Bartimaeus

Yesterday the ground was wet after heavy rainfall overnight but it was not raining any more and we had plenty of locks ahead and charging to do. We did a load of washing too since the sun was shining.

I was out working a lock and from both sides some women and children appeared and stopped to watch. A few of the locks have the feature that people can cross over at little bridges but the lock arms come across the bridge when the gates open, so apart from watching that nobody is in the swing of the arm, I also am checking to see if people look like they want to cross. Everyone was just watching from a distance. Then one woman asked if they would be in my way if they stepped forwards to watch. They were not in my way where they were at all so I invited them to feel free. As they crept forward I realised I should give them a word of warning about the old coping stones at the edge. They look quite textured but can in fact be very slippery when wet so I advised that they stay on the grass and not step in to the stones. I had already slipped twice while opening and closing the head gate on the other side. They were only little slithers, but then I had grippy shoes on. For this reason I also avoided asking if any of the children wanted to help with the gates, as we sometimes do. They were being suitably cautious. I again slithered a bit on some mud while dealing with the gate when I was shutting it and winding the paddles down. I was glad I hadn’t asked them to join in. 

The locks are a little variable in how stiff they are and how much updating they had. On one side only of one of the locks a little set of stone steps had been provided as a short cut to and from the tow path. These are slightly awkward but quicker than walking along. They feel solid and are much grippier than the coping stones.

When Shane took over locking, he asked me to pull up next to some old steps to let him on. Unfortunately there was a significant by wash flinging the boat away so that was easier said than done, (and it wasn’t conducive to taking a photo while trying to drive) but we got there eventually. At a later lock he used a different access and decided against the attractive old steps as they were pretty mossy and had no helpful rail. The provision of helpful safety features is a pretty hit and miss.

In the afternoon Shane was getting on with some boat maintenance. He had been topping up the batteries with water and one was reading incorrectly and he was investigating that lying face down on the back deck. I was sitting inside and out of the corner of my eye I saw a woman lunge towards the boat. I went to see what was attracting her attention or if she wanted anything. I heard her say to Shane “You gave me such a fright!” She had seen his legs sticking out and rushed over to the sprawled figure thinking he’d fallen. She was laughing now but she left saying she was off to get a whisky. We had no suitable spirits aboard to revive her!

Today was sunny again and I set off to do my first lock in the towm of Stalybridge, but couldn’t see how to access it and swung round a railing. I hadn’t  seen that there was a gap in the railing further down. I thought I needed  the handcuff key and had to go back to Shane for it but it had no impact on undoing the anti vandal locks. All the time a man was chatting to me about it with great interest. He had never seen it operated before and he wasn’t seeing a slick performance. A few people were gathered to watch at the railings. I was taken by the whirlpool at my feet but less so by the spray that  whooshed up the vent right where I was winding and spraying me.

It looked modern but it was stiff and clunky to operate and I was irked by the railings. As it was in a town, this was no doubt a safety precaution for the population, but it made the getting to and from the lock from a boat take a lot more steps and doubling back was required at the end. The next was the same, but easier to operate but still had spray in my face.

Later there was quite a variety of bridge styles as we went along with a few narrow channels to negotiate, and the odd sunken trolley or floating fridge to avoid, fortunately not in the narrowest section. 

Shane found that winding the paddle down was restricted by the bridge railing. It seemed the designers of this set hadn’t worked out where all the spacing has to be to operate it. He also clambered over the lock arms to cross the bridge to get to it.

Other hazards were not the fault of construction though. At one point in a lock I felt the front rise and rapidly reversed and equanimity was restored. Shane thought a bit of wood had jammed on the gate and under the front wick then lifted the front as the water dropped. I didn’t want to go too far back as it was full of jets of water.

We were well ready for lunch and moored by a museum that we had seen before but it was closed at that time due to COVID. We went to visit it and it fairly makes you count yourself lucky to read about the dangerous and hard lives of cotton mill workers, including children, miners and factory workers and their living conditions. It was a major social development to limit children’s working hours and get them access to education. School looked hard going too mind you.

There were displays of glove making, hat making, of clogs and pastimes related to them. Donkey stone manufacturing was new to me: blocks of pulverised stone, cement mixed with disinfectant (bleach powder) and water that was used to scrub front steps clean and some did the pavement too.

I wasn’t a fan of some of the options in  the fish and chip shop. People loved the arrival of fish and chips shop, but as a luxury time saving meal tripe doesn’t fit the bill, but I have never tried it.  

I was taken by the photo and story in the mining section of two children who fell down a hole and were stuck for over 12 hours on a narrow ledge until rescued by having a shopping basket lowered down. I was still enjoying reading a placard when a man came and said it was time to make my way to the exit. 

It began to rain just as we headed to the boat so we stayed where we were at the junction, full of ducks and honking geese. The view on one side isn’t too pretty and it did make me wonder about the builders’ competence for these newish housing when the handy pedestrian route was not fit for purpose. I hope the flats are better supported.