Rochdale Canal Lock 65 – Failsworth, 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 a summit tunnel. 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 a summit tunnel 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 2002.

Details of this lock
This lock is also known as Failsworth top lock. It is the highest lock of a flight of 18 between here and the junction with the Ashton Canal in the City of Manchester. This flight of locks covers a distance of 3.5 miles and passes through the suburbs of Manchester.

Because of the high density of population in this area objects are often thrown into the canal and can block the lock gates.

Because of the potential problems passage has to be booked through this flight of locks with Canal and River Trust which then check the condition of the canal.

To prevent unauthorised passage the top gates of the locks at each end of the stretch are bolted to the towpath and unlocked by the Canal and River trust to let the boat through.

The lock has a small stone arch bridge over the tail of the lock. This provides access for a nearby mills and factories. 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.

The lock gates were replaced in 2003 and there is a plaque stating the date and place of manufacture, Northwich.

On many locks there are warning signs about making sure the boat does not get caught on the cill.

It's not always obvious what this means, but basically the wooden lock gate does not go to the bottom of the lock but sits on a stone base. When the lock is full and a boat is going down, the cill is not visible. This means that when the water is released from the lock it is possible for the boat to get caught on the cill.

This lock was at its lowest when I took the pictures and the cill is clearly visible. When the cill is visible it's much easier to understand the hidden danger.

At the time the photographs were taken the bottom lock gates had been left open.

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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