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Staircase locks are used where quite a steep incline needs to be overcome, and are arranged so that starting from the bottom you have a normal set of bottom gates, what would be the top gates are also the bottom gates of the lock above, and so on. The most famous staircase locks are probably at Foxton, where there are two flights of five chambers arranged in two staircases and alter the level by some 75 feet in a few hundred yards.
Most staircase locks have keepers, and there are always instruction boards telling you how to operate the flights. There are often opening and closing restrictions on these locks, so it is wise to allow for this when planning your route. As these can take some time to work through you may find yourself having to wait sometime, and may even end up mooring for the night if you miss the keeper's times. This uncertainty about timing can be significant, if you get to a flight like Foxton you can normally clear it in about 50 minutes, which averages 5 minutes a lock. Assuming you were working on the '3 locks an hour' theory mentioned in PLANNING
you would have allowed around 3 hours for this and now be significantly ahead, alternatively if you arrive just as a boat is starting to go the same way as you then you will have to wait for it to clear the flight, then the one coming down, then finally your own time (assuming the flight isn't then closed for the night).
An important thing to remember is that two boats can not pass in a narrow staircase (though with judicious handling it's possible to work both up and down in wide flights so long as only three boats are involved) so you will need to check the entire flight is clear before proceeding.
Staircase flights often have side pounds, small lakes where the water from the lock above is stored temporarily until it is need to fill the lock below, this arrangement can save a considerable amount of water, and as like tunnels and aquaducts, staircase flights tend to be on canal enthusiasts 'to do' lists they see more than their fair share of traffic.
Follow the instructions carefully, there are more paddles than usual at staircases, and it is very easy to get things wrong and create a flood, so work slowly and carefully, and if in doubt seek the keeper and ask for help. In my experience they are a wealth of local knowledge and would rather help you than tidy up the resulting mess.
Staircases ought to be really good places for photographs, and you will certainly want to record your passage through them, but if you look at any decent photograph of large flights they are all taken from the air, so you may be disappointed with the results you get.
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