Ducketts Day One

I arrived at the Hertford Union about 08:50, closed paddles at the lower and middle lock and parked my bike at Wick Lane.

Damage to the top, tail, off-side gate paddle.

P & K were on the workboat Ducketts at the top lock No.1, painting the black and white features of the lock, with a stencil to mark the cill lines.

The paint dries very quickly; touch dry in 15 minutes and almost completely dry in an hour, so this didn't interrupt any journeys today. Indeed, P & K helped most boaters through the lock while they were there.

Unfortunately, they also had to padlock the offside, tail gate paddle. The support post for it had split, apparently as a result of the paddle being dropped. Another repair for the list.

Clover and her travelling companion were very gracious in their thanks for my efforts.

I spent the morning helping boats like the lovely Clover here through the middle lock No. 2, and keeping my eye on the level of the short pound between the middle lock No.2 and the top lock No.1.

Leaking from No.2's tail gates.

Damaged mitre - the steel rubbing bar is hanging from a single nail.

Here then is what I believe to be one of the primary culprits for the perennial problem of this pound becoming empty - a badly damaged mitre at the bottom of the towpath side tail gate of Lock No 2. Its rubbing strip is hanging from a single nail, and the wood behind is damaged. It's evidently taken quite an impact from passing boats.

The leak empties the lock pretty fast. So much so that both top paddles are required to be open to get a level - with only a single paddle open the lock empties faster than it fills!

When the level reaches the bottom of the lock, this same gate is unbalanced and swings itself open.

My fellow towpath ranger TP met up with me for the afternoon. We strolled up to Old Ford Lock on the Regents and I got to rehearse every little bit of history and knowledge I have of the HU and Canal & River Trust. I'm not sure if my stories are interesting but TP did me the courtesy of not yawning.

We met the volunteer lock keepers L & P at Old Ford Lock No.8 and took advantage of the tea making facilities. TP and I think it might be useful, for towpath rangers on stretches with locks, to have some formal training about operating them - just so that the Trust can okay us doing things like shutting gates and possibly lowering paddles without any H&S concerns.

We strolled around and back down the Hertford Union, to Old Ford Locks No. 19 and then around to the Olympic Park and Carpenters Road Lock, talking all the while about the Trust's plans for lock keepers.

By the time I returned to Wick Lane it was time for me to go home. but I'll be back tomorrow, to tell you just how much that pound falls with every lock-through, and how refilling it affects the pound below Old Ford No. 8.

7 hours (4 doing VTR duty.)