Page:Rivers, Canals, Railways of Great Britain.djvu/366

 Huddersfield, (through which it passes under the part designated Pule Hill and Brunn Top, generally called Standedge,) for the distance of five thousand four hundred and fifty-one yards, and emerges therefrom into the vale of Diggle in Saddleworth, continuing to near Wrigley Mill, making the whole summit level four miles; it then glides along the valley, alternately on the north and south sides of the River Tame, past Dobcross, Scout, and Stayley Bridge, to its junction with the Manchester, Ashton-under-Lyne and Oldham Canal, near Duckinfield Bridge, having passed a further distance of eight miles and a quarter, and through a descent of 334½ feet, which is equally divided among thirty-three locks; crossing the River Tame in four different places, and making the whole length of canal nineteen miles and three quarters.

In passing from the summit level to Ashton-under-Lyne, there are two other tunnels; one at Scout, two hundred and four yards long, excavated through a strong sand rock, and the other near its extremity at Ashton, one hundred and ninety-eight yards long, cut through a complete body of fine sand.

The principal tunnel at Standedge, or, as it is generally called, the Marsden Tunnel, is 9 feet wide and 17 feet high; the depth of water through it is 8 feet, leaving 9 feet from the surface of the water to the spring of the arch; there is no towing-path in the tunnel; the boats are therefore haled through by manual labour, which is effected in about one hour and twenty minutes; those at Scout and Ashton have each a towing-path.

There are now four lines of communication between the east and west coasts; first by way of time River Trent, and the Trent and Mersey; second, by way of the Aire and Calder, and the Leeds and Liverpool; third, by the Aire and Calder, Calder and Hebble, the Rochdale, and the Duke of Bridgewater's; and fourth, by the Aire and Calder, Calder and Hebble, that of Sir John Ramsden, the Huddersfield, Ashton-under-Lyne, Rochdale, and the Duke of Bridgewater's; which last line is the shortest by nine miles and three quarters. This canal passes through a very populous and manufacturing district, full of valuable stone, but nearly void of every article for manufacturing purposes; its beneficial effects are therefore very obvious, not only as being the shortest line of communication from Manchester to Hull; but, at the same