Stop 4 - Lock Keepers Bridge

Make sure your volume is on: "Waypoint 4 - History"

Show transcript

As you stand in the middle of the cast iron footbridge look down.
You will notice the cobbles and clay gullies passing down each side. The ridges crossing the bridge were to help people from slipping as they walked across the curved arch of the bridge.

As you look down at the river not much has changed in the centuries since City Mill River and Waterworks River joined the old River Lea.

Before the original lock was built in the 1930’s the waters here were used for power to turn heavy millstones. With the age of steam the use of tidal power declined. But the waterways remained economically important but this time as a transport network. The Bow Back Rivers here were linked to the growing canal network of the 18th century as a way of transporting bulk goods around the country.

So why was lock built here? A combination of flooding from the Lea Valley and the ebb and flow of the tide made water levels either too high or too low for industry to locate here or boats to travel.

The lock solved the problem, maintaining a level volume on one side whilst managing possible flooding on the other.

To find the next waypoint, continue across the bridge and follow the footpath under the rather functional access bridge. You will find a metal platform and steps at a place where the river narrows, which is our next stop.