Hello and welcome back to my blog 😊.

Today’s little adventure would see myself and Angela set off early from Manchester and head towards Marsden, near Huddersfield, to visit the Huddersfield narrow canal and Marsden Moor.

As we headed out of Manchester along the M60 the commuter traffic headed into Manchester was in its usual static state – I don’t know how people do that journey every day, it would drive me mad! Shortly after getting on to the M60 I realised that I had left my phone on charge in the kitchen. Doh!- luckily I had my GPS with me and Angela could take the photos-phew!

After about an hour’s drive we arrived in Marsden and found a parking spot. Marsden is nestled in a valley with the river Colne running through. Our route would take us out of Marsden (starting at the railway station) and up high looking down at the town. Returning to the town we were planning to walk beside the canal and then head up on to Marsden Moor.

Somewhere along this first section above Marsden we took the wrong turn, realising that we were not on route we modified our route. One of the aims of today was to visit Standedge tunnel, famous for being the longest, deepest and highest canal tunnel in the country.

The tunnel is 196m above sea level, 5,029 m long and burrows 194 m below the moorland summit. It runs from Marsden to Diggle. It was at the cutting edge of civil engineering when constructed and consequently suffered numerous technical challenges. Only one boat at a time could pass through the tunnel and it had no towpath, so the horse drawn boats had to be ‘legged’ through the tunnel.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standedge_Tunnels

Arriving at the visitors centre we already knew that there would be no boat trips today ( we will come back at a future date and do this) but we had hoped the café would be open. Alas, it was closed. Talking to a Canal and river Trust volunteer he told us that yesterday (bank holiday monday) was very busy and the café had sold out! Still it was great to see the famous tunnel entrance 😊.https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/things-to-do/museums-and-attractions/standedge-tunne

The volunteer told us that you could get a coffee in the warehouse by the wharf – so off we set.

The warehouse is a music centre where musical instruments were being hand-made. The café was make your own which we did. In the centre of the warehouse was the wharf where in olden days the loads could be loaded and unloaded in the dry.

Refreshed, we followed our route heading up onto Marsden Moor aiming to summit on Pule hill. Along the way it was very windy but thankfully it was not chilly.

We passed one of the tunnel ventilation shaft’s – which also served as a means of removing the spoil during construction of the tunnel.

After a steep climb up the moorland Angela and I took a break.

Reaching the summit we didn’t linger – it was far too windy.

After a steep descent we followed a track and picked up the Standedge trail with nice views of Marsden and a reservoir.

Arriving back into Marsden we picked up the Huddersfield narrow canal at the railway station and enjoyed a lovely walk along the picturesque towpath passing 11 very narrow locks.

I liked the bridges used to cross the locks, far more sensible than walking across the lock gates, but possible because the locks are so narrow.

After descending through the locks we turned around and came back up, at which point the heavens opened and we had rain. It didn’t take long to reach the car so we were not too wet.

We had both had a nice day out and were grateful for the lack of rain most of the day. I was pleased to have explored some of the canal.

Happy Walking! 😊🚶‍♂️