Going down...Northgate Locks

WHEN British Waterways had its Open Day at Northgate Locks on the Shropshire Union Canal, it was quite an adventure for some as they climbed further and further down the ladder, some were becoming distinctly nervous as to what lay ahead in the dripping abyss below.

The answer was the very bottom of the Northgate Locks in Chester which have been drained for gate replacement and maintenance. Local British Waterways' manager, Wendy Capelle, decided that this was a real opportunity to show off the kind of work its engineers do best and so Saturday, 29th January, was Northgate Locks Open Day, Gillian Bolt writes.

The steady stream of visitors queuing up for the tours showed that many wanted to take advantage of this rare opportunity to see what lay below the waterline.

A bit of history

When the Chester Canal was first built in the 1770s, it connected with the River Dee through a tidal section—including a basin, leading to five locks going up in a staircase to just below the Chester City Walls. In 1795, when the Chester Canal joined up with the Wirral Line of the Ellesmere Canal, two of the locks were taken out and replaced by two new locks on the Dee Branch of the canal.

Originally called the Water Tower Locks—and carved out of solid rock—these impressive locks lift the canal up 33 feet from the basin below to the main line.

Once inside the lock, the size of the massive middle gates reduces even tall people to a Lilliputian scale and you begin to understand why it takes so much effort to move those gates when you are working a boat down the flight. The stonework in the walls and the sheer magnitude of the original building task is breathtaking.

During the day, presentations about the history of the locks and the Chester Canal were given by Ray Buss of the Chester Canal Heritage Trust. In addition, Kate Lynch, Heritage officer for British Waterways also gave presentations on the waterways heritage assets in Cheshire, managed by BW.

With display stands from other waterway societies as well as IWA Chester & District Branch hopefully many more people will have been impressed with their local waterways heritage.