Thankfully the yoofs didn't crash in to the disused Pommeroeul lock, one of the deepest in the country. The lockkeeper (yes, he is still employed there and kindly let us in to use the water tap on the office wall to fill up our tanks) remains hopeful that one day the canal will be dredged again.
There is a sign posted walk around the edge of the canal, leading to the village of Pommeroeul with its crazy steeple apparently built of unseasoned wood. We took a picnic on the walk and ate it under the spread of an old oak tree, the tree and the steeple (cf Chesterfield) all strangely reminiscent of England.