The Art Project
In 2012 the Canal and River Trust, a registered charity, took over the responsibility for running the canal network in the UK.
The Trust is interested in finding ways of encouraging interest in the waterway network to a wider audience than just boaters. One of the ways of addressing this is through a partnership with the Arts Council England. The move is part of a wider Arts Council-led initiative, involving the National Trust, Forestry Commission and Sustrans, to promote ‘great art for everyone’. For the Canal & River Trust however the focus is much more about finding creative new ways to introduce more people to the waterways as visitors and supporters while also, we hope, surprising and delighting existing communities.
The Trust has also been working with a group of renowned artists and poets (one of whom is a boater) to install four commemorative lock gates at different locations around the country, in a project called Locklines. Each of the locations is a non-listed lock that requires a gate replacement this winter. The work has been carried out in collaboration with our specialist workshops, which build the gates and ensure the structure is sound, and we hope will draw attention to the importance of the humble lock gate – something that no boater needs reminding of, but which non-boaters perhaps do!
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The locklines project involved carving lines of poetry on the arms of 4 lock gates that were already planned to be replaced as part of the normal lock maintenance schedule. In the case of this lock, local Yorkshire poet Ian McMillan went to the workshops at Stanley Ferry where the lock gates are made. He ran an open day for visitors to become involved in the project and eventually saw the lines of poetry carved into the lock gate arms and painted gold.
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The lines of poetry
SUPER HIGH WAY
SUPER WET WAY
SUPER SLOW WAY
SUPER LOW WAY
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The details of the lock
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. The lock gates on this canal consist of a double pair of gates at each end of the lock.
Most of the locks were also grouped together to give long runs between the locks. This lock is the first of 6 locks that together are called the Gargrave Flight and cover a distance of 1.75 miles.
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 normally 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.
The construction of the canal was started in 1770 and the first section opened in 1774. This lock however was constructed in 1790 by engineer Robert Whitworth. There is a small wooden footbridge across the tail of the lock to give access to both sides of the canal for operating the lock gates. There is also a modern concrete road bridge just past the lock carrying the A59.
On many locks there are warning signs about making sure the boat does not get 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.