We had a police escort

This morning the top gates on Mexborough Low Lock wouldn’t fully open.  Being a skinny ditch crawler that didn’t present a problem but we did wonder whether the large white bale behind the lock gate should be removed.  Then one of the local boaters explained the “bale” had been deliberately placed in the water to absorb diesel and oil.  Product recognition meant we then managed to see numerous bales during the remainder of the cruise.

There were four CRT employees and three vehicles at the next lock (Sprotbrough).  They were opening and closing the top gates to the lock which gave us the impression there might have been a problem.  Jan walked forward and discovered they had long poles with a hoe blade on one end and were removing the weeds from the gates.

I’m all for maintenance but couldn’t understand why it needed four men and three vehicles to complete a task that could be done by two?

We had a police escort below the lock.  Jan wanted to know whether we were going to get the “blues and twos”?  Apparently not!

There were police divers in the water under Doncaster Bridge which takes the busy A1(M1) motorway over the navigation.  It was a training exercise.

We continued on to Doncaster where we found the 72 hour moorings full.  However the CRT notice tells boaters to be prepared to breast up so we breasted up against an unoccupied narrowboat and made a quick trip into town for our pre-ordered shopping.  Rather than stay breasted up we opted to continue on to the 48 hour moorings above Long Sandall Lock.  This is where the small garden and BBQ tables are and we were hoping for a mooring.  Fortunately we were in luck and will spend a couple of days here relaxing and doing some maintenance.