Lock 4 On The Glasson Branch Of The Lancaster Canal - Thurnham, UK
Posted by: 
dtrebilc
N 53° 59.096 W 002° 48.835
30U E 512202 N 5981861
This is the fourth lock from the start of the Glasson Branch of the Lancaster Canal as it descends to Glasson Dock at the River Lune, which gives access to the coast.
Waymark Code: WMRTME
Location: North West England, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 08/03/2016
Views: 0
The Lock
The canal is a broad canal and the locks are 16 feet wide and 78 feet long. Each end of the lock has a double pair of gates which are manually operated.
The paddles for the bottom gates to let water out of the lock are built into the gates themselves. To let water into the lock at the top gate the paddles are built into the side of the canal.
There is a small metal footbridge over the tail of the lock to provide access for boat owners to operate the gates at each side of the canal.
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 gate does not go to the bottom of the lock but sits 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.
There is a stone bridge over the tail of the lock to give access to fields on each side of the canal for a nearby farm. Bridges are often built near locks because at this point the canal is at its narrowest and so bridges are cheaper and easier to build.
The lock is a Historic England Grade II listed building with the following text.
"Lock over Glasson Branch of Lancaster Canal, built 1823-5. Sandstone ashlar. Complete with 2 pairs of timber gates."
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The Lancaster Canal
"The Lancaster Canal is a canal in the north of England, originally planned to run from Westhoughton in Lancashire to Kendal in south Cumbria (then in Westmorland). The section around the crossing of the River Ribble was never completed, and much of the southern end leased to the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, of which it is now generally considered part.
Of the canal north of Preston, only the section from Preston to Tewitfield near Carnforth in Lancashire is currently open to navigation for 42 miles (67.6 km.
The isolated northern part of the canal was finally connected to the rest of the English canal network in 2002 by the opening of the Ribble Link.
The remaining open part of the Lancaster Canal Main Line follows the same elevation contour on maps and is therefore free of locks."
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Glasson Dock
A dock was opened at Glasson in 1797 near to the mouth of the River Lune because of problems navigating the river upstream to the older dock at the town of Lancaster.
After the main line of the Lancaster Canal was completed this short Glasson Branch of 3 miles was then built to connect with Glasson Dock. This allowed loads to be carried to and from sea going vessels.