The spit and lean club

Out on our Wild Walk today when we were hailed by the man in the blue overalls. ‘Can you stand by while I clear the debris from the sluice gate?’ He asked.
He didn’t want to enter the water with nobody around to raise the alarm if he got swept off his feet.
We duly stood by, and of course he wasn’t swept away.
The sluice did get cleared of debris.