Notable locks and lock flights on the canal network, with their location and the waterway they’re on. Locks sometimes close for repairs, so check stoppage notices before you set off.
Hatton Locks are a flight of 21 broad locks, numbered 26 to 46, on the Grand Union Canal between Warwick and Hatton in Warwickshire. They raise the canal 146½ ft (44.7 m) in under 2 miles, and the flight is known as the Stairway to Heaven. The locks take boats up to 12 ft 6 in wide. The original narrow locks opened in 1799 on the Warwick & Birmingham Canal. They were rebuilt as broad concrete locks between 1932 and 1934 to take wider boats, and the Duke of Kent opened the new flight on 30 October 1934. The angled paddle gear dates from that rebuild. The old narrow chambers survive beside many of the locks as overflow weirs. The lock cottages at locks 34 and 46 are Grade II listed. The Saltisford Arm is close to the bottom of the flight. The locks are run by the Canal & River Trust. Waterway: Grand Union Canal Locks: 21 (nos. 26 to 46) Rise: 146½ ft (44.7 m) Built: 1799; rebuilt as broad locks 1932 to 1934 Heritage: Lock cottages Grade II (Historic England 1329922 and 1261976) Grid reference: SP 2392 6686 (top lock) Sources: Canal & River Trust; Historic England
Bingley Five Rise Locks are a five-chamber staircase on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal at Bingley in West Yorkshire. Each chamber opens straight into the next, with six sets of gates in all, and together they lift the canal 59 ft 2 in (18 m). The Canal & River Trust describes them as the steepest staircase locks in Britain. They are broad locks, with chambers just over 14 ft wide. The staircase was built by John Longbottom with local masons and opened in 1774. It is Grade I listed and largely unaltered, and each chamber still has its own overflow channel alongside. Bingley Three Rise Locks are a short distance downstream and opened at the same time. The locks are run by the Canal & River Trust. Waterway: Leeds & Liverpool Canal Locks: 5-chamber staircase Rise: 59 ft 2 in (18 m) Opened: 1774 Heritage: Grade I listed (Historic England 1314303) Grid reference: SE 1075 3995 Sources: Historic England list entry 1314303; Canal & River Trust.
The Tardebigge flight is 30 narrow locks, numbered 29 to 58, on the Worcester & Birmingham Canal near Bromsgrove in Worcestershire. Together they raise the canal 220 ft (67 m) in about 2¼ miles, making it the longest lock flight in Britain. The top lock, number 58, is about twice as deep as the others. The flight was finished in 1815. The top lock stands on the site of an experimental vertical boat lift built by John Woodhouse in 1808. The lift worked, but it was judged too fragile for regular traffic and was replaced by the lock, and some of its materials were reused in the flight. In August 1945 Robert Aickman met Tom Rolt aboard Rolt’s boat Cressy, moored at Tardebigge, and the meeting led to the founding of the Inland Waterways Association. A plaque at the top lock marks it. Tardebigge Tunnel is just north of the top lock. Lock 58 with its side pond, the lock cottage and the nearby bridge are Grade II listed. The flight is run by the Canal & River Trust. Waterway: Worcester & Birmingham Canal Locks: 30 (nos. 29 to 58) Rise: 220 ft (67 m) Opened: 1815 Heritage: Lock 58
Foxton Locks carry the Leicester Line of the Grand Union Canal up the hillside at Foxton, about 3 miles west of Market Harborough in Leicestershire. There are ten narrow locks in two staircases of five, with a passing pound between them, and side ponds alongside. It is the longest staircase flight in Britain. The Market Harborough Arm leaves the main line at the bottom of the flight. The locks were built between 1810 and 1814 to the design of the engineer Benjamin Bevan. Beside them are the remains of the Foxton Inclined Plane, opened in 1900, which lifted boats 75 ft in two caissons hauled by a steam engine. It took about 12 minutes against roughly an hour and a quarter through the locks, but it closed in 1911 because traffic was too light, and it was dismantled in 1928. The locks are Grade II* listed, and the lock cottages at the top and bottom are Grade II listed. The inclined plane is a Scheduled Monument. Foxton Canal Museum, run by the Foxton Inclined Plane Trust, is in the plane’s old boiler house. The locks are run by the Canal & River Trust. Waterway: Grand Union Canal, Leicester Line Locks: