Bingley Five Rise Locks On the Leeds & Liverpool Canal

www.canalrivertrust.org.uk Engineering Challenges Five Rise & Solutions Staircase

The canal engineers used the latest Locks techniques to overcome the challenges of the landscape. One of the ‘Seven Wonders of the There are 92 locks along the Leeds Waterways’ Bingley Five Rise Locks & Liverpool Canal, most of which are are an awesome feat of engineering grouped together. The canal engineers raising the canal 18 metres (60 feet). also tried to avoid expensive tunnels and The Five Rise and Three Rise Locks cutting which means the canals winds were designed by John Longbotham its way round hills. of Halifax who was the Leeds & The canal is unique in having many Liverpool Canal’s first engineer. staircase locks which help the canal to They have changed little since climb more than 148 metres (487 feet) they were first built in the 1770s. up the Pennines and down the other side. The gracefully curved buttresses Between Bingley and Leeds there are were designed to make it easier three sets of two rise locks; four sets for the horses to manoeuvre of three rise locks and the famous boats through the locks. Bingley Five Rise Locks.

Replacing the tallest gates in the country at Bingley Five Rise Locks in 2012. above: Workmen replace the wooden floor of the lock UpUp one one side side and and down down the the other other chamber in 1912.

BasedBased on aon canal a canal company company DowleyDowley Gap GapLocks Locks drawingdrawing from from the the1920s 1920s HirstHirst Lock Lock left: 10,000 people (2 Rises)(2 Rises) (5 &(5 3 &Rises) 3 Rises) BingleyBingley turned out for the 200th anniversary

SUMMITSUMMIT BURNLEY BURNLEY NELSON NELSON BLACKBURN BLACKBURN POOL celebrations in 1974. BURNLEYBURNLEY POOL POOL SKIPTON SKIPTON BINGLEY BINGLEY

ASPULL ASPULL CHORLEY CHORLEY SKIPTONSKIPTON POOLPOOL The locks opened on LANCASTERLANCASTER SHIPLEY SHIPLEY CANALCANAL 21 March 1774 with LEEDS LEEDS

LIVERPOOL BOOTLE LIVERPOOL BOOTLE BURSCOUGH BURSCOUGH WIGAN WIGAN the ringing of church RIVERRIVER LIVERPOOLLIVERPOOL POOL POOL STST PAUL’S PAUL’S CATHEDRAL CATHEDRAL AIREAIRE bells, the firing of guns 1 1 STANLEYSTANLEY0 0 10 10 20 20 30 30 40 40 5050 6060 7070 8080 9090 100100 110110 120120 127127/4 miles/4 miles DOCK DOCK and shouts of joy. The Leeds & Liverpool Canal Connecting Communities

The Leeds & Liverpool Canal is the was open from Liverpool to Wigan and longest canal in Britain with a main from Leeds to . But it was not line of just over 127 miles linking until 1816 that the cities of Leeds and above: Steam driven short boat Skipton ports on the east and west coasts. Liverpool were finally connected. carrying a cargo of domestic coal It is a broad canal and took over 40 years The canal cost around a quarter of a around 1950. to complete. Work began at both ends million pounds to build, which is the simultaneously and by 1777 the canal equivalent of around £8 million today. The Maintenance Team Caring for the Locks Working Boats

Few canals carried The locks and canal have to be regularly above: Foreman D. W. Turner in bowler 100 years ago the maintenance team used above: Project Manager Peter Carter 100 years ago there were more than maintained to prevent loss of water and hat and his maintenance team pose for just an A-frame, block & tackle to lift the in the middle wearing yellow jacket a thousand boats working on the such a range of goods the camera at the top of Bingley Five and his team of carpenters at lock gates are usually replaced every Rise Locks in 1912. five ton lock gates into position. Today they Bingley Five Rise Locks 2012. Leeds & Liverpool Canal. The canal runs through some of the 25 years. are lifted into position using a hydraulic crane. Steam flyboats Agate, Amy & Beaver The traditional Leeds & Liverpool Canal most heavily populated parts of the ice bound at the top of Five Rise Locks In the photo above the workmen have been Although the equipment and Health & Safety short boat was shorter and wider than the around 1915. country and the towns along its route carrying out repairs to the wooden sill at the rules have changed they still use traditional widely used narrowboats. are famous for textile making. bottom of the lock gate to create a watertight skills to fit the heavy wooden gates. The short boat was based on coastal The stretch between Bingley and seal. At this time the gates were made a Horse drawn canal company short boat They still have to be carefully hand-fitted on sailing craft and took its colourful has many worsted mills along Tiger around 1900. few miles down the canal at the Apperley site by skilled carpenters, just as they would decorative style known as Brightwork its length. These spun and twisted a Bridge workshop. International cargo included: wool from have done in 1912. from them. wide range of long fibres to form a Australia; mohair and alpaca fleeces Cutting off the gearing to make the tough but lightweight cloth widely used Today the lock gates are made at Stanley The boats were hauled by horses although from South America; silk from China; gate lighter to lift. for suiting and uniforms. Ferry, near Wakefield, one of only two New lock gate being lifted into position steam powered boats were introduced in Traditional short boat Edith at the wheat from the USA; cocoa from at Five Rise Locks around 1900. ‘I joined the engineering department of the Leeds specialist lock gate making workshops in 1858. Steam boats became widely used bottom of Five Rise Locks. Coal was the main cargo providing West Africa and molasses from the & Liverpool Canal Company in September 1914, the country. within 20 years. Diesel engines were power for the worsted mills, for Caribbean. only a month after the start of the First World War. introduced for commercial use in 1920. gasworks and for domestic use; In January 2012 four gates in the For 178 years the canal was owned Things were Victorian, or certainly Edwardian... limestone was transported from the with very many old fashioned methods still in use. Five Rise Locks were replaced. It’s hard work for us, with modern Despite the introduction of engines, by a private canal company. In 1948 district and there were many Men dressed in old swallow tail coats that had equipment... how they did it with horses continued to be used for haulage it transferred to British Waterways been Sunday best in previous years. Some of More than 7,000 visitors were guided just block & tackle and wooden lime kilns and coal wharves along the throughout the working life of the canal. which in 2012 became the them even had old bowler hats at work, they through the empty lock chamber over A-frames and muscle power is length of the canal. The last horse-drawn working boat Canal & River Trust. were a quaint gang.’ an open weekend. simply astounding. stopped in 1961. Will Hodgson Visitors during an open weekend Peter Carter Canal company launch Alexandra with in 2012. company directors above Five Rise Locks. 696 Canal Stables ...it was a funny thing, but a Canal boats were originally pulled by horses and the canal good cart horse never made a company provided a large stable at Five Rise Locks to good boat horse... the pull is service the fast flyboats. They needed a regular change so different, when a horse pulls of horses. QR at a cart, it expects the cart to move... The horse would spread The stables are now a cafe. Just inside the entrance you all its four legs like four posts can see part of a wooden stable partition or ‘stall’ which and stand like that until it felt has been moved there. Five Rise the boat move... boatmen called Staircase Boat horse Bilbo Baggins pulls a it ‘standing light’. The modern doors and windows mark the position of the narrowboat past the old stables. original stable doors. Locks Will Hodgson

Site of carpenter’s The Lock Keeper shop ...in the past there were lots The locks are operated by a lock keeper to ensure safety of boats on the bottom, and conserve water. because people didn’t know what to do... they got stuck in Barry Whitelock has been lock keeper at Five Rise Locks QR an empty lock and we had since 1978. He is the country’s longest serving lock to re-float them! keeper. He used to watch the old lock Keeper Eddie Murgatroyd every weekend from the age of 8 Site of Barry Whitelock and finally took over from him when he was 19. farmhouse QR From his small office, at the top of the Five Rise Locks Barry controls the flow of water. He regulates 10 million gallons of water a day between Bingley and Leeds. Barry Whitelock

How do Staircase North Bog This stunning engineering feat has raised boats 18 metres (60 feet) up the valley Locks Work? for more than 200 years.

Staircase locks are two or more locks Lock Paddles Boat Going Up joined together so that the bottom gates Entering Lock The Carpenter’s Shop 2. Bottom gate This old picture from around 1890 shows the old of one lock are the top gates of the next. 1. Top gate closed opened by pushing and paddle down on balance beam carpenter’s workshop to the left of the locks. The Bingley Five Rise Locks were illustrated It is long gone. The small crane was used to lift timber Locks Lock Gates Lock Paddles in a book by the Prussian engineer Johann and finished bridges onto the boats. Will Hodgson the A lock is simply a chamber Lock gates are watertight Locks paddles are like giant Hogrewe around 1777. You can see the holding water with gates at doors which seal off each taps, you open them to let bywash and the lock keeper’s cottage at the carpenter worked here. He joined the canal company each end. chamber. When closed they water flow in or out of the Upper lock full top of the locks and the Five Rise Farmhouse as a boy apprentice in 1914. meet at an angle facing lock chamber. is marked on the left. By emptying or filling the He worked for 51 years retiring in 1965. He used to upstream. Ground paddle chamber the boat can go Water from the upper lock Will Hodgson repair the lock gates and make swing bridges. The small up or down hill. The lock gates are opened fills the lock below through Interpretation panel brick building on the other side was the forge, where and closed by pushing the the lock gate paddles, and Boat Going Up All the locks in the staircase they made and repaired all the iron fittings. balance beams. via short tunnels (culverts) Lock Filling need to be prepared by the in the wall. QR QR code plaques lock keeper before the boat Stone setts (heel grips) are 2. Top gate closed 3. Ground goes through. set into the ground beneath The flow of water through and paddle down paddle lifted the balance beams to allow the culverts is controlled by The boat enters the lock 1. Bottom gate closed There weren’t many perks, but I remember the lovely smell of the fresh sawdust, better grip. the ground box paddle. when the water level inside and paddle down one of them was to make your it brings it all back... one day there was a bird is the same as that outside With the lock gates closed The gate paddle (gate sluice) own coffin!... you could also nesting next to the piece of wood they were going the lock. the water level is adjusted is operated using a removable take home as many off-cuts to use to repair the lock gates, they had to put off Ground paddle / using the lock paddles. winding handle known as as you could carry under your repairing the lock gates or choose another piece tunnel (culvert) arm, for firewood. a windlass. Upper lock full of wood! Will Hodgson Jean Jones, Gate paddle 5. When lower lock Lock Features Balance 4. Water fills lock via daughter of Will Hodgson gearing culverts in lock wall is full top gate is beam opened

Heel Overflow Three Rise Lock Keeper’s Three Rise Locks grips Cottage demolished Boat Going Down around 1956. The Three Rise Locks were built in 1774 at the same Lock Emptying time as the Five Rise Locks. In the photo on the left, the

Removable windlass lock gates are being replaced. From Bingley 1. Top gate closed and paddle down They are using a simple A-frame and block & tackle to 2. Bottom gate lift the heavy gates. paddle lifted Gate You can just glimpse the lock keeper’s cottage at the top paddle QR Bowling left of the locks. It is a typical Leeds & Liverpool Canal Green Mills cottage. The partially demolished back wall of the cottage is built 3. Water leaves upper lock Bingley into the boundary wall between the allotments and the Ground through the gate paddle Railway Station canal. If you look over the back of it you will see the Culvert and fills lower lock 4. Water level rises remains of two window cills. paddle Gate paddle (gate sluice) (tunnel) 696 Bingley Three Rise Locks around 1920. Join us as an Education Volunteer. We are looking for volunteers who love working with children and would like to encourage them to explore the Leeds & Liverpool Canal in schools, on the towpath, through our website and at waterside events. To find out more... Contact our education volunteer coordinator: Sarah Cook T: 07715 377 788 E: [email protected] www.canalriverexplorers.org.uk

Other Ways to Enjoy the Locks Five Rise Locks Explore our family geocaching trail around the North Bog Saltaire Leeds & Liverpool Canal and for the more experienced a geocaching trail along the Bingley Shipley A650 towpath between Bingley and Saltaire.

Leeds Discover the QR code plaques down the towpath between Micklethwaite and Saltaire to see links to video and audio. M621

M621 Download education resources from www.canalriverexplorers.org.uk or explore our box A641 27 M606 M62 of treasures in the café. M62 42 28 Halifax A58 26 29 M62 To Pontefract 41 M62 & Hull How to Get Here Bingley is on the A650 between M1 Bradford and Keighley and there is access to the towpath To Sheffield & The South at Bingley Railway Station.

Scan the QR code to download the Bingley Five Rise App packed full of stories, video and photos of the locks and canal between Bingley and Saltaire or visit www.canalrivertrust.org.uk/bingley

Support us! To find out how you can Download a FREE QR code reader support the Canal & River Trust visit from the APP Store or Google Play. www.canalrivertrust.org.uk T 0303 040 4040 The European Regional E [email protected] Development Fund

Research and project management: www.marionblockley.co.uk Water colour illustrations: Mark Foster Design & illustration: www.potenza-creative.co.uk Picture credits: Paul Watkins, Skylens Aerial photos; Canal & River Trust Archives; Marion Blockley. ©Canal & River Trust, August, 2012 Canal & River Trust registered charity in England and Wales (1146792) A company limited by guarantee. Registered company in England and Wales (7807276) Registered office: First Floor (North), Station House, 500 Elder Gate, Milton Keynes MK9 1BB.