IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Poynton Close, WARRINGTON, WA4 2NG

Taken from the footway across the sluice weir. There is a significant flow of water in the canal which is fed from the rivers Mersey and Irwell, and the sluices are automatically adjusted to suit the current volume of water. When the Canal was still busy, the operation of the locks would probably have been sufficient to provide most of the passage of water.

The top side of the sluices with spare gates and the gantry crane that would enable them to be manoeuvred into position. For each gate there is also a stop gate which will be lowered into the water channel to cut off the flow when the main gate needs to be maintained. These are underflow sluices which means that floating debris does not interfere with the gates and can be collected as and when necessary; this can be seen building up to the right. The large object is not in fact debris, but a spare lock gate. Keeping them afloat means that it is easy to tow them round to where they are needed, and the wooden meeting faces are also kept moist so that the timber does not split.

The flotilla was organised by the Inland Waterways Association to mark the Centenary of the Ship Canal.

Taken from a plane on approach to Liverpool John Lennon Airport.

The smaller lock is having a gate change with the aid of the steam powered "250 Ton crane". When the activities were over for the night we got invited on board with the plant ticking over nicely. The actual lifting is by big DC motor driven winch with Ward-Leonard control (no, I don't understand it either).

Taken in January 2011, this shows the Latchford Locks from the South Bank.

Latchford Locks on the Manchester Ship Canal.

A relic of the 1970s when the fear of rabies was very real.

In common with all the others on the canal, there are two lock chambers side by side at Latchford. The shorter one is for smaller vessels such as tugs and coasters, enabling them to pass through using less water that would be needed if they had to use the main lock. The lift at Latchford is now 12 feet 6 inches, although it was originally sixteen feet six inches until 1909 when the canal was deepened to its present 28 foot clearance and the lift dropped to 14 foot 6. The lift was to be further reduced to its present level in 1956 when the water level was raised a further two feet between Eastham and Latchford. The hydraulic machinery here also provides power for the swing bridges in the Warrington area. https://web.archive.org/web/20081120203945/http://users.breathe.com/g8hxe/latchford_locks.htm (archived)

These contractors from Peel Ports work on an unknown problem at the rapidly rotting locks at Latchford, South Warrington