Knowle Locks.

A lovely quiet night was had, and not a light could be seen from where we were moored. Other than two day boats from Copt Heath Wharf we have only seen two moving boats today. We didn't have to go very far before we arrived at the delightful Knowle Locks. We stopped at the bottom to top up with water and wait for somebody to go up with. The bottom locks were our way so when we saw a boat coming down we thought we may as well go up on our own as they would fill the lock anyway.

There are five locks at Knowle. This is the pound between No.47 and 48. You can also see the ridge that the locks must climb up. The locks raise the canal 42 foot to a cutting in the top of the ridge. 

This is the lock before the top one. Helen is helping out by opening the paddle a little more as I am setting the top lock.

The original single lock can be seen to the left and is now the spill weir. The pounds between the locks are expanded to allow for the double locks. 

The Knowle Locks are well maintained and are open with a good view so making them a pleasure to work. The only problem is that some of the gates swing open on their own.

At the top of the locks is Steven Goldsborough's yard and it wasn't much further before we moored up with a nice view to both sides. We also had a vivid yellow house to see too.

We walked into the village of Knowle and I saw this on a terrace of houses. I had never seen one like this with the countries that that Queen Victoria had dominion over.

The church of St John the Baptist, St Lawrence and St Anne was built in 1402. Walter Cook was a wealthy man and had the church built to save the parishioners having to travel 6 miles and cross the river Blythe,

There is some intricate brick work on this Victoria terrace.

On the way back to the boat we saw Grimshaw hall through the trees. It was built around 1560 and was named after the family that lived there for 150 years until about 1765. It is Grade 1 listed and is a fine example of Elizabethan domestic architecture. It has an E plan with the two end wings extending forwards 6 feet and the double porch at the front similarly. Around 2000 the contents were sold by Christes and the house sold for £2.4 million. In 2003 it was sold again for £1.8 million.