The Lock Gate

"The Lock Gate" was the journal of the Great Ouse Restoration Society, formed originally in 1951 to restore the derelict and abandoned river Great Ouse navigation from Bedford to Tempsford. "The Lock Gate" was published quarterly in 69 issues from October 1961 until November 1978 when the mission was finally accomplished with all locks restored or replaced and the navigation fully re-opened from Bedford to the sea. In the first issue the editor expressed the hope that it would "continue until the first boat has passed through the last lock to be restored", that it would record the activities of the Society, become the magazine of the river and provide a supplement to the books - all too few - that have already been written about it. A handful of complete sets were bound into four separate volumes in hardback covers and provide a wealth of information, not only on the impressive achievements of the Society but also on the history of the river Great Ouse and the local area.