Date: Wed, 11 Apr 2001 21:33:54 +0100 From: Lynne Haye and Peter Brine Reply-To: Canals To: Canals Subject: HNC, a short trip report 10/04/01 Not a long trip but a significant one, & some information may be of use to fellow travellers. We accessed the Huddersfield Narrow from Guide Bridge on the Ashton Canal where we have endured the winter past. Of the canal mileage we've done to date (about 350) the Ashton and the bottom of the HNC have to be the worst kept in respect of the attitude of the local folk, of whom too many see it as a linear rubbish dump. Between Portland Basin and Lock 1 is an Asda supermarket whose trolley stock routinely litter the canal bed. A week back I counted 18 assorted items of Asda rolling stock in the canal. Under a previous management Asda paid Chris of the Wooden Canal Boat Preservation Society a royalty of UKP5 per trolley retrieved. Asda stopped this when Chris returned seven trolleys in one hit. They may have thought he was short-circuiting the process. The upshot was that unless the trolley waiters were nagged or cajoled, the rolling stock stayed in the canal. The beautiful bit is that BW had a cleanup of the cut a few days back and I hope that Asda either paid BW heaps for the return of the hardware or it went into the floating skip. At a reputed cost of UKP300-400 for each trolley, there has been one clear loser in this. Maybe they'll have the sense to reinstate the royalty. That's the ranting over. Our trip was exploratory & a relief from the boating drought so we only travelled 'return ticket' from locks 1 to 7. Locks 1 & 2 were last seriously maintained in 1987 and both paddles & bottom gates are hydraulically operated. They worked fine albeit slowly. Beyond lock 1 is a 100 metre(ish) length of narrows, dead straight so you can see any other traffic. There is one place immediately beyond the lock where there's a channel you could reverse into in case of an approaching boat. Interestingly these narrows are fitted with many bollards, I can't imagine the need for these. Lock 3 walls leaked like a colander whilst locking down, not unusual really but the flow remained under sufficient pressure to persuade me to exit ASAP. The two ground paddles had different sized square bolt heads on the anti-vandal locks. Between Locks 3 & 4 we passed over the Stalybridge Aqueduct, Pontcysyllte it ain't but is dramatic in its own right. Beware of the paint stripping coppiced stump growing out of the masonry on the aqueduct. The winding hole below Lock 4 (the first of the reconstructed bit) is overviewed by a boater friendly pub (Wharf Tavern). The winding hole is presently being dredged & was effectively unusable due to the midstream mooring of the work boats plus the shallow draft. The navigation from Locks 4-7 above which is the next winding hole is the mid-town section all newly reconstructed and I have to say we boaters have been royally treated. The finish is superb. Ample mooring rings are provided and the embankments are lined with a timber rubbing strip throughout. Waiting to lock-up through Lock 6 was interesting. The approach is through a 40 metre narrows and the exiting water moved me out of said narrows like a cork out of a bottle. The weather was cool but pleasantly dry and the good folk of Stalybridge were out in force. As this may have been only the second day that navigation was permitted (open through to Uppermill presently) we were the focus of attention, wish I'd shaved this AM. The crowd's attention was soon enough justifiably diverted onto the appearance of Sue Day of horse drawn boating fame with one of her team pulling a riveted iron bulk carrier bearing a bridge beam recovered from one of the renovated bridges. She, with able assistance from a couple of stalwarts from the Ashton Packet Boat Co were ceremoniously & elegantly delivering this beam to an engineering shop above Lock 7 for re-use as a gate portal. Things we noticed as different were: No numbering of bridges. Locks were clearly numbered. No cill markings on the renovated locks. No bollards for boats waiting to lock. Through Stalybridge the knobbly bits on the guard rails may be tested for serviceability. Lighting is provided for pedestrian safety under all road bridges. To avoid vandalism the lights are on the off-side and could catch an unwary boater's head. Maybe I'm being too anxious but felt they do present a risk. The gates in the guard rails have latches that are under engineered. The dredging pattern is making only the centre of the cut navigable to deeper drafted boats. I am told the HNC is a declared SSSI and there is some aquatic animal or vegetable matter that prefers shallower water so you may need the gangplank when mooring out of town. To finish as I started, there is a brand new Tesco's, canal side in Stalybridge. Hopefully they have good trolley management. -- Lynne Haye and Peter Brine ---