Foxton Staircase Locks

Today’s the day .............................. to descend

The Foxton Locks consist of two staircases of five chambers each.  The chambers are linked to each other,  so once you start, you have to keep going.  It can get a bit complicated working out what water you need, and where it’s going to come from – but fortunately there is usually a lock-keeper on hand to help. 

Leicestershire folk appear to regard Foxton Locks as their own personal street-theatre.  They descend on the flight in droves to mill about and ask questions of the narrowboater.  There’s an excellent museum, well worth a look round and several canalside pubs and cafes.  That Foxton is a canal centre at all is due to historical accident.  The original concept back in 1793 was for a canal to link Leicester to Northampton – but the canal company ran out of capital and the direct route was never built.  Instead, a new company was formed and a link between Foxton and Norton was the result which included the two precipitous flights of locks at either end of a twenty mile summit.

 As it happened, the locks were to cause a significant hold-up in the movement of goods along the canal and so it was proposed to construct a ‘boat lift’ – or ‘inclined plane’ to replace them.  Only the one at Foxton was built, opening in 1900 to great acclaim.  It must have been quite a sight to see it in action – an upper and lower dock separated by a 1:4 gradient laid with rails supporting two counter-balanced tanks each capable of taking a barge or pair of narrowboats.  It was the Falkirk Wheel of its day.  But even this was doomed to failure when set against the speed and capacity of the railway network, now well established – and ten years later it was no longer in action.

The Foxton Inclined Plane Trust  have ambitious proposals to restore the plane to full working order – so you never know ...........................