I have been monitoring the River Thames website because of all the rain we have been having and the flood stories on the television news. Yesterday afternoon pretty well all the "boards" went red which means that navigation is definitely not recommended because of the strong flows. Whilst the lock keepers cannot stop you setting out, I imagine that any insurance company would not look favourably on a claim should some accident occur. So our plans will have to be changed and accordingly this morning we turned round and set off back up the canal aiming now for Paddington and beyond? Sunshine this morning although it didn't last. The River Brent was now quiet, but the forest of dead wood, log and general rubbish still marked the top of Clitheroe's Lock. Care is needed, but all can be pushed out of the way if you are patient. The only thing was that Pat forgot her windlass there. Leaving a windlass at a lock is an occupational hazard I suppose and there is no hard and fast way of eradicating that risk. One has to go back, or pay the fine (a new windlass). This is where the bike comes in to its own and a rescue takes only a little time. It's just the inconveneince of getting the bike out of the cupboard. Moving on, we started up the Hanwell flight. I was still moored at the bottom when Pat went ahead to set the next lock up, which was full. The resultant surge from the bywash blew me across the canal with little I could do about it. This reminded me that this is a really good way to mess up the water level in the pounds in a lock flight i.e. send it all down the bywashes. Ideally, each lock should be filled by the water from the lock above, so that none goes down the bywash, although in terms of wasteage it is only the lockfull that is taken out of the top pound that really counts. There seem to be quite a few minor faults on the Hanwell Flight, the most serious in terms of potential cost being a leak through the lock wall into the side pond at 93. It takes longer both to fill and empty the lock as a result and is wasting water. I wont list the rest here, but Peter, the volunteer lock-keeper we have met before, knows all about them. This morning he says he found the pound above 92 about 18" down and many paddles in the flight left up. Rain or no rain it is bad to waste water which is what this amounts to.
At Bulls Bridge we turned right for the Paddington arm. At present we are moored at the park near Willowtree Marina. Might be a good place to get a few little jobs done if we stay here tomorrow.