Bantouzelle (corona-friendly lock operations)

Lining up for the big one

Other than passing Bill & Jane and Guy & Ardon in the opposite direction a week or so ago we’ve not met up with other boaters all the while we’ve been cruising this year.  So it was strange to be cruising with a couple of other boats especially as they were Brits as well.  We’d all booked in to go through the Riqueval tunnel on Thursday so on Wednesday morning we all set off from Lesdins to form a queue at the tunnel entrance where we would have the rest of the day to understand the ins and outs of the transit.

First, we had to go through the relatively short 1,200-yard-long Tronquoy tunnel which was controlled by traffic lights with two windows in each direction every day.

Approaching Tronquoy tunnel

The tunnel was the first brick lined one we’ve been through over here, all the rest have been stone lined.  This seems to be the opposite to those in the UK which tend to be brick lined although in my mind I can already hear people listing stone, concrete and metal lined tunnels.

Brick lined with a towpath and lights

When we were getting near the second tunnel, we went under a bridge that was rather ornate compared to the rest of those we have seen on the Canal de St Quentin which have all been plain and functional.  When we walked down to it later, we found out that it was the only bridge on the canal that wasn’t deliberately blown up by the Germans when they formed their defensive Hindenburg Line.  They left this one intact as they were using it to gain access to land they still held in the west.  The others were all replaced after the occupation hence their simple style.

Riqueval bridge

We were soon passing the one kilometre long waiting quay for the Riqueval tunnel.  It’s not surprising it was that long as up to 30 Freycinet barges (each 39m long) could be towed through at a time when this canal was the main north-south waterway above Paris.  It’s not the same nowadays and the three of us moored up behind the towing tug in descending weight order as we’d been advised.

When we first reached the quay we noticed what we thought at first were telegraph wires strung above the water.

Telegraph wires?

We soon cottoned on and realised they were like trolley bus wires.  The towing tug that pulls boats through is electric and it takes its power from the overhead cable. 

The tunnel, which is just over 3½ miles long was opened by Napoleon I in 1810 and in those days it took seven or eight men 12 to 14 hours to pull boats through by walking on the towpath (there being no room for horses).  In 1856 a towing tug was built that was operated by up to eight horses walking on a carousel on the deck.  The carousel drove a winch that pulled the towing tug along a cable laid on the canal bed.  This scheme only lasted eight years as the horses suffered badly from walking in circles in poor light.

The horse carousel was replaced by a steam tug in 1864 but this proved disastrous in that boaters were seriously poisoned by the fumes in the unventilated tunnel.  In 1910 the first electric tug was introduced and this is the method that is still used more than 100 years later.  The original electric tug is on display in a museum above the tunnel.

The original electric tug

The current ones (there are two so there is a backup) are built to the same design and are approaching 100 years in age.

The one that would tow us and the chain that runs along the tunnel floor…

…and its trolley bus arm

A chain is used in place of the original cable that was used by the horse carousel.

The winch on today’s towing tug

The tunnel is the longest canal tunnel in Europe and was used as a barracks by the Germans in WWI when 38 barges were commandeered for the soldiers to sleep in.  The tunnel was captured and taken back by American troops on 18^th September 1918 at the same time as Aussie troops re-captured the Riqueval bridge.

Karen & I took Buddy for a circular walk taking in the Riqueval bridge and a few other points of WWI interest.  When we returned, Gary and I went to look around the tunnel museum but couldn’t go inside the electric tug exhibit, which would probably have been the most interesting thing, because of restrictions due to coronavirus.  

Looking down on the boats from the museum above the tunnel portal

Later on, we all got together to get our lines sorted out for the tunnel transit.  There was very little information around, and we already knew that the heaviest boat in the tow line needs to be at the front and the lightest at the back.  That meant we were at the back behind Malcolm & Sue who were behind Gary & Pat who would be attached to the towing tug.  We did find out that we needed two 30 metre lines between each boat that crossed over.   Karen & I decided that we felt happier with just one line attached to Malcolm & Sue’s boat as being a narrowboat we’re not very wide.  We also read that we needed to be ready to go by 7.00am as the towing tug would start at 7.30am at the latest.

It was quite a cool day and it was even cooler deep in the cutting because we were hidden from the sun.  Still, it didn’t stop the six of us having drinks on the back of Malcolm & Sue’s boat before retiring for the evening.  My first job when we went back indoors was to order a new interlock switch and have it delivered to a family member in the UK who can then post it to a post office in France using the Poste Restante service.  Before that can be done Karen needs to finish planning which towns we will be travelling through when we’re on the River Somme in a week or two so we'll know which post office it should be sent to..

On Wednesday we cruised six miles through one tunnel but no locks.

As requested, we were all up and about and outside by seven in the morning but there was no sight nor sound of VNF.  We moved the three boats apart so that there was a good gap between them and got our towing lines attached.  It was approaching 7.30am and we were joking that they were in a control room somewhere watching us on CCTV to see when we would crack, when two VNF guys arrived. 

We were expecting a third degree, a health & safety appraisal followed by full instructions as would be given in tunnels like Standedge and Harecastle in the UK. The only contact we had was with one of the guys who collected our télécommandes.  A different sort of remote control is used for the locks on the other side and we would be given an appropriate télécommande when we arrived at the first lock.

No sooner had the guy picked up the télécommandes when we heard two blasts of a hooter.  Gary realised he was underway and announced it on the radio, so we we all rushed on to our boats to be ready to move as well. 

Off we go

OK, so it was 25 metres not 30 and we only had one line not two but nobody checked

It was all rather tame and there was no damage done to any of the boats during the 1¾ hour journey - give us Standedge tunnel any day (longest, deepest and highest in the UK).  We’d heard horror stories of boats weaving from side to side and being damaged and had seen the bad scrapes Guy & Ardon received on the sides of their boat Vindi.  As testament to this, the lower walls were worn smooth by boats being dragged along the sides.  The tunnel was eight metres wide with a narrow towpath and the lining was a mixture of brick, stone and bare rock.

Walls have been worn smooth over the centuries

Emerging from the northern portal

We were all in need of breakfast so moored up at the the far end of the waiting quay used for boats queuing to go in the opposite direction.  As the others were travelling further than us during the rest of the day, they set off first after the breakfast stop but we weren’t far behind them.  As expected an éclusiere was on patrol at the first lock handing out télécommandes that we would use to operate the remaining locks to the end of the canal.  As well as summoning the lock to set itself for us, these télécommandes also controlled the lock filling/emptying process rather than us having to push up on a metal rod.  This meant that we didn’t have to touch anything outside the boat and could dispense with the sanitiser dispenser while cruising.

The canal on the northern side of the summit follows the valley of the River Escaut down to Cambrai which marks the end of the Canal de St Quentin.  Some of the village and lock names reflect the name of the river such as the second lock we went down, Honnecourt-sur-Escaut.

Écluse at Honnecourt-sur-Escaut

We moored up for lunch and the day, as we were feeling quite tired, between two locks at a place called Bantouzelle.  We knew there was a short pontoon there as it was where we met Nikki & Gorete after one of our trips back to the UK.  In return for bringing them some supermarket shopping they had provided us with a sumptuous breakfast which worked well as it provided a welcome break in our journey back to the boat that day.

Karen & Buddy had walked all the way since restarting after breakfast and arrived at Bantouzelle before I did so were able to check the pontoon was free. 

Moored at Bantouzelle

After lunch we went around the two villages either side of the canal, Banteux and Bantouzelle.  We saw one dog walker and some people attending a funeral at the church in Banteux.

Church in Bantouzelle

We obviously didn’t walk all the streets in Bantouzelle because we didn’t come across the mairie but we didn’t miss it in Banteux.

Banteux marie

Banteux church

Even though it had been a cloudy day it was still quite warm so we sat outside until it was time to start preparing dinner.

Our mooring from the Banteux side

On Thursday we cruised nine miles through one tunnel and down four locks.