Horseboat Maria was filmed at Standedge and Diggle in 2012 for two separate television programmes. One was repeated in late May and the other is being broadcast in June for the first time.
Maria was on television as a repeat showing on May 28 with the Dan Snow programme “Locomotion”. The boat was towed by Bilbo on the Diggle locks of the Huddersfield Narrow Canal, showing the use of canals before the advent of railways. (May be available on BBC iplayer.)
Look out for Maria on “Town” with Nicholas Crane. He legged Maria in Standedge Tunnel in 2012. As the film was to show Nick only as a legger, it was necessary for him to leg from the back cabin roof. The programme will be about the town of Huddersfield. The Huddersfield Narrow Canal only became fully navigable from end to end when the Standedge Tunnel finally opened in 1811 after 16 years of digging and building. The Huddersfield Broad Canal was an earlier navigation and both canals increased trade for the town of Huddersfield.