David: Mystery of the vanishing lock keeper

WE CAME down the Thames from Teddington to Brentford, having phoned Brentford to say we were coming. When we arrived, no sign of a lock keeper or any other activity.

Phone calls from ourselves and other boaters were unanswered and only when nearly half an hour had elapsed and five boats were swanning around below the locks (there is no proper lock landing) did the paired locks begin to empty.

A figure was just discernible in the cabin, but at no time did he leave the cabin to examine licences or explain the delay. We were simply allowed to proceed to the next (boater-operated) lock and try and work things out for ourselves. Not much of a welcome to CaRT waters.

Lots of lock keepers

Then came the exact opposite. On the bottom lock of Hanwell Fflight was a notice inviting us to call a mobile number to ask for assistance from volunteer lock keepers. I called and we were promised a meeting as soon as a boat had come down.

There appeared not one but two and eventually three men who proceeded to lock us up the flight with efficiency and charm. The one I spoke to while giving him a lift between locks said he knew nothing about canals before he volunteered, but he was loving it. They knew their business and the flight (not one of my favourites) was a breeze—since I was single handed, the help was especially welcome.

The notice was an excellent idea that could be expanded by having a contact number to request assistance say 24 hours in advance—it would be especially useful for little used flights—Perry Bar for example, and might well increase the usage.

Towards Paddington

I turned off the Grand Union onto the Paddington Arm (not 'branch' as the new bridge number plates have it) and was immediately struck by the absence of graffiti—every bridge had been over painted and not (yet) newly disfigured. I don't know how long ago this was done—for the Olympics perhaps? But it is very welcome and I hope it is kept up and extended to other urban areas. I wish I could I could be as positive about the litter, but you can't have everything.

I went to CaRT's website to find out what the mooring limits are in Paddington Basin and found that although all the visitor moorings are listed, no indication is given of the time restrictions of any of them. Since this can vary from 24 hours to 14 days, I would have thought it would be useful information to have and not very difficult to include, since the list of visitor moorings already exists.

Competition for CaRT

The government has announced that English Heritage (except for the part that decides on listed building status) is to be spun off as a charity, under arrangements that sound very similar to CaRT. Unlike CaRT English Heritage already has a substantial membership, since they can be offered something in return—free entry to properties. Given that there is yet another heritage charity—the granddaddy of them all, the National Trust—also in existence, there is going to be an awful lot of competition for the Heritage pound and volunteers; I hope there is enough to go round.

One wonders whether there is scope for some mergers a little later on—after all, what is the canal system other than a very large heritage site? We have just cruised the National Trust operated Wey, and I was impressed with how well kept it all was. How about a National Heritage and Waterway Trust to do the lot?

David Hymers