Chance to see drained canal at Tinsley Locks open day
The locks, made famous in the opening scenes of The Full Monty, have been drained ready for several of the huge wooden gates to be replaced.
The Canal and River Trust is carrying out repairs to the 19th century lock flight on the Sheffield and Tinsley Canal at a cost of £500,000. Four sets of 30-year-old gates have been replaced this week by bespoke new ones made at the Stanley Ferry Workshop in Wakefield.
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Hide AdAs part of the process, any fish in the locks had to be rescued using a humane technique called electrofishing, where the fish are temporarily stunned by an electric current so they can be scooped up and transferred to another section of the canal. According to the trust, about 90lb of fish – mainly roach and a few chub – were moved.
Waterway manager Jon Horsfall said: “This is skilled work today, so it’s simply incredible how the original canal builders created the Sheffield and Tinsley Canal.
“Their legacy lives on and now repairing the lock gates at Tinsley is part of our essential maintenance to enable the local canal and river network to be enjoyed by thousands of people every day.”
A free open day, when people will be able to see the drained lock, will be held at lock 11, next to Meadowhall, on Sunday, February 14.