All traffic had ceased by 1937, and most of the canal was closed to navigation and officially abandoned by an Act of Parliament in 1952.

[6] Despite the Manpower Services Commission funding restoration work under the Job Creation Scheme from 1975,[7] there were plans to sever the route with a low-level crossing by the proposed M66 motorway in 1979, and a supermarket on it at Sowerby Bridge in 1980, both of which were opposed.

[8] Progress continued and the eastern section from Sowerby Bridge to the summit at Longlees was open by 1990, although it remained isolated from the canal network, as the connection to the Calder and Hebble Navigation was missing.

The first boat to use the lock and make the passage between the restored Rochdale Canal and the Calder and Hebble Navigation did so on 11 April 1996, and the official opening took place on 3 May.

In this case, a road widening scheme necessitated one lock which has a fall of 19 feet 5 inches (5.92 m).