Locks (ecluses)

Maisons d’ecluse are the houses built at the locks; male lockkeepers are called eclusiers and female lockkeepers are eclusieres. This afternoon (Sunday 22nd June) we have just passed through our 56th ecluse and will spend the night here at Pont d’Ouche. The Canal de Bourgogne (Burgundy Canal) seems to have more locks than most - averaging around one every kilometre, which can make progress quite slow. Although there are many, many more locks still to navigate through we have begun to form some opinions and ideas about them. Time will tell how valid these are…

In the past there was a lot more commercial traffic on the canals and every maison d’ecluse had a resident eclusier. These days one eclusier may operate three or four consecutive locks. They ‘put you through’ a lock and then whiz off on motor scooters to do the same thing at the next lock. They have quite a bit of planning and organising to do because they have boats travelling in both directions throughout the day. Different lock keepers have slightly different techniques, some of which are designed to speed up the process but which can make the entry and tying up at locks more difficult for those of us on canal boats.

So far all our locks have involved ‘locking up’ as we are essentially going uphill. This means we enter an empty lock, the gates are closed behind us, water is let in from in front of us by lifting paddles that are set into the lock gates and when the level in the lock is the same level as the part of the canal we are moving on to, the gates are opened and we motor out. It sounds easy but it is always that straight forward. There has been a lot of rain and the level of the water in the canals is running unusually high. The lockkeepers are obliged to leave an empty lock with the paddles slightly open to avoid a waterfall forming over the lock gates at the ‘far end’ of the lock. This means you are motoring in, quite slowly, into turbulent water coming into the lock at an angle. It pushes you off line and at slow speed it is very hard to maintain adequate steerage. Then you have the occasional lockkeeper who open the paddles even more because that makes it easier and quicker for him to close the gates behind - the speed of the water rushing through the lock means that less effort is needed to push the long handles that close the locks. While this is going on the boatie is trying to manoeuvre the boat to the side of the lock to get bow and stern lines around bollards that are, so far, nearly three metres above you. There could well be another boat in the lock with you so at those times there are two boats bobbing about attempting to get secured. If you are unlucky the lockkeeper may decide to fully open the paddles as soon as s/he is ready whether or not the boats are properly tied up. At one particularly difficult lock this morning, a lockkeeper started to open the gates and Catherine shouted at him (thank goodness she can speak French!) to please wait for us to tie up. He did thankfully and all was executed properly in the end.

Some of the lockkeepers are very considerate and do all they can to be helpful, others are very cursory. You certainly don’t count on them to help with the ropes - so few deign to that you have to wonder if there is a rule against it! Yesterday, we were going through a lock, the water was let in too soon making tying up more of a challenge than necessary, and I said to Catherine, “that’s what happens when the water is let in too soon“. I think the eclusier may have understood English because at the next lock he was particularly considerate and making the whole process very easy and yes, even reaching down to take our ropes.

There is no such thing as a ‘standard’ lockkeeper: there are male and female, young and old, fit and trim and not-quite-so-fit-and-trim, University students earning money in the summer holidays and permanent employees... One distinctive lockkeeper had blond /grey hair down to halfway between his shoulders and his chest, and even in the hot, humid weather was wearing several layers of clothing, including a long-sleeved jacket, long trousers, gloves and boots. It made us nearly expire from the heat just to look at him but he was one of the lovelies, who helped with the ropes, so he got the thumbs up from us! He is also the only lockkeeper we have met who eschewed the scooter for travel between locks in favour of a pushbike. In general, but not exclusively so, the females wear their helmets properly fastened when scooting from one lock to the next whereas the males often don’t strap their helmet on or don’t wear it at all.
The grounds of the maisons d’ecluse vary enormously and it‘s part of the fun of locking up to discover what awaits you at the top. Many are occupied by eclusiers but sadly quite a few are boarded up and are very neglected. Of the ones that are permanently lived in, there is a wide variety of external presentation which is always interesting. Some have amazing flower gardens to delight the eye and help pass the time. Some have ‘themes’ eg statuary, (Catherine wasn’t so impressed with gnomes and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.) Some have lovely outdoor areas for the family to enjoy (No fencing off of locks for the safety of children, parents are expected to keep them safe) . One of the lockkeepers (on his day off) was in the process of constructing a very low stone wall around his garden - a meticulous process and obviously a labour of love. Many of the houses have spotless windows and crisp lace curtains to afford some privacy from boaties gazing in. There seems generally to be a different approach to lawn mowing. Lawns are let to grow much longer than we are used to. I could count on the fingers of one hand the number of closely clipped lawns I’ve seen in France. Large dogs are a feature of many of the inhabited ecluses, some of them are ‘pussy cats’ but others really look and sound as though they mean business.

Usually, but not always, there will be three bollards on the same side as the maison d’ecluse and two on the other side. We have a pair of binoculars on board so Catherine searches for these before we go into a lock so that I know which side to aim for. Of course it is not always that straight forward, there could suddenly be two on the side of the maison and three on the other side, or perhaps all you have is one bollard and a ladder. Often if you are the second of two boats in the lock there is only one bollard left and both bow and stern ropes have to be tied to it and that requires a slightly different approach to secure the boat. Yesterday we came across a couple of real doozies. Up till then, the bollards had been set into the concrete edging at the top of the lock, where you might expect them to be. We went into a couple of locks which seemed particularly short of bollards with none at all visible on one side. It turns out that they were there after all but had been set about two metres back from the side of the lock making them invisible from the boat until we had locked up halfway! Very useful!

I will read this at the end of our stay in France and see if I have changed my mind about any of the above - and to see what other surprises the lock designers of France may have thrown at us. There are sure to be quite a few.

Jeanette