Ribble Link

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The three-chambered staircase at the Lancaster Canal end of the Link

The rotating sector gate just before the canal joins the Ribble

The Ribble Link is Great Britain's newest inland waterway, opened in 2002. The four-mile link connects the once-isolated Lancaster Canal with the main navigable system via a canalisation of the Savick Brook which is tidal in its lower reaches. The Link runs around the outskirts of Preston and flows into the River Ribble. From there it uses the River Douglas to connect with the Leeds and Liverpool Canal's Rufford Branch.

The channel has been widened to allow navigation by 10 ft 6 in beam boats. Starting from the Lancaster Canal, the Ribble Link descends about 59 feet (18 metres) by means of:

a staircase of three locks
four conventional locks
one lock which is semi-tidal at its lower end
a rotating sector gate (originally planned as a lock) only passable around high tide.