Jump to content

First volockie irritation of the year.


nicknorman

Featured Posts

22 hours ago, jonathanA said:

I’ve yet to meet one they don’t seem to have made it as far north as the L&L ...

 

if i met one that interfered in the way some describe then  the dog would be released to keep the eejit away from any gear and if that didn’t work swmbo would be unleashed with her curdle milk at a hundred yards stare, she would be at the helm in a lock. 

 

 

There was one on the L&L Rufford branch on Monday, very helpful and doing a great pr job.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

23 hours ago, TheBiscuits said:

 

There are 6 on Stanley Dock Flight, dozens on Wigan, 4 on Johnson's Hillock, 4 on Blackburn, 6 on Barrowford, none I have ever met on Greenberfield, 6 on Bank Newton and 4 on Gragrave ...  have you recently moved on the L&L?!!

 

 

Yes frequently and as I say yet to

meet any in the flesh.

Well we didn’t get to do many locks on the l&l last year !!! Given it was mostly closed....

 

To be fair there could have been a couple on the Stanley lock flight last time we did that and if there were you couldn’t tell them from the CRT team which is to all their credit. 

 

Will pay more  attention in our next visit to the Liverpool link in a couple of weeks. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 hours ago, Pagefield said:

A bit thin on the ground on the Leigh Branch of the L&L.

Not many locks though and mainly spread out,  but since Audlem, the guy on the Rufford branch was the first volunteer we had seen.

11 hours ago, Wanderer Vagabond said:

What, locks or lockies? We never found any lockies at all on the Bridgewater Canal:huh:

Not expecting too many on the Lancaster main line either.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Absolutely tripping over Vlockies down here at the Soulbury Three on the GU South and their doing a great job . I wonder if Wyvern Shipping perhaps give them perhaps an occasional " bung " they must be a complete Godsend for some of his Hirers ?

Edited by Parahandy
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Parahandy said:

Absolutely tripping over Vlockies down here at the Soulbury Three on the GU South and their doing a great job . I wonder if Wyvern Shipping perhaps give them perhaps an occasional " bung " they must be a complete Godsend for some of his Hirers ?

 

I find the whole volly thing quite bemusing. Surely working the locks is an integral part of 'going boating', and hirers must be expecting and wanting to 'go boating' or they wouldn't have hired a boat. So finding a bunch of old gits hanging around at locks and 'doing' the locks for you must, for hirers, detract from the whole experience. 

 

Steering the boat is part of 'going boating' too. Are CRT going to recruit a swarm of volunteer steerers to elbow hirers off their tillers next? 

 

I certainly feel that if I didn't have a boat, I'd be a volly too. like a lot of old gits, I lurve working the locks and it would give me permission to do some locking at zero cost without having to get a boat, previously the only way.

 

 

 

 

  • Greenie 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

41 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

I find the whole volly thing quite bemusing. Surely working the locks is an integral part of 'going boating', and hirers must be expecting and wanting to 'go boating' or they wouldn't have hired a boat. So finding a bunch of old gits hanging around at locks and 'doing' the locks for you must, for hirers, detract from the whole experience. 

 

Steering the boat is part of 'going boating' too. Are CRT going to recruit a swarm of volunteer steerers to elbow hirers off their tillers next? 

 

I certainly feel that if I didn't have a boat, I'd be a volly too. like a lot of old gits, I lurve working the locks and it would give me permission to do some locking at zero cost without having to get a boat, previously the only way.

 

 

 

 

Totally agree with your first Paragraph Mike , as regards the last one its not for me .

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Stoke Bruerne top lock today.

We were heading up.

The wife walks up to the lock to find it virtually empty and opens the bottom paddles to let the last inch or so out.

Volocky then rolls up and proceeds to open both top paddles without even looking back. After Sue eventually managed to get his attention, he flatly refused lower the paddles - "Theres two boats here waiting to come down".

So we lowered the bottom paddles and watched as a full lock of water went to waste. Quite unbelievable.

 

 

  • Horror 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

34 minutes ago, Big Bob W said:

Stoke Bruerne top lock today.

We were heading up.

The wife walks up to the lock to find it virtually empty and opens the bottom paddles to let the last inch or so out.

Volocky then rolls up and proceeds to open both top paddles without even looking back. After Sue eventually managed to get his attention, he flatly refused lower the paddles - "Theres two boats here waiting to come down".

So we lowered the bottom paddles and watched as a full lock of water went to waste. Quite unbelievable.

 

 

Clearly something wrong with the training, CRT need to have it pointed out to them, pariculalry as so many locks seem to be restricted to "save water".

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Big Bob W said:

We called CRT to report. Somehow doubt it will get followed up.

Best to put it in writing (email). Anyone who encounters bad behaviour of a volockie and doesn’t report it, is tacitly accepting it and thus part of the problem. Then after a while someone can do an FoI request about how many volockie complaints CRT has received.

  • Greenie 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 minutes ago, Pagefield said:

Lockies.  The pound between locks 1 & 2 is often really low.  Not a big deal. 

I think part of that is caused by the restricted opening of the Wigan Flight. If no-one is coming down, where is the water to fill that pound above that coming from? Anyone coming from Crooke for instance and going to Leigh is taking two lockfuls out of that pound (one to come up at Henshurst and one going down at Poolstock) without anyone bringing any additional water in. I deliberately hovered off the lock mooring at Poolstock because I realised that if I grounded there wasn't anywhere to get more water from to lift me off again. I don't think lockies on the Leigh Branch would resolve that on their own.

Edited by Wanderer Vagabond
Link to comment
Share on other sites

20 hours ago, Pagefield said:

A bit thin on the ground on the Leigh Branch of the L&L.

They'd not have a lot to do (or not when we came through) Maybe a bit busier now (ie three boats a day) and only two locks, although those two do need care and, possibly, local knowledge.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

25 minutes ago, Mike Todd said:

They'd not have a lot to do (or not when we came through) Maybe a bit busier now (ie three boats a day) and only two locks, although those two do need care and, possibly, local knowledge.

They could do with a bit of maintenance, they are in very poor condition.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 minutes ago, john6767 said:

They could do with a bit of maintenance, they are in very poor condition.

I'm not sure I'd agree with the generality of that assessment. We went up Poolstock mid June and came back down a month later. I have just looked at my photos (I maintain a picture library of all the features such as locks and bridges so take photos each time, as and when I can) Coming back down I can see that the top gates of both look pretty watertight, certainty seen considerably worse.

 

However, as far as I can see, and it accords with my memory, is that both sets of bottom gates leak quite badly via the cill - not much leakage above the lower water level when lock is full. However, as was reported on another thread recently, over cautious operation can mean that a lot of water is lost when trying to make a level if not all top paddles are used. I don't recall much of an issue when we went up but when we came down the short pound between them was very low, but so also was the longer pound that includes the junction.

 

Although the paddles were quite heavy not the worst we have seen in that area (try the bottom paddles on Appeley) and the lock generally seemed in good condition.

 

8823 shows the level indicator just above the top lock on the day we descended

8830 seems to show very little leakage through top gates

7624 I believe was taken before any paddles were drawn and shows leakage and bottom gates

 

But I was not taking evidence for the prosecution, you understand, so the full story may be mre complex!

 

IMG_7624.JPG

IMG_8830.JPG

IMG_8823.JPG

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, Mike Todd said:

I'm not sure I'd agree with the generality of that assessment. We went up Poolstock mid June and came back down a month later. I have just looked at my photos (I maintain a picture library of all the features such as locks and bridges so take photos each time, as and when I can) Coming back down I can see that the top gates of both look pretty watertight, certainty seen considerably worse.

 

However, as far as I can see, and it accords with my memory, is that both sets of bottom gates leak quite badly via the cill - not much leakage above the lower water level when lock is full. However, as was reported on another thread recently, over cautious operation can mean that a lot of water is lost when trying to make a level if not all top paddles are used. I don't recall much of an issue when we went up but when we came down the short pound between them was very low, but so also was the longer pound that includes the junction.

 

Although the paddles were quite heavy not the worst we have seen in that area (try the bottom paddles on Appeley) and the lock generally seemed in good condition.

 

8823 shows the level indicator just above the top lock on the day we descended

8830 seems to show very little leakage through top gates

7624 I believe was taken before any paddles were drawn and shows leakage and bottom gates

 

But I was not taking evidence for the prosecution, you understand, so the full story may be mre complex!

 

IMG_7624.JPG

IMG_8830.JPG

IMG_8823.JPG

I think there was at least on paddle out of action, it could have been an anti vandal lock that was rounded and could not be taken off, but not sure if it was that or one going on from Wigan.  Your photos show the general poor state though, they have a distinct half derelict feel, both in the structure and the lock side environment, which you could perhaps interpret as character!  At the end of the day it is possible to get through them, but it’s good there are only 2.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Did anyone else notice that one of the bottom paddles of the top lock doesn't completely close? It has actually had a bolt inserted to stop it while it is slightly open. I discussed this with the CRT guys when we passed through there recently, they said this is deliberate and aims to supply a little extra water to that intermediate pound, both by emptying the top lock after a boat has ascended and also by causing some extra flow-through when attempting to fill it. This is basically a crude attempt to compensate for the fact that the bed of that pound leaks so badly. Unfortunately when we were there the junction pound itself was most dry too.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.