Fall Ing Lock Wakefield

[NB Victorianna]

I came up Fall Ing Lock recently and found that the wooden boards to cross the locks at the bottom gate are on the inside of the gates rather than the outside. I've never seen this before. Is this unique to Fall Ing, the Calder and Hebble or does it happen on other canals?

[series3]

One like that at ripon....bent the tiller arm on the way up.

[ValandPete]

There are a few more however I can't remember where.

 

Val

[dmr]

The bottom (or almost bottom) lock on the K&A Crofton flight is the same. I overheard a couple of boaters discussing what idiots CaRT were for doing it so wrong, though I suspect it was actually the clever man who originally built the canal who did it that way.

 

How deep is Fall Ing lock? If a lock is shallow then it makes total sense to put the boards on the inside as if they were on the outside it would be difficult or impossible to get a boat into the lock.

 

...............Dave

[Guest]

I came up Fall Ing Lock recently and found that the wooden boards to cross the locks at the bottom gate are on the inside of the gates rather than the outside. I've never seen this before. Is this unique to Fall Ing, the Calder and Hebble or does it happen on other canals?

Quite common on the Northern system.

 

We managed to smash our horn light and cratch into the one on the gates at West Bramwith. Luckily it came apart at the joints meaning it was quite easy to re-assemble.

[Mac of Cygnet]

Usual on the C&H, where there is a bottom gate walkway, but there normally isn't - you have to cross the top of the gates between the two platforms for operating the paddles.

[Pluto]

On the L&L, there used to be short platforms used for working the gate paddles. For crossing the lock you just used the top of the gate, or the bridge below the bottom gates.

[Midnight]

Several like that on the Calder & Hebble. In particular care is needed at Elland lock where a tiller bar on a 57ft boat comes scarily close to the walkway on the bottom gates.

[The Lockie]

Thameslocks tail gates have walkways facing in to lock ....topgates face upstream

[cobaltcodd]

On the Tinsley flight down from Sheffield on a windy day we only had one gate open, and a strong gust of wind caught the stern of the boat just as we were entering the lock. As the boat was no longer straight, the sharp point of the walkway punched out a window and bent the alloy frame. The toughened glass virtually exploded into the boat into a zillion pieces.

[Stewart Kirby]

I came up Fall Ing Lock recently and found that the wooden boards to cross the locks at the bottom gate are on the inside of the gates rather than the outside. I've never seen this before. Is this unique to Fall Ing, the Calder and Hebble or does it happen on other canals?

Many of the Calder and Hebble locks have that walkway inside. Fall Ings is deep and long so it's not a big problem there but you need to be constantly vigilant at every other lock with the walkways, very easy to find you drift back under the walkway and your tiller is trapped. How do I know?

[Horace42]

I recall the top gates on the flight at bosley not having any walk boards at all.

[Iain_S]

The Forth & Clyde has the walkways on the inside of the bottom gates.

I suppose the advantage is that there is no need for a gap in the walkway, but it does mean that a 64 ft narrowboat is best to go diagonally in the locks, despite said locks being nominaly 66 ft x 19ft 6".

 

(The 64 ft boat will just get through along one side of the lock, but the crew person at the top end WILL get wet

[NickF]

Thameslocks tail gates have walkways facing in to lock ....topgates face upstream

 

I remember having to call out to the lock keeper on a Thames lock when I washed pushed back under one by the force of water as we rose. The lockie had moved my bow rope back one bollard further than I was happyvwith, not quite sure why.

[Athy]

What a marvellous name. There should be a song about it.

"Fall Ing in lock again..."

[NickF]

Several like that on the Calder & Hebble. In particular care is needed at Elland lock where a tiller bar on a 57ft boat comes scarily close to the walkway on the bottom gates.

 

I remember. Elland as being the tightest for that. Going down we were gently easing the bow under it as we went down to keep the stern away from the cill.

[HappyDayz]

What a marvellous name. There should be a song about it.

"Fall Ing in lock again..."

??

[alan_fincher]

As an aside, I can remember that when we did our big tour of the Pennine canals two years ago, and moved on from the Aire and Calder to the Calder and Hebble, Fall Ing lock was the first of the C&H locks we encountered.

 

I'm not sure it has been improved since, but we found it some of the hardest work we had encountered anywhere, with even our son David who seldom struggles with any paddles declaring it a complete bastard.

 

Fortunately it proved to be a one off, and Idon't recall any other C&H lock being even half as bad.

 

As has been said, many of the C&H locks have these internal walkways on what are already very short locks, and you do need continual vigilance when going uphill in these locks that your tiller does not end up under them.

Example here....

 

[Midnight]

As an aside, I can remember that when we did our big tour of the Pennine canals two years ago, and moved on from the Aire and Calder to the Calder and Hebble, Fall Ing lock was the first of the C&H locks we encountered.

 

I'm not sure it has been improved since, but we found it some of the hardest work we had encountered anywhere, with even our son David who seldom struggles with any paddles declaring it a complete bastard.

 

Fortunately it proved to be a one off, and Idon't recall any other C&H lock being even half as bad.

 

As has been said, many of the C&H locks have these internal walkways on what are already very short locks, and you do need continual vigilance when going uphill in these locks that your tiller does not end up under them.

 

Example here....

 

 

Fortunately Fall Ing lock was overhauled last winter and it's now a relative breeze, but I used to approach it with trepidation especially when single handed.

[HappyDayz]

I came up Fall Ing Lock recently and found that the wooden boards to cross the locks at the bottom gate are on the inside of the gates rather than the outside. I've never seen this before. Is this unique to Fall Ing, the Calder and Hebble or does it happen on other canals?

[HappyDayz]

Apparently and eeirdly coincidentally, the same style of lock is used at Henly on Thames - as seen by the wife while out with extended family today.

 

Two guys were operating it using a remote control consul, she spoke to them saying we use locks on the Lea, they were surprised manual locks were still in use.

 

Wife don't read any of the boating forums, and why i say weirdly. thread is running at the time she visits an area with a near same lock we are talking about - given we live in Essex ?

 

Alan

Edited July 9, 2016 by HappyDayz