Thousands queue for chance to see drained Five Rise Locks

THOUSANDS of people from all over the country queued for a rare opportunity to see Bingley’s famous Five Rise Locks from the canal bed over the weekend.

It was drained so engineers could carry out vital repair work, with British Waterways taking the chance to replace four of the six giant gates. The £200,000 job takes place once every 25 years.

People have been visiting the locks on the Leeds Liverpool Canal for more than 230 years.

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A spokesman said: “It’s been a fantastic response, everyone has had an amazing time and it just shows what passion there is out there for the waterways.”

He said about 3,500 people visited the locks on Saturday with 7,276 having visited by 4.15pm yesterday. He added: “They are the steepest locks in Britain at 60ft from top to bottom. The new gates were manufactured by Stanley Ferry Workshop, near Wakefield – one of only two places in the country that manufacture such gates.”

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