We soon passed Hapton mooring site which was full. Then carried on on the side of the valley with spectaculasr views. Only after NORDEN does the canal find a way between two hills to make a more direct course for Blackburn. The top lock looks quite forbidding but with a new variant of top ground paddle gear. There was a lot of water running down the hill with signs of minor flooding below the second lock.
Being single in the lock made management much easier, many were full for us already, testament to the badly leaking top gates. Lock 56 had massive jets of water blasting out from the front of the cill, high enough to be worrying but not in the event dangerous. The lock-keeper was in attendance for the bottom lock where we had a short wait for opposite direction traffic. The only moving boat seen all day.
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