Kings Norton guillotine repair

THE guillotine lock at the northern end of the Stratford-on-Avon Canal is being repaired after being vandalised.

It is costing around £200,000 to restore the lock, which serves no purpose, it not being used for over 60 years,  but is a grade II listed structure, Alan Tilbury reveals.

No purpose

It was constructed as a stop lock, but with no height difference in the waters of the Stratford with the Worcester & Birmingham Canal, it now has no purpose other than a target for vandals.

The waterway is drained, with work replacing the bricks of the locks now progressing, and a Canal & Rivers Trust spokesman has been quoted as stating that 7,000 are needed and are 'individually hand made' to match those already there.

But of course this is not so, as today's hand made bricks are actually machine made. (The photograph shows real hand made bricks, that are well over 200 years old.)

The cash for this work has not come from the maintenance fund, but from People's Postcode Lottery and English Heritage, with the latter placing the lock on its 'At Risk' register in 2011.