An account of the operation of one of the inclined planes was published in A. Rees's "Cyclopaedia" in 1805. It described a steep inclined plane covered in planks. The square tub-boats were brought to the end of the canal, where the front end of the boat was attached to a hinge, and the back end was attached to ropes. The ropes passed onto a wheel and drum, which was operated by a horse-gin. As the boat tipped up, the cargo of stones rolled down the planks to the beach below. The wheel and drum were also used to draw boxes containing coal or sand up from the beach, to be loaded into the boats.