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Tuesday, 31 January 2012

Excitement at the Five Rise Locks


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. 
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12 comments:

  1. ChrisJ31 January 2012 at 07:20

    Fascinating information. Wish I could have been there.

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  2. Malyss31 January 2012 at 07:59

    I'm always impressed by locks. When you think of the time they were built!You surely had great and interesting time there.

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  3. Chrissy Brand31 January 2012 at 11:00

    Have never seen such a busy canal- thanks for the info too.

    Chrissy at Manchester: a photo a day at Mancunian Wave

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  4. Dianne31 January 2012 at 12:10

    It looks as though the whole town has come out for the event Jenny - I guess it's such a rare occurrence .

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  5. diane b31 January 2012 at 12:12

    I was half right and I don't live anywhere nearby. It is a marvellous engineering feat to have been built so long ago.

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  6. Cranberry Morning31 January 2012 at 14:10

    Boy, 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.

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  7. H31 January 2012 at 15:58

    Did you walk through? I imagine that would feel quite unsettling!

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  8. RedPat31 January 2012 at 19:09

    What an adventure! I'd be nervous walking in there!

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  9. Valerie31 January 2012 at 22:19

    Thanks 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!

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  10. Michael and Hanne31 January 2012 at 22:50

    Exciting photo! Exciting event! Well captured!

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  11. PerthDailyPhoto2 February 2012 at 13:16

    That 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.

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  12. Lili2 February 2012 at 23:26

    I always marvel at how old the structures are there and that they are maintained instead of being demolished. ~Lili

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