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| Lock 8 Noue-Gouzaine. Canal de l'Aisne a la Marne |
3.0°C Grey clouds and a very cold
N wind. Sun out briefly during the morning. We set off at 10.20 am, later than
normal as we hadn’t got far to go. Turned the pole to start the chain of four
working – lock 9 Courcy started working, filled, then the lights turned to
double red, annoyingly “en panne”! Moved over to the towpath side and I dropped
our centre rope around a bollard while Mike went to call the VNF on the lock
intercom. The lady at Berry control centre said she would send someone, so Mike
came back and gave the two tyres we’d used as fenders all winter a good scrub
to remove the mud and dead mussels. Two men in large hats came walking past and
stopped for a chat.
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| Lock 8 Noue-Gouzaine. Eroded lock walls Canal de l'Aisne a la Marne |
They asked all the usual questions, where had we come from
and where were we going, how long/wide was the boat, what was it made from, how
heavy, etc,etc, and we had quite a natter. When I said we’d stayed at Condé one
said he lived at Marreuil-sur-Ay (a neighbouring village on the canal Latéral a
la Marne) and asked if we’d stayed there. No, as we have friends in Condé, but
Marreuil is a lovely town. A lady on a bike stopped to join in. Meanwhile our
VNF man in van had arrived, reset the lock for us and then gone away again. We
dropped down lock 9. It was 10.55 am when we left the lock. A troupe of nine
young girls on ponies came down the track to the left of the lock, crossed the
tail end bridge and carried on down the path on the non-towpath side. 800m down
to lock 8 Noue Gouzaine, which filled OK and we went down with any problems.
The wind was very cold. Another nice house with a good roof but windows all
bricked up stood empty alongside the lock. The lock chamber of lock 8 was in
dire need of repairs to the eroded concrete lock walls where areas of rebar
were showing. The ponies went back up the track on the right bank as we went
down the 1.1km pound to lock 7 Fontaines.
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| Lock 8 Noue-Gouzaine. Eroded lock walls Canal de l'Aisne a la Marne |
The lock had twin lock houses. One
for the keeper was empty and the lived-in one with Loivre over the door also
had a sign saying “Conducteur des Voies Navigables”. Not any more, no doubt,
probably not even a VNF employee living there. 700m to lock 6, Loivre. The
house alongside the lock was lived in. Mike got off to take a photo of the
hydraulics in a Perspex box on the lockside (usually the hydraulic pack is in
the lock cabin). The towpath was busy with youths on roller blades. In the
layby below the lock there was a moored converted péniche with a new paint job
but no name and a Dutch barge called Louna. On the 3.5 kms pound to lock 5
Gaudart I made a cuppa.
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| Lock 7 Fontaines Canal de l'Aisne a la Marne |
The lock house at 5 was lived in with a VNF van parked
by the lock cabin. The blue pole was on the left at the uphill end of the
chamber so Mike lifted it. 5 and 4 were linked. As we left 5 an empty péniche
called Mexicali from Janville came past heading uphill. We ran down the 1.2 kms
pound to lock 4 Alger. VNF tug Picardie was moored above lock 4. The lock
chamber had new concrete top edges and bottom end walls plus new gates. Again
Mike lifted the rod as it was on his side. On the 2.35 kms pound to lock 3
Sapigneul we passed the concrete works of Capremib, where the yard was full of
sections for tunnel lining. The wind was blowing straight up the long straight
to lock 3 and was bitterly cold.
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| Lock 7 Fontaines - twin lock house Canal de l'Aisne a la Marne |
There was no house at the lock and, again, the
lock walls were in need of repair. Dropped down lock 3 and on to the 1.1kms to
lock 2 Moulin de Sapigneul. The old lock house at 2 was now empty, the wooden
front door had holes in it. Mike lifted the pole and we were deafened by the
bell on the lock cabin, which rang while the gates shut (and opened). 1.15kms
to lock 1 Berry.
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| Lock 6 Loivre. Hydraulics in box on lockside. Canal de l'Aisne a la Marne |
Three péniches were at the silo above the last lock. Two Dutch
boats were moored well back from the silo, Vincita and Sonnepaerd, both from Terneuzen;
they were waiting to load. The first one had its hydraulic arm in the air and
its car on the towpath, a large playpen full of toys was on top of the hold
covers. Dad was walking his toddler along the towpath so we all waved. At the
silo, a French empty called Paloclau from Compiegne was under the loading chute
waiting to be loaded. The chatty lady keeper from Berry Marne was on the
lockside at Berry 1 while we locked down and we talked as the lock emptied.
Moored in the “large” (a wide layby), backing without the prop turning into the
corner ‘til we found the extent of the mud then moved forward half a boat
length before we tied up, knocking stakes in at 2.15 pm. Retired into the cabin
for a very late, but hot, lunch as we were frozen. We planned to stay a couple
of days at Berry to do some more jobs on the boat and some shopping in Reims,
before setting off on to the canal des Ardennes.
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| Lock 6 Loivre Canal de l'Aisne a la Marne |
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| Lock 2 Moulin de Sapigneul Canal de l'Aisne a la Marne |
