Bartimaeus

The day before, I thought a man in the boat ahead had made a mistake, getting a lock ready for him without noticing that we were on the way and when he saw us, he reversed his manoevre. Actually he was going the same way as us and seemed to be trying to help by opening the paddle for us before heading on. He had done one side and walked forward to the next lock. I did the other once we got there. It seemed to be taking a while to be ready. Then I saw that the paddle at the other end hadn't been closed so it was taking twice as long. Some mistakes are a disaster and some just slow you down a bit or cause a little bump.

Shane wanted to work locks today since he hadn't the day before. I let him off and intended drifting near the edge out of the turbulent water. Just then a breeze sprung up blowing me sideways towards the boats moored just below the lock. I managed to manoeuvre back to the other side. I was just wondering if I should moor up when Shane opened the lock so I was able to move forward, but still it was still a challenge to counter the wind blowing the boat towards the other  moored boat while lining up. It all worked out fine.

As I rose in the lock I could see Shane was not paying attention to the boat and was more interested in the side pond. I was more interested in the autumn colours ahead.

I hoped he was paying attention to his footing as I remembered these locks having gates overhanging step and big drops. I had my own drop to be concerned about. The water level was well down on this pound. 

This canal has water level issues and has often been closed. I could get caught on the cill if the lock has to empty  further than it is designed to do, to get level. 

It was slow over the cill, but all went smoothly. The next pond was not low. Inside it  I could see a few side leaks. The advantage of a cool day is you don't accidentally leave the windows open when you go in to a lock like this.

The tail gate arms are across the foot bridge when open so the person in the lock gets a different view of the locker working it, if they bother to look behind them. Perhaps they are clambering over the arm or pushing in the less efficient, lower leverage part of the arm, which is also effortful.

Immediately after the lock is the junction. A short wait to let Shane in and then I was going through. I hadn't really appreciated that it was a hairpin bend, not just a left turn but Shane did go down the front to spot for me and let me know when I was a meter from the bank so I could adjust and not bump anything. The bow thrusters certainly helped. You can do it without but a bit more to-ing and fro-ing might be needed.

It wasn't long before there was another sharp left turn and this time through a bridge. I can't say I didn't touch the bridge. I used it to help pivot slowly round. Some boats were moored at the other side of the aqueduct and a man popped his head out his side hatch to advise us about winding and reversing if we wanted to get to the end. He said he'd left us a space to moor. I suppose he knew nothing else had passed and nothing could come the other way.

The Leek Branch continued the Caldon Canal habit of narrow bridges with extra invisible bits at below the water level or hidden by bushes or changing direction part way through making it extra tricky. Later when Shane was driving I heard hard reverse and wondered what was happening. Randomly in the middle we had grounded. He hadn't made the mistake of drifting too far over into shallow water, or near a collapsed bank. It was right in the centre of the channel where it should be clear.

The tunnel looked very narrow, on approach, especially at the top, but there was no gauge suggesting only certain boats would fit. The sign at the side had measurements of the width as 2.03m. We should fit.

The tunnel is short and you can see the exit and it was relatively bright inside. Due to extensive repairs, the roof inside actually became wider rather than bulging in or being uneven, like some. Indeed no warnings were required as long as you line up correctly on the way in.

The modern concrete slabs were not what you usually see inside a tunnel, but they seem to be doing a good job and we didn't get any drips on us either. 

The silver propeller award does accept getting through the tunnel as evidence, so in case for any reason we didn't manage to get to the end I collected the evidence of us on our boat through the tunnel.

Shane did a quick turn and reversed past the boats moored near the end until he was within sight of the end. It's fairly nondescript with no signs or numbered bridges to prove it is at the end of the Leek Branch. We drove back to the 'left' spot for just one boat that was there and moored up. Time for lunch and a look at Leek.