It’s not exactly business as usual on the river on Christmas Day but the river waits for nobody so there are still things that need attending to. My Christmas morning (and that of my husband the ‘volunteer’) started with a trip to Town Lock in Weybridge. I received a report after dark on Christmas Eve that a boater was having trouble getting the gates across. Rather than fight at night we waited until first thing when we could see what we were doing.
With all the rain we’ve been having the Navigation has been closed as much as it’s been open lately. The river Thames, 2 locks down, has been in the same position. When boats don’t use locks regularly, particularly in time of high flow, they can be prone to silting up. That can be enough to stop the gates being able to sit back properly against the sill. The addition of the recent leaf fall didn’t help proceedings. In these cases it just requires patience, persistence a windlass and a grappling hook. An hour and half or so later and normal service was resumed.
A litter pick on Christmas Eve gave me a job for Boxing Day. The recent winds had brought an oak branch down into the water. It was kind enough to fall longitudinally along the bank so wasn’t causing a big problem to navigation. This gave me the luxury of not having to deal with it on Christmas Day.
Given the volume of walkers, runners, children on new bicycles and confused dogs I decided against chainsaws and winches. The rope and handsaw method is a bit of a slog but more appropriate and safer in the circumstances. Also, the chainsaw gear lives in a shed in Guildford so by the time I had been to pick it up the job could already have been done.
Between Christmas and New Year many of the visitors here, human and canine, are new faces. That leads to more incredulous people than usual to whom it never occurs that such things need to be done. Just like the summer work, that just goes to show we are doing something right. The river and all its elements should look like they naturally grow and exist just as they are. I take it as a compliment.
It’s nice that we are a part of people’s Christmases. Perhaps their visit is a one off or the start of their relationship with the Navigation. It may be that their walk by the river is the start, or continuation of a family tradition that will last for years to come. And for me, working over Christmas, chatting with new people and wrestling with trees at this time of year is part of my family’s tradition.
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