Bartimaeus

Having finished one knitting project I immediately cast on another. I made a start on the watery tart hat.The colour is varied shades of blue, drifting into violet and sometimes blue-green – the main colour, representing water. 

The next morning we set off through a swing bridge and along the river, passing a novice driver, we reached the lock first. I got off to work the lock. A group of people were hanging around the gates and to reach it I had to say excuse me and as I squeezed past they laughed quietly as though embarrassed and slightly moved aside. There was some lighting and sharing of a metal pipe but my knowledge of drug taking is incomplete as to what was really going on. When I found it was not a push button lock like the others I had done I had to excuse myself again to go and get a windlass. The group let me past then skulked away, since I had disturbed their secluded recreation.

The other boat had now appeared. The gates were very heavy to move and we ended up with quite a crowd of us chatting at the lock. The men all went back to the boats while the woman and me carried on, but one of the other crew had to return to help with closing gates at the other end. Shane was waiting, an unusual position, as the other boat was at the other side where the usual pick up point was. Bartimaeus was end on and I hadn’t noticed my feet were wet from the damp grass and stepped down on the smooth painted back. My foot slipped. I landed on the dolly for tying off the boat with my other foot over the edge in the water. I am going to have a purple bahookie for a bit. I felt a bit winded and went to change my footwear. The day continued with heavy locks and the awkward axe handle locks. I couldn’t shift one and Shane helped while the other team’s snapped off. I was soon puggled and still feeling a bit shaken up. 

I made myself a tea but the biscuit I had planned to dunk was not there… I am not the only one that liked that kind of biscuit. I substituted with a cracker and cheese. Later I tried sitting and knitting as a soothing activity but I didn’t complete a row without another lock appearing. Later still I thought a Pimm’s might lift my mood but while Shane sank his pretty fast, I was only half way down before another lock arrived. In the end I switched to driving as I hadn’t the strength for some of them and I didn’t fancy the axe handle ones either. 

Even then the driving was less than smooth as the locks had become shorter and within the lock Bartimaeus had to be shimmied around sitting diagonally but also watching as the water rose not to get caught under the platforms for standing on to wind the gate paddles. I was pretty achy by the end of the day. We were ahead of schedule and I hoped for a day to recuperate.

We had only just got moored at sunset. We noticed we were moored beside a nicely renovated stone, in this newly reopened stretch of canal and river interspersed. I had the odd mix of some hard work done, yet feeling a bit useless at the same time. I had so often felt not quite up to the task. The stone mason and painter have done some fine work, but I am not sure what it is for.

The next day was similar. We did start off later but I was already achy, both from the fall and the exertion. The locks were just as awkward. Each one had its own mix of what might be needed to work them. I was inspired to try to rise to the occasion by seeing trees somehow managing to grow on  bridge pillars.  

Nervous as I was of river driving, I did drive as it was less effort than the winding but still a bit daunting for me. One of the locks didn’t look like we should be working it at all, but it seemed to be just the bridge that was faulty.

I was shirking the axe handle again. Shane was enjoying himself and a good job too. They take a long time to wind down, it is just as hard as winding it up. He took longer than normal to get the lock closed up.

We arrived in heavy rain at our mooring spot. I took care not to slip in the wet. The next day was a brighter one and an end was in sight of these awkward heavy locks. It was at least brighter and I was enjoying the colours.

The next lock that was waiting for us at the start of today had a slippy looking lock landing so I again remembered to take extra care choosing where to step off. Shane had looked ahead and given me good warning and assured me I would not need the axe handle. He thought all I would need would be the go windlass, but no, one ot the paddles required the other one so I had to go back down for another. The next had gates at the top that were adrift and one was held by a rope to stop it swinging too far. I couldn’t shift the paddles at the bottom end so Shane had to come and help. Even using the go windlass he could only turn it less than a quarter turn, pushing his weight down then using the ratchet to go back and repeat. It is no wonder I hadn’t shifted it.

The others were not as hard as that one and none needed the axe handle and some needed the anti vandal handcuff key and they continued to be tight to get into. Quite often the gates would not open fully. Neither of us received any injuries though and we were making good progress. They were getting sufficiently close together that whoever was locking walked between them. As Shane drove from one a passing man said, “looks like he’s not going to wait for you.” I confirmed that he was indeed leaving me behind.

Later I was leaving him behind and Shane was doing the donkey work, when someone said I had the easy job. I assured him we were swapping around. We were both needing our lunch and the basin in Huddersfield was within sight but another obstacle was before it. Shane got off to operate the lift bridge. To my surprise it rose like a guillotine. I had seen lock gates like this but not lift bridges. This canal was full of surprises. 

It was at last time for lunch and relaxation. I could get back to my knitting and relax for a bit. The brim is almost done. We are ready for the next phase.