Tuesday 11th July; Stoke Hammond to Tiddenfoot Water Park
It was overcast this morning, but plenty warm enough for
shorts when we left shortly before 10.
Stoke Hammond lock was ready for us –the last boat through yesterday had
left the paddles open. A widebeam had
just pulled in above and the crew came to help with the paddles. All the locks so far have been going down,
but at Stoke Hammond the canal starts to climb again. I was keen to try the method that is supposed
to keep a single boat tucked into the side – it is different from the
Hatton-type locks with their ‘candlestick’ paddle gear. One of the bloggers has put it on their blog
recently, sorry I can’t remember who, but thanks! I did the ground paddle the boat side, and
asked her to slowly raise her gate paddle on the opposite side – but she flatly
refused, saying as locals they know their canal and so she KNEW that a gate
paddle would throw us about. So I smiled
politely (as that method hadn’t worked for me on the Braunston flight anyway), and
let her have her way (although she should have deferred to me I think), opening
her ground paddle next, and it was ok so
at least I had made someone else feel good. They are traders and were making their way to Cosgrove for a festival.
 |
| Fat boat |
So with the Soulbury Three next I was delighted to see three lockies so I could find out for certain. How could the widebeam crew know what a single narrowboat in a lock needs? and the lockies confirmed what I had noted down – boat side ground paddle, opposite gate, opposite ground, boat-side gate. In fact one of the lockies whizzed up their gate paddle before my ground paddle was half up and it was still fine.
 |
| Three locks |
While we were still ascending I checked the correct procedure for descending, as I remembered there is a risk of the pub pound flooding – it only seems to be a problem if a widebeam is coming down, or 2 narrowboats together, but it is always advisable to ensure the top paddles on the bottom lock are being raised before emptying the middle lock. We dumped some rubbish and glass bottles (recycling along here is otherwise pretty non-existent), then stopped for lunch around Old Linslade. Then, would we be delayed? There is a stoppage notice about potential delays until Friday, from the next bridge until Leighton Lock past the Grove pub, as filming is taking place. As we passed there was a security guard hanging about, and a team assiduously spraying and cleaning the outside tables and chairs.
 |
| No filming today |
 |
| Technicians in there somewhere |
The Wyvern boat had a new name over the panel where the company’s details normally are, and its own name at the back removed. The guy who worked the lock with me was being paid to steer the boat past – I wonder how many times he will have to do it? They have to close the canal and towpath while filming is actually happening to avoid continuity errors between takes with different boats and pedestrians appearing and disappearing between shots (and rubbernecking too, no doubt). But today they were busy getting the pub ready and all the equipment in place. Our partner was turning above the lock and going down again to be pointing the right way – the boat is short enough not to need the winding hole further along.
 | |||
| Short enough to turn |
It was joined in the lock by another Wyvern, and we went on to the shopping mooring for a trip to Tesco. After that, all we wanted was a quiet mooring out of town. It’s not very pretty to start with, with a lot of moored boats as well. We know there isn’t a great deal of mooring beyond Grove lock, so as soon as we found a suitable spot well before the main road south of Leighton Buzzard we were banging in pins. When Dave walked Meg later, he realised that had been the best decision – especially as over the nearby footbridge is Tiddenfoot Water Park, a great place to walk your dog! It started raining as they got back.
5½ miles, 5 locks
No comments:
Post a Comment