South West England
Bude 'locked-up' again
Bude Haven’s sea lock reopens after severe storm damage
The lock gates being held against the tide. Inside the canal is just mud. Photograph courtesy of Sharon Hicks.
One lock gate ready to go back on.
One of only two locks in the UK to open directly to the sea is once again operational after being severely storm damaged by high seas earlier this year. On Monday, 10th March, powerful storm waves wrenched one of the wooden lock gates off its fixings at Bude Haven, leaving two boats stranded in the mud as water poured out of the canal basin into the sea.
A temporary coffer dam was built under the road bridge to hold the water in the upper part of the canal and 4-tonne concrete drainage pipes were craned into the empty canal basin to dissipate the power of the seas expected on the next high tide. Sandbags were issued to local residents, but fortunately there was no water damage to properties.
A great deal of renovation work was carried out on the base and sides of the canal while it was empty and after the lock gates were repositioned, the canal was filled again in early July.
This is the second major incident involving the lock gates. The outer gates were badly damaged by storms in 1997 and new lock gates built in Holland were installed in the year 2000.
The lock is a scheduled ancient monument and once played an important part in supplying goods inland. After rounding barrel rock and in the shelter of Chapel Rock and the Breakwater, ships carrying sand and other cargo were met and led by the hobblers to a mooring in the river or to the sea lock at the entrance to the canal. Nowadays the canal it is an important amenity area.
