Very often, when I’m visiting a waterway site, I take as many photographs as possible of anything that catches my eye, without worrying [at the time] about what an artefact is or what it does. Then, when I get back to my computer, I try to work out what everything was. Sometimes I find that the camera has recorded something I didn’t notice; sometimes I find there are aspects I just don’t understand (not being at all a technical person). In such cases, I put photos on this site and make it clear that I don’t understand them.
My hope is, of course, that a knowledgeable person will explain them, and that very thing has just happened with some pages on waterways of Ulster and thereabouts. John Ditchfield has very kindly explained several aspects of the machinery shown; I have inserted his explanations into the text on these pages:
- Junction Canal (Shannon–Erne Waterway) lock gear
- Newry Ship Canal Victoria Lock: winches and rams, gates and recesses, upper land racks and other artefacts.
I am very grateful to John for taking so much trouble and for sharing his expertise with me and with all who read these pages.
Irish waterways history 