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Help Save Hebden Bridge Dry Dock!!


BoatyCath

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The dry dock in Hebden Bridge is owned by Calderdale Council. It has recently been closed with no notice, apparently in response to complaints about noise. There are very few other boat maintenance facilities on the Rochdale Canal. More info and petition here...

 

https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/hebden-bridge-dry-dock-needs-to-stay-open?share=f8235a9e-1b7f-453f-93b2-c630936e6a95&source=&utm_source=

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I think there is one anti social resident in the flats above the restaurant next to the dock, recently threw things from the upstairs window at boaters working in the dock.

Another example of the folly of building housing right next to a working boatyard.  Hebden Wharf is a good popular spot and one of the very few places were the public can get to see what goes on in a dry dock. Its also very busy, in almost constant use. Its the only dry dock on the Rochdale, the only other facility is Sowerby Bridge but that need a crane bringing in to lift boats out.

 

Due to canal silting and lock subsidence there are a few resident boats on the Rochdale that are trapped, this dock is their only option.

 

...............Dave

and that link does not work, says 403 forbidden.

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19 minutes ago, Athy said:

It works for me; it must be your computer that doesn't like it.

 

It didn't work on the phone either, and neither did a similar link from Facebook, also could not be found by searching the 3 degrees site, but I just tried again and it works now.

 

The Rochdale is desperately short of facilities of all kinds, loosing its only dock would likely also result in all boat work at the wharf coming to an end, so no boatyard facilities at all on the Rochdale (Sowerby Bridge is I think, technically on the Calder and Hebble).

 

.......Dave

  • Greenie 1
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There is a CRT pump out at Hebden but it works from a generator and I am not sure that the generator always starts up when required. Bronte Boats will do a pump out at the exact same location and do it slightly cheaper than the CRT machine. If you have self pump out stuff then Todmorden is good for that.

 

...........Dave

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41 minutes ago, dmr said:

There is a CRT pump out at Hebden but it works from a generator and I am not sure that the generator always starts up when required. Bronte Boats will do a pump out at the exact same location and do it slightly cheaper than the CRT machine. If you have self pump out stuff then Todmorden is good for that.

 

...........Dave

Many thanks.................. Bronte Boats it is.

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A local CRT banksman has posted on another FB thread that there is a serious leak from the dock, it is being repaired. It is owned by Halifax Council, Roads dept. There used to be a filling station there, when it went they wondered what to do with the area, the hole were the tanks were etc, so turned it into a dry dock. Bronte Boats has been angling to take it over and manage it for years. 

Edited by Jim Riley
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10 hours ago, Jim Riley said:

the hole were the tanks were etc, so turned it into a dry dock.

Old maps show an arm there, so while it might have been used to house fuel tanks while the canal was closed, the structure itself is older, although it may have been a wharf arm rather than a dry dock originally.

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38 minutes ago, David Mack said:

Old maps show an arm there, so while it might have been used to house fuel tanks while the canal was closed, the structure itself is older, although it may have been a wharf arm rather than a dry dock originally.

 

I have been told that the slipway right next to the drydock was the remains of the old arm and the dock itself is more recent, so it could be the fuel tank.

 

It would be good for Bronte to take it over, they manage it (get the boats in and out and do most of the repair work to boats) so it might well be better looked after if they also owned it.

 

As a local, can you tell me about the Thai restaurant? it looks to be an original building but I suspect its much more recent, in which case it IS possible for architects to produce a building that blends in with its surroundings rather than a glass triangle monstrosity. I have also heard that the nursery on the other side of the dock used to be a mill but was completely rebuilt with the original stone????

 

...............Dave

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The building that houses the  Rim Nam Thai restaurant, a couple of other shops and the Tourist Office, with apartments above, was built around 20 years ago. Before that it was a building contractor's yard.

The marina and dry dock looked very much as they do today when we moved to Hebden in 1994, but I think had been laid out not that long before. I believe the slipway was installed to allow trailable boats access to the disconnected but restored length of canal which, at its maximum extent before Tuel Lane was reconnected, ran from above Tuel Lane to Littleborough.

 

The wharf and arm (now dry dock) from https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=17.669500080185&lat=53.74052&lon=-2.01127&layers=168&b=120210504_100053.jpg.e2264c10e40f5c0e8afe93d4e9dfb464.jpg

 

Crossley Mill, now the nursery, was completely rebuilt around the same time, apart from the chimney. The old building had a faded sign announcing it as the home of the Hebden Bridge Model Railway Society, but they had ceased to operate by the time we arrived.

Edited by David Mack
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Whats the date on that map? The "drydock" is there but I don't see how it could be part of a longer as an arm because the land at the end is at a lower level. Maybe the longer old arm is just a local myth? I can find no mention of it.

 

There are a few old photos on the www but none show an arm longer than the current dock but do sort of show the  short arm corresponding to the dock.

 

...........Dave

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1 hour ago, dmr said:

Whats the date on that map? The "drydock" is there but I don't see how it could be part of a longer as an arm because the land at the end is at a lower level. Maybe the longer old arm is just a local myth? I can find no mention of it.

 

There are a few old photos on the www but none show an arm longer than the current dock but do sort of show the  short arm corresponding to the dock.

 

...........Dave

I don't think it was ever part of a longer arm. The road is in the way, and is at a lower level, and the buildings opposite are 19th century.

The map is the one that comes up on the link and is the NLS seamless map, comprising sheets of various dates. I couldn't download the individual dated sheets on my phone.

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And just to add that while the Hebden Bridge section was isolated Shire Cruisers ran two hire boats from Hebden Bridge - Rochdale Pioneer and later Rochdale Progress was added.  They were craned in at the beginning of the season and craned out again in autumn and taken back to Sowerby Bridge for the winter. This came to an end when Tuel Lane was reopened in 1996.

Edited by David Mack
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We've found a fair few old photos that all show the arm very much as it is now, so always just a short arm. It was not built at the same time as the canal but several years later. One photo shows that the early canal ran through almost open fields before Heden Bridge grew to meet the canal.

 

..........Dave

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