Event commemorates 100th anniversary of Bradford Canal closure

[Alan de Enfield]

 

 

A COMMEMORATIVE event will mark the 100th anniversary of the closure of Bradford Canal.

On July 15, 2022, it will be exactly 100 years since the last commercial boat descended the Bradford Canal to Shipley.

To commemorate the canal's closure, the Leeds and Liverpool Canal Society will open their heritage boat Kennet to the public next weekend at Gallows Bridge, Shipley.

A spokesperson for the Leeds and Liverpool Canal Society said: "The canal had a chequered early history, from being central to the development of the town in the late 18th century, to being blamed for a cholera epidemic in the 1850s. This resulted in canal’s first closure in 1866."

 

However, the canal re-opened on April 16, 1873, and continued to provide transport facilities for the town until 1922.

The spokesperson said: "This unusual history should not blind us to the very real importance of the Bradford Canal."

Originally proposed by Bradford merchants as an integral part of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, it was actually built by a separate company, though the two canals had a joint office on Moor Row until around 1850.

 

The canal was to prove even more important than those merchants could have wished in supporting the development of Bradford.

During the next century and a half, the woollen and worsted industries came to rely upon raw materials delivered by boat from Liverpool and Hull.

The canal also carried limestone from Craven for purifying the products of the iron works at Bowling and Low Moor, as well as building stone.

The last boat to make its way down the canal in July 1922 was the steamer Beta, recently purchased by Benjamin C Walls after he set up his carrying company in 1921.

Despite the closure, the Walls family continued to be involved with canal carrying until canals were nationalised in 1948.

To commemorate the canal closure, the heritage boat Kennet will open at Gallows Bridge, Shipley, close to the old junction with the Bradford Canal, on Saturday, July 16, and Sunday, July 17, from 11am to 4pm.

 

The Lord Mayor of Bradford, members of the Walls family and representatives of Bradford Council and the Canal and River Trust will be present at 10am on the 16th for a short trip on the Kennet.

 

Afterwards, at 11.15am, a society member will lead a public walk along the remains of the Bradford Canal.

 

Event commemorates 100th anniversary of Bradford Canal closure | Bradford Telegraph and Argus (thetelegraphandargus.co.uk)

[TheBiscuits]

 

 

 

[Pluto]

We (L&LC Society) may do something next year as well, as that will be 150 years since the canal reopened in 1873, with the 250th anniversary of Bingley to Skipton, and then in 2024 it is the 250th anniversary of the opening of canals between Bingley and Bradford, as well as Skipton to Holme Bridge and from Dean Lock to Liverpool. With all the work involved, we could do with some younger people to join and help with Kennet, as most of us have been doing it for ten years and are showing our age.

[Theo]

Having no knowledge whatsoever about the canal, apart from what I have just read, is there any chance of restoration?

 

N

[Alan de Enfield]

36 minutes ago, Theo said:

......... is there any chance of restoration?

 

N

 

Hopefully not.

 

C&RT cannot afford to maintain what they have got without adding any more 'restored on a budget' canals.

[Athy]

What a marvellously atmospheric photo.

But what a pity that the Telegraph & Argus' reporter is of that increasing number who do not know or cannot spell the word "centenary".

 

Is there much of the canal left?

[Pluto]

1 hour ago, Theo said:

Having no knowledge whatsoever about the canal, apart from what I have just read, is there any chance of restoration?

 

N

There are still a number of bridges surviving, plus the lock house and pumping station house alongside the bottom lock. Below is the lockhouse at Crag End, halfway up the canal where there used to be a three-rise lock, a pumping station and the canal workshops and stables. The upper end of the canal has disappeared under new roads and buildings, so little chance of reopening. There was a scheme put forward about 30 years ago which used the Bradford Beck, but it was not really suitable for pleasure boating. The notice in the photo refers to Bradford Beck. This supplied the canal until the 1860s when the pollution of the Beck caused major problems, with the water in the canal being blamed for an outbreak of cholera in the town. The canal closed in 1866, and was reopened in 1873 with water subsequently back-pumped from the L&LC. By 1920, these pumps were worm out, and the cost of replacing them was one of the reasons the canal closed. The 1920s/30s warehouses on the L&LC at Stockbridge and Shipley replaced the former warehousing in Bradford for supplying the woll and worsted industry locally.

There is a walk up the valley to see the remains of the canal at about 11-15 am Saturday from Gallows Bridge.