About the Huddersfield Narrow Canal
The Huddersfield Narrow Canal runs south-west across the Pennines from Huddersfield, joining the Huddersfield Broad Canal to the Ashton Canal. The Huddersfield Narrow Canal is 20.1 miles (32.2 km) long and has 74 locks. The summit is the highest stretch of canal in the country. It includes Standedge Tunnel, which is the longest canal tunnel at 3 ¼ miles (5.2km) long and is also the deepest underground as it burrows under the Pennines.
Construction began in 1794 and opened in 1811 after multiple problems and several years after its main rival the Rochdale Canal. It proved to be only moderately successful due to being a narrow canal and traffic delays at Standedge. The canal was mostly abandoned in 1944 and officially closed in 1963. After 27 years of campaigning and restoration by the Huddersfield Canal Society, the canal was fully re-opened to navigation in 2001.
[The photo shows Tunnel End, Marsden, at the eastern side of Standedge Tunnel]
