Calder and Hebble

[boatyboy]

Hi guys. We are presently cruising along the Calder and Hebble canal,but at the moment we are moored up at Sowerby Bridge.I hope some of you will back me up in saying the locks on here are some of the worst maintained locks on the whole system.We knew that we needed the wooden spike for the locks but some of the cog gears on the works are so badly worn out that they get stuck and won't go up or down,I've already broken one spike!!

There are a couple of locks where they only have that type on the top gates, and we just could not fill the lock until a boat came along with a massive spike about 6ft long.even then it was bending a lot.

Next thing to grieve me was the hand rails around the tops of the gates.Hand rails are for holding onto.....am i right? but the paint that has been "Balmed on" over the years without any deflaking before hand is flaking off everywhere,which then has sharp edges,and my wife cut her hand on the paint.

Are British Waterways so short of money that they are leaving the locks so badly maintained that they are dangerous!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We have noticed that along the way there are lots of lovely new signs reminding tow path users that they must respect other users of the tow path,ie cyclists who must 'ting ting' twice to alert the ever increasing joggers/dog wakers (another subject i could rant on for years) and joe public out for a nice Sunday stroll.

Its obvious BW has more interest in the safety of land lubbers than the actual people who pays the yearly licence fee.

Right ....Now shoot me down in flames if you like,but from speaking to other boaters we have met over the last two years of our continuous cruise they all feel the same.Rant over for now.Feel free to mention the K&A,whick i now put in second place.Feel like starting a league ?

Dave

[Flossie007]

It amuses me when people complain about the K&A. They've obviously never done the Huddersfield Narrow or the Rochdale. I had no problems on the Calder and Hebble between Huddersfield and Sowerby Bridge though - there was a decent depth of water and the gear worked ok.

[dizzyknits]

great...... thats where we are off to in a couple of weeks...............it was bad enough 2 years ago when we only made Brighouse (cos we broke down), I was so knackered I had to get much beloved out of boat to help, said this year he will have to help from Horbury onwards...........

[Guest]

Hi guys. We are presently cruising along the Calder and Hebble canal,

<SNIP>

Dave

 

Strikes me you're finding boating a bit too stressful - maybe you need to give up and get a job in the city....

Edited June 25, 2010 by NB No Deadlines

[Theo]

great...... thats where we are off to in a couple of weeks...............it was bad enough 2 years ago when we only made Brighouse (cos we broke down), I was so knackered I had to get much beloved out of boat to help, said this year he will have to help from Horbury onwards...........

 

Can't see why people are complaining. We did all three pennine waterways + the C & H to Brighouse in 2008. (Both there and back for all of them. It was fantastic! 60' long so we went down Salterhebble backwards. The weather was awful though.

 

 

Nick

[Guest]

Can't see why people are complaining. We did all three pennine waterways + the C & H to Brighouse in 2008. (Both there and back for all of them. It was fantastic! 60' long so we went down Salterhebble backwards. The weather was awful though.

 

 

Nick

 

The boat we are buying is 60ft and we plan to do the same at some point...any tips on doing Salterhebble backwards appreciated...

[Madmark62]

Can't see why people are complaining. We did all three pennine waterways + the C & H to Brighouse in 2008. (Both there and back for all of them. It was fantastic! 60' long so we went down Salterhebble backwards. The weather was awful though.

 

 

Nick

 

They are complaining because the locks are BLOODY DANGEROUS NOW!!!!!

Not only do they need the handspike, they are the worst leaking lock gates on the system, or so I was told by the BW crew at Brighouse .

We have been moored on the Calder and Hebble for 2 years and things have got worse in this time.

Although I must say that doing Ganny lock has improved that bit a lot. There is always problems with silting between Ganny and Brookfoot locks and sometimes it is only about 20 inch deep there.

But the whole stretch from Sowerby Bridge to Brighouse is lovely, my favourite part is around Cromwell woods.

[Maffi]

So write to BW and complain. One cannot expect them to know coz they never shift their arses out of the office.

 

I've already broken one spike!!

There are a couple of locks where they only have that type on the top gates, and we just could not fill the lock until a boat came along with a massive spike about 6ft long.even then it was bending a lot.

Dave

 

Am I right in thinking that you broke a Mahogany hand spike?

[MartinClark]

Hi guys. We are presently cruising along the Calder and Hebble canal,but at the moment we are moored up at Sowerby Bridge.I hope some of you will back me up in saying the locks on here are some of the worst maintained locks on the whole system.We knew that we needed the wooden spike for the locks but some of the cog gears on the works are so badly worn out that they get stuck and won't go up or down,I've already broken one spike!!

There are a couple of locks where they only have that type on the top gates, and we just could not fill the lock until a boat came along with a massive spike about 6ft long.even then it was bending a lot.

Next thing to grieve me was the hand rails around the tops of the gates.Hand rails are for holding onto.....am i right? but the paint that has been "Balmed on" over the years without any deflaking before hand is flaking off everywhere,which then has sharp edges,and my wife cut her hand on the paint.

 

Have you made a complaint to BW in Leeds, telling them at which locks these problems were found?

 

Complaining on here might possibly get it off your chest. Complaining to BW might possibly get the problems sorted.

 

Mind you, I did say "might". One of the worst-maintained sections of canal has to be the eastern side of the Huddersfield narrow, which has just passed from the control of Leeds to Red Bull and Red Bull are getting their fingers out and putting right some of the worst problems that have been allowed to accumulate.

 

However, with the prospect of 25% cuts in funding for BW from the ConDemNation, poorly-maintained canals are something that you will be getting used to.....

[NiceNarrowboat]

However, with the prospect of 25% cuts in funding for BW from the ConDemNation, poorly-maintained canals are something that you will be getting used to.....

 

I work for the Civil Service (FCO) and we're all facing a minimum of 25% cuts - but we've been planning a 33% cut for the last eighteen months assuming that ConDem was going to be Just Conned. Already celebrating the 8% saving....Now is the time to stop focusing on cuts and start thinking how we're going to make up the shortfall. There's plenty of opportunity...

 

Ideas on a postcard.

[Lady Muck]

It amuses me when people complain about the K&A. They've obviously never done the Huddersfield Narrow or the Rochdale. I had no problems on the Calder and Hebble between Huddersfield and Sowerby Bridge though - there was a decent depth of water and the gear worked ok.

 

I really don't understand the complaints about the Rochdale. Most of the paddle gear is quite new. I'm pleased I didn't listen to boaters on our way up there who said not to do it. I thought the L&L was harder to work.

 

I did think the C&H locks were in a bad state of repair though - the worst I've seen and we did find it trickier than the Rochdale. Can't wait to go back though, I liked all of the Northern canals

 

So write to BW and complain. One cannot expect them to know coz they never shift their arses out of the office.

 

 

 

Am I right in thinking that you broke a Mahogany hand spike?

 

We broke a hand spike too - some paddle gear you just can't shift.

[Odana]

Will be there by mid-July and will look out for fellow forumites. Last year as far as Kirlees top lock was OK, but hard. Will tell my one little crew member to get weight training or accept she'll have to steer the boat sometimes to get us to Todmorden! Breaking spikes sounds worrying...

[Lady Muck]

Will be there by mid-July and will look out for fellow forumites. Last year as far as Kirlees top lock was OK, but hard. Will tell my one little crew member to get weight training or accept she'll have to steer the boat sometimes to get us to Todmorden! Breaking spikes sounds worrying...

 

Only a couple of locks are really stiff though, it's the general state of repair thatcan make it tricky to work - rotten balance beams, collapsed banksides and broken paddle gear. Noticeably worse than other places we boated through.

[Mac of Cygnet]

I now realise that having the C&H as my 'home' canal is a huge advantage on my summer travels - everywhere else seems so easy! (cross fingers - I've still got to get back). I've so far broken one handspike and bent a steel bar used as a substitute. Made me feel like Tarzan. The hirers from Shire Cruisers still come back for more, though.

 

Mac

[DHutch]

Strikes me you're finding boating a bit too stressful - maybe you need to give up and get a job in the city....

I was going say, we didnt really have any issue.

- Yes its a less used waterway, yes it uses a hand spike, not its perfect. But actually. Its fine.

 

We hadnt got around to making a handspike so ended up using some 2*3 drift wood hacked down a bit with and axe and it was fine for all the bits we did. Flakey hand rail paint is a bit of an issue, and certainly i worked hard to remove it form our boats handrails, but really?

 

 

 

Daniel

[Matthew Knowles]

Being relatively new to all this, would someone please explain the need/use of a hand spike.

 

Ta

[MartinClark]

Being relatively new to all this, would someone please explain the need/use of a hand spike.

 

Hopefully the photos on this page will speak for themselves:

http://www.penninewaterways.co.uk/calder/handspike.htm

[magpie patrick]

while I would prefer them to work properly, please don't encourage BW to get rid of handspike gear

 

they've already stripped the L&L of it's prize exhibits, Health and Safety mean that gear operated while standing on the gates is on the way out...

[mykaskin]

Being relatively new to all this, would someone please explain the need/use of a hand spike.

 

Ta

 

Some nice video of hand spikes in operation on the Driffield Navigation:

 

http://vimeo.com/5521111

 

When we went through, a few years ago now mind, it didn't notice any problems with the paddle gear, but putting new paint on top of old is common in the region.

 

Cheers,

 

Mike

Edited June 25, 2010 by mykaskin

[Matthew Dowson]

With the cuts we'll be back to the 1970s when I started boating, we were lucky to find one paddle working in those days.

[Pluto]

while I would prefer them to work properly, please don't encourage BW to get rid of handspike gear

 

they've already stripped the L&L of it's prize exhibits, Health and Safety mean that gear operated while standing on the gates is on the way out...

A couple of days ago I went up Barrowford flight and noticed that the two remaining starting pins had been cut off, presumably for H&S reasons. Starting pins on the L&LC are (were in this case!) around 3/4 inch dia iron shafts standing about 2 inches high on the off side entry and exit walls, and were used to provide a double purchase for starting horse-drawn boats out of a lock. Very few survive on the L&LC, the only one at the upper end of a lock, now those at Barrowford have been removed, is at Blackburn, where it is encased in a concrete edging. There are also a couple at the lower end of lock chambers at Johnsons Hillock. The larger hooks on Yorkshire locks were not necessarily starting pins, more for tying a boat to while the lock filled/emptied, and are similar to the hooks found on the C&HN.

 

I also noticed that the wooden fly boat signal slot on the warehouse at Clayton-le-Moors has also disappeared. It was the last of its type, the only other signals being the poorly conserved one at Stockbridge, which was re-erected by the developer.

[pearley]

We just come from Huddersfield to Leeds via Brighouse and I didn't think the locks were any worse than the last time we were here in 1999.

 

On a completely different issue, why are the electricity cards in Leeds different to those used everywhere else? Will have wait to Monday for the office to open now.

 

Regards

Pete

[Lady Muck]

With the cuts we'll be back to the 1970s when I started boating, we were lucky to find one paddle working in those days.

 

Or having someone permanently stationed at the bows with a boat pole to push the rubbish out of the way.

 

Went to Walthamstow market on my bike this afternoon, so did the scenic route down the towpath via Springfield. Could not believe the amount of rubbish in the cut. Far more than usual. Perhaps we are headed that way already.

[MartinClark]

A couple of days ago I went up Barrowford flight and noticed that the two remaining starting pins had been cut off, presumably for H&S reasons.

 

More likely that BW don't have a clue what they are and what they were used for. Are they aware that horses were used on the canals?

[nipper]

With the cuts we'll be back to the 1970s when I started boating, we were lucky to find one paddle working in those days.

 

I'm on the Calder and Hebble now and can tell you that a good many locks have only one paddle working and that is if you can get it working at all!

I've bent two lock keys and just a couple of hours ago, broke my mahogany spike at the Cromwell lock.

taking my 60 footer down Salterhebble in the morning

 

Nipper