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Photo by David Stowell They are one end of a high level or summit canal that runs from near Foxton to another similar flight at the other end known as the Watford Flight. The Foxton end is better known with 2 staircases each of 5 locks and the remains of an inclined plane with plans to restore it. See Foxton inclined plane and locks for more information on these and the history of the canals. The Watford Flight is near the village of Watford in Northamptonshire. It consists of two single locks, a staircase of 4, and a single lock, a distance up of just over 52ft. The locks were built to carry narrowboats, and the system was opened in 1814. Later in the early 20th century there were plans to build an inclined plane similar to that at Foxton as part of a scheme to allow the passage of barges, but the plan was abandoned and the inclined plane at Foxton then became uneconomic. When the Grand Union Canal was formed in 1929, there were further proposals to widen the flight as part of the modernisation going on elsewhere on the Grand Union's network, but these plans did not develop further.
Down the locks by Bill Sibley
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