IT was, by any stretch of the imagination, a remarkable feat of engineering.

Now the efforts of those who worked on the construction of the Huddersfield Narrow Canal are to be remembered.

The bicentenary of the region’s greatest feat of engineering will be celebrated in an interactive theatre performance.

The performance, funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, will take place near the Diggle end of the Standedge Tunnel where diggers from both sides met in 1811.

The production, on September 18, will be the centrepiece of a weekend of celebrations which is being planned by the Society.

The inaugural performance aims to bring to life some of the characters who have influenced, and been influenced by, the canal during its 200-year history.

The drama will be performed by a mixture of professional actors, students of the theatre workshop and local school children.

Huddersfield Canal Society chairman Neville Kenyon said: “This is a deserved recognition of the work of our society in disseminating knowledge and appreciation of the canal’s history and heritage to local people and visitors alike.”

Huddersfield Narrow Canal was completed on April 4, 1811, connecting Huddersfield to Manchester and beyond.

And, of course, it includes the Standedge Tunnel – the country’s longest canal tunnel and an amazing example of construction deep beneath the Pennine hills.

Standedge Tunnel is the highest, longest and deepest canal tunnel in the UK, stretching for 5,029 metres (3.25 miles) through hard millstone grit.

It has been commemorated as an engineering marvel worked on by Thomas Telford.

The tunnel runs from Marsden in Yorkshire through to Diggle, also in historic Yorkshire but now part of Greater Manchester .

Now Huddersfield Canal Society and Oldham Theatre Workshop have teamed up for an outdoor interactive theatre production to mark the anniversary.