Leeds & Liverpool Canal - Wigan Flight to Leeds

Repairs on the Wigan Flight have progressed well and our teams will be working over the weekend to complete these. The repairs will be completed by 4pm on Monday 22nd October 2018 and the canal will be re-opened, navigation will then be available from the Wigan Flight to Liverpool, including the Liverpool Canal Link.

In the latter half of September the Leeds & Liverpool Canal reservoirs have benefited from significant rainfall, resulting in an increase in water levels both in the reservoirs and the canal. We are now in a position to re-open the canal as follows:

The Leeds & Liverpool Canal between Wigan Top Lock and Gargrave will be re-opened from tomorrow, Saturday 29th September. However to try and conserve water, we will initially operate with restrictions between 10am and 4pm daily at the following locations: 

o            Barrowford Locks (45 to 51).  Last passage commences at 2:30pm.

o            Greenberfield Locks (42 to 44).  Last passage commences at 3pm.

o            Bank Newton Locks (36 to 41).  Last passage commences at 3pm.

o            Gargrave (Holme Bridge Lock 30).  Last passage commences at 3pm. 

This will leave the canal open to navigation from the top of Wigan Flight to Leeds. We will review these restrictions next week and aim to remove them as soon as possible.

As the canal was closed due to the drought, we have completed a number of repairs and maintenance works on the lock flights. Part of this plan was to bring forward planned winter stoppage works at Locks 73, 81 and 85 on the Wigan Flight. When taking this decision our data and analysis suggested it would be late October by the time we had enough water to re-open the canal. Bringing forward these stoppage works was intended to minimise disruption to our boating customers of having planned stoppages commence shortly after the canal was re-opened. The reservoirs have actually recovered earlier than expected, mainly due to the recent storms in the North West and unfortunately these stoppages are currently still on site.  The completion date for these stoppage works is Monday 22nd October, whereupon the lock flight will be re-opened. With these works complete, navigation will be available from the Wigan Flight to Liverpool, including the Liverpool Canal Link throughout the winter period (some minor restrictions may apply).

We appreciate this summer has seen significant disruption to our boating customers and many need to return to home and winter moorings. Although the publicised stoppage works at Poolstock, Plank Lane and Finsley Gate still apply, the following windows for movement have been agreed to give customers more flexibility:

Although advertised to close to navigation from 5th November, the navigation will remain open until 11th November at Finsley Gate (Burnley), Poolstock Lock 2 (Leigh Br) and Plank Lane (Leigh Br). The canal will be closed to navigation at the above locations from 12th November. (The individual stoppage notices will be updated to reflect these date changes).

Following completion of the Wigan Flight works, navigation on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal mainline from Burnley to Liverpool will be open with some minor restrictions.  As noted above, Leigh and Rufford Branches will both have closures from November to December.  There are no further stoppage works planned for this area post-Christmas. 

Burnley will be impassable from 12th November through to March 2019 as the Finsley Gate closure is for significant relining works.

Although some rainfall has occurred over recent weeks, low levels of rainfall have persisted throughout August and are forecasted to continue through the latter part of September, this has impacted on the reservoir holdings which are still extremely low. At least 5 weeks of prolonged rainfall would be required before holdings were to reach a sustainable water level to consider reopening of the Leeds  & Liverpool. Therefore, it is anticipated that it is unlikely that the canal will reopen between Wigan Flight (from below lock 85) and Gargrave (from below lock 30) until at least the end of October, possibly later if we don’t experience any significant and prolonged rainfall over the coming weeks. We have opened up discussions with the Environment Agency regarding temporary abstractions to protecting the canal environment, these abstractions will not be for the purpose of supporting navigation.

The lock flights at Wigan (locks 65 to 85), Johnsons Hillocks (58 to 64), Blackburn Flight (locks 52 to 57), Barrowford Locks (45 to 51), Greenberfield Locks (42 to 44), Bank Newton Locks (36 to 41) and Gargrave (locks 35 to 30) are padlocked closed and the gates have been ashed up to reduce leakage.  To prevent unauthorised use, measures have been taken to make the locks inoperable. While the closure will prevent use of that stretch of canal by boats the towpath will remain open for visitors and the local community alike to enjoy.

While we have had the canal closed our teams have been taking advantage of the lock closures to deliver a large programme of works to remedy some of the usability issues on the locks.   Works have included paddle repairs, vegetation clearance, pointing works, and leakage repairs on the gates.  We have also completed painting, greasing and debris removal works.  Taking the current situation in to consideration we have chosen to bring forward our winter works programme for the following locks, Lock 43  Greenberfield, Lock 73, Lock 81 and Lock 85, we will now deliver these works during September and October while the lock flights remains closed.

This does mean that customers wishing to access or leave between Wigan Flight (from below lock 85) and Gargrave (from below lock 30) won’t be able to do so until the stoppage works have been concluded and the reservoir holdings have improved.

Due to the continued drawdown of the reservoirs, the prolonged low rainfall and with the forecast for further dry weather, the Trust will be implementing temporary closures to navigation between Wigan Flight (from below lock 85) and Gargrave (from below lock 30) commencing on Monday 30 July. 

The lock flights at Wigan (locks 65 to 85), Johnsons Hillocks (58 to 64), Blackburn Flight (locks 52 to 57), Barrowford Locks (45 to 51), Greenberfield Locks (42 to 44), Bank Newton Locks (36 to 41) and Gargrave (locks 35 to 30) will be padlocked closed and the gates will be ashed up to reduce leakage.  To prevent unauthorised use, measures will be taken to make the locks inoperable. 

The last passage for all affected flights will be 3pm on Monday 30 July, with the exception of Barrowford Locks (45 to 51), where the last passage will commence at 2:30pm and Wigan Flight (locks 65 to 85) where the opening times will be as follows:

• 8:30am to 9:30am to facilitate entry onto the flight
• 12:30pm to 1:30pm to facilitate exit from the flight

It’s not clear how long the closure will last for but it’s likely to be throughout August and potentially beyond if there is no significant, sustained rainfall. While the closure will prevent use of that stretch of canal by boats the towpath will remain open for visitors and the local community alike to enjoy.

In the meantime, boaters can help conserve water by:

• Sharing locks where possible and making the best use of the water available.
• Ensuring paddles are fully closed once they’ve passed through a lock.
• Aiming for minimal contact when navigating through locks by ensuring gates are fully open as they pass through. Pushing gates open using a boat can damage the gate lining, increasing its leakage.

Please follow this link to view the FAQ’s.  

Due to the continued drawdown of the reservoirs, the prolonged low rainfall and with the forecast for further dry weather, the Trust will be implementing temporary closures to navigation between Wigan Flight (from below lock 85) and Gargrave (from below lock 30) commencing on Monday 30 July. 

The lock flights at Wigan (locks 65 to 85), Johnsons Hillocks (58 to 64), Blackburn Flight (locks 52 to 57), Barrowford Locks (45 to 51), Greenberfield Locks (42 to 44), Bank Newton Locks (36 to 41) and Gargrave (locks 35 to 30) will be padlocked closed and the gates will be ashed up to reduce leakage.  To prevent unauthorised access though vandalism, measures will be taken to make the locks inoperable. 

It’s not clear how long the closure will last for but it’s likely to be throughout August and potentially beyond if there is no significant, sustained rainfall. While the closure will prevent use of that stretch of canal by boats the towpath will remain open for visitors and the local community alike to enjoy.

In the meantime, boaters can help conserve water by:

• Sharing locks where possible and making the best use of the water available.
• Ensuring paddles are fully closed once they’ve passed through a lock.
• Aiming for minimal contact when navigating through locks by ensuring gates are fully open as they pass through.     
• Pushing gates open using a boat can damage the gate lining, increasing its leakage.

Please follow this link to view the FAQ’s.  

Due to the continued drawdown of the reservoirs, the prolonged low rainfall and with the forecast for further dry weather, the Trust will be implementing temporary closures to navigation between Wigan Flight (from below lock 85) and Gargrave (from below lock 30) commencing on Monday 30 July. 

The lock flights at Wigan (locks 65 to 85), Barrowford Locks (45 to 51), Greenberfield Locks (42 to 44), Bank Newton Locks (36 to 41) and Gargrave (Holme Bridge Lock 30) will be padlocked closed and the gates will be ashed up to reduce leakage.  To prevent unauthorised access though vandalism, measures will be taken to make the locks inoperable. 

It’s not clear how long the closure will last for but it’s likely to be throughout August and potentially beyond if there is no significant, sustained rainfall. While the closure will prevent use of that stretch of canal by boats the towpath will remain open for visitors and the local community alike to enjoy.

In the meantime, boaters can help conserve water by:

• Sharing locks where possible and making the best use of the water available.
• Ensuring paddles are fully closed once they’ve passed through a lock.
• Aiming for minimal contact when navigating through locks by ensuring gates are fully open as they pass through. Pushing gates open using a boat can damage the gate lining, increasing its leakage.

An update will follow with FAQ.