Former Altofts Lock On The Aire And Calder Navigation - Altofts, UK - Waterway Locks, Planes and Lifts on Waymarking.com

The Aire and Calder Navigation is a river and canal system of the River Aire and the River Calder in the metropolitan county of West Yorkshire, England. The first improvements to the rivers above Knottingley were completed in 1704 when the Aire was made navigable to Leeds and the Calder to Wakefield, by the construction of 16 locks. Lock sizes were increased several times, as was the depth of water, to enable larger boats to use the system.

Steam tugs were introduced in 1831. In the 1860s, compartment boats were introduced, later called Tom Puddings, from which coal was unloaded into ships by large hydraulic hoists. This system enabled the canal to carry at its peak more than 1.5 million tons of coal per year, and was not abandoned until 1986. To handle trains of compartments, many of the locks were lengthened to 450 feet (140 m).

Although much of the upper reaches are now designated as leisure routes, there is still significant commercial traffic on the navigation. 300,000 tons were carried in 2007, although most of the traffic is now petroleum and gravel, rather than the coal which kept the navigation profitable for 150 years. link

The Lock
This lock is on the Fairies Hill cut, a former section of the Wakefield section of the Aire and Calder Navigation that is a canalised section of the River Calder.

This former arm used to connect the main part of the Wakefield Section to the River Calder and contained this former lock and a second lock. The second lock still connects to the river Calder but between here and there it is only used as a private mooring area.

This lock has been infilled and forms a block between the current route of the Wakefield section and the river Calder.

Waterway Name: Wakefield Section of the Aire and Calder Navigation Connected Points: The canal connects the City of Leeds and the town of Goole. There are also a number of connections with other canals. At Leeds it connects to the Leeds Liverpool Canal At Castleford it connects to the Calder and Hebble Navigation. At Haddsley it connects to the Selby Canal At Dole Bank it Connects to the Knottingley and Goole Canal Type: Lock Date Opened: 01/01/1704 Elevation Difference (meters): 2.00 Site Status: Remnants Date Closed (if applicable): Not listed Web Site: Not listed

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