Today we visited the Caen Hill Locks just outside Devizes. This is a series of locks (29 line all) which advance up an incline and quite rightly earns the title of one of the Seven Wonders of the Waterways. Lucky for us there was a narrow boat advancing up the hill and Fi and I took a moment or two from our walk to help open and close gates.

Although there are 29 locks in total, its the 16 which are in a straight line and which make up the familiar site. It is this part of the canal that is the steepest flight of locks in the world. I’m sure I remember as a kid there were regular record attempts to get boats up and down the locks in the quickest time. Does anyone else remember that at all? I can’t seem to find anything in the internet about it.

Finally out of curiosity I took a look on Google Earth. The Caen Hill Locks are definitely an impressive sight indeed.