Canal boat hire and Narrowboat Timeshare Rentals in the U.K.

The Anderton Lift

The Anderton boat Lift is located near the village of Anderton on the and forms a junction between the river Weaver and the Trent and Mersey canal, providing a vertical lift of 50ft by means of a 50 foot vertical lift (15.2m).

It first came into service in 1875 and worked regularly for the next 108 years being closed in 1983 because of corrosion. 2001 saw the commencement of a restoration program that brought the lift back into use 26 March 2002 accompanied by a visitors centre and exhibition managed by British Waterways. It remains one of the two of two working boat lifts in the United Kingdom, the other being the Falkirk Wheel, though hopefully at sometime in the future the Foxton inclined plane will also join this number.

It was built in part to aid the transport of salt from Cheshire adding the Trent and Mersey as an alternative route for transport. Prior to the development of the lift Anderton basin had already developed into a busy interchange between the two waterways boasting 3 separate inclined planes and four salt shoots ( for transferring cargo boat to boat, rather than moving boats between waterways). A more efficient means of direct passage between river and canal was still neede.

To this end a flight of locks was considered, but disregarded due to sitting problems as well as loss of water from the canal, which had to be considered. A boat lift being proposed as a workable solution in 1870.

Edward Leader Williams was given position of chief engineer and drew up plans for  a design using a pair of water-filled caissons. These counterbalanced one another, so reducing the amount of power required to transport the boats. Water filled hydraulic rams were used to do the work and were designed by Edwin Clark who accepted position of principal designer.

The two caissons were made of wrought iron  to dimensions of 75 ft (22.9 m) long by 15 feet 6 inches (4.7 m) wide by 9 feet 6 inches (2.9 m) deep, allowing the passage of two  Narrowboats up to72 feet in length in each caisson, or a single wider barge.

Power was provided by a 10 horsepower steam engine.

In 1904 under the supervision of Colonel J.A. Saner the mechanism was redesigned replacing the hydraulic rams with an arrangement of counterweights electric motor and pulleys. This required a redesign of the general superstructure that had to be considerably strengthened. A 30 hp electric motor was installed, with only half this power being used in normal operations. work was completed in 1908.

This design worked successfully for the next 75 years, with the added benefits of easier and less expensive maintenance, until closure in 1983