The Rochdale Canal

THE ROCHDALE CANAL HISTORY OF THE CANAL It doesn't take an engineer to understand the achievement of building the Rochdale Canal over the Pennines from Sowerby Bridge to Manchester with the primitive equipment available to the architects, engineers and builders in the late 18th century. The The castellated railway bridge at Gauxholme canal stretches for 32 miles and climbs to a height of 600 feet above sea level with the aid of 92 locks. Construction began in 1794 under the supervision of William Jessop of Derbyshire and the resident Engineer, William Crossley. The canal was seen as a revolutionary way of transporting goods. A load of about 35 tons could be dispatched by barge from Todmorden in the evening and be in Manchester by the following morning. This was a miraculous improvement on the packhorse. The area must have been a hive of activity during the construction stages. Many labourers and navvies were imported from other parts of Lancashire to work on the canal, and many of these men and their families were housed in shanty huts, particularly at Gauxholme. canal at Gauxholme Pubs, beerhouses and a few lodging houses were built to accommodate their needs and the hamlet became renowned as a place of mysterious deaths and disappearances. The first boat came from Sowerby Bridge to Todmorden 24 Aug 1798 and the first to go through Walsden to Rochdale was 21st Dec. 1798. The canal opened through to Manchester in 1804 when the first boat, the 50 ton Mayflower, a seagoing vessel, was taken across the Pennines from Hull to Liverpool. Principal cargoes included coal, agricultural produce and materials for the textiles industry. The large number of locks on a relatively short length of canal, rising to a height of over 600 feet (180m), meant that water supply was always a problem. Seven reservoirs were built especially to service the line. Local men, previously engaged in agricultural work, were drawn to the waterway where employment was readily available and wages were higher than average. When the canal was being built and a section had been finished and flooded, boats were used to carry the building materials to the construction areas. The construction companies provided these boats. Many small farmers and others were involved in carrying goods by horse and cart. The carters were encouraged to abandon their carts and put their horses to good use pulling the boats. The carters were taught to steer and navigate a boat and when the canal was fully operational the carters and their horses stayed with the boats. Many saw this was the way forward and many did it because the remuneration was better. Every horse needed a stable at the end of the day and every stopping place was equipped with stabling facilities, whether it was a wharf, warehouse or pub. Ostlers were employed at these places to care for the horses, change them where necessary, and look after the lame or sick ones. Blacksmiths were also required to keep the industry "on its feet". The wharf at Gauxholme had stabling for 14 boat horses and 14 cart horses WORKING ON THE CANAL Some men set up businesses as carriers, running services with a fleet of boats on which they employed captains, and there were some people who had a single boat which they ran themselves. These latter boats were known as Number Ones. Two such local men had Number Ones. Robert Scholfield, son of Samuel of Naze and Higher Knowl was a single boat owner and general carrier. He dealt in stone mainly, trading along the canal between Luddendenfoot and Manchester. He became a successful stone dealer and merchant. Samuel Fielden of Winterbutlee was another. He was known as "Coal Sam" as he traded in coal up and down the canal. The canal proved a success until the combined effects of road and the decline in traditional industries took their inevitable toll after the Second World War. The Rochdale Canal closed in 1952 .

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