The steepest lock flight in the UK

Bingley Five Rise Locks, located in Bingley (grid reference SE107399), are a testament to 18th-century engineering and to Yorkshire’s canals. The name suggests that a boat lifts or lowers in five stages as it passes through the locks, and that is exactly what happens here. In effect, the five-rise consists of five locks connected without intermediate ponds - the lower gate of each chamber forms the upper gate of the chamber below. There are therefore five chambers and six gates.

The five-rise is the steepest flight of locks in the UK, with a gradient of about 1:5. That translates to a rise of fifty-nine feet and two inches over a distance of three hundred twenty feet. The intermediate and bottom gates are also the tallest in the country, making them a spectacle to behold.

To ensure the locks operate smoothly, a full-time lock keeper is employed and the locks are padlocked out of hours. Barry Whitelock, the lock keeper who worked here for almost 30 years, was awarded an MBE in 2007 for his services to inland waterways in the north. The locks underwent extensive restoration in 2004 and again in 2006 when the lock gates and paddles were replaced.

The structure is Grade I listed, a distinction afforded to buildings of exceptional architecture and historical importance. The locks opened on 21 March 1774 and were a major feat of engineering at the time. When the locks and the canal from Gargrave to Thackley were opened in 1774, a crowd of thirty thousand people turned out to celebrate. The first boat to use the locks took just twenty-eight minutes.

The staircase is a tourist attraction in the area. Boats that pass through often attract a crowd of gongoozlers. However, maintaining the locks is no easy feat. The locks require a lot of maintenance and are often on British Waterways’ list of winter stoppages for maintenance. In January 2012, the locks were drained to allow the installation of new lock gates. The new gates, made of English green oak, weigh more than five tonnes.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons