Lock maintenance progress

The weather for the past few days has been pretty grotty as we've had more gales and rain. Today it was sunny and fairly calm so we decided to go and check on the progress of the works at the locks.

At Tarvin Lock they've put stop planks in to lower the water level in the pound up to Greenfield Lock. You can now see the culvert below the lock paddles. When the paddles are raised the water rushes down the 'hole' and into the lock to fill it.

At Greenfield Lock the BW guys were working away.

2 men were fitting the bottom gates while another was pointing the brickwork on the lock walls.

The hole you can see in the lock side in the photo below is where the water comes into the lock from the culvert above. The water flow can be very fierce if you don't raise the paddles slowly.

If you remember, on our trip into Chester before the stoppages I had to prune branches from a tree which was quite low over the canal so that we could get through.  It's now been chopped down and this is all that's left.  Some of the logs have been stacked up to 'season' ready for use as firewood.

In the other direction, the works to Northgate Staircase Locks aren't progressing very well. I spoke to one of the BW guys who told me that the works are behind schedule due to problems they've been having with hired-in plant and machinery. He did say, however, that they're hoping to make up the delay and hopefully still finish on time.

These shoes were all recovered from the locks. I suppose it makes a change from shopping trolleys and bikes.