The two aqueducts in Saddleworth - Saddleworth Aqueduct (Old Sag) and the Royal George (Division Bridge) Aqueduct - are now both complete, with the waterway and towpaths re-instated.

At Division Bridge, some other works are continuing: a footpath is being constructed from the bridge to the aqueduct opposite the towpath, which will lead to a path along the river bank. The area alongside is being developed as a picnic area and bat boxes have been fitted to nearby trees.

Last week I told how the original archway of the High Street bridge, Uppermill, is being re-built. Stonework was being laid onto an arched wooden formwork. This is now complete and a wall has been built above the new portal. Re-building this original arch will save time, money and extensive road closures.

When the re-building is complete, a new roadway will be built over the arch and the single-file traffic diverted across it. The other half of the existing roadway will then be dug up to build a concrete box culvert tunnel to extend the original arch tunnel to roughly twice its length. This is because the road has been straightened and widened after the canal's earlier closure. There will be no towpath through the bridge, but the towpath changes onto the other side of the canal at this point, anyway.

In Slaithwaite, where the new part of Britannia Road bridge is open to traffic and the other half of the roadway is now closed off, work has started to excavate the eastern half of the original bridge, which will be replaced by box-culvert sections. I have a new photograph showing a clearer view of the new box culvert bridge, now that the ground to the east of it is being excavated.

This week, I also have new photographs from Stalybridge, where the most interesting development is the digging out of the original bridge at Mottram Road. I will say more about the proposals for Lock 7W in a later newsletter.

All the photographs of the restoration work can be found at http://www.penninewaterways.co.uk/latest/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The automatic countdown to the re-opening of the canal on the restoration menu page is at present reading "Only 0 years, 10 months, and 22 days left until the re-opening of the Huddersfield Narrow Canal!"

There are several bits of news to report. On 19th May a short opening ceremony took place at Wool Road, Dobcross, where the bridge works and restoration of Lock 24W are complete. The new lock gates were installed just in time.

In Slaithwaite, the new western part of Britannia Road bridge is open to traffic and the eastern half is now closed off. The new concrete box-culvert sections for the eastern half are now in position. Several sections of the culvert roof have to be constructed in situ around pipework as Britannia Road carries all the cables and pipes across the valley, being the only road to cross the river in the town. The web site shows photographs of these box sections as well as a glimpse of the stonework of the original bridge.

Similar news from Stalybridge, where the traffic has been using the new (western) side of Mottram Road bridge for a few weeks now. The old bridge has finally been demolished and the site excavated. This week, the first of the concrete box culvert sections were lowered into position on that eastern side. Two are in the hole, waiting to placed into position, while five more stand nearby.

Also in Stalybridge, the wide concrete base for the canal channel has been extended from Back Melbourne Street right up to Lock 5W. The local newspaper reported this week that the canal work in Stalybridge was ahead of schedule and that the whole job could be complete by Christmas.

All the photographs of the restoration work can be found at
http://www.penninewaterways.co.uk/latest/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I promised to say more about Lock 7W, near Mottram Road, Stalybridge.

Lock 7W is one of a number of locks on the canal that were built with a road bridge crossing the lock tail (downstream side). There are many locks with narrow arched lock tail bridges, such as that at Lock 23E, Slaithwaite, often providing access across the canal for farmers or local residents. But several locks have major roads crossing their tail. They are integral with the bridge, with the bridge tunnel being a continuation of the lock chamber, and with no towpath. Lock 7W (Mottram Road) and Lock 21W (High Street, Uppermill) fall into this category, and have given headaches with the restoration work, as the roadways have been widened since the canal was closed.

Mottram Road has been widened on both sides and had become very near the tail of Lock 7. It is therefore necessary to move the lock a little further east, away from the road. The western half of the lock has been demolished and a new lock tail will be built. The remaining lock chamber will be extended eastwards with a new lock head built. This will result in an unusual lock which will be half stonework and half concrete! Another factor making this necessary is that the new bridge, unlike the old one, will have a towpath, so there needs to be room for a ramp to bring this up to the lockside level.

An interesting point that has arisen from the demolition of the old bridge is that stonework uncovered in the excavation would suggest that the old bridge itself had been widened at some time in the distant past. The stonework can be seen in a photograph on the Stalybridge pages. I am grateful to Dave Mayall for drawing my attention to this. He says that when the demolition was in progress, it could be seen that the eastern part of the bridge tunnel had a different, rounder profile from the other, later part visible in my "old and new" photograph taken from inside the new box culvert.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The automatic countdown to the re-opening of the canal on the restoration menu page is at present reading "Only 0 years, 10 months, and 8 days left until the re-opening of the Huddersfield Narrow Canal!"

In the last newsletter I described Lock 7W and how it was being partly re-built to the east of its original location, with half of the lock chamber being incorporated into the finished result. I have some new photographs on the website which show how this is being carried out. there is also a picture of the major sewer pipe which is in the way being suspended from a beam while concrete is laid beneath it. The top of this pipe is going to intrude into the bridge tunnel as it comes higher than the base of the concrete culvert sections. That section of the bridge tunnel will have to be made in situ around the pipe. The bridge work is expected to be completed in the late summer. When the main Mottram Road is restored to its full width, Trinity Street will be closed and the canal extended across to the new Lock 6W.

Armentieres Square is not far from completion, with walls being built around the lock side. The roadway around the square will be widened to take buses in both directions.

Lock 5W is about to be repaired. Scaffolding has been erected inside the lock chamber. The chamber itself is in good condition except for the north side coping stones and the north side lock tail which had been removed when the Sports Centre was built. Stone from Lock 7W will be used in the repairs. I have taken an interesting photograph of the paddle sluice on the south side of the lock head (upstream end). The gate is rusty but still in place. There is a similar paddle sluice on the south side of the lock head, but the gate is not present. A wide stretch of canal is being constructed between Lock 5W and Back Melbourne Street which will provide space for boats to moor.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In Huddersfield a start is being made with the new Lock 3E, while the concrete walls of the new Lock 2E will be appearing soon. The tunnel below the Bates' & Co. buildings is now being scooped out from the Lock 2 end. Queen Street bridge is being underpinned so that a deep channel can be constructed to join onto the tunnel under Bates'. I will write more about how this underpinning is being done in a later newsletter.

At Slaithwaite a lot of progress has been made with the new channel through the village centre. The first half of Britannia Road bridge is open to traffic and the second half is ahead of schedule. The walls of Lock 22E are being rebuilt. The channel between Locks 21 and 22 is being constructed using precast concrete wash-wall sections.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In Uppermill. the re-building of the arch on the west side of High Street is complete and the road is being re-laid. The lock walls have nearly been re-built. It won't be long before work transfers to the east side of the road where a box culvert tunnel has to be built. The various bridges being constructed in the Colne Valley are making good progress, with Lee Mills bridge already being used by traffic. The pictures that have been taken off the site to make way for the new ones will eventually re-appear in the archive section
http://www.penninewaterways.co.uk/archive which will expand as I get time to do it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The automatic countdown to the re-opening of the canal on the restoration menu page is at present reading "Only 0 years, 9 months, and 25 days left until the re-opening of the Huddersfield Narrow Canal!"

Most of the site is now back on line, but I have had to remove the Archive pages for now, as they contain a large number of images. Also the Ashton, Peak Forest and Rochdale Canals sections will be off line for a few days. I have moved the sister site http://www.ashton-under-lyne.com to a completely different server until the problems are resolved. I apologise if you find any dead links in the website.
The Huddersfield Canal restoration pages are back on-line and have been updated as usual today.
http://www.penninewaterways.co.uk/latest

Everything, hopefully, should be back to normal in a few days. I am sorry for any inconvenience.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In the Colne Valley, all the replacement bridges are now open to traffic. Lees Mill bridge, the last to be started, is now complete and looks very smart. When these bridges first start to take shape as concrete tubes, they look fairly unpromising, but with the stone cladding and mock keystone effect, the results are surprisingly attractive. The bump strips or fenders made of a hardwood called ekki have been fitted to Golcar Aqueduct, which will shortly have its stanks (dams) removed as the work reaches an end.

Fortunately, when Bates & Co wanted to construct two buildings over the disused canal, Kirklees Council had to foresight to give planning permission only if they were constructed in such a way that it would be possible at a later date to re-instate the canal beneath them. Work on this cut and cover tunnel took place inside the buildings. Two rows of concrete piles were sunk, there not being enough headroom to drive sheet piles. The tunnel roof was constructed between the rows of piles and the floor surface made good so that the buildings could be returned to use.
The tunnel (i.e: the space between the piles) is at present being dug out from one end, the spoil being removed using skips on a narrow rail track. The tunnel floor will then be constructed with concrete. The new photographs of the tunnel are courtesy of Costain Ltd.

This tunnel is different from the nearby tunnel below Sellers Engineering in having walls formed of concrete piles rather than steel sheet piles.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Archive pages, where previous photos of the restoration work can be accessed, are now back on line. They may be found at http://www.penninewaterways.co.uk/archive .
I am hoping to have time to create further archive pages during the summer.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The automatic countdown to the re-opening of the canal on the restoration menu page is at present reading "Only 0 years, 9 months, and 3 days left until the re-opening of the Huddersfield Narrow Canal!"

There are also photographs of the new Lock 2E and the building being constructed to replace older buildings at Sellers Engineering which will make way for the canal.

I shall be visiting the site in person in the near future, so a further picture update should be expected!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In Slaithewaite, the bridge at Britannia Road is rapidly approaching completion. The concrete box culvert has been covered over and the new road surface is being laid. To the east of the town the original Lock 21E is currently being demolished and preparations are being made to construct a new channel between the old lock site and the site of the planned bridge under Platt Lane.

Further down the Colne Valley, work on Golcar Aqueduct and Lee Mill bridge is now complete. The roads across the new bridges at Mark Bottoms and Holme Mill are open to traffic but work is continuing on the adjoining canal bed and towpath.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In Uppermill, Saddleworth, the first phase of the construction of High Street bridge is complete and is now being used by traffic. The other side of the road is now closed and will be excavated to allow the remainder of the bridge to be constructed. The footpath has been diverted across and along the side of Lock 21W (Wade Lock) which allows visitors to inspect the restored lock chamber.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In Stalybridge, the bridge at Mottram Road is nearing completion. The concrete box culvert has been covered over and will soon have the road surface re-instated. The footway and parapet wall will be constructed. The whole bridge is expected to be re-opened to traffic in two weeks' time.

The lock gates will be fitted to Lock 6W in Armentieres Square in a few days (26th July). When work around Armentieres Square is complete, Trinity Street will be closed and the canal extended across. This could happen during August.

Work on restoring Lock 5 is continuing, with the missing coin stones for the lock tail being put in place. The coin stones are specially shaped so that the when the lock gate opens and closes, the edge turns within the curved recess of the coin stones, which maintain a tight and nearly waterproof fit. The coin stones from Lock 7W have been used, as the tail of Lock 7W is being moved and replaced with a concrete structure. A lock "tail" is the downstream end, including the pair of tall gates and the recessed stonework for the gates to open into.

The bed of the canal between Locks 5W and 4W is being laid in concrete. When Mottram Road and Back Melbourne Street bridges are complete, Caroline Street will be closed to enable the tail of lock 4W and the new bridge below Caroline Street to be constructed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Off the subject of the canal restoration, but still on the topic of canals in the area, last weekend saw the 23rd annual Tameside Canals Festivals at Portland Basin on the Ashton and Peak Forest canals. Pennine Waterways has a full photographic record of the event at http://www.penninewaterways.co.uk/ashton-under-lyne/festival.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I had thought that the problems with Pennine Waterways's web server had been sorted out and were back to normal. However, I discovered that because the new server did not accept the address without the "www." which the old server had done, a number of links from search engines and other sites, as well as the link from the UK Waterways Web Ring, had not been working. These problems should now have been sorted. Once again, I am sorry for any inconvenience during the period concerned.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The automatic countdown to the re-opening of the canal on the restoration menu page is at present reading "Only 0 years, 8 months, and 13 days left until the re-opening of the Huddersfield Narrow Canal!"

Work on the new Lock 3E is underway, with the area of ground within the sheet piles having been excavated. The structure of the concrete channel, landing platform and steps, at the tail of the new lock, is starting to appear. This will a similar arrangement to that at the new Lock 2E, where the steps and landing platform and steps between the tunnel mouth and lock chamber are clearly taking shape.

The tunnel below Bates and Company's building has been excavated right through and is being deepened in order to lay a concrete base, the main function of which will be to keep the tunnel sides rigid. The walls of this tunnel comprise two rows of round concrete piles. Downstream of this tunnel, a deep channel will be dug linking the tunnel to the chamber of the original Lock 2E. The chamber of this lock is currently full of girders, bracing it to prevent any movement while a temporary road for construction vehicles comes down onto the lock side.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In Slaithewaite, the bridge at Britannia Road is looking almost ready. The concrete box culvert has been covered over and the new road surface is being laid. The structure of the new Lock 21E is finished and the piles have been taken out. The remedial work on Lock 22E is complete and the lock side is being made good. The new bridge over the canal at Old Bank, below Lock 23E is continuing to take shape, with preparations being made to construct parapets. The channel alongside Carr Lane is now lined with concrete wash walls which are being clad with stone.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Further down the Colne Valley, the new bridges at Mark Bottoms and Holme Mill are open to traffic and are complete. The contractors are finishing off the footpaths and pavements and should be off the sites in about a week.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In Uppermill, Saddleworth, there is nothing new to report about High Street bridge as the arrival is awaited of the piling contractors. Once the piles have been sunk, the ground between can be excavated ready for the continuation of the bridge.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In Stalybridge, the bridge at Mottram Road is due to be completed in ten days time. The new bridges in Armentieres Square and Back Melbourne Street should also be open fairly soon. The opening of these bridges will enable Trinity Street and Caroline Street to be closed. Trinity street needs to be closed to extend the canal across from the Tesco site to Lock 6W. Caroline Street needs to be closed to enable to construction of a replacement bridge.

The lock gates were fitted to Lock 6W in Armentieres Square on 26th July. A full photographic report can be found at:
http://www.penninewaterways.co.uk/huddersfield/gates1.htm
The gates were made and installed by the staff of Callis Mill, Hebden Bridge, an offshoot of Calderdale Council.

The re-building of the tail of Lock 5W is nearly finished. I am informed that the "coin" stones I described last week are in fact spelt "quoin". I have a close-up photograph of the quoin stones now in place which have come from Lock 7W.

Tesco has been given official approval to extend its store, so the opening date has now been put back to February. Some alteration to the canal work, notably the re-positioning of the abutments of the footbridge across the canal, had taken place in anticipation of this change.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A further reminder that a photographic record of this year's Tameside Canals Festivals at Portland Basin, Ashton under Lyne, can be seen at: http://www.penninewaterways.co.uk/ashton-under-lyne/festival.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The automatic countdown to the re-opening of the canal on the restoration menu page is at present reading "Only 0 years, 8 months, and 6 days left until the re-opening of the Huddersfield Narrow Canal!"

This week, the website has had updates to the sections on Slaithwaite, Uppermill (Saddleworth) and Stalybridge. All the photographs of the restoration work can be found at http://www.penninewaterways.co.uk/latest
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In Slaithewaite, the bridge at Britannia Road is due to be opened to two-way traffic on August 29th. The footway on the bridge was being paved when I visited on a very damp Thursday a week ago, and this week, the new section of roadway was in use, but still one-way. The plywood fencing along Carr Lane has come down in readiness for returning the road to two-way traffic. The kerb stones and footpath alongside Carr Lane have to be re-instated and the road re-surfaced before two-way traffic is resumed.

When the traffic is restored to normal, Platt Lane, currently part of the one-way system, will be closed to allow the construction of a bridge below. The concrete shell of Lock 21E, next to Platt Lane, is complete and the piles have been removed. The area between Platt Lane and the original Lock 21E is being excavated and has had piles driven along each side for the new channel to be constructed from the old lock to the new bridge. Meanwhile, restoration of Lock 22E is complete and the lock side is being paved with cobble stones. The new bridge at Old Bank is progressing and now has a parapet on each side.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In High Street, Uppermill, Saddleworth, the sheet piles arrived last week and. These have been driven in to form the sides of the channel into which the new box culvert bridge sections will be placed. These will be approximately 3 metres wide, having no towpath, getting narrower as they join the existing restored archway under the west side of the road. There will be 18 sections: the tunnel will be fairly long, as it crosses the road at an angle, and each section will be fairly narrow so that they can be lifted by a moderately sized crane. The works hit a problem last week, as a water main was fractured. The water partly filled the nearby lock, which halted work on cutting out a recess for an escape ladder. I am told that it is easier to build the wall straight then cut out a recess than to built the recess into it, although I am afraid the logic escapes me!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mottram Road Bridge, in Stalybridge, was fully re-opened to traffic during the past week, which will mean an end to traffic queue misery for thousands of travellers each day! This week's picture of the bridge shows the traffic using three lanes while the kerb along the west side is re-positioned.

The tarmac surface was applied to Armentieres Square last week. This week, the road surface was been finished with a process called "Imprint" which applies a durable brick-effect surface. If I hadn't seen it being done, I would have found it hard to believe it was not really brick setts. There is a picture of the work on the Armentieres Square page.

In case you were too busy the previous week, may I remind you that the lock gates were fitted to Lock 6W on 26th July, which can be seen at:
http://www.penninewaterways.co.uk/huddersfield/gates1.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You may have noticed that I have been updating the layout of the pages. I hope this makes them look smarter and easier to navigate. It should also make them load faster as I have done away with the background image and the Pennine Waterways logo. I have also replaced the yellow highlight "mouse-over" effect with a colour change, although this doesn't seem to work on Netscape. I welcome any comments on the changed appearance and layout. I will be getting round to the other sections of the site as time permits.

I regret that, due to a slip of the keyboard, a small error in the coding meant that Netscape users have been unable to see the Saddleworth pages since I changed their layout. This is because Netscape requires code to be very accurate, whereas Internet Explorer works even with a few code errors. I am sorry if this has caused inconvenience to anyone. I have gone through the pages more carefully trying to make sure that Netscape users can see the full page width without sideways scrolling. Please let me know of any problems you encounter with the site.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The automatic countdown to the re-opening of the canal on the restoration menu page is at present reading "Only 0 years, 7 months, and 23 days left until the re-opening of the Huddersfield Narrow Canal!"

> > > > > > > > > > A P O L O G Y < < < < < < < < < <
Sorry that this letter is so late being sent out - it has been impossible to connect to the Listbot.com site. I am sending it at the earliest opportunity to connect to the Listbot service.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~