Salterhebble Top Lock On The Calder And Hebble Navigation – Salterhebble, UK
Posted by: 
dtrebilc
N 53° 41.905 W 001° 51.429
30U E 575452 N 5950573
This lock is the 27th lock on the canal from the start at Wakefield. It is at the junction with the disused Halifax branch. It is also one of three locks that are close together here at Salterhebble.
Waymark Code: WMG93V
Location: Yorkshire, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 01/31/2013
Views: 2
Top Lock
This lock is situated next to an old lock keepers cottage, but these days boaters have to operate the locks themselves.
Each end of the lock has a double pair of gates. On this canal all the lock gates have paddles built into them to let water in or out of the lock and in some cases there are also paddles on the canal side.
Each set of gates has wooden platforms to stand on when operating the gate paddles. The gates were replaced in 1995 and there is a plaque showing they were made at Stanley Ferry.
Built into the lock next to the bottom lock gates is a small wooden footbridge. This allows access to both sides of the lock when operating the gates. Perhaps more importantly it used for people using the tow path between Sowerby Bridge and Exley. THe lock opening is at right angles to the main line of the canal and so its necessary to cross the lock to continue along the tow path.
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 top gates do not go to the bottom of the lock but sit 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.
When the lock is empty it is much easier to understand how this works.
All the locks on this canal have a beam of 14 feet and are wide enough to take 2 narrow boats side by side. In addition although the locks are only 57 and ½ feet long they can accommodate narrow boats of up to 60 feet if they enter the lock diagonally and with extreme care.
Although they are wide most of the locks on this canal are quite shallow and at only 2 metres the rise is not very high.
The Calder and Hebble Navigation
The Calder and Hebble Navigation completed in 1770 consisted of artificial improvements to the River Calder and River Hebble to allow canal boats use what used to be un-navigable rivers.
It ran for 21 miles from the Aire and Calder Navigation at Wakefield to Sowerby Bridge, was one of the first navigable waterways into the Pennines. It was an extension westwards of the Aire and Calder Navigation.
Work began in 1758 to make the River Calder navigable above Wakefield. The navigation to Sowerby Bridge was completed in 1770, including a short branch to Dewsbury.
In 1828 a branch to Halifax was opened, rising 110 feet to a terminus at Bailey Hall, behind Halifax Railway Station. There were 14 locks on the branch which closely followed the route of the River Hebble. Most of the branch was abandoned in 1942 apart from the short section from Salterhebble to Exley.
About half of the navigation is along the course of the River Calder, with short man-made cuts with locks to by-pass weirs. There are two lengthy man-made sections, from Calder Grove to Ravensthorpe and from Brighouse to Sowerby Bridge.
Most commercial traffic on the Calder and Hebble had ceased by 1955, although coal was still carried to Thornhill power station until 1981. However, the whole of the Calder and Hebble remained open for leisure use. The re-opening of the Rochdale Canal between Sowerby Bridge and Littleborough summit in 1996 and Manchester in 2002 has increased the traffic along the Calder and Hebble and it now forms part of the South Pennine Ring.
Waterway Name: Calder and Hebble Navigation
Connected Points:
Connects the Rochdale Canal at Sowerby Bridge with the Aire and Calder Navigation at Wakefield. There was also a branch of the canal at Salterhebble that used to go to Halifax but this was closed in 1942.
There is also a junction with the Huddersfield Broad canal at Cooper Bridge that goes to Huddersfield.
Type: Lock
Date Opened: 01/01/1770
Elevation Difference (meters): 2.00
Site Status: Operational
Web Site: [Web Link]
Date Closed (if applicable): Not listed
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