The second lock of the Hanwell Flight of Locks

Image: © Marathon Taken: 7 Aug 2014

The section of the Grand Union Canal through Hanwell Locks and Norwood from the River Thames at Brentford was opened in 1794. It was the first section of what was originally called the Grand Junction Canal. Its purpose was to provide a new, shorter and quicker transport route between London and Birmingham by connecting with a network of canals at Braunston near Daventry. When the canal reached Braunston in 1805 it cut 60 miles off the shortest alternative route. Hanwell Locks became very busy as narrowboats and barges jostled to pass through quickly on their way to and from the industrial North, the manufacturing centres of the Midlands, London and the Thames at Brentford. William Jessop, the canal's Chief Engineer, had foreseen the bottlenecks queued to pass through the locks and on the Grand Junction Canal he built locks wide enough to take two narrowboats at the same time, or one wider barge. This is the second from the top of the Hanwell Flight of locks with its attendant attractive little Lock Cottage. See also http://canalrivertrustwaterfront.org.uk/heritage/guide-pos3-flights-of-fancy-hanwell-locks-london/

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