A leisurely 8:00am start this morning just after another fuel barge had passed. They just seem to go on forever and fill the very long locks. Ony one lock to do before turning onto the New Junction Canal. The the sequence of mechanised swing and lift bridges. Aproaching Sykehouse Lock we were surprised to see a red light. 
Thus far all the locks have been on yellow light, meaning Do it Yourself. A red light means moor up, the lock is in use. So no sooner had I got a rope round a bollard than the gates opened and a BW workboat came out and the light turned green. The lock-keeper let us in and shut the gates, but apologised that we would have to leave us to it as he had to go and operate the swing bridge we had just left. Sykehouse lock has a swingbridge right across the middle and this has to be swung and the barriers closed before the lock can be operated, all done with the key in the bridge console. It takes ages. After that, soon we reached Bramwith Junction with the Keadby Canal carryng on to Barnby Dun, where we stopped for lunch. There is a large lift bridge here on a busy road which Pat was dreading, however it was a fast lift and didn't cause too muc problem in the end. There are visitor moorings past the bridge, but they are right by the road and not very pleasant for an overnight. Long Sandall Lock visitor moorings (above the lock) on the other hand are very attractive, with lawn, picnic tables, barbecue area and garden all beautifully kept. Stop here on the way back methinks. We could have stopped here today, but Suffering as we do with pressonitis, we were aiming for Sprotbrough. Quite a deep lock here, but useful bollards halfway down in the lock chamber. The visitor moorings are past the bridge and reasonable enough and quiet in a pretty spot.
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