This stretch of the canal was opened on 21st march 1774, the first boat down the Five Rise Locks taking 28 minutes. The event was given full coverage in "The Leeds Intelligencer":

"From Bingley to about 3 miles downwards the noblest works of the kind are exhibited viz: A five fold, a three fold and a single lock, making together a fall of 120 feet; a large aqueduct bridge of seven arches over the River Aire and an aqueduct and banking over the Shipley valley ....... This joyful and mucj wished for event was welcomed with the ringing of Bingley bells, a band of music, the firing of guns by the neighbouring Militia, the shouts of spectators, and all the marks of satisfaction that so important an acquisition merits".