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Bradford Canal: 100 years since closure, 16/17 July


Pluto

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The L&LC Society are opening up Kennet at Gallows Bridge, Shipley, on the 16/17 July, from 11am to 4pm, to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of the closure of the Bradford Canal on 15 July 1922. The 'Official' commemoration will be at 10am on Saturday 16th July, with several members of the Walls family present. Ben C Walls owned the last boat to use the canal, the steamer Beta, as seen in the newscutting below. His son, Earle, was one of those involved with training boatmen during the Second World War, both the Irishmen he recruited, who served on canals across the country, and the volunteer boatwomen who worked on the L&LC. Subsequently, he was sent to Germany in 1947, where he was in charge of restoring the canals in the British sector, and was first post-war Chairman of the Rhine Commission. B C Walls other son, T Norman Walls, also worked on the L&LC, and was writing a history of the canal in the early 1970s, shortly before he died. He interviewed many canal workers, and the L&LC Society hope to put these on our website, www.leedsandliverpoolcanalsociety.co.uk, in the near future.

Last cargo with Beta, 1921.jpg

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Just now, Pluto said:

The L&LC Society are opening up Kennet at Gallows Bridge, Shipley, on the 16/17 July, from 11am to 4pm, to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of the closure of the Bradford Canal on 15 July 1922.

 

Moor just the other side of Dock Swing Bridge and you'll be outside Saltaire Brewery Tap ... :cheers:

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Am I correct in thinking there was a boatyard at the junction of this canal in the 1970's? I was told it was owned  by a Mr  Michael(?) Shackleton who was the grandson of explorer Earnest Shackleton. Can anyone confirm?

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The boatyard was on the left of the picture, with the covered slipway having been infilled to make a more conventional workshop. The photo was taken in 1971, and by this time it was no longer a boatyard. In the 1930s it was owned by G E Ramsey, who built many of the local Shipley boats, and some for the canal company. They also built pleasure boats, not necessarily for canal use. There were certainly boats on the River Aire at Bingley as boathouses are shown on the OS maps of the early 20th century. The sunken boat is probably the Caro, a square-stern dumb boat from the Parkes fleet which carried coal from Wigan to Liverpool. The only L&LC-related Shackleton I know of were those owning a canalside flour mill at Blackburn.1311864729_1971Shipley19713.jpg.d0c80396b913858acb141b0dd99150d4.jpg

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I visited the abandoned site of Mr Shackleton's boat yard in the early 1980s, I must be mistaken about its location , that is , it wasn't at the junction but further along adjacent to , as I recall ,derelict locks. It was certainly a boaty sort of place with engines and boat parts scattered around- some deal had been done with an aquaintance for purchase of the more valuable items.

I see that a railway bridge  over the canal was replaced with an embankment , cutting off the canal near the junction, when was this?.Perhaps this was reason for closure of the yard?

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2 hours ago, billh said:

I visited the abandoned site of Mr Shackleton's boat yard in the early 1980s, I must be mistaken about its location , that is , it wasn't at the junction but further along adjacent to , as I recall ,derelict locks. It was certainly a boaty sort of place with engines and boat parts scattered around- some deal had been done with an aquaintance for purchase of the more valuable items.

I see that a railway bridge  over the canal was replaced with an embankment , cutting off the canal near the junction, when was this?.Perhaps this was reason for closure of the yard?

After closure, the canal was only navigable up to the first lock which was used for unloading coal for the local mill. The first photo shows the lock in 1955, taken by Gordon Biddle. It had been shortened even more by 1975, when I took the second photo. Could on the Shipley Windhill Station site?

Windhill Lock 27-5-1955.jpg

Shipley junction Mar 1975.jpg

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