Canal & River Trust volunteers have given the UK’s deepest single lock a special spring clean, as the charity prepares its historic waterways for a busy year of boating. Tuel Lane Lock on the Rochdale Canal in Sowerby Bridge, West Yorkshire, is one of the Trust’s most remarkable locks, lowering and raising boats almost 20ft (6m) as they make their journeys over the Pennines. For comparison, a typical double-decker bus is 4.4m.
Unusually, because of the depth of the Tuel Lane Lock and its proximity to a canal tunnel, members of the public are not permitted to operate the lock mechanisms themselves. Instead, the award-winning lock keepers help crews to negotiate the gates.
The lock is so deep because it does the work of two. Built in 1996 during restoration of the Rochdale Canal, it replaced a pair of earlier locks to enable the canal to tunnel under a road built on its original level and provide a more efficient route. Video provided by Canal & River Trust.
Unusually, because of the depth of the Tuel Lane Lock and its proximity to a canal tunnel, members of the public are not permitted to operate the lock mechanisms themselves. Instead, the award-winning lock keepers help crews to negotiate the gates.
The lock is so deep because it does the work of two. Built in 1996 during restoration of the Rochdale Canal, it replaced a pair of earlier locks to enable the canal to tunnel under a road built on its original level and provide a more efficient route. Video provided by Canal & River Trust.
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