I LOVE the Bingley Five Rise staircase locks, which are a true engineering wonder.

They were an awesome achievement of civil engineering and raise the Leeds and Liverpool Canal some 60 feet (18.3 metres).

They were designed by John Longbotham, of Halifax, who was the Leeds and Liverpool's first engineer.

They have changed little since they were completed in the 1770s.

There is a plaque to mark the achievement on the wall of the Top Lock House.

I had my breakfast with a friend who is now in his 90s and has been studying the canal for more than half a century.

He brought the history of the Five Rise to vibrant life.

In 1900 the area around the locks would have been a hive of activity, with a noisy carpenter's shop, stables, horse-drawn boats and some steam-driven barges.

The main cargoes passing up through the locks were coal from the West Yorkshire collieries going to mills, gasworks and coal merchants, as well as wool products and food.

Limestone from the Craven district passed downwards, particularly to Low Moor Ironworks in Bradford.

From the port of Liverpool came Australian wool, American wheat and special cargoes including cocoa and dried fruit for the chocolate factories in York.

Later, sugar from Tate and Lyle's in Liverpool was an important cargo.

Passing in the opposite direction was cement from the Humber estuary.

After lunch I descended from the locks down to the church, which is still the focal point of the settlement.

The grand old inn is called the Old White Horse and was apparently founded by the Knights of St John.

Opposite this impressive building is the equally important parish church dedicated to All Saints.

The pathway leading to the church is paved with gravestones are fringed with rose bushes.

Bingley was a Christian settlement as early as the seventh century, when Saxon crosses and then a church were erected.

In the reign of Henry I (1100-1135) a new church was built but this was destroyed in 1314 by the invading Scots.

A new church was constructed in 1518 and, although there have been many restorations since, Bingley church is one of the finest to be sited close to the canal.

This is quite something because there are many impressive churches along the banks of the cut.

All Saints Church is actually sandwiched between the River Aire and the Leeds and Liverpool.

At the moment a new road is being constructed around Bingley and this will reduce the occasional traffic problem around the town.

Directions:

FOLLOW the A59 to Skipton. Then follow the A629 through Keighley and on to Bingley via the A650. There is parking near the station and some at the lock system. I like to begin this stroll from the parish church. Cross the main road and find a little ginnel which passes beneath the railway. Pass a group of allotments and then climb up to the canal towpath. This is reached at a point close to the Damart factory and the three-lock system. Turn left and continue along the towpath to the Five Rise. There are several well marked routes back into Bingley.