Lock 53 Thurlwood Steel Lock, Trent and Mersey Canal - Rode Heath, Staffordshire. - Waterway Locks, Planes and Lifts on Waymarking.com

Thurlwood Steel Lock No 53 on the Trent and Mersey Canal (also known as Fairham Lock) was one of the pair of Thurlwood Locks. Today there is one operational lock at the location. The site of the steel lock can be seen even though it is now filled in. The date 1958 can be seen on the stone remains.

Construction of the Thurlwood Steel Lock began in 1957, replacing the towpath-side lock that was failing due to subsidence caused by brine pumping. Functionally designed, so that it could be jacked-up if affected by subsidence, it was found to be inefficient, unreliable and sadly, poorly maintained. After falling out of use in 1981, it was eventually dismantled and scrapped in 1988. Source: (visit link)

A very rare photograph by David Stowell showing the steel lock actually in use can be seen at the following link. (visit link)

Waterway Name: Trent and Mersey Canal Connected Points: The Trent and Mersey Canal is a 93.5-mile long canal (150.5 km) in the East Midlands, West Midlands, and north-west of England, that connects Preston Brook with Shardlow. Upper Thurlwood Lock No 53 is a minor waterways place on the Trent and Mersey Canal (Main Line - Harding's Wood to Middlewich) between Wharf Bridge No 154 (Wheelock ) (3 miles and 6¼ furlongs and 13 locks to the west) and Harding's Wood Junction (Junction of Trent and Mersey Canal and Hall Green Branch) (3 miles and ¾ furlongs and 12 locks to the southeast). Type: Lock Date Opened: 05/01/1958 Date Closed (if applicable): 01/01/1988 Elevation Difference (meters): 4.00 Site Status: No longer exists Web Site: [Web Link]

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