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Rochdale Canal
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Rochdale Canal
The Rochdale Canal is in Northern England, between Manchester and Sowerby Bridge, part of the connected system of the canals of Great Britain. Its name refers to the town of Rochdale through which it passes.
The Rochdale is a broad canal because its locks are wide enough to allow vessels of 14 feet (4.3 m) 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 the Rochdale Canal Act 1794 (34 Geo. 3. c. 78) 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 three more years. A 1.5-mile (2.4 km) branch from Heywood to Castleton opened in 1834.
As a result of having no summit tunnel, there were more locks, and the summit pound was very short, at just 0.8 miles (1.3 km). To the north and east, 36 locks descended to Sowerby Bridge, while to the south and west, another 56 locks descended to Castlefield Junction, on the edge of Manchester. The summit pound is 600 feet (183 m) above sea level, and is one of the highest summit pounds in Britain. Blackstone Edge Reservoir, covering 50 acres (20 ha) and Chelburn Reservoir, covering 16 acres (6.5 ha), were the first two reservoirs built to supply the water for all these locks. They were completed in 1798, and Hollingworth Lake, covering 130 acres (53 ha), was finished in 1800. It was lower than the summit pound, and so a steam pumping engine was installed to raise the water into a 4-mile (6.4 km) feeder, which connected to the summit. The feeder was about 45 feet (14 m) above the level of the lake, and the pumping engine was used until 1910, when the installation was demolished. The Rochdale Canal Act 1807 (47 Geo. 3 Sess. 2. c. lxxxi) enabled the 92-acre (37 ha) Whiteholme Reservoir and the 30-acre (12 ha) Light Hazzles Reservoir to be constructed, to ensure that supplies remained adequate as trade increased.
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Rochdale Canal
The Rochdale Canal is in Northern England, between Manchester and Sowerby Bridge, part of the connected system of the canals of Great Britain. Its name refers to the town of Rochdale through which it passes.
The Rochdale is a broad canal because its locks are wide enough to allow vessels of 14 feet (4.3 m) 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 the Rochdale Canal Act 1794 (34 Geo. 3. c. 78) 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 three more years. A 1.5-mile (2.4 km) branch from Heywood to Castleton opened in 1834.
As a result of having no summit tunnel, there were more locks, and the summit pound was very short, at just 0.8 miles (1.3 km). To the north and east, 36 locks descended to Sowerby Bridge, while to the south and west, another 56 locks descended to Castlefield Junction, on the edge of Manchester. The summit pound is 600 feet (183 m) above sea level, and is one of the highest summit pounds in Britain. Blackstone Edge Reservoir, covering 50 acres (20 ha) and Chelburn Reservoir, covering 16 acres (6.5 ha), were the first two reservoirs built to supply the water for all these locks. They were completed in 1798, and Hollingworth Lake, covering 130 acres (53 ha), was finished in 1800. It was lower than the summit pound, and so a steam pumping engine was installed to raise the water into a 4-mile (6.4 km) feeder, which connected to the summit. The feeder was about 45 feet (14 m) above the level of the lake, and the pumping engine was used until 1910, when the installation was demolished. The Rochdale Canal Act 1807 (47 Geo. 3 Sess. 2. c. lxxxi) enabled the 92-acre (37 ha) Whiteholme Reservoir and the 30-acre (12 ha) Light Hazzles Reservoir to be constructed, to ensure that supplies remained adequate as trade increased.
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