A tourist attraction in Huddersfield hopes to kick-start a great summer

And staff at the Standedge Tunnel Visitor Centre in Marsden are hoping to exceed last yeasr’s tally of 40,000 visitors.

They launch the campaign this weekend with a boat trip through the entire length of the unique Standedge Tunnel.

The first trip through the entirety of the tunnel will take place on Saturday, when visitors will have the chance to hop onto the boat for a two-hour ride from Marsden to Diggle or back.

The experience is just one of the events that will take place at the industrial heritage site and visitor centre this year, which has begun its busy annual calendar of events.

This year’s centre opening follows the departure of its manager James Dean last winter and the changing of hands of the site’s overall management from the Canal and River Trust’s Museums and Attractions Partnership to the charity’s Manchester and Pennine Partnership wing.

But duty manager Ellen Richards said that no visitors should notice a difference due to the changes, and said that her team were focused on making the attraction bigger and better this year.

The visitor centre has been open since 2001 but closed due to low visitor numbers before being re-opened in 2006 with new management.

Ellen, who is assistant manager alongside Claire Atkinson, said: “We have no immediate plans for change going forward following the departure of James and the management change and will be operating as usual but we are trying to build upon the centre’s work, through which we attracted 40,000 visitors last year.

“This year we want to get more bookings for our boat trip rides, which we’ve already started to run.

“The short ones last for 30 minutes and will run daily during summer alongside the long trips, which run on Saturdays once every two weeks.

“We’re also encouraging more people to consider booking their wedding receptions here in our Thomas Bourne room.

“On top of that we have lots of events planned, such as our St George’s event when The Horseboating Society will enter the tunnel at Diggle to ‘leg’ the boat through, a falconry day in June and a country fair in July.

“It’s the longest, deepest and highest tunnel in Britain and it’s in a beautiful location in the countryside so we hope more people will come and find out more about it this year.”

To book a place on one of the long boat trips, which cost £15 per person, call 01484 844298.

Take a look at DroneBoy Inc's fantastic video of Marsden's Butterley Reservoir and Spillway below.

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