Lock 6 On The Liverpool Link Canal - Liverpool, UK - Waterway Locks, Planes and Lifts on Waymarking.com

The Canal History
The Leeds Liverpool Canal which at 127 miles long is the longest canal in Northern England. It was built between Leeds and Liverpool to carry bulk cargoes such as coal, stone and limestone between 1770 and 1816.

In 1846 the docks of Liverpool were extended and Albert Dock was built with warehouses next to the wharves to allow easy transshipment between boats and warehouses.

The Stanley Dock Branch of the Leeds Liverpool Canal was built at the same time to give the canal boats access to this facility. This enabled cargoes to be quickly transferred between the canal boats and ocean going vessels. However with the introduction of larger steam driven ships, the use of Albert Dock declined and the Stanley Dock Branch fell into disuse and part of the dock area infilled.

These days commercial traffic on the canal has stopped, but it is popular with leisure boaters.

Albert Dock itself has been redeveloped and has a variety of shops, apartments and restaurants and is a popular tourist destination.

As part of the redevelopment it was decided to re-open a canal link from the Leeds Liverpool Canal to the docks area.

As well as re-opening the original Stanley Lock Branch of the canal, a new part of the canal was constructed to provide a connection with Albert Dock. This new extension includes 3 short tunnels through the in-filled area to the west of this lock.

The Lock
This lock is also known as Mann Island Lock and gives access to Canning Basin, which in turn leads into Albert Dock.

Because this dock area gives access to the estuary of the River Mersey, it is tidal and the height of the water in the docks varies. Because of this the lock is reversible and allows boats to either descend from the canal into the basin, or at higher tides ascend into it.

There is also a third set of gates that can be shut at times when the dock is in flood and the height differential is too great for the lock to be safely used.

The original Stanley Dock Branch had 4 locks, and although this new link is known as the Liverpool Link Canal, it continues the old numbering system. This is the top one of two locks on the the new link and hence is lock number 6.

Waterway Name: The Liverpool Link (part of a branch of the Leeds Liverpool Canal) Connected Points: The canal links Albert Dock in Liverpool and the terminus of the Leeds Liverpool Canal at the Eldonian Village Basin. Type: Lock Date Opened: 03/25/2009 Elevation Difference (meters): 2.00 Site Status: Operational Web Site: [Web Link] Date Closed (if applicable): Not listed

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