Saddleworth Moor, South Pennines (16. Bridge over railway, Station Road, Diggle)

The Huddersfield Narrow Canal had been open for just 34 years when it was bought by the Huddersfield and Manchester Railway Company. They were planning a line to connect the two industrial centres on either side of the Pennines. The railway company did not fear competition from the canal as they would be offering a much faster way of transporting goods and people, but they did want to use the canal to build their parallel tunnel. Short connecting passages were bored between the canal and railway tunnel and then excavated rock was loaded onto barges for removal. The canal tunnel is several feet below the level of the railway tunnels so it also acted as a drain. The new railway line opened in 1849 with two more tunnels added to increase capacity in the 1860s and 1890s. Today only one of the rail tunnels is used – by local trains between Huddersfield and Manchester and by long-distance trains running from York and Leeds to Manchester and Liverpool. other tunnels which you can just see to the right can be accessed by emergency vehicles. There have been proposals to reinstate the other tunnels to increase capacity on this well-used route. The railway has also become a leisure routeway with the informal title of the ‘Rail Ale Trail’ because of a number of acclaimed pubs along the route particularly on the station platforms themselves at Dewsbury, Huddersfield and Stalybridge. Directions to stop 17 Continue across the railway bridge and bear left which is Station Road and becomes Sam Road at the corner. Go past the bus stop. Where the road bends round to the right go left into the car park. Go through the car park and down the path at the far end from where you can see the canal towpath. Stop by the tunnel entrance on the left.