Where has the water gone at Hatton Locks

I was travelling near the Hatton Locks of the Birmingham leg of the Grand Union Canal yesterday and paused to take some photographs.

One of the pounds had been drained while winter maintenance work was undertaken at the locks.  It shows the profile of the canal bed clearly when the water is missing.

The Hatton flight was built with narrow locks which were replaced by broad locks in a 1930s improvement scheme.

That allowed boats to use the locks faster, particularly when the unpowered butty could come into the lock alongside the motor boat and they could pass through each lock in one go.

The remains of the narrow locks can be seen alongside the broad locks in most cases.

If you look at the close up of the broad lock then you can see the paddle exposed, which is normally hidden well under water.  It’s only when the pounds are drained that you can see and photograph these.

Also visible is the vertical slot where stop planks can be inserted to allow just the lock to be drained.  Their use allows just the lock to be drained quickly but restricts the working area and might be done for emergency work in the summer.

In the winter its usually easier to drain the whole pound which gives a larger working area and, as the locks are closed anyway nobody is disadvantaged by draining the pound - and that can be checked for problems at the same time.

Posted on Thursday, January 29, 2009 at 12:40       

 

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Category(s): Grand Union Canal