Shropshire canal locks get winter overhaul - with video and pictures

The Canal & River Trust is starting its annual programme of winter repairs on the canal network, including in Market Drayton.

The programme will see the trust invest more than £700,000 in the Shropshire Union Canal.

Sections will be drained, old lock gates lifted out, new gates installed and 200-year-old brickwork carefully restored. New gates are being installed at four locks on the canal in Market Drayton and Audlem.

Work was taking place at Tyrley Locks near Market Drayton yesterday, which saw new gates being lifted into the locks using a spider crane.

Derek Kellett, construction supervisor with the Canal & River Trust, said: “The Shropshire Union Canal is enjoyed by thousands of people, either on the water or the towpath. These works are all about caring for the canal so that it can continue to play an important role in people’s daily lives.

“If the Canal & River Trust didn’t carry out works such as these then boats couldn’t visit the area and people wouldn’t have a safe, enjoyable place to get away from it all.”

Workmen are currently on site replacing the top and bottom gates at the locks as part of a project which will take about five weeks to complete.

The gates cost about £8,500 and need to be replaced every 25 years.

Yesterday, the new lock gates were being lowered into the locks using a spider crane.

Mark Adams, site supervisor, said: "We strip the old gates down, including the metal, and re-use them where we can. The new ones are made in our workshops and are made to measure."

Mr Adams, who has worked for the trust for 17 years, said he thoroughly enjoys the work, despite the challenges such as the weather.

"I enjoy the variety of the work. Every job is different," he said.

"Each has its own troubles but you have to overcome them.

"I especially enjoy working out in the countryside, it is a beautiful part of the world."

Part of the work on the site will also involve clearing the bottom of the lock.

Asked what sort of interesting items he has previously found, he said: "I have found mobile phones, shot guns which we have had to hand into the police and even a couple of safes. Unfortunately there was nothing in them."

Also working on site yesterday was apprentice Billy Davies.

He said: "They are great people to work with. Although we have to work to a timescale you don't feel under a lot of pressure.

"I prefer working outside. I can't stand being in an office."

The Canal & River Trust recently revealed which stretches of canals in the county will be closed during the coming months as it carries out repair and restoration work costing about £800,000.

The Llangollen Canal and Shropshire Union Canal are among those to benefit from the work.

But the environment for those carrying out the work is not for the faint-hearted.

Often their day job means dealing with oceans of mud, freezing temperatures, driving rain and even snow to replace lock gates, rebuild embankments and grout damaged lock chamber masonry.

Work is also currently taking place at Audlem Locks on the Shropshire Union Canal until December 15.

It involves replacing the top and bottom gates on Lock 2, repairing the underwater bywash on Local 9 and replacing the top and bottom gates on Lock 14.

In the new year, work is taking place at Sluice 4, Cornhill, Llangollen Canal, adjacent to Bridge 47, from January 8 to January 26, to carry out repairs to the sluice – a device for controlling the flow of water.

Repairs at New Mills Lift Bridge 31 at Whitchurch, on the Llangollen Canal, will take place from January 29 to February 16.

Repair work at Springhill Bridge 41, Llangollen Canal, will be carried out from January 22 to February 9.

The trust said bridge repairs will be carried out at Grindley Brook Bridge 28, on the Llangollen Canal near Whitchurch, from February 19 to March 16.

Work will also take place during this time at Grindley Brook Locks 4, 5, and 6, to reline the gates.

Repairs below the water level to the wet abutment will also be carried out at Dansons Bridge 30, Llangollen Canal, from February 19 to March 11.

The dates have been amended to tie in with the closure at Grindley Brook Locks.

Last year the Canal & River Trust undertook a £43 million restoration and repair programme on canals and rivers across England and Wales. It involved work at Audlem’s flight of locks near Market Drayton, including replacing the timber top lock gate as well as making repairs. Earlier this year, communities were encouraged to adopt one-mile stretches of canals by the trust, It published an online map of areas in need of support – including stretches of the Llangollen, Montgomery and Shropshire Union Canal.

Across the country, 170 sections of waterways have been adopted by community groups and the Canal & River Trust is aiming to boost this to 500 by 2025.

Some stretches of canal in the region are already looked after by groups and organisations.

For more information visit canalrivertrust.org.uk/volunteer/adopt-a-canal