Well last week was an interesting week guest wise. You would think that by the time you are in your 70’s the days of petty bickering and vying to be top dog would be long gone, but not this lot. But anyhow, they are gone now and we have picked up a lovely bunch of people and they are all very active and they help us at locks, which makes life so much easier. So much so, that when we did Hatton Flight (21 locks in very quick succession) I was able to get photos this time.
Laurens grandparents were visiting London from Australia, so she went to see them for a couple of days and to fill her place Hanna’s dad Steven came to help. It was funny, I had not realised how quickly we had slipped into routines and working as a team at locks until the balance was upset by changing one person! Luckily we pulled it together and got up the locks in time for lunch!
The locks on the Grand Union Canal are double width so we can go up side by side and do not need to bow haul. This is called breasting up (no giggling at the back please!) The boats look very impressive motoring through the pounds side by side.
Then we turned onto the Stratford Canal. This is completely different. The locks are in poor repair, only single width, several times we have bottomed out and run aground because there was not enough water.
And we had to learn a new trick.
When I get the pictures down loaded it might make more sense when you can see what I’m talking about, but i shall do my best to explain.
Remember, years and years ago before engines had been invented, the boats were pulled along by a horse on a long rope, hence why all canals have tow paths, so if an obstacle is put in the way it is easiest to walk under and stay level with the water so the rope does not get caught in the obstacle, (in case it is a bridge) but when whoever built the canal and put bridges on it, they built really short bridges that literally go edge to edge of the canal, there is no room for the tow path underneath. Ok, still with me? So the solution to this was to put a 3 inch gap through every bridge for the rope to slot through. How does this affect us i bet you are thinking. Well when we are bow hauling, Hanna is in effect the horse, she literally pulls the butty along using pure muscle strength, and needs that gap for the rope she is pulling to pass through.
But- there is always a but- as boats without motors are very few and far between, most of the bridges have fallen into disrepair, or the gap has actually been concreted closed.
So i would like you to picture this- torrential rain- (because these things never happen in the sun!)- me in charge of steering the butty, Hanna bow hauling and a broken bridge. Hanna had to let the rope drop onto the roof of the boat as it passed under the bridge and i was sat on the roof so I could pass it back to her on the other side. Sounds simple enough. Except the bridge was only 2 feet above the top of the boat! So as Hanna shouts at me “H! You’re gonna have to duck!” I looked at the bridge and thought “Ducking ain’t going to cover this one” and end up lying flat on my back, passing feet first under a bridge with cobwebs and everything inches away from my nose. As I emerged the other side everyone was laughing, as they said all they could see was this pair of boots appearing from under the bridge. I imagine it is what a corpse feels like in a coffin. Not an experience I want to repeat in the near future!!!
Anyway, we survived and got through the locks, managed the broken bridges and arrived at a mooring spot with trees, flowers and sheep for the night.
One quirk of the Stratford canal is the Lock Keepers Cottages that are scattered along the tow path. To build bridges with an arch on them, they used a wooden frame to create the bridge, but then removed it once the keystone was in place and the bridge was stable. As the Victorians were not wasteful people they found a use for these wooden arches and used them as roofing frames on the cottages. Ingenious!
We are moored up about 2 miles outside Stratford tonight, and have a morning with about 6 locks planned tomorrow. We had been hoping to go and see a Shakespeare play at RSC, but there is nothing playing on the nights we are in town. Mum reckons I just wasn’t meant to be cultured!! lol
Next tour is Stratford to Worcester over 8 nights. I’ll let you know how we get on later xxxxxx
