Standedge Tunnel - Tunnel End

Thursday, 17 June 2010 09:57

An evening at Tunnel End on the Hunndersfield Narrow Canal

We spent the night moored at Tunnel End (near Marsden) , the eastern portal of Standedge (or "Stanege" ) Tunnel. After a long and exciting day we both felt we wanted to celebrate our "achievement".

I rang the Tunnel End Inn to see if they were doing food that evening. Fortunately for us, they had some guests staying and the Landlord, Gary, said that to cook for 6 was as easy as to cook for 4!

Tunnel End sign

So later in the evening we wandered up towards Waters Road and had a look at the views before our meal.

The view from Waters Road above the canal and railway

We could see one of the old rail tunnels

The Visitor Centre is closed on Mondays (as is the café at by the moorings) so we had been unable to have a look at all the info in the Centre. Perhaps we would come back to do this as we had an early morning start the next day.

The railway and Visitor Centre from above (Can you see the aqueduct over the railway line?)

The moorings, café and office from Waters Road

So, after our short exploratory walk, we wandered down to Tunnel End Inn. We  were made very welcome and enjoyed a very good meal, cooked by Bev, Gary's wife. The Inn is a "family run" concern.

The four guests were walkers who were walking the Pennine Way and we had a fascinating evening exchanging experiences. One couple had experienced hire boat holidays and a grandfather used to provide the horses for the working boats - they were "rented" to the boatmen!

Tunnel End Inn

Needless to say we both slept well that night - looking forward to more adventures to come!