The name comes from Duffel, a town in Belgium where the thick cloth the bag is made of originated. Nowadays a Duffel Bag typically refers to the specific style of bag, though the phrase may also be used to refer to any large generic holdall or a bag made of thick fabric.

It is often used to carry luggage or sports equipment by people who travel in the outdoors. Duffel bags are often used by sailors, and are sometimes called seabags in this capacity.

See also:

• Duffel Coat

Fobney Lock was built between 1718 and 1723 under the supervision of the engineer John Hore of Newbury, and this stretch of the river is now administered by British Waterways and known as the Kennet Navigation. It has a rise/fall of 7 ft 8 in (2.24 m).

There have been ongoing plans to turn Fobney Island, adjacent to the lock, into a wetlands nature reserve.

Vermaport SC

The Vermaport SC (Shopping Cart) is typically used in discount retailers such as Target and Kmart, as well as furniture store IKEA, and the retail chain Bed Bath and Beyond. Essentially an escalator, the device uses specially designed shopping carts and transports them between levels in shopping complexes.

Along the path of the Vermaport there are three valleys. The special carts have their front wheels set closer together and out of parallel to the back, outset, wheels. On the way up the inset wheels glide along the center valley, which is lower than the two outer valleys that the outset wheels ride along. This allows the shopping cart to stay level while moving along an inclined path. On the way down, the center valley is higher and the side valleys are lower to allow the cart to transport level while facing down the Vermaport. Due to these valleys, shopping carts on the Vermaport SC do not have the typical plastic or metal grate shelf below the basket of the shopping cart that is used to carry large or bulk items.

An installed Vermaport system is typically located next to an escalator, moving at the same speed, so as to allow a shopping cart to be transported alongside a shopper as he or she moves between floors. The conveyance is accomplished by a belt of hard rubber teeth that grab near the wheels of the cart as a shopper guides it into the entrance of the Vermaport.

The world’s largest Vermaport is located in Kmart in Middle Village, Queens, New York City, New York. It has a length of 120 ft (37 m) and a vertical rise of 50 ft (15 m).

Vermaport LC

The Vermaport LC (Luggage Cart) is based on the same engineering principles and the SC model. It allows travellers and their luggage to travel between floors in transportation terminals such as an airport. The LC system allows for items wider than what would fit into a shopping cart on the Vermaport SC.

Vermaport RS

The Vermaport RS (Return System) is used to store luggage carts which are typically rental fee based. Personnel at an arrival or departure area will gather abandoned luggage carts and return them to the Vermaport RS. The carts will be automatically feed into the Vermaport and will wait for a traveler to retrieve one by inserting the required fee.

History

The village now mainly consists of modern brick built houses, but a number of 17th century buildings still remain in the centre of the village including the George and Dragon public house. The George and Dragon was predated in the village by another pub, a timber framed thatched building that was destroyed by fire in 1938, a replacement The Cross Keys now stands in its place.

On the outskirts of Rowde is the site of the Caen Hill flight of locks of the Kennet and Avon Canal. The canal rises 237 feet by means of 29 locks, 16 of them in a straight line at Caen Hill. The Kennet and Avon Canal was constructed between 1794 and 1810 and served to link Devizes with Bristol and London. The canal fell into disuse after the coming of the railway, but has been restored, and is now used for leisure purposes.

Local government

Rowde is a civil parish with an elected parish council. It falls within the areas of Kennet District Council and Wiltshire County Council. All three councils are responsible for different aspects of local government.

In the 2001 census, the district ward of Bromham & Rowde had a population of 2880.

Location

Position:

Nearby towns and cities: Devizes, Calne, Melksham, Chippenham, Swindon

Nearby villages: Bromham, Seend

The locks-and-keys approach represents pointers as ordered pairs (key, address) where the key is an integer value. Heap-dynamic variables are represented as the storage for the variable plus a cell for an integer. When a variable is allocated, a lock value is created and placed both into the variable’s cell and into the variable’s ordered pair. Every access to the pointer compares these two values, and access is allowed only if the values match.

When a variable is deallocated, the key of its ordered pair is modified to hold a value different from the variable’s cell. From then on, any attempt to dereference the pointer can be flagged as an error. Since copying a pointer also copies its cell value, changing the key of the ordered pair safely disables all copies of the pointer.

A warded lock (also called a ward lock) is a type of lock that uses a set of obstructions, or wards, to prevent the lock from opening unless the correct key is inserted. The correct key has notches or slots corresponding to the obstructions in the lock, allowing it to rotate freely inside the lock. Warded locks are commonly used in inexpensive padlocks, cabinet locks, and other low-security applications, since they are among the most easily circumvented by lock picking. A well-designed skeleton key can successfully open a wide variety of warded locks.

History

The warded lock is one of the most ancient lock designs still in modern use. It is thought to have been developed in ancient Rome.

Design

In the most basic warded lock, a set of obstructions, often consisting of concentric plates protruding outwards, blocks the rotation of a key not designed for that lock. Warded locks may have one simple ward, or many intricate wards with bends and complex protrusions; the principle remains the same. Unless the notches or slots in the key correspond to the wards in the lock, the key will strike an obstruction and will not turn.

A cylindrical post is typically located in the center of the lock. Its purpose is to provide a point of leverage for rotating the key, and to help correctly align the key with the wards. The key has a corresponding hole which fits over the post.

When the correct key is inserted, it will clear the wards and rotate about the center post. The key may then strike a lever, activating a latch or sliding bolt, or it may itself push against the latch or bolt. In a double action lever lock, the key may additionally push against a spring-loaded lever which holds the sliding bolt in place.

When it was built it ran 4 miles (6 km) through eight locks from Hatherton Junction on the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal to Churchbridge Junction on the Churchbridge Branch (a short branch with thirteen locks) of the Cannock Extension Canal (a branch of the Wyrley and Essington Canal). It was completed in 1860. Subsidence due to mining caused its closure in 1955.

The canal is now part of an active restoration project. However, due to building on the cut, the current plans call for the canal to deviate from the original route in places. This includes new tunnels under the A5 road and a cluvert, already in place, over the M6 Toll motorway.

Fobney Lock was built between 1718 and 1723 under the supervision of the engineer John Hore of Newbury, and this stretch of the river is now administered by British Waterways and known as the Kennet Navigation. It has a rise/fall of 7 ft 8 in (2.24 m).

There have been ongoing plans to turn Fobney Island, adjacent to the lock, into a wetlands nature reserve.

The architect was Baltzar von Platen, working to plans earlier developed at the request of the Swedish king by the Scottish civil engineer Thomas Telford; he got permission to begin to work on April 11, 1810 and the canal was officially opened on September 26, 1832. Telford himself travelled to Sweden in 1810 to oversee some of the initial excavations on the project.

Built only decades before the advent of railways, the canal was soon outdated, and never upgraded. The canal is a tourist attraction, sometimes called Sveriges blå band (”Sweden’s Blue Ribbon”).

To support the building of the canal with mechanical works, a small engineering workshop was established in Motala called Motala Verkstad. This industry has sometimes been referred to as cradle of the Swedish engineering industry.

In fiction

Several movies depict the canal, most notably the 1981 comedy Göta Kanal, in which two competing yacht constructors race the canal in order to win a huge construction stock order. In 2006, Göta Kanal 2 was released.

Locks

From the east-coast of Sweden all the way to the west-coast the locks are as follows:
(with meters per locks)

• Mem, 3
• Tegelbruket, 2.3
• Söderköping, 2.4
• Duvkullen nedre, 2.3
• Duvkullen övre, 2.4
• Mariehov nedre, 2.1
• Mariehov övre, 2.6
• Carlsborg nedre, 5.1
• Carlsborg övre, 4.7
• Klämman, open
• Hulta, 3.2
• Bråttom, 2.3
• Norsholm, 0.8
• Carl Johans slussar (seven locks), 18.8
• Oskars slussar, 4.8
• Karl Ludvig Eugéns slussar, 5.5
• Brunnby, 5.3
• Heda, 5.2
• Borensberg, 0.2
• Borenshult, 15.3
• Motala, 0.1

Lake Vättern

• Forsvik, 3.5
• Tåtorp, 0.2
• Hajstorp övre, 5.0
• Hajstorp nedre, 5.1
• Riksberg, 7.5
• Godhögen, 5.1
• Norrkvarn övre, 2.9
• Norrkvarn nedre, 2.9
• Sjötorp 7-8, 4.6
• Sjötorp 6, 2.4
• Sjötorp 4-5, 4.8
• Sjötorp 2-3, 4.8
• Sjötorp 1, 2.9

Trivia

The canal is nicknamed “skilmässodiket” which translates to “divorce ditch”. The name refers to the stress endured by couples navigating the numerous locks in the canal.

The ring totals 106 miles and has 115 locks, although there are two alternative routes through the southern part of Birmingham - from Kingswood Junction one can travel via the Grand Union Canal to Aston Junction, or via the Stratford Canal (north) and Worcester Canal to Gas Street Basin in central Birmingham. The latter route is slightly longer and has more locks, but many consider it to be more scenic and interesting.

Small joint manipulation refers to twisting, pulling or bending fingers or toes to cause joint locks in the various joints in those appendages. Joint locks on fingers and toes are respectively referred to as finger locks and toe locks.

Explanation

The leverage needed for such joint manipulation is comparatively small, since grabbing a finger or two with one or both hands creates a distinct advantage, and means that a weaker person can possibly control a stronger one. Grabbing only one finger may lead to the opponent being able to pull it free, while grabbing three or more reduces the leverage advantage considerably, and hence it is sometimes advised to grab two fingers for maximum effect.

Small joint manipulation is an illegal technique in most combat sports that feature joint locking such as Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Judo, Mixed Martial Arts and Sambo, since unlike standard joint locks, there is less of an opportunity to tap out before the small joint breaks. It is however sometimes taught as a self-defense and pain compliance technique, for instance in Kenpo, Jujutsu, and especially in ‘Small Circle JuJitsu’. It is also an important part of koppo-techniques, e.g. in ninjutsu.

References

Small joint manipulation refers to twisting, pulling or bending fingers or toes to cause joint locks in the various joints in those appendages. Joint locks on fingers and toes are respectively referred to as finger locks and toe locks.

Explanation

The leverage needed for such joint manipulation is comparatively small, since grabbing a finger or two with one or both hands creates a distinct advantage, and means that a weaker person can possibly control a stronger one. Grabbing only one finger may lead to the opponent being able to pull it free, while grabbing three or more reduces the leverage advantage considerably, and hence it is sometimes advised to grab two fingers for maximum effect.

Small joint manipulation is an illegal technique in most combat sports that feature joint locking such as Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Judo, Mixed Martial Arts and Sambo, since unlike standard joint locks, there is less of an opportunity to tap out before the small joint breaks. It is however sometimes taught as a self-defense and pain compliance technique, for instance in Kenpo, Jujutsu, and especially in ‘Small Circle JuJitsu’. It is also an important part of koppo-techniques, e.g. in ninjutsu.

References

“these songs […] never made it onto our 4th album. […] they are, we think, worthy of an album compilation, either that or they just sit around on dat tapes and hard drives… that, we think, would be a bit of a waste…and besides, we need your cash.”

Track listing

1. “Around”
2. “Whats Wrong With Understanding”
3. “Ready For You Now” (original version)
4. “Bring Down The Government”
5. “My Own Haunted Life”
6. “AC Harmonics” (International Peoples Gang remix)
7. “Clouds”
8. “Dreaming of a Better Life”
9. “I’ll Take My Chances”
10. “Here Comes the Sun”
11. “Wasted”
12. “Wallflower”

History

The village now mainly consists of modern brick built houses, but a number of 17th century buildings still remain in the centre of the village including the George and Dragon public house. The George and Dragon was predated in the village by another pub, a timber framed thatched building that was destroyed by fire in 1938, a replacement The Cross Keys now stands in its place.

On the outskirts of Rowde is the site of the Caen Hill flight of locks of the Kennet and Avon Canal. The canal rises 237 feet by means of 29 locks, 16 of them in a straight line at Caen Hill. The Kennet and Avon Canal was constructed between 1794 and 1810 and served to link Devizes with Bristol and London. The canal fell into disuse after the coming of the railway, but has been restored, and is now used for leisure purposes.

Local government

Rowde is a civil parish with an elected parish council. It falls within the areas of Kennet District Council and Wiltshire County Council. All three councils are responsible for different aspects of local government.

In the 2001 census, the district ward of Bromham & Rowde had a population of 2880.

Location

Position:

Nearby towns and cities: Devizes, Calne, Melksham, Chippenham, Swindon

Nearby villages: Bromham, Seend

History

The village now mainly consists of modern brick built houses, but a number of 17th century buildings still remain in the centre of the village including the George and Dragon public house. The George and Dragon was predated in the village by another pub, a timber framed thatched building that was destroyed by fire in 1938, a replacement The Cross Keys now stands in its place.

On the outskirts of Rowde is the site of the Caen Hill flight of locks of the Kennet and Avon Canal. The canal rises 237 feet by means of 29 locks, 16 of them in a straight line at Caen Hill. The Kennet and Avon Canal was constructed between 1794 and 1810 and served to link Devizes with Bristol and London. The canal fell into disuse after the coming of the railway, but has been restored, and is now used for leisure purposes.

Local government

Rowde is a civil parish with an elected parish council. It falls within the areas of Kennet District Council and Wiltshire County Council. All three councils are responsible for different aspects of local government.

In the 2001 census, the district ward of Bromham & Rowde had a population of 2880.

Location

Position:

Nearby towns and cities: Devizes, Calne, Melksham, Chippenham, Swindon

Nearby villages: Bromham, Seend

Description

In effect the 5-rise consists of five locks connected together with (as always with a staircase) no intermediate “pounds”: the lower gate of each chamber forms the upper gate of the chamber below. There are therefore five chambers, and six gates (the top and bottom gates and four intermediate gates). As the Leeds Liverpool canal is a wide canal, the chambers are 14 feet wide, and each “gate” consists of two half-gates, “hinged” from opposite sides of the canal. Each half gate is slightly more than 7 feet wide, so that the two halves close in a “V” shape (pointing “upstream”). Water pressure on the “uphill” side of the gate thus keeps it tightly closed until the water levels on either side are equal, when the gate can be opened and the boat moved to the next chamber (see canal locks for more information on how a lock is constructed and operated).

The 5-rise is the steepest flight of lock in the UK, with a gradient of about 1:5 (a rise of 59ft 2in over a distance of 320ft). The intermediate and bottom gates are the tallest in the country. Because of the complications of working a staircase lock, and because so many boaters (both first-time hirers and new owners) are inexperienced, a full-time lock keeper is employed, and the locks are padlocked “out of hours”. Barry Whitelock, the “locky”, after twenty years based here is now almost infamous on the local canals. Barry was awarded an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2006 New Year Honours List for “Services to Inland Waterways in the North”

History

It opened on March 21 1774 and was a major feat of engineering at the time. When the locks and therefore the canal from Gargrave to Leeds was opened in 1774 a crowd of 30,000 people turned out to celebrate it! The first boat to use the locks took just 28 minutes and the whole first trip is described here as it was in a newspaper of the time - the Leeds Intelligencer. The smaller Three Rise opened at the same time just a few hundred meters further down.

During 2000-2004, famous Leeds Chartered Surveyor, Gerwyn Bryan, lived in the famous cottage looking down on the locks, which appears in many pictures of the locks.

Tourism

The “flight” (it is a moot point whether a staircase is strictly a “flight”, used strictly the term means a group of locks separated by intermediate pounds, so each lock has its own top and bottom gates) is a major tourist attraction in the area. Most boats that pass through attract a lot of attention especially at weekends where they may be a crowd of thirty people or more watching a boat go up or down!

Maintenance

The staircase underwent extensive restorative maintenance in 2004,and again in 2006 when the lock gates and paddles were replaced. As is expected with such a feat of engineering it requires a lot of maintenance and is often on British Waterway’s list of winter stoppages for maintenance.

Route description

Route 75 begins at Route 159 in Windsor, then passes through Windsor Locks near Bradley International Airport. It then continues north through Suffield and finally into Agawam, Massachusetts.

Special designations

Route 75 within the town of Suffield is a designated state scenic road.

History

Route 75 was created in 1932 from portions of old State Highway 110 that were not assigned to US 5A (now Route 159). The route was extended into Massachusetts in 1950.

Junction list

Its function is to act as both a luggage carrier and bodyguard for its owner, against whom no threatening motion should be made. The Luggage is fiercely defensive of its owner, and is generally homicidal in nature, killing or eating several people and monsters and destroying various ships, walls, doors, and other obstacles throughout the books. Its mouth, the feature often remarked upon by those it is about to consume, contains “lots of big square teeth, white as sycamore, and a pulsating tongue, red as mahogany.” The inside area of The Luggage does not appear to be constrained by its external dimensions, and contains many conveniences: even when it has just devoured a monster, the next time it opens the owner will find his underwear, neatly pressed and smelling slightly of lavender.

One of the greatest features of The Luggage is its ability to follow its current owner anywhere including such places as inside its owner’s mind, off the edge of the Disc, Death’s Domain, the Dungeon Dimensions, and even (literally) to Hell and back. Like all luggage, it’s constantly getting lost and having to track its owner down. It has only one way of overcoming obstacles, and that is by simply ignoring them and smashing a hole through them - including a wall to a magick shop that had since relocated.

The Luggage first appears as the property of Twoflower the tourist in The Colour of Magic. When Twoflower returns home in The Light Fantastic he gives the luggage to Rincewind, and it follows him through several sequels. Twoflower says he got it by asking for “travelling luggage” at the store (one of about a dozen magical shops which are not limited by the constraints of time and space, to their owners’ dismay. According to “The Light Fantastic”, this chain of stores was born when an impatient sourcerer was served rather poorly.) - which is exactly what he got. When Rincewind eventually visits the Counterweight Continent, Twoflower’s home, he finds many items similar to Luggage travelling with their masters.

Pratchett says (at the beginning of Sourcery) that he got the idea for the Luggage when he saw a tartan suitcase with dozens of little wheels moving as though it had a mind of its own while an American tourist pulled it along. However, he has also stated (in The Art of Discworld) that it was loosely based on an idea from a roleplaying game he had designed – that being of a similar item that would do only and exactly as it was told.

The Luggage later finds a female Luggage and has children with it in Interesting Times.

The Luggage savages passers-by in:

• The Colour of Magic
• The Light Fantastic
• Sourcery
• Eric
• Interesting Times
• The Last Continent
• The Last Hero

The Luggage also ‘ate’ the most powerful magical spell book on the Disc at the climax of The Light Fantastic. However, as it is made of sapient pearwood and is impervious to magic, the book is probably under tighter control than it was in the university where it had to be chained to a plinth.

The Luggage has consumed many remarkable things, including quite a few people. Regardless of what it consumes, only the owner’s neatly pressed packing is found inside, with any clothes laundered, ironed and folded, and smelling faintly of lavender.

Computer games

In The Colour of Magic computer game, it is mentioned as in the novel. Also, in Discworld and Discworld 2, it acts as an inventory and can fit an infinite amount of items in his trunk.

In budo these are referred to as, 関節技 kansetsu-waza, “joint locking technique”Ohlenkamp, Neil. Classification of Techniques in Kodokan Judo. judoinfo.com. Accessed February 26 2006.) and in Chinese martial arts as Chin na su which literally means “technique of catching and locking”.

These typically involve isolating a particular joint, and leveraging it in an attempt to force the joint to move past its normal range of motion. Joint locks usually involve varying degrees of pain in the joints, and if applied forcefully and/or suddenly, may cause injury, such as muscle, tendon and ligament damage, even dislocation, or bone fractures.

Joint locks can be divided into five general types according to which section of the body they affect:

• Armlocks
• Leglocks
• Small joint manipulation
• Spinal locks
• Wristlocks

These general types can be further divided into subtypes according to which specific joint(s) they affect, or the type of motion they involve.

Usage

Joint locks are commonly featured in all forms of grappling, whether it be in martial arts, self-defense, combat sport or hand to hand combat application. The variants involving lesser leverage on a smaller joint (such as wristlocks) are often featured in law-enforcement or self-defense application, where they are used as pain compliance holds. Joint locks that involve full body leverage can on the other hand be used in hand to hand combat to partially or fully disable an opponent, by tearing major joints such as knees or elbows.

Common martial arts featuring joint locks include Aikido, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Catch Wrestling, Hapkido, Jiu-Jitsu, Judo, Ninjutsu and mixed martial arts. They are usually practiced in a maximally safe manner, with controlled movements, and releasing the joint lock once it is apparent that it has been effectively applied. In combat sports, joint locks are used as submission holds, and are intended to force the opponent to submit; the lock will be controlled and held until an opponent submits or a referee recognizes the threat of injury and intervenes. The types of joint locks allowed in competitions featuring them varies according to the perceived danger in their application. Armlocks are generally considered safer, while small joint manipulation and spinal locks are banned in nearly all combat sports.

A Skeleteon Key can also be used as a key that opens every lock in a house

The term skeleton key is also often misused to describe ‘bit’ type keys.

This misnomer, perhaps, stemmed from its resemblance to a skeletal figure, with an open loop at its end distal to the lock into which it is inserted to open, and possessed of two or more teeth, projecting as perpendicular tusks off the slender shaft attached to the loop, with interstitial spaces approximating the width of each tooth, to engage the tumblers of the lock when inserted. The hole of it is most resemblant of a lion’s shape in certain medieval heraldry, and likely draws its origin from same or vice versa. The lock’s hole into which the skeleton key is inserted is fashioned in the shape of a circle at the top, with flared lines projecting down from it to form the sides of an isosceles triangle, the circle at the top then circumscribing the triangle at about one-third the vertical length of the two sides.

These keys were common in both cabinetry and door locks in early Colonial America and remained in common usage within the United States through the 1940’s, giving way after World War II to the more common house-key locks in use today, as manufactured by Schlage and others. It was uncommon to see skeleton keys and their locks formed of materials other than brass, although pewter was sometimes used as well. Most usually, skeleton keys today are associated with fine cabinetry, not other types of locks; they are insecure locks, not being capable of being ground to unique shapes to form a unique key pattern. Their common usage in earlier times therefore conveys the notion of less need for security than preoccupies the world today and since World War II, generally.

In typography

• Monospace font, fixed-width typefaces whose glyphs have the same width
• Monospace (font), a computer font which carries said characteristic

Other

• Monospace or one-box car, a style of automobile body, that doesn’t feature clearly distinguishable ‘boxes’ for the engine, passenger and luggage compartments, like a three-box design.

The first main advantage to a cylinder lock is that the cylinder may be changed without altering the boltwork. Removing the cylinder requires only loosening a set screw, then unscrewing the cylinder from the boltwork. The second is that it is usually possible to obtain, from a lock manufacturer, cylinders in different formats that can all be used with the same type of key. This allows the user to have keyed-alike, and master-keyed systems that incorporate a wide variety of different types of lock, such as nightlatches, deadbolts and roller door locks. Typically, padlocks can also be included, although these rarely have removable cylinders.

Standardised types of cylinder include key-in-knobset cylinders, rim (also known as nightlatch) cylinders, Ingersoll format cylinders, American, and Scandinavian round mortise cylinders, and Scandinavian oval cylinders. There are also standardised cross-sectional profiles for lock cylinders that may vary in length; for example to suit different door thicknesses. These profiles include the europrofile (or DIN standard), the British oval profile and the Swiss profile.

Cruciform pin-tumbler locks may also use interchangeable cylinders, as do a few sophisticated lever locks.

Individually Keyed System (KD)
With an individually keyed system, each cylinder can be opened by its individual key.

Keyed Alike (KA)
This system allows for a number of cylinders to be operated by the same key. It is ideally suited to residential applications such as front and back doors.

Master Keyed (MK)
A master-keyed system involves each lock having its own individual key which will not operate any other lock in the system, but where all locks can be operated by a single master-key.

Grand Master Keyed (GMK)
This is an extension of the master-keyed system where each lock has its own individual key and the locks are divided into 2 or more groups. Each lock group is operated by a master-key and the entire system is operated by one grand master-key.

Common Entrance Suite (CES)
This system is widely used in apartments, office blocks and hotels. Each apartment (for example) has its own individual key which will not open the doors to any other apartments, but will open common entrance doors and communal service areas.

References

County Lock is the shallowest of the locks on the Kennet, as boats only rise or fall about 30 cm (1 foot) in the lock. The main stream of the Kennet flows down the weir on the far side of the lock, whilst another arm of the Kennet disappears under the Bridge Street Roundabout.

The ring totals 106 miles and has 115 locks, although there are two alternative routes through the southern part of Birmingham - from Kingswood Junction one can travel via the Grand Union Canal to Aston Junction, or via the Stratford Canal (north) and Worcester Canal to Gas Street Basin in central Birmingham. The latter route is slightly longer and has more locks, but many consider it to be more scenic and interesting.