What makes a barge a barge and not a boat?
Apparently it's to do with it's bottom! Barges are flat-bottomed and designed for narrow channels with shallow draughts, but, nonetheless, a barge is still a boat. So, all barges are boats, but clearly not all boats are barges. Just to confuse the issue, I've been reliably informed that submarines are boats too, and ships aren't... ships are ships (or targets if you're in a boat under the sea!!), submarines are boats. Confused? I am!! However, Ratty knowingly informs us that "there is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats" (from 'Wind in the Willows' by Kenneth Grahame), quite which boats you choose to mess around in probably doesn't matter, so long as you're enjoying it!
My niece and nephews enjoy it very much indeed. With their dad being in charge of their local Sea Scouts, they spend a lot of time in and on the water. I went up one evening a couple of days ago to watch them in action at Redesmere in Cheshire,
just a few miles out of Macclesfield by Capesthorne Hall. Hmm, another question then... what's the difference between a mere and a lake? Well, apparently a mere is usually man-made and is wider than it is deep.
A lake can be as deep as you like and is often a natural feature created by local geomorphology and resultant water-course characteristics. Or something. It may be that there isn't any real difference at all, but there is certainly a difference in origin of the words. 'Lake' comes from the latin lacus, meaning a large body of inland water, and 'mere' comes from an old scandinavian word meaning 'pool'. According to Wikipedia anyway, and it sounds good to me!
So, anyway, messing about on the water is fine but I'm rather more suited to watching others messing about on the water... at least when it comes to boats with sails on and stuff anyway! I love to watch and I also like bimbling round the edge looking at the wildlife and waterlife.
It's always beautiful and always relaxing... so long as I stay on the edge!! I'm not unhappy on canals however, having spent many a great holiday on narrowboats when we were kids. I loved it, and would love to do it again now given a chance (and a lifejacket!!).
It's my fondness for the canals that led me to Bratch Locks just outside of Wombourne on the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal.
The canal was first opened in May 1772 and is the result of a labour of love by the great James Brindley, canal engineer extraordinaire! He envisioned a 'Great Cross' that would link the sea ports of Hull, Liverpool and Bristol, using canals to connect the rivers Trent, Mersey and the Severn. Genius!!
Bratch locks are unique in Britain. Although they look like a staircase set of locks, each lock is in fact separate, albeit by a few feet. A staircase flight of locks, such as Neptune's Staircase at Fort William, is created where the bottom gate of a higher lock also acts as a top gate of the lock beneath it. Bratch locks however are quite separate, with a few feet between gates and each lock having its own top and bottom gate. The gap between them allows room to open the gates, but not to allow boats to sit or pass (unless you're on a lilo or something of course!!). It's also not enough room to allow water to drain from the lock above, so a system of side ponds has been devised that allows the locks to drain safely and not to flood. These side ponds are pretty as well as functional, with reeds and moorhens and brick-built weirs.
Another lovely feature at Bratch locks is the octagonal tollhouse at the Bratch Upper Bridge.
It is a fantastic wee building and the lock-keeper still uses it today. What a great place to go to work every day!! Yep, there's really nothing half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats!
Rebecca, x
www.rtphotographics.co.uk
rebecca@rtphotographics.co.uk
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