Saturday 4 September 2010

Neptune Staircase

While John and Sarah cared for Patience in East Anglia Jenny and I made a regular pilgrimage to Scotland and amongst many other things took in the Neptune Staircase at Fort William, on the Caledonian Canal.
It's a pleasant walk and particularly fascinating to watch as a tall yacht goes through the full staircase, which is the longest lock in the UK (according to wikipedia). To go through the whole stair the lock keepers must close both road and railway and swing both bridges aside to let the boats through.
Here's the step by step record:
First the boat in a higher lock, making its way down

Now, viewed from the bottom of the locks and to my left,  the road ...
... and  here to my right is the railway (Fort William to Mallaig)
Now the road is swung around ...


and the railway bridge is also swung away, to allow the boat finally to pass through to another part of the Caledonian Canal. A sight to see!

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