Boat Lifts

Roger Watson.  Focus on History.  The Transport Revolution.  London:  Longman Group Ltd., 1971.

Designed by Gordon Cale Thomas, this boat lift lock was completed at Foxton, England in 1900.  Barges were carried up from the lower to the higher watercourse in steel caissons rolling on rails.  It was mothballed in 1911 and sold for scrap in 1928 but efforts are underway to restore it through the Foxton Inclined Plane Trust.  Today there is only one lift like this still in use in England--the Anderton Lift near Northwich in Cheshire.  Built in 1875, the lift was in use for over 100 years until it was closed due to corrosion in 1983. Restoration started in 2001 and the boat lift was re-opened in 2002.  It's now a major attraction in Cheshire.