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Sutton stop at a stop!!


pete23

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There are deeper locks than Somerton  but I'm not convinced Tardebigge Top is one of them. The 14 feet claim seems to owe more the legend than fact! I think Somerton seems deep because it is between one normal lock and one very shallow one (Aynho Weir)

I think the deepest narrow lock is Vinegar lock on the Ashton, at around 14 feet. Maple probably take 16 of a list of  top 20 deepest narrow locoz though.

32 minutes ago, Scholar Gypsy said:

Somerton is 12' rise, so not as great as a number of others (eg Tardebigge is 14'). Maybe the reason it has a reputation as a particularly deep lock is that it is (I think) the deepest lock with a single bottom gate?

I haven't checked but off the top of my head Somerton would be the deepest with a single bottom gate yes.

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Love the cottage with no road access next to somerton, i guess the little speed boat that was moored at the next bridge down when i passed both times is the owners access to a car?

It does say something in my map about somerton lock being the deepest on the network, i think!

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Tardebigge is more often quoted as 11'. I suspect the 14' dimension comes from an assumption that the other 29 locks all conform to the same 7' fall of the locks on the Offerton, Astwood and Stoke flights with which they share a design. Assuming the overall 217' fall is correct subtracting 29x7 gives you 14'.

I must admit I often look at it from the inside and think it's bigger than 11'.

JP

 

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3 hours ago, magpie patrick said:

There are deeper locks than Somerton  but I'm not convinced Tardebigge Top is one of them. The 14 feet claim seems to owe more the legend than fact! I think Somerton seems deep because it is between one normal lock and one very shallow one (Aynho Weir)

I think the deepest narrow lock is Vinegar lock on the Ashton, at around 14 feet. Maple probably take 16 of a list of  top 20 deepest narrow locoz though.

I haven't checked but off the top of my head Somerton would be the deepest with a single bottom gate yes.

Useful list;

 

http://www.penninewaterways.co.uk/locks.htm

Marple Top lock isn't a particularly deep lock for Marple

 

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2 hours ago, ditchcrawler said:

From someone on Facebook who has measured it Etruria top lock has a fall of 14' 1" 

I wonder how they measured it. To do it correctly would require taking the level of the crests of the by-wash weirs in the upper and lower pounds. Bear in mind that all these dimensions change with water levels.

JP

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4 minutes ago, Captain Pegg said:

I wonder how they measured it. To do it correctly would require taking the level of the crests of the by-wash weirs in the upper and lower pounds. Bear in mind that all these dimensions change with water levels.

JP

The discrepancy from the accepted values suggests measurement error;

  • Was the lower pound not at weir (very common, it is a short pound)
  • Did they measure from lower water level to coping level rather than upper water level.
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So now the damage is put down to a collision, not to vandalism. Although it doesn't help the boaters waiting on the Oxford much (for those unfamiliar with the place, boats on the Coventry section do have room to turn round and go back) I'm rather pleased to learn that.

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27 minutes ago, mayalld said:

The discrepancy from the accepted values suggests measurement error;

  • Was the lower pound not at weir (very common, it is a short pound)
  • Did they measure from lower water level to coping level rather than upper water level.

I also suspect the measured fall was coper to water level when empty. I would call that the wrong method rather than a measurement error. It may have measured with little error (although I would wager a bet it wasn't).

JP

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4 minutes ago, Athy said:

So now the damage is put down to a collision, not to vandalism. Although it doesn't help the boaters waiting on the Oxford much (for those unfamiliar with the place, boats on the Coventry section do have room to turn round and go back) I'm rather pleased to learn that.

Dont forget, mooring is not the best either on the oxford side, maybe 15 boats then rough bank thats hard to get on, then that nasty stretch where the old power station was, i wouldnt want to be moored up there for too long.

Hopefully people are doubling up.

You would of thought they would have put a sign up at the last winding hole so at least people have the option to turn around and head south again.

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8 minutes ago, Dave Payne said:

Dont forget, mooring is not the best either on the oxford side, maybe 15 boats then rough bank thats hard to get on, then that nasty stretch where the old power station was, i wouldnt want to be moored up there for too long.

Hopefully people are doubling up.

You would of thought they would have put a sign up at the last winding hole so at least people have the option to turn around and head south again.

Perhaps they have done, or posted a CART bod or a volunteer (Volturnie?) there to inform and advise people.

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8 hours ago, Athy said:

Perhaps the figure of 12 feet refers to the fall, rather than to the actual depth which will of course be several feet greater.

The falls quoted for locks in any normal situation are the differences in level between upper and lower pound.  Quoting the physical depth of a lock would be a highly unusual thing to do.

Somerton has a fall of about 12 feet - deep for the Oxford, but plenty of similar or deeper locks elsewhere.

Edited by alan_fincher
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1 minute ago, alan_fincher said:

The falls quoted for locks in any normal situation are the differences in level between upper and lower pound.  Quoting the physical depth of a lock would be a highly unusual thing to do.

As I thought - but it was the only reason I could think of for Somerton Deep being quoted as 19 feet.

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2 minutes ago, Athy said:

As I thought - but it was the only reason I could think of for Somerton Deep being quoted as 19 feet.

It certainly will not be 19 feet even measured from top of coping stones to base of lock. There simply isn't anything approaching 7 feet of water in an empty narrow lock.

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29 minutes ago, Athy said:

So now the damage is put down to a collision, not to vandalism. Although it doesn't help the boaters waiting on the Oxford much (for those unfamiliar with the place, boats on the Coventry section do have room to turn round and go back) I'm rather pleased to learn that.

This stoppage is relevant to us because there is a gathering of Hudson boats for a "bit of a do" at Glascote basin this weekend. We are the right side of the stoppage but unfortunately some of our friends aren't. Apparently, and this is according to my friend who is the wrong side  who got it from another Hudson owner who was just about to go into the lock and so saw it first hand, there was some sort of metal protrusion from the open lock gate, perhaps a bolt or the like. As a boat came out of the lock, this bolt or whatever popped into a small opening on the boat (maybe a gas locker vent, or other such aperture) and was consequently ripped along, damaging the wood and then, when it released, scoring the side of their boat.

So where "vandalism" came from, who knows. Let's hope it was just a point of confusion and not an attempt by CRT to deflect blame away from a poorly-maintained lock gate.

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2 minutes ago, nicknorman said:

So where "vandalism" came from, who knows. Let's hope it was just a point of confusion and not an attempt by CRT to deflect blame away from a poorly-maintained lock gate.

I imaging there are set templates for the stoppage alerts and 'Vandalism' was the nearest one someone found for where something is damaged and they don't know the reasons why yet.  I don't think CRT can win at times, if they'd delayed getting the stoppage notice out because they were checking all the facts first people would complain about the delay.  Surely much better to get some kind of notice out first and sort out the technicalities later.

Personally I find the fact the lock is closed of more use than the wording used.

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6 minutes ago, IanM said:

 

Personally I find the fact the lock is closed of more use than the wording used.

...as I'm sure we all do, but "accidental damage" leaves less of a nasty taste in one's mouth than "wanton vandalism".

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