It was the scene of one of the first campaigns by the fledgling Inland Waterways Association, when Tom Rolt announced in 1947 that he intended to navigate through the junction and along the canal.

The Railway company had to jack the bridge up, to allow his boat to pass,[3] and the event was widely reported in newspapers, gaining useful publicity.

The water of the two canal companies was kept apart by the nearby Lifford Lane guillotine stop lock, consisting of two wooden gates which moved vertically in iron frames.

The structure is grade II* listed, as the raked cast iron frames, columns and counterweights are original.

[6][7] At the junction is a grade II listed house, built in 1802 of red brick, with doric column decoration around the central doorway.