Rochdale Canal Overflows in Sowerby Bridge

The 2015 Boxing Day floods marked a turning point for Sowerby Bridge, a town accustomed to the gentle rhythm of its waterways. For the first time in generations, the Rochdale Canal, once a vital artery of the local economy, was overwhelmed. The canal's banks gave way, flooding the towpath and inundating the locks. This historic event, coupled with the devastating impact of the Rivers Ryburn and Calder, forever etched itself into the town's memory.

These Polaroid photographs, preserved in timeless black and white, serve as a poignant reminder of the 2015 Boxing Day floods. The monochromatic format lends a historical and almost melancholic quality to the images, underscoring the enduring impact of this natural disaster.

The pictures displayed here are all in 900 x 600 x 150 resolution. Clicking any image should open a link in another window to my Colin Green Zazzle store where 6 x 4 x 300 prints are available for a small fee. This can be edited and added to additional products of your choosing.

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The Rochdale Canal from Lock 2 to Bridge 1A

 The Rochdale Canal is one of my favourites to photograph and the section pictured in this post is near my house so I pass it quite often. The stretch from Sowerby Bridge Lock 2 to Bridge 1A is short section but passes through probably the most expensive to build part of the canal, Tuel Lane lock and Tunnel.

The Rochdale Canal was closed in 1952 and the section from bridge 1A Tower Hill to a spot between lock 2 and the Tuel lane Tunnel was infilled, A car park covering the section near the bridge and a grass embankment the tunnel entrance down from Wharf Street, the remaining section was covered by the new Tuel Lane - Wharf Street Junction. This saw the loss of a canal bridge carrying Wharf Street and 2 locks in this section of closed canal.

In the early 1990's work started to reopen this section of the Rochdale Canal with a tunnel under the new Tuel Lane -Wharf Street Junction and a new Lock 3/4 replacing the 2 locks lost when the canal closed. When the works was completed and canal reopened in April 1996 (officially May), lock 3/4 was now the deepest inland lock in the UK at a depth of 19ft 8inches, because of this the lock is manned and controlled by the lock keeper. Boats wishing to use the lock from the Sowerby Bridge Wharf side must get permission before entering Tuel Lane Tunnel, this is due to when the lock empties the waters can cause extreme turbulence inside the tunnel.

During the construction of Tuel Lane tunnel the old Wharf Street Canal Bridge was found to still be intact underneath the road, I believe this although strengthened is still visible just inside the tunnel mouth. Originally the bridge exited near to where the modern day traffic lights are situated between the Commercial Inn and Christ Church, the tunnel now stretchers for approx 340ft.

These pictures were taken on April 10th 2022 using a Nikon d3300SLR camera. They can be seen below and on Clickasnap full size, resolution and un-watermarked.

The original Wharf Street bridge can just be seen inside the tunnel.

The former Jolly Sailor Pub (closed 1939). The Building was once the caretakers residence
for Lock Hill Mills. The part of the mill that stood alongside was demolished
in the late 1990's, the red brick part of Lock Hill Mills still stands on the southern bank
of the River Calder. The Jolly Sailor is now a set of apartments.

The canal pictured from Wharf Street in the direction of Lock 2. The building to the left
is the Roxy a local nightspot thats started life as the Electric Cinema around the time
of World War 1. The cinema closed in 1963 and became a bingo and cafe, before eventually
becoming a nightclub - bar.

A view of Tuel Lane Lock and Christ Church Tower. I was just trying to get a different angle
of the lock and down in to the tunnel, taken from the LIDL supermarket car park.

Tuel Lane Tunnel entrance in to the lock.

Tuel Lane Lock, which is lock 3/4 on the Rochdale Canal replaced 2 locks on this
section of canal, lock 4 would have been just behind where I am stood, lock 3 was on the bend inside
the tunnel just in front of the church tower. These were infilled along with this section of canal after
closure in 1952. This was a car park with a disused theatre to my right when I was growing up 

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Tuel Lane Lock and Tunnel, Sowerby Bridge

Tuel Lane Lock and Tunnel are situated near the start of the Rochdale Canal at Sowerby Bridge, Near Halifax, West Yorkshire. Opened in May 1996, the lock replaced locks 3 and 4 and is the deepest lock in the United Kingdom at a fall of 19feet 8inches.

The canal originally ran under a canal bridge which can still be seen just inside the mouth of Tuel Lane Tunnel and carried on in the open to Lock 3 alongside Christ Church and the pub at where the modern day Tuel Lane Road and car park entrance meet, lock 4 being sighted between the current lock and Bridge 1a at Tower Hill. These were lost sometime in the 1940's -50's when Tuel Lane was diverted and widened to it's current location, the locks and canal also been infilled to create the car park that still occupies much of the modern day site. The formation of the Rochdale Canal Society in 1974 led to the canal moving up agendas and a report in 1991 in to the benefits of the canal being restored led to a eventual grant of £2.5 million from derelict land grants towards the cost of reopening the lock and tunnel. I previously posted about the lock and tunnel in a post dated 19 November 2017, this post includes a number of picture of the lock, canal and tunnel before closure and prior to re-opening, they are not my pictures and where possible they are credited to the copyright holder, have a look at that blog post to see them and learn a little more about the canal.

These pictures were taken on the Rochdale Canal by me on section between Bridge 1a Tower Hill to Lock 2, passing the tunnel and lock. They were taken in June 2014 using a Polaroid is2132 bridge camera. They can be seen below and on Clickasnap where they are un-watermarked and full resolution.

Rochdale Canal towards Tuel Lane Lock and Tunnel, pictured from
under Bridge 1a Tower Hill.

The Rochdale Canal close to where Lock 4 was
originally sighted.

Tuel Lane Lock

Rochdale Canal away from Tuel Lane Lock towards Bridge 1a
Tower Hill. Lock 4 was sighted somewhere along this stretch.

Tuel Lane Lock, the lock keepers office is sighted to the right
of the picture.

Tuel Lane Tunnel looking down from the lock.

The lock gates give an idea of the depth of the lock.

Tuel Lane Tunnel from the other side, the original bridge that 
carried Wharf Street is just inside the tunnel mouth and the 
same shape and style as it's modern entrance.

Lock 2 towards Tuel Lane Tunnel entrance.

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Sowerby Bridge Floods, 3 Years Later

Boxing Day 2015 saw flooding devastate the Calder Valley from Todmorden through to Brighouse, including my home town of Sowerby Bridge. I took a small set of pictures then of the ongoing flooding and with time to pass this morning, I thought I would return to roughly the same area and re picture some of them. The pictures below can only be seen on this blog post, however clicking any image should open a link in another window to my Clickasnap Profile.

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