Title
Foxton Canal
Subject
Foxton Canal
Description
Ralph Moulds describes the operation of the canal locks at Foxton during the 1930s and 1940s.
Creator
East Midlands Oral History Archive
Source
EMOHA
Publisher
EMOHA
Date
1987
Contributor
Photograph courtesy of Canal & River Trust: Herbert Dunkley collection. To use seek permission from https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/
Rights
You may use this item in accordance with the licence http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/uk/
Format
.mp3
Type
Oral History
Duration
1 min 50 sec
Transcription
Interviewer: How long would it take to get through the locks in them days?
Mr Moulds: One hour.
Interviewer: One hour?
Mr Moulds: With 50 ton. If anybody went to look they wouldn’t believe it but you can do it in the hour can’t you? We can do it with our little cruiser here on just under 40 minutes.
Interviewer: Now when you got to a lock there would be a lock keeper wouldn’t there?
Mr Moulds: In them days yes, these days they’re idiots. You’ve got to tell them whether it’s a lock.
Interviewer: So what was the procedure when you got to a lock? There’s a toll to pay isn’t there?
Mr Moulds: Well when you got to the top lock of Foxton, if you hadn’t been before, you’ve just got to put your studying cap on. ‘Cos when you’re first up, ‘Well how’s this lot work?’ You don’t let the water go, you don’t let it go into the next lock, so where’s it going? Well, when you get to the top lock, that’s the top of the ten, you see as all paddles are down at the bottom end, and if the lock’s empty when you get there you fill it, with one paddle at the top. When you get your boat in it you’ve got two paddles then to look after, you’ve got the one as emptied the lock as you’ve just, that goes into a pond, then you just go below that into the next lock and draw the next paddle, that water as you’re putting in out of that lock into that pond is taking it out and filling the next lot below until they both come, the water come level. The gates open, you go into the next lock, shut the gates behind you and do the same procedure, ‘til you get to the five. There’s a, what we call a meeting pound in the five, ‘cos it used to be years ago as one boat went down that five and another boat coming up that five you used to meet in the meeting pound, then nothing else couldn’t work that five ‘til you got out. But now you see a lot of tangles up, there’s boats in all directions and they don’t know where they’re going!
Mr Moulds: One hour.
Interviewer: One hour?
Mr Moulds: With 50 ton. If anybody went to look they wouldn’t believe it but you can do it in the hour can’t you? We can do it with our little cruiser here on just under 40 minutes.
Interviewer: Now when you got to a lock there would be a lock keeper wouldn’t there?
Mr Moulds: In them days yes, these days they’re idiots. You’ve got to tell them whether it’s a lock.
Interviewer: So what was the procedure when you got to a lock? There’s a toll to pay isn’t there?
Mr Moulds: Well when you got to the top lock of Foxton, if you hadn’t been before, you’ve just got to put your studying cap on. ‘Cos when you’re first up, ‘Well how’s this lot work?’ You don’t let the water go, you don’t let it go into the next lock, so where’s it going? Well, when you get to the top lock, that’s the top of the ten, you see as all paddles are down at the bottom end, and if the lock’s empty when you get there you fill it, with one paddle at the top. When you get your boat in it you’ve got two paddles then to look after, you’ve got the one as emptied the lock as you’ve just, that goes into a pond, then you just go below that into the next lock and draw the next paddle, that water as you’re putting in out of that lock into that pond is taking it out and filling the next lot below until they both come, the water come level. The gates open, you go into the next lock, shut the gates behind you and do the same procedure, ‘til you get to the five. There’s a, what we call a meeting pound in the five, ‘cos it used to be years ago as one boat went down that five and another boat coming up that five you used to meet in the meeting pound, then nothing else couldn’t work that five ‘til you got out. But now you see a lot of tangles up, there’s boats in all directions and they don’t know where they’re going!
Interviewer
S. Kirrane
Interviewee
Ralph Moulds
Location
Foxton, Harborough
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