Locks on the Aire & Calder

[Heartland]

The parliamentary application of 1758 for the Calder Navigation mentions the poor quality of the lock gates on the Aire & Calder then. How did this compare with contemporary navigations?

 

[Pluto]

Impossible to say. The A&CN had a very poor reputation at the time, and had to be completely rebuilt in the 1770s when the new locks were built to conform to those recently built on the L&LC. They were much more substantial, with the disused lock at Leeds Lock being the only one surviving, though I suspect much rebuilt.