South Portal - Foulridge Tunnel - Leeds Liverpool Canal - Foulridge, UK - Canal Tunnels on Waymarking.com

The Leeds Liverpool canal is 127.25 miles long and flows from the inland woollen town of Leeds to the coastal sea port of Liverpool, crossing the Pennines along the way. Work on the canal started in 1770 and built in a number of sections and was finally completed in 1816.

By 1777 sections of the canal had been opened at each end of the canal at Leeds and Liverpool, but money had run out to complete the middle section.

In 1791 work re-started on building the canal west from Gargrave. Foulridge Tunnel was opened in 1796 making the canal navigable from Leeds to Burnley.

"The Foulridge Tunnel was a major construction achievement, but is today best known for the story of a cow who once swam the whole length of the tunnel. The tunnel is straight enough that you can see right through it, though the roof is quite low in places. Most of it was built using the 'cut and cover' method - but despite this, unexpectedly difficult rock conditions meant that construction took a whole six years. Travel through the tunnel, which has no towpath, is only possible in one direction at a time, so traffic lights control a ten-minute window in each direction each hour.

In 1912, a cow named Buttercup fell into the canal by the southern portal. Rather than wade out as usual, she chose to swim the whole 1640 yards to the northern end, where she was revived with brandy by drinkers in the nearby Hole in the Wall pub. Pictures in the pub commemorate the occasion.

Is the Tunnel in Use?: In Use Which End is this Entrance?: South Date Constructed: 01/01/1796 Length of Tunnel: 1 mile Construction Material: Cut and cover Associated Website: [Web Link]

Visit Instructions:
If visiting this Waymark please post at least one picture with your visit log and describe your experience at the location. This adds quality to the Waymark and additional information.

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log   06/22/2018 ntpayne visited it