Drayton Footbridge

An eventful day.  Another lock, another problem.  I was just raising the ground paddles to fill the lock when I got a call "we have a problem with the gate".  It isn't uncommon for a gate to start to swing open after you have closed it, so back I trotted to close it.  Only to find that it wouldn't close.  I opened it to try again.  This time there was a gap of 30cm (1 ft).  Lots of poking with the long shaft but still it wouldn't close.

By then another boat was on its way down.  I walked up and broke the news to them while Clickychick contacted the Canal and River trust.  The gentleman (about my own age) walked down with me, as we walked I explained the problem and what we had tried.  When we got to the balance beam he took hold of it and ran, full tilt to try to close it.  He was traveling far faster than I could have managed.   Surprise surprise the gate closed!  We went up the lock and he brought his boat down with no further problems.  His brute force must have moved whatever was obstructing the closing.

Oh the blip, I nearly forgot to mention it.  The footbridge is beside a swing bridge giving access to a farmer's land.  As this is kept locked walkers need a way across.  The footbridge is a folly, there seems to be no reason as to why it was built with the two towers, complete with spiral staircases.