Anti Anglo-Welsh Rant

[Emerald Fox]

"Careful, EF realises he has got your goat and he won't be letting go easily!"

Heh, heh, I had a feeling that would raise more blood pressures (nicknorman you can be so cruel!)

I had no idea so many people were on such important business on the cut. I stand corrected. Give us a toot and we'll get out of your way as you come full steam ahead...

[Arthur Marshall]

This made me smile! When locking we try to do it as efficiently as possible, not rushing, just being efficient, and we have often overtaken boats on Heartbreak hill

haggis

Same here, and I'm singlehanding! That being said, if someone comes up and politely tells me they're on a tight schedule I'll let them past - on my usual route they often have a fixed time slot for the Anderton Lift. The bottlenecks on HH tend to happen when you get several paired locks and then one of the single ones. But you can't really complain if someones got a bigger crew and goes faster through paired locks - it's what they're for, really.

[Cruising Mike]

Whilst i would never wish to hold people up and would happily let others past if needed. It was the manner of how they did it.

 

As stated we were in a queue of 6 boats so we all helped each other out locking down the flight. But this boat had deliberately bypassed every single boat and pushed into the next available lock which we had got ready for the convoy. If they had ask politely it would have been fine. As we were coming out of a lock and into the next they just came out faster and pushed their way into the lock. Once in, it was all smiles from them and apologies came flying. We had the last laugh though as one of the boys was on a bike locking ahead and had crashed into the canal!

 

They were quite clever actually cos with 6 men on board, all their booze and a 70 foot boat, their locks always drained faster than anyone else's with all that weight.

[NickF]

I have to confess I have overtaken on Heartbreak Hill before, we were mob handed and working efficiently and just happened to be quicker than the boat in the lock alongside us .... I didn't see it as rude but may be it was? I don't think we held anyone up as by the time we got to the next non-paired lock we were well ahead.

[Cruising Mike]

The lock in question was indeed a single lock not a paired one. The crew ahead of us set the lock for us only to find the boat in question helped themselves to the lock without asking.

[nicknorman]

The lock in question was indeed a single lock not a paired one. The crew ahead of us set the lock for us only to find the boat in question helped themselves to the lock without asking.

It's a tricky one. If you weren't ready to go into the lock, and they were, then I'd say it was fair enough. You can't really "take ownership" of a lock or, in this case be "granted ownership" of the lock by a boat in front when you are not yet ready to use it. However I can imagine that the manner in which the lock was snatched from you could have the issue, rather than the principle.

[Cruising Mike]

We both left the locks at the same time which took us by surprise considering we were halfway down the lock before they got the adjacent lock

[Emerald Fox]

"of course we leave a bit of slack and so 10 minutes delay would be accommodated" - oh, I had a good laugh at that Every second counts...

 

We've given ourselves 2 extra days for our next 4 days boating (that's 4 + 2 spare).

 

If you're being slowed down by a gormless one, how about shouting "Excuse us, would you mind if we passed you?". How can you drive a boat and not occasionally look behind you?

(Thinking of changing name of our boat to 'Telemachus 2' as bit worried about size of my appendage)

[X Alan W]

A little off the OP topic but is the "Heartbreak Hill" you refer to, the Cheshire locks on the T&M between Middlewitch & the Potteries? if yes how long as it been called that please.

[Timleech]

A little off the OP topic but is the "Heartbreak Hill" you refer to, the Cheshire locks on the T&M between Middlewitch & the Potteries? if yes how long as it been called that please.

 

I think the name was dreamed up by pleasure boaters in the 1960s.

Still Cheshire Locks in my book.

 

Tim

[Cruising Mike]

It's been nicknamed that for a long time as far as i know and, as Tim stated, the original name is the Cheshire Locks. It's between Middilewich and Kidsgrove where the T&T also meets the Maccy to be more specific!

[Willber G]

They were quite clever actually cos with 6 men on board, all their booze and a 70 foot boat, their locks always drained faster than anyone else's with all that weight.

 

Are you sure about that? Archimedes may disagree.

[madcat]

Cheshire locks to me too because that's what I was told . I can understand the later generations of non commercial boaters will give their own names to things though.

 

I think there's probably a lot of "new " tradition as well. As long as people understand its new and unconnected to the cargo carrying days of boating I don't suppose it's too serious. It's almost inevitable really .

 

On pinching locks . Pinching from a single hander is who has set the lock is evil , so is trying to pinch Big lock when I've set it ready for a friends boat that is coming round the corner. Starting your engine and nipping off the mooring while I work the lock and look over at a moored boat the other side of the canal is just going to net you a gate not opened fully and a free and exceptionally spectacular row.

[Cruising Mike]

C so is trying to pinch Big lock when I've set it ready for a friends boat that is coming round the corner. Starting your engine and nipping off the mooring while I work the lock and look over at a moored boat the other side of the canal is just going to net you a gate not opened fully and a free and exceptionally spectacular row.

 

Are you referring to the one at Middlewich? I can relate to that because i set the lock ready for my boat to proceed from the south end of the T&M into the lock on the Shroppie. Little did we know there was someone from the northern end of the T&M making a beeline for the same lock. Thankfully some crew from another boat told them to back off so they reversed out again. Incidentally it's the same crew who were in front of us on Heartbreak Hill.

[madcat]

That's the one. I can look very fierce and shout quite loud if someone starts an argument . The arrival of the boat dealt with that one as the two que jumping boats elected to go down together after we had passed through. We would have shared if there was only one in spite of the aggro , I'm not up for wasting water.

[billS]

 

On our last day on the Middlewich branch of the Shroppie we were stuck behind a single-handed bloke on a hire boat cruising at tickover for 4 hours until we reached Barbridge Junction where he went one way and us the other. His reasons for going slowly is unknown to us, but his lack of awareness of his surroundings was unacceptable. We were almost kissing his stern yet he not once looked back or let us through.

 

 

4 hours? I think after about 15 minutes I would have gone up to my bow, attracted his attention, and politely asked if we could overtake.

[Sabcat]

My tiny wife(4 ft 8 ins) does the locks because she can't steer the boat.

 

My slightly less tiny oh does the locks because by the time we get to one she's too pissed to steer the boat

[Athy]

 

Are you sure about that? Archimedes may disagree.

Screw Archimedes.

 

You may have inadvertently reopened a debate which endured on here for months. At least, it felt like months.

[Willber G]

Oh well, whatever floats their boats.

[Laurie Booth]

 

My slightly less tiny oh does the locks because by the time we get to one she's too pissed to steer the boat

[onionbargee]

Wyvern shipping at Leighton Buzzard do the same, everyone has to give and take on the cut. As long as you can get through its OK. Some boaters are afraid of scratching the blacking, or can't steer straight, that's really their problem. Narrow boats have always been tied up like that, I'm sure some one can produce an old photo of that.

 

( the full site won't work on my tablet )

[Athy]

Wyvern shipping at Leighton Buzzard do the same, everyone has to give and take on the cut. As long as you can get through its OK. Some boaters are afraid of scratching the blacking, or can't steer straight, that's really their problem. Narrow boats have always been tied up like that, I'm sure some one can produce an old photo of that.

 

( the full site won't work on my tablet )

Photos of numerous working boats tied up at Sutton Stop substantiate your opinion.

[mango]

 

Are you sure about that? Archimedes may disagree.

He would, on Principle.

[Ange]

Dave and I both work the locks. He jumps off the boat as soon as it's in the lock and back on when the lock's ready. If there's a flight of locks I go ahead to set the next one and leave him to it. It is a bit irritating when I'm walking down the towpath with my windlass and someone says "he's making you do all the work then" when Dave is single handing the boat through locks that I've merely set for him.

[Victor Vectis]

As has been said before, it's inefficient lock working that gets me annoyed.

 

An example, Middlewich last summer.

 

I was heading north. I'd moored the boat towards Big Lock and was walking back to the chandlers at Kings Lock. A hire boat was heading south, rising in the first of the narrow locks. The crew, 5 or 6 of them, were chatting on the lockside. Another hire boat with a similar crew size was waiting below the lock to come up. The next lock up was full. There were no boats coming down.

As I walked past I thought that if I was coming up, single handing, behind the second boat I would have walked up and drained the second lock to speed things up as I would have been livid that those huge crews hadn't thought to do the same.

 

But as I was on foot it was none of my business so I just smiled, said good afternoon and walked past.