How to use the online timer
While your child or pupil guides the narrowboat through a flight of locks, you can keep watch from the towpath and use fifty-seven minutes as the shared working window. It gives them a clear boundary for opening gates, handling paddles and waiting for each chamber, while you track progress without repeatedly calling out the time.
As the boat moves between chambers, leave the countdown visible on the device you are supervising. Closing its tab or the browser may stop it or prevent the finish signal from reaching you, depending on the browser, so the remaining time should not be assumed to survive closure. A locked phone may also restrict sound or background activity.
With water rushing, engines idling and people speaking across the lock, the finish may be hard to hear from the opposite gate. Keep the supervising device close enough to notice its sound or vibration, while still standing safely clear of ropes, beams and moving gates. If the flight is busy, treat the signal as a progress check rather than a reason to hurry the learner through the final chamber.
Common questions
What could make a child’s passage through the lock flight exceed the allotted window?
Queues at locks, slow-filling chambers and sharing with another narrowboat can all extend the passage. Weather and water levels on British canals may also affect how steadily the flight can be worked.
What should I do if my pupil clears the lock flight before the allotted window ends?
Stop the countdown once the boat is secure and everyone is safely aboard or on the towpath. If the passage runs late, keep supervising the lock work and treat the elapsed time as a record, not a deadline.
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