The canal in the Colne Valley is very low at the moment ... but it seems to be down to the long dry spell.
People have reported that the water levels are low on Huddersfield Narrow Canal, especially in the two stretches between locks close to the Titanic Mill off Low Westwood Lane in Linthwaite .
A spokeswoman for the Canal and River Trust said it is simply due to a lack of rain but that local teams from the Trust will be keeping a close eye on the situation.
She said: “We are having reports of low water levels all across our region and it is worse in some localised areas. A local team will be checking this area but so far as we know it is simply down to the long dry spell.”
She also said that if a stretch has been busy with several boars travelling along it.
The spokeswoman said: “Every time a boat goes through a lock it uses 300,000 litres of water which could be pushed further down the canal. There can also be a problem with lock gates leaking if they have been there for very many years and need repairing or replacing.”
She said canals do need rain even though many are fed direct from reservoirs.
“Some rain certainly would be very nice right now,”she said. “It would help the whole system. There can also be problems caused by water simply evaporating.”
Construction of the canal began in 1794 and was finished on April 4, 1811, when workers from both sides met at Diggle, in Saddleworth.
It is estimated that 50 people died in the canal’s construction and it remained in operation until 1944.
In 1956 the canal at Slaithwaite was filled in and the water piped underground.
After 27 years of campaigning and restoration by the Huddersfield Canal Society the canal was fully re-opened to navigation in 2001.
Today the 20-mile canal runs from ‘Lock 1E’ (now the site of Huddersfield University ’s Canalside Buildings) to Ashton-under-Lyne, through 74 locks.
It includes the Standedge Tunnel, which at three miles long, is Britain’s longest canal tunnel.
