Johnson's Hillock - Walk Guide - Section 04
Below the fifth lock, the canal turns almost through a right angle. When emptying this lock, the paddle on the towpath side of the lock should be opened first. It encourages the water in the short section of canal below the lock to circulate in a clockwise direction. This helps the boat leaving the lock to turn left through ninety degrees, and enter the lock below easily. If the other paddle was raised, the anticlockwise circulation forced the boat against the towpath, away from the lower lock. Boatmen would always use natural forces, such as water flow or the wind, to make handling the boat easier. There was no point in working against Nature.
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A panel here shows how horses towed boats. The tow line was about eighty feet in length, and the boat was towed from a mast fitted centrally in the boat about one third of the boat's length back from the bow. Because the horse was on the towpath, the tow line tended to pull the boat towards the bank, so someone was always needed to steer. Now continue down to the junction with the main Lancaster Canal at the seventh lock.
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