Locks: Leeds & Liverpool Canal - Leigh Branch

 Junction of Bridgewater Canal (Stretford and Leigh Branch) at Leigh and the junction with main line of the Leeds Liverpool Canal at Wigan.

The locks on the Leeds & Liverpool canal were designed to carry the ‘short boats’ that had twice the capacity of the narrow boats used on other canals.

The locks therefore had to be wide enough to allow the 62 feet long, 14 feet wide boats through them. Most of the locks were also grouped together to give long runs between the locks.
 
The boats were mainly used to carry bulk cargoes such as coal, stone and limestone. Commercial traffic ceased in 1964, but the locks are still used to carry leisure boats which have become very popular. Ironically the leisure craft are often narrow boats, because there are links to other canals, and wider boats would not be able to pass through the locks on the other canals. These locks are wide enough to allow two narrow boats to enter the lock side by side.

The construction of the canal was started in 1770 and the first section opened in 1774 and it as finally completed in 1816.

The Leigh Branch is part of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. It runs for 7 miles and 2½ furlongs through 2 current locks. There also two other redundant locks that were closed when the level of part of the canal dropped due to mining subsidence.

The Leigh Branch Junction runs from the Bridgewater Canal (Stretford and Leigh Branch) at Leigh to the junction with the main line of the Leeds Liverpool Canal at Wigan.

The two redundant locks on the Leigh branch are in an area of a former coal mine and much of this length of canal was affected by subsidence. When the level of the canal dropped the canal was dredged and the gates removed. Two new locks were created at Poolstock closer to the junction with the main line of the canal at Wigan.

Lock 1 - Poolstock lock 1

Lock 2 - Poolstock lock 2

Dover lock 1 (abandoned)

Dover lock 2 (abandoned)