This lock, situated close to the popular Portobello Bar, is reputedly haunted by the ghost of a vengeful lock keeper. It is said he liked his drink a little too much and that in the mid-nineteenth century, he was responsible for the sinking of a vessel at the lock he managed. Some stories suggest that the guilt and the shame he felt lead him to take his own life, while others say that he died “in mysterious circumstances”. Either way, his energy is said to be malevolent.

Some believe the lock keeper may even be responsible for a number of deaths in the area. In 1858, a soldier who was stationed at a nearby barracks was enroute to meet his girlfriend, when he was blinded by a light rising up from the lock. The young man was disorientated and lost his footing, stumbling into the water where he drowned. Two witnesses to this tragic event reportedly saw the same light and claimed that it took human form. Three years later, on the 6th April 1861, a horse drawn coach plunged into the water at the same spot. The driver and conductor survived, but the six passengers that were on board and also the horses, perished in the incident. Again, witnesses to the tragedy reported seeing a “blinding” light rising out of the water.