Lock 8 On The Huddersfield Broad Canal – Huddersfield, UK - Waterway Locks, Planes and Lifts on Waymarking.com

Lock 8
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. In this case there are also paddles on the canal side just in front of the top gates.

Each set of gates has wooden platforms to stand on when operating the gate paddles. In the case of the top gates the platforms stretch right across the gates to give access to both sides of the canal when operating the lock.

Next to the access ladder on the lock is a date stone with 1906 carved into it. The lock walls are made of brick rather than the more normal stone. It’s possible that this was done at the time the date stone was installed.

This lock is also known as Falls Lock.

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 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.

The Huddersfield Broad Canal
The Huddersfield Broad Canal was completed in 1780. It runs between the Calder and Hebble Navigation at Cooper Bridge and the Huddersfield Narrow Canal in the centre of Huddersfield.

The Huddersfield Broad Canal was originally known as the Cooper Canal, as it branched off the Calder and Hebble Navigation at Cooper Bridge. It was later known as Sir John Ramsden's Canal, after the Lord of the Manor and main land-owner. It later became known as the Broad Canal to distinguish it from the Narrow Canal.

The waterway is only 3¾ miles (6 km) long and has 9 wide locks and follows the valley of the River Colne.

The maximum dimensions for a boat to be able to travel on the waterway are 57 feet and 6 inches long and 14 feet wide.

The Huddersfield Narrow Canal has locks 72 feet long and maximum width of 6 feet 10 inches so there is a mismatch in the size of boats that can move between the two canals. When the canals were used commercially the boats’ cargoes had to be loaded and unloaded when moving between the two canals.

Obviously boats that are less than 57.5 feet long and narrower than 6 feet 10 inches can pass between both canals.

This canal never closed but because other canals such as The Huddersfield Narrow Canal had done very few boats used it. However since 2001 when the Huddersfield Narrow Canal re-opened to non commercial traffic leisure boaters have started to re-use it. The usage increased again when the Rochdale Canal re-opened in 2002. This gave access to different routes over the Pennines and also completed 2 rings of canals known as the South Pennine Ring, and The Outer Pennine Ring.

Waterway Name: The Huddersfield Broad Canal Connected Points: Connects the Calder and Hebble Navigation at Cooper Bridge to the Huddersfield Narrow Canal at Huddersfield. Type: Lock Date Opened: 01/01/1780 Elevation Difference (meters): 2.00 Site Status: Operational Web Site: [Web Link] Date Closed (if applicable): Not listed

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Date Logged Log User Rating   02/01/2013 hulletteers visited it