Let's start another new argument - deepest single lock

[1st ade]

As title - The Times today (Tuesday 4th)

[MtB]

Yep, looks like a double lock to me! 

 

 

[David Mack]

Presumably from the same CRT press release as the Guardian piece I linked to yesterday.

 

[Alway Swilby]

Presumably they mean single as in not a staircase rather than single as in narrow.

[TheBiscuits]

57 minutes ago, Alway Swilby said:

Presumably they mean single as in not a staircase rather than single as in narrow.

 

That was a surprisingly short argument!

[dmr]

I thought it could be single in terms of two locks combined to make a single deep lock and the journalist (or CRT press officer) not fully understanding/explaining this.

 

I think the photo could be Bath deep lock, does anybody want to argue?

[MtB]

3 minutes ago, dmr said:

I thought it could be single in terms of two locks combined to make a single deep lock and the journalist (or CRT press officer) not fully understanding/explaining this.

 

I think the photo could be Bath deep lock, does anybody want to argue?

 

I don't remember Bath having that odd vee-shape cast into the sill. 

 

 

[IanD]

4 minutes ago, dmr said:

I thought it could be single in terms of two locks combined to make a single deep lock and the journalist (or CRT press officer) not fully understanding/explaining this.

 

I think the photo could be Bath deep lock, does anybody want to argue?

That's definitely Tuel Lane...

 

 

[dmr]

just trying to have an argument 😀.

Hope to go down Tuel Lane in the next few weeks. I suspect we might be one of the very few boats that requires the use of the outer/longer set of gates so its our duty to keep them working 😀.

[MtB]

39 minutes ago, dmr said:

just trying to have an argument 😀.

 

Oh no you're not....

 

 

[IanD]

45 minutes ago, dmr said:

just trying to have an argument 😀.

Hope to go down Tuel Lane in the next few weeks. I suspect we might be one of the very few boats that requires the use of the outer/longer set of gates so its our duty to keep them working 😀.

I'm pretty sure we used the outer gates...

[Chris Lowe]

24 minutes ago, MtB said:

 

Oh no you're not....

 

 

I may be argueing in my spare time

[alan_fincher]

1 hour ago, dmr said:

I suspect we might be one of the very few boats that requires the use of the outer/longer set of gates so its our duty to keep them working 😀.

 

That's the only way we could do it. (71' 8").

I have to agree that conversation with the lock keepers indicated that the "full length" set of bottom gates are used only rarely.

[David Mack]

13 minutes ago, alan_fincher said:

I have to agree that conversation with the lock keepers indicated that the "full length" set of bottom gates are used only rarely.

And consequently they are rarely wet, so the planking has shrunk and they leak like a sieve.

 

I would like to take a very short boat through using the two bottom pairs of gates, but I don't know if they'd allow it!

[magpie patrick]

2 hours ago, MtB said:

 

I don't remember Bath having that odd vee-shape cast into the sill. 

 

 

 

 

2 hours ago, dmr said:

 

I think the photo could be Bath deep lock, does anybody want to argue?

 

Yes -  @MtB is right, it's not Bath Deep Lock, the cill is wrong, the gates are wrong, and BDL hasn't been cleaned recently... 🙄

4 hours ago, 1st ade said:

As title - The Times today (Tuesday 4th)

 I'm slightly surprised that they had people working in it with water against the top gates - down our way CRT usually put stop planks in to avoid the gates being overtopped and swamping the people working in the lock, it also removes the risk of some nitwit opening a paddle.

 

Perhaps there are fewer nitwits up north

[dmr]

3 minutes ago, magpie patrick said:

 

 

 

Yes -  @MtB is right, it's not Bath Deep Lock, the cill is wrong, the gates are wrong, and BDL hasn't been cleaned recently... 🙄

Just making a silly argument (as requested), we know both of these locks well, the cill on Tuel lane is very distinctive, Bath has a standard cill that can squirt a lot of water into the lock when things go wrong.

 

Its interesting that Tuel lane requires lock keepers whilst Bath is DIY, probably due to the short tunnel below Tuel lane.

[magpie patrick]

Just now, dmr said:

Its interesting that Tuel lane requires lock keepers whilst Bath is DIY, probably due to the short tunnel below Tuel lane.

 

That IS grounds for a silly argument! I reckon it's because when the built Bath Deep Lock the rest of the canal wasn't navigable and the authorities thought it would never be used  

[David Mack]

2 hours ago, dmr said:

Its interesting that Tuel lane requires lock keepers whilst Bath is DIY, probably due to the short tunnel below Tuel lane.

And the fact that there is a tight bend between the lock and the tunnel with no intervisibility between them.

[alan_fincher]

3 hours ago, David Mack said:

And consequently they are rarely wet, so the planking has shrunk and they leak like a sieve.

 

Yes, the lock keeper said that they sometimes arrange to leave things so the gates for a "long" lock are kept wet.

However the evidence we saw would suggest that this is not done often enough to make a real difference.

[Tacet]

3 hours ago, dmr said:

 

Its interesting that Tuel lane requires lock keepers whilst Bath is DIY, probably due to the short tunnel below Tuel lane.

 

1 hour ago, David Mack said:

And the fact that there is a tight bend between the lock and the tunnel with no intervisibility between them.

I reckon it's because whenever a new feature is introduced, someone feels obliged to undertake risk and other assessments - and concludes there are numerous ways in which you could cause all sorts of damage.

 

Which is the deepest narrow gauge lock on the UK system?

Edited March 4, 2025 by Tacet

[magpie patrick]

2 hours ago, Tacet said:

 

Which is the deepest narrow gauge lock on the UK system?

 

I think it's Vinegar Lock on the Ashton Canal - the depths vary due to mining subsidence and a couple are well over 13 feet. I haven't looked up the exact depth though but 13 foot 10 inches rings a bell

2 hours ago, Tacet said:

 

I reckon it's because whenever a new feature is introduced, someone feels obliged to undertake risk and other assessments - and concludes there are numerous ways in which you could cause all sorts of damage.

 

Bath Deep Lock opened in about 1986, Tuel Lane about 15 years later so you may have a point. Aside from the sometimes impressive amounts of water below BDL when it's busy it's not a lock you want something to go wrong in. There used to be safety fencing at the edge but it got cut away the first time a boat hung up on thr cill. 

[Tim Lewis]

See the video

 

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/15ZXzzqtkc/

[magpie patrick]

11 hours ago, alan_fincher said:

 

Yes, the lock keeper said that they sometimes arrange to leave things so the gates for a "long" lock are kept wet.

However the evidence we saw would suggest that this is not done often enough to make a real difference.

 

I was sceptical of the second pair of gates when the lock was built, but its one of those things where the decision making process had an impact on the final design. A decision was made that the lock would only be 57 feet long "to save water" - given that Salterhebble locks, 3 miles away, are only 57 feet long there was a degree of logic, but protests were made and it was agreed that a second pair of gates would be added to allow 70 foot long boats to reach Sowerby Bridge basin. Had a 70 foot long lock been proposed in the first place I doubt anyone would have campaigned for a second set of gates to save water. Further, by adding the second gates, any cost savings were completely lost as the full length chamber had to be built. 

 

Bath Deep Lock was arguably underthought - basically because no one expected much traffic and there was some official resentment at having to build it at all - for a while "fill it in" campaigns had competed with restoration campaigns, and even as it was being built (mid 70s) it was by no means certain Devizes locks would ever reopen. By contrast, Tuel Lane was overthought, certainly from a water demand perspective as the traffic forecasts were, in hindsight, a tad optimistic.  BDL has a ridiculously short pound above it, but it copes even thoughbit gets very busy, Tuel Lane by contrast has a longish pound above it, the extra water for the 70 foot lock would be lost in the noise given the usage levels. 

[Jen-in-Wellies]

18 hours ago, dmr said:

just trying to have an argument 😀.

Hope to go down Tuel Lane in the next few weeks. I suspect we might be one of the very few boats that requires the use of the outer/longer set of gates so its our duty to keep them working 😀.

For an extreme example of a second set of gates for longer boats there are some in Yorkshire that have a set of gates for around 60' wide beams, but have had the chambers extended for much much bigger boats.

See Bramwith Lock and Doncaster Town lock for examples. Most are automated and use the big chambers for all boats, but Bramwith is still manual and you select the chamber for the size and number of boats using it.

[Annie cariad]

Argument no just get a life