Brindley Gates on the Barnsley

Reader's Letters & Queries: NarrowBoat, Winter 2013

Further to recent correspondence in NarrowBoat about Brindley Gates (resulting from the original article in Spring 2010 NB), the recess shown in these photographs was brought to my attention by an interested local resident and waterway enthusiast. It is located on the Barnsley Canal in the offside abutments of a bridge just to the north of the embankment which also acts as the Cold Hiendley reservoir dam wall. Very little is left of the towpath-side recess because of more recent works, but there are still certain aspects that match the offside arrangement. The next road bridge to the north has similar recesses in the abutments. The recess is about 12ft 6in across and 3½in deep. Originally the canal had a depth of 5ft, so assuming that the gates were fitted when the canal was opened, the width of the recess is about right for two gates, say, 5ft 6in high with a bit of room left for clearances and the central pillar needed to support the gates in the upright position. The cana…