What makes a flight...

[The Dreamer]

...well, a flight?

 

Have often wondered how a flight of locks is defined as such.  Just up from us on the W&B we have Bilford Locks and Gregorys Mill Locks both classed as a flight of two, yet the pound between the two flights is about the same length as that in the middle of each pair, so why are they not a flight of four?  Conversely if you look at Heartbreak Hill, some of the ponds there are longer than the distance between some single locks.  Clearly, the ability to moor, or not, between locks has nothing to do with it, as many, such as Audlum, have visitor quays half way up, although CanalPlan, always factors overnight mooring to avoid doing this!

 

Maybe there is no reason, maybe it’s just history, who knows!?

[Arthur Marshall]

Could it be where the water from each lock goes, into the pound for the next lock? If there's a weir to remove water frim an overfilled canal into a river or ditch, that would mark the end of a flight? Obviously a stack with sideponds would then always be a flight. 

Or maybe they just built a certain number in a clump. 

[NB Lola]

I think it’s when a plane takes off ?

[Arthur Marshall]

3 minutes ago, NB Lola said:

I think it’s when a plane takes off ?

Well, there's no point in putting a lock on a plane. You need a change of level to make it worth the effort. 

[bizzard]

[cuthound]

1 hour ago, Arthur Marshall said:

Well, there's no point in putting a lock on a plane. You need a change of level to make it worth the effort. 

 

After 9/11 didn't they put locks on all passenger planes to stop terrorists getting onto the flight deck? ?

[Arthur Marshall]

16 minutes ago, cuthound said:

 

After 9/11 didn't they put locks on all passenger planes to stop terrorists getting onto the flight deck? ?

It's only the balance beams keep the ludicrous things up there. 

[dmr]

4 minutes ago, Arthur Marshall said:

It's only the balance beams keep the ludicrous things up there. 

I prefer Magpie Patricks version. ?

[Keeping Up]

We have a rule that Pingu is only allowed to have a Mixed Grill in the pub in the evening after doing a flight of locks (for health and weight-control reasons) so we often end up debating such esoteric questions as "if I've done every lock on a canal does that count as a flight?"

 

I let her have Welford flight before a mixed grill at the Wharf Inn. But I didn't allow her anything on the Ashby Canal.

[magpie patrick]

I suspect the definition had more to do with management, whether the locks were managed as a single entity which would be related to proximity but not perfectly. 

 

Foe example at Church Lawton the lower three are known as Lawton Treble yet are not really distinguished from the upper three by distance, but the lower three used to be a three-rise staircase.

7 minutes ago, dmr said:

I prefer Magpie Patricks version. ?

A flight of Magpie's is a parliament, hence the abbreviation MP... ?

[Captain Pegg]

16 minutes ago, magpie patrick said:

I suspect the definition had more to do with management, whether the locks were managed as a single entity which would be related to proximity but not perfectly. 

 

Foe example at Church Lawton the lower three are known as Lawton Treble yet are not really distinguished from the upper three by distance, but the lower three used to be a three-rise staircase.

A flight of Magpie's is a parliament, hence the abbreviation MP... ?

This does appear to be a factor. Taking the W&B which @The Dreamer used as an example (it being local) look at what happens once north of Worcester.

 

Everything is organised in groups of six and there is no real physical distinction between Stoke and Tardebigge flights whose respective top and bottom locks are closer together than some locks within either of those individual flights and indeed the lower locks of the Astwood flight.

 

Tardebigge flight may be 30 locks but it has 5 lock keepers cottages distributed along its length. I don’t consider anything south of Offerton to be a flight.

 

I think it’s probably a bit like trying to determine when a bridge becomes a tunnel or a viaduct. There is likely to be no single satisfactory definition and it ultimately comes down to how the owning authority chooses to manage the infrastructure in question.

 

JP

 

 

[StephenA]

On 03/01/2020 at 18:09, The Dreamer said:

...well, a flight?

 

Have often wondered how a flight of locks is defined as such.  Just up from us on the W&B we have Bilford Locks and Gregorys Mill Locks both classed as a flight of two, yet the pound between the two flights is about the same length as that in the middle of each pair, so why are they not a flight of four?  Conversely if you look at Heartbreak Hill, some of the ponds there are longer than the distance between some single locks.  Clearly, the ability to moor, or not, between locks has nothing to do with it, as many, such as Audlum, have visitor quays half way up, although CanalPlan, always factors overnight mooring to avoid doing this!

 

Maybe there is no reason, maybe it’s just history, who knows!?

 

Canalplan always tries to avoid mooring overnight in flights of locks - however it should stop if there is a suitable mooring in the middle of the locks. I'll have to see if I can work out if that's a bug or not.