TWO giant oak lock gates costing £30,000 were carefully lifted into place by a large crane as part of a renovation of the highest locks on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal.

The waterway was drained at Barrowford Locks to allow the crane to be driven into the dried out lock and work to go ahead on replacing the old gates which were more than 30 years old.

Wear and tear meant the former gates were springing leaks and needed replacement as part of British Waterways' rolling programme of improvements along the 127-mile canal.

Jim Swindells, British Waterways' community development officer, explained: "In some areas where appearance is not quite as important we may use metal gates.

"But here at Barrowford, which is one of the more picturesque lock flights along the canal, we wanted to use oak because they look more authentic and people using the canal like to see wooden gates. It's part of the canal's heritage. The problem is it's getting harder and harder to find oak gates. "We expect oak to last around 30 years and these have been there longer than that. They've seen out three lock-keepers which isn't bad going but it was time for them to be replaced.

"The gates are designed to wear evenly so that they form a good fit as they close together. But you get boats hitting them and glancing along them and that eventually wears a groove in the gates which allows water through. Every now and again we have to refurbish them and eventually they wear so much they have to be replaced.

"The skills of the carpenters are passed down from generation to generation and the company trains new people up all the time."

The project, from the initial draining of the canal, is expected to take a fortnight.

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