Saturday 22 October 2011

Caldon 2011 - Hazelhurst Locks

Caldon 2011
Hazelhurst Locks
12th September 2011

I mentioned a surprise at Hazelhurst Locks in yesterdays post.

The surprise was a working side pound at lock number three - the bottom lock.

Working paddle gear at Hazelhurst No3 side pound


You can find the remains of side pounds all over the system but in spite of water shortages this simple way of halving water use at locks can be found in very few locations today. I don't really understand why this is so - maybe they are deemed too complicated for boaters to use or maybe they were seen as unnecessary in a time of few boat movements. Today things seem to be different and I detect a subtle change in the turbid waters of the canals.

First drain the side pound...

I am sure that the side pound wasn't working last autumn but as I approached it it paddle gear was well greased and the chamber was nearly full so I flushed the water into the lock lifting Wand'ring Bark halfway up the lock. I then closed the sluice and continued to fill from the pound above. Of course, these side pounds are only as good as the integrity of the sluice and a veritable fountain of water was spraying back as the water made a level.

... then close the paddle and top up the lock from the upper pound.

All this effort was quite futile because the next two side pounds are not operating, the chambers are there but there is no paddle gear to release the water. 



My question is: How many operating side pounds exist today? Hazelhurst No3 is one and the top three of the Droitwich Junction all work as well. Where else can we find these endangered species?

4 comments:

Adam said...

There's one (just one) on the Atherstone flight, which I made a point of using last time we came through.

The thing I remember most about the Hazlehurst Locks was that if you stood in the wrong place to wind the paddles, you got soaked by a jet of water shooting out the breather hole!

Andy said...

It has been operable for a while, I used it when I did the Caldon in 2009.

I'll add No6 on the Atherstone flight to the list of working side pounds, it was restored to working condition in the last couple of years

Andy Tidy said...

Adam - its still a problem as I discovered to my cost.

Steve Pipe said...

Just boated up the Caldon again in July 2012, that working sidepond paddle at Hazlehurst has now had a bolt put through it right above the rack so it cannot be used! Argh! BW!