Lock and Weir Keepers

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Redski

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Radio 4, You and Yours progamme probably (possibly) Friday 30th May.
The subject? The Lock and Weir keepers and their houses. Interviewees could include various Old Windsor residents, some lock and weir keepers wives , Head of Navigation and Recreation (Bristol) and a retired Thames Navigation and Recreation manager and Harbourmaster. Who would listen to that??
 
Sounds fascinating!
I will definitely be listening to see what they all have to say.
After all, the reduction in resident lockstaff could have a serious impact on "after-hours" safety and flooding incidents.
As the lcokkepers have been telling us, those incidents don't only happen during their working day. How long will it take someone to respond, if they live twenty miles away or more from an incident?
 
Wasn't it someone from Bristol who wrote that press release after the flooding last July that said...

" Red Boards are in force all the way from Oxford to Boveney, upsteam of... Slough! "

So they do know what they are talking about... NOT!
 
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Head of Navigation and Recreation ( Bristol )

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Says it all really, is Bristol somewhere near the source do you think?

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Great minds think alike Ian, first thing I thought when reading that was WTF has the Thames got to do with Bristol /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif
 
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Head of Navigation and Recreation ( Bristol )

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Says it all really, is Bristol somewhere near the source do you think?

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Great minds think alike Ian, first thing I thought when reading that was WTF has the Thames got to do with Bristol /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

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They're the clever souls who ordered those expensive tiny metal signs that you have to get within a couple of feet to read. The also ordered the original 8K speed signs. Not realising that boats work in Knots every last one of them had to be altered to read Kilometers so Boaters would understand that the EA speed limit calculations were not in harmony with the rest of the world.
 
"How long will it take someone to respond, if they live twenty miles away or more from an incident? "

Think you can find the police,ambulance and firefighting services will not drive any slower because the emergency is located on the river.
 
So, it's late at night and you are stuck in a lock, unable to get the gates open. When you ring 999 (as you suggest you would), which emergency service would you ask for? Police? Ambulance? Fire Service?
How soon do you think they would arrive (if they respond) /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif?
They normally struggle to find most locks, emergency or not!
 
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So, it's late at night and you are stuck in a lock, unable to get the gates open.

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This might be inconvenient and even bloody annoying but is it necessarily an emergency?

As I understand it, the EA is actually a part of the emergency services infrastructure so would be called upon by the 999 service if required.
 
Had this problem at old windsor a while ago . I was stuck in the lock and nothing worked . I know how to work a lock and trust me nothing worked .... Soooo i called the emergency number shown on the lock keepers hut and explained the situation . Finally i got put through to a call out lock smith that asked me why the **** i was calling him . Oh how we laughed .... Actually he laughed i was pissed off !
 
"So, it's late at night and you are stuck in a lock, unable to get the gates open."

Being stuck in a lock over night would be regarded by some as a rather neat method of getting a cheap overnight mooring.

Only a Thames boater could regard it as an emergency,the rest of the known universe would sit tight and hope the lockie did not arrive too early and only then release them after a good breakfast.
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I don't think it matters what the EA says, so far as I can tell most contributors are pre-programmed to ignore it as slagging them off is apparently a worthwhile use of time. I'm sorry, all this 'lives at risk' stuff is just nonsense - you know it!

What the lockies are not telling you is that they are not obliged to be available 'after hours' even now. It's entirely likely they'll be ringing bells, morris dancing or basket weaving in the village when the 'incident' happens and it'll be the relief who gets called out. What is more, if they have been down the pub or hitting the red over dinner they'll be saying they're not fit to deal with the incident even if they ARE at home.
 
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Head of Navigation and Recreation ( Bristol )

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Says it all really, is Bristol somewhere near the source do you think?

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Might be worth pointing out that the Environment Agency is a NATIONAL body of which the Thames region is but a small part. The EA is responsible for other river and navigational areas so the lady in Bristol heads up the whole UK Navigational and Recreational arena. Eileen McKeever et al will be further down the pecking order.
Some may remember that I posted here earlier that the EA gets 1 Billion pounds a year from Government so the Thames problems may have more to do with Thames Region managements ability to fight for a bigger share of the pot than their ability to actually manage the river.
 
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I don't think it matters what the EA says, so far as I can tell most contributors are pre-programmed to ignore it as slagging them off is apparently a worthwhile use of time. I'm sorry, all this 'lives at risk' stuff is just nonsense - you know it!

What the lockies are not telling you is that they are not obliged to be available 'after hours' even now. It's entirely likely they'll be ringing bells, morris dancing or basket weaving in the village when the 'incident' happens and it'll be the relief who gets called out. What is more, if they have been down the pub or hitting the red over dinner they'll be saying they're not fit to deal with the incident even if they ARE at home.

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That's right , because we're a boring , lazy lot aren't we ? /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
Not at all. I've been on the River since the 70s and it wouldn't be the same without you lot. Most lockies enhance the experience and long may that continue. But EA isn't saying you'll be absent when I'm out there - they're saying it isn't right for me the customer to be paying them through my fees to maintain houses that aren't essential for running the river. You're not being sacked and you're not being made homeless. Isn't this more about tradition? Things do have to change if they are to survive and speaking personally I think EA has done well to fight the issue off this long - it was inevitable.
 
I see your point but what is wrong with tradition? It is some of these traditions that enable the UK to be a prime tourist venue. Do we have to put a price on the beautifully tended lawns and gardens by the locks? It is all part our our unique heritage. This is just another aspect worth appealing to be maintained quite apart from the safety, security and the irreplaceable local knowledge of the river we would loose. The spokesperson for the EA on the radio this morning shot herself cleanly in the foot by admitting how little revenue would be earned by selling the houses compared to the Thames maintenance budget of some £29millions!

We should very definitely sack some of the stuffed shirts in the head office.

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Hmm, I missed it and can't pick it up on Listen Again at the moment. I don't know which stuffed shirt was on, but she's probably right - honest at least, probably best in the circs. Thing is, however small in the grand scheme, spending any of we users' money on something non-critical aint on. Like a £££ traditional uniform - ooh, might have opened an old wound there!! S'pect Byron picked up some of the old EA scrambled egg to wear on his PJs
 
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