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How do locks work?
Locks are actually a lot easier to work than you may think and are all part of the fun on a canal holiday. They're used as a way of raising or lowering your boat, so that it can go up or down steep gradients, and each one takes around 15 – 20 minutes to bring your boat through.
Simply take your canal boat into the lock chamber, close the gates behind you, and then fill or empty the lock by raising small trap doors called ‘paddles'. You raise the paddles with an L-shaped lock key, called a ‘windlass', which will be given to you by your canal holiday operator. When the chamber is completely full or empty open the gates and set off. Easy! For a more detailed step-by-step guide, read How do locks work?
