Call for memories of 180-year-old locks
People have been urged to share their memories of historic canal locks as a charity celebrates the 180 years they have been in operation.
The Diglis Locks, in Worcester, opened on 9 October 1844 and played a focal part in the city's burgeoning marine trade.
The Canal and River Trust (CRT), which now helps manage England's waterways, is collecting memories as part of the Diglis Island Oral History project.
Anyone with stories, pictures or paintings to share have been asked to get in contact.
Mark Miles, from the trust, said people's stories about the locks were "so important."
"We run tours here telling the history of the island, but it's very much the factual, when it was created, what they did in terms of building lock gates here, how it then developed," he explained.
"It's those personal stories that really bring everything to life," he said.
The site was an "iconic" location for local people, he explained, speaking of the island's Fish Pass, which has its own underwater viewing gallery.
'Lock is my life'
"As time goes on, there are less and less people around, " Mr Miles continued.
"We often get people who've got connections, so they either worked on the island or possibly played as children on the island.
"We hear those stories and then we forget, and it's trying to bring all those stories together so we can build up a real picture of the social history of the island."
John Weston, who worked and lived on Diglis Island in 1940s and 1950s, first started on the locks as a schoolboy.
"My first experience here was in October 1946, when my father applied to be a lock keeper," he said. "It is part of my life."
The 91-year-old recalled fond memories of the locks during a flood in 1947, as well as his time at the island's workshop as an apprentice carpenter.
"This is something special, because it's a great big long room," he explained.
"And at lunchtime... if it was clear we weren't building a lock gate in here, we'd play cricket."
Follow BBC Hereford & Worcester on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
