Independent. Built from Canal & River Trust's own published notices, with no affiliation to or endorsement by the Trust.
All closures / What fails / Lock / Paddle gear
Paddle gear
Too few unplanned closures of this kind in June to August 2026 and the same months a year earlier to tell a change from luck: 3 against 2. How this is tested.
- On record
- 11 closures since May 2025
In force today
1 closure of this kind is in force today, longest shut first. Filter the explorer to them.
| Canal | Where | Since | Days shut |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rochdale Canal | Lock 56 | 9 September 2026 | 17 |
By canal
8 canals have had a closure of this kind. A closure naming two canals counts on both.
| Canal | Closures |
|---|---|
| Rochdale Canal | 4 |
| Dukes Cut (Oxford Canal) | 1 |
| Grand Union Canal | 1 |
| Huddersfield Narrow Canal | 1 |
| Rufford Branch (L&L Canal) | 1 |
| Shropshire Union Canal | 1 |
| Staffordshire & Worcestershire Cnl | 1 |
| Worcester & Birmingham Canal | 1 |
Every closure on record
Showing 11 closures involving a lock paddle gear.
Rank by
Population
1 closure is in neither group: 1 unplanned with no day in the cruising season since May 2025.
Status
Duration
Cause
Asset affected
Lock part
Unplanned lock failures naming a part
CRT reason
Region
What these figures mean
- Population
- Which closures a figure counts. All closures is everything; Unplanned closure drops the works CRT flags as its winter programme and any day outside the cruising season (the Friday nearest 15 March to the Sunday before the first Monday in November). Scheduled work CRT does not flag as winter works still counts here. CRT Planned closure is the flagged winter programme alone.
- Defensible duration
- The days between a closure's start and its reopening date, counted only where the dates allow it. A cancelled notice, or one whose reopening precedes its start, has no defensible duration and is in no total.
- Closure-days
- One day on which one closure was in force. Two closures on the same day are two closure-days; where the question is how long a canal was actually disrupted, overlapping notices are unioned into single intervals. They are counted from 1 May 2025, when this archive begins: a closure that started earlier adds only its days since then, though its own row shows its whole length. Every figure and chart counts only the days inside the Period chosen above them.
- In force
- A closure is in a Period, and a day is one a closure affected, if it was in force at any time that day, including the morning it reopened. Closure-days measure how long, so they count whole days and not the reopening day: a closure can be in a Period and add no closure-day to it.
Closures in force each month
closures active during the monthCanals ranked by the season's closures
share of the period's cruising-season days up to today — a closure somewhere on a long canal is likelier, and does not mean the canal was impassableclosures in force on the period's cruising-season days — a longer canal has more to go wrong onWhere
closure-days by regionclosures by regionA region with more canal has more to go wrong on, so these totals partly measure its size. Regions compared by length of canal are on the Reliability page.
What causes them
closure-days by causeclosures by causeCRT's reason
closure-days by the reason CRT filedclosures by the reason CRT filedHow long they last
closures by full length, including any days before May 2025 — the bands are not equal in widthClosures
Dukes Cut Lock 44A
Dukes Cut (Oxford Canal)London and South East
133 days
Fully shut 133 of CRT's 386 days
From 21 August 2024
Reopened 11 September 2025
- Where
- Lock 44A, Dukes Cut Lock
- CRT reason
- Information
- Cause
- Broke, cause not given
- Asset
- Lock
Repairs to the paddle gearing completed Lock now open to navigation
Latest of 4 CRT updates, 11 September 2025.
Lock 56
Rochdale CanalNorth West
17 days
From 9 September 2026
No reopening date
Still shut
- Where
- Lock 56
- CRT reason
- Repair
- Cause
- Broke, cause not given
- Asset
- Lock
Since our last update repairs to the paddle mechanism at Lock 56 have been delayed whilst the necessary safety assessments are carried out. We anticipate repairs to start on Monday 21 September A further update will be provided on or before Tuesday 22 September.
Latest of 4 CRT updates, 18 September 2026. 8 days without another.
Navigation Closure Request, Huddersfield Narrow Canal, Lock 34E - Snapped Paddle - Repaired, now open
Huddersfield Narrow CanalYorkshire and North East
11 days
From 30 March 2026
Reopened 10 April 2026
CRT's title says reopened
- Where
- Lock 34 East
- CRT reason
- Repair
- Cause
- Broke, cause not given
- Asset
- Lock
The repairs have all been completed and the Stoppage is removed. Boaters due to be moving down the Marsden Flight are being contacted by the team to coordinate the passage through from Lock 42 East to Lock 32 East. Please be aware that the Stoppage at Lock 24 East is still on…
Latest of 4 CRT updates, 10 April 2026.
Lock 2, Rufford Branch
Rufford Branch (L&L Canal)North West
6 days
From 4 June 2025
Reopened 10 June 2025
- Where
- Lock 2, 2Nd Lock Rufford Branch
- CRT reason
- Repair
- Cause
- Broke, cause not given
- Asset
- Lock
Navigation remains closed at Lock 2 on the Rufford Branch of the Leeds & Liverpool Canal due to a blockage in the paddle mechanism. Works are scheduled to begin on Tuesday, when we hope to reopen navigation using one paddle by installing a temporary plate in the paddle chamber.…
Latest of 2 CRT updates, 6 June 2025.
Lock 6 - repaired and operational
Rochdale CanalYorkshire and North East
6 days
From 13 June 2026
Reopened 19 June 2026
CRT's title says reopened
- Where
- Lock 3/4 to Lock 7
- CRT reason
- Repair
- Cause
- Broke, cause not given
- Asset
- Lock
The repairs at Lock 6 have been completed and it is operational.
Latest of 3 CRT updates, 19 June 2026.
Lock 16 - Broken Paddle - Repaired
Rochdale CanalYorkshire and North East
3 days
From 21 March 2026
Reopened 24 March 2026
- Where
- Lock 16
- CRT reason
- Repair
- Cause
- Broke, cause not given
- Asset
- Lock
The stem has been reattached to the paddle and is operational. The repairs have been completed.
Latest of 2 CRT updates, 24 March 2026.
Northgate Locks, Chester
Shropshire Union CanalNorth West
1 day
From 4 September 2025
Reopened 5 September 2025
- Where
- Lock 1, Northgate Bottom Lock to Lock 3, Northgate Top Lock
- CRT reason
- Repair
- Cause
- Broke, cause not given
- Asset
- Lock
Navigation is currently closed through Northgate Locks, Chester on the Shropshire Union Canal due to a broken paddle gearing on Lock 2, Northgate Middle Lock. Our team have been to site today to carry out a repair, however this was unsuccessful. The team will be back onsite…
CRT's only update, 4 September 2025.
Lock 19 - Todmorden - Gearing mechanism failure - Now repaired
Rochdale CanalYorkshire and North East
1 day
From 15 January 2026
Reopened 16 January 2026
- Where
- Lock 19
- CRT reason
- Repair
- Cause
- Broke, cause not given
- Asset
- Lock
The gearing mechanism has been repaired and the lock is operational.
Latest of 2 CRT updates, 16 January 2026.
Navigation Closure - Grand Union Canal, Lock 64
Grand Union CanalLondon and South East
1 day
From 9 June 2026
Reopened 10 June 2026
- Where
- Lock 64
- CRT reason
- Repair
- Cause
- Broke, cause not given
- Asset
- Lock
Our Asset team have identified two damaged ground paddle posts at lock 64, this is restricting normal use of the lock for navigation. A dewatered lock head with top stop plank installation is required to carryout replacement of both Tow Path and Off side ground paddle posts.…
CRT's only update, 20 May 2026.
Lock 6, Gregorys Mill, Worcester
Worcester & Birmingham CanalWest Midlands
same day
From 3 June 2025
Reopened 3 June 2025
- Where
- Lock 6, Gregorys Mill
- CRT reason
- Repair
- Cause
- Struck by boat or vehicle
- Asset
- Lock
Please be advised that Lock 6 (Gregory's Mill) on the Worcester & Birmingham Canal will be closed to navigation for essential repair works from 08:00 on Tuesday 3rd June until 16:00 on Wednesday 4th June. This two-day closure is necessary to carry out urgent repairs to the…
CRT's only update, 13 May 2025.
Wightwick Mill Lock, Wolverhampton
Staffordshire & Worcestershire CnlWest Midlands
same day
From 10 June 2026
Reopened 10 June 2026
- Where
- Lock 30 Wightwick Mill Lock
- CRT reason
- Repair
- Cause
- Broke, cause not given
- Asset
- Lock
Please be advised that there will be a navigation closure in place while we carry out repairs to a broken paddle stand at Wightwick Mill Lock, in Wolverhampton. We thank you for your patience and apologise for any inconvenience that this may cause.
CRT's only update, 3 June 2026.
Showing the 11 longest of 11. Every row links to the notice CRT published.
What fails · Canals · Reliability · Trends · Download data