Lock 40 On The Leeds Liverpool Canal - Bank Newton, UK
Posted by: dtrebilc
N 53° 58.422 W 002° 08.199
30U E 556627 N 5980940
This lock is on The Leeds Liverpool Canal which at 127 miles long is the longest canal in Northern England.
Waymark Code: WMQ0J3
Location: North West England, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 11/23/2015
Views: 1
The locks on this canal were designed to carry the ‘short boats’ that had twice the capacity of the narrow boats used on other canals.
The locks therefore had to be wide enough to allow the 62 feet long, 14 feet wide boats through them. Most of the locks were also grouped together to give long runs between the locks.
The boats were mainly used to carry bulk cargoes such as coal, stone and limestone. Commercial traffic ceased in 1964, but the locks are still used to carry leisure boats which have become very popular. Ironically the leisure craft are often narrow boats, because there are links to other canals, and wider boats would not be able to pass through the locks on the other canals. These locks are wide enough to allow two narrow boats to enter the lock side by side.
The construction of the canal was started in 1770 and the first section opened in 1774 and it as finally completed in 1816.
This lock (Bank Newton Second lock), is the second highest of six locks known as Bank Newton Locks that have a total rise of 56 feet 1 inches.
There is a single arch stone bridge over the tail of the lock built to give access for a nearby farm. The combined structure of the bridge and the lock are a Historic England Grade II Listed Building
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