Lock 7 On The Ashton Canal – Manchester, UK - Waterway Locks, Planes and Lifts on Waymarking.com

Long Description:

The Ashton Canal
The Ashton Canal runs between Manchester and Ashton under Lyne, UK. It ascends for 6.7 miles and has 18 locks. It was originally built in 1796 to transport coal to the large industrial city of Manchester. As time went on a number of other short canals were built as branches to feed other goods from surrounding towns into the network. In 1800 the canal was extended slightly within Manchester to join the Rochdale Canal which greatly extended the network of the canals connected to Manchester. At its peak it was a successful canal, but competition from railways and then roads caused its closure in 1958.

During the 1960s and 1970s canals started to become popular with leisure boaters. After a long campaign this canal was restored and reopened in 1974. Most of the other small canal links however remain closed, but with junctions at each end it still forms part of a large network of canals

This canal is a so-called narrow canal and the locks can take boats that have maximum dimensions of 72 feet long and 7 feet wide.

Lock 7
This lock is the seventh one on the canal as it ascends out of Manchester. In 1991 this lock became an English Heritage Grade II listed building.

As is usual with narrow canals the top gate is a single gate whilst the bottom end has a double set of gates. This is unlike locks on broad canals where the gates at both ends of the locks are double ones.

At this point on the canal the tow path changes sides on the canal. A roving bridge was built into the lock walls at the bottom gates to allow the horses pulling the canal boats to climb up from the Manchester side, cross over the canal and the continue along the opposite bank towards Ashton-Under-Lyne. Obviously this process was reversed in the opposite direction. A modern small metal footbridge has been placed in front of those for boaters operating the lock gates.

In addition a modern road bridge has been built near to the lock gates to carry the Alan Turing Way (A6010) over 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.

This lock was at its lowest when I took the pictures and the cill is clearly visible. When the cill is visible it's much easier to understand the hidden danger.

Waterway Name: The Ashton Canal Connected Points: The canal connects with the Rochdale Canal at Manchester and the Hudderfield Narrow Canal at Ashton-Under-Lyne. There is also a junction with the Peak Forest Canal at Portland Basin in Ashton-Under-Lyne. Type: Lock Date Opened: 1/1/1796 Elevation Difference (meters): 3.00 Site Status: Operational Web Site: [Web Link] Date Closed (if applicable): Not listed

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