Lock 5 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 soth of this lock.

The Lock
This lock is also known as Princes Dock Lock as it is on one side of Princes Dock and consist of a concrete chamber near the wall of the dock with a wooden walkway connecting it to the dock.

The Princes Dock area is being redeveloped and as well as a number of hotels and office blocks, a new ferry terminal is planned to open near here.

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 5.

Just to the south of this lock, connected by a short concrete channel, is the northern entrance of the three tunnels leading to Canning Dock.

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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