Great staircase of ten canal locks.
Foxton Locks carries the Grand Union Canal up the hillside in a staircase of ten locks, arranged as two flights of five with side ponds between them. Built in 1814, it’s the steepest and longest staircase on the English canals, and working a boat through takes the best part of an hour. Alongside sit the earthworks of the Foxton Inclined Plane, a boat-lift that ran from 1900 to 1911 and was meant to spare boats the climb. The towpath is open all year; the Foxton Locks Inn waits at the bottom, and Foxton village is just up the lane. Market Harborough station is about 5km to the south-east.
