He has run a taxi service with a difference for the best part of three decades.

But now a volunteer who has dedicated many years to Huddersfield Narrow Canal has retired.

At the age of 75, Ronnie Rose, who has looked after the Marsden Shuttle for the past 28 years, has decided it’s time to let someone else take the helm.

To mark his retirement, Ronnie was presented with an engraved brass windlass – a device for opening locks – and a framed certificate in recognition of his service to the society.

The presentation was made by canal society chairman Alan Stopher.

Ronnie’s connection with the canal goes back more than half a century when his father worked on the canal and he lived at Tunnel End as a boy.

Ronnie, a life member of Huddersfield Canal Society, also worked on the canal as a stonemason employed by British Waterways.

Now the society is looking for Ronnie’s successor – a volunteer who is locally-based to ensure the water taxi is kept in good order. Ronnie. who lives in Marsden, said: “I do hope someone comes forward soon to help the canal society with the boat as it provides an important service.”

The Marsden Shuttle is run by volunteers on most Sundays and Bank Holidays. It links Marsden railway station and car park with the Standedge Visitor Centre.

The 12-minute journey provides a service to those who don’t fancy walking down the towpath. The water taxi can carry up to 12 people at a time.

Anyone who can help should contact Claire Bebbington on 01457 871800.

The canal, which is 20 miles long and runs from Ashton-under-Lyne to Huddersfield, officially opened in 1811.

The tunnel, which is a little over three miles long, runs under the Pennines from Diggle to Marsden and holds the record for being the longest canal tunnel in Britain. It is also the highest above sea level and the deepest underground.

The canal operated for 140 years but was officially abandoned in 1944. Many sections were infilled by the early 1960s and later developed.

In 1974, a group of enthusiasts formed Huddersfield Canal Society with the ambitious aim of restoring the canal to through navigation.

In the mid-1980s the Society teamed up with British Waterways, Kirklees, Oldham and Tameside Councils to form a long-standing and successful partnership.

After 27 years of campaigning and restoration – led by canal society volunteers – the canal was formally re-opened by the Prince of Wales in September, 2001.