24. Brian the lock keeper and tales of a lock keeper

When you have been doing the same job for nigh on thirty five years you become a bit staid and in this scenario, the person in question is very staid indeed. We have known the lock keeper in question for many years and his running of Whitchurch lock has been shipshape and Bristol fashion.

Brian is always impeccably turned out, and always, always wears his hat, his lifejacket and his shoes are always polished so much that even passersby’s  can see his ugly mug in the reflection from his shoes.

He is a mild mannered man who has seen many things come and go over the years concerning locks. He has seen the gradual reduction in retained lock keepers, being replaced by relief part-timers, the hydraulic systems now being used by passing boaters, thus reducing the number of lock keepers required and there has been proposals by the Environmental agency to flog off the houses and thus effectively making the statement that we don’t need full time lock keepers living on-site. He told us “The boater only sees part of a lock-keepers duties and that we should read an article that a friend of mine   wrote some years ago. Just wait there a minute” he said “and popped into his office . Lo and behold, he just had to have a copy at hand

Take a look at the passage below reader, and make up your own mind!

These are just a few recollections of the many various incidents to which a lock keeper was called upon to assist 'out of hours', during his years as a Thames Lock-keeper. 

Teddington, about 1960, 1930 hours onward. 

A river lighterage tug was towing four x 200 tonne barges past Teddington weir, which was nearly fully drawn. Due to the strength of the flow of the river, barges 3 and 4 snapped their tow ropes and smashed into the guard piles in front of the weir smashing them down. I notified the District Inspector and engineers. 

While the tug towed barges 1 and 2 up to Kingston Power Station, we shut in both main roller sluices. When the tug returned they managed to tow barges 3 and 4 away from the weir and up to Kingston. We then had to wind the roller sluices back up again and it was well after midnight by the time we had finished. 

Eynsham 1968. 

There was a huge storm, mid afternoon. We were almost fully closed but by about 23:00 we were fully drawn. The rain had to be seen to be believed. I phoned local farmers to warn them that there could be serious flooding and to move any cattle. The flooding was so severe it lasted for over two weeks and disrupted Henley Regatta that year. 

Eynsham Lock Island 

Eynsham Lock Island had a camping site on it and around the outside there were summer moorings. One weekend there was quite a large organised party of lads camping. During the evening one of the organisers called me as one of the lads had been taken ill. I called an ambulance and sent one of the other lads up to the road to direct the ambulance to the lock. While we were waiting it was discovered that this was an attempted suicide. The lad and tablets were taken to hospital in Oxford where he made a complete recovery. 

On another occasion one of the boaters was stung in the mouth by a wasp, which was causing the throat to swell. I decided to take him and his wife to hospital in Oxford rather than wait for an ambulance to come out. When we arrived, the boater could hardly breathe. The doctors commended me for my prompt action and said that if he had waited for the ambulance, he could have died. After midnight they arrived back at the lock by taxi, having recovered after treatment. 

Sonning 

Late one Saturday evening a member of the public reported that a huge beech tree had fallen in the Bluecoat Woods, across the towpath and had crushed a boat moored on the bank. I went to investigate and found the timeshare boat 'Heron of Streatley'' with the whole of its cabin and wheelhouse smashed onto the deck. The two occupants, a young couple, were being helped by other boaters. They were much shaken, but luckily unhurt, considering that they both could have been killed. I notified the District Inspector and engineers and the couple notified the timeshare company. In the meantime, my step-son arranged for the couple to stay at The Bull Hotel for the night. An hour or so later the Inspector, engineers and timeshare rep arrived to assess the damage. The timeshare company arranged for the couple and their belongings to be collected from the Bull. The tree gang and tug 'Cherwell' arrived to clear the branches from 'Heron of Streatley' and to re-open the blocked towpath. This took about three days. Cherwell took Heron back up to Streatley, where it was sent away to be rebuilt. 

During my time at Sonning I found 2 bodies and assisted the Police in recovering them. This involved altering the flow via the weir gates to enable the police diving team to work in slack water. 

Over the years I have been called to various emergencies, one involving a non-swimmer, with no life-jacket, on his own, having fallen into the lock. He had nearly drowned when we pulled him out. 

The most unusual incident was when I was called out at about 04:00 to a couple on a boat in distress. She had a kidney swap and she feared it was being rejected. I called an ambulance and took charge of their boat. She went to the Royal Berkshire Hospital for treatment. Good News! She recovered and they were able to continue home after a couple of days moored up. 

During high water, flooding etc I got a lot of calls from local businesses, Parish Councils and residents wanting a local update and this I was able to give. They all found the EA Flood line gave general information, and not local. 

Other regular enquires were for headroom at Sonning bridge. This I would calculate for them at the time. Over the years I was called out many times because of boats breaking adrift from their overnight moorings, usually because passing craft had been speeding and had worked the mooring pins out of the bank. On one occasion I had to rescue a family from the weir in the lock dinghy as they couldn't re-start their engine.