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Hillmorton


roland elsdon

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Volunteer today 

Unreal

firstly wound paddles up facing away from boat, ie not watching. 

second stood on top gate facing away from boat. Had i not told her twice to move would have been at best knocked in if not decapitated by high bow over reaching the gate as she surged due to incorrect operation.

finally told me that single lock working saves water ( im currently in the q with water peeing through the gates waiting for boats in front to sort themselves out, as i recall the pumps here respond to a sudden drop in the braunston pound caused by locks drawing, so single lock operation triggers less pumping than double... 

this may be an old wives tale but i was told this many years ago.

there are some good verlockies ...

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14 minutes ago, roland elsdon said:

Volunteer today 

Unreal

firstly wound paddles up facing away from boat, ie not watching. 

second stood on top gate facing away from boat. Had i not told her twice to move would have been at best knocked in if not decapitated by high bow over reaching the gate as she surged due to incorrect operation.

finally told me that single lock working saves water ( im currently in the q with water peeing through the gates waiting for boats in front to sort themselves out, as i recall the pumps here respond to a sudden drop in the braunston pound caused by locks drawing, so single lock operation triggers less pumping than double... 

this may be an old wives tale but i was told this many years ago.

there are some good verlockies ...

Keep taking the tablets ?

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30 minutes ago, roland elsdon said:

Volunteer today 

Unreal

firstly wound paddles up facing away from boat, ie not watching. 

second stood on top gate facing away from boat. Had i not told her twice to move would have been at best knocked in if not decapitated by high bow over reaching the gate as she surged due to incorrect operation.

finally told me that single lock working saves water ( im currently in the q with water peeing through the gates waiting for boats in front to sort themselves out, as i recall the pumps here respond to a sudden drop in the braunston pound caused by locks drawing, so single lock operation triggers less pumping than double... 

this may be an old wives tale but i was told this many years ago.

there are some good verlockies ...

We are moored just below the bottom Lock. One of the locks, nearside is not in use. Why would this be? A queue in both directions last time I looked. Roland, you must have passed us. What's your Boats name..

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Some of the Hillmorton volunteer lock keepers do seem to provoke a far higher level of criticism than those based elsewhere.

I'm pretty certain I can guess which volunteer you encountered, but I won't unless I'm wrong.

I'm aware of people who deliberately try to work that flight when volunteer are not on duty, (not really possible at the moment with the restricted opening hours though).

We have had mixed experiences of volunteers on our latest trip, but actually found ourselves saying that the three at Atherstone were really rather good.

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I've even been told by a CRT employee that using just one lock instead of two uses exactly half the amount of water. "It's obvious, isn't it?" he said. Not to me it isn't, especially if it means turning the lock around and ignoring the one that is already set the right way, unless they're saying that only half the number of boats will make the passage because of the queue.

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My last experience at Hillmorton, I was on a boat waiting above the bottom lock with a boat coming up in it.  The lock keeper was paying so little attention that she failed to notice that the young family on board had opened the paddles at both ends.

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38 minutes ago, alan_fincher said:

Some of the Hillmorton volunteer lock keepers do seem to provoke a far higher level of criticism than those based elsewhere.

I'm pretty certain I can guess which volunteer you encountered, but I won't unless I'm wrong.

I'm aware of people who deliberately try to work that flight when volunteer are not on duty, (not really possible at the moment with the restricted opening hours though).

We have had mixed experiences of volunteers on our latest trip, but actually found ourselves saying that the three at Atherstone were really rather good.

 

Mind you, you cant always blame the lockies can you? 

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Did Hillmorton a few weeks ago and the female lockie at the bottom lock was so interested in her gardening that once we were in the lock we were given a stiff ignoring.  The other two locks were manned but they only helped crewed boats and ignored one poor chap who was on his own.

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Just now, ditchcrawler said:

Remember they are volunteers not paid employees, they don't have to help anyone. As one at Bingley said to me, When I get pissed off I can go home. The way the full time locky was behaving I think that may have been quite early 

Precisely.

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4 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

Remember they are volunteers not paid employees, they don't have to help anyone.

So are they volunteering to be able to stand and watch people work the locks?  If so they don't need to volunteer anybody can stand and stare.

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27 minutes ago, Jerra said:

So are they volunteering to be able to stand and watch people work the locks?  If so they don't need to volunteer anybody can stand and stare.

What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare?


No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.


No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.


No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night.


No time to turn at Beauty's glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.


No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began.


A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

 

William Henry Davis.

 

Could have been written for the cut.

 

 

Edited by Ray T
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Fine, but does it refer to Vlockies? On one trip up the lockies banged up both the paddles with gay abandon, before my wife had settled the boat up the lock.

A polite request by me for them not to help at the other locks instigated a curse and a pair of backs walking away.

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5 minutes ago, Ray T said:

What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare?


No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.


No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.


No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night.


No time to turn at Beauty's glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.


No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began.


A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

 

William Henry Davis.

 

Could have been written for the cut.

 

 

True but it doesn't explain why somebody would volunteer if all they want to do is stand and watch.

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I presume the connecting paddle between the locks is not used or long  gone? that would save 1/2 a lock of water Shame the side ponds on various flights are only odd ones or completely gone  Atherstone used to be much better before the were let go thdisrepair & non working

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Just now, Jerra said:

True but it doesn't explain why somebody would volunteer if all they want to do is stand and watch.

I don't know about a policeman's lot not being a happy one but at times with some volockies it seems if they are damned if they help and damned if they don't.

With some folks on the cut now I wouldn't volunteer.

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  • Happy 1
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Just now, Ray T said:

I don't know about a policeman's lot not being a happy one but at times with some volockies it seems if they are damned if they help and damned if they don't.

With some folks on the cut now I wouldn't volunteer.

I must be looking at things far too simplistically.  I thought the situation was you volunteered as a volockie asked each boat if they wanted help and helped if wanted/needed.

 

I can't get my head round volunteering to help at a lock and then standing doing nothing without asking if the crew want/need help.

 

Presumably you volunteer to be at a lock as you want to help if all you want to do is stand and watch you don't need to have volunteered.

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3 minutes ago, X Alan W said:

I presume the connecting paddle between the locks is not used or long  gone? that would save 1/2 a lock of water Shame the side ponds on various flights are only odd ones or completely gone  Atherstone used to be much better before the were let go thdisrepair & non working

Alan, the paddles and the connection between the locks were disabled by "my historic" narrowboat captain when he worked the Hillmorton Length, on the instructions of BW. Early 1960's I believe.

Edited by Ray T
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2 minutes ago, billS said:

 

 

Free T-shirt.

 

And bragging rights in the pub.

 

1 hour ago, larryjc said:

Did Hillmorton a few weeks ago and the female lockie at the bottom lock was so interested in her gardening that once we were in the lock we were given a stiff ignoring.  The other two locks were manned but they only helped crewed boats and ignored one poor chap who was on his own.

 

I've had this too. 

 

I was once warned by a boater that the vollocky manning the lock ahead of me 'has a problem with male single-handers'. When I got there he was rather stand-offish but I deliberately set about engaging him in conversation. He was a delightful bloke, a big wheel in the world of eye surgery. Fascinated with my boat and engine, and said he had been warned not to engage with solo male boaters, as they don't like vollockies helping... which is true with me!

 

Neither of us can win really, can we...

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