Canal towpath upgrade to improve accessibility

Work to improve accessibility along a six-mile (9.5km) stretch of canal has begun, with more than £3m being spent on improvements.

The repair work along the Huddersfield Narrow Canal and Huddersfield Broad Canal is being undertaken by the Canal and River Trust (CRT) in partnership with Kirklees Council and West Yorkshire Combined Authority.

CRT enterprise manager Mark Robinson said the work would focus on opening up the towpaths to more people.

He said: "In a number of places we've got some quite tight barriers. We're going to be taking those out and where we've got steps we're going to be trying to remove those to make it flat."

"It will be an all-weather surface, so it's going to be constructed of tarmac laid on a stone surface, much like you would get on the road," he said.

"To all intents and purposes, it looks like a natural surface but it's very robust. We're not going to have to do anything to it for next 25 years hopefully. And it's suitable for walkers, wheelchair, push chair users and cycles."

The work also includes widening the towpaths, where possible, while retaining heritage features, grass verges, and native plants and trees to support wildlife habitats; repairs to the canal walls; and new mooring bollards for boaters.

The resurfacing is the final stage of a five-year, three-phase project, which has seen the walkway made passable from Huddersfield to Standedge Tunnel - the UK's longest, deepest and highest canal tunnel.

The work, which also includes construction of a ramp at Scarwood Bridge, is expected to continue until October 2025.

Meanwhile, along the Huddersfield Broad Canal the path is being improved from Aspley Basin to Cooper Bridge, where the canal joins the Calder and Hebble Navigation.

This project starts in mid-June and is expected to finish in January 2026.

During the works, both the towpaths will remain open, but with restrictions - meaning people will be escorted through the sites safely.

Funding for the scheme has come from West Yorkshire's Active Travel Fund, which is grant funding provided by Active Travel England.

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