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Tuesday 23 October 2012

Lock it or lose it


Seen on a gate leading to a track through woodland near Budleigh Salterton. There are eight locks.

4 comments:

Sam Vega said...

Ah, yes, the old Devon lock chain. Only one of them is a real lock, the rest of them having been welded closed by a blacksmith in the form of a chain. Any potential lock-pickers have to spend ages squatting in the Devon rain, trying out all their skeleton keys and criminal wiles. If the crim hits on the right lock, the farmer just shrugs, takes the chain down to the blacksmiths for the picked lock to be welded on to the ever-increasing chain, and buys a new lock.

A K Haart said...

Sam - I'm told it also helps catch the crims because of the sheer weight of lock-picking ironmongery they have to carry round with them.

Sagging trouser pockets are enough to trigger stop and search in Devon.

Anonymous said...

Also allows several different users without the need for key sharing (and all that that involves when one is lost).

Each user can change their own lock/key, without involving any other keyholders.

Best regards

A K Haart said...

Nigel - yes I've seen locks used like that and used them myself. I've never seen eight though.