DUring the lockdown there has been no dredging. Sandbars have formed in the still water below locks. The river can be as little as a foot deep over these. Many boaters have got stuck and it has cost them up to £300 to get tugged off [snigger],
The sandbar has now been marked with DayGlo buoys, like this!

The other day I heard a fellow lock keeper on the radio giving detailed instructions over the radio about what course to take coming in or out of the lock. He has the clipped voice of the former Air Traffic Controller, which is what he was. I told him today that I had hit on an effective alternative way of doing it

As boats approach I tell the skipper that they are Jack Hawkins in the Cruel Sea and the buoys are, in fact, mines

I tell them that they know what they have to do!
It werks! No more problems!
