It is said that an imitation Rolex watch was once found during the spring clean of the UK’s deepest canal lock. Today the most glamorous discoveries are a Tesco shopping trolley and an empty can of Sprite – but spirits are still high.
“I did once come across a full jar of pickled onions,” said Maureen Readle, a volunteer. “But that was a bit further up. Here it is mostly leaves.”
Readle is not wrong. There seems to be tonnes of them lying in the murky water at the bottom of Tuel Lane lock in Sowerby Bridge, West Yorkshire.
For the lock to properly function it needs to be cleared, and the only way that happens is for dozens of volunteers to don waders and hard hats and climb down into the freezing cold waters of the Rochdale canal. Once there, they push leaves and other debris for hours along the bottom in shifts.
The spring clean began two years ago and is now an annual event, shining a light on the importance of volunteers in keeping the canal network going.
“It is quite hard work actually,” said Andrew Shephard, a retired video game accessory company boss from Cliviger, near Burnley, who volunteers. “This is a complete change to my working life,” he agreed.
Unlike many of the volunteers there, Shephard was never a boater. “My daughter got me involved in this about two years ago,” he said. “She said: ‘I’ve found the perfect thing for you. You’ve been in an office all your working life, it’s time to get outside, get some fresh air.’”
A normal day volunteering might involve painting lock gates or general tidying and maintenance, so to be inside the UK’s deepest lock was a genuine thrill, he says.
Tuel Lane lock opened in 1996, the last link in of the restoration of the Rochdale canal – sometimes known as the Everest of canals because of its steepness over the Pennines – which began in the 1970s after its closure in the 1950s.
It is essentially a double-depth lock and is considered one of the most remarkable in the UK, lowering and raising boats by 6 metres (almost 20ft).
“There is an absolute magic about it,” said Peter Burton, the lead volunteer. “When you come out of that tunnel it’s like seeing York Minster, it is a real experience. People will come this way just to say they’ve been in the deepest lock. We give them a certificate.
“Because it’s a concrete base, it fills up with leaves and rubbish and debris; it just builds and builds and boats might struggle to get passage. We need to give it a good scrape.”
Before the cleanup operation all the volunteers watch a confined-spaces awareness video that warns people: “If in doubt – stay out.” They are reassured that the Tuel lock cleanup is a low-risk venture. No one has been lost, yet.
The Canal and River Trust, which looks after 2,000 miles of canals and rivers across England and Wales, said the nation’s canals are more popular than ever, with more boats using them than at the height of the Industrial Revolution. More volunteers are always needed, it says.
The spring clean is hard work and it is freezing cold in the water but people are having fun. Readle said she had enjoyed lots of canal holidays over the years so volunteering was a way of giving something back. “When I took part the first time two years ago, I’d never worn a pair of waders before, let alone being waist high in water … but here I am.”
