Hurley lock over night moorings.

[miket]

Been out for a few days on the boat, first time this year. Decided to try an over night at Hurley. Phoned the lock to receive a recorded message saying that the camp site was closed (very interesting but not to me) and that moorings could not be booked. Whoopee! Managed to get the last 2 moorings, although the upstream wier pool moorings were vacant As the ropes were across blocking access. £8 per night for not a lot. Pretty certain few others volunteered to pay. We did volunteer and the lock keeper understandably voiced a preference for and swipe rather than cash, then physically took our card and placed it on his card machine and handed it back with an equally infected receipt. Sorry, but a bit of a farce!
I have to say that I was disappointed to find so many locks not manned and temporary fencing everywhere. A sad reflection of EA’s over zealous H&S interpretation of the Covid guidance. Came across one lock keeper who was less than impressed of all the potentially Covid infected fingers touching his operating buttons.
Tricky times but not sure EA is covering itself in glory ............... again?

 

[Outinthedinghy]

I've been from Henley to Lechlade and back in the last week or so and found everything pretty good.

The one thing I did get annoyed by was a slightly officious keeper at Marsh lock today who told me not to get off my boat.

I always get off my boat at locks to do the ropes myself. Always have done for 25+ years in numerous different boats from narrow boats to barges and small river cruisers. Single manned vessels owned by me. No problems encountered.

It's an interesting approach I suppose. Maybe easier to assume everyone needs assistance with lines in locks but I found the lock keeper ordering me to remain on the boat was too aggressive.

I do realise this could be a Henley problem...

 

[DWT]

At all the locks there are signs along the laybys and in the lock asking boaters to stay on their boats unless they are on self service when one person only should leave their boat to operate the controls so it’s not just a Henley thing. Coming down through Mapledurham last weekend someone got off the boat behind us and was asked by the lockkeeper to get back on.

This may seem a bit over the top, but I guess for any organisation risk management is a big issue at the moment.

Personally I have always remained on my boat in locks anyway and handled the ropes from there. It seems to me to be a much safer option than clambering on and off particularly in the deeper locks.

 

[Outinthedinghy]

I've seen those signs yes but I assumed they were related to waiting for locks.

I prefer to be on the lock side doing the ropes but I am always single handed and it comes from years of doing the River in a 55ft narrow boat where holding bow and stern lines while on the boat is a bit awkward.

I've been from Teddington to Lechlade and back to Henley this year
"post lockdown" and no other lock keeper has ever told me to remain on my boat.

Of course there have not been many keepers on anyway and it's nice to see them reappearing but I think they should practice social distancing and just not help people with ropes.


It's an interesting topic this helping people with the ropes. I suspect that I was drawn into a "people want help with ropes so let's tell them not to get off the boat" assumption thing.

 

[Mushroom2]

During a recent 7 day return trip to Teddington we passed through 34 locks - 8 of which were manned.

I (and many others we encounted) think it's a disgrace. While I am more than happy to operate the locks myself, I question why I am paying the full registration fee while receiving a very sub standard level of service.

 

[miket]

Fail to see how it can be “safe” for even one person to get off their boat to operate the lock when keeper is elsewhere and not safe when he is on duty!
On several locks the keeper was on duty mowing grass, etc.
Sorry, but I think it is a bloody cheek and super-substandard service. Wholly agree with Mushroom, above.
perhaps it is just an “M” thing?!

 

[Chris_d]

Fail to see how it can be “safe” for even one person to get off their boat to operate the lock when keeper is elsewhere and not safe when he is on duty!
On several locks the keeper was on duty mowing grass, etc.
Sorry, but I think it is a bloody cheek and super-substandard service. Wholly agree with Mushroom, above.
perhaps it is just an “M” thing?!

I was told at a lock and this is just second gossip so I do not know if its true, but 5 out 45 lockies have had Covid, which if true is quite a high percentage. So they may as a group have cause to be very cautious.

Having said that they do need to think about their jobs, the river is getting used to life without them.

 

[Outinthedinghy]

Yes one wonders if a chair polisher somewhere in an office might figure out that some of the locks don't "need" keepers.

There are obvious ones where you really do need a keeper like Abingdon and Hambleden due to the public footpath across the gates but quite a few locks where they are a lot less necessary technically.

I'd rather they remained but I don't think being absent from the lockside is doing them any favours.

If people get used to unmanned locks for one full boating season then why pay and house lock keepers?

Most things are back to normal and it's not really true that lock keepers have excessive interaction with public.

Shop workers have more.

It is a public facing job, that's a simple fact.

 

[oldgit]

Could this be the tipping point for the Thames regards lockeepers ?
Will it be the the start of the withdrawal of permanent staff at every lock and perhaps only pinch point busy locks manned at peak periods ,with "flying squads" descending if/when things go wrong.

Or the finding of considerable amounts of extra funding to bring back the halcyon days where the motor boater was king.


From our experience of passing through 40 or so locks the boaters seemed to manage quite well on self service, if anything a greater sense of camaraderie than usual.
The number of widebeam boats clogging up short term moorings is different kettle of fish.
The narrowboaters were at moving on at least.

 

[Chris_d]

Widebeams are rapidly becoming a major issue, they will eventually take over the river at the rate newly built ones are appearing.
People are buying a dream and widebeams offer sumptuous living space compared to any other craft, however where can they go?
Once on the river they can venture up the Grand Union or Kennet and Avon, both of which are almost impossible to moor on as they are towpath to towpath full of narrowboats. So the glorious Thames it is, but when living on a boat you have soon seen it all so then have to stop somewhere for the winter etc...
20 years ago people were complaining about Narrowboats but they can at least go all over the entire canal system, little did they know what was coming!

 

[Outinthedinghy]

. You didn't see many wide beam canal boats at all when I started boating in the 90s. now they are everywhere. On the River and on the cut as well. Hoards of ugly boxes.

They probably will take over the whole place it's true. I don't like them at all and I know it's an old story but the motivation for buying one is not to live on a boat it is just to avoid normal living expenses like rent or mortgage.

Ok so you might have to pay for a winter mooring but if you play cards right you can get away without paying for most of the time.

So you get a load of people who would prefer to be living on land living on boats. Recipe for problems really.

Never mind times do change that's just how it is.

 

[Old Crusty]

During a recent 7 day return trip to Teddington we passed through 34 locks - 8 of which were manned.

I (and many others we encounted) think it's a disgrace. While I am more than happy to operate the locks myself, I question why I am paying the full registration fee while receiving a very sub standard level of service.

At risk of repeating myself for the umpteenth time, the registration fee permits you to float your boat on the river. Nothing else is included or offered or should be expected in terms of service except the EA's duty to maintain the fairway.

 

[Old Crusty]

Widebeams are rapidly becoming a major issue, they will eventually take over the river at the rate newly built ones are appearing.
People are buying a dream and widebeams offer sumptuous living space compared to any other craft, however where can they go?
Once on the river they can venture up the Grand Union or Kennet and Avon, both of which are almost impossible to moor on as they are towpath to towpath full of narrowboats. So the glorious Thames it is, but when living on a boat you have soon seen it all so then have to stop somewhere for the winter etc...
20 years ago people were complaining about Narrowboats but they can at least go all over the entire canal system, little did they know what was coming!

Chris, it's not as black as you paint on the K&A. There are boats around road bridges and towns such as Reading, Newbury, Devizes, Bradford on Avon and Bath but once in the sticks, there is plenty of space.

Curiously, few live aboards seem to stay near Trowbridge even though it has everything to offer including antibiotics for whatever may be caught there.

 

[Mushroom2]

At risk of repeating myself for the umpteenth time, the registration fee permits you to float your boat on the river. Nothing else is included or offered or should be expected in terms of service except the EA's duty to maintain the fairway.

I was waiting for that reply. That being the case, please explain how the EA are always mentioning the "services" they offer at locks. There has always been a schedule published with manned times etc, and an impression is given that this is normal. Nowhere on the website does it state "we are doing this out of the goodness of our hearts, you should be very grateful".

As I stated above, I am more than happy to operate the locks myself, but if that is the case then I would expect a reduction in the registration fee.

 

[Chris_d]

Chris, it's not as black as you paint on the K&A. There are boats around road bridges and towns such as Reading, Newbury, Devizes, Bradford on Avon and Bath but once in the sticks, there is plenty of space.

Curiously, few live aboards seem to stay near Trowbridge even though it has everything to offer including antibiotics for whatever may be caught there.

Not sure I explained myself well, I meant with a wide beam you can only navigate wide beam waterways of which K&A and GU are the only major ones linked to the Thames. However even these were not really designed for wide beam craft of this sort. They were mainly for 2 x 70ft narrow beams side by side in locks which could separate once through. Many of these so called wide canals are suffering damage due to bridges being struck by these boats. Cruising a wide beam on canals is possible but not as easy as the Thames. I suspect many of these craft have been bought for a life afloat cruising around the UK but then find the options are limited, so end up on the Thames unless they are brave enough to cross the channel.

 

[miket]

At risk of repeating myself for the umpteenth time, the registration fee permits you to float your boat on the river. Nothing else is included or offered or should be expected in terms of service except the EA's duty to maintain the fairway.

So the EA "Customer Charter" must be very short! Last time I looked it was quite long, with one or two other things in addition to " you can float your boat on our water".
You may NEED a licence to float on their water, but there a few other things offered in return, fortunately.

 

[Old Crusty]

I was waiting for that reply. That being the case, please explain how the EA are always mentioning the "services" they offer at locks. There has always been a schedule published with manned times etc, and an impression is given that this is normal. Nowhere on the website does it state "we are doing this out of the goodness of our hearts, you should be very grateful".

As I stated above, I am more than happy to operate the locks myself, but if that is the case then I would expect a reduction in the registration fee.

The registration fee is a tax to enable you to float your boat on the river, just like a road fund licence is a tax to permit you to keep a vehicle on the highway. It entitles you to nothing else - do you expect a discount on your car tax for potholes or road works? No.

The customer charter aspires to deliver a level of assisted passage that is never guaranteed owing to a variety of budget restrictions and staff unavailability. Having sat in interminable charter meetings with EA & boater reps talking in circles, I'd suggest that it's a waste of time and should be abandoned. The days of fully staffed locks with forelock tugging keepers smiling at you as you pass through a lock collecting your sixpence/shilling disappeared in the late 1970s.

Assisted passage on the Thames is a UK tax payer subsidised leisure activity and its days are numbered. I suggest you stop moaning and start enjoying the river for what it is while you can, smile benevolently at the keepers who still care and leave them a can of beer, hopefully one that is still in date.

The EA is under no obligation to provide assisted passage and it should be remembered that a lock & weir keeper's role is primarily concerned with water level management.

 

[Mushroom2]

So it would appear that this pandemic has bought forward "the future" of Thames boating sooner than we might have hoped.

I don't expect the lock keepers would appreciate my alcohol free beer!

 

[miket]

The registration fee is a tax to enable you to float your boat on the river, just like a road fund licence is a tax to permit you to keep a vehicle on the highway. It entitles you to nothing else - do you expect a discount on your car tax for potholes or road works? No.

The customer charter aspires to deliver a level of assisted passage that is never guaranteed owing to a variety of budget restrictions and staff unavailability. Having sat in interminable charter meetings with EA & boater reps talking in circles, I'd suggest that it's a waste of time and should be abandoned. The days of fully staffed locks with forelock tugging keepers smiling at you as you pass through a lock collecting your sixpence/shilling disappeared in the late 1970s.

Assisted passage on the Thames is a UK tax payer subsidised leisure activity and its days are numbered. I suggest you stop moaning and start enjoying the river for what it is while you can, smile benevolently at the keepers who still care and leave them a can of beer, hopefully one that is still in date.

The EA is under no obligation to provide assisted passage and it should be remembered that a lock & weir keeper's role is primarily concerned with water level management.

I think that response has just about crystallised my thoughts to stop boating on the Thames after very many years. That will save me contaminating their precious locks.
My personal view at the moment is that the lock keepers are doing themselves no favours at all, no matter what the current grievances are with EA. The EA, as usual, has gone completely over the top with Covid related measures.
Get real. Think of all those NHS and Care Home people who have been at the real sharp end.
With the current feelings, I would fire all the lock staff and possibly retain a few reliefs to assist at specific times of high useage. Most of the lock keepers are lovely people but just get over any issues and get on with it!
I am quite sure that monitoring river levels and mechanising sluices could be done in very short order and manned from a central point.
Miket signing off!

 

[BB1]

I remember the days when lock keepers took pride in the lock, cleaned the lock walls and had beautiful gardens.
Went through Marsh at the weekend, bottom gates had weeds growing out of them, lock walls all slimey and industrial fencing everywhere, as if Joe public is going to raid the house.....it's pathetic.

And before you say its all about health and safety, thats a joke.

Bring back the Thames Conservancy I say.......