The lock gate giving access to the old lock house 2

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  This access was put in sometime in the 50s. l remember going to the canal on a few occasions when the lock gates were removed and concrete structures were put in there place as seen in this picture. Before the gates were removed, access was across the top of gate itself. If l remember correctly there were small lift up gates which could be opened if required to control the water height with a rack and pinion system. There also were let into the concrete a place for planks to be fitted to raise the water height.
  In this picture the raised centre was the centre support. The lock gates were long gone when this was taken. When we were kids we had a raft which we kept tied up at the bottom of the large gates at Muston lock and the only access was by climbing down the face of the gate. On a couple of occasions it was borrowed by a man who looked after some stretches of the canal and cleared the rushes for the fishermen, a Water Bailiff l think he was called. He also checked fishing licences. There also was a sunken punt on the longore side of Muston bridge which eventually was recovered and used for the same job. I can’t remember what happened to it in the end but we borrowed it on a few occasions. In those days it was called Bottesford waters and you got your fishing licence from Otleys shop in Bottesford.

  By Tony Gammage (12/12/2020)
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  Dear Tony,
  Thanks very much for this information. I really hadn’t thought about the access planks properly, had I. I only crossed over the planks from the towpath once or twice, and it came as a surprise to learn from Margaret who had been living in the house hidden away on the other side. With best wishes, Neil.

  By Neil Fortey (13/12/2020)
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  Neil
  Thanks for your reply.
  When the people were living in the house we used to see them occasionally and have a yarn. There was barb wire strung across this crossing to detour visitors to the house from the other side of the canal.
  Looking at the pictures taken of the inside, it looked well looked after in those days. So sad to see the state of it a few years ago when l was last there. l was staying with my mother in Woolsthorpe then on a visit from Australia, and walked along the tow path to reach Muston quite regularly.
  Of course, in those days the railway was in operation with steam locomotives passing every day, and l wonder if they were able to get any coal dropped from passing locos. It would have been a job hauling it in from the road with no access.
  The nearest neighbour would have been the Guntrips, who lived in the cottage just out of the Stennits, as we called it, at the top of the hill on Muston side. That house also had no running water, as we delivered it in milk churns on a Saturday morning by tractor from Peacock Farm Muston. One of Mrs Guntrips’ sons worked at the farm.

  By Tony Gammage (14/12/2020)