Rochdale Canal Bridge 39 – Walsden, Yorkshire, UK
Posted by: dtrebilc
N 53° 40.964 W 002° 05.381
30U E 560123 N 5948607
This stone bridge on the Rochdale Canal is an access bridge to Stonehouse Farm on the hillside above the canal.
Waymark Code: WMEVH1
Location: Yorkshire, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 07/10/2012
Views: 4
The Canal History
The Rochdale canal is 32 miles long and connects Manchester on the west side of the Pennine Hills and Sowerby Bridge on the east side.
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.
All the locks on the canal have a standard length of 72 feet (22 metres).
Details of the bridge
This bridge is known as Stonehouse Bridge and was built in 1798 by Jessop and Crossley engineers; this date was at the time that the part of the canal between Sowerby Bridge and Rochdale was opened, earlier than some other parts of the canal.
At the time the bridge was built canal boats were still towed by horses. It is located on a slight bend in the canal and there are grooves cut in the stonework where the ropes rubbed against the bridge as the horses went round the bend.
This bridge was made a Grade II listed building by English Heritage in 1984 before the canal was restored,
reference number 1278547.
The listing states "Late C18. Hammer-dressed stone. Single span segmental arch with rusticated voussoirs and keystone. Band and parapet with ashlar cappings."