Back into Brum

Back to Brum

September 2017

Monday dawned drizzly and damp but progress had to be made so I was up and away by 9.00am.

If I am honest the long drag up the North Stratford from Dickens Heath is a bit of a trudge, with the shallow canal making for slow progress and the narrowness of the navigation channel making passing difficult. It's at times like this I resort to my trusty i-pod supported by the rather amazing Bose earphones which both block out the rumble of the engine and offer a great sound quality. On this occasion it was two Dido albums and no doubt the passers by were startled to experience my unaccompanied rendition of the same!

Delays at Shirley Lift Bridge

I handn't been going for more than an hour when the canal suddenly stank of diesel and then around the corner some CRT contractors were unloading a load of logs into the hedgerow. The work boat clearly has both a leak and a diesel soaked bilge. The guys were cheerful enough and given our relative speeds I let them past twice (the second time when they picked up a small pontoon). I was more than a bit surprised to see them again 30 minutes later with the work boat moored on the jaws of the Shirley lift bridge. It appears that they didn't have a BW key so figured I would be along in a bit and used mine instead. I have to say it made negotiating this particular obstacle a whole lot easier.

Entering your home town is always a pleasure because you start to see familiar faces. As I approached the tap at Warstock I was thinking about the Halfies and their overstaying issues earlier in the year. And so I turned the corner and there was Jubilee moored up inviting another e-mail form CRT! Sadly the boat was empty and John and Jan were no doubt attending to their property in the area. I pulled in for water and was immediately asked for three jars of preserve, which I duly dispensed and then a chad like head and hands appeared over the fence opposite which is home to Angela and Wayne Attwood (Caggy). I received an update on the progress of the Caggy repairs form Angela and promised some of the new Sunshine Plum Jam at BCBF at the weekend. I have been needing a gas cylinder for over a  week but  there were none to be had on the South Stratford. I therefore had high hopes for Lyons Boatyard who did have some in their cage, but they are closed on Mondays. Grr.

Kings Norton Guillotine

I eventually emerged at Kings Norton Junction at about 2.30pm, blasted my horn and nudged round into the Worcester Birmingham, heading for town. I was part way through my manouver when a blast came for the Netherton Tunnel side and there was Harnser, making its way to Bournville for an overnight stop. 

The plod into Birmingham was entirely predictable with no other traffic on the canal. Peter's mooring at the university was empty as he has already gone to Netherton and so I was left to my thoughts. The elsan point at The Mailbox was visited and a further three jars sold. I am always struck that so often I sell preserved just as I am tying up.... 

And so I slipped into Nick and Victoria's mooring at the rear of Symphony Court, packed up and legged it to the bus for Aldridge and a couple of nights at home. Not that it will be quiet - I have a huge quantity of Damsons to pick, stone and freeze ready for use this autumn.

Sorry for the lack of pics - I left the camera on the boat!

Onwards and Upwards

Onwards and Upwards

September 2017

We ended up staying in Wilmcote for nearly three days, which was a bit longer than intended. However, there are worse places to be holed up with the village shop able to supply the necessities of life (including some really nice bread) and the Sainsburys delivery service arriving for the rest.

Wilmcote top lock

The main reason for staying was a long delayed meeting with Land Love, a magazine with a focus on the outdoors and foraging sort of themes. They have been wanting to run an article on us for over a year but had to delay due to Helens ill health last year. The interview has yet to take place, but in advance a photographer was commissioned to come and collect the illustrations, and Wilmcote seemed as good a location as any.

The area offers rich foraging opportunities including sloes. damsons, yellow plums, rose hips and of course a plethora of blackberries. In advance of the visit by Sussie we had a day picking blackberries and mixing them with some damsons we had previously picked on the Grand Union. In the best tradition of Blue Peter, we prepared several batches the day before her visit, so we were ready to deliver the jam making element without delay after the foraging shots had been obtained in the early morning sun.

Completing the Land Love photo shoot

In the event Sussie stayed with us for about four hours and left with a clutch of great photos, which will be sent to us when the article has been published. After she had gone we rattled off another couple of batches of Damson and Bramble, one of our favourite jams. Isn't it amazing how plants which fruit at the same time so often go together really well?

Thursday saw us progress up to Lownsford with Helen doing the steering and me working the locks, which come at a rate of about two per mile. We have often moored opposite the Fleur De Lys but had never visited, so we sampled their famed pie menu and I can really vouch for their beef and stilton - fantastic. All this was washed down with some very drinkable IPA and the bill didn't worry the bank manager in me.

Bottom of the Lapworth flight

Friday came with a bit of a problem. One of Helen's knees blew up with a huge swelling, probably a delayed reaction to her fall in Stratford. Far from being on the mend she became pretty well immobile, unable to even stand and steer, which is a bit of a problem when facing the  30 locks which stand between us and the Birmingham Level. There was no real choice so we set off, with Helen doing as much steering as her knee would allow which turned out to be about 5 locks.

And then, hurray for volunteer lock keepers! As if by a miracle a lock keeper appeared as we started the Lapworth flight - would I like assistance to the top? Is the pope Catholic.... yes, yes, yes. Helen was able to retire to the cabin and take the weight off her knee and between the lock keeper and myself we made a very fast ascent to lock six from which point I continued alone. The amazing thing was that we only passed one boat in the entire time we were working our way uphill - what a contrast to last weekend.

Top end of the Lapworth flight

We are aiming for Netherton but we have a few days to spare so were planning to pop home and pick / freeze damsons for use in the winter. The problem is Helen's knee and chest - both are giving her a lot of pain and being cooped up in the boat isn't ideal. With her feeling so uncomfortable a friend offered to come and collect from the Blue Bell at Illshaw Heath which will give her a couple of extra days in the relative comfort of home. The one thing I didn't do was to warn our lovely neighbours of Helen's imminent arrival so my apologies to them for the unexpected bumps and bangs when she returned...

For my part Sunday was cold and wet so I spent the morning making two batches of Sunshine Plum Jam, a new jam comprising yellow plums with orange. This zesty mix makes a perfect breakfast spread. The afternoon was invested in making 15 bottles of sweet Elderberry Vinegar, a modest but useful addition to our range of vinegars. 

The rain eased off at 4.00pm and offered a window of opportunity to do an oil change during which, for the first time, I managed to spin the filter off without resorting to the chain wrench. I also realised that I had never renewed the air filter this season and the engine hesitation was due to a clogged air intake. The engine immediately ran better which was a very rewarding outcome.

The forecast is better tomorrow so my plan is to be off early and get the boats into Birmingham in good time.

Escape from Stratford

Wilmcote

August 2017

I left you with scenes from a succession of Ganesh ceremonies and by the end of the afternoon the crowds had drifted away and everything seemed to have come to a conclusion.

Just as the light was failing I decided to walk into town to post a letter, and much to my amazement I emerged from the back hatch into a multitude of sari bedecked ladies, mostly young. The throng was so great I had to ask them to move to let me off. It turned out that there was one last party which offered their statue into the River Avon beside the boat as I crossed the tramway bridge. 

Bank Holiday Monday was forecast as a real scorcher and we had little appetite for another dose of Stratford mayhem, so come 9.30 we were off the river and making our way back into the narrow Stratford Canal. But disaster was to strike. Before we had even reached the first narrow lock Helen fell crossing the road, grazing hands and knees and more painfully, she fell flat on her chest which was the subject of recent surgery. 

That put her out of action for a few days as she was in no condition to wind paddles or push locks. I therefore reverted to my slow but sure solo lock routine which is fine in all ways except shutting gates after me. This is one aspect of single handing a pair which is infinitely more difficult than a single boat. I have to pull 30ft of butty butty out of the jaws of the lock before I can steer, and there is no scope for hovering above the lock whilst the top gate is shut. Fortunately the tow path was busy and the passers bye were all happy to close the gates when asked.

We paused at Valley Cruises to attend to a very full set of cassettes and then it was on to the water point below the Wilmcote flight. Five days without a refill plus making jam had left the tank very empty and a high pressure tap took over 40 mins to fill us up again.

The heat just kept building and building and the prospect of ascending the Wilmcote flight was very unappealing, so we found some shade just short of the bottom lock and stopped for the day.

Tuesday dawned misty and cool, a much better scenario for a solo ascent to Wilmcote. I was a bit concerned that my solo endeavours would hold everyone up but I soon fell in behind a family of two adults and three children out for their first day on a boat. Progress was therefore slow and even single handed I managed to keep up, assisted by a steady succession of boats descending. By the mid point a volunteer lock keeper found me and helped set all the locks in my favour and the boat behind kindly agreed to close the top gates - all in all the assistance was something of a godsend and by 2.00pm we were moored in Wilmcote and selling jam to the boaters moored there.

In spite of intermittent drizzle I went back to the top lock and foraged a pail of Pershore Yellow Egg plums plus a few kilo's of Blackberries - raw material for a jam making session tomorrow as a band of rain passes over.

Bancroft on a Bank Holiday

Bancroft on a Bank Holiday

August 2017

Well, I guess we did ask for it.....

Bancroft Basin in Stratford upon Avon is something of a goldfish bowl at the best of times and a hot and sunny August Bank Holiday was only ever going to be heaving.

Stratford's wheel

We arrived on Friday afternoon and settled into the linear spot just by the entrance. We set out the menu board and and the bell was soon ringing with locals keen to buy our wares. But then Saturday dawned with thousands of tourists milling round and no sales - not a single solitary jar was sold. Not that we minded too much because we had two batches of Yellow Plum and Orange Jam to make and three batches of Chocolate Pear Jam to be prepared. 

We have never really enjoyed Bancroft moorings and on Friday night a drunken couple decided to have a domestic at top volume right round the basin. This led to a rubbish night and with the Sunday market being set up in the early hours of the next night we decided to can the trading and move out onto the river for a couple of nights - so what if it costs £20. We consoled ourselves with a nice meal in the Dirty Duck opposite the theatre.

This proved a good decision as the riverfront offered some shade and a bit more privacy. We paid the parish church a visit in the morning and heard about Lydia's conversion, the first in Europe. Its a big and traditional church (which contains Shakespeare's Tomb) and we were made very welcome - but I did regret my rather informal Weird Fish tee shirt.

We spent the afternoon making the 40 jars of Pear and Chocolate Jam, a product we last made with pears from the same tree when we visited in August 2015.

As the afternoon drew to a close and the crowds thinned we were treated to religeous spectacle of a very different hue - A Hindu festival of Ganesh Chaturthi, the elephant headed deity. A procession of trip boats arrived, stopped beside our boat and a series of flower covered statues were dropped into the river to the accompaniment of much cheering and chanting. The boats were crowded and so was the bank, with dozens of ladies on the most beautiful saris cheering the event on. The riot of colour was a photographers paradise.

Blisworth to Bancroft

Blisworth to Bancroft

August 2017

Two weeks without a post, how very remiss of me!

We have been a bit busy one way or another and there just hasn't been time in the evenings to bring the blog up to date.

Blisworth stall

Lets start with the 2017 Blisworth Festival which was played out under under clear blue skies. A larger proportion of the Roving Trader population seemed to have rocked up, filling every available inch of towpath between the main bridge at Blisworth Wharf and Candle Bridge to the north. The event has had some turbulance among the organisers this year and as a result the admin was a bit less slick than usual. Notwithstanding the odd gremlin here and there the crowds flocked in and filled the ever expanding display area. However, from a trade perspective for us the Saturday was good and the Sunday was poor - but others reported the other way round which is confusing! The one dynamic which seems to have changed is that the centre of action seems to have shifted from the towpath to the Festival Field and its quite possible for visitors to miss the boats altogether.

Blisworth Allotment Society stall

That said the three festivals we attended on the GU all delivered results which were within a tolerance of just 10% so we are not grumbling and will certainly be back next year if we are accepted.

Mr Homebrew himself

After Blisworth we met our friends Deb and Mark and we spent three days together as we worked our way through Braunston and on to Calcutt. 

Helen and Deb

Boat traffic on the GU north of Wigrams Turn was busy, as you would expect during the August holiday period. This meant we made good progress through the locks and found ourselves at the Saltesford Arm in Warwick a day ahead of plan. This was in spite of horribly low pounds below Stockton Brook and howling cross winds as we crossed Leamington Spa. 

The weekend marked our grand daughter's second birthday so we offered to host a party at home. This meant leaving the boats for four days and using public transport to get us back. I have to admit that its rather nice to have reached a stage where central Birmingham can be reached by a 20 minute train journey costing about £6.50.

Sunflowers on the South Stratford

With three weeks to spare before our next event in Netherton we decided to drop down the South Stratford after climbing Hatton and spend the bank holiday in the town. 

Edstone Aqueduct

As ever, the canal was shallow and slow but it is always a pleasure and we spent three leisurely days covering the handful of miles, picking plums, apples and black berries along the way.

Bancroft Basin - Stratford

What a wet one!

Hockley Heath

May 2017

I don't think I have ever seen the Birmingham Level fill so quickly.

For weeks the Birmingham Level has been nearly two bricks down, a reduction which left the tug boats iall sorts of problems and one  crew reported a 22 hour marathon to get from the Black Country Living Museum to Hawne Basin.

I have a soft spot for little buttys, even than they are really push tugs!

What we needed, we all agreed, was a bit of rain to fill the monster pound which extends for over 40 miles. Well today the heavens opened and water was spilling into the canal from every quarter. The forecast was for heavy rain all day and rain it did.

Tuesday saw us holed up in Birmingham doing some shopping, banking and washing before Helen was interviewed and photographed for a magazine article. During the evening she hosted her book group aboard the boat so Dan and I made ourselves scarce and had a delayed birthday meal and trip to see the latest Alien film.

But Dan isnt with us just for a jolly. He is also with us to help us down the locks to Warwick and for that we needed to get to Hockley Heath. The problem was the weather which was forecast to be awful all day - and so it was. Whilst I wouldn't tackle the locks in teeming rain, there is no reason not to travel if wrapped up in the right clothes. So it was waterproofs from the off at 7.30am and I did my best to shelter under my umbrella for the next 10 hours. We made slow but steady progress to Hockley Heath. As we travelled every pipe was gushing storm water and you could almost see the level rising and swamping the grass edges. By the end of the day the water was nearing the overflow weirs so it must have added a good 4 inches.

And so we sit perched and ready to make our descent. I will just have to prise Dan from his sleeping bag in the butty - no mean feat. 

Due south for Stratford

Due south for Stratford
September 2015

At last, a better day when the camera was pressed back into action.

The beautiful South Stratford Canal

The South Stratford was heaving as we set out south from Kingswood Junction, with everyone and their dog working through the lower locks of the Lapworth Flight. In fact there was one Anglo Welsh Crew who lost their Labrador overboard whilst exiting a lock and I watched the owner / steerer trying to decide if he should leave the moving boat to save the dog or what. In the end he hauled the dog out and jumped back on the boat whilst I rounded up the shaken mutt and made sure he was ok till his owner got back.

 Gormley's creation at Lowensford (I think the statue is peering down Mts T's cleavage ;-))

It was a day of sunshine and showers as we headed south, making for a mooring at Wilmcote before tackling the final descent into Stratford tomorrow morning and a meeting with Helen's thespian friends who will visit us between appearing in plays at the RSC.

 Hmm - that's a small boat....

We seemed to spend the day with Antipodean visitors not least the couple who met us at Lowsonford Lock. They stood there bemused by the Anthony Gormley statue, staring balefully into the swirling waters in the lock chamber below.

Edstone Aqueduct - South Stratford Canal

Pictures were taken and explanations offered before we set off again, making steady if slow progress through the Preston Bagot locks and over the three aqueducts which grow in splendor till the Edstone Aqueduct was reached, which saw us flying over a shallow valley to a grove of very productive damson trees beyond.

Lapworth in the rain

Lapworth in the rain
August 2015

Sorry, still no photos. Today my excuse is precipitation and cameras being uncomfortable bedfellows.

The forecast was for an improvement from 1.00pm but the absence of rain didn't really arrive till gone 4.00pm, by which time we were well down the Lapworth flight of locks.

And so we got soaked, with the rain veering from misty to hard and back again, penetrating our clothes and making the descent less that thrilling.

Most of the locks were in our favour but along the way we stocked up on Crab Apples, Cookers and some Damsons, but left the Blackberries for a dryer day. All the rain had an impact on the canal and the by washes soon became raging torrents, slewing the boats around and generally making control of the pair very difficult.

Helen undertook the steering duties whilst I sloshed up and down the locks, my normal youthful spring in my step evaporating after the first 10, followed by a heavy trudge with wet trousers clinging to my legs.

The stern gland is still running bone dry, which is a plus, but the studs / nuts in the Centreflex coupling are loosening themselves after 3 days running and I can see a work bench fix (or replacement) being needed this winter. For now its a case of keeping an eye on them and tightening periodically.

In the end we simply descended the flight and moored in the little arm between the Stratford and the Grand Union, indulging ourselves with a hearty meal in the Navigation Inn - washed down with a couple of points of rather excellent Purity IPA.

Tomorrow we return to the South Stratford and hopefully some better weather for our run into Shakespeare's town on Wednesday.

Off down the Stratford

Summer 2015

Longwood to Hockley Heath

August 2015

Its August Bank Holiday Monday and here we are at Hockley Heath, two days into our summer trip..... and its chucking it down!

When towing The Jam Butty we are constantly asked where we are going and its amusing to say "Windmill End", a look of confusion crossing their faces as they think "isn't Windmill end on the BCN?.... but you are going south".

It is true that we are making for the Black Country Boating Festival, but that's not for two weeks so we are paying Stratford and Tewkesbury a visit along the way. With the summer fruit a bit late this year we should also be able to stock up on wild ingredients and come to the festival armed with some very fresh produce. 

Day one was abandoned before we even started. The thing is that we are off to New York in a few weeks and will be returning in the Queen Mary 2, which dictates a level of sartorial elegance neither Helen or I can really achieve at present. So it was a case of load up the boat and then hit central Birmingham and give the credit card a good old work out.

From a boating perspective day two was more productive. The mile pound below Rushall Locks (why were they called "Moshes"?) has been fixed and we are back to normal water levels - ie shallow - and then onto the long slow Tame Valley. With the temperature at about 22 it was perfect boating weather and as you would predict, the northern BCN was heaving (not). In fact we travelled on the backwaters for seven hours before we saw another boat - its like having 40 miles of personal canal which is great. 

The northern BCN canals are much cleaner these days and whilst we had to make half a dozen trips down the weed hatch they were all for its given purpose - to clear weed which does build up an late summer. Nothing nasty, not even many poly bags.

As we passed through Smethwick I got to wondering. When the old Brindley summit existed it was fed by Smethwick Great Reservoir, which was drained in the mid 1800's after Rotton Park Reservoir came on stream. My question is "where was it". My research suggests it was the site of today's Victoria Park but I am not sure. Answers in the comments box please.

A very pleasant day ended at Symphony Court where we moored on the private moorings and shared a few glasses of wine with Nick and Victoria.

As we move towards out summers aboard the boat phase in 2016, we are trying not to hurry and move as we fancy. It was therefore a 10.00am departure from central Birmingham, the butty being the focus of a great many photos, as usual. Then it was the two and a half hour pull out to Kings Norton Junction where we dropped off a jar of jam to the guys who live in the old junction house as a thank you for putting up with us during the recent festival.

Leaving the Worcester Birmingham and transferring to the North Stratford also meant we left most of the hire boats behind and for the next five hours no boats came up behind us. That's a real bonus because trying to facilitate an overtaking maneuver on a shallow, narrow waterway is a real challenge.

Just before we set off I decided to tackle the stern gland problem. It was repacked a couple of years ago but it had reached the maximum adjustment and water was coming in steadily - and the auto pump was kicking in every three hours of travel. I was fearing that new stern gear was needed but before going to that expense I decided to repack it myself using some thick gauge packing I had in reserve. I extracted the old packing with a curved bradawl tool I found in my grandfathers shoe repairing box and then discovered that the new square profile packing was too thick to get into the stuffing box. Undaunted, I compresses it a bit with a hammer and then pressed it home using the stuffing box adjuster plate to drive it home. All seemed ok till I ram the engine in gear and the stern gland warmed up!

I was therefore more than a bit nervous when we started off on our two week trip with a very uncertain stern gland. However, I forced plenty of grease into it and hoped for the best. The grease did the trick and it soon bedded in and guess what - two days of travel and not so much as a drop of water! I have even mopped out the drip box to check and so far it remains stubbornly dry!

And to here we sit, planning our New York itinerary, practicing our dance moves on the towpath (almost as funny as it was romantic) and waiting for the blinking rain to stop. Hopefully we will be off down the Lapworth Flight this afternoon and arrive in Stratford on Wednesday.

Sorry, no photos so far. Will do better next time!

Happy bank holiday one and all.

A quick cruise to Calcutt

A bank holiday bonus

August 2014

There has been more than a touch of Groundhog Day about our boating just recently.

There we were idly planning a trip on the Shroppie over the bank holiday weekend when out plans took a dramatic turn to the south. Instead of a leisurely cruise on the flat we did a tough 3.5 days over the Birmingham Plateau and on to Calcutt via the North Stratford. At the end of this trip the boats have been left in the unfamiliar surroundings of Calcutt Marina for a couple of weeks. There is method to this madness - but I would have to kill you if I told you why - so I wont! All will be revealed.

Friday was a 7.30 start from Coven, passing The Jamiesons and Free Spirit by the pub and then making a rather slow ascent up the Wolverhampton 21 which offered some great blackberries. We seem to have made this trip a lot this year and once again we were to be found towing down the New Main Line and arriving at the back of Symphony Court at 6.30pm. We were fortunate to fine a freshly vacated mooring but maneuvering into the gap with the butty attached attracted lots of attention.

The Jam Butty is becoming a well known sight in the area - having been in several Waterways World event reports recently. Thats about to get a whole lot worse with a three page spread in the October edition (out 1st week of Sept).

Then it was another early start down the North Stratford where we met out friends Dave and Pat who helped us down the Lapworth Flight along which we picked several kilos of Damsons. The night was spent in the short arm connecting the Stratford with the Grand Union. Which canal is this?

Sunday was the trip to Hatton and along the way we stopped for water, making a fresh acquaintance with Tyseley / The Mikron who were resting after an evening performance. Hatton was busy at the top and in spite of 6 volunteers being on duty none seemed inclined to offer any assistance! The butty causes some confusion in these locks. Oncoming boats cant see the butty behind us and are confused when I don't indicate which way I will be maneuvering round them. The fact is that I need to keep moving in a more or less straight line and have to wait for someone to move out of the next lock and make a space I can aim for. An odd stalemate can ensue as we both wait for someone to make the first move... I never blink first!

A bonus of travelling this way in late August is the supply of plums - red ones, Pershore Yellow Egg and Damsons - kilos and kilos of them.

With the Sunday forecast predicting heavy rain we pressed on till dark, reaching the foot of the staircase in last light.

Sunday was a run up Stockton Locks - wet all the way but only soaking for the last two. Eventually Calcutt was reached at 2.00pm and our temporary home found in the driving rain.

Kings Norton Open Day

Kings Norton Guillotine Lock Open Day
9th December 2012

The increased focus on open days on the part on the Trust is a really good idea - giving local people a backstage pass to the less usual canal repair projects.

 Kings Norton lock chamber (original to the left and new to the right)

Kings Norton played host to one of the Trust's latest open days, this time taking a fish eye view of the classic Guillotine stop lock which is having £200k lavished on it to ensure it stands proud at the head of the Stratford Canal for another 200 years.

 Ivor Caplan takes a tour

The inclement weather had put the project behind schedule and the open day had already been delayed by a week, and with the day dawning blustery and damp I wondered just how many people would attend. Our Sat Nav did its best to get us to the guillotine lock, which hides beneath a road crossing. We found ourselves in the company of 60 or 70 visitors plus C&RT staff, contractors and volunteer guides.

So was there enough there to justify the visit? Well, yes - and no.

 Paddle culverts framed in iron and wood

We got the distinct feeling that work had not progressed quite as planned and the iconic landmark structures, the guillotines, remained shrouded in scaffold which was a bit like visiting Blackpool to view the restoration of the tower only to find it still covered up. The current plan is to have the site reopened by 22nd Dec when the contractors finish for Christmas but if you are planning to get into Birmingham for the festive season I think you may need to reconsider the Knowle / Camp Hill option (Tacet take note).

Contrasting bases of the lock walls

As for the site: we were fitted with hard hats (necessary), donned high vis jackets (a bit OTT) and our progress along the bed of the lock was overseen by first aiders which represented Health and Safety gone mad.

We climbed down into the chamber and were given a guided tour by the resident expert Ivor Caplan. The lock was only ever a stop lock but it threw up a huge surprise. I bet that few of you knew that it was originally built as a wide beam lock - 14.5 ft wide and capable of carrying the big boats which were planned for the Worcester Birmingham before the builders scaled back their ambitions and made Tardebigge narrow gauge instead.

 Winch mechanism being repainted

What you see beneath the waterline is, on the towpath side, the original lock chamber with big sandstone coping stones along the top. At the bottom the brick sides sweep round to the floor in a smooth curve like an invert, but on the other side the wall rises straight up and has more traditional bull nosed brick copings at the top. What is more, you can see the rectangular lock gate recesses for the big double lock gates now all bricked up in the lock walls.

The way things were "back in the day".

The original lock chamber must still exist under the bridge and the "new" lock wall was built half way across. The old lock gates were removed and rather than build new lock gates, recess and paddle culverts they simple slotted in a guillotine gate at each end which took up little space and presumably was a cheap option to control the very modest difference in water levels. I never did find out why the guillotine was set off vertical.

Worms eye view of the guillotine slot

Here are some photos of the de watered lock - I don't expect I will get another opportunity to see  this unique structure again.

Mr Truth grappling with his new Canon camera....