There’s an historic stretch of waterway just outside Newport on the Crumlin branch of the Monmouthshire and Brecon canal.

In fact the stretch at Fourteen Locks, which was completed in 1799, is regarded as Britain’s most remarkable lock system. With its series of embanked ponds, pounds and elaborate sluices and weirs, the lock system rises 168 feet up the side of a hill in a little over half a mile.

Its unique design together with both the quality of workmanship involved in its construction and the part it played in the social and industrial development of South Wales makes Fourteen Locks nationally significant.

Unused for 74 years, the canal section fell into disrepair. Work to restore the locks is urgently needed in order to retain the historic fabric of the monument and to prevent loss of features of architectural importance. The high quality of engineering will be reflected in the traditional specialist skills needed to help restore the canal.

The overall vision for the Cefn Flight of Fourteen Locks is to reopen the historic waterway as a working and recreational navigable route.

A grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund will help Newport City Council and the Monmouthshire, Brecon and Abergavenny Canals Trust, to restore the lock gates in the top two waterway structures, each of which contain a pair of locks which form part of the Cefn flight of 14 locks at Rogerstone.

So 2 locks down and another 12 to go; I hope the money for restoration can be found from somewhere, it would a terrible shame if this historic stretch of waterway wasn’t restored in my view.

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