This was a one-way trip from the Ashton Packet Boat Co's Victorian Boatyard at Bridge 24 on the Ashton Canal. This is either the start or finish point that Shire Cruisers of Sowerby Bridge use for their one way trips.
This was our second time with Shire Cruisers and in the sister boat of the 1994 trip, Westmorland. Nigel and Susan Stevens, the owners of the firm, really do look after you very well and we would recommend them and their fleet.
How it works is that you arrive at the finish, leave your cars there and get a minibus with all your kit to your start point. Or, of course, the other way round depending how the bookings have gone.
Crew were David King (Captain), Adrian King, John Parmenter, Steve Platt, Prof Martin Cranage and Dr Mike Addlesee.
Stopping points were Monday Dukinfield Junction, Tuesday near bridge 24 just past the "Old Sag Aqueduct" and before the Diggle Flight, Wednesday just past the Standedge Tunnel, Thursday Slaithwaite, Friday the Aspley Basin Huddersfield, Saturday Between bridges 8 & 9 on the Calder & Hebble Navigation, and Sunday just before Sowerby Bridge for a short trip to the yard Monday morning.
Here are Martin's photographs of the tripLuckily for us an excellent record of the whole route is available on the link below because there are big gaps in my photos, such as Slaithwaite for example. I am sure among the group there are more photos to follow however.
We would like to thank everybody involved in the restoration project. When in 1990 we past Dukinfield Junction on our Cheshire Ring trip it seemed impossible that a through route on the Huddersfield would ever happen.
A flavor of this restoration can be read in the excellent EO projects "Huddersfield Broad and Narrow Canals" map as well as "Volume 5 of the Nicholson guide". It will be a great shame if all the good work done so far in the restoration of the network is spoilt by the present fiasco at DEFRA.
The Huddersfield Narrow Canal part of the Pennine Waterways site, fantastic site