Rochdale Canal Lock 54 – Slattocks, UK - Waterway Locks, Planes and Lifts on Waymarking.com

The Canal History
The Rochdale Canal was completed in 1804 and is one of three canals that cross the Pennine hills. This is the only one that doesn’t use tunnels. In addition it was a broad canal with bridges and locks that allowed boats of 14 feet width to pass through.

The one downside of not using tunnels is that it originally had 92 locks. These days two of them have been combined into one deep lock.

Competition from railways and roads subsequently led to a decline in goods being carried and by 1937 the only section left in operation was at the Manchester end of the canal.

In 1965 there was talk of abandoning the canal but by this time leisure boating had become very popular in the UK and there was a campaign to keep it open. Work was started and the canal slowly re-opened in a number of different stages. The whole length finally reopened in September 2007.

Details of this lock
This lock is also known as Slattocks Top Lock and is in the small hamlet of Slattocks. This section of the canal was restored in 2002.

The lock has a small stone arch bridge over the tail of the lock. This provides access for the old lock keeper’s cottage next to the lock. It also gives access to both sides of the lock for boaters to operate the lock gates. A lock always forms the narrowest part of the canal and so incorporating the bridge into the lock makes it smaller and cheaper to build.

This lock and adjoining bridge was made a Grade II listed building by English Heritage in 1987 before the canal was restored. link

This web site tells us that the engineer was William Jessop and at the time of listing the lower gates had been removed. The bridge is a segmental-arched bridge.

Waterway Name: The Rochdale Canal Connected Points: The city of Manchester on the western side of the Pennine hills and the town of Sowerby Bridge on the east. Type: Lock Date Opened: 01/01/1804 Elevation Difference (meters): 2.00 Site Status: Operational Web Site: [Web Link] Date Closed (if applicable): Not listed

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