Pennine Waterways News

Wednesday 26 May 2010

Leeds and Liverpool: Reduced Lock Opening Hours

British Waterways has announced a restriction in the opening hours of almost all locks on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal and Leigh Branch in an attempt to conserve water supplies.

The locks will only be open to navigation between 9.00 am and 4.30 pm.

An exceptionally dry start to the year has meant BW having to rely on reservoirs to feed the canals earlier in the season than normal. As a result the reservoirs supplying the summit of the Leeds & Liverpool Canal all have holdings below their long term average for this time of year.

BW warns that there is a risk that the reservoirs supplying the Leeds and Liverpool Canal will not have sufficient water to supply the canal throughout the boating season, so they are imposing these restrictions in an attempt to mitigate this risk and prolong the availability of water for the remainder of the boating season.

BW will review the situation in three weeks and an update will be issued on 14th June.

BW asks that boaters ensure that they have passed through the affected lock flights to a mooring point before the 4.30 pm lock up time. Boaters are also asked to follow the instruction of Lock Keepers and adhere to "Thrift" notices posted at the lock side.

The locks affected by this restriction are:
• Appley Bridge to Pagefield (Lock 91 to 88)
• Wigan Flight (Locks 87 to 65)
• Poolstock Locks (Locks 1 to 2 on Leigh Branch)
• Johnsons Hillocks (Locks 58 to 64)
• Blackburn Flight (Locks 52 to 57)
• Barrowford Flight (Locks 45 to 51)
• Greenberfield Locks (Locks 42 to 44)
• Bank Newton and Gargrave Locks (Locks 30 to 41)
• Bingley Five Rise and Three Rise Locks (Locks 22 to 29)
• Field Locks (Locks 16 to 18)
• Newlay and Forge Locks (Locks 8 to 13)
• Spring Garden to Office Locks (Locks 1 to 6)


Newlay Locks

3 comments:

  1. B.W. STRIKE AGAIN . I THINK THE PHRASE AS MUCH USE AS A CHOCOLATE FIREGUARD COME TO MIND

    ReplyDelete
  2. I am amazed this has not happened earlier, so far this May there has only been 5.6mm of rain in the Pennines, rather than a similar number of inches which we normally get. I actually think they (BW) should be batching boats up to use the locks to make sure we can get through the high summer, without closure, rather than limiting the time available.
    On the other hand it could rain till September like last year.

    ReplyDelete
  3. IF THE HEIRACHY AT B.W. HADN"T DISPOSED OF THE STAFF WHO KNEW ABOUT WATER MANAGEMENT ON THE L&L AND LISTENED TO THE HIRE FLEET OPERATORS ETC, PERHAPS THE CANAL WOULDN"T BE SHORT OF WATER . IT SURVIVED 1976 O.K.

    ReplyDelete

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