PRESS RELEASE
2 April 2013
WATERWAY CRAFTMANSHIP GIVEN STAR BILLING
As part of an exciting art collaboration between the Canal & River Trust and Arts Council England,
famous Yorkshire Poet Ian McMillan will be making a special guest appearance at the Trust’s
Stanley Ferry Workshop Open Day in Wakefield this April.
The Trust’s renowned lock gate manufacture workshop will be throwing open its doors on Sunday
14 April to give members of the public a unique insight into the skilled craftsmanship required in
lock gate making – one of the oldest traditions of the waterways.
As part of ‘Locklines’, an innovative arts project to commemorate the inaugural year of Canal &
River Trust and to attract more visitors to Britain’s waterways, Ian McMillan will be bringing his
dynamic character to a series of interactive poetry workshops.
Artist, Peter Coates, a highly skilled contemporary artist with a background in architectural
sculpture and lettering, has been working with the Stanley Ferry Workshop team to carve and inlay
poetry by Jo Bell, Roy Fisher and Ian McMillan into four locks. Throughout the open day Peter will
be showcasing his skill with some carving demonstrations.
Arts development manager Tim Eastop explains the project’s significance to the Canal & River
Trust: “There is a longstanding link between arts and the waterways - indeed, the canal locks we
use today are based on Leonardo da Vinci’s design for a lock at San Marco in Milan in 1497. Art
has a fantastic capacity to surprise and challenge and we are exploring a whole range of projects
which we hope will encourage people to visit and support the waterways. We hope that this project
makes people smile and take a moment to stop and think about the wonderful canals that are on
their doorsteps.”
As one of only two lock gate manufacture workshops in the country Stanley Ferry Workshop is at
the centre of waterways craftsmanship. Visitors will be able to take a tour of the woodworking
workshop where the gates are put together, as well as the engineering rooms, the dry dock and
then on to the canal side to see the ‘Tom Puddings’ – the 19th century freight train of the waterways
which used to transport coal around Yorkshire and beyond.
North East Waterways
Canal & River Trust Fearns Wharf Neptune Street Leeds LS9 8PB
T 0303 040 4040 E enquiries.northeast@canalrivertrust.org.uk www.canalrivertrust.org.uk
Patron: H.R.H. The Prince of Wales. Canal & River Trust, a charitable company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales
with company number 7807276 and registered charity number 1146792, registered office address First Floor North, Station House, 500
Elder Gate, Milton Keynes MK9 1BB
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The Trust, which took over the running of 2,000 miles of canals and rivers in England & Wales in
July last year from British Waterways, replaced 174 lock gates at around 100 locks around the
country during its £50m winter maintenance programme between November and March.
Steve Brunt, Stanley Ferry’s workshop supervisor said: “As one of only two such workshops in the
country this is a unique opportunity for those wanting to learn about the construction of lock gates,
see our machinery up close and speak to our skilled craftsmen about the processes involved.
“Lock gate making is an extremely skilled and traditional trade and one that remains essential to
the waterways. Due to their varied history, every canal is different so there is no standard design.
Therefore, every individual lock gate is unique to its canal and has to be hand crafted to achieve a
water-tight fit in its chamber to carry out its 25-30 year working life. This is a great event for all the
family to find out more about the Trust’s work.”
Each lock gate is hand-crafted by a skilled team of carpenters and made from sustainably-sourced
British oak. A lock gate can take up to 20 days to craft including planing the green, rough sawn
timber, setting out the gate, carry out all the intricate steel work, make the mortice and tenon joints,
shape the heel and head posts and assemble everything into the finished product.
Lock gates are constructed with tremendous strength as they have to control huge water
pressures, take the hard usage they get from the thousands of boats which use them each year
and survive for a long time underwater and at the mercy of the elements. In order to be waterproof
they also need to be built very precisely, fitting tightly to the masonry of the lock walls and to each
other.
Ian’s interactive workshops will be at three slots during the day at 11:30am, 1:00pm and 2:30pm.
The Open Day will run on Sunday 14 April between 10-4pm (last entry 3:30pm). No pre-booking
required. Parking is available on the grass field opposite the workshop off Ferry Lane / Birkwood
Lane (before the canal road bridge – WF6 2JF). All the latest details are available on
www.canalrivertrust.org.uk/events.
Ends
For interview requests or images please contact:
Simon Henry, Acting National Campaigns Manager, Canal & River Trust
T: 07789 178506 E: simon.henry@canalrivertrust.org.uk
Notes to editors
Additional filmed footage available on request:
 Ian McMillan poetry reading filmed on location on a narrowboat near Bingley Five Rise
locks: Viewable here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dB_uODTFa0.
 Time-lapse video showing the process of creating a hand-crafted lock gate at Stanley Ferry
Workshop. Viewable here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tD5wtd36NHc.
The Canal & River Trust is the guardian of 2,000 miles of historic waterways across England and
Wales. We are among the largest charities in the UK, maintaining the nation’s third largest
collection of Listed structures, as well as museums, archives, navigations and hundreds of
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important wildlife sites. We believe that our canals and rivers are a national treasure and a local
haven for people and wildlife. It is our job to care for this wonderful legacy – holding it in trust for
the nation in perpetuity and giving people a greater role in the running of their local waterways.
www.canalrivertrust.org.uk
History of Stanley Ferry Workshop
The land occupied by the boat repair yard was leased to a local firm of boat builders, Samuel and
Edward Womack of Agbrigg, in 1854. The earliest developments were the excavation of the dry
dock in 1857, and the building of the carpenters’ shop and main stores at about the same time.
The Aire and Calder Navigation took over management of the yard in 1873 and in 1875 it became
their principal repair yard for the whole navigation. A shed for the repair of Tom Puddings was built
in 1891 and was extended westwards on three occasions, in 1897, 1909 and 1914 when it reached
its current extent. The shed became known as the boilermakers’ shop.
Locklines
The Canal & River Trust has a partnership with Arts Council England to deliver a pilot
contemporary art programme in 2012 and 2013 which will encourage more people to experience
and be inspired by the arts, a key goal of the Art Council’s 10-year plan for the arts, Achieving
great art for everyone. The arts have historically helped to win new supporters for the waterways’
cause, and the programme will find creative new ways to introduce more people to the canals and
rivers as friends and supporters while also engaging with existing communities. The Locklines
project encourages people to stop and take a closer look at the canals that they live on or
alongside, or explore in their leisure time. Local residents will have a chance to get involved
through workshops where they will find out more about Locklines and the canals that run through
their communities. www.locklines.org.uk