Regent's malicious lock-keeper flooding & dual lock design tales

[Battle Cruiser]

I've heard a tale from cut old timer that back in day (1950s?) a disgruntled and/or drunken Regent's lock-keeper open all the paddles, and maybe some gates from Hampstead Road to St Pancras and the resulting flow flooded King's Cross Station.
This then apparently hastened the end of lock-keepers (fall in traffic notwithstanding) and the replacement of the dual locks there with a lock/weir combination to prevent similar happening again, by design or by accident.
An entertaining tale, but I've seen no reports of it anywhere. Has anyone else heard this or even better know about it?

Talking of dual locks, another cut old timer told me that when a lock is filling with both top paddles fully open, the flow of the water is designed so that the boat is pushed to the island side of the lock, where apparently the boater would prefer it to be (which makes little sense to me). A quick test at the remaining dual lock on the Regent's suggested that this does happen.
But does anyone know if it's intentional?

BC

[Derek R.]

King's Cross Station has a history of flooding, mostly causes by the rising waters of the nearby River Fleet and after heavy rainfall.

About an errant lock keeper causing such a flood, I know nothing.

 

About the abandonment of the dualled locks, I would suggest the lack of traffic and maintenance costs would have been the predominant reason.

 

As to water flow pushing boats one side or the other, this can occur if the paddles are drawn in such a way that the balance of flow can indeed put a boat against one wall or another. This can be seen very clearly when ascending Hatton or Knowle. Put a boat against a right hand wall, lift the right hand paddle more than the left, and the boat will stay against the right hand wall. I believe this was a design factor, or it may just have been coincidence.

Edited November 6, 2023 by Derek R.

[blackrose]

If there are no other sources it sounds like the old timer might be creating his own urban myth. 

[magpie patrick]

IRRC correctly there were several reasons for the weiring of one of each pair (except Hamsptead Road) - Magpie the Elder was an IWA activist in the 60s and 70's and he recalled that the IWA objected to the lack of user operation of the canal, which also meant it wasn't available for passage on weekends. BW did a demo of how quickly things went wrong if the lock operation wasn't carefully managed. 

 

To that I can add my own vicarious experience - in 1976 on the last day of a boat holiday (I was ten) we turned at Hampstead Road and watched two boatmen working two unladen dumb barges through the locks. They drew a paddle to draw a barge into the lock, emptied the lock, drew a paddle to wash it out, fill the lock, repeat. At some point during the second locking the alarm was raised that the first barge was now floating over the towpath and banging into the walls of buildings....

 

So, with decline of commercial traffic, and with one lock often being outb of use anyway, the way to open the canal to leisure traffic and allow self operation was to weir one of the locks in each pair. I think this was done in the early 80s?

[alan_fincher]

Magpie Patrick's explanation is, I believe a correct one.

 

The discontinued lock of each pair was converted to a by-wash weir, something not present in the original configuration.  Before this was done lock keepers were required at each lock, and the locks were placed out of use when keepers were not on duty.  I have an old 1970s "Canals Book", which clearly states that navigation was not possible at weekends.

 

However there is one oddity I don't understand.  Historic pictures of Regents Canal locks often show windlasses permanently attached to the paddle gear, and not obviously removable.  If the paddles were not in some way disabled if the lock keepers were off duty, this would seem to have opened up the possibility o the flooding they were so keen to avoid.

[David Mack]

When I moved to London in 1980 the Regents locks had already been singled, and I don't recall lock keepers about. But on the River Lee the electrified locks were keeper operated on weekdays only, and IWA was still campaigning for user/weekend operation.

[magnetman]

26 minutes ago, alan_fincher said:

 

 

However there is one oddity I don't understand.  Historic pictures of Regents Canal locks often show windlasses permanently attached to the paddle gear, and not obviously removable.  If the paddles were not in some way disabled if the lock keepers were off duty, this would seem to have opened up the possibility o the flooding they were so keen to avoid.

 

Presumably the tail gate windlasses were individually chained and locked to their paddles and the gates locked together. It doesn't matter if top paddles can be operated if all the bottom gear is secured. 

 

[Tacet]

My late father was instrumental in securing user working of the Regents Canal locks.  As the locks on the River Lee were likewise closed after noon on Saturday, it was rather a problem for those, like dad, who kept a boat on the Bow Backs.

 

But I think the Regents concession was much earlier than suggested - mid 1970s.  Dad wrote of arriving at Hampstead Road just after noon, being the first to take advantage and yet being refused passage by the lockeeper who knew nothing about it.  I could be wrong about the date - but I think I can recall being present which puts it 1976 or earlier as subsequently I was then at the age of doing my own thing.

[Battle Cruiser]

2 hours ago, blackrose said:

If there are no other sources it sounds like the old timer might be creating his own urban myth. 

This is what I suspect but someone else who I trust says he remembers it, but I'm sure it would've made the local papers 

2 hours ago, magpie patrick said:

IRRC correctly there were several reasons for the weiring of one of each pair (except Hamsptead Road) - Magpie the Elder was an IWA activist in the 60s and 70's and he recalled that the IWA objected to the lack of user operation of the canal, which also meant it wasn't available for passage on weekends. BW did a demo of how quickly things went wrong if the lock operation wasn't carefully managed. 

 

To that I can add my own vicarious experience - in 1976 on the last day of a boat holiday (I was ten) we turned at Hampstead Road and watched two boatmen working two unladen dumb barges through the locks. They drew a paddle to draw a barge into the lock, emptied the lock, drew a paddle to wash it out, fill the lock, repeat. At some point during the second locking the alarm was raised that the first barge was now floating over the towpath and banging into the walls of buildings....

 

So, with decline of commercial traffic, and with one lock often being outb of use anyway, the way to open the canal to leisure traffic and allow self operation was to weir one of the locks in each pair. I think this was done in the early 80s?

I wonder if the BW demonstration has been misremembered or passed on via Chinese whispers?

 

Fascinating and amusing and unbelievable and also believable about the paddles being used to wash the boat out! Probably quite common once the lock-keepers had gone 

2 hours ago, alan_fincher said:

Magpie Patrick's explanation is, I believe a correct one.

 

The discontinued lock of each pair was converted to a by-wash weir, something not present in the original configuration.  Before this was done lock keepers were required at each lock, and the locks were placed out of use when keepers were not on duty.  I have an old 1970s "Canals Book", which clearly states that navigation was not possible at weekends.

 

However there is one oddity I don't understand.  Historic pictures of Regents Canal locks often show windlasses permanently attached to the paddle gear, and not obviously removable.  If the paddles were not in some way disabled if the lock keepers were off duty, this would seem to have opened up the possibility o the flooding they were so keen to avoid.

 

Interesting - were the windlasses chained to the paddle mech or otherwise permanently attached ? Surely a chain would make them unusable? Have you got a link to the picture?

13 minutes ago, Tacet said:

My late father was instrumental in securing user working of the Regents Canal locks.  As the locks on the River Lee were likewise closed after noon on Saturday, it was rather a problem for those, like dad, who kept a boat on the Bow Backs.

 

But I think the Regents concession was much earlier than suggested - mid 1970s.  Dad wrote of arriving at Hampstead Road just after noon, being the first to take advantage and yet being refused passage by the lockeeper who knew nothing about it.  I could be wrong about the date - but I think I can recall being present which puts it 1976 or earlier as subsequently I was then at the age of doing my own thing.

I think it was in the 70s they lock-keepers went

[magnetman]

Windlasses may have been riveted / pinned to the paddle spindles to prevent them being taken. I did once have a windlass out with the magnet which had a hole one each side as if it had been secured this way. 

 

There have been problems with unauthorised operation of the locks around Camden quite recently. We were moored below the lower lock a number of yars ago and someone was emptying the short pound above for some fun in the middle of the night. I found a Stillsons wrench the next day by the lock. 

 

I think it had been a regular problem. 

 

 

Good Stillsons, I still have it somewhere. 

[Battle Cruiser]

4 hours ago, magnetman said:

Windlasses may have been riveted / pinned to the paddle spindles to prevent them being taken. I did once have a windlass out with the magnet which had a hole one each side as if it had been secured this way. 

 

There have been problems with unauthorised operation of the locks around Camden quite recently. We were moored below the lower lock a number of yars ago and someone was emptying the short pound above for some fun in the middle of the night. I found a Stillsons wrench the next day by the lock. 

 

I think it had been a regular problem. 

 

 

Good Stillsons, I still have it somewhere. 

Then fixed windlasses sounds like a good idea for when the locks were keeper operation only.

 

Well done with the free Stillsons! I'm surprised this doesn't happen more often at somewhere like Camden actually but I suspect today's yobbo is too lazy / stupid / unprepared for such active vandalism.

Cider and spray cans are much easier past times 

4 hours ago, Tacet said:

My late father was instrumental in securing user working of the Regents Canal locks.  As the locks on the River Lee were likewise closed after noon on Saturday, it was rather a problem for those, like dad, who kept a boat on the Bow Backs.

 

But I think the Regents concession was much earlier than suggested - mid 1970s.  Dad wrote of arriving at Hampstead Road just after noon, being the first to take advantage and yet being refused passage by the lockeeper who knew nothing about it.  I could be wrong about the date - but I think I can recall being present which puts it 1976 or earlier as subsequently I was then at the age of doing my own thing.

I think it was in the 70s they lock-keepers went

[magpie patrick]

Nicholson's Guide - early edition as it cost 75p so I'll guess early 1970s?

 

The locks on the Regents Canal, all of which are pairs of barge sized locks, are open every weekday from 0800 to 1700 and  Saturday from 0800 until noon. They are operated by lock keepers and are padlocked outside the above hours

 

...Special summer weekend opening times, which are in force for about ten weekend a year... 

 

The Hertford Union Canal.... it's three locks may only be operated by lock keepers

 

I'm guessing the Hertford Union was simply caught up in standard rules, as nothing has changed there in terms of lock bywashes etc

 

The same guide refers to Lock Keepers on the Lee but not opening hours, it says all locks on the Lee, which I find surprising, I really can't see why they'd have lockkeepers above Fieldes Weir by then, but one of you may know

 

 

 

 

[Battle Cruiser]

5 minutes ago, magpie patrick said:

 

I'm guessing the Hertford Union was simply caught up in standard rules, as nothing has changed there in terms of lock bywashes etc

 

 

 

 

 

 The Hertford was only ever single lock anyways wasn't it, so not much to change?

 

[Tim Lewis]

From Wikipedia:

 

‘All the locks were built with duplicate chambers to facilitate the heavy barge traffic. With the demise of commercial traffic in the early 1970s, at the end of 1973, the British Waterways Boardembarked on a three-year programme to convert one chamber at each lock into an overflow weir to facilitate unmanned use by pleasure craft without the risk of serious flooding due to incorrect use of the paddles’

 

interestingly in the last few years some of the weirs on the old lock chambers have been adapted with ‘sawtooth’ overflows to allow a greater flow of water over them.^[2]

Edited November 6, 2023 by Tim Lewis

[Tacet]

42 minutes ago, magpie patrick said:

Nicholson's Guide - early edition as it cost 75p so I'll guess early 1970s?

 

The locks on the Regents Canal, all of which are pairs of barge sized locks, are open every weekday from 0800 to 1700 and  Saturday from 0800 until noon. They are operated by lock keepers and are padlocked outside the above hours

 

...Special summer weekend opening times, which are in force for about ten weekend a year... 

 

The Hertford Union Canal.... it's three locks may only be operated by lock keepers

 

I'm guessing the Hertford Union was simply caught up in standard rules, as nothing has changed there in terms of lock bywashes etc

 

The same guide refers to Lock Keepers on the Lee but not opening hours, it says all locks on the Lee, which I find surprising, I really can't see why they'd have lockkeepers above Fieldes Weir by then, but one of you may know

 

 

 

 

The Canals Book was 40p in 1972 and a whole £1 by 1977.  Both copies say all locks on the Regents and Lower Lee are BW operated - but I'm not convinced it was keeping abreast of the excitement.  

 

It also says below Enfield are controlled by Bow Locks staff, above Enfield are open sunrise to sunset, Monday to Saturday.  Above Ponders End are user operated.

 

There were certainly lock keepers on the upper stretches; I can recall one at Hertford in 1972 expressing his opinion when I dropped a paddle; the windlass was permanently affixed too.

 

Danny, the keeper at Feildes Weir remained present for a long time; he had rather a good collection of cinema projectors.  I'm not sure whether he remained officially employed.  He won a considerable sum on, I think, the football pools which pleased him. Having said that, he was described to all present at his funeral as a cantankerous old git.

 

[Battle Cruiser]

37 minutes ago, Tim Lewis said:

From Wikipedia

 

interestingly in the last few years some of the weirs on the old lock chambers have been adapted with ‘sawtooth’ overflows to allow a greater flow of water over them.^[2]

 Not convinced by this, although I am totally unqualified in weir design! I thought this design was to even out the flow over the width rather than increase the flow

[magnetman]

25 minutes ago, Battle Cruiser said:

 Not convinced by this, although I am totally unqualified in weir design! I thought this design was to even out the flow over the width rather than increase the flow

 

I assumed it was to reduce blockages and make cleaning less frequently required. 

It also makes the weirs more awkward for bored yoof in summertime to play on thus reducing the chance of accidents which the poor parents could then sue the Board for. 

 

 

[David Mack]

48 minutes ago, Battle Cruiser said:

 Not convinced by this, although I am totally unqualified in weir design! I thought this design was to even out the flow over the width rather than increase the flow

The longer weir crest length of sawtooth or castellated weirs allows more water to flow for a given rise in the upstream water level (or results in a lesser rise for the same flow).

They tend to be used when the available space for a weir is restricted.

[1st ade]

3 hours ago, Battle Cruiser said:

Well done with the free Stillsons!

Many years ago we used to dive a lake at a local sailing club - The deal was we had 10:00 to 11:30 (while they prepped the boats) - surface after 11:30, and you could find Lasers and Larks turning round your SMB.

 

Anyway, one Sunday we turned up to find the Sailing Committee nearly in tears. Clubhouse broken into.

 

First thing I found at 6M at the end of the pontoon was a very large pair of Bolt Croppers! With a padlock next to them... Police said I could keep neither.

[Tacet]

3 hours ago, Tacet said:

The Canals Book was 40p in 1972 and a whole £1 by 1977.  Both copies say all locks on the Regents and Lower Lee are BW operated - but I'm not convinced it was keeping abreast of the excitement.  

 

 

A flick through the 1972 book shows the  Tipton Gree Branch & the Toll End Communication as still being available whereas Wiki says they both closed in the early 1960s.   Similarly the Severn Railway Bridge at Sharpness is both shown and referred to - when it was swiped in 1960 & 1961 and demolished by the end of the decade

 

Copy and paste has clearly been around a while - so don't put a great deal of weight on entries in the Canals Book.

[TheBiscuits]

14 hours ago, magnetman said:

It doesn't matter if top paddles can be operated if all the bottom gear is secured

 

You could be correct.  I'm personally responsible for the padlocks on Wigan Flight bottom lock being moved from the head gates to the tail gates because I had the nerve to operate the lock (downhill) out of hours - early - rather than wait for someone to bother unlocking it.

 

Or you could be mistaken, because I'm also responsible for operating the same lock in the opposite direction after they'd changed the padlock system.  Leaky tailgates can rather spoil your theory ! 

 

[Francis Herne]

On 06/11/2023 at 09:47, alan_fincher said:

Historic pictures of Regents Canal locks often show windlasses permanently attached to the paddle gear, and not obviously removable.

The Nottingham & Beeston locks (and Cranfleet) have this -- what appear to be ordinary tapers and cast-iron windlasses, only welded together.

 

I did wonder why, when separate windlasses are the norm. To accomodate craft coming off the river that don't carry one?

 

[magnetman]

A fixed windlass makes the thing easier to chain up than just a spindle. 

 

 

[magpie patrick]

20 hours ago, TheBiscuits said:

 

You could be correct.  I'm personally responsible for the padlocks on Wigan Flight bottom lock being moved from the head gates to the tail gates because I had the nerve to operate the lock (downhill) out of hours - early - rather than wait for someone to bother unlocking it.

 

Or you could be mistaken, because I'm also responsible for operating the same lock in the opposite direction after they'd changed the padlock system.  Leaky tailgates can rather spoil your theory ! 

 

There was a time when Struncheon Hill Lock in the Driffield Navigation didn't have bottom paddles - to fill the lock you opened the top paddles and to empty it you closed them....  

[Derek R.]

Chester's Nothgate flight used to be a bit like that. Going down you'd open the bottom paddles, and it was a battle to get the lower gates open against the inflow from the leaky top gates.