Not the usual way to fill a lock

It's been an exciting day's locking through Birmingham. Fellow blogger Andy, aka Captain Ahab, came to lend a hand as I went down the Camp Hill Locks and up Ashted and Farmer's Bridge Locks.

We'd done only three or four locks when it all ground to a halt. The pound between the bottom lock of the Camp Hill flight and the bottom lock of the Ashted flight was very low, preventing boats from continuing. The only answer was to run more water in from the pounds above, having first checked that the top lock of the Garrison flight was properly closed.


Andy borrowed my bike to whizz back up the Camp Hill flight and let water down from the summit pound (long enough not to be affected too much). In the process at least one intermediate pound became slightly flooded, leading to this rather unconventional way of filling the lock Jubilee was waiting in.


I like the wiggly paths the water takes as it runs off the side of the lock.

There is more to this story, but it will have to wait. It didn't end well for one boat.