SP5968 : Watford top Lock in Northamptonshire
taken 9 years ago, near to Watford, Northamptonshire, Great Britain

The Watford flight of locks in Northamptonshire contains seven locks, including one staircase of four. The total rise in water level provided is 52ft 6in (16 metres).
The image shows a narrowboat entering Watford Top Lock (No 7). The open gate on the left is part of Lock No 6, the top chamber of the staircase four. It has been left open because some boats waiting to descend are queueing beyond the top lock. The men in blue are lock staff supervising the orderly passage of boats up and down the flight.
Jo Turner writes:
In a staircase the upper gate of one lock is also the lower gate of the one above it. Operating a staircase is very different from operating a flight. It can be more useful to think of a staircase as a single lock with intermediate levels. As there is no intermediate pound, a chamber can only be filled by emptying the one above, or emptied by filling the one below; thus the whole staircase has to be full of water (except for the bottom chamber) before a boat starts to ascend, or empty (except for the top chamber) before a boat starts to descend. In an apparent staircase the chambers still have common gates, but the water does not pass directly from one chamber to the next, going instead via side ponds. This means it is not necessary to ensure that the flight is full or empty before starting. Examples of real staircases are Bingley and Grindley Brook. Examples of apparent staircase locks are Foxton Locks and Watford Locks on the Leicester Branch of the Grand Union.
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- Grid Square
- SP5968, 201 images (more nearby
)
- Photographer
- Roger Kidd (find more nearby)
- Date Taken
- Thursday, 22 August, 2013 (more nearby)
- Submitted
- Sunday, 5 August, 2018
- Geographical Context
- Subject Location
-
OSGB36:
SP 5930 6887 [10m precision]
WGS84: 52:18.8846N 1:7.8918W - Camera Location
-
OSGB36:
SP 5930 6883
- View Direction
- NORTH (about 0 degrees)



