Foxton Inclined Plane Trust - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Foxton Inclined Plane Trust is a waterway society

Waterway society

A Waterway society is a society, association, charitable trust, club, trust or "Friends" group involved in the restoration, preservation, use and enjoyment of waterways, e.g. a canal, river, navigation or other waterway, and their associated buildings and structures, e.g...

and a registered charity on the Grand Union Canal

Grand Union Canal

The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the British canal system. Its main line connects London and Birmingham, stretching for 137 miles with 166 locks...

at Foxton

Foxton, Leicestershire

thumb|Foxton parish churchFoxton is a village in Leicestershire, England, to the north-west of Market Harborough. It is on the Grand Union Canal and is the site of the Foxton Locks and Foxton Inclined Plane.-External links:****...

, Leicestershire

Leicestershire

Leicestershire is a landlocked county in the English Midlands. It takes its name from the heavily populated City of Leicester, traditionally its administrative centre, although the City of Leicester unitary authority is today administered separately from the rest of Leicestershire...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, UK. It was founded in 1980 to promote the restoration of the Victorian boat lift

Boat lift

A boat lift, ship lift, or lift lock is a machine for transporting boats between water at two different elevations, and is an alternative to the canal lock and the canal inclined plane....

or inclined plane

Canal inclined plane

An inclined plane is a system used on some canals for raising boats between different water levels. Boats may be conveyed afloat, in caissons, or may be carried in cradles or slings. It can be considered as a specialised type of cable railway....

, a unique and famous piece of canal

Canal

Canals are man-made channels for water. There are two types of canal:#Waterways: navigable transportation canals used for carrying ships and boats shipping goods and conveying people, further subdivided into two kinds:...

history.

The Trust runs the Foxton Canal Museum which was opened in 1989 and is also the Trust headquarters

Headquarters

Headquarters denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the top of a corporation taking full responsibility managing all business activities...

, in the former boiler house.

It is campaigning for the full restoration of the boat lift, and it is a partner in the Foxton Locks Partnership, composed of British Waterways

British Waterways

British Waterways is a statutory corporation wholly owned by the government of the United Kingdom, serving as the navigation authority in England, Scotland and Wales for the vast majority of the canals as well as a number of rivers and docks...

, the Inland Waterways Association

Inland Waterways Association

The Inland Waterways Association was formed in 1946 as a registered charity in the United Kingdom to campaign for the conservation, use, maintenance, restoration and sensitive development of British Canals and river navigations....

, the Old Union Canals Society and local authorities.

The Foxton Locks Partnership has already obtained £ 1.78 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund

Heritage Lottery Fund

The Heritage Lottery Fund is a fund established in the United Kingdom under the National Lottery etc. Act 1993. The Fund opened for applications in 1994. It uses money raised through the National Lottery to transform and sustain the UK’s heritage...

for preliminary restoration works on the site, including:

re-watering an arm of the canal
dredging and repairing the bottom basin
replacing a missing bridge over the Harborough
Harborough
Harborough is a local government district of Leicestershire, England, named after its main town, Market Harborough. Covering , the District is by far the largest of the eight district authorities in Leicestershire and covers almost a quarter of the County....

Arm
improving footpaths for better access to the 8 hectares (19.8 acre) site

The Foxton Inclined Plane was opened in 1900, refurbished between 1909 and 1910, and closed in 1911. It was demolished in 1928.

The Inclined plane is part of a site which includes a Scheduled Ancient Monument

Scheduled Ancient Monument

In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a 'nationally important' archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorized change. The various pieces of legislation used for legally protecting heritage assets from damage and destruction are grouped under the term...

and a Grade II* listed staircase of lock

Lock (water transport)

A lock is a device for raising and lowering boats between stretches of water of different levels on river and canal waterways. The distinguishing feature of a lock is a fixed chamber in which the water level can be varied; whereas in a caisson lock, a boat lift, or on a canal inclined plane, it is...

External links

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See also

External links