Category: canal

canal, Days Out

Foxton Locks

Foxton Locks

Been many years since we visited Leicestershire and a visit to Foxton Locks. There is easy parking however a bit expensive but its worth the visit. You have Ten locks in total working its way up a fair incline and only one boat at a time !. Back in 1900 they built an ingenious incline plane to help with boat congestion however it was not commercially successful and was disbanded after only ten years. You will find a museum there however its currently closed due to the pandemic but hopefully will open soon. We visited the Pub on the banks called the Foxton Locks Inn it sits on the bank of the canal with plenty of outside seating .

From Wikipedia

Staircase locks are used where a canal needs to climb a steep hill, and consist of a group of locks where each lock opens directly into the next, that is, where the bottom gates of one lock form the top gates of the next. Foxton Locks are the largest flight of such staircase locks on the English canal system.[citation needed]Bottom of Foxton Locks

Building work on the locks started in 1810 and took four years.[7]:3 Little changed until the building of the inclined plane resulted in the reduction in size of some of the side pounds.[7] While the inclined plane was in operation the locks were allowed to fall into decline to an extent and in 1908 the committee released £1,000 to bring the locks back into full (nightly) operation.[7]:35[8]

In 2008, the locks became part of the European Route of Industrial Heritage, a network which seeks to recognize the most important industrial heritage sites in Europe.[9]

The locks are usually manned during the cruising season from Easter to October and padlocked outside operating hours. This is done to prevent water shortages due to misuse and to ensure a balance between those wishing to ascend and descend. There can be lengthy delays at busy times but the actual transit should take approximately 45 minutes to one hour to complete; it is made quicker by the fact that the locks are narrow beam and the gates are light.

canal, museum

Hatton Locks 15th August 2020

Hatton Locks

Well after the year gone due to the pandemic we finally got out and visited Warwickshire to visit the 21 locks on the grand union canal at the village of Hatton. The weather was fantastic so we had a walk from top to bottom and it surprised me, the incline was huge and it must of took ages to get from top to bottom.

he flight was opened in December 1799 on the Warwick and Birmingham Canal. In 1929, the canal was renamed as the Grand Union Canal (on unification of a number of operators) and the decision was made to widen the Hatton stretch. In order to accommodate traders with heavy cargos of coal, sugar, tea and spices up the flight, the locks were widened to 14 feet (4.3 m) – allowing navigation by industrial boats or two single narrowboats.[1] The widening was completed in the mid-1930s using a workforce of 1,000, and the revolutionary concrete lock system was opened by Prince George, Duke of Kent.[1]

The flight was known as the “stairway to heaven” due to the difficulty of the flight and the subsequent easier journey to Camp Hill where the workmen would receive their wages.[1]