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Posted: Fri 27 Jun, 2008 2:38 am
by BIG N
I know Birkenshaw is not really Leeds, more Bradford really but I wonder if anyone can help me with some information.Chatting in the canteen at work about things that have long since dissapeared someone threw into the conversation a titbit about a long lost Canal that was at Birkenshaw, they said it was about two miles in length and was built to link up a foundery with a quarry or something similar.Does anyone have any info on this canal please ??

Posted: Fri 27 Jun, 2008 11:04 am
by rod bottom
big n,there was branch canal that ran off the leeds/liverpool canal about 3 miles into bradford.it was closed in 1866 and filled in.the last 20ft or so can still be seen at shipley,though it just looks like a turning point[or winding hole].it was built to allow bradford colliery owners to move coal out and bring in limestone etc.one of the reasons it closed apart from the coming of the railways was the fact it was completely minging and in places would even ignite!!.if you search the net ,there is a virtual tour of the route.sorry cant remember the site.hope this is some help

Posted: Fri 27 Jun, 2008 12:06 pm
by BIG N
Hi Rod - I know the Bradford branch of the Leeds and Liverpool well, spent quite a bit of time living in Frizinghall and Shipley.The one I am talking about was apparently built to link two industries together and was in effect a private canal (only going off what I have been told) in the Birkenshaw area, several miles from the one you mention - and quite a few feet higher up as well.I have had a look on Google Earth and found something of interest that could be the remains of a waterway - see what you guys think.http://www.flashearth.com/?lat=53.75087 ... src=mslThe wiggly line running top to bottom down the picture could have been a canal possibly, interesting too that the street at the top end is called Furnace Lane.

Posted: Fri 27 Jun, 2008 12:24 pm
by Si
Looks more like a beck to me, BigN. A bit too wiggly for a canal IMHO.

Posted: Fri 27 Jun, 2008 2:26 pm
by Chrism
Hiya BigN, it's called Emmet's Canal. See here http://www.jim-shead.com/waterways/Emmets-Canal.html and scroll down a tad for some details.

Posted: Fri 27 Jun, 2008 2:53 pm
by Tasa
Si wrote: Looks more like a beck to me, BigN. A bit too wiggly for a canal IMHO. It's to the east of the beck Si - the curvy thick green line with precise edges going through the fields (it took me a while to find it, and then only with the aid of an old map!). There's a bit more history here:http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/517673

Posted: Fri 27 Jun, 2008 3:57 pm
by Si
Tasa wrote: Si wrote: Looks more like a beck to me, BigN. A bit too wiggly for a canal IMHO. It's to the east of the beck Si - the curvy thick green line with precise edges going through the fields (it took me a while to find it, and then only with the aid of an old map!). There's a bit more history here:http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/517673 Now THAT'S a canal! Shoulda gone to Specsavers...

Posted: Sat 28 Jun, 2008 2:20 am
by BIG N
I knew you guys would come up with an answer, my first reaction when told of this canal was to say - "What, up there, no way - where did it go" but it seems my informant was correct and this waterway did in fact exist.Cheers for the links guys, are we in agreement then that the "Wiggly line" is in fact the remains of Emmetts Canal and that the name Foundery Lane is more than just a coincidence?? P.S. - I love the idea that the Blue hills got their name from being the site of the iron ore slag heaps, it's something I have wondered about in the past - and would go a long way to explaining where the name came from.Just to tax your brains a little further - could the long, narrow brown bit at the bottom of the Wiggly line have actually been the Basin at one end of the waterway??Cheers again guys.    

Posted: Mon 30 Jun, 2008 10:08 am
by Si
There were (are?) similar heaps on Baildon Moor - not Leeds, I know, but there must be similar heaps still in Leeds?

Posted: Mon 28 Jul, 2008 8:29 am
by simong
BIG N wrote: The wiggly line running top to bottom down the picture could have been a canal possibly, interesting too that the street at the top end is called Furnace Lane. Bradford had a considerable iron industry until fairly recently. It was mostly around Bowling and Low Moor, and there's a pub called the Furnace on Sticker Lane. The remains of the industry is generally scrap metal dealers and small wrought iron workshops in the area north of Bowling Back Lane, and there are references to Birkenshaw if you search for 'Bradford iron' or similar. The University even has an archeometalurgy department.