Lock keys

[Rooffy]

I am confused by all the various names given to keys for operating locks (I am easily confused). Help please!

For the CRT canal system there is no problem, one BWB/CRT key operates the water taps and sanitary stations, while the anti-vandal key works on all paddles I think, where it applies.

But when you come to the EA River Nene, I have seen the lock key required described as EA key, EA Ablon key, Watermate key.

Are these all the same thing? And will the CRT/BWB and anti-vandal keys work on the Nene locks anyway?

[rusty69]

The Environment Agency key ,which is an Abloy type is used for unlocking the control box/wheel in order to operate the guillotine type locks on the Nene.They are also used to unlock various water points and elsans along the river.

CRT keys will not work.

Edited February 23, 2018 by rusty69

[David Mack]

And Watermate is the name the BW gave to what most people still refer to as a BW key.

The anti-vandal key is also sometimes described as a handcuff key.

Edited February 23, 2018 by David Mack

[philjw]

And to add to the confusion, the Watermate key is used on some anti-vandal kit.  You won't be confused as to which one is needed when you come across them in the wild though.
Early versions of the hand cuffs were annoying as they simply undid a bolt with a square head and needed quite a few turns. The later incarnations may only need a quarter turn.  The watermate ones are quart turn too. Much better.

[rusty69]

Don't ask about the Gt Ouse Key

[Arthur Marshall]

I'm more interested in the various names give to the wotsits that wind the paddles up and down.  For some reason, they have always been known in my family as twangling irons, but this does not seem to be a widespread bit of nomenclature and can lead to bafflement among the noncognoscenti.

[larryjc]

We call them lock spanners.  Oh and be careful on the L&L with the anti vandal keys.  Some of the spigots they fit over are so worn the key won't grip, some have burrs on them and the key won't fit over them.  I ended up buying several and filing one out to fit over the burred spigots and taking a small socket set to others to try and get something to actually grip.

[BruceinSanity]

2 hours ago, David Mack said:

And Watermate is the name the BW gave to what most people still refer to as a BW key.

 

I'm proud to report that my Watermate/Facilities key is a proper one. It says BWB on the back 

2 hours ago, Arthur Marshall said:

I'm more interested in the various names give to the wotsits that wind the paddles up and down.  For some reason, they have always been known in my family as twangling irons, but this does not seem to be a widespread bit of nomenclature and can lead to bafflement among the noncognoscenti.

I'm not surprised! It's a windlass, 'cos it's used for winding stuff up and down as any fule kno.

[ditchcrawler]

1 minute ago, BruceinSanity said:

I'm proud to report that my Watermate/Facilities key is a proper one. It says BWB on the back 

So do lots on ebay

[BruceinSanity]

1 minute ago, ditchcrawler said:

So do lots on ebay

Ah, but they're probably forgeries!

[Rooffy]

Thanks all for EA key info. How did windlasses get to be called lock keys? By the same bloke who called narrowboats barges?

[pearley]

41 minutes ago, larryjc said:

We call them lock spanners.  Oh and be careful on the L&L with the anti vandal keys.  Some of the spigots they fit over are so worn the key won't grip, some have burrs on them and the key won't fit over them.  I ended up buying several and filing one out to fit over the burred spigots and taking a small socket set to others to try and get something to actually grip.

I have resorted to resting the end of one of my handcuff keys and belting if several times with a lump hammer to squash if down a bit t OK better fit the worn ones. 

[Nightwatch]

We have done the L&L canal with no problems with the anti vandal key. Apart from dropping our one and only key in our the water at the first lock from the Leigh Branch into Wigan. Got a replacement from a very nice CRT man. Bought a spare very soon afterwards. Once bitten etc.

[oldboater66]

I got a bit worried doing the Aire and Calder a couple of years ago, when a guy approaches me with what seemed to be a cross between a length of 4x2 and a baseball bat. Turns out I had done nothing to upset him and he kindly explained that it was an Aire and Calder paddle needed to operate the locks. I did manage (slowly) without one though. 

[Mac of Cygnet]

2 minutes ago, oldboater66 said:

I got a bit worried doing the Aire and Calder a couple of years ago, when a guy approaches me with what seemed to be a cross between a length of 4x2 and a baseball bat. Turns out I had done nothing to upset him and he kindly explained that it was an Aire and Calder paddle needed to operate the locks. I did manage (slowly) without one though. 

Think you mean Calder & Hebble.  The Aire & Calder locks are all electric.

[Sea Dog]

4 hours ago, Arthur Marshall said:

For some reason, they have always been known in my family as twangling irons, but this does not seem to be a widespread bit of nomenclature and can lead to bafflement among the noncognoscenti.

When I'm in my Twangling outfit I'm always immaculately presented because I take the time to use a proper "Twangling Iron" to restore the pleats and creases after washing.  Lord only knows what you and your family are up to on the towpath and no wonder onlookers are baffled. Some of them may be fellow Twanglers, who can be a fiesty bunch, so I'm surprised you haven't been put right before! 

[TheBiscuits]

6 hours ago, BruceinSanity said:

I'm not surprised! It's a windlass, 'cos it's used for winding stuff up and down as any fule kno.

Is it not technically a "windlass handle" but we are all lazy?  The windlass would be the mechanism on the gate.

5 hours ago, Nightwatch said:

We have done the L&L canal with no problems with the anti vandal key. Apart from dropping our one and only key in our the water at the first lock from the Leigh Branch into Wigan. Got a replacement from a very nice CRT man. Bought a spare very soon afterwards. Once bitten etc.

That was Peter, the excellent volunteer on Wigan flight. 

He also tells me that the cheap black ebay handcuff keys rarely work on Wigan anti-vandal locks, as they are slightly the wrong size.  The ones CRT sell in Wigan office work (usually) on all of them.

After a complaint from a boater that he was trying to rip them off he now tapes a receipt for the purchase price to all the kit (BW keys, handcuff keys etc) he keeps for such problems.  It wasn't you was it Martyn?!

 

[Nightwatch]

No certainly not us. In fact it was Peter who helped us out and saw us up the locks the next day. I wrote to CRT saying what a fantastic asset they have in Peter. 

Another fact about Peter. He didn't have the correct change to give me when he sold us a key, as I only had paper money. Unexpectedly and unnecessarily he arrived at the boat long after he finished work with the £1 that he owed me. Well donePeter. I bought him a pint at the top of the locks after we had climbed our way up.

[Rooffy]

4 hours ago, Mac of Cygnet said:

Think you mean Calder & Hebble.  The Aire & Calder locks are all electric.

 

4 hours ago, oldboater66 said:

I got a bit worried doing the Aire and Calder a couple of years ago, when a guy approaches me with what seemed to be a cross between a length of 4x2 and a baseball bat. Turns out I had done nothing to upset him and he kindly explained that it was an Aire and Calder paddle needed to operate the locks. I did manage (slowly) without one though. 

Some year back in the 1980s we stopped at Castleford lock to find out about these 'paddles' we'd heard about before we turned into the Calder & Hebble, only we had heard them referred to as capstan spikes. The locky confirmed that we needed one to proceed and kindly gave us one. Those were the days. We used it twice. I brought it home and kept it safe as a means to repel burglars. Your 'baseball bat' description is most apt. I sometimes wonder to which of these uses it may next be applied. Probably neither.

[Mike Todd]

And then there are the Middle Levels . . .

[rusty69]

3 minutes ago, Mike Todd said:

And then there are the Middle Levels . . .

Middle Level

Edited February 24, 2018 by rusty69

[Mike Todd]

That was what I typed at first but I changed it cos I thought from another thread that Nigel M said it was more correct. Must have mis-read,

[Rooffy]

Do canals attract pedants?

[rusty69]

2 minutes ago, Rooffy said:

Do canals attract pedants?

No. Only the Middle Level. 

[TheBiscuits]

9 minutes ago, rusty69 said:

No. Only the Middle Level. 

Although a few can be found on the Middle Level Navigations ...