was defeated, this time by one vote. The promoters, in an attempt to understand the mill owners' position, asked William Jessop to survey the parts of the proposed canal that were causing most concern. Jessop gave evidence to the Parliamentary committee, and on 4 April 1794 an act was obtained which created the Rochdale Canal Company and authorised construction.
Rennie's estimated cost in the second bill was £291,000, and the company was empowered to raise the money by issuing shares, with powers to raise a further £100,000 if required. The estimate was for a narrow canal, whereas the act authorised a broad canal, and so the capital was never going to be adequate. The summit tunnel was abandoned in favour of 14 additional locks saving £20,000. Jessop proposed constructing each lock with a drop of 10 feet (3.0 m), resulting in efficient use of water and the need to manufacture only one size of lock gate.
The canal opened in stages as sections were completed, with the Rochdale Branch the first in 1798 and further sections in 1799. The bottom nine locks opened in 1800 and boats using the Ashton Canal could reach Manchester. Officially, the canal opened in 1804, but construction work continued for more three years. A 1.5-mile (2.4 km) branch from Heywood to Castleton opened in 1834.
Apart from a short profitable section in Manchester linking the Bridgewater and Ashton Canals, most of the length was closed in 1952 when an act of parliament was obtained to ban public navigation. The last complete journey had taken place in 1937, and by the mid 1960s the remainder was almost unusable. Construction of the M62 motorway in the late 1960s took no account of the canal, cutting it in two.
When an Act of Parliament was sought in 1965, to authorise the abandonment of the canal, the Inland Waterways Association petitioned against it, and when it was finally passed, it contained a clause that ensured the owners would maintain it until the adjacent Ashton Canal was abandoned. Discussion of the relative merits of restoring the canal or the Huddersfield Narrow Canal in 1973 led the formation of societies to promote both schemes in 1974. The Rochdale Canal Society wanted to see the canal fully re-opened, as part of a proposed Pennine Park
The Rochdale Canal Society worked hard both to protect the line of the canal and to begin the process of refurbishing it. A new organisational structure was created in 1984, with the formation of the Rochdale Canal Trust Ltd, who leased the canal from the owning company. The MSC-funded restoration was approaching Sowerby Bridge, where planners were proposing a tunnel and deep lock to negotiate a difficult road junction at Tuel Lane, so that a connection could be made with the Calder and Hebble Navigation. The entire eastern section from Sowerby Bridge to the summit at Longlees was open by 1990, although it remained isolated from the canal network.
In 1997, the Rochdale Canal Trust was restructured, in response to announcements that there might be large grants available as part of the millennium celebrations. The canal was still at this point owned by a private company, and the Millennium Commission would not make grants to a scheme which was for private profit, rather than public benefit. The restructuring would allow the Trust to take over responsibility for the canal from the Rochdale Canal Company. However, the plan was rejected by the Commission, and in order to access the grant of £11.3 million, the Waterways Trust took over ownership of the canal. As restoration proceeded, boats could travel further and further west, and the restoration of the sections through Failsworth and Ancoats were a significant part of the re-development of the north Manchester districts. The restored sections joined up with the section in Manchester below the Ashton Canal junction, which had never been closed, and on 1 July 2002 the canal was open for navigation along its entire length.
Whilst en-route to last weekends 'bus business' inspired mini-break in the north east, 'Berresfordsmotors' and I had managed to give our other halves in their car the slip on the M62. We were then able to schedule in an additional call at our friends at the Yourkshire Heritage Bus Co. without all the face pulling which would likely have ensued. On the approach to Sowerby Bridge as we prepared to go under the railway arches, I quipped to 'Bm', 'we'll probably round this corner and be confronted by a Bridgemaster coming towards us'. I was however slightly wrong as it was the next corner when we turned off the main road! Frantic ditching of out transport followed as we scrambled in best text book enthusiast form ... well, the best you can manage when you're over 50, then ran down an entry and into the slow moving traffic. This then was all that could be achieved under the circumstances. The woman driver's face in the car infront of whom I'd run out would perhaps have made a better shot!
Oh, sturdy looking bus is 1925 WA, an ex Sheffield Corporation AEC Bridgemaster, a semi integral product built jointly with Park Royal.
The Rochdale Canal in Hebden Bridge, Calderdale, West Yorkshire.
The Rochdale is a broad canal because its locks are wide enough to allow vessels of 14 feet width. The canal runs for 32 miles (51 km) across the Pennines from the Bridgewater Canal at Castlefield Basin in Manchester to join the Calder and Hebble Navigation at Sowerby Bridge in West Yorkshire. As built, the canal had 92 locks. Whilst the traditional lock numbering has been retained on all restored locks, and on the relocated locks, the canal now has 91. Locks 3 and 4 have been replaced with a single deep lock, Tuel Lane Lock, which is numbered 3/4.
The Rochdale Canal was conceived in 1776, when a group of 48 men from Rochdale raised £237 and commissioned James Brindley to conduct a survey of possible routes between Sowerby Bridge and Manchester. Brindley proposed a route similar to the one built, and another more expensive route via Bury. Further progress was not made until 1791, when John Rennie was asked to make a new survey in June, and two months later to make surveys for branches to Rochdale, Oldham and to a limeworks near Todmorden. Rennie at the time had no experience of building canals.
The promoters, unsure as to whether to build a wide or a narrow canal, postponed the decision until an Act of Parliament had been obtained. The first attempt to obtain an act was made in 1792, but was opposed by mill owners, concerned about water supply. Rennie proposed using steam pumping engines, three in Yorkshire, eight in Lancashire, and one on the Burnley Branch, but the mill owners argued that 59 mills would be affected by the scheme, resulting in unemployment, and the bill was defeated. In September 1792, William Crosley and John Longbotham surveyed the area in an attempt to find locations for reservoirs which would not affect water supplies to the mills. A second bill was presented to Parliament, for a canal which would have a 3,000-yard (2,700 m) tunnel and 11 reservoirs. Again the bill was defeated, this time by one vote. The promoters, in an attempt to understand the mill owners' position, asked William Jessop to survey the parts of the proposed canal that were causing most concern. Jessop gave evidence to the Parliamentary committee, and on 4 April 1794 an act was obtained which created the Rochdale Canal Company and authorised construction.
Rennie's estimated cost in the second bill was £291,000, and the company was empowered to raise the money by issuing shares, with powers to raise a further £100,000 if required. The estimate was for a narrow canal, whereas the act authorised a broad canal, and so the capital was never going to be adequate. The summit tunnel was abandoned in favour of 14 additional locks saving £20,000. Jessop proposed constructing each lock with a drop of 10 feet (3.0 m), resulting in efficient use of water and the need to manufacture only one size of lock gate.
The canal opened in stages as sections were completed, with the Rochdale Branch the first in 1798 and further sections in 1799. The bottom nine locks opened in 1800 and boats using the Ashton Canal could reach Manchester. Officially, the canal opened in 1804, but construction work continued for more three years. A 1.5-mile (2.4 km) branch from Heywood to Castleton opened in 1834.
Apart from a short profitable section in Manchester linking the Bridgewater and Ashton Canals, most of the length was closed in 1952 when an act of parliament was obtained to ban public navigation. The last complete journey had taken place in 1937, and by the mid 1960s the remainder was almost unusable. Construction of the M62 motorway in the late 1960s took no account of the canal, cutting it in two.
When an Act of Parliament was sought in 1965, to authorise the abandonment of the canal, the Inland Waterways Association petitioned against it, and when it was finally passed, it contained a clause that ensured the owners would maintain it until the adjacent Ashton Canal was abandoned. Discussion of the relative merits of restoring the canal or the Huddersfield Narrow Canal in 1973 led the formation of societies to promote both schemes in 1974. The Rochdale Canal Society wanted to see the canal fully re-opened, as part of a proposed Pennine Park
The Rochdale Canal Society worked hard both to protect the line of the canal and to begin the process of refurbishing it. A new organisational structure was created in 1984, with the formation of the Rochdale Canal Trust Ltd, who leased the canal from the owning company. The MSC-funded restoration was approaching Sowerby Bridge, where planners were proposing a tunnel and deep lock to negotiate a difficult road junction at Tuel Lane, so that a connection could be made with the Calder and Hebble Navigation. The entire eastern section from Sowerby Bridge to the summit at Longlees was open by 1990, although it remained isolated from the canal network.
In 1997, the Rochdale Canal Trust was restructured, in response to announcements that there might be large grants available as part of the millennium celebrations. The canal was still at this point owned by a private company, and the Millennium Commission would not make grants to a scheme which was for private profit, rather than public benefit. The restructuring would allow the Trust to take over responsibility for the canal from the Rochdale Canal Company. However, the plan was rejected by the Commission, and in order to access the grant of £11.3 million, the Waterways Trust took over ownership of the canal. As restoration proceeded, boats could travel further and further west, and the restoration of the sections through Failsworth and Ancoats were a significant part of the re-development of the north Manchester districts. The restored sections joined up with the section in Manchester below the Ashton Canal junction, which had never been closed, and on 1 July 2002 the canal was open for navigation along its entire length.
47143 leaves Sowerby Bridge and passes Milner Royd Jnc with a diverted Liverpool to York trans-pennine express. Nov 10th 1985.
60060 "James Watt" passes Sowerby Bridge station with Fiddlers Ferry to Milford MGR empties. 22/3/94.
Spectators sitting in the sunshine at The Astleys, on a hill above Sowerby Bridge, watching a competitive 1st XI league cricket game and enjoying meeting up again after lockdown. The home team's 1st XI batting against Mytholmroyd CC.
47295 emerges from Sowerby Bridge Tunnel with 67E66 13:00 Preston to Healey Mills Speedlink coal. 14/7/87. Although this was a colour slide, I've converted it, as it was taken in really dull weather and I couldn't get a decent colour rendition. I've uploaded it as Class 47s weren't that common on this train and Michael didn't take many shots of trains coming out of this tunnel.
47376 passes Sowerby Bridge with 6E39 Mostyn to Hull Saltend "Vinegar Tanks". 28/6/93. Class 47s weren't that common on this working, although not unknown.
At Sowerby Bridge station, an eastbound freight passes a Leeds to Blackpool Express utilising 158790, which is heading non-stop through the station. Halifax can be seen in the background with the prominent Wainhouse Tower.
Warley CC batsmen prodding around early on in their innings against Sowerby Bridge CC 1st XI, in reply to 119 all out. The wicket certainly seemed to have something in it for the bowlers. in this Halifax Cricket League Premier Division game at Warley's scenic ground. A good smattering of spectators were watching from the cover point boundary at this small, quirky village venue.
Cycling clubs weekend run, they pass through Sowerby Bridge most Saturday mornings, Spring and summer.
47323 passes Sowerby Bridge with 6M62 11:08 Wakefield Cobra to Northenden empty "binliner". 29/2/88.
The Rochdale Canal in Sowerby Bridge, Calderdale, West Yorkshire.
The Rochdale is a broad canal because its locks are wide enough to allow vessels of 14 feet width. The canal runs for 32 miles (51 km) across the Pennines from the Bridgewater Canal at Castlefield Basin in Manchester to join the Calder and Hebble Navigation at Sowerby Bridge in West Yorkshire. As built, the canal had 92 locks. Whilst the traditional lock numbering has been retained on all restored locks, and on the relocated locks, the canal now has 91. Locks 3 and 4 have been replaced with a single deep lock, Tuel Lane Lock, which is numbered 3/4.
The Rochdale Canal was conceived in 1776, when a group of 48 men from Rochdale raised £237 and commissioned James Brindley to conduct a survey of possible routes between Sowerby Bridge and Manchester. Brindley proposed a route similar to the one built, and another more expensive route via Bury. Further progress was not made until 1791, when John Rennie was asked to make a new survey in June, and two months later to make surveys for branches to Rochdale, Oldham and to a limeworks near Todmorden. Rennie at the time had no experience of building canals.
The promoters, unsure as to whether to build a wide or a narrow canal, postponed the decision until an Act of Parliament had been obtained. The first attempt to obtain an act was made in 1792, but was opposed by mill owners, concerned about water supply. Rennie proposed using steam pumping engines, three in Yorkshire, eight in Lancashire, and one on the Burnley Branch, but the mill owners argued that 59 mills would be affected by the scheme, resulting in unemployment, and the bill was defeated. In September 1792, William Crosley and John Longbotham surveyed the area in an attempt to find locations for reservoirs which would not affect water supplies to the mills. A second bill was presented to Parliament, for a canal which would have a 3,000-yard (2,700 m) tunnel and 11 reservoirs. Again the bill was defeated, this time by one vote. The promoters, in an attempt to understand the mill owners' position, asked William Jessop to survey the parts of the proposed canal that were causing most concern. Jessop gave evidence to the Parliamentary committee, and on 4 April 1794 an act was obtained which created the Rochdale Canal Company and authorised construction.
Rennie's estimated cost in the second bill was £291,000, and the company was empowered to raise the money by issuing shares, with powers to raise a further £100,000 if required. The estimate was for a narrow canal, whereas the act authorised a broad canal, and so the capital was never going to be adequate. The summit tunnel was abandoned in favour of 14 additional locks saving £20,000. Jessop proposed constructing each lock with a drop of 10 feet (3.0 m), resulting in efficient use of water and the need to manufacture only one size of lock gate.
The canal opened in stages as sections were completed, with the Rochdale Branch the first in 1798 and further sections in 1799. The bottom nine locks opened in 1800 and boats using the Ashton Canal could reach Manchester. Officially, the canal opened in 1804, but construction work continued for more three years. A 1.5-mile (2.4 km) branch from Heywood to Castleton opened in 1834.
Apart from a short profitable section in Manchester linking the Bridgewater and Ashton Canals, most of the length was closed in 1952 when an act of parliament was obtained to ban public navigation. The last complete journey had taken place in 1937, and by the mid 1960s the remainder was almost unusable. Construction of the M62 motorway in the late 1960s took no account of the canal, cutting it in two.
When an Act of Parliament was sought in 1965, to authorise the abandonment of the canal, the Inland Waterways Association petitioned against it, and when it was finally passed, it contained a clause that ensured the owners would maintain it until the adjacent Ashton Canal was abandoned. Discussion of the relative merits of restoring the canal or the Huddersfield Narrow Canal in 1973 led the formation of societies to promote both schemes in 1974. The Rochdale Canal Society wanted to see the canal fully re-opened, as part of a proposed Pennine Park
The Rochdale Canal Society worked hard both to protect the line of the canal and to begin the process of refurbishing it. A new organisational structure was created in 1984, with the formation of the Rochdale Canal Trust Ltd, who leased the canal from the owning company. The MSC-funded restoration was approaching Sowerby Bridge, where planners were proposing a tunnel and deep lock to negotiate a difficult road junction at Tuel Lane, so that a connection could be made with the Calder and Hebble Navigation. The entire eastern section from Sowerby Bridge to the summit at Longlees was open by 1990, although it remained isolated from the canal network.
In 1997, the Rochdale Canal Trust was restructured, in response to announcements that there might be large grants available as part of the millennium celebrations. The canal was still at this point owned by a private company, and the Millennium Commission would not make grants to a scheme which was for private profit, rather than public benefit. The restructuring would allow the Trust to take over responsibility for the canal from the Rochdale Canal Company. However, the plan was rejected by the Commission, and in order to access the grant of £11.3 million, the Waterways Trust took over ownership of the canal. As restoration proceeded, boats could travel further and further west, and the restoration of the sections through Failsworth and Ancoats were a significant part of the re-development of the north Manchester districts. The restored sections joined up with the section in Manchester below the Ashton Canal junction, which had never been closed, and on 1 July 2002 the canal was open for navigation along its entire length.
158767 pulls away from the Sowerby Bridge station stop while forming the 08:23 Manchester Victoria to Selby service. 19/2/99. These units were common user at the time, so despite the Trans-Pennine Express branding they could be seen on "stoppers" through the Calder Valley - and elsewhere.
Still the only Northern unit operating on the Calder Valley line in new Northern livery is No. 158752, seen here heading out of Sowerby Bridge on 13 January 2017.
The Grade II Listed Christ Church, on Wharf Street in Sowerby Bridge, Calderdale, West Yorkshire.
It was built in 1819 by John Oates, the chancel was rebuilt in 1873-74 and the church was re-roofed 1894. The first organ, built by John Ward of York, was installed in 1825, four years after the church opened. It was situated in the gallery above what is now the parish room. Ward also built the organ in the Halifax Square Chapel in 1821. This organ was dismantled in 1865 by Conacher of Huddersfield. Conacher installed a replacement at a cost of £266 (equivalent to £22,700 in 2016). In 1873-74 the church was extended and the organ was moved to its present location. In 1894, however, a major fire started from a candle in the organ and destroyed most of the chancel and nave roof, as well as the organ itself.
As part of the church reconstruction a new and considerably larger organ was provided by Abbott & Smith of Leeds. The organ saw no repairs until 1979, by when the church was unable to afford any restoration. Between 1979 and 1983 a further replacement organ, of some quality, was moved from the closed Bolton Brow Methodist Church. This had been originally built by James Jepson Binns of Bramley, Leeds. Its bellows had originally been pumped by a water engine connected to the Rochdale Canal below. The present organ retains the fine oak case and four stops of pipes from the Abbott and Smith organ and incorporates three stops from the organ at Warley Congregational Church. The instrument was converted to electric control between the keyboards and pipes. Some restoration work was completed in 2006 and a recent bequest, from the late Fred Seed, has been used to cover the cost of further work.
The Calder and Hebble Navigation, approaching Sowerby Bridge, in Calderdale, West Yorkshire.
By the beginning of the 18th century, the Aire and Calder Navigation had made the River Calder navigable as far upstream as Wakefield. The aim of the Calder and Hebble Navigation was to extend navigation west (upstream) from Wakefield to Sowerby Bridge near Halifax.
The first attempt to obtain an Act of Parliament was made in 1740, as a result of a petition by the people of Halifax, Ripponden and Elland. John Eyes of Liverpool surveyed the route, and presented a scheme for a navigation which would use the River Calder from Wakefield to its junction with the River Hebble, follow the Hebble to Salterhebble Bridge, and then follow the Halifax Brook to reach Halifax. The bill was defeated, due to opposition from local landowners who feared that it would cause flooding, from millers, who thought that navigation would disrupt their water supply, and from the promoters of several Turnpike Bills, who were intending to build roads which would follow a similar route.
The second attempt followed a meeting of the Union Club in Halifax on 2 September 1756, which considered how to improve the import of wool and corn to the town. They invited the civil engineer John Smeaton to make a new survey, which he did in late 1757. An Act was obtained on 9 June 1758, for this extended route, and created Commissioners, who must own an estate valued at more than £100, or have a personal fortune of more than £3,000.
Construction started in November 1759, with Smeaton acting as engineer. By November 1764, the navigation was open as far as Brighouse, some 16 miles (26 km) from Wakefield. Having borrowed £56,000, factions arose within the Commissioners, with some wanting to stop at Brooksmouth, where the Rivers Hebble and Calder meet, and others wanting to raise more money and complete the scheme. The second option gained most support, and a new committee was set up, who asked James Brindley to take over from Smeaton in 1765. The work was just complete when a further flood caused so much damage that the only option was to close the navigation again.
The Commissioners felt unable to borrow more money, and so a second Act of Parliament was obtained on 21 April 1769, which formally created the Company of Proprietors of the Calder and Hebble Navigation. This consisted of all of the 81 people who had loaned money to the original scheme, and these loans were converted into £100 shares. Additional shares could be issued, and the Company could borrow up to £20,000, with the future tolls used as security.
The Navigation prospered, with dividends rising steadily from 5 per cent in 1771 to 13 per cent in 1792. Under the terms of the Act of Parliament, tolls were reduced when the dividend exceeded 10 per cent, and the first such reduction occurred in 1791.
In 1798 a long cut at Thornhill was made, bypassing the town of Dewsbury. Trade with the town was maintained by the construction of a new branch from Thornhill to Dewsbury. Another stimulus to trade was provided by the Rochdale Canal, which opened up a through route from Sowerby Bridge to Manchester from 1804.
The Manchester and Leeds Railway company, which had approached the Calder and Hebble in 1836, but had been rebuffed, opened their line between 1839 and 1841. It followed the line of the canal and that of the Rochdale Canal. A year later, with canal shares having lost 66 per cent of their value, the canal company approached the railway, who agreed to lease the canal for £40,000 per year for 14 years, commencing on 25 March 1843. The Aire and Calder Navigation objected to the lease, and in April 1847, the Attorney General and the Solicitor General ruled that it was illegal, and must cease. Soon afterwaards, the Aire and Calder offered to lease the canal itself, and the agreement started in September. After the Aire and Calder's lease expired in 1885, the Navigation Company again took charge, rebuilt many of the bridges, and established the Calder Carrying Company. Shareholders continued to receive dividends until the canal was nationalized in 1948, and the canal was used by commercial traffic until 1981.
Having had a winter repaint, the 'Cambridge' and the rest of the Shire Cruisers fleet is clustered around Sowerby Bridge wharf on a chilly winter morning.
Unbranded Class 150 No. 150116 moves away from Sowerby Bridge station with a train for Leeds on 23 April 2016. This part of the platform has long been out of use, a relic of the days when this was a huge and busy station with many platforms. Wainhouse Tower, Halifax, provides a backdrop.
The Rochdale Canal in Sowerby Bridge, Calderdale, West Yorkshire.
The Rochdale is a broad canal because its locks are wide enough to allow vessels of 14 feet width. The canal runs for 32 miles (51 km) across the Pennines from the Bridgewater Canal at Castlefield Basin in Manchester to join the Calder and Hebble Navigation at Sowerby Bridge in West Yorkshire. As built, the canal had 92 locks. Whilst the traditional lock numbering has been retained on all restored locks, and on the relocated locks, the canal now has 91. Locks 3 and 4 have been replaced with a single deep lock, Tuel Lane Lock, which is numbered 3/4.
The Rochdale Canal was conceived in 1776, when a group of 48 men from Rochdale raised £237 and commissioned James Brindley to conduct a survey of possible routes between Sowerby Bridge and Manchester. Brindley proposed a route similar to the one built, and another more expensive route via Bury. Further progress was not made until 1791, when John Rennie was asked to make a new survey in June, and two months later to make surveys for branches to Rochdale, Oldham and to a limeworks near Todmorden. Rennie at the time had no experience of building canals.
The promoters, unsure as to whether to build a wide or a narrow canal, postponed the decision until an Act of Parliament had been obtained. The first attempt to obtain an act was made in 1792, but was opposed by mill owners, concerned about water supply. Rennie proposed using steam pumping engines, three in Yorkshire, eight in Lancashire, and one on the Burnley Branch, but the mill owners argued that 59 mills would be affected by the scheme, resulting in unemployment, and the bill was defeated. In September 1792, William Crosley and John Longbotham surveyed the area in an attempt to find locations for reservoirs which would not affect water supplies to the mills. A second bill was presented to Parliament, for a canal which would have a 3,000-yard (2,700 m) tunnel and 11 reservoirs. Again the bill was defeated, this time by one vote. The promoters, in an attempt to understand the mill owners' position, asked William Jessop to survey the parts of the proposed canal that were causing most concern. Jessop gave evidence to the Parliamentary committee, and on 4 April 1794 an act was obtained which created the Rochdale Canal Company and authorised construction.
Rennie's estimated cost in the second bill was £291,000, and the company was empowered to raise the money by issuing shares, with powers to raise a further £100,000 if required. The estimate was for a narrow canal, whereas the act authorised a broad canal, and so the capital was never going to be adequate. The summit tunnel was abandoned in favour of 14 additional locks saving £20,000. Jessop proposed constructing each lock with a drop of 10 feet (3.0 m), resulting in efficient use of water and the need to manufacture only one size of lock gate.
The canal opened in stages as sections were completed, with the Rochdale Branch the first in 1798 and further sections in 1799. The bottom nine locks opened in 1800 and boats using the Ashton Canal could reach Manchester. Officially, the canal opened in 1804, but construction work continued for more three years. A 1.5-mile (2.4 km) branch from Heywood to Castleton opened in 1834.
Apart from a short profitable section in Manchester linking the Bridgewater and Ashton Canals, most of the length was closed in 1952 when an act of parliament was obtained to ban public navigation. The last complete journey had taken place in 1937, and by the mid 1960s the remainder was almost unusable. Construction of the M62 motorway in the late 1960s took no account of the canal, cutting it in two.
When an Act of Parliament was sought in 1965, to authorise the abandonment of the canal, the Inland Waterways Association petitioned against it, and when it was finally passed, it contained a clause that ensured the owners would maintain it until the adjacent Ashton Canal was abandoned. Discussion of the relative merits of restoring the canal or the Huddersfield Narrow Canal in 1973 led the formation of societies to promote both schemes in 1974. The Rochdale Canal Society wanted to see the canal fully re-opened, as part of a proposed Pennine Park
The Rochdale Canal Society worked hard both to protect the line of the canal and to begin the process of refurbishing it. A new organisational structure was created in 1984, with the formation of the Rochdale Canal Trust Ltd, who leased the canal from the owning company. The MSC-funded restoration was approaching Sowerby Bridge, where planners were proposing a tunnel and deep lock to negotiate a difficult road junction at Tuel Lane, so that a connection could be made with the Calder and Hebble Navigation. The entire eastern section from Sowerby Bridge to the summit at Longlees was open by 1990, although it remained isolated from the canal network.
In 1997, the Rochdale Canal Trust was restructured, in response to announcements that there might be large grants available as part of the millennium celebrations. The canal was still at this point owned by a private company, and the Millennium Commission would not make grants to a scheme which was for private profit, rather than public benefit. The restructuring would allow the Trust to take over responsibility for the canal from the Rochdale Canal Company. However, the plan was rejected by the Commission, and in order to access the grant of £11.3 million, the Waterways Trust took over ownership of the canal. As restoration proceeded, boats could travel further and further west, and the restoration of the sections through Failsworth and Ancoats were a significant part of the re-development of the north Manchester districts. The restored sections joined up with the section in Manchester below the Ashton Canal junction, which had never been closed, and on 1 July 2002 the canal was open for navigation along its entire length.
The Rochdale Canal approaching Burnt Acres Bridge, in between Hebden Bridge and Todmorden, in Calderdale, West Yorkshire.
The Rochdale is a broad canal because its locks are wide enough to allow vessels of 14 feet width. The canal runs for 32 miles (51 km) across the Pennines from the Bridgewater Canal at Castlefield Basin in Manchester to join the Calder and Hebble Navigation at Sowerby Bridge in West Yorkshire. As built, the canal had 92 locks. Whilst the traditional lock numbering has been retained on all restored locks, and on the relocated locks, the canal now has 91. Locks 3 and 4 have been replaced with a single deep lock, Tuel Lane Lock, which is numbered 3/4.
The Rochdale Canal was conceived in 1776, when a group of 48 men from Rochdale raised £237 and commissioned James Brindley to conduct a survey of possible routes between Sowerby Bridge and Manchester. Brindley proposed a route similar to the one built, and another more expensive route via Bury. Further progress was not made until 1791, when John Rennie was asked to make a new survey in June, and two months later to make surveys for branches to Rochdale, Oldham and to a limeworks near Todmorden. Rennie at the time had no experience of building canals.
The promoters, unsure as to whether to build a wide or a narrow canal, postponed the decision until an Act of Parliament had been obtained. The first attempt to obtain an act was made in 1792, but was opposed by mill owners, concerned about water supply. Rennie proposed using steam pumping engines, three in Yorkshire, eight in Lancashire, and one on the Burnley Branch, but the mill owners argued that 59 mills would be affected by the scheme, resulting in unemployment, and the bill was defeated. In September 1792, William Crosley and John Longbotham surveyed the area in an attempt to find locations for reservoirs which would not affect water supplies to the mills. A second bill was presented to Parliament, for a canal which would have a 3,000-yard (2,700 m) tunnel and 11 reservoirs. Again the bill was defeated, this time by one vote. The promoters, in an attempt to understand the mill owners' position, asked William Jessop to survey the parts of the proposed canal that were causing most concern. Jessop gave evidence to the Parliamentary committee, and on 4 April 1794 an act was obtained which created the Rochdale Canal Company and authorised construction.
Rennie's estimated cost in the second bill was £291,000, and the company was empowered to raise the money by issuing shares, with powers to raise a further £100,000 if required. The estimate was for a narrow canal, whereas the act authorised a broad canal, and so the capital was never going to be adequate. The summit tunnel was abandoned in favour of 14 additional locks saving £20,000. Jessop proposed constructing each lock with a drop of 10 feet (3.0 m), resulting in efficient use of water and the need to manufacture only one size of lock gate.
The canal opened in stages as sections were completed, with the Rochdale Branch the first in 1798 and further sections in 1799. The bottom nine locks opened in 1800 and boats using the Ashton Canal could reach Manchester. Officially, the canal opened in 1804, but construction work continued for more three years. A 1.5-mile (2.4 km) branch from Heywood to Castleton opened in 1834.
Apart from a short profitable section in Manchester linking the Bridgewater and Ashton Canals, most of the length was closed in 1952 when an act of parliament was obtained to ban public navigation. The last complete journey had taken place in 1937, and by the mid 1960s the remainder was almost unusable. Construction of the M62 motorway in the late 1960s took no account of the canal, cutting it in two.
When an Act of Parliament was sought in 1965, to authorise the abandonment of the canal, the Inland Waterways Association petitioned against it, and when it was finally passed, it contained a clause that ensured the owners would maintain it until the adjacent Ashton Canal was abandoned. Discussion of the relative merits of restoring the canal or the Huddersfield Narrow Canal in 1973 led the formation of societies to promote both schemes in 1974. The Rochdale Canal Society wanted to see the canal fully re-opened, as part of a proposed Pennine Park
The Rochdale Canal Society worked hard both to protect the line of the canal and to begin the process of refurbishing it. A new organisational structure was created in 1984, with the formation of the Rochdale Canal Trust Ltd, who leased the canal from the owning company. The MSC-funded restoration was approaching Sowerby Bridge, where planners were proposing a tunnel and deep lock to negotiate a difficult road junction at Tuel Lane, so that a connection could be made with the Calder and Hebble Navigation. The entire eastern section from Sowerby Bridge to the summit at Longlees was open by 1990, although it remained isolated from the canal network.
In 1997, the Rochdale Canal Trust was restructured, in response to announcements that there might be large grants available as part of the millennium celebrations. The canal was still at this point owned by a private company, and the Millennium Commission would not make grants to a scheme which was for private profit, rather than public benefit. The restructuring would allow the Trust to take over responsibility for the canal from the Rochdale Canal Company. However, the plan was rejected by the Commission, and in order to access the grant of £11.3 million, the Waterways Trust took over ownership of the canal. As restoration proceeded, boats could travel further and further west, and the restoration of the sections through Failsworth and Ancoats were a significant part of the re-development of the north Manchester districts. The restored sections joined up with the section in Manchester below the Ashton Canal junction, which had never been closed, and on 1 July 2002 the canal was open for navigation along its entire length.
Catalogue of hearth furniture, fenders, fire guards, etc. from W. P. Eglin Ltd., Globe Works, Sowerby Bridge, Yorkshire. 1910.