Beeston Iron lock

[Ploos1]

Has anyone managed Beeston Iron Lock on themShroppie single handed? It has no ladders.

[zenataomm]

Rope

[rgreg]

1 minute ago, zenataomm said:

Rope

Yes, I think that's the only sensible option with that one.

[zenataomm]

It doesn't need to be an iron rope.

[Boater Sam]

Magnetic boots.

Or a rope, attached to your boat and pull it from the lock top. Simples.

[David Mack]

1 hour ago, Ploos1 said:

Has anyone managed Beeston Iron Lock on themShroppie single handed? It has no ladders.

There was a time when almost no locks had ladders.

BW started adding them in the 80s as a safety measure (so anyone who fell in could get out of an empty lock with the bottom gates closed), rather than to assist single handed boaters.

Probably around the same time as they started asking boaters to leave locks with all gates closed, rather than the previous working boat practice of leaving gates open when you left a lock.

[Neil2]

In my experience there's always a bloody queue at that lock, both ways, so a single hander should have plenty of help...

[MoominPapa]

9 minutes ago, Neil2 said:

In my experience there's always a bloody queue at that lock, both ways.

That's because of the scary signs telling you it's narrowed, and to only put one boat at a time in. (Also the reason why the pound above is frequently low at busy times.)

 

We took two modern narrowboats, sans fenders, through it without any problems.

 

MP.

 

[mark99]

14 minutes ago, MoominPapa said:

That's because of the scary signs telling you it's narrowed, and to only put one boat at a time in. (Also the reason why the pound above is frequently low at busy times.)

 

We took two modern narrowboats, sans fenders, through it without any problems.

 

MP.

 

Funny boat names - sans and fenders.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[dmr]

17 minutes ago, MoominPapa said:

That's because of the scary signs telling you it's narrowed, and to only put one boat at a time in. (Also the reason why the pound above is frequently low at busy times.)

 

We took two modern narrowboats, sans fenders, through it without any problems.

 

MP.

 

I had a good look at this lock a while ago. The top offside curves in noticeably towards the bottom gate. We had a go at sharing (going down) with a long hire boat, it was too close for comfort so we reversed out and helped them down. Meanwhile a shorter boat (about 50 foot) arrived and we shared without any problems (we are almost 71 foot). So its ok as long as one of the boats is 50 foot or less (maybe 57?) and stays towards the top gates, and the longer boat is on the towpath side. However, because most people don't share the gates might not open fully which can be another problem.

 

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

[MoominPapa]

4 hours ago, dmr said:

I had a good look at this lock a while ago. The top offside curves in noticeably towards the bottom gate. We had a go at sharing (going down) with a long hire boat, it was too close for comfort so we reversed out and helped them down. Meanwhile a shorter boat (about 50 foot) arrived and we shared without any problems (we are almost 71 foot). So its ok as long as one of the boats is 50 foot or less (maybe 57?) and stays towards the top gates, and the longer boat is on the towpath side. However, because most people don't share the gates might not open fully which can be another problem.

 

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

We're 60ft. I don't remember what size the other boat was, but I don't think it was particularly short, probably 57.

 

We were going up.

 

MP.

 

[dmr]

9 minutes ago, MoominPapa said:

We're 60ft. I don't remember what size the other boat was, but I don't think it was particularly short, probably 57.

 

We were going up.

 

MP.

 

Yes, I think its probably two 69/70 foot boats that would be the problem, but even then I estimated that it would likely be ok but with absolutely nothing to spare, didn't fancy testing it out with a hire boat though.

 

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

[rgreg]

I went down this last year, reluctantly  sharing with a local (shorter) boat who seemed to know what was what and assured me it would be fine, and it was. As has been said, the restriction apparently can be avoided by a short boat. I'm not sure what the insurance company would have to say if anything went wrong as a result of sharing though. 

[Arthur Marshall]

I've been going through this singlehandedly for thirty years , well before the notices went up. With a 40 foot boat never had a problem sharing, but as almost everyone is now paranoid I leave it up to the other boater. 

I pull the boat in with the rope, and pull it out (going down) as far as i can, then hoick the rope as it goes under the bridge with the boathook, collect it and heave it through. As far as I know, it's the last lock without a ladder on the system.