ABSTRACT
Environment and Transport, who made a site visit led by their formidable Chair Gwyneth Dunwoody MP. She made it clear, in no uncertain terms, that British Waterways was wrong, opening the way for the partnership to buy the head lease. By that time Warehouses 1 and 2 had already been refurbished by British Waterways but the Salt Warehouse and Warehouse 4 were in a very poor state. A cocktail of public and Lottery funding was put together, amounting to £2.7 million, which allowed the warehouses to be refurbished for business use. Road access to the wharf was improved and the gatehouse converted to a cafe with a new sculpture by Roger Burnett. The overseers house has been refurbished as a dental surgery, with the stables below providing creative workspace. The wharf itself is now busy with moorings and the comings and goings of Shire Cruisers, who operate the boatyard and a leisure fleet from the basin. The wharf has become a lively part of Sowerby Bridge life, the destination for the town’s Rushbearing Festival, which involves a maiden, a rush cart and a good deal of real ale. It is home to a number of pubs and restaurants but no housing, something that the partnership has resisted, seeing the wharf as a place of work. These achievements would be impressive in a large city, but to create a regeneration project of this scale in a town of fewer than 10,000 people is remarkable. The wharf is now home to 270 jobs and a range of start-up and relocated businesses. It is testament to the determination of a group of people over many years who have created a special place that has transformed the town.
