Marple Lock Flight is a flight of sixteen canal locks

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...

, situated on the Peak Forest Canal

Peak Forest Canal

The Peak Forest Canal, is a narrow locked artificial waterway in northern England. It is long and forms part of the connected English/Welsh inland waterway network.-General description:...

 in Marple

Marple, Greater Manchester

Marple is a small town within the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on the River Goyt southeast of Stockport.Historically part of Cheshire, Marple has a population of 23,480 .-Toponymy:...

, near Stockport

Stockport

Stockport is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on elevated ground southeast of Manchester city centre, at the point where the rivers Goyt and Tame join and create the River Mersey. Stockport is the largest settlement in the metropolitan borough of the same name...

.

History

Whilst the rest of the canal was opened to navigation by 1796, insufficient money was available to complete the necessary flight of locks to connect the two halves, and a temporary tramway was installed until such time as the locks could be completed, which finally happened in 1804.

With the end of commercial carrying the locks became dilapidated and by the early 1960s the flight had become impassible. Pressure in the late 1960s from 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....

, who wanted to save the Cheshire Ring

Cheshire Ring

The Cheshire Ring is a popular canal cruising circuit, or canal ring which includes six of the canals in and around Cheshire, England.Because it takes approximately a week to complete, it is suited to narrowboat holidays which start and return to the same location. The route has 92 locks and is long...

, resulted in the restoration and re-opening of the flight in 1974.

Today, the location of the flight, with easy access to public transport, and its scenic merits so close to a town centre, make it a popular destination with walkers, and during the summer small crowds can often be seen around the locks as boats pass through.

Features

The sixteen locks raise the canal by 209 feet (64 m) over the course of about a mile (1.6 km).

Whilst this is a single flight, it can be divided into three different sections, each with a distinctive environment;

• The lower section (locks 1-8)

The first part of the flight climbs through 8 locks in a heavily wooded section with little nearby habitation.

• the middle section (locks 9-12)

The next few locks lie alongside a municipal park, with housing close at hand on the off-side bank

• the top section (locks 13-16)

Finally, the canal rises steeply through four closely spaced locks, with housing on both sides, and a road accompanying the canal, to arrive at Marple Junction