2011

SP6989 : Foxton Locks

taken 13 years ago, near to Foxton, Leicestershire, England

This is 1 of 31 images, with title Foxton Locks in this square
Foxton Locks
Foxton Locks
The lowest lock of the ten staircase locks, immediately exiting to the junction of the Market Harborough Arm of the Grand Union canal.
Foxton Locks

Foxton Locks are two sets of staircase locks on the junction of the Market Harborough Arm of the Grand Union Canal, just to the west of the village of Foxton.

Built in 1810, both sets of 5 locks raises boats up 75ft to join back to the main route of the Grand Union. It would take an experienced boatman about 45 minutes to travel through all ten locks.

In 1900 an inclined boat plane boat lift (known as the 'Thomas Lift') was built, to lift up boats the whole height of the hill in just 12 minutes, and it could carry two narrowboats at a time, and reduced the wastage of water. It was closed only 10 years later under financial pressures. The remains can still be seen.

The site is now a popular visitor attraction LinkExternal link

The Grand Union Canal

The Grand Union is a 137 mile (220km), 166 lock, 2 tunnel canal running between Brentford in London and Birmingham. It is the longest canal in Britain, and has 11 main arms and junctions. It takes over a week to navigate.

The Leicester arm branches off at Norton Junction and runs 66 miles long through 59 locks (including 2 staircase locks at Foxton) and 2 tunnels to Leicester where it continues into the River Soar.

Read more at Wikipedia LinkExternal link


Creative Commons Licence [Some Rights Reserved]   © Copyright Oast House Archive and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
Geographical Context: Canals
This photo is linked from: Automatic Clusters: · Market Harborough [51] · Junction of the Grand Union Canal [47] · Market Harborough Arm [34] Title Clusters: · Foxton Locks [31] ·
1:50,000 Modern Day Landranger(TM) Map © Crown Copyright
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1:50,000 Modern Day Landranger(TM) Map © Crown Copyright
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Grid Square
SP6989, 417 images   (more nearby 🔍)
Photographer
Oast House Archive   (more nearby)
Date Taken
Saturday, 2 July, 2011   (more nearby)
Submitted
Friday, 8 July, 2011
Subject Location
OSGB36: geotagged! SP 691 897 [100m precision]
WGS84: 52:30.0766N 0:58.9652W
Camera Location
OSGB36: geotagged! SP 691 897
View Direction
NORTH (about 0 degrees)
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Image classification(about): Geograph
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