Former Lemonroyd Lock On The Aire And Calder Navigation - Methley, UK - Waterway Locks, Planes and Lifts on Waymarking.com

Until 1988 it formed part of the route of the Aire and Calder Navigation, but then disaster struck.

The area had a long history of coal mining and nearby to the Naviagtion were St Aidan's opencast site, Lowther North opencast site and parts of the former Savile Colliery.

In March 1988, there was a slope failure on the banks of the River Aire, resulting in a massive flood of 17,000,000 l (3,700,000 imp gal; 4,500,000 US gal) of water. RAF Chinook helicopters were used to ferry sandbags into the breach, but it did not stop the water cascading in. It took four days for the floodwater to fill the mine workings. Not only did the downstream river flow into the site, but the River Calder actually flowed upstream in the River Aire waterbed from Castleford until the water found a natural level. Government documentation states that it was the Aire and Calder Navigation, whilst others list the Aire as being the source of the water that flooded St Aidan's. The failure came about just southeast of Lemonroyd Lock where the two waterways converge. The resultant deluge created a lake that was 100 ha (250 acres) in size and 70 m (230 ft) deep.

Mining operations were suspended and remedial works costing £20 million were required to drain the site and re-route the river.

The Aire and Calder Navigation is a river and canal system of the River Aire and the River Calder in the metropolitan county of West Yorkshire, England. The first improvements to the rivers above Knottingley were completed in 1704 when the Aire was made navigable to Leeds and the Calder to Wakefield, by the construction of 16 locks. Lock sizes were increased several times, as was the depth of water, to enable larger boats to use the system.

The Navigation parts of the system were man made cuts that bypassed sections of the river to get around such things as weirs.

When the river was diverted a new Lemonroyd lock was built which connected the Navigation to the river and replaced the former Lemonroyd Lock and another lock at Kippax.

The new section of river was diverted to the south west of the old route and the former route partly filled in and partly left in water.

The former Lemonroyd Lock was left in position (except that the lock keepers cottage was demolished) and partly filled in. There are no signs or information boards with any indication of the former lock or what caused it to be left on its own, but equally there are no fences around around it and it can be accessed from the nearby footpath.

After all the repairs were completed and the mines drained, mining resumed for a short period. However by 2010 all mining had ceased and Ownership of the land was transferred to St Aidan's Trust, a charity administered by Leeds City Council. The trust then lease the land to the RSPB for 99 years on a peppercorn rent. The land was converted to a Country Park with some of the open cast workings being converted to wetland areas and lakes.

There are many public footpaths throughout the Nature Reserve and this one parallel to the new route of the river passes next to this old lock and gives free access to the remains.

Waterway Name: Aire and Calder Navigation Connected Points: The canal connects the City of Leeds and the town of Goole. There are also a number of connections with other canals. At Leeds it connects to the Leeds Liverpool Canal At Castleford it connects to the Calder and Hebble Navigation. At Haddsley it connects to the Selby Canal At Dole Bank it Connects to the Knottingley and Goole Canal Type: Lock Date Opened: 01/01/1704 Date Closed (if applicable): 12/30/1988 Elevation Difference (meters): 2.00 Site Status: Remnants Web Site: [Web Link]

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