Joshua Jones Wiki
Joshua Jones Wiki


The Lock Competition is a Picture Storybook, it was published in 1992.

Summary[]

Admirable Karia was polishing his telescope one morning. He looked along the canal and saw smoke but when he put the telescope down there was no smoke. He laughed there was dust on the glass! The letterbox rattled and Admirable Karia hurried downstairs. The letter had a Grimspool postmark. The Admirable was just wondering who the letter was from when Ravi came downstairs and said "Bapu why don't you open it and find out". The Admirable read the letter and said "I will have to get busy". There was to be a competition for the most beautiful lock on the canal. Ravi was sure they would win. The Admirable and Ravi went into the garden to see what needed doing. The roses and hollyhocks needed tidying up and the lawn needed mowing. Windows had to washed and the chipped front door needed painting. There was lots to do. Josh arrived on the Delilah and The Admirable and Ravi told him about the Beautiful Lock Competition which was Mr. Biggott's idea. Ravi got a ride with Josh he was going to see Fiona and ask her about the window boxes her dad had bought last year. Fiona already knew about the competition and they went to find her dad as Ravi explained that he wanted to fill the boxes with flowers and put them along the lock wall. Wilton wasn't in the flat or the office Spanner who was on his brick was sitting with his feet up at the deck eating a chocolate bar. Wilton arrived with his arms full of plants and wanted to know what Spanner was doing. Fiona asked about the window boxes but Wilton wanted them to make the wharf look beautiful. He told Fiona to take a pot of paint instead. When Ravi and Fiona got back to Lock Cottage they found The Admirable in the garden. He asked Ravi to clean the windows and Fiona to sweep the paths. They worked hard all day and The Admirable said he was issue extra rations. Ravi said "He was staring". The next day Fiona arrived with some brushes to paint the door. They opened the paint it was sky blue. Ravi thought it was a horrible colour. Just then Spanner arrived on a motorbike, he was giving it a trial. He had a tin of paint that Sharon had sent them, it was pink. Josh arrived on the Delilah with Sharon who was going to be the official photographer for the competition. Josh asked about the paint and Fiona said they going to paint the door because it was chipped but they didn't like the colours. Josh said it wasn't a problem and asked to Admirable if he had an old bucket. Josh mixed the two colours together and made a lovely purple colour. Which was an excellent match for the flowers. Ravi asked if he could paint the bollards as well. Spanner rushed off before Mr. Cashmore arrived with Mr. Biggott who was judging the competition. Soon everything was nearly ready. They all stood back and admired their handwork. Ravi groaned, the lifebelt on the wall was old and stained and there wouldn't be enough time to clean it. An impatient horn blared Mr. Cashmore was stuck behind Joe Laski's tractor. Fiona ran up the lane and asked Joe to go slower whilst Ravi ran down the path the the Delilah and asked if they could swap lifebelts Wilton arrived with Mr. Biggott and Sharon appeared with her camera. A week later Josh arrived on the Delilah with a newspaper. "Read all about it!" he said. Mr. Karia of Lock Cottage had won first prize of £100 in the competition. Wilton had managed to get his picture in the paper. The Admirable beamed "£100 I can bug a new lawnmower".

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