Useless design

It is a joy to see British Waterway on the Llangollen replacing the muddy puddles produced by their last ideas at what a towpath and lock surrounds should be made of (grit) with some new brick quadrants.

But who designed them? Obviously some office bound expert who has never actually used their bum in anger on a lock beam writes Ruth Cragg.

All important first heave

The result—an attractive set of raised  bricks, as seen in the photograph but no raised bit on the all important first heave. It reminds one of a similar design that won some architect £50,000 in a contest to design quadrants for the Garrison Flight on the BCN some years back. British Waterways never learn.

The second photograph shows the locks as they used to be, with raised bricks in the correct position to get that first heave.

[Our Jan Green agrees, adding that it is mostly at new locks that the raised bricks do not go to the most needed part, or are somewhere in the middle of the beam so you cannot get a good purchase with your feet.]