Entry: 13th December 2016
Good reason for jubilation – the final brick was laid yesterday on Lock 15 chamber walls! Our volunteers have been working every day, Mon – Fri, for just over a year. For around half of this time, they were occupied in taking down the two chamber walls, upon finding they were beyond restoring. The walls have been rebuilt using concrete block/poured concrete supporting structures – lined with Birtley Olde English bricks. These will give an authentic look to the lock when work is finished.
There is still some work to be done in restoring the ‘thrust blocks’ and ‘wing walls’. The thrust blocks were left standing, deemed restorable by the engineers. Thrust blocks form the four corners of the lock, it is these which take the strain of the lock gates. The upper pair of thrust blocks also house the ground paddle culvert/chamber, used for filling the lock. Emptying the lock chamber is via paddles (sluices) in the lower gates. Wing walls are the curved walls which form the entrance and exit of the lock.
We particularly wish to thank the volunteers of the Waterway Recovery Group. Their input has helped us enormously in reaching where we are today.
The Canal and River Trust too, for their ongoing support, both on site and in project management – ensuring we adhere to the requirements of the Heritage Lottery fund, without whom, this important part of our industrial heritage would still lie in a decayed state.
