Why was this unusual lock built here? And why was it built after the canals had already gone into decline as an industrial resource? Listen to to the audio track below to find out.
Why was this unusual lock built here? And why was it built after the canals had already gone into decline as an industrial resource? Listen to to the audio track below to find out.
Imagine Its 1934 and you are looking down at the newly completed Carpenters Road Lock. Built as part of the flood relief system of the time the lock was unique in its design and engineering.
It was built with rising radial gates at both ends. The use of rising radial gates was fairly common in continental Europe, but Carpenters Road was the first to use of them in Britain. The choice was dictated by the fact that the structure had to act both as a navigation lock and as a means of discharging floodwater. It also had to be able to cope with variable water levels in both the City Mills River to the south, and Waterworks River to the north, where either one could be higher than the other. It was therefore built with two rising radial gates, one at each end.
Another reason for the locks construction was to help the local economy, in thirties Britain, there were high rates of unemployment, and the government had recently introduced an unemployment relief scheme. West Ham Corporation, working with the Lee Conservancy Board, applied for and received grants to enable major improvements to be carried out to the Bow Back Rivers.
Work on the lock itself, began in 1933, and it was completed in 1934. The curved radial gates were made in Sheffield.
The spot where you are standing was where the lock keepers building were built in 1935. The first lock keeper, a Mr Clifford, was appointed at £2.5s per week with house and uniform. The house was demolished in 1968.
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