Steve asked: >What's a 'cough' at a lock? And what do you do when you 'run a >cough?' Why would running coughs 'by evil difpofed Pefons' >cause the officers of the erstwhile Nutbrook Canal to offer a >£5 reward for information leading to their arrest in March 1797?
Is this 'cough' or perhaps 'clough' which is an alternative name for a paddle? Running a clough in this context is presumably allowing water to run to waste. David Mack
