Stratford On Avon Canal – Lock 8 – Lapworth, UK - Waterway Locks, Planes and Lifts on Waymarking.com

This is lock 8 on the Stratford On Avon Canal. It is the seventh lock on the Lapworth flight of 26 locks which has a total rise of 158’ 6 ½“.

The Stratford On Avon Canal runs for 25 ½ miles through 54 locks from Kings Norton in the south of Birmingham to the River Avon at Stratford On Avon. All the locks are single width, narrow beam locks of approximately 7’ 6” width except the lock from Bancroft Basin out to the River Avon at Stratford Upon Avon.

The northern part of the canal (Kings Norton to Lapworth) opened in 1803; the southern stretch was opened in 1815. Once at Stratford On Avon freight could get onto the River Avon and hence down to the River Severn at Tewkesbusry.

In 1856 the canal was sold to the GWR and many of the GWR mileposts can still be seen fashioned out of railway lines. The weight limit signs on many bridges are also on posts made out of GWR rails.

The GWR mileposts have been supplemented by more modern ones donated by the Stratford On Avon Canal Society (SONACS). These have been placed at every mile interval but I believe three are missing as I have been unable to locate them. There is also a 12 ½ mile marker at Lapworth. It seems the original GWR markers were placed every ¼ mile and many can still be found in the undergrowth.

When the canal was restored in 1964 it was reopened by Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother.

Waterway Name: Stratford On Avon Canal Connected Points: The Stratford On Avon Canal runs from Kings Norton junction where it meets the Worcester & Birmingham Canal to the River Avon at Stratford On Avon. On the way it links to the Grand Union Main Line at Lapworth Junction via the Lapworth Link, a short stretch of canal joining the two. Type: Lock Date Opened: 01/01/1815 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   03/13/2015 ntpayne visited it