By Robin Longbottom
IN Yorkshire dialect sluice gates, for controlling the amount of water let into a mill pond, were called goit stocks.
The goit was the channel along which the water flowed and a stock referred to anything that could be opened and closed.
Small water mills usually relied on a single sluice whilst bigger mills often had very large double gates.
Preserved sluice gates at Langcliffe Mill, Settle
Most are now completely ruinous and in danger of being lost to history.
However, a pair of steel gates have been preserved at Langcliffe Mill, near Settle.