When we arrived at Cookham Lock, we had to wait about an hour to pass through the lock and so chatted to the lock keeper Adam about the lock itself .He was quite an authority it seems on the history of the lock. He told us “It is here at Cookham that the powerful waters of the Thames meet the Chiltern chalk at Cliveden Cliff which causes the river to change direction suddenly. Centuries ago, this area would have been a maze of narrow river channels between wooded, marshy islands”.
He continued to add, “The need for a lock here emerged in the 1700s when it seemed that the river at Cookham was a very dangerous place to be because large chalk stones fell from Clivedon Cliff and in doing so hit three barges causing them to sink. Eventually around 1830 the first pound lock was constructed.”
The Cabin Boy said “You can certainly talk can’t you “ to which Adam replied “Yes well I used to be in sales for twenty years ,and you had to talk then in order to get customers confidence in your products” .He finished his conversation by telling us about that the “Queen's Swan Upper and his crew visit Cookham Lock every year to record the swan population and that this ritual began when swans were considered an important food for royal banquets and feasts. The lock keeper looked surprised when the Captain said “Yep I know all about that you know, I was with him last year ringing swans at the Abbotsbury Swannery. “A bit of a twitcher then?” added Adam. The Cabin Boy laughed and said, “More like a cross between a tit, a bitch and a twit”
When we passed through the lock, the Cabin Boy turned to the First Mate and asked, “He didn’t really tell us much about why they built locks in the first place did he First Mate, perhaps you can tell us?”The First Mate replied, “Well Billy Boy, it’s all about regulating water flow. Before they built locks and weirs on rivers, there was no control of water flow. In the winter, after heavy rain, there would be floods, with water running everywhere creating unnavigable marshlands, and in the summer, the lack of rain would cause droughts, with not enough water to support boats. Therefore, what happened was some millers built weirs right across the river in order to control the flow, but it meant that people in boats couldn’t get past the weir. The millers were forced, I think under some part of Magna Carta, to provide some mechanism whereby boats could pass through them. So a part of the weir was removable to allow the passage of boats”. “Thanks First Mate but what’s that bit about Magna Carta then?”.”Well later on in our journey, we will be going pass Runneymede , where the Magna Carta was signed but essentially part of it states that people in boat had the right to travel along rivers and streams unhindered. These weirs with removable sections were referred to as flash locks but they were still very dangerous, you just thing of suddenly lifting a weir gate today and see what happens. So in the early 1600’s they built pound locks alongside weirs, and in simple terms these are just long chambers and work on the principle that water finds its own level. Boats enter at one level and leave at another level, the level being controlled by opening and closing gates and lifting or dropping sluice gates”
Just after Cookham lock we pulled over, and moored up at Bell Rope Meadow and decided to go for a walk in order to stretch our legs. We passed through the local churchyard (Holy Trinity) along Ferry Lane and into Cookham itself.
At the road junction, we saw a funny looking building, which looked like a cross between a chapel and a post office, and popped over the road to see what it was. It turned out to be the Stanley Spencer Gallery.
The First Mate said ,“That Stanley Spencer was a bit of a weirdo you know, apparently he used to wear his pajamas’ over his clothes in order to keep warm, and used to push this old pram ,which contained his painting kit all over the village when he was in his painting mood”. And sure enough just as we entered the gallery, there were several pictures of him with this old beaten up pram. The First Mate continued, “He became infatuated with this woman and his missus divorced him”.”Well really First Mate, I can’t see how that makes him a weirdo”.”Well lads, you see “laughed the First Mate,” After he married this woman, he had to turn over his house to this woman who turned out to be a dyke and he had to go and live with them both. Apparently, and despite the fact that he painted several pictures of her nude, but she never allowed the marriage to be consummated.
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