Cos letting yourself through can take up to an hour, as opposed to the 10 minutes or so it takes us and lock keepers are there to advise boaters on hazards (sand bars, submerged trees, tidal stretches, river levels, and so on) and also to talk to passers by and explain how the locks werk and so on. We can even let kids have a go and give them a "junior lock keeper certificate" and badge and fun stuff like that. We also record boat movements, check licences, check the hydraulics are werking properly, report faults, rescue people who fall in
, warn other lock keepers about drunks and loonies and suchlike.
OK?
