Huddersfield A - Z - Aspley Basin

I jokingly told btc that I would follow up his brilliant London A-Z series with one on Huddersfield. Then I decided that it might be fun so even though it is a foul old day today, here goes.

I am starting with something canal related, as the canals were so vital to Huddersfield's industrial importance. Aspley Basin is at the meeting of the imaginatively named Huddersfield Broad Canal and Huddersfield Narrow canal. This made it once the busiest part of Huddersfield, bustling with traffic and industry, including Locust Mill, where locust pods were imported and made into animal feed.

In the background you can see a surviving mill, which does still have some fabric manufacture taking place, but the majority of the mill is office or storage space. Crossing the canal in front of the mill you can see a locomotive bridge dating from 1865, which originally used wheels, chains and counter-weights to lift the bridge to allow barges to pass. Nowadays it is electrically powered.

I can't promise to post the A -Z entries continuously, but I'll try.

Couldn't think of a fitting song, but every time I hear the word "Aspley" this pops into my head. I am very sorry.