It has only been possible to cruise it since 2002, when restoration of the Huddersfield Narrow Canal provided the return route across the Pennines.

It described a series of interconnecting canals which could be navigated, usually in a week or two, without having to cover any section twice, and has subsequently been applied to several other such routes.

Unlike the other two trans-Pennine canals, it does not have a major tunnel, but has to climb higher as a consequence, and the large number of locks, which were able to take wide-beam barges up to 14 feet (4.3 m) wide, used a prodigious amount of water, which often presented problems.

[3] Sowerby Bridge was historically a transshipment point, as the barges on the Calder and Hebble Navigation were only 56 feet (17 m) long, and this still restricts the size of boats that can complete the ring.

Some of the lower locks were enlarged during this period, but this did not include any that form part of the South Pennine Ring.

One unusual feature of the waterway is the need for a long piece of wood, called a handspike, to open the paddles on the locks.

Because it is a river navigation, water levels are liable to fluctuate, and many of the locks have coloured gauge boards to indicate if it is safe to proceed.

The South Pennine Ring takes a left turn onto the Huddersfield Broad Canal.

Despite the proximity of towns the route feels quite rural, with wooded banks and playing fields close by.

It reaches Aspley Basin after passing the Locomotive Lift Bridge, named because of its shape rather than its function, as it carries a road over the canal.

This is higher than the summit of the Rochdale, and yet it is also the deepest canal tunnel, as it is 638 feet (194 m) below Saddleworth Moor in places.

Between the top lock and the north-east portal of Standedge Tunnel there is around 0.5 miles (0.8 km) of level canal.

Below the final lock is another tunnel, 166 yards (152 m) long, which carries the canal under an Asda supermarket to reach Dukinfield Junction.