Bingley Five Rise Locks: New gates fitted on UK's steepest lock flight

The restoration is part of a £55m programme of works by the Canal & River Trust

Engineers are putting the finishing touches to a major restoration of the UK's steepest lock flight on the Leeds to Liverpool Canal.

Repairs to the Grade I listed Bingley Five Rise Locks have involved replacing one of Britain's tallest set of lock gates at the West Yorkshire landmark.

It is part of a £55m programme of works by the Canal & River Trust on waterways across England and Wales.

The trust said the Bingley lock was one of the "wonders of the waterways".

A lock staircase is where the locks open directly from one to another, with the top gate of one forming the bottom gate of the next.

The locks are classed as a Grade I listed building

The Five Rise Locks, which was opened in 1774, moves boats up and down an incline of about 60ft (18m), with each gate measuring 23ft high (7m) and weighing about six tonnes.

The new lock gates have been hand-crafted using traditional methods in the trust's workshops at Stanley Ferry, near Wakefield.

A single lock gate can take up to 20 days to make and has a working life of around 25 years, the trust said.

In order to be watertight they need to be built very precisely, fitting snugly to the masonry of the 200-year-old lock walls.

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The Five Rise Locks opened in 1774

The charity said it has been working with specialist waterways contractor Rothen Group, which has provided a 40-tonne crane boat to carry out the heavy lifting of the complex lock gate replacement from the water.

Sean McGinley, Yorkshire & North East regional director for the Canal & River Trust, said thousands of boaters and walkers spent time at the canal every year.

"That's why it's important we stay on top of regular maintenance and carry out this work in the winter months to try to minimise inconvenience," he said.

"We want as many people as possible to enjoy the benefits of this wonderful location."

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