brookfoot lock keepers cottage on calder and hebble navigation

[owen]

Hi just been past the above mentioned lock keepers house looks in a sorry state just wondering if anyone has any photos of it in its hey day or whenever really to see how much it has fallen into disrepair and also any pictures of the old lock at the side of it that looks as if it went into the river Calder but is blocked up at the back and now has a blackberry bush growing over lock gates

[Guest]

Hi just been past the above mentioned lock keepers house looks in a sorry state just wondering if anyone has any photos of it in its hey day or whenever really to see how much it has fallen into disrepair and also any pictures of the old lock at the side of it that looks as if it went into the river Calder but is blocked up at the back and now has a blackberry bush growing over lock gates

 

Not in it's hey day but better than you describe..

 

 

PS - not my pic. BTW - Googled it..

Edited January 2, 2011 by MJG

[Mac of Cygnet]

Unfortunately this building is really too small to be used as a dwelling, with no room for meaningful expansion and no road access (although the latter hasn't prevented the next one down at Ganny Lock being turned into an attractive house). Any disused building, especially in a semi-urban area, is bound to suffer, however solidly built (and this one is) - I don't think this is a modern phenomenon. Size is no protector, either - the large (Georgian) building by the basin at Brighouse has been going downhill for years since it was abandoned by the local angling club.

 

The good news is that the lockie's house (a substantial two storey building) nearby has now been refurbished and is occupied (by a boater!) after nearly suffering the same fate.

 

As for the old river lock at Brookfoot, I was amazed that the river, only a few feet away, didn't inundate the canal here during the floods a couple of years ago, as it did at several points both up and downstream, flooding Dr Bradley's allotment and the Collier's Arms, and hoisting a narrowboat onto the towpath near Shepley Bridge (incompetent recovery of same shown here in a recent thread)

 

Mac

[Matthew Dowson]

I remember this on my summer cruise in 2009, a shame its in this state, but as its too small for a dwelling, its not got much of a future.

[Pluto]

I remember this on my summer cruise in 2009, a shame its in this state, but as its too small for a dwelling, its not got much of a future.

It's not the size, but the difficulty in getting modern services installed which has led to several C&HN cottages falling into disrepair. BW's heritage officer at Leeds would be delighted to hear from anyone who can suggest new uses which would keep them in good order.