Reasons For not Closing Lock Gates On The Southern GU

[Victor Vectis]

1. "I've just phoned my mate and he's coming this way so I've left them open for him" (yeah right)
2. "We're on a fatarse widebeam so we don't have to"
3. "I'm single handing so I don't have to"

Any others?

[junior]

Sign on the lock gate says to leave them open.

[Laurie Booth]

The gates open on their own.

[billS]

Minimises wear and tear on the gates and paddles.

[zenataomm]

I'm selfish

[BWM]

If someone is behind you, no excuse but one gate left open is either welcome or no big deal depending on which way you are traveling, imho.

[bizzard]

I'm a dustman.

[WJM]

Most of it is river fed so water shortage is not an issue.

[john6767]

Not leaving gates open, but on GU yesterday two excuses for turning a lock on us.

The first one was that they were two boats in the lock and we were on our own so they have priority.

Then a bit further down the flight, a lock was turned on us again, the excuse this time was that all the others in the flight so far had been in their favour, I give up.

[alan_fincher]

For ones that we know from a great deal of experience always swing open again as you boat away from them, we generally do not waste effort in trying to close them.

Other than as some kind of visual indication to anybody observing that you at least tried, what is the point?

Edited May 2, 2017 by alan_fincher

[Dave Payne]

No 3 on the atherstone flight always used to swing open, first few times i used to go back and try and close it, then i gave up.

 

I think though it was sorted in the winter closures?

[Sea Dog]

3 hours ago, BWM said:

If someone is behind you, no excuse but one gate left open is either welcome or no big deal depending on which way you are traveling, imho.

Doesn't trouble me either - it's a blessing when the lock is in your favour and when it's not you have to stop anyway. People or animals falling in can swim out too so I think its probably safer. Water conservancy is an issue at some I guess, but elsewhere?

[BargeeSpud]

I'm getting too long in the tooth to get wound up about all this sort of thing these days. Even my pet hate of people leaving bottom gate paddles slightly up because they have to drain the lock on leaving, doesn't seem worth the fuss anymore.

Maybe being retired has something to do with it, either that or with 35+ years on the cut I'm waking up to the fact that people have always done these things & always will!

[Ray T]

"They didn't close them in olden days, why should I close them now?"

[BWM]

15 minutes ago, Ray T said:

"They didn't close them in olden days, why should I close them now?"

Nor put the paddles down on the open gates a lot of the time ! 

[Muddy Ditch Rich]

As has been said 101 times before, Its not selfish leaving open as a general rule it is in fact based on consideration for others, which was worked out long ago by the boat people as the best way to work locks for everyone, they knew what they were doing, and this was only changed by BW post the canal carrying era to put the responsibility of leaks on boaters and not themselves when the system was in decline, which according to CRT is no longer the case.

Most of the time you will be closing gates where there are no leaks or water shortages just to force someone else to open them, wasting both yours, and their time, ensuring that noone ever arrives at a lock in their favour.

 Where there are leaks those locks and pounds should be exceptions to the leaving open rule until they are repaired.

[haggis]

We boat in the old fashioned way and leave gates open and perhaps paddles up. This was on the Audlem flight though, not the Grand Union.  These were the exact words! Not many things leave me speechless but that comment did :-)

 

haggis

 

[Mal in Somerset]

Just come up from Hemel to Norton. Passing through Berkhamstead a number of locks have instructions to close gates, empty locks and leave paddle open. There is a lot of water leakage both through lock walls and bottom gates and water needs to be pumped back up to refill the pounds. Met a completely drained pound at Stoke Bruerne caused by two sets of top gates being left open overnight and a severely low pound at Buckby due to a single top gate left open overnight. If you think you are likely to be the last boat up in the evening make sure all gates are shut and instructions are followed. Rant over!

[Mal in Somerset]

Also I don't know whether I'm going blind but who's nicked all the distance markers in the Blisworth tunnel? 

[ditchcrawler]

7 hours ago, Victor Vectis said:

1. "I've just phoned my mate and he's coming this way so I've left them open for him" (yeah right)
2. "We're on a fatarse widebeam so we don't have to"
3. "I'm single handing so I don't have to"

Any others?

One that was actually said to me once "I am a professional boat mover, we don't have to close gates behind us"

[Sir Nibble]

40 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

One that was actually said to me once "I am a professional boat mover, we don't have to close gates behind us"

He's right, no one has to.

[Muddy Ditch Rich]

38 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

One that was actually said to me once "I am a professional boat mover, we don't have to close gates behind us"

Which is correct. No one is required by law to close gates. There are bylaws regarding the use of locks but nothing about closing gates because this was not originally standard practice.

1965 General canal bylaws

Operation of locks 24.

Any person operating a lock which is not operated by the Board’s

staff shall do so in accordance with the following procedure:-
(1) The gates and the sluices astern of a vessel in such a lock
shall be closed before the sluices and the gates ahead of such
vessel are opened.
(2) When a lock which has a side pound is being filled the upper
sluice of such lock shall not be opened or drawn until as much
water as possible has been drawn from the side pound and the
sluices thereof have been closed.
(3) When a lock with a side pound is being emptied the lower
sluices of such lock shall not be opened or drawn until as much
water as possible has been drawn into the side pound and the
sluices thereof have been closed.
(4) Where one lock acts as a side pound to another lock every
vessel passing up shall use and enter the lock with the less water
in it and every vessel passing down shall use and enter the lock
with the more water in it and such lock shall be operated as
though the adjacent and unoccupied lock were a side pound to
the lock through which the vessel is passing.
Operation of locks 25. No person shall:
(a) Open or close or attempt to open or close the gate of any lock
except by the means provided for that purpose or before the
water is level on both sides of the gate.
(b) Draw or operate any sluices until the lock-gates are closed.
(c) Operate or leave open any sluice so as to waste water.
(d) Operate any sluice otherwise than by means of the handle or
other device normally used for that purpose.
(e) Fill or empty any lock of water for the admission of any vessel
to the lock when there is another vessel approaching the lock
from the opposite direction and within two hundred yards thereof
and the level of the water in the lock is suitable for such
approaching vessel to enter the lock.
(f) Cause or allow any vessel to remain in a lock longer than is
necessary for the convenient passage thereof.

[NB Lola]

Boaters handbook pages 19 and 21 asks you to close gates unless a boat is approaching

 

No law just a polite request.

https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/media/library/141.pdf

[X Alan W]

13 minutes ago, Muddy Ditch Rich said:

Which is correct. No one is required by law to close gates. There are bylaws regarding the use of locks but nothing about closing gates because this was not originally standard practice.

1965 General canal bylaws

Operation of locks 24.

Any person operating a lock which is not operated by the Board’s

staff shall do so in accordance with the following procedure:-
(1) The gates and the sluices astern of a vessel in such a lock
shall be closed before the sluices and the gates ahead of such
vessel are opened.
(2) When a lock which has a side pound is being filled the upper
sluice of such lock shall not be opened or drawn until as much
water as possible has been drawn from the side pound and the
sluices thereof have been closed.
(3) When a lock with a side pound is being emptied the lower
sluices of such lock shall not be opened or drawn until as much
water as possible has been drawn into the side pound and the
sluices thereof have been closed.
(4) Where one lock acts as a side pound to another lock every
vessel passing up shall use and enter the lock with the less water
in it and every vessel passing down shall use and enter the lock
with the more water in it and such lock shall be operated as
though the adjacent and unoccupied lock were a side pound to
the lock through which the vessel is passing.
Operation of locks 25. No person shall:
(a) Open or close or attempt to open or close the gate of any lock
except by the means provided for that purpose or before the
water is level on both sides of the gate.
(b) Draw or operate any sluices until the lock-gates are closed.
(c) Operate or leave open any sluice so as to waste water.
(d) Operate any sluice otherwise than by means of the handle or
other device normally used for that purpose.
(e) Fill or empty any lock of water for the admission of any vessel
to the lock when there is another vessel approaching the lock
from the opposite direction and within two hundred yards thereof
and the level of the water in the lock is suitable for such
approaching vessel to enter the lock.
(f) Cause or allow any vessel to remain in a lock longer than is
necessary for the convenient passage thereof.

If it was possible to bring  side pond use back into lock operation as a must that would put a spanner in the works for a good number of present day boaters. Shame they were phased out made a heck of a difference to  the Atherstone flight when a good few of the locks still had working examples

[Mal in Somerset]

20 minutes ago, X Alan W said:

If it was possible to bring  side pond use back into lock operation as a must that would put a spanner in the works for a good number of present day boaters. Shame they were phased out made a heck of a difference to  the Atherstone flight when a good few of the locks still had working examples

As I was flushing the water down Stoke Bruerne flight I paused to read the infographics on the side pounds. I would paraphrase it something as follows: "As no one these days knows how to use them we've closed them all off and use them as a breeding ground for cute little baby birds!" Yes I like cute little baby birds (unless they grow up to be swans) but wouldn't it be great to be able to use the canal ways the way they were intended to be used.