Singlehanded. Asked to do swing bridges, not in a nice way.

[jupiter1124]

20 minutes ago, David Mack said:

Canals were built for boats towed by horses from the towpath. So lift and swing bridges were all set up so the open bridge structure is on the offside, to give a clear passage for the towrope.

Thank you, this makes complete sense for lift/draw/bascule bridges. Less sense (but still some) for swing bridges. Somehow I imagined that swing bridges only really became a thing after boats were motorised!

 

 

[tree monkey]

1 hour ago, LadyG said:

The point is that they brought kiddies to a place where people drown.

This is not a place for recreation. There are swimming pools, where children are supervised. Take them there.

Sounds like good parenting to me, never did like organised recreation as a kid.

In fact I would more likely be wandering around doing stuff like this without interfering parental supervision.

 

2 hours ago, LadyG said:

I shouted at them to get the kiddies off the beam as i came through.

They then let them play in by wash.

Do I then say you re an idiot or tell them that if kiddies get a temp get the. To A and E LEPTOSPIROSIS?

 

Even considering my recent encounter with wiels I don't see a major issue, how rare is wiels and anyway responsible parents will know when their kids are ill and act appropriately.

 

It's both impossible and probably not a good idea to remove all risk from life

 

 

[Arthur Marshall]

I remember asking BW many years ago if they could consider making offside lift bridge landings available for single handers, to which the only reply was "We do not recommend boating single-handed".

[David Mack]

15 minutes ago, jupiter1124 said:

Thank you, this makes complete sense for lift/draw/bascule bridges. Less sense (but still some) for swing bridges. Somehow I imagined that swing bridges only really became a thing after boats were motorised!

A tow rope can easily get caught up in a swing bridges on the towpath side. Swing bridges date back to the early days of canals, particularly on wide canals.

[Arthur Marshall]

2 hours ago, Tracy D'arth said:

I'm not surprised.

 

If he was showing 2 fingers to the ambulance he was luck to get one at all.

 

This post contains no rudeness, swearing or nastiness, just an elevated sense of humour. If you feel insulted its your problem not mine. 

That comment would have amused him. When his son visited him in hospital, he took him a box of Cadburys Chocolate Fingers.

[LadyG]

29 minutes ago, tree monkey said:

 

It's both impossible and probably not a good idea to remove all risk from life

 

 

I agree with that, but there is no pont in sitting kiddies on a beam for a photo, unaware of what is happening around them, there is nothing learnt. If you let them mess around in locks they don't understand the potential danger, thirty seconds and one or other could run down the by wash straight in to deep cold water. 

Every summer teen-agers swim in reservoirs, they do this every year in spite of danger notices and repeated fatalities

Not sure how common Weil's disease it, its not rare , but unless a medic was made aware that child had been exposed to dirty water the disease might not be identified. Children do get fevers quite easily, not usually fatal.

Essentially Leptospirosis is carried in the urine of rats, gets in to humans via a scratch.

I have taken part in some risky activities, but not recklessly.

Edited July 12, 2022 by LadyG

[Ronaldo47]

I had assumed that  bridge operation from the non-towpath side was to ensure that a lazy boater would not just depart after opening it,  leaving the bridge open and thereby making it difficult for a road user on the non-towpath side to close it.

 

At an open day at our local police station (now a luxury housing development), a police diver demonstrating his equipment explained that, because of the risk of Weil's disease, they had stopped using wet suits, and were only using dry suits when searching in waterways and lakes. That was more than 25 years ago. 

Edited July 12, 2022 by Ronaldo47
typos

[Rob-M]

42 minutes ago, LadyG said:

I agree with that, but there is no pont in sitting kiddies on a beam for a photo, unaware of what is happening around them, there is nothing learnt. If you let them mess around in locks they don't understand the potential danger, thirty seconds and one or other could run down the by wash straight in to deep cold water. 

Every summer teen-agers swim in reservoirs, they do this every year in spite of danger notices and repeated fatalities

Not sure how common Weil's disease it, its not rare , but unless a medic was made aware that child had been exposed to dirty water the disease might not be identified. Children do get fevers quite easily, not usually fatal.

Essentially Leptospirosis is carried in the urine of rats, gets in to humans via a scratch.

I have taken part in some risky activities, but not recklessly.

I usually try and take some time to talk to the children and the parents and point out some of the dangers around a lock to hopefully educate them a little bit.

[ditchcrawler]

23 hours ago, Midnight said:

If ever a single hander falls in I just can't see how they could get out. Dangerous lock on your own and if there were  fatality there would be a lock ladder within days.

I don't think its possible, they did have a stoppage planed a couple of years back to fit one but it didn't happen.

[ditchcrawler]

4 hours ago, LadyG said:

they do not advise canal users of dangers of any kind. There are two boys died near here, one was seven, according to a painted note.

No liferings

I nearly dislodged two tiny tots on a beam as I went in to a lock, being pbotographed.

They then went to play in bywash

 

Do you think they would read CRT notices.

[Jim Riley]

Why is all the operating gear on the offside for Swing bridges etc - because it leaves the towpath clear for the 'oss and it's line. You'd a thunk they would "of " considered elderly boaters of the future when they built the canals.

[George and Dragon]

On 12/07/2022 at 09:01, Tony1 said:

,

This could easily be a case of someone pulling my leg, but if its was, the woman was a very good actor. 

I got talking to a woman at a lock, probably on the Llangollen I think, and she was warning me to be careful. Perhaps I appeared to be a bit cavalier in my movements around the lock. 

She said that she had once fallen into an emptying lock, and had been sucked through one of the paddle holes in the lock gate, and came to the surface again out in the pound. 

I had no idea the holes were large enough to allow the passage of a person, even a small and slender person, but she seemed deadly serious about her story. 

Was I being gullible, or could this happen?

 

We were told by one of the vollies of something similar happening at Foxton. Person went into one of the side pounds and ended up in the lock. So now they have installed grids to ensure it can't happen again. Of course the outcome should anyone be sucked onto the grid will now certainly be fatal.

 

I have no idea whether the claimed incident ever happened.

[Midnight]

17 hours ago, ditchcrawler said:

I don't think its possible, they did have a stoppage planed a couple of years back to fit one but it didn't happen.

It is possible they did similar on the lock above Punch Bowl Bridge on the Rochdale. Two lengths of 4x4 each side of the ladder. Disadvantage it reduced the width so two boats no longer advised.  It won't happen on the iron lock unless there's a fatality.

[Jim Riley]

6 minutes ago, Midnight said:

It is possible they did similar on the lock above Punch Bowl Bridge on the Rochdale. Two lengths of 4x4 each side of the ladder. Disadvantage it reduced the width so two boats no longer advised.  It won't happen on the iron lock unless there's a fatality.

A few of the locks nearby have narrowed anyway, signs say one boat only, so it might not have made any difference. The rest of the locks, they've used a Stihl saw to cut a channel in the stonework for the ladder. 

[Arthur Marshall]

5 minutes ago, Jim Riley said:

A few of the locks nearby have narrowed anyway, signs say one boat only, so it might not have made any difference. The rest of the locks, they've used a Stihl saw to cut a channel in the stonework for the ladder. 

The one with the sign is a massive bottleneck at busy times. It's perfectly safe with two boats as long as at least one isn't over fifty foot. But you can no longer persuade anyone that this is the case, so we all waste tons of water filing through singly.

 

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

9 minutes ago, Jim Riley said:

A few of the locks nearby have narrowed anyway, signs say one boat only, so it might not have made any difference. The rest of the locks, they've used a Stihl saw to cut a channel in the stonework for the ladder. 

Both being short boats, didn’t we share the narrow ones going up to the Summet?

I can’t see them ever being allowed to chase a cutting out for a ladder in the iron lock. 

If it were for safety reasons alone, and not to help the single hander, couldn’t some sort of ladder be constructed within one of the lower gates to allow someone to climb out?

[cuthound]

2 hours ago, Goliath said:

Both being short boats, didn’t we share the narrow ones going up to the Summet?

I can’t see them ever being allowed to chase a cutting out for a ladder in the iron lock. 

If it were for safety reasons alone, and not to help the single hander, couldn’t some sort of ladder be constructed within one of the lower gates to allow someone to climb out?

 

Many moons ago, my then dog fell into Atherstone Top Lock , swam to the cill and sat on it under the cascade of water from between the gates.

 

I had to climb down the lock gate, pick her up and hand her to a passer by to get her out, before climbing back up the gate again to get myself out. It was unbelievably slippery.

[Mike Todd]

On 12/07/2022 at 21:36, Ronaldo47 said:

I had assumed that  bridge operation from the non-towpath side was to ensure that a lazy boater would not just depart after opening it,  leaving the bridge open and thereby making it difficult for a road user on the non-towpath side to close it.

 

At an open day at our local police station (now a luxury housing development), a police diver demonstrating his equipment explained that, because of the risk of Weil's disease, they had stopped using wet suits, and were only using dry suits when searching in waterways and lakes. That was more than 25 years ago. 

Many once had chains connected to the towpath side just for that situation. Originally all boaters were 'professional'.

[Jim Riley]

4 hours ago, Mike Todd said:

Many once had chains connected to the towpath side just for that situation. Originally all boaters were 'professional'.

How many could swim? Suppose you can drown professionals with impunity.

23 hours ago, Arthur Marshall said:

The one with the sign is a massive bottleneck at busy times. It's perfectly safe with two boats as long as at least one isn't over fifty foot. But you can no longer persuade anyone that this is the case, so we all waste tons of water filing through singly.

 

We are talking Littleborough to Summit flight here on the Rochdale. A queue? Nah!