Horse boating on the Huddersfield

Published: Thursday, 08 April 2010

THE Horseboating Society has organised a trip in April that includes legging through Standedge Tunnel.

Sue Day, Chairperson of the society, tells us that the journey will start on the Ashton Canal with 156 years old Maria being pulled along the waterway onto the Huddersfield Narrow, arriving at Diggle on the 25th April, being legged through the 31⁄4 miles tunnel then on to Huddersfield. The photograph by Paul Atterbury shows Maria being legged on a previous occasion. His other photograph below shows the boat on display at Marsden.

Upon arriving back at Marsden on Saturday 1st May, the horse boat will be on display over the holiday, with the tradition  of parading a working horse,  on Bank Holiday Monday, May 3rd,and visitors to the holiday events at the Centre will be able to see how a horse was worked as a packhorse, wagon horse before the tunnel opened for use in 1811. There will also be demonstrations of the traditional art of legging boats through Standedge Tunnel during the holiday organised by the Horseboating Society.

Guided walk over the tunnel

Then at 1pm the boat will again be legged through the tunnel, in conjunction with a four miles guided walk from Marsden over the tunnel to Diggle, then she will be horse drawn to Uppermill.

Then eventually back to Guide Bridge on the Ashton, in all a journey of 45 miles including 148 locks.