Foxton Locks

Lasting from 1900 to 1911, the inclined plane was a method of lifting boats up the hill instead of using the locks. Courtesy of the Record Office for Leicestershire, Leicester & Rutland.

Interviewer: Can you remember anyone telling you about the inclined plane as it used to be?

Mr Moulds: Her sister has been through it, but I’ll tell you that I haven’t, but her sister has. It only went for ten years…

Interviewer: Stopped about 1910.

Mr Moulds: It failed, yeah. And that thing, it was on the steam all the while, and it was coal, so there’d be hours on end they’d be chucking coal on and not using it. If it’d been on electric, as they could have just switched off ‘til the boat come, yes it might have been alright. It only went ten years then it was a failure. Then they said they was going to take to Hanwell [?] and by such time they’d pulled it to pieces and that, well, they wouldn’t have known where the bits was to put it together so it was scrapped. And the locks was in order before it was built, the locks went out of order the ten years it was running, so they had to do all the locks up again before they could reopen it.

Interviewer: How long would it take to get through the locks in them days?

Mr Moulds: One hour.

Interviewer: One hour?

Mr Moulds: With 50 ton. If anybody went to look they wouldn’t believe it but you can do it in the hour can’t you? We can do it with our little cruiser here on just under 40 minutes.

Interviewer: Now when you got to a lock there would be a lock keeper wouldn’t there?

Mr Moulds: In them days yes, these days they’re idiots. You’ve got to tell them whether it’s a lock.

Interviewer: So what was the procedure when you got to a lock? There’s a toll to pay isn’t there?

Mr Moulds: Well when you got to the top lock of Foxton, if you hadn’t been before you’ve just got to put your studying cap on. ‘Cos when you’re first up, ‘Well how’s this lot work?’ You don’t let the water go, you don’t let it go into the next lock, so where’s it going? Well, when you get to the top lock, that’s the top of the ten, you see as all paddles are down at the bottom end, and if the lock’s empty when you get there you fill it, with one paddle at the top. When you get your boat in it you’ve got two paddles then to look after, you’ve got the one as emptied the lock as you’ve just, that goes into a pond, then you just go below that into the next lock and draw the next paddle, that water as you’re putting in out of that lock into that pond is taking it out and filling the next lot below until they both come, the water come level. The gates open, you go into the next lock, shut the gates behind you and do the same procedure, ‘til you get to the five. There’s a, what we call a meeting pound in the five, ‘cos it used to be years ago as one boat went down that five and another boat coming up that five, you used to meet in the meeting pound, then nothing else couldn’t work that five ‘til you got out. But now you see a lot of tangles up, there’s boats in all directions and they don’t know where they’re going!

©EMOHA