Wey Navigation

[Foxglove]

Some time during yesterday morning a narrowboat struck one of the bottom gates of Unstead Lock sufficiently hard to damage it beyond repair . The National Trust inspected the lock and initial estimates are that the lock will be shut for four weeks . This may well change once more thorough inspections have been undertaken to establish the extent of the damage which could possibly include the quoin and cill .

 

Unstead lock is on the Godalming Navigation approximately half way between Guildford and Godalming .

 

 

Foxglove

[Proper Job]

That'll give them time to put in a gate made from proper wood rather that the balsa and MDF once they use at the moment?

[Foxglove]

Hi P J ,

 

The gates on Wey locks are indeed of much lighter construction than those on most of the system . They are made of oak and generally last thirty years if they are not abused .

 

The Wey and Godalming navigations were built for and used by horse-drawn barges 14ft wide so the only contact likely between barge and lock gate would have been at the mitre . The gates are strong enough to hold back the head of water and to take the occasional light contact from barges . They were not built with narrowboats in mind which is also the reason there are no nosing boards .

 

The trust keeps the Wey Navigations , as far as possible , the way they were when the Stevens family gave it to them . Replacing lock gates with heavier ones like , for instance , those on the Grand Union is not really an option from a conservation standpoint or from a practical / financial one . For a start all the gate recesses in the lock walls would have to be made deeper .

 

The National Trust are not a perfect navigation authority ( who is ? ) but I'm sure their staff will be working very hard to get Unstead Lock open again as soon as possible .

 

Cheers

 

Foxglove

[Daftmare]

We were sharing the lock with the "perp" when this damage occurred. It was pretty frightening actually!

 

We had entered the lock and pulled over to one side to wait for a following boat. But on arrival they moored up on the lock waiting area and let the boat following them share with us, as they only had one lock to go before they got to their moorings, so were not in a hurry.

 

My visiting crew had tied me up at the front, but with seconds to spare I had asked them to untie me as we would be "going down". Little did I know how fast that descent would be! Nightmare.

 

In retrospect maybe I should have shouted "you are going too fast" or "you are going to hit the gates", but you just dont want to sound like a control freak. He was not a hire boat (and very wrongly I therefore assumed he knew what he was doing, after all it was his boat!). He was actually in reverse when he hit the gates, but clearly his engine power in reverse was not what I was expecting it to be.

 

There followed a huge bang, he reversed off the gates, which was the point at which they buckled, and then a huge wave of water hit the top gates, slamming them shut and down we went.

 

The perp rang Thames Lock and then left the scene. His wife apologising profusely (and said "thank God it was not me, as I would have never heard the last of it!).

 

We stayed for Thames Lock to send someone out, rang Farncombe BoatHouse to alert their hire fleet, and then I reversed the poor stranded other boat back up to the weir so they could turn round. They are now moored in our spot at Farncombe BH, as we will clearly not be getting back there in a hurry!

 

What a day. Hope he has plenty of insurance!

 

 

Jo

[Foxglove]

Thanks Jo ,

 

I was steering Iona yesterday so I heard about the incident but did not get to see the lock or hear exactly how it happened , sounds a bit scary , good job you untied that rope or the boat could still be hanging there with no way to re-fill the lock ! I'm surprised the ' perps ' left the scene , don't think I could just leave if I had caused that sort of damage .

 

Duncan

[Daftmare]

Thanks Jo ,

 

I was steering Iona yesterday so I heard about the incident but did not get to see the lock or hear exactly how it happened , sounds a bit scary , good job you untied that rope or the boat could still be hanging there with no way to re-fill the lock ! I'm surprised the ' perps ' left the scene , don't think I could just leave if I had caused that sort of damage .

 

Duncan

 

 

I think they decided that there was nothing more to do, as they had notified Thames Lock. They are a River Wey boat, so they have not gone far.

 

Jo

[richardf]

They are a River Wey boat, so they have not gone far.

 

 

Wey Toofast?

[Mick_B]

[Daftmare]

Wey Toofast?

 

 

[sociable_hermit]

Wey Toofast?

Quick Wey Down...

[Ads]

Russle at Farncombe wont be best pleased having to do turn arounds etc from the side of the canal plus if any of his day boats are above the lock hes bound to loose money.

 

Spose its better its unstead than millmead i guess!

 

Ads

[Nickhlx]

Wey to go !

 

Did the bottom gates give wey ( ) when he hit them ? If so, I suppose you almost "fell" a few feet as the water rapidly exited the lock. Definitely not a time to have your legs hanging over the edge of a boat - hardly bears thinking about ( sensitive to leg damage still !!)

 

Jo - which side of the lock are you ? - marooned in the "short" section, or free to the rest of the system ? Hopefully it will not be as long as 4 weeks whichever - I am sure they could get made in a few days and fitted a few days after that..... Overnight if there was a war on !

 

Nick

[Foxglove]

There is now talk of the possibility of some sort of repair to get the lock working until later in the year when I believe the gates were due for replacement anyway . I think some large steel plates and lots of bolts will be needed . No idea of timescales for the repair , sorry .

 

All but one of the Farncombe hire boats and the day boats were out when the incident happened . I imagine the boats will be operated from the Guildford Boathouse for the duration .

 

By the way (wey ?) , my information is that the boat that dunnit was a visitor , not a regular Wey boat , not that it matters really .

 

Jo , did the steerer offer any explanation as to why the boat was going so fast or unable to stop ? Mechanical problem , fouled prop , pilot error ??

 

Cheers

 

Foxglove

[WJM]

Wow - scary story. This is worth having in the General section of the forum. I agree, the Wey lock gates are made from cardboard and papier mache! But they are not going to change - the GU setup was a 1930s design that was worked hard commercially, the Wey is totally different. Visitors to the Wey need to be aware of this.

[Daftmare]

Yep, all boats (except "Promise") were out and so are being kept at Dapdune Wharf and the day boats were all taken in at Guildford Boathouse.

 

Mark at Thames Lock confirmed that the boat was a River Wey moorer, and he in fact visited the boat yesterday (no-one on board). There was no obvious mechanical fault, just going too fast unfortunately. (He just said "oops, never done that before!").

 

 

Jo.

 

Wey to go !

 

Did the bottom gates give wey ( ) when he hit them ? If so, I suppose you almost "fell" a few feet as the water rapidly exited the lock. Definitely not a time to have your legs hanging over the edge of a boat - hardly bears thinking about ( sensitive to leg damage still !!)

 

Jo - which side of the lock are you ? - marooned in the "short" section, or free to the rest of the system ? Hopefully it will not be as long as 4 weeks whichever - I am sure they could get made in a few days and fitted a few days after that..... Overnight if there was a war on !

 

Nick

 

 

Hi Nick

 

The gates gave way as he pulled back from the lock gates after hitting them. Yep we fell quite quickly. I think the other boat was quite shocked at what had happened, as I had to call him off the cill as well.

 

We are now "below" the damaged lock and so able to go on holiday on Friday out onto the Thames. I feel sorry for those who are marooned on the other side. We are at Dapdune Wharf at the moment, but Russell at Farncombe Boathouse might well kick us off soon, as he needs the space for his fleet. NT are going to try to find us all temporary moorings.

[rjasmith]

Jo,

 

Sounds a somewhat dramatic experience and I'm glad nothing more serious than a damaged gate was the outcome!

 

I rang the Ben-My-Chree folks last night as they are still on their mooring above Catteshall and therefore stuck there until Unstead is fixed. NT had already contacted them and other moorers above Unstead which I thought was impressive.

 

Also glad you ended up downstream of it so can continue with your plans.

 

Richard

[Foxglove]

Hi guys ,

 

I've just spoken to Thames Lock . The navigation staff are working on the lock now and hope to have a temporary repair which will allow supervised locking in a couple of days .

 

Thames lock also confirmed that the boat that caused the damage was a visiting boat . There is a boat of the same name which is kept in Pyrford Marina which was not involved whatsoever in the incident and I am sure that the owner will be very keen that there is no further confusion !

 

Cheers

 

Foxglove

[Daftmare]

Hi guys ,

 

I've just spoken to Thames Lock . The navigation staff are working on the lock now and hope to have a temporary repair which will allow supervised locking in a couple of days .

 

Thames lock also confirmed that the boat that caused the damage was a visiting boat . There is a boat of the same name which is kept in Pyrford Marina which was not involved whatsoever in the incident and I am sure that the owner will be very keen that there is no further confusion !

 

Cheers

 

Foxglove

 

 

Thanks for the update - and for clarification on visiting boat. Apologies to the owner of the boat at Pyrford!

 

Jo.

[Nickhlx]

Jo,

Thanks for the update - also glad you are downstream of it and not hampered by the incident, and amazed no more damage of injuries from it - makes you wonder if you suddenly can't select reverse because "the cable became unclipped" or similar at a vital moment like entering a lock. I will check mine more often after this event...

 

Nick

[Foxglove]

Just to update everyone ,

 

Unstead Lock is now open for essential supervised use and has been since Wednesday afternoon I hear . Anyone who needs to use the lock should book through Dapdune Wharf office on 01483 561389 or Thames Lock on 01932 843106 .

 

The damage to the off-side lower gate was severe , a large section of the mitre post broke off , the gate cracked away from the heel post and the quion and heel strap were damaged . It is lucky the whole lot did not end up in the bottom of the lock !

 

The navigation staff deserve a big pat on the back for their swift response and hard work since the incident . One member of the maintenance team had his holiday put on hold to get the job done . They actually had the lock capable of holding water by the end of Tuesday and by Wedneday were sufficiently confident in the temporary repair to allow boats through , carefully supervised .

 

Production of replacement gates , which were due to be fitted in November , has been brought forward and they now hope to have them in around three weeks time and I believe they will be fitted straight away to allow lock use to return to normal .

 

Foxglove

[Daftmare]

Thanks for the update.

 

We thought they had got something up and running because "Promise" was at Dapdune when we got there last night.

 

This was a very swift response to very badly damaged lock gates - so well done NT! Perhaps by the time we return from our holiday on the Thames, we will be able to get back to our mooring.

 

Jo.

[twinpot]

Thanks for the update.

 

We thought they had got something up and running because "Promise" was at Dapdune when we got there last night.

 

This was a very swift response to very badly damaged lock gates - so well done NT! Perhaps by the time we return from our holiday on the Thames, we will be able to get back to our mooring.

 

Jo.

Anyone reading this and dosn't know unstead lock,it has a rise,(and fall)of 6ft 6ins (2m in new money)so it must have been really frightning to see your pride and joy dropping that far,that fast.im supprised that the force of water slamming the top gates didn't damage them as well.Just goes to show how alert you have to be at locks,and how quick a life threatening situation can happen.Thank god you are all ok,ihope this did not spoil your holliday to much.

Best Wishes.

Twinpot.

[Daftmare]

Anyone reading this and dosn't know unstead lock,it has a rise,(and fall)of 6ft 6ins (2m in new money)so it must have been really frightning to see your pride and joy dropping that far,that fast.im supprised that the force of water slamming the top gates didn't damage them as well.Just goes to show how alert you have to be at locks,and how quick a life threatening situation can happen.Thank god you are all ok,ihope this did not spoil your holliday to much.

Best Wishes.

Twinpot.

 

 

 

Thanks for this. Yes it was scary - I did ask for the damaged gates to be opened pretty smartly so that I could get out - just in case the top gates failed as well!

 

Holiday was great - but those stuck in Godalming are going to having to wait for theirs, I think.

 

I think new gates are arriving this week. Fingers crossed they fit, otherwise it will be another two week closure.

 

Jo.

[Daftmare]

Latest News I have is that Unstead Lock will be open again this weekend. Russell at FBH said from 5 p.m. tonight actually!

If anyone knows different, please feel free to update this

 

 

Cheers

Jo.