This might slow some trips down a bit...

[Guest]

I missed it!

We stumbled across it on one the obscure satellite channels, 'Watch' I think, though I guess somebody who doesn't watch telly would have much use for a satellite TV box.

[MtB]

(What channel was it on? I still can't see it in the TV listings.)

Opps, crossed posts.

 

True, I have freeview here but it's mostly rubbish aimed at ... nah, I'd better not say it

[Nightwatch]

It's a discussion forum Heff, meaning sometimes disagreements occur, sometimes those disagreements can be quite vociferous.

And all too often. IMO.

[Tony Dunkley]

I see the the Leicester section just north of Leicester is dry again, this is normally vandalism despite the anti vandal locks. It will take a long time to run the water down from Saddington reservoir.

 

I'm sure that these days it will take a long time to refill any empty pounds.

Emptying pounds between Blue Bank lock and Double Rail lock has been a regular source of amusement for the local vandals since the early 1960's, but back then the 'Company men', resident in both lock houses and at Kilby Bridge Yard would get water back into all the empty pounds in a matter of a few hours.

The supply of water for this section doesn't just depend on Saddington reservoir, it can be had from Welford and Sulby as well to keep the 10(+) mile pound from the bottom of Foxton to the top of Kibworth on weir, which in turn keeps all the rest of the pounds down to Kilby Bridge on weir as well.

Canals are built so that water can by-pass locks in order to keep succesive pounds full, but it won't do so unless pounds, especially the longer ones, are all maintained 'on weir' and this is now not routinely done, resulting in running water, when circumstances demand it, being a long drawn out process instead of the simple and quick one it always was.

Edited August 6, 2015 by Tony Dunkley

[Bettie Boo]

 

I suggest you raise your eyes from looking down your nose

 

 

LOL - so predictable

[Tuscan]

I'm sure that these days it will take a long time to refill any empty pounds.

Emptying pounds between Blue Bank lock and Double Rail lock has been a regular source of amusement for the local vandals since the early 1960's, but back then the 'Company men', resident in both lock houses and at Kilby Bridge Yard would get water back into all the empty pounds in a matter of a few hours.

The supply of water for this section doesn't just depend on Saddington reservoir, it can be had from Welford and Sulby as well to keep the 10(+) mile pound from the bottom of Foxton to the top of Kibworth on weir, which in turn keeps all the rest of the pounds down to Kilby Bridge on weir as well.

Canals are built so that water can by-pass locks in order to keep succesive pounds full, but it won't do so unless pounds, especially the longer ones, are all maintained 'on weir' and this is now not routinely done, resulting in running water, when circumstances demand it, being a long drawn out process instead of the simple and quick one it always was.

Very true but this knowledge is rarely still held on the ground nor the weirs maintained. We were stranded in June due to the same circumstances and they were running some water through and told me that I could now go through in the middle as they had just helped a springer through the lock and left back to Daddington. I explained that I wouldn't even get out the lock at 3' draft.

[magnetman]

 

Well (Archimedes) Screw you!

My name is NOT Archimedes

[billS]

My name is NOT Archimedes

Well, we can believe that. You did admit on another thread to being a bit of a soap dodger. No eureka moments for you then.

[Tony Dunkley]

Very true but this knowledge is rarely still held on the ground nor the weirs maintained. We were stranded in June due to the same circumstances and they were running some water through and told me that I could now go through in the middle as they had just helped a springer through the lock and left back to Daddington. I explained that I wouldn't even get out the lock at 3' draft.

 

Yes, the fact that these men who helped you were heading back to Saddington, presumably to open up the feeder into the Foxton-Kibworth pound, is a clear indication that they were not well prepared, and nor were water levels right, for the frequent eventuality of having to refill pounds below Kilby Bridge.

With the need for enough water to be instantly available to refill pounds between Kilby Bridge and Whetstone being an expected and frequent occurrence it is essential to keep the Foxton- Kibworth pound on weir or just running weir at all times. This is not difficult, and is achieved by supplementing what comes down Foxton out of the 20 mile with enough feed from Saddington reservoir to make up the difference between what goes out of the 10 mile pound at the top of Kibworth (double locks) and what comes in at the bottom of Foxton (single locks of water fed from Welford and Sulby reservoirs) per boat passage.

Provided the level from Foxton to Kibworth is on weir, then empty pounds can be re-filled immediately by setting water running from the lock at the top end of the empty pound and then going up the towpath and doing the same at every lock to the top of Kibworth. The water to refill the empty pound doesn't need to come from a Reservoir, or even some distance along the canal, it comes from the next pound uphill and the effect is immediate.

In case anyone wants to suggest that this is just some theory that I've come up with in order to have another go at poor old C&RT, well, it isn't, . . . . . . it's what was regularly done from the time when the problem began, sometimes with assistance, but frequently by one man, Reg Barnett, ex-boatman who went 'on the Company' on Leicester Section after British Waterways finished most of the narrowboat carrying fleet in 1963, and lived in one of the houses in Kilby Bridge Yard . The job was undertaken immediately as and when necessary and without reference to anyone other than either the length foreman or sometimes the Section Inspector depending on who had been notified about the empty pound. The equipment used comprised a windlass, a bike and a big helping of experience and know how but without the involvement of any office chair polishers now deemed essential, sitting in front of computers 'managing water resources' and making a song and dance out of doing a lousy job, and incredible as it now may seem to some of today's newcomers to the waterways, not a Statement or Press Release in sight, just a canal full of water and fit for boats to use.

 

It would be nice to think that one or two of the many 'unfit for purpose' managerial types within C&RT might read this and actually learn something about how to run a waterway. I would be willing to give this, and much more, directly to C&RT but I doubt they would act on it if I did. I am working with C&RT's Leeds Office at the moment on safety matters relevant to pleasure craft on the lower Trent and Ouse, but I think it unlikely that Parry would condone my involvement on something that merely inconveniences boaters rather than actually endangering them.

Edited August 7, 2015 by Tony Dunkley

[Heffalump]

My name is NOT Archimedes

 

No... I'm Spartacus Archimedes!!

Edited August 6, 2015 by Heffalump

[Fat Boat]

Not sure exactly where, but article says close to Chedderington on the GU

Boater accidentally drains stretch of Grand Union Canal

Grand Union canal, seen from Cooks Wharf

Adam Parris-Long

adam.parrislong@jpress.co.uk

12:56Wednesday 05 August 2015

10:54Tuesday 04 August 2015

The Canal River Trust has been alerted after ‘boater error’ led to a strange sight yesterday.

The Cooks Wharf area of the Grand Union Canal, which sits just outside Cheddington on the way to Marsworth, drained away after a boater left a lock gate paddle open.

The gates control the flow of water in the lock.

The Canal River Trust is now working to solve the problem.

A spokesperson said: “We are currently trying to raise the water levels and get things back to normal but due to limited water at this time of year, it is taking longer than expected.”

Edited August 17, 2015 by Fat Boat