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Rarely Used Locks


Tim Lewis

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Some years ago we were towing butty Angel to a new mooring the other side of that lock. I was very much looking forward to the opportunity to take the pair through, but it was not to be. The lock could only be unchained on a weekday, so we had to leave Angel below the lock to be bowhauled and poled to the new mooring later.

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Sunbury beam lock and teddington skiff locks come to mind. 

 

The former was actually in use recently when a collar strap broke on the main Sunbury lock but elfin safety concerns meant boaters were not allowed to operate it themselves. 

 

Another rarely used lock is the left hand lock at Old Ford on the River Lee navigation. 

 

 

Edited by magnetman
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On 23/11/2021 at 17:04, George and Dragon said:

Is there a staircase on the HNC?

Not anymore, some light-fingered gardener trousered it one night.

 

On 23/11/2021 at 17:10, TheBiscuits said:

 

No, but there is a pound between 20E and 21E.

 

I'm not sure if it's as deep as the one pictured though!

It’s the pound after the winding hole in Slawit, so usually not bad (in HNC terms) for water.

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1 hour ago, magnetman said:

Sunbury beam lock and teddington skiff locks come to mind. 

 

The former was actually in use recently when a collar strap broke on the main Sunbury lock but elfin safety concerns meant boaters were not allowed to operate it themselves. 

 

Another rarely used lock is the left hand lock at Old Ford on the River Lee navigation. 

 

 

Before they put the after hours electric on at Sunbury it was always quicker and easier to use the old beam lock and used it many times on way home to mooring at Hampton

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1 hour ago, magnetman said:

Sunbury beam lock and teddington skiff locks come to mind. 

 

The former was actually in use recently when a collar strap broke on the main Sunbury lock but elfin safety concerns meant boaters were not allowed to operate it themselves. 

 

Another rarely used lock is the left hand lock at Old Ford on the River Lee navigation. 

 

 

I used the western  Old Ford lock a few years back and, with gates and paddles being hydraulically but not electrically, operated, it was very hard work.  At one stage, in the early 1970s the automated locks were all unavailable when the lock-keeper was off-duty which included from midday Saturday to Monday, reflecting commercial use.  After some pressure, alterations were made to allow the locks to be manually operated by users; a great improvement for weekend cruising but not light duty. 

 

The current user-operated pedestals were installed rather later - and no longer will you see a lock keeper in the distinctive, Crittall-windowed cabin.    In those days, the lock-keeper would draw half-paddles and then come lock-side to check license details.   My late father observed that the pedestal operation mimics the same routine - so there is a pleasant thread of history and heritage remaining, if you know where to look.

 

Back then, there was still a respectable level of commercial traffic; mainly sawn timber and, at one stage, sheets of copper for an electric grid update.   Plenty of timber found its way into the navigation  if you cared to fish it out.  The large lighters were drawn in trains by a tug; each (or at least some) lighters had a steerer to keep it in check.  But sometimes all hands would be on-board the tug with the tail of the rain wagging wildly;  clouds of tobacco smoke would emit from the cabin of the tug and even the steerer would drop his cards in alarm as he saw a noddy boat approach.

Edited by Tacet
  • Greenie 1
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Quite often - I've been through it a handful of times in the last few years, either when the small lock's been out of action, or when the lockie is just efficiently speeding people through! I presume the Edward Elgar uses it too.

Edited by Richard Fairhurst
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8 minutes ago, Richard Fairhurst said:

Quite often - I've been through it a handful of times in the last few years, either when the small lock's been out of action, or when the lockie is just efficiently speeding people through! I presume the Edward Elgar uses it too.

I wondered about the hotel boat, is it too big for the other lock then?  I thought some of the downstream locks were similar in size to the smaller Diglis lock?  In any case, I've never seen it used.

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2 hours ago, Athy said:

I shouldn't think that the lock towards the end of Brandon Creek/Little Ouse gets many customers.

That's a new lock. 

 

In the same manner as "Yesterday, upon the stair, I met a man who wasn't there!" , I have been through the lock.  Somewhat ironically, the boat I was then on would easily have passed through the non-existent lock, but when I returned subsequently, the lock was present but the then boat could not pass through it. 

 

If I have been more organised, I would have had the larger boat the first occasion and the smaller the second occasion, but I failed to plan for forty years ahead.

 

 

 

Edited by Tacet
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14 minutes ago, Loddon said:

I would have gone through it this year but it's to short, or the boat is to long.

Precisely. Not only is it on one of the extremities of the system, it's only about 40 feet long. I wonder which planning genius was responsible for that.

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14 minutes ago, Athy said:

Precisely. Not only is it on one of the extremities of the system, it's only about 40 feet long. I wonder which planning genius was responsible for that.

When was it built?  If before the lengthening of the Middle Level locks, which is relatively recent, the size may have been based on them.

 

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