A quick fix for Jena

I was called out early this morning to visit Jena moored at Lea Bridge

A fiery offering to the genius loci, apparently.

Before getting on with the task in hand, I had to ask this chap to extinguish his fire. He was very amenable, and I tried to be as friendly and charming as I could, and between us the fire was out after a few minutes.

JN had asked me to help explain the random over-heating problems to the skipper of the day. AP - who trains skippers for the Trust - has a lot of experience with the sort of engine Jena has - and how it works so I advised, while he did the hands-on work.

Jena is thought to develop an air-lock in her water cooling system every so often, which then leads to a rapid overheat. We try to manage this by bleeding air from her skin tank and topping up her water system with anti-freeze and water. Today the skin-tank bleed plug was a nuisance to remove, but we managed it just in time as the first trainee of the day approached.

He also helpfully suggested that the overflow pipe from the water filler cap be run into a plastic milk bottle - so that it doesn't spill over into the engine sump, and so that water from it will siphon back into the system as the engine cools after any overheating incident.

AP also took me to task for leaving weed on Jena's prop, and the cabin bilge rather full. A fair cop, we had had a discussion about clearing the prop at the end of our journey to Lea Bridge and the outcome was a phone call advising the Trust that we would leave this to the next crew to take her out.

The cabin bilge has been noted a few times. This time I emailed JN and when he phoned me I repeated our strong request for the bilge to be pumped and a suitable pump for it left on-board.

Then I got on my bike and cycled home for breakfast.

1 hour.

Locking up Carpenters Road

Today, I went to view the lifting of the second gate into Carpenters Road Locks. Drizzle doused, but still dramatic, as this is such an unusual lock restoration.

As the second gate was being greased and slid into place, a group of volunteers were invited on a trip boat to see the lock from the Waterworks River.

Here's a gallery of pics:

Afterwards, I cycled down the Lee and Limehouse Cut to the Canal & River Trust's Docklands Office. My volunteer-issue lifejacket's service date came up over the weekend, so I had it exchanged for a more recently serviced model. The Trust takes safety very seriously, and after my training I try to do the same.

1 hour (VTR - lifejacket servicing.)

Jena from Little Venice to Lea Bridge

Jena had to be moved up to Lea Bridge, Operational Moorings, by the Middlesex Filter Beds, so that she could be used to train a half dozen more skippers for the Trust. RE, RB and I met at Little Venice at 9am to start our journey through London.

Locking down through Camden.

RB hasn't had as much time on Jena as RE and myself, so this was an opportunity for him to gain more familiarity with this wide-beamed behemoth.

A pleasant time, just boating.

Tricky passing sometimes.

In East London the density of mooring tends to an extreme, with the view ahead through bridges often obscured by wide-beams and breasted narrowboats moored rather close to the bridge holes. Double mooring also means lines are sometimes left looser than might otherwise be expected. We had to take great care, and had a bunch of fenders in place in case we might graze any other vessel.

Duck-confusing apparatus.

At Acton's lock and at Old Ford Lock No 8 new anti-crossing measures have been added to the weirs. These are a mat of plastic spikes that deter people from trying to cross the weir and arrest any rubbish flowing over the weir. There should be more of these around, they're replacing the spiked rollers that have previously been seen around the system.

At last we passed through the Hertford Union, negotiating the low water at the second pound by staying very much in the central channel. Then a short cruise up the Lee to the Lea Bridge Moorings.

8 hours.

Enn Kay Ess

Today's been a very good day.

Today I got to put into action something I've been hoping to do as a volunteer since I started on the towpath as a ranger: actually make an improvement for access for everyone.

This gate at Rammey Marsh is padlocked. It has a U-shaped bypass on the water side that's just barely big enough for a bike to be walked around, or for a standard wheelchair to awkwardly ease into and out of. But you can't get a mobility scooter through, or a handbike-wheelchair combination as used by some tetraplegics.

My manager and I came up with a scheme, we'd put an NKS/Radar key operated padlock, in series with the padlock that was holding the gate secure. The Trust okayed this as an experiment, and we hurriedly found ways to hop through the bureaucratic hoops necessary.

Today we installed the lock (after some unexpected 'hot work' by operative D to allow us through the lock chain) and put up some signage explaining the new access. And I texted my handbike using acquaintance with the good news.

This felt good. And if all goes well we might do it again where other towpaths are made inaccessible by gates and locks like this.

On the way home I passed the remains of the old transhipment warehouse again, and watched a motorised jackhammer work at removing the concrete structure. Soon all that will remain will be the wharf edge.

Transhipment warehouse, disappearing...

2 hours, very well spent.

Quick and early...

A very short outing today, just to try to identify a boat I saw last Saturday evening under the North Circular above Stonebridge.

I'd already flagged up to the Trust that this was a hazard, and posted a warning on the Facebook London Boaters group.

When I passed Stonebridge that day, a boater wanted to talk about having collided with this boat while passing under the bridge. And I messed up - I should have immediately got their details and reported the collision. Instead, I asked the boater to pass the details to London Enquiries themselves.

Yesterday I was asked to go and get some identifying details for this boat - but I was still in recovery mode. I should explain, I have a neurological condition (Myasthenia Gravis) that can leave me very fatigued when I over-exert myself, and sometimes I need to take a day of enforced rest to recover. Yesterday was one of those days.

I learned from Facebook that the boat had been moved somehow, down through Stonebridge lock to some shallows between Stonebridge and Tottenham locks.

And this morning I had a few more beans inside me - so I cycled up the towpath and took a few more pics for the Canal & River Trust.

As you can see there's not much to identify this boat except its length (about 20') and its name. From that the Trust can perhaps track down its owner and put the two boaters' insurers in touch with each other.

Primping Ponders End

Saturday morning I was at Ponders End Locks for a towpath task force litter pick, painting, gardening and general primping of the locks. I'm also happy to report that the odd-sized tap there has also now been sorted out and replaced with something better suited.

I spent most of my time either hacking at the foliage on the offside lock landing and lock side with some garden shears, or sat on the lock wall extracting plants from cracks in the concrete with a sharp scraper.

First four sacks of lock-side foliage, there were many more.

Other volunteers scraped away at loose paint on the lock footbridge, and, having prepped it, started putting on a fresh coat of paint. Like Old Ford Locks 19, there's a lot of work to do here to make the locks look as good as we'd like, so this may take a few volunteer sessions.

Towpath task force events are open for volunteers to 'just turn up at' - so there's usually a good crowd, and a mix of experienced and novice volunteers, but there's always something for everyone to do, and as much tea and biscuits as you can manage.

As well as my time as a horny handed son of the soil, I also tried to make sure that the lock chambers were always full. With so many people working around the lock, falling hazards are a risk that needs to be managed constantly and having full lock chambers helps ensure that this risk is much reduced. Of course I helped see a few boats through the lock too.

Work on the planters, and the lock side before I weeded it.

After a few hours, we'd achieved a fair bit. Fresh paint on the control cabin and lock bridge. A lock landing that can be negotiated without wading though a ton of nettles, a thorough litter pick, and fewer trip and skid hazards on the lock-side. Good work.

5 hours.

Back at Old Ford Locks 19.

There are going to be volunteers working regularly at Old Ford Locks 19 (on the Lee Navigation.) Every Thursday for the next six weeks or so volunteers will be there as the Canal and River Trust are intent on transforming the site from somewhere best hurried past to a waterway 'destination.'

Much duck poop to blow off!

There's obviously a lot of cleaning up to do. The locks got some attention today: DB was using the pressure washer to remove pounds of duck poop from the island and grime from inside the stables.

A bit more light from the windows, before we rewire the lighting.

Other volunteers were working to strip out the old wiring from inside the stable. Volunteers will be adding new power and lighting cable in conduit (so as not to disturb the brickwork or woodwork inside) which will later be checked and connected up by a contracted electrician.

V and myself began work on repainting the white parts of the lock side. Unfortunately we had no masking tape or chalk line to ensure very sharp lines, but we can clear that up next week.

V - painting lockside.

RE had been planning to do a clear-up at Limehouse, but decided instead to bring the London Canal Volunteer boat up to Old Ford and help clear some of the trash from the water. I helped him move seven bags full from the boat to the hoppers above the lock.

RE - cleaning up below the locks.

On the lock off-side, work went on to clean up where the E20 Fishing Club storage container used to be. This was removed yesterday by the construction firm building flats next to the site, but the previously-resident artist had still a few things that had been left in there to move out. He ferried these by reclaimed pedalo to his friend's boat.

This is where the E20 Fishing Club's container used to rest.

DB's a volunteer qualified to operate a steam pressure washer, which is a very efficient (and environmentally sound) way to remove grime and graffiti from hard surfaces. He's waging a bit of an un-winnable battle versus the graffiti, but some advances have come. After he cleared the brickwork, RS and I applied a layer of anti-graffiti wax. It doesn't stop further vandalism, but it makes it far easier to remove as the pressure washer will dissolve the wax and take the paint off with it.

DB - preparing the control cabin brickwork for anti-graffiti wax.

DB - cleaning up the lock island tail.

At lunchtime I went to the Cantina at Swan Wharf for a Cheek Cheesburger and diet coke. Very nice, I'll probably go back again!

4 hours.

Ducketts Conclusion

I've finished with this for now. My full report is here, and please add any comments there rather than here. My conclusion and recommendations follow:

Hertford Union Canal Middle Lock

I have no evidence to suggest that boater behaviour is causing problems with this flight. Some paddles were found to be left up on two of the mornings, but I did not observe any losses from the pounds as a result. My presence may have prompted better locking operations from some boaters, but I cannot draw any conclusion from this.

The pound between the middle and top lock was seen to fall several inches with each locking through. This is in line with the likely loss of water due to the difference in the fall of the top and middle lock.

The pound between the middle and top lock was not observed to change level over four and a half hours while the middle lock's head gates were shut, and there were no lockings through.

The middle lock's tail gates were observed to be leaking more than the same lock's head gates. Some damage was observed to these gates. The towpath side tail gate was seen to be unbalanced, swinging open under its own weight.

It's my conclusion that the losses to the pound between the middle and top lock are almost entirely caused by each locking through. Boater behaviour and poor maintenance are not regular causes of these losses.

Water level control:

It would be helpful for Trust volunteers or staff with some training in water level control to monitor water levels in this pound at busy times when there are the most lockings through. According to local observers, this would be on Saturdays and Sundays. This will allow water to be let down safely when necessary, after about every five lockings through. The presence of staff/volunteers could also help prevent any accidental loss of water.

Maintenance:

The middle lock's tail gates rubbing strip should be reinstated ASAP to avoid further damage to these gates.

The middle and top lock's broken paddles should also be repaired.

Ducketts Day Three

Okay, I have a pocketbook full of notes, and pictures and videos from my phone. I've been at the Hertford Union Locks when they've been busy and when they've been very quiet, through rain and sunshine. I've talked with residents, old boaters, new boaters, CRT volunteers and staff and operatives, and some businesses on the cut too. I think I can begin to draw some conclusions.

But first, today's activities:

Head of the lower Lock 3 on the Hertford Union
where a large pile of rubbish has been cleared from above the weir.

Today started quietly and stayed quiet. No boats had been through the locks since I knocked off yesterday. Given that you might think that the first pound would have drained completely away.

A full pound and Fountains' contractors.

Instead it was more than full, the level had reached the top of the paddle vents, and seemed to be staying there, fed by a gentle leak from the top lock.

A smile from the guy in full PPE.

A pair of contractors from Fountains came down the locks to trim back the foliage, which they did efficiently, cheerfully and messily - chopped up nettles were spread cross the towpath. I guess they'll self-compost.

My little encampment outside Growing Concerns.

I chatted some more with Caroline from Growing Concerns. My managers seemed to be very enthusiastic about the living wall when I emailed them about it this morning - so that looks like it might be something that'll happen here soon. Caroline had some more leads on experts in growing such walls, but I asked her to save it for when my bosses come to talk with her.

Damage to the new-ish lock mitres near the low water level is not as bad as it could be.

Last night, late, I did a little research on the second lock. Turns out its lower gates were refurbished in 2015, which explained the 'new' look to the wooden parts. The steel gates themselves were new in 1999. That means the damage to the lower parts of the mitres, and the dislodged rubbing strip have occurred in the last year or two!

After a little more boredom I noticed the weir above the middle lock. There was something a bit odd about it - no water was going down it!

I looked below the lock, there was water coming out where the electrical cooling flow exited, but nothing else. Eventually I twigged to the fact that this lock has no working overflow weir - if the first pound gets overfilled the only exit for the water is over the lock gates, which explained the anecdote I'd heard from a nearby resident about the lock occasionally overflowing.

Eventually, at about 2pm a boat surprised me by coming up the locks, and almost immediately a pair of narrowboats coming back from Cavalcade towards Ponders End came down. Two lock workings dropped the first pound by about five inches, a couple of inches below the 'weir'.

This is not the weir exit - this is water used to cool the cables
under the towpath entering the canal below the second lock.

As my day drew to a close I walked from the top lock to the bottom and met up again with my friend RE at the bottom lock. We strolled up to Old Ford Lock No. 8 stopping only briefly to deposit an abandoned Boris bike (Santander hire bike) from the towpath into the Trust secure stores at Bow Wharf. He brought tales of a strange boat recently arrived from Leeds(!) It's aluminium and equipped with some advanced sonar that will be used to conduct a detailed depth survey of the Lee Navigation. I'll look out for that.

At Old Ford Lock, we met with operative Aiden (remember Aiden?), who it turns out is a bit of an expert on the Hertford Union and its locks, as well as being the chap who coordinates volunteer lock keepers around here. He explained that water is let down into the first pound every morning to help keep up the levels - much as the lock keeper who staffed this flight used to, until permanent lock keepers were retired by BW. His opinion is that the flight is functioning as well as it ever has done, it being a listed monument and all.

Which brings me to my conclusions - which I think might be better written up when I'm a tad less tired. Something for tomorrow.

I believe I'm done observing this flight now, so I'm going to do something different tomorrow. I'm going to head back to Old Ford Locks No. 19!

7 hours (5 hours of VTR duties.)