Lock down

Did you notice the boats waiting by the left bank?

Room for two! Going down!

Looking the other way now; in their direction of travel.

I've often wondered how it must feel to sink down into the narrow lock chamber.

Notice the white house on the left. Once, it was the lock keepers cottage, then empty for years, now a cafe.

These are the lower gates. Believe it or not, they are pretty new, having only been replaced in February 2002. The previous replacement was 1990 and before that, 1947. As the gates rot, leakage becomes an increasing problem, until the amount of water escaping is too great to be ignored. 

Remember that I said the top gates are lightweight at 950kg? These guys are a hefty 2 920kg! (even without the foliage)

The boats aren't quite at full depth yet...

...but I'm going to nip down to beyond the narrow road bridge in time to watch the gates opening.

I imagine it would be quite a relief to see the first chick of light and know that escape from the narrow confines of the lock was imminent!

You get a more accurate sense of the depth of the lock here.

And away!