In 2013 Wakefield Historical Society embarked on a major project to discover the history of Wakefield Waterfront. We learnt about the importance of the Calder and Hebble Navigation to the development of the Waterfront and to Wakefield, as it provided vital transport links by water up the Calder valley. Two members of the Society researched the building of the first Navigation between 1760 and 1763 with John Smeaton as the engineer, and wrote a book about this. As an upland river floods regularly impact and damage the infrastructure, and the Canal and River Trust have been repairing recent serious damage from floods in February 2020. The Figure of Three locks between Horbury and Dewsbury were the most damaged structure on the whole of the Waterways system. Repairs are now being made at Woodside lock in Elland. The Trust states that it recognises the importance of preserving Georgian waterways.
Find out more: Repairs to the Calder and Hebble
‘John Smeaton and the Calder Navigation’ can be bought through Wakefield Historical Publications