Whinhill Lock Traditional Cache
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Whinhill Lock Restoration in 2005
Whinhill Lock was last used in about 1951 and had deteriorated over the years. The upper gates had been replaced in about 1958 and were still watertight although too decayed to be re-usable. The balance beams were very short. The lower gates had been removed in 1958 and not replaced. The brickwork condition was fair, although a lot of re-pointing was needed and there were limited areas where bricks were missing or needed replacing. There was some vegetation growing from the joints especially under the stone copings, and a thorn tree had a good hold. There was no bywash, nor stop plank grooves.
New lock gates and brickwork re-pointing require that the lock be pumped dry. But there is a considerable flow of water, and so this had to be stopped and bypassed. The owner of the adjacent fish farm increased the flow through the farm as much as he could, but that still left at least as much again – too much sensibly to pump. Temporary dams had to be installed above and below the lock to enable the stop plank grooves to be cut and stop planks installed. The lock gate manufacturer, Callis Mills, suggested that the dams be built using 1 ton bags of sand and gravel, and a large plastic sheet – this turned out to be cheaper than a fabric dam or a clay dam when allowing for re-use of the bags at the next lock.
A 750mm diameter bywash was installed, vertical grooves were then cut in the brickwork and the stop planks installed. Again, lining these with a plastic sheet minimised leakage. The lock was pumped dry and silt removed. A close inspection revealed some additional problems – the lock floor was timber planking, mainly rotten – on heavy timber cross beams which are in very good condition. The major problem was around the sill for the bottom gates, and this had to be totally broken out and replaced with timber and filled with concrete. Fortunately additional funds were made available to help with this unexpected cost. The bottom gate quoins were stone carved with a concave face. This was in poor condition near the bed and had to be cut back to enable cast iron quoins to be installed.
The gate paddle gear were cast – fortunately we have the patterns and so far have made sets for 16 gates with them. The gates have been installed, and now we are hoping to get a working party together to build the headwall for the bywash. When this is complete we will be able to remove the temporary dams and stop planks and open the lock.
Next task will be to rebuild the bridge over the lock as a swing bridge.
The work has been carried out with the aid of funds from the Driffield Area Partnership and from LeaderPlus. It has cost, so far, just over £80,000
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
bccbfvgr gb birenabhg!
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