With help from British Waterways

Friday, 30 July 2010 18:00

Back on a canal and a lock flight

However, we were not able to climb the flight without supervision from David, the BW lockie in the area. I speculate that it is because of  water management on the Sheffield and Tinsley Canal and that experienced narrowboaters are not a common sight.

The approach to this canal via rivers and very large locks may be a factor in putting off all but those who are happy to explore the further reaches of the system; or maybe we (and our friends, Gill and Geoff who beat us to it) are just mad! You, faithful readers, can decide that!

We did share the locks with another narrowboat, whose home mooring is at Retford and has experienced owners. Once David arrived and unlocked the bottom lock (12) we were off! There are only 11 locks now as locks 7 and 8 were combined in 1959 to accommodate a railway bridge. Lock  6 was hit by a German bomb in 1940 and had to be reconstructed.

The Tinsley locks are built to a maximum length of 60 feet by 15 feet so we just fitted in with Nb Second Thoughts. The maximum length of the locks could be another factor in the lack of cruising narrowboats! The canal into the centre of Sheffield was opened in 1814, linking the city with the sea via the Rivers Trent and Humber. Until this time, goods were carried by road to a wharf on the River Don at Tinsley.

We were forcefully reminded of the modern transport system by the M1 roaring high above us between Locks 10 and 9. The bottom tier carries another main road, part of the system of major roads that all meet around Tinsley.

We appeared to be locking up quite slowly; John seemed to be doing most of the work but was having to wait for Dave and the man from the other narrowboat (he had told me he needed exercise!). We ladies were steering the boats and it took a lot of my concentration to keep Epiphany under control, as the open paddles caused fierce disturbance, even though Dave was gentle with them!

Sheffield Road Bridge at tail of Lock 9

There were a number of fishermen at all the locks - presumably they were not disturbed too often and seemed very good natured as they watched us stir up their water. By the time we reached lock 3 we had collected some gongoozlers too. Above this lock and the next the side pounds are used for permanent moorings. Here too is the BW sani-station etc. Nb Second Thoughts stayed above Lock 3, as they had to wait for an engineer to sort out a faulty fridge.

We continued on up on our own, leaving David behind to chat with the people around. He had been interesting to chat to and get his take on "the Company" and the future of the inland waterways.

Lock 2

David caught us up as we left the top lock. He had to go down the flight and let some water down and lock up for the day. There was certainly no shortage of water on this flight as the water was flowing over most of the bottom gates.

We now had the last three and a half miles into Sheffield in lovely sunshine. Time to appreciate the scenery!