Sowerby Bridge

Today’s the day .................. to set off

With our heads full of every sort of instruction for narrowboat management, we set off this afternoon from the little town of Sowerby Bridge at the start of the Rochdale Canal.

The Rochdale Canal was completed in 1804 under the guidance of William Jessop and was the first canal to cross the Pennines from Lancashire to Yorkshire.  It extends from Sowerby Bridge in Yorkshire to the Castlefield Basin Manchester, a distance of 32 miles and 91 locks.  In 1880, one of the busiest years for the Rochdale Canal, goods weighing 686,000 tons were transported – equivalent to the movement of about 50 boats a day.  By 1921 the traffic had fallen to 180,000 tons or twelve boats a day.  The last loaded barge to travel the whole length of the canal was in September 1937.  Happily however, following over 30 years of campaigning and £50M of investment, a restoration programme allowed  the canal to be re-opened in 2002 to enable through navigation over its entire length.

An interesting fact for those that have watched the TV series when Prunella Scales and Timothy West try their hand at narrowboating on the canals of the UK and beyond, our boat – Cornwall – was the very one they used when they were in this part of country .....................