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Hillmorton Locks - I should know this... :(


Jennifer McM

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23 hours ago, cuthound said:

 

Yes, I always used to use the working sidepond at Atherstone, just because it was there.

 

Was working when we went up and down in March 2017 and locked off when we went up in June 2017.

I recall, not long before it was locked, that a lock keeper insisted on it being used!

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55 minutes ago, Mike Todd said:

I recall, not long before it was locked, that a lock keeper insisted on it being used!

The old lock keeper (Dave??) who lived in the house next to it used to come out and show people how it worked.

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4 hours ago, Sea Dog said:

Nice one!  There's something for @TheBiscuits to aim for!

Unfortunately, the factory is no longer there.  The whole area has been altered.  And the nice smells have gone.  IIRC Thursday was ginger biscuit day.

We had Huntleys, the Brewery, the Sauce factory, the Cadena Caff, all making delicious smells.  Not to mention 'Smelly Alley' - fishmonger, etc.  Happy days.

 

Here is an old map of the factory:

Huntleys.JPG

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On 05/03/2019 at 13:25, nicknorman said:

However I think I’m right in saying that if you have a flight of locks, and one lock somewhere in the middle has side ponds, you don’t actually save any water? A lockfull still comes down from above and if you don’t use all of it (due to using the side pond) it will just run over the bywash. Side ponds only save water when all locks in the flight have them.

 

That is correct - and whilst the Droitwich ones save water being drawn from the W&B (and there is an issue here - see below) they leave the next lock, a staircase pair, short. 

 

The Droitwich Junction Canal has two problems of old, and a modern twist. The problem of old was that the only supply for Hanbury Locks was the W&B, and Hanbury are considerably deeper than the locks on the W&B, so sideponds were necessary. The modern twist is that boats now come UP the W&B to go DOWN to Droitwich, which never happened in working boat days as no-one carried coal around in circles. Cruising the ring results in using two locks that draw off the Hanbury level with no water coming down. Thankfully, the W&B is seldom short of water.

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2 hours ago, magpie patrick said:

 

That is correct - and whilst the Droitwich ones save water being drawn from the W&B (and there is an issue here - see below) they leave the next lock, a staircase pair, short. 

 

The Droitwich Junction Canal has two problems of old, and a modern twist. The problem of old was that the only supply for Hanbury Locks was the W&B, and Hanbury are considerably deeper than the locks on the W&B, so sideponds were necessary. The modern twist is that boats now come UP the W&B to go DOWN to Droitwich, which never happened in working boat days as no-one carried coal around in circles. Cruising the ring results in using two locks that draw off the Hanbury level with no water coming down. Thankfully, the W&B is seldom short of water.

That pound (between the top three and the staircase, does not seem to vary very much. Just as well as it is the marina level!

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