This is the new home of my Huddersfield Narrow Canal photo project. Now in its third version, it started out in October 1974 when I photographed the canal, then semi-derelict, from end to end. This was soon after the Huddersfield Canal Society (HCS) was formed to campaign for its restoration.
The bulk of my photography at that time was in black and white. One of these monochrome shots formed the cover background of the feasibility study published by HCS. This recorded the current state of the canal and made some preliminary suggestions as to how it could be reopened. The official position of the British Waterways Board at this time was that there was “no question of restoring this canal”.
In addition to the black and white photos, I did take a limited number of colour transparencies. Reversal film and the cost of its processing was a bit of a strain on a student budget, so the colour photography was not as extensive as i would have liked.
The resulting set of slides formed the basis of a talk about the canal I gave in the late 1970s and went on to form part of this website.
After my initial involvement with HCS, I moved away and had only occasional contact with the canal and its restoration scheme which gathered momentum over a period of 20+ years. When the reopening to navigation was announced for May 2001, I decided to retrace the steps I took 27 years previously and repeat the photographs to illustrate the changes to the canal during the restoration. This second set of photos was taken in the few days immediately before the official opening on 1st May. (Because the canal ran through a number of local authority areas, there were several “official openings”, which continued through May as the Standedge Tunnel and the visitor centre at Marsden had separate ceremonies.)
As 2026 marks the 25th anniversary of the reopening, I felt it would be a good time to take a third set of photos. These were shot in two visits to the canal during May.
These trips underlined the difficulties of matching photos from 25 years (or even 52 years) previously. Being the Pennines, the weather was unpredictable. The west side of the canal was shot in a heatwave, with unrelenting sunshine and harsh shadows. The east side was photographed a couple of weeks later in cloud and gloom. (The walk having been postponed a day due to heavy rain.)
What was most noticeable was the advance of nature over the years. Some of the locations had become so overgrown, or masked by trees, that it was near impossible to replicate the shots.
The project also underlined the changes in photographic technology. For the 2026 photos, taken with Sony mirrorless digital cameras, I have a record of exposure, aperture, lens focal length and even GPS latitude and longitude locations. Both the previous sets of pictures were shot on film. 1974’s were taken on a very basic 35mm SLR with manual focus and exposure using prime lenses. By 2001 I was using a Nikon F90 with much improved exposure control and zoom optics. For these two sets, lens focal length can now only be guessed in order to replicate perspective.
The photographs
So, on then to the photos. They are not intended to be a comprehensive study of the canal, nor to explain its history. If you want more in-depth information you can do no better than visit the Pennine Waterways website: a labour of love which will tell you nearly everything you need to know about the waterways in the region. The Huddersfield Canal Society website is also worth a visit
Photo captions have been written mostly from memory so may well contain errors. Some of the locations have been checked against scribbled notes, but not all. Do let me know of any corrections or other comments. My email address is chris@ivydene.com.
The thumbnails below are the 1974 photos and run from west to east. Click on one to see the modern comparisons, then use the buttons to step through the images. Click on any of the images to enlarge. Use the “Back” button to return here.
Further updates
I do plan to make some additions to this site, so bookmark the page and visit again. A few more 1974 pictures have come to light, so I need to identify their equivalents and add them to the page. In addition, I have a map showing the photo locations which needs a little more work before posting. I also plan to expand the captions, which are a bit sparse in places.
