Flight of locks gets a £96,000 facelift - pictures

The repairs at Audlem's flight of 15 locks near Market Drayton cost £96,000 and took six weeks to complete.

Work being carried out by the Canal & River Trust included replacing the timber top lock gate as well as making repairs to the brickwork which is usually hidden below the waterline.

It is part of a £43 million restoration and repair programme taking place this winter on canals and rivers across England and Wales.

The public were also invited to delve behind-the-scenes of the vital repair and restoration works at an open day which was held on Saturday.

Visitors were given the rare opportunity to climb down inside the drained Audlem Lock 13 and walk along the bottom of the chamber.

Expert engineers and volunteers were on hand to explain the works to members of the public and give an insight into the skills and methods used to carry out the repair work.

The free event was open from 10am to 3pm. The open day was part of the six-week work programme which also involved installing a temporary dam so that experts can inspect the full length of the lock approach and visitors can see the workings of the lock.

Attending the open day were members of the Shropshire Union Canal Society which spoke about other restoration work being undertaken on the Montgomery Canal.

Ged King, Canal & River Trust regional construction manager, said: "We were delighted to be able to open the construction site for the day to invite people along to see first-hand the repair work that we have been doing.

"It is an important part of looking after our canal heritage.

"Lock 13 needs a lot of brickwork and stone repairs so it will be really interesting for the public to see how we tackle these essential works."

The 15 locks at Audlem take the water level down from the Shropshire heights to the Cheshire Plain, some 93ft.

During the period up to 1920 the canal was the scene of great commercial activity.

Horse-drawn fly boats worked day and night between Birmingham, Audlem and Ellesmere Port transporting perishable dairy goods and coal, timber, grain and limestone.

The Canal & River Trust is the guardian of more than 2,000 miles of waterways in England and Wales. It is the third largest owner of listed structures after the Church of England and the National Trust, with 2,980 bridges, 336 aqueducts, 1,583 locks, 55 tunnels and 73 reservoirs in its care.

It comes as the Canal & River Trust seeks to recruit new volunteer lock keepers on the canal network across Shropshire and Mid Wales. The trust said lock keepers have been part of canal life for hundreds of years and volunteers play a crucial role in keeping the age-old tradition alive.

The role of the modern-day volunteer lock keeper is to help look after the waterways, including assisting boaters through locks, providing a polite and friendly welcome to visitors and keeping the local canal looking its best, the charity said.

Local waterway manager Wendy Capelle said: "Volunteer lock keepers do a fantastic job. They really are the friendly face of the trust and boaters love them. The role involves talking to boaters, helping them through locks, telling them about the local area and the history of the canal.

"The volunteers all receive training before the seasonal role gets under way around Easter time.

"Volunteers can be of any age as long as they're reasonably fit and healthy, enjoy working outdoors and meeting new people."