Rochdale Canal Tunnel At Tuel Lane – Sowerby Bridge, UK
Posted by: 
dtrebilc
N 53° 42.571 W 001° 54.422
30U E 572140 N 5951757
This 104 metre canal tunnel was created when the abandoned Rochdale Canal was reopened for leisure boating.
Waymark Code: WMEHZA
Location: Yorkshire, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 06/02/2012
Views: 10
The Canal History
The Rochdale Canal was completed in 1804 and is one of three canals that cross the Pennine hills. This is the only one that doesn’t use tunnels. In addition it was a broad canal with bridges and locks that allowed boats of 14 feet width to pass through.
The one downside of not using tunnels is that it originally had 92 locks. These days two of them have been combined into one deep lock in front of this tunnel.
Competition from railways and roads subsequently led to a decline in goods being carried and by 1937 the only section left in operation was at the Manchester end of the canal.
In 1965 there was talk of abandoning the canal but by this time leisure boating had become very popular in the UK and there was a campaign to keep it open. Work was started and the canal slowly re-opened in a number of different stages.
The building of the tunnel
After the canal had closed part of the canal at Sowerby Bridge was filled in as part of a road widening scheme.
The blockage only cut off a short section of the Rochdale Canal itself, but it also prevented access to the Calder and Hebble canal which had a junction at the end of the Rochdale Canal.
The solution to the problem was to build this new 104 metre tunnel and at the end of the tunnel build a new 6 metre deep lock to replace the old shallower locks 3 and 4.
There is a bend in the tunnel, and because the new lock is next to the entrance, boats have to get permission from a lock keeper before entering the tunnel. This is not only to prevent boats meeting in the middle of the tunnel but also because water emptying from such a large lock causes turbulence in the tunnel. There is no tow path through the tunnel, the ony way through is by boat.
The tunnel was opened in 1996 in partnership with the Rochdale Canal Society (RCS) and the National Citizen Service (NCS).
The co-ordinates for the tunnel are taken at the end furthest from the lock because this can be accessed on foot, either from the canal tow path or from Wharf Street (A58).
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