Regional Round-up North - May 2026

Exploring deep under the Pennines

This spring, 25 years after it was reopened, Standedge Tunnel on the Huddersfield Narrow Canal underwent a principal inspection. This most careful assessment happens once every few years, in addition to annual surveys, and is a vital part of a programme of continual monitoring across all 55 operational tunnels in our care.

“I’ve journeyed through the tunnel many times, and I’m still in awe at how remarkable it is,” says John Muir, our senior tunnel surveyor. “It’s incredible to think this was dug by hand using pickaxes over 200 years ago.”

Your generous support helps to keep this 200- year-old tunnel open and safe for our boaters and canal enthusiasts. John and the team carried out a painstaking, hands-on principal inspection, testing the integrity of the tunnel by carefully tapping the exposed rock and the mortar lining, using poles, hammers and spikes. “We check for any movement,” says John, “and basically make sure there’s been no change since it was restored and refurbished.”

Standedge Tunnel is a must-see for canal enthusiasts everywhere, and in this anniversary year, it’s the perfect time to experience this unique and significant piece of early engineering. So why not come along and travel through it yourself.

Replacing lock gates in the East Midlands

In February, Friends and supporters in Leicestershire who’ve pledged a Gift in their Will saw how their legacy could be put into action as they were treated to a rare peek behind the scenes of our winter maintenance programme.

The works on the Leicester Line of the Grand Union Canal, include new lock gate installations at Gas Pipe and Pywells Lock near Fleckney and Gees Lock near Glen Parva. It’s all part of a major programme of repair and restoration projects being carried out across the East Midlands.

No two locks are the same width or depth, so each lock gate has to be individually designed and hand-built by skilled craftspeople at one of our two specialist workshops, using traditional, time-honoured techniques. Our supporters at Gas Pipe Lock chatted to the project team to discover all the skills it takes to replace lock gates.

We’re also working to restore brickwork within the locks, replacing the centuries-old structures from the increasing effects of flooding and drought and ensuring they remain watertight and navigable for boats all year round.

Welcoming our Friends to Canal Street

This spring our regional construction manager Mark Wigley, took supporters from the North West right to the bottom of Lock 87 on the Rochdale Canal. This lock sits right in the heart of Manchester’s tight city streets, surrounded by bars, nightclubs and luxury apartments and is just one of 137 locks where your support helped replace gates this winter.

Mark gave a close-up view of how his team are replacing the lock gates demonstrating how donations keep our canals open and working. During his tour Mark explained how this has been one of the most challenging locks to restore in our winter works programme, especially because the lock is so difficult to access.

“We had to negotiate with the council to close Princes Street for three days to crane the old lock gates out, and the new ones in, so it was a very tricky and costly process,” he added.

From the bottom of the lock, Mark explained how his team were now completing the precise work of making sure the gates are tightly sealed with each other, on the lock floor and against the lock walls they pivot on. In the meantime, his team continues to repair the lock walls and floors, replace lock ladders, and clear away tonnes of litter, and even lost shoes and mobile phones, all to help keep the lock open and working well for another 25 years to come.