napton lock 9

[wollix]

just tried to get my harborough marine 45 footer through this lock and have given up

local gossip says that I am not the first and that many of the older boats cant get through this lock...

there is a suggestion that it has subsided...

wondered if anyone else has had trouble with this?

we've never had trouble with any other narrow lock...

[alan_fincher]

Surely most Harborough style boats were built closer to 6' 10" than a full 7' 0" ?

 

Has yours spread ? Do you know its beam ?

 

When people talk about older boats having problems in the narrower locks, they are seldom talking about boats built from (say) 1970 onwards. They are generally talking about former working boats, many of which measured over 7' 0" when built, and may have spread further in old age.

[Naughty Cal]

This may seem an obvious question but did you have your fenders down?

[Keeping Up]

Not sure if it's the same lock, although I assume so, but last year the owners of our old Harborough boat (Thistle) had to have a couple of eyes welded to the inside of the sides, half way down the lounge, so they could attach a chain and bottle-screw to pull the sides in a bit so they could get through Napton. It fitted OK when we'd owned her 20 years ago, but steel boats with a GRP top are a bit vulnerable to a touch of "middle-aged spread"

[canaldrifter]

How about getting half a dozen local yokels to stand on one side?

 

Tone

[classicstove]

Not heard that No 9 has gievn trouble before

 

Marston Doles top is supposed to be a little narrow

[churchward]

I have never had any trouble getting through any of the Napton locks. Last time went through was Autumn 2010.

[pinkoi]

I can't remember which lock number it is at Napton, but it's 2 or 3 locks up from the folly pub, it turns out is known to be slightly narrower I learned last year.

 

Our boat managed to pass ok without the use of tie rods (we are just about 7ft at the widest point of the old girls middle age spread) but later the same day one of the Coventry Canal Societies boat Panther (ex working boat that had been shortened) got stuck.

 

I think it all depends on the water level in the lock.

As I understand it, it's narrower the deeper you are in it, sort of a v shape.

Eventually Panther did get through by getting the water level slightly higher that normal by emptying a few locks above it in the flight first and then filling it....

 

Hope this helps/makes sense

 

Edited March 10, 2011 by pinkoi

[David Schweizer]

We manage to get though the Napton flight OK an our boat which is almost 7ft wide. There is one lock near the top which can be a bit tight, and two years ago there was an old working boat that got stuck and had to reverse out, but I think that was because of the depth of the top cill rather than width.

 

There is a problem with several of the locks between Napton and Banbury where debris collects on the gate cills preventing the gate from closing against the wall. We got stuck in Somerton deep several years ago because of that, we also almost got stuck in another one closer to Napton, I cannot remember which one but it has a white House next to it behind a high hedge.

Edited March 10, 2011 by David Schweizer

[bottle]

Hi

 

 

Is this you.??

[ditchcrawler]

There have been a few boats that have failed to get up Napton over the years we have been moored at the top.

[trackman]

There certainly can be a problem with one of the lower locks on this flight. We were delayed quite a while a couple of years ago coming down the flight when a composite butty heading up got wedged. I think it was the second lock up the flight, but it might have been the third. The pound below was low and they couldn't get the boat into the lock fully, nor back it out again. Not helped by the fact that the boat was solo and powered by an outboard clamped to the rudder.

We let water down, and once we were able to stop boats coming up the lock below and dropping the pound again, the boat came free as the level rose sufficiently. The main problem we had was getting other people to understand what was going on and allow us to do what was needed. The people with the butty were not too aware of what they were doing, and took some convincing to allow us to help, and as for the ones who kept on coming up into the pound below the lock simply to join the long queue that was stuck there!!

Whatever, it definitely seems that the lock in question is narrow at the bottom and causes trouble when the levels are low. Makes a change from the usual situation though, where the lock walls have tilted inwards at the top and boats get caught as they rise up!

 

trackman

[Hairy-Neil]

Marston Doles top is supposed to be a little narrow

 

I thought that was sorted when the O/S wall was completely rebuilt about 10 years ago. Prior to that work the original wall had been repaired with Gunite, making the lock somewhat narrower than as built.

[c c]

Telephone Steve Powell 07711 439200

Very helpful BW Napton lock keeper

Badsey will be attempting to get through in a couple of weeks.

If it gets stuck we will be there for some time as the Oxford Canal stoppage will be cutting off our retreat on 7th November!!