Rarely Used Locks

[Athy]

40 minutes ago, Loddon said:

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.

 

I don't think so, as they were 49' long (hence the older Fox hire boats came in 41' and 48' sizes and no bigger).

I think it's because when the lock was built almost all boats in the area were cabin cruisers, most of which were under 40 feet long.

Edited November 30, 2021 by Athy

[GUMPY]

22 minutes ago, Athy said:

I don't think so, as they were 49' long (hence the older Fox hire boats came in 41' and 48' sizes and no bigger).

I think it's because when the lock was built almost all boats in the area were cabin cruisers, most of which were under 40 feet long.

Wasn't sure of the ML lock size, I just knew it was small.

Be nice to see Brandon lengthened but it wont be in my lifetime.

[Ray T]

I don't think this lock gets much use nowadays.

 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montech_water_slope

 

By The original uploader was Boerkevitz at French Wikipedia. - Transferred from fr.wikipedia to Commons., CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1720359

[magpie patrick]

5 hours ago, Athy said:

I don't think so, as they were 49' long (hence the older Fox hire boats came in 41' and 48' sizes and no bigger).

I think it's because when the lock was built almost all boats in the area were cabin cruisers, most of which were under 40 feet long.

At the time the NRA (I think it was them) said that they would lengthen it if demand justified it - I had visions of a queue of GU Town Class gathered below to make a point... 
Or put another way - proving demand for more boats is easy, proving demand for bigger ones is difficult!

 

2 hours ago, Ray T said:

I don't think this lock gets much use nowadays.

 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montech_water_slope

 

By The original uploader was Boerkevitz at French Wikipedia. - Transferred from fr.wikipedia to Commons., CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1720359

 

C'est ferme - so it doesn't get used at all now

There was some protest (and a parallel with the short lock on the fens) in that the parallel locks can only take 30m barges and thus 38m "Freycinet" can no longer reach Toulouse - the lift was part of the lock lengthening program

12 hours ago, magnetman said:

Sunbury beam lock and teddington skiff locks come to mind. 

 

 

Okay, I'll bite - what is "Sunbury Beam Lock", do boats go through sideways? beam on as it were?

[Guest]

'Barrage lock' on the Tees must be a contender. (I always thought it was called 'Navigation Lock' but maybe not.)

 

 

Edited November 30, 2021 by The Happy Nomad

[Alway Swilby]

How about the lock from the Dee branch of the Shroppie out onto the Dee at Chester?

[magnetman]

@magpie patrick

Beam as in balance beams rather than hydraulic operation. 

 

It's beside the normal lock which is hydraulically operated without any balance beams. 

 

Visible on the left here: (from visitthames website)

 

Lock is fully functional but very rarely used and when it was used recently due to collar strap failure on the main lock the elfin safety geysers and geyseresses apparently were not happy. 

 

"Beam lock" is the term used by the EA to describe this lock. 

 

 

Edited December 2, 2021 by magnetman

[Scholar Gypsy]

On 30/11/2021 at 14:38, Loddon said:

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.

 

Brandon Lock was built in about 1960, as part of the construction of the cut-off channel, with associated sluices and siphon at Hockwold, when the water levels were adjusted.  You can still see the remains of the old weir and staunch (flash lock, there's a good article about this in a recent edition of GOBA news) a few miles downstream . 

 

Note the "no entry" sign in this photo (left of photo) to discourage you from going through the old lock chamber. Some of the old weir can be seen on the right.

 

[Scholar Gypsy]

On 30/11/2021 at 08:40, 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. 

 

 

The skiff lock at Teddington. (Water much lower than usual as this was  during the annual drawdown when the weir at Richmond is left up for a month).

[magpie patrick]

5 hours ago, magnetman said:

@magpie patrick

Beam as in balance beams rather than hydraulic operation. 

 

It's beside the normal lock which is hydraulically operated without any balance beams. 

 

Visible on the left here: (from visitthames website)

 

Lock is fully functional but very rarely used and when it was used recently due to collar strap failure on the main lock the elfin safety geysers and geyseresses apparently were not happy. 

 

"Beam lock" is the term used by the EA to describe this lock. 

 

 

 

Thank you - I had no idea there was still a conventional manual lock on the Thames below Oxford. 

The EA are a pain with the elfin safety - I used to do contracts for both BW and EA, the BW approach was minimal fencing so anyoen who fell in could easily be fished out, the EA was to construct Colditz style fencing then struggle when something went wrong inside the cage. I'm not against risk assessment etc, I'm just against misguided use of it. 

4 hours ago, Scholar Gypsy said:

Brandon Lock was built in about 1960,

 

 

 

Are you sure? I seem to recall WW covering it's construction and opening - I was born in 1966 and WW started up in 1972

[Chris Lowe]

How often is Black Sluice lock used?

[Scholar Gypsy]

29 minutes ago, magpie patrick said:

 

 

 

Are you sure? I seem to recall WW covering it's construction and opening - I was born in 1966 and WW started up in 1972

re Brandon Lock, You're right - 1995 according to this, which I would trust.  I did say "about 1960".....  Pages 10-11.   
 

 

https://eawa.co.uk/Little Ouse EAWA File.pdf 

I confess I had assumed the lock had been built at the same time as the sluice alongside it, which does look of the same vintage as the cutoff channel. There should be a date on the guillotine gate somewhere. This is the sluice that lets water into the cut-off channel.
 

 

 

[Tacet]

47 minutes ago, Scholar Gypsy said:

re Brandon Lock, You're right - 1995 according to this, which I would trust.  I did say "about 1960".....  Pages 10-11.   
 

 

https://eawa.co.uk/Little Ouse EAWA File.pdf 

 

You had me worried. I recall the lock not being there on my first visit by boat in 1973 - and being present on my next in 2013.   The route across the Middle Level had changed too; on my first visit the Old West via March and yet to re-open so you had to take the Old Bedford and emerge onto the Great Ouse at Welches Dam where the gates could be opened when the two waterways made a level.  All the changes made it difficult to find one's way.

 

Not paying proper attention at a tender age, I can't recall what was present in terms of weirs and staunches.  But I am as sure as I can be that we passed through its current site and under the High Street bridge at Thetford.  I can say this with reasonable certainty, as we moored by the bridge and walked through Brandon to where my grandparents then lived; the memorable bit was getting a lift back followed by the late night swim of two crew - witnessed by several.  We will probably have gone further upstream too., 

 

 

[Scholar Gypsy]

27 minutes ago, Tacet said:

You had me worried. I recall the lock not being there on my first visit by boat in 1973 - and being present on my next in 2013.   The route across the Middle Level had changed too; on my first visit the Old West via March and yet to re-open so you had to take the Old Bedford and emerge onto the Great Ouse at Welches Dam where the gates could be opened when the two waterways made a level.  All the changes made it difficult to find one's way.

 

Not paying proper attention at a tender age, I can't recall what was present in terms of weirs and staunches.  But I am as sure as I can be that we passed through its current site and under the High Street bridge at Thetford.  I can say this with reasonable certainty, as we moored by the bridge and walked through Brandon to where my grandparents then lived; the memorable bit was getting a lift back followed by the late night swim of two crew - witnessed by several.  We will probably have gone further upstream too., 

 

 

Interesting.  Maybe the weir was added to create a navigable depth up to Santon Downham -- no longer navigable due to a number of large trees that nobody will remove...  (I think you mean Brandon not Thetford above?)

[Tacet]

4 hours ago, Scholar Gypsy said:

Interesting.  Maybe the weir was added to create a navigable depth up to Santon Downham -- no longer navigable due to a number of large trees that nobody will remove...  (I think you mean Brandon not Thetford above?)

Yes - Brandon rather than Thetford.

 

According to the OS, the staunch was in around the same place as the new lock.  https://maps.nls.uk/view/196192503.  I don't recall working anything odd, so if we reached the High Street bridge, we must have passed its remains.  My guess (no more) is that it was missing or in ruins and being having a low draught, the boat was able to pass over.