After yesterday’s excitement we had a good night, and made an early start at 7.30. We worked down Weston Favell, Clifford Hill, Billing, Cogenhoe (pro. “Cooknoe”), Whiston and White Mills Locks in rain and a gusty wind.
We moored above Earls Barton at 10.30. The boat was cold enough that we put the central heating on for a bit. Just as we were tying, a boat came up the lock and tied behind us. Although we were plainly mooring on the meadow edge behind the lock landing, they left the lock open for us. It should be explained that most Nene locks have to be left with the top, pointing gates shut and the lower, guillotine gate open.
The weather carried on getting worse until severe bursts of rain were coming though regularly. We didn’t know of course what other parts of the country were suffering, and in fact we were getting off lightly compared to folks further west, but it seemed bad enough to us. After lunch, the other boat went off again, still leaving the lock the wrong way round.
The river started to rise – when we’d arrived, the top gates had been just above the water level, but now the water was weiring over them. The level marker had shown 15 (cm) on arrival, but it was now heading for 25. We got concerned enough about the lock that, despite the now lashing rain, we went out and turned it.
As luck would have it, this is the first of the unconverted locks. Most of the guillotines on the Nene are electrically operated, but there’s a handful that are too far from a power supply to convert, and this is one of them. This means that you wind the gate up or down by gripping the edge of a huge wheel and pulling it round. There used to be a spindle for a windlass, but some years ago, EA Anglian Region had a serious attack of Health and Safety mania, and replaced all these spindles with these huge wheels. The problem is that it takes at least 150 turns of the wheel to raise or lower the gate, and after a few of them the main risk is of RSI in your wrists.
We got the gate raised OK, and after a bit the water level dropped slightly, before beginning to rise again. By half five it was heading for 30, and we moved onto the lock landing for the night in case it decided to go down again in the darkness. Last year here we had a fright when this happened. We’d stayed on the meadow mooring with its sloping edge, and we woke in the small hours with the boat tilting over as it settled on the edge of the meadow instead of in the deep water. We were able to get it off in time, but it wasn’t funny.
Even having secured the boat on the hard straight edge of the lock landing, it was still an anxious night, and I was up at 4.30 checking what was happening. This was that the level had stabilised just over 30, and Sanity was riding quietly on her mooring. Next question – what do we do tomorrow, boat on or stay put?
Saturday 21 July
Today is our 36th wedding anniversary, and looks as if it’s going to be an unusual one even by our standards. After our restless night, we were up to a misty morning, and went out and had a hard look at the lock at 7.00. The upper gauge now showed 45 cm, so it had risen 30 cm (ie a foot) since midday yesterday. The water was pouring over the top gates in a maelstrom. At the lower end, it looked very probable that there was only about 2 m air draught under the tail bridge. Since Sanity needs at least 2.1, it means that we wouldn’t be able to get her through. We’ll have to stay put until the river goes down.
I walked up to the village to buy a paper and some milk. This was a bit tricky – the path from the lock to the village crosses a flood meadow and then reaches a track by an old mill. There was a lot of standing water, and some small streams running over the meadow, and in several places I had no option but to wade through it, ankle deep. The weir stream was pouring through the sluices in the mill in dramatic fashion as I squelched past.
On my return to the boat, we phoned the EA recorded message line, and were told that Strong Stream Advice had been issued for the Nene. This means that some of the locks have been reversed, with their top gates chained open, and the guillotine being used as an extra sluice. Navigation in these circumstances is obviously impossible, so at least we can stay on the lock landing with a clear conscience – no one else will be coming down to use the lock.
The EA also shows SSAs on its website, but at the time of writing (Sunday) this has not been changed to show that the Nene is closed. What’s the point of giving vital info on a webpage if you don’t keep it up to date?
We settled in for a lazy day. We’ve got a good internet connection here, so we were able to keep in touch with other boaters around the country, many of whom are in far worse case than us. Our only worry is that the water tank is on about 35%, so we’ll have to do without showers and running the washing machine until we can get away and refill it.
The weather improved steadily, and was even quite sunny at times. The meadow in which the lock stands is being used to graze some cattle, and they came across and checked us out later in the day. In fact at one point we had a row of bullocks admiring themselves in the shiny side of the boat, and giving it a thoughtful lick.
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