Paddle Gear - Bude Canal

[1st ade]

I took advantage of a spare hour in Bude last week to walk from Bude Sea Lock up to the A39. I was slightly puzzled by the paddle gear on the first (non-sea) lock.

The top ground paddles looked fairly conventional, albeit with a chain and wedge instead of a pawl.

The bottom gate paddle had some sort of strange mechanism where the windlass sits. It appeared to be much more modern than the rest of the gear. Size converter? Ingenious anti-vandal device (on a lock that can't be reached by boat except with a trailer?)

[Sea Dog]

Not a part of the system I'll be travelling by boat, although that "seagoing" Narrowboat did I believe. I do rather like the Barge Cafe there though and it's a nice destination when the motorbike needs an airing. Looking at the unusual paddle gear might be an excuse for that - it doesn't take much!

[magpie patrick]

The top ground paddles, whilst not original were there and in use during the many years the canal was closed: they were used for water level management. It's a fair bet that any repairs and replacements over the years were "like for like" so they are probably what was in use when the canal last operated

The bottom paddles are completely new, the gates had long gone, these look like they may have bought off the shelf winding gear and adapted it?

Anyone brave enough to reach the sea lock then needs an air draft of less than 3 feet to fit under Falcon Bridge, so these locks won't see many visitors from afar!

[Pluto]

A photo of the Bude Canal lock taken by Gordon Biddle in 1987, with a detail of the top paddle.

[magpie patrick]

1st Ade's pics are of one of the two locks further up the canal - can't tell whether it's Rodd's Bridge or Whalesborough without a wider view. Pluto's are of the Sea Lock - probably the only lock in the UK that lowers you onto the beach!

[1st ade]

21 minutes ago, magpie patrick said:

1st Ade's pics are of one of the two locks further up the canal - can't tell whether it's Rodd's Bridge or Whalesborough without a wider view. Pluto's are of the Sea Lock - probably the only lock in the UK that lowers you onto the beach!

Rodd's bridge - I also have pictures of the Sea Lock and Marhamchurch Incline when I work out how to get them off my phone!

[max's son]

so are there many narrowboats use this canal?

http://www.thepost.uk.com/article.cfm?id=107909&headline=Narrowboat headed for Bristol gets stuck in low tide&sectionIs=news&searchyear=2017

[Heartland]

I suspect both locks at Rodd's Bridge and Whalesborough had similar gear. When Joan Rendell produced her book Along the Bude Canal in 1979 she included a picture of Rodd's Bridge Lock.  which has similar lock gear to the modern image.  From here the canal continued to Hele Bridge and then reached the base of the Marhamchurch Incline Plane.  The Ordnance survey of 1883/84 shows the River Strat entered the canal for a brief length and then diverged again. The two locks were north of this short river section- images attached- Rodd's Bridge Lock and 1st Ordnance Survey, Cornwall (V NE) . Craft on this waterway were of the tub boat type.

Edited July 31, 2017 by Heartland

[pete harrison]

2 hours ago, max's son said:

so are there many narrowboats use this canal?

From late 1985 to early 1998 there was a converted / counter sterned B.C.N. day boat tied in the length above Bude Sea lock (more or less opposite the Falcon Hotel). This boat made its way to Bude by articulated lorry and was used as a bookshop. Prior to moving to Bude this boat was named MOUNTBATTEN VENTURER and was operated by the City of Birmingham Social Services Department having been converted by Malcolm Braine in the mid 1970's, and once at Bude it was renamed ARK ANGEL. On its return to the main canal system - again by articulated lorry - this boat was rebuilt with an undercloth type cabin conversion with a conventional type back cabin and engine room, and is now named ARC ANGEL as its owner is a welder / fabricator / boat builder