Following the problems on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal (see page 11), two more unscheduled stoppages have closed other routes to navigation in the north of England. On the Ripon Canal, a sinkhole opened up on the lockside at Lock 3 (Oxclose Lock, just above where the canal ends atajunction with the River Ure), putting one gate out of use and restricting use to narrowboats which could get through using a single gate. Then a second sinkhole closed the canal completely -but with some possibility of narrowboats being allowed to pass by special arrangement, The Canal & River Trust's engineers had visited the site and as we went to press were designing a repair, which would be likely to involve grouting the lock wall and filling the void, as had been done at a previous hole which developed at the same lock in summer 2021.
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