Standedge Tunnel, Huddersfield Narrow Canal

Work commenced in 1794, and the original designer of the tunnel network was acclaimed Derbyshire canal and railway engineer Benjamin Outram. However, opposition to his plans to use only two construction headings to avoid the expense of sinking deep vertical shafts and criticisms that this would severely extend the completion date caused him to resign from the project in 1801. Benjamin Outram had also been plagued with health problems throughout the brief and died of a stroke in 1805 while on his way to a business meeting at the age of just 41.

Six years after Outram’s withdrawal and construction had been halted, additional funding was secured, and esteemed civil engineer Thomas Telford (below) was brought in and produced plans, which led to completion and a grand opening in April 1811.

Taking 17 years to complete, it is estimated that the breathtaking engineering feat that is the Standedge Tunnel network took the sweat and labour of around 2,500 men. Working in brutal conditions day and night and using the most rudimentary tools of pickaxes, shovels, and gunpowder to dig out the underground passages, the death count proved a costly sacrifice.

Official figures claim that a total of 50 men were killed during the work, but the true number of lives lost is thought to be far greater. Many casualties who were injured on site but later died in the hospital or at home are unlikely to be included in the official number. Workers were killed when excavated holes were packed with explosives, but the safe perimeter had not been properly calculated. Working in the pitch black with the only light provided by a candle glued with wax to their hats, many workers even walked around with gun powder in their pockets.

Even after completion, the tunnels and canal continued to claim many victims. In 1857, two-year-old Mary Ann Taylor was playing near the canal when she was crushed between the beam of Low Lock Gate and the wall. In September 1910, the body of electrician Richard Clegg was discovered in pieces after he had been hit by a train after going into the tunnels to examine electric wires.

Tragic railway signal linesman Ellis Brewer was killed on his 54^th birthday in May 1938. Discovered by his assistant, it appeared that Mr. Brewer had been killed instantly after sustaining serious head injuries when he was knocked to the ground by a train of empty coaches.

Standedge was constructed without a towpath, and boats could only be driven through the tunnels by using a system commonly used in the 1800s known as legging. This needed two people to lie across a plank on the front part of the boat and steer its progression by pushing against the tunnel wall with their feet. This exhausting operation was fraught with danger as both men had to be at the same angle and applying the same pressure. Many leggers were crushed to death between the barge and the wall if one partner applied too much pressure or his footing slipped against the damp tunnel walls. The image below shows just how vulnerable and unprotected the leggers were.

As railways became a speedier and more preferred method of transporting commercial goods, the Standedge Tunnel fell out of favour, and many canal transport companies went out of business. The last working barge passed through the tunnel in 1921, and the canal and tunnel officially closed in 1944.