Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Looking east from the Sowerby Bridge basin
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Along the entire length of the navigation, signposting is clear. The first warning comes at
Salterhebble, where the remains of the Halifax Branch joins. This branch allowed Halifax,
founded on the cloth industry, to be built back from the main line of the canal. One of the
nearest features is the Perpendicular St John the Evangelist church, with its pinnacles, para-
pets, gargoyles and fine woodwork.
Salterhebble brings the end of the top pound, with a flight of three locks that replace a
former staircase, wasteful of water, and the whiff of an adjacent sewage works. When the wa-
ter authorities were created in 1974, the new Yorkshire Water Authority acquired this large
works, which was the most neglected major one in the country. At that time, the effluent go-
ing into the Calder was more polluted than when it arrived at the works.
A stream passes under the navigation before the third lock. Beyond the lock is a modern,
electrically operated guillotine gate. There is a small horseshoe-shaped tunnel under the road
towards the Calder & Hebble public house.
The next lock, Long Lee, brings the dark River Calder alongside for the first time. At El-
land, square, tapered chimneys with iron banding add a further dimension to the industrial
architecture. A warehouse, which had large end doors that opened to admit a narrowboat, has
become a private dwelling. Opposite, the Barge & Barrel has a welcoming notice for boat
people.
There are 39 locks, of which 12 are flood locks. These may be left open when the River
Calder is not in spate. Lock approach walls are often quite high. The locks themselves are
unusual in having open panels to allow excess water to weir over them and by being operated
by a bar of wood used as a crowbar rather than the conventional windlass. Substantial rope
guide pins mark the corners of locks.
