A £50 million makeover of dozens of historic locks, bridges and aqueducts in Britain is to be opened to the public to give people a “behind-the-scenes” look at the country’s canal network, according to British Waterways.

The restoration programme this winter includes the hanging of more than 100 handcrafted oak lock gates, as part of the essential maintenance of the country’s canals ­ – an important example of working industrial heritage.

The public will be able to see restoration work carried out on the network through a series of open days at sites including the Anderton boat lift, Cheshire, Caen Hill lock flight in Wiltshire and the Lune aqueduct, Lancashire.

British Waterways, which is set to become a “national trust for waterways” after a government decision to move it into the charity sector, looks after the third largest collection of listed structures in the UK. The organisation said the open days would provide people with an opportunity to see the hidden workings of the canal structures as the water is drained away, and to find out more about the history and maintenance of waterways.

The public is also being given the opportunity to visit British Waterways’ specialist lock gate workshops at Bradley, West Midlands, and Stanley Ferry in Yorkshire, where more than 100 bespoke lock gates have been handmade for this winter’s restoration programme.

Each lock gate weighs 3.6 tonnes on average and is made by craftsmen who take up to 20 days to finish each gate.

Vince Moran, British Waterways’ operations director, said: “The recent announcement that England and Wales’ canals and rivers are to become part of a new ‘national trust’ for the waterways will give the public a much greater role in looking after this important part of the nation’s heritage.”