Bingley Three Rise and Five Rise

The Bingley Three and the Five Rise locks are listed monuments, Grade 2 and Grade 1 respectively. They consist of... yes, you guessed it, a flight of three locks followed by a flight of five consecutive pounds, each flowing into the next. They opened in 1774 and are the steepest locks on the system. The five locks raise boats nearly 60ft in total.

Passage is only allowed with a CRT employee (at least in the summer months). You don't need to book ahead but travel is restricted to two hour time slots, beginning at 8am and alternating between descents and ascents. We pulled up at the bottom of the flights just before 10am and were pleased to see one other narrowboat ahead. It is always easier to share. A CRT volunteer and a lock keeper turned up at 10am and we sailed onwards and upwards.

Thee lockies were cheerful and happy to either work the locks themselves or work with the boat crews. It became a team effort, with several families joining in and having a go winding the mechanisms to open and close the gate paddles, working Rainboat and Wren through the system.

We chatted away as views of the Aire Valley revealed themselves below us. Maintenance work has taken place over the years, with various wooden bridges and oak gates being replaced. Parts remained unpainted due to uncertainty over what colour would be most historically correct. The world wars saw them blacked to reduce the risk of them being bombed by enemy planes and the black and white photographs before this time are difficult to decipher.

We made reasonable time and stopped at the top to fill with water, empty rubbish and pick up a delicious Bakewell muffin from the busy cafe close to the services.Read more