Coldharbour Lock
The lock on the journey to Little Tallowmere, seven feet up, with a keeper who comes out in his slippers.
Out of Brindlecombe Basin, under a road bridge and out past the last of the houses, the canal comes to Coldharbour Lock. It is the only lock on the way to Little Tallowmere. Boats go in at the bottom, the gates are shut behind them, and the water is let in from the top until they rise seven feet.
Mr Thrupp keeps it. He is very tall and stoops from the top, and on a frosty night he wears a red woollen nightcap with a battered bowler on top of it. Mrs Thrupp fills a boat's tea can on her doorstep while the lock is working, and says “Well done, duck” to whoever has pushed a beam.
The beams are pushed by leaning your back against them and walking backwards. The ground beside them is worn into ridges by other people's heels. When the top gates close behind a boat, they make two soft wooden knocks, like a door being shut for the night.
People connected with this place
Ada Brimble
Canal carrier, with the narrow boat Patience and a grey mare called Marigold.
Pip Hobday
She has come from Amberwick Passage to tell a bell the way home.
Nearby and connected places
Customs & details
Look closer at the illustration ↗Stories
The Narrow Boat to Little Tallowmere
Travel with Ada Brimble, Pip and a new church bell aboard Patience, along the canal to Little Tallowmere.
With Ada Brimble, Pip Hobday, Dorothea, Ruth Coker, Josiah Coker, Mr Gedge