Black Boy Bridge 69 to Kixley Lane Bridge 72

Topics of conversation this morning on the Geraghty zoom, breakfast parties, the B&B at Wigrams Turn and living with someone who isn’t there. We have a sound engineer in the family who is currently busy at the New York Open working for Eurosport.

We decided to nudge on uphill a bit today. At bridge 70 we passed the Kings Arms a slightly more expensive pub for food than that of The Black Boy. Here bridge 70 has been half painted cream. With the effort to reach the centre line I’m surprised they didn’t finish the job.

After about a mile we could see Knowle Locks rising up the hill ahead of us. We’ve been down them before once but never gone up and it would be a first time for Oleanna on the flight.

The locks are positioned so that if there is any wind anywhere in the UK it will also be here, ready to push your boat off course. Jackie from NB Mad Hatter had suggested the other day that it was safer to open both gates making it safer to move from lock to lock. The walk round the wide pounds between locks makes it just that bit far to walk back and forth to open and close gates or set ahead if there are only two of you, so I was relieved to see blue t-shirts about the flight.

Two volunteers walked up to the bottom lock, one lady left to wind a paddle, the other walked uphill. I opened the bottom gate, Mick entered and sat by the off side wall. The lady was about to lift the opposite paddle. Mick suggested it would be better to lift the same side paddle, to which she replied ‘Oh you only need to do one paddle on these’. Did she know that Knowle Locks are counter intuitive? Or did she not know that opening the paddle on the same side as your boat normally makes for a smoother passage up a lock? It was the latter! I managed to open my paddle quicker bringing Oleanna back to the side she’d started off at.

The next lock was being set for us and a gate opened ready for Mick to transit across the pound. After closing the gate I walked up to the top paddles for the lock and started to wind the same side paddle. It was a little bit stiff, but no more than any at Hatton or Stockton. The volunteer asked if I wanted him to do it, well, thank you, but no thank you. I love doing locks, especially if they are a bit of a challenge at times, with it being Oleanna’s first time through Knowle I wanted to work the locks even more and would have felt deprived if the volunteers had just taken over. He understood and left me to it, having a chat instead.

Above the lady waited and waited before emptying the third lock. In fact she waited for the lock gate to be open on our lock. I walked round the wide pound and could see she was really struggling with the paddle. I offered to wind the paddle, my long reach windlass and diet giving me more of a pie advantage to lift the stiff paddle. It rose, the lock emptied and the volunteers moved on up to the next in the flight.

I opened the bottom gate then very quickly realised that the wind was now a factor and rushed round to the other side to open the other gate as Oleanna was being blown right across and might even miss the entrance to the lock all together. We managed to rectify the situation.

Fourth lock and both gates were waiting open for us, phew! The number of volunteers on the flight was at least six and we were only their third boat of the day. Another volunteer headed to the top lock and started to empty it as Mick crossed the pound between the third and fourth locks. Water started to pour over the by washes, so much for saving water!

At the top lock we now had three volunteers, two at the bottom gates and one at a top paddle. Mick pointed in my direction requesting that the same side paddle be wound first, the chap on the other side stopped and waited before Mick gave him a nod when the lock was about half full, Oleanna sat comfortably to one side of the lock and rose.

By the top lock was a blue gazebo, the Knowle Society had joined with C&RT to have a stand at the locks today as it is the first day of Heritage Open Days. This runs for ten days each year in September. It’s well worth checking the website for possible places to visit. Three years ago we visited numerous places in Leamington Spa and Warwick that you don’t normally get chance to see and the year before in Preston we got to walk round the Egyptian balcony in the Harris Museum.

We pootled on a short distance to near Kixley Lane Bridge, this would do us for the day. Once Tilly had had her initial explore and we’d had lunch we walked into Knowle for a touch of shopping.

The first building you come across is a very jolly house. Yellow walls, red front door, green window frames and the garage door is bright blue around the corner. It could nearly be a house painted by @lucyknit, but then again it’s a little bit tame for her.

A village cricket match was on going, the nearest thing Mick would be getting to test cricket this weekend! We called in at Tescos for a few things and then found our way to Knowle Parish Church. Here today you could climb the tower (part of Heritage Open Days), but only until 3pm and it was 3pm. We had a look around inside.

The original church was consecrated 1403 and was saved during the reformation by the villagers pleading that crossing the River Blyth to reach the church in Hampton was often impossible due to flooding. Through the centuries extensions were built, an organ loft, south aisle and the tower increased in height.

The first bells (three) were hung in 1687, these were recast for Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubliee and by 1931 the church had eight bells.

In the soldiers chapel there is a fine stained glass window but the walls caught my eye more. Here stencilled artwork covers the walls in an almost William Morris style. Stained glass windows from various eras cast coloured light throughout the building. My favourite by Heaton, Butler and Bayne, a Pre Raphaelite window depicting George and the Dragon.

5 locks, 1.56 miles only, 7 vlockies, 1 paddle, 0 pies, 0 life jacket, 2 gates, 139 for 8, 3pm, 1 Saturday newspaper, 1 sound engineer in NY, 2031 leaves finished, 1557 to go.