Here we go
Having pulled pins, we gingerly made our way North from fisheries at Hemel Hempstead to Berkhamsted.
I say gingerly because the mix of low water, and lack of dredging make this stretch a bit of a nightmare for navigation. You cannot even get onto the lock landings.
10 locks, with each and every one of them leaking profusely from one set of gates, but some were leaking at both.
Exiting lock 62, it was immediately evident that the water level was down considerably. Both sides of the canal were above water, leaving a small channel allowing very restricted navigation.
Going past the small weir on our right which feeds the river bulbourne, I noticed the barge boards controlling the canals water level were totally perished, and a small channel had formed in the silt, allowing water to flow into the river, this leaving the water on the canal well below its normal level.
The next lock at winkwell (lock 61), has water coming in from the river bulbourne, and this was running freely. We scraped and bumped our way into the lock, and considered if maybe we should actually turn about and head back south, given the situation, but decided to try our luck and continue.
The pound between 61 and 60 was down by over two feet. The boats moored against the boatyard were on the bottom, and tipped over at an angle.
Lock 60 was leaking profusely from the bottom gates, but the top gates were holding. The pound between lock 60, and 59 saw its levels at 5-6 inches below normal, so gave us a welcome respite from the grating noise experienced on the bottom of the boat in previous pounds.
Lock 59 to 58 saw a drop of a foot on normal levels (even though the pump from the sewage works was continually feeding the canal).
Lock 58 bottom gates were leaking badly, and the top gates were leaking.
The pound between locks 58, and 57 were down by about a foot. Bottom gates at 57 leaking badly.
57 to lock 56 saw the pound down by a foot.
Exiting lock 56, we scraped the cill, as the pounds water levels here were down by almost 3 feet.
Lock 55 by the Rising Sun pub was a disaster, which started with the boat grounding on the entrance to the lock. We did eventually manage to enter the lock, where we settled firmly on the bottom. The pound to lock 54 was a mere stream, so it needed water dropping from lock 54. This was done, and we eventually managed to float the boat out of the lock.
In the meantime, the local CRT employee decided to show her face from her usual pastime of propping the bar up, and dictate (with beer glass in hand and boozy breath) to my partner on how to operate the lock. This was rather funny, given my partner does more lock miles in a year, than the CRT person has done in a lifetime.
Lock 54 saw us again ground on the entrance, and eventually saw us enter the lock by opening the two bottom paddles on the top gates.
All in all, a rather different picture from what CRT feeds the public, where they declare themselves as experts in managing water.
A slow decline in both daily noting of issues and maintenance have been prominent in Richard Parrys helmsmanship at the Trust. How long the system can sustain such abuse remains to be seen.
With £2.5 million spent on company cars last year, and priority being put on duck lanes, cycle lanes and providing housing for voles, I am inclined to
ask where Mr Parrys priorities actually lie? They definitely don't seem to be with navigation!
