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Judging from recent photographs of the lock, the house has now gone. If so, a great pity.
©Robin Webster
This is on the Stratford-upon-Avon Canal. Beyond the lock is Bridge No 1 (Broad Meadow Lane), and beyond that is the junction with the Worcester and Birmingham Canal. This part of the canal was built in the mid 1790s, though financial problems caused delays before the canal could open as far as Kingswood Junction (with the Grand Union) in 1803. The second stage (to Stratford) did not start until 1812, and was finished by 1815. Initial plans for a wide canal (the reason for the wide bridges and tunnels) were abandoned at an early stage. Regarding the lock, Nicholson's Guide to the Waterways is concise and informative: In the days of the private canal companies, stop locks were common at junctions, as one canal sought to protect its water from any newcomer. King's Norton Stop Lock is unusual in having two wooden guillotine gates mounted in iron frames, (one each side of the bridge), balanced by chains and counterweights. The machinery is not now used and boats pass under the two gates without stopping.
©Roger Kidd
This is on the Stratford-upon-Avon Canal. Beyond the lock is Bridge No 1 (Broad Meadow Lane), and beyond that is the junction with the Worcester and Birmingham Canal. This part of the canal was built in the mid 1790s, though financial problems caused delays before the canal could open as far as Kingswood Junction (with the Grand Union) in 1803. The second stage (to Stratford) did not start until 1812, and was finished by 1815. Initial plans for a wide canal (the reason for the wide bridges and tunnels) were abandoned at an early stage. Regarding the lock, Nicholson's Guide to the Waterways is concise and informative: In the days of the private canal companies, stop locks were common at junctions, as one canal sought to protect its water from any newcomer. King's Norton Stop Lock is unusual in having two wooden guillotine gates mounted in iron frames, (one each side of the bridge), balanced by chains and counterweights. The machinery is not now used and boats pass under the two gates without stopping.
©Roger Kidd
Bridge No1 on the Stratford-on-Avon canal. Nr King's Norton Junction
©Robin Baker
This unusual Guillotine Lock raise and lowers the water by nothing at all! This view was taken from beneath the arch of Bridge No 1 on the Stratford-upon-Avon Canal. The bridge crosses the middle of the lock. It is noticeable that the bridge is far wider than it needs to be. When the canal was planned and started in the mid 1790s the intention was for a wide canal supporting wider than the standard seven foot beam narrowboats. They soon ran out of money building the first few (lockless) miles with wide bridges, and by the time the first stage to Kingswood Junction (with the Warwick and Birmingham Canal - now Grand Union) was open in 1803, the whole idea of a wide canal had been abandoned. All the locks to Stratford (eventually reached by 1815) are narrow. Therefore, this lock at King's Norton, was put in place after the decision not to accommodate wide boats was taken. For more lock details see: [[[1726258]]] [[[1726176]]]
©Roger Kidd
Dist:0.1km<br/>This is on the Stratford-upon-Avon Canal. Beyond the lock is Bridge No 1 (Broad Meadow Lane), and beyond that is the junction with the Worcester and Birmingham Canal. This part of the canal was built in the mid 1790s, though financial problems caused delays before the canal could open as far as Kingswood Junction (with the Grand Union) in 1803. The second stage (to Stratford) did not start until 1812, and was finished by 1815. Initial plans for a wide canal (the reason for the wide bridges and tunnels) were abandoned at an early stage. Regarding the lock, Nicholson's Guide to the Waterways is concise and informative: In the days of the private canal companies, stop locks were common at junctions, as one canal sought to protect its water from any newcomer. King's Norton Stop Lock is unusual in having two wooden guillotine gates mounted in iron frames, balanced by chains and counterweights. The machinery is not now used and boats pass under the two gates without stopping. William Dargue writes: The unusual Lifford Guillotine Lock was a stop lock designed to stop water flowing either way from the Worcester & Birmingham Canal to the Stratford Canal; water was an expensive commodity for canal companies. The 15cm difference in water levels was maintained for over a hundred years until the whole canal system was nationalised in 1948. The lock is brick-lined and the gate framework is of cast-iron. The gates are operated by a hand-winched counterweighted chain mechanism. The present gates are probably 19th-century but all other parts are original. The lock is Grade II Listed and Scheduled Ancient Monument. http://billdargue.jimdo.com/placenames-gazetteer-a-to-y/places-k/kings-norton/
©Roger Kidd
Dist:0.1km<br/>This unique stop lock with two guillotine gates was built to avoid loss of water from the Worcester & Birmingham Canal when the Stratford Canal joined it at King's Norton junction. There are changes since the 1988 photo [727467] including the new railing and many more trees, but sadly graffiti remains a common problem.
©Jerry Evans
Dist:0.1km<br/>This is on the Stratford-upon-Avon Canal. Beyond the lock is Bridge No 1 (Broad Meadow Lane), and beyond that is the junction with the Worcester and Birmingham Canal. This part of the canal was built in the mid 1790s, though financial problems caused delays before the canal could open as far as Kingswood Junction (with the Grand Union) in 1803. The second stage (to Stratford) did not start until 1812, and was finished by 1815. Initial plans for a wide canal (the reason for the wide bridges and tunnels) were abandoned at an early stage. Regarding the lock, Nicholson's Guide to the Waterways is concise and informative: In the days of the private canal companies, stop locks were common at junctions, as one canal sought to protect its water from any newcomer. King's Norton Stop Lock is unusual in having two wooden guillotine gates mounted in iron frames, balanced by chains and counterweights. The machinery is not now used and boats pass under the two gates without stopping. Also, William Dargue writes: The unusual Lifford Guillotine Lock was a stop lock designed to stop water flowing either way from the Worcester & Birmingham Canal to the Stratford Canal; water was an expensive commodity for canal companies. The 15cm difference in water levels was maintained for over a hundred years until the whole canal system was nationalised in 1948. The lock is brick-lined and the gate framework is of cast-iron. The gates are operated by a hand-winched counterweighted chain mechanism. The present gates are probably 19th-century but all other parts are original. The lock is Grade II Listed and Scheduled Ancient Monument.http://billdargue.jimdo.com/placenames-gazetteer-a-to-y/places-k/kings-norton/
©Roger Kidd
Dist:0.1km<br/>Assuming the other photo direction is correct, mine is on the opposite side of the bridge in the diametrically opposite direction - the pictures are not reversed. This is not a conventional lock with a level change. It is a stop lock to stop water flow and to protect the Stratford Canal from any loss in the Birmingham & Worcester. The Stratford Canal was owned by a separate company. This is a very rare beast and consists of one gate each side of the bridge.
©Chris Allen
Dist:0.1km<br/>Seen from near Bridge No 72.
©Roger Kidd
Dist:0.1km<br/>Stratford-upon-Avon Canal. Beyond the bridge the Stratford Canal meets the Worcester and Birmingham canal at King's Norton Junction. For details about the guillotine lock ahead, please see other images. [[[1726176]]]
©Roger Kidd
Dist:0.2km<br/>The Worcester and Birmingham Canal was built in stages between 1791 and 1815 to connect the River Severn in Worcester to the Birmingham Canal System using a quicker route than the earlier Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal. Opposition from other canal companies meant that for twenty years there was no direct connection in Birmingham, the last two and a bit metres of canal there being left uncompleted in 1795. http://wikimapia.org/78582/Worcester-Bar This lunacy was eventually resolved by an Act of Parliament in 1815 and a stop-lock constructed. Grain, timber and agricultural produce were carried to the Midlands. Industrial goods and coal were carried down towards Worcester, often for onward transport to Bristol. Later, salt carrying was added as a regular cargo. Pairs of donkeys were often used in preference to horses, maybe because they could easily be put onto the boats which had to be legged (or pulled by tug) through the tunnels. The canal has five tunnels. The longest at Kings Norton is just under two miles long. Steam tugs were used from the 1870s to haul strings of narrowboats through Wasts Hill, Shortwood and Tardebigge tunnels. The Worcester and Birmingham Canal has locks, 58 of them, climbing 428 feet (130 metres) from the level of the River Severn in Worcester up to Birmingham. In the twenty-first century the ring now formed by the two canals and the river makes a popular two weeks holiday route, albeit partly a strenuous one, lockwise, but there are plenty of pubs, though some are now merely restaurants with a bar. The Worcester and Birmingham Canal travels through some very pleasant countryside, climbing from the Severn through rolling fields and wooded cuttings and slicing through a hilly ridge south of Birmingham. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worcester_and_Birmingham_Canal
©Roger Kidd
Dist:0.2km<br/>
©Roy Hughes
Dist:0.2km<br/>Looking through the arch of Junction Bridge, No 72. The bridge carries the towpath from this canal to the Stratford Canal, which leads off to the east.
©Roger Kidd
Dist:0.2km<br/>
©Row17

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