Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
34
Rochdale Canal
Distance
26km from the Calder & Hebble Navigation to the Bridgewater Canal
Highlights
Great Wall of Todmorden and Gauxholme Viaduct
Navigation Authority
Rochdale Canal Company
OS 1:50,000 Sheets
103 Blackburn & Burnley
104 Leeds & Bradford
109 Manchester
During the era of canal mania it took just an hour in 1791 to raise £60,000 in subscriptions to
build the first trans-Pennine canal. Calderdale was the centre of the British wool industry in
the 17th and 18th centuries and completion of the Rochdale Canal in 1804 provided a much-
improved link with Manchester. Surveyed by John Rennie, it was built by William Jessop,
who didn't like tunnelling, preferring to add extra locks to climb over obstacles. This is the
only trans-Pennine canal without a summit tunnel, offering splendid scenery, particularly on
the West Yorkshire side of the summit, but producing a large number of locks: 36 to the sum-
mit and 56 down to Manchester, a poem having been commissioned for each lock. It was built
as a wide-beam canal, passing its last working boat in 1937. Apart from the Cheshire Ring
section, it was abandoned in 1952 but remained as a water supply feeder, requiring structures
to be maintained. Since restoration, there have been several serious breaches.
