It's been well publicised, so lots of you knew.... This is the answer to yesterday's puzzle - the crowds flocked to Bingley's famous Five Rise Locks at the weekend to catch a rare sight of the locks drained of water. And not only to look... thanks to some carefully constructed scaffolding, you could actually walk right through the flight, from the top to the bottom. The locks have been drained in order to allow engineers to replace four of the six huge pairs of lock gates, which are made of solid oak but which inevitably over the years start to rot and leak. For further information, please take a look at the article put together by our local paper.
The spectacular staircase of five locks, built by John Longbotham, was completed in 1774, enabling boats to make the 60 foot ascent or descent of this stretch of the Leeds-Liverpool Canal. It takes about an hour and a half for a boat to navigate through.
PS I'm still unable to comment on some blogs so if you haven't seen me lately, I'm sorry.
Fascinating information. Wish I could have been there.
ReplyDeleteI'm always impressed by locks. When you think of the time they were built!You surely had great and interesting time there.
ReplyDeleteHave never seen such a busy canal- thanks for the info too.
ReplyDeleteChrissy at Manchester: a photo a day at Mancunian Wave
It looks as though the whole town has come out for the event Jenny - I guess it's such a rare occurrence .
ReplyDeleteI was half right and I don't live anywhere nearby. It is a marvellous engineering feat to have been built so long ago.
ReplyDeleteBoy, do I wish I had been there too! And what a fantastic photo. Love it. Aren't locks fascinating! I've seen them along the Mississippi and at Sault Ste. Marie.
ReplyDeleteDid you walk through? I imagine that would feel quite unsettling!
ReplyDeleteWhat an adventure! I'd be nervous walking in there!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this pic Jenny, together with accompanying background. What an amazing feat of engineering - especially in 1774! I've been through the locks in Panama Canal which was also a tremendous achievement, but this one gets my vote!
ReplyDeleteExciting photo! Exciting event! Well captured!
ReplyDeleteThat really is an amazing sight Jenny, are there many of these 'five tiered locks' around. What a great piece of engineering way back then by Mr. Longbotham.
ReplyDeleteI always marvel at how old the structures are there and that they are maintained instead of being demolished. ~Lili
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