Rochdale Canal, Rock Nook Lock 42 – Calderbrook, UK - Waterway Locks, Planes and Lifts on Waymarking.com

The Canal History
The Rochdale Canal was completed in 1804 and is one of three canals that cross the Pennine hills. This is the only one that doesn’t use tunnels. In addition it was a broad canal with bridges and locks that allowed boats of 14 feet width to pass through.

The one downside of not using tunnels is that it originally had 92 locks. These days two of them have been combined into one deep lock.

Competition from railways and roads subsequently led to a decline in goods being carried and by 1937 the only section left in operation was at the Manchester end of the canal.

In 1965 there was talk of abandoning the canal but by this time leisure boating had become very popular in the UK and there was a campaign to keep it open. Work was started and the canal slowly re-opened in a number of different stages. The whole length finally reopened in September 2007.

Details of this lock
Lock 43, known as Rock Nook Lock, is on the western side of the summit. This lock is near Calderbrook and is next to Rock Nook Mill. This lock is not very far from the highest point on the canal, and much of the canal is in open countryside around here. However this is the northernmost lock of a group of three next to old mills. The company of Fothergill and Harvey was established in 1859 and used the canal to ship raw cotton from Manchester to these weaving mills. This is the largest and is called Rock Nook Mill. Fothergill and Harvey had links with a company that developed a method of producing Khaki dye used in army uniforms in hot countries. When the Boer War broke out the company became the main manufacturers of the required army uniforms which made them very profitable.

This part of the canal is easily accessible from the road that crosses the canal from the A6033 at Timbercliffe.

Waterway Name: The Rochdale Canal Connected Points: The city of Manchester on the west side of the Pennine hills and the town of Sowerby Bridge on the east side. Type: Lock Date Opened: 01/01/1804 Elevation Difference (meters): 3.00 Site Status: Operational Web Site: [Web Link] Date Closed (if applicable): Not listed

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Date Logged Log User Rating   07/01/2013 Senrab156 visited it 11/07/2012 hulletteers visited it

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