Looking towards the terminal basin of the Calder and Hebble Navigation, from a point near the junction with the Rochdale Canal

The Calder and Hebble Navigation is a wide-locked (14'0") navigable inland waterway system in West Yorkshire, England. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2061x2791, 1290 KB)canal as it joins the rochdale File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2061x2791, 1290 KB)canal as it joins the rochdale File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. ... Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: God Save the King/Queen Capital London (de facto) Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Unification    - by Athelstan AD 927  Area    - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK)   50,346 sq mi  Population    - 2006 est. ...

History

Construction was started in 1757 by the civil engineer John Smeaton (assisted by William Jessop) to extend navigation on the River Calder west (upstream) from Wakefield to Sowerby Bridge near Halifax. The navigation originally consisted of improved stretches of the River Calder with short "cuts" between sections of the river to avoid circuitous stretches, shoals or weirs. Construction of the initial phase was finished in 1770. Later side-extensions were made from Thornhill to Dewsbury (necessary because the main line of the navigation bypassesd the Dewsbury section of the Calder) and from Salterhebble to the centre of Halifax (along the River Hebble). In later improvements, longer cuts bypassed (even longer) sections of river, so that the navigation now largely consists of lengths of canal with fairly short river sections. 1757 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... The term civil engineer refers to an individual who practices civil engineering. ... Portrait of John Smeaton, with the Eddystone Lighthouse in the background. ... William Jessop (23 January 1745 - 18 November 1814) was a noted English civil engineer, particularly famed for his work on canals, harbours and early railways in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. ... Statistics Population: 79,885 Ordnance Survey OS grid reference: SE335205 Administration Metropolitan Borough: City of Wakefield Metropolitan county: West Yorkshire Region: Yorkshire and the Humber Constituent country: England Sovereign state: United Kingdom Other Ceremonial county: West Yorkshire Historic county: Yorkshire (West Riding) Services Police force: West Yorkshire Police Fire and... Halifax is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale in West Yorkshire, England, with a population of about 82,000. ... The River Calder is a river flowing through the predominantly urban areas of West Yorkshire, England, and gives its name to the borough of Calderdale. ... Battle of Chesma, by Ivan Aivazovsky. ... Halifax is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale in West Yorkshire, England, with a population of about 82,000. ...

Current Route

The Navigation runs from Wakefield (junction with the Aire and Calder Navigation) upstream via Mirfield (junction with the River Colne and the Huddersfield Broad Canal) to Sowerby Bridge (junction with the Rochdale Canal). Other towns on the navigation are Horbury, Ossett, Dewsbury, Brighouse, and Elland. The Branch to Halifax is no longer navigable, except for a stub now known as the Salterhebble Arm. Mirfield is a town in West Yorkshire, England, near Dewsbury. ... The River Colne rises in the Pennines in West Yorkshire. ... The Huddersfield Broad Canal runs for 3 3/4 miles (6 km) between Cooper Bridge where it meets the Calder and Hebble Navigation, and Huddersfield where it meets the Huddersfield Narrow Canal. ... A Lock on the Rochdale Canal with water flowing over the gate due to the lack of a side channel. ... Horbury is a large village, west of Wakefield and south of Ossett, in West Yorkshire. ... Badge of Ossett town. ... Statistics Population: 54,341 (2001) Ordnance Survey OS grid reference: SE245225 Administration District: Kirklees Metropolitan county: West Yorkshire Region: Yorkshire and the Humber Constituent country: England Sovereign state: United Kingdom Other Ceremonial county: West Yorkshire Historic county: Yorkshire Services Police force: West Yorkshire Police Fire and rescue: {{{Fire}}} Ambulance: Yorkshire... Brighouse Coat of Arms Brighouse is the second largest town in the metropolitan district of Calderdale in the county of West Yorkshire, England,The 2001 census gave the towns population as 32,198. ... Elland is a town in the county of West Yorkshire, England, south of Halifax, England, by the River Calder and the Calder and Hebble Navigation. ...

Current Use

The navigation is used almost entirely by leisure boaters, to whom it represents both an attractive cruising ground in it own right, and also a vital four-way link.

- The Rochdale Canal leads to Rochdale and Manchester.

- The Huddersfield canals lead to Uppermill and Ashton, and hence to the Midlands and Welsh canals.

- The Aire and Calder Navigation carries boats to Leeds, and (via the Leeds and Liverpool Canal), to Lancashire

... and also East to Selby and York, Goole and the Humber, Keadby and the Trent, and Sheffield, Rotherham and Doncaster.

The importance of the Calder and Hebble as a through route makes one notorious feature of the C&H very significant: it has the shortest locks on the connected network of English inland waterways. Although this is a wide (wide-locked) navigation, the locks are short, so that boats longer than about 57 feet must be narrowboats, because boats above this length can only fit into the shorter locks by lying diagonally. Boats near the maximum (even for narrowboats) length of approx. 60ft can only get into and out of the shortest locks (such as the middle lock of the three at Salterhebble, reputed to be the shortest on the network) by expedients such as removing fenders, having shore parties pole the boat into position, and going down locks backwards. Thus it is the C&H Navigation which defines the maximum length of the English go-anywhere narrowboat. Another quirk is the C&H handspike, a length of 2" by 4" timber which boaters have to carry (in addition to the more usual windlass) in order to lever open the lock paddles which allow a full lock to empty or an empty one to fill. Canal locks in England. ... A narrowboat is a boat or small barge used on narrow beam canals in Britain. ...