Buckby Locks 8 to 11

Buckby Locks 8 to 11 - Water Restrictions update 02/11/18

The current operational restrictions inplace at Buckby Locks will cease on Monday 5th November.

Thank You for your understanding & support during the operational restrictions period. 

The Met Office declared this summer as being the joint hottest on record, with only 61% of average rainfall received.

As we move into Autumn the weather may be cooler, but we are still feeling the effects of the dry summer. Streams feeding canals are drier than normal, and our reservoirs are lower than usual for this time of year.

We are reluctantly having to introduce further measures to manage the risk of reservoir running out of water before the start of winter stoppage season.

Lock opening hours are being tightened to further control canal demands. Shorter days of lock operation will also provide the back pumps with more time to transfer water from up from the river’s Tone and Ouse (providing an alternative source of water to our depleted reservoirs).

Even despite recent storms and heavy rainfall our reservoirs in this part of the network are relatively slow to refill. It takes more than a few storms to provide water for a summer of navigation. We will be watching weather patterns develop over the coming autumn and winter months hoping for a positive response in reservoirs over the winter.

As we monitor the impact of storms and periods of wet weather we will continue to review our canal opening hours with a view to keeping disruption to a minimum.

You can find out more about how we manage our water at https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/specialist-teams/managing-our-water

 or contact us [email protected]

We advise boaters not to moor overnight between locks 8 and 11 (water levels may fluctuate overnight). To guarantee passage through the entire flight they should arrive at Lock 8 going downhill and Lock 11 going uphill no later than 2 hours before closing.

Opening times for the canal from 1st October:

8am to 5pm

[last entry on the flight 3pm]