Stoke Bruerne

There is always a busy canalside scene at Stoke Bruerne in Northamptonshire. The Canal Museum and a cluster of pubs at the top of the flight of 7 locks makes the village a popular destination for visitors and a popular overnight mooring for boaters.

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Cropredy

Cropredy Lock, in the picturesque village of Cropredy, on the Southern Oxford Canal about 4 miles north of Banbury.

The village (pronounced "Croperdy") is famous for its annual folk and rock music festival, Fairport's Cropredy Convention, which attracts around 20,000 people each year, including a good number of boaters.

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Birmingham

The top lock of the Farmers Bridge flight on the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal in Birmingham City Centre.
The canal here reaches the Birmingham Level of the BCN. In the background is the National Indoor Arena.
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Widcombe, Bath

A longish pound between locks on the Widcombe flight on the Kennet and Avon Canal in Bath.

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Frankton Locks

Looking southwards from the staircase locks at Frankton, where the Montgomery Canal leaves the Llangollen Canal.

This section, along with the nearby infilled Weston Branch, had originally been intended to be part of the main line of the Ellesmere Canal leading to Shrewsbury.

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Vale Royal Locks

Looking across the locks at Vale Royal on the River Weaver in Cheshire. The larger lock (furthest from camera) was constructed to allow sea-going vessels to reach the salt mines alongside the river near Winsford.

The River Weaver is accessed from the Trent and Mersey Canal via the Anderton Lift.

The photo was taken before the wall below the nearer lock collapsed, making the lock too dangerous to use. The aerial image shows the wall collapse and also the long-disused third lock.

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Lymm

Lymm Bridge in the village of Lymm, Cheshire, just 5 miles east of Warrington. Lymm is a favourite stop for boaters on the Bridgewater Canal.

[Photo contributed by Richard Carpenter]
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Monkey Marsh Lock

Monkey Marsh Lock is one of the two remaining "turf-sided" locks on the River Kennet section of the Kennet and Avon Canal.

Using timber and turf for construction, this was an early style of lock-building used on some river navigations. Because of the sloping sides, they use more water than conventional locks, but this is less important on a river. Modern metal posts have been added as a safety feature, to prevent boats from settling on the sloping sides as the lock empties.

Monkey Marsh Lock is near Thatcham Station and about 3 miles east of Newbury in Berkshire.
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Dublin

Portabello Lock, the highest of seven locks on the "Circular Line" connecting the River Liffey with the main line of the Grand Canal, in Dublin, Ireland.

The crowds which gather to watch are not just because an English narrowboat is an unusual sight in Ireland, but also because any boat passing through these well cared-for locks is an unusual sight, as few boats venture down into Dublin.

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Tixall Wide

Tixall Wide is a favourite location for many boaters. The Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal opens out unexpectedly around half a mile west of its junction with the Trent and Mersey Canal at Great Haywood. Also known as "The Broad Water", the wide was created to give the impression of a lake when viewed from the nearby (but now gone) Tixall Hall.

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Windmill End

Windmill End Junction is a crossroads where the Netherton Tunnel Branch meets the Dudley No 1 and No 2 Canals and the short Boshboil Branch. Netherton Tunnel, with its towpaths along both sides, is a short distance ahead, to the left of Cobb's Engine House.
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Carreghofa Revisited

Another visit to Carreghofa on the Montgomery Canal, where the canal descends through two locks. The photo shows the interesting style of ground paddle that is in use here. Unfortunately the paddle is on the offside, opposite to the balance beam, necessitating some running back and forth!
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Dundas Aqueduct

The mighty Dundas Aqueduct that carries the Kennet and Avon Canal across the River Avon near Limply Stoke, south-east of Bath. A Grade One listed building, it was the first canal structure to be scheduled as an Ancient Monument.

On the western side of the aqueduct is the junction with the Somersetshire Coal Canal. This ran some 18 miles to Paulton, with a branch to Radstock and Midsomer Norton. Only a 200 metre stretch of the canal is now open from the junction at Dundas and is used as moorings.
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Harecastle

The southern portal of Harecastle Tunnel, on the Trent and Mersey Canal near Kidsgrove, Staffordshire. Built by Telford in 1827, this is the second of the two tunnels. The first is no longer navigable. In the 1950s, a fan house was built over the southern portal to extract engibe fumes from the tunnel, as there are no ventilation shafts.
The tunnel is said to be haunted by the Kidsgrove Boggart or "Kit Crewbucket".
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Crofton

Crofton Pumping Station, 6 miles from Marlborough, pumps water up six locks to the summit level of the Kennet and Avon Canal. The Pumping Station houses two Cornish steam-powered beam engines, one of which, built in 1812, is claimed to be "the oldest working beam engine in the world still in its original engine house and capable of actually doing the job for which it was installed". [read more]

The pump took water from natural springs and later a small lake that was created to the south of the canal - see aerial photo.
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The building is open daily in the summer months and is on steam on certain days. [see dates]

Anton's Gowt

An evening scene on the River Witham at Anton's Gowt in Lincolnshire. This is about two miles north-west of Boston. To the right, between the moorings, is Anton's Gowt Lock, which goes down onto Frith Bank Drain on the extensive Witham Navigable Drains.
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