Linear moorers a major problem
JUST read Victor's piece and I have to say that I understand what he is saying as I see it every day. I agree with it as linear moored boats, both towpath and offside, have now become a major problem, writes Keith Gudgin.
It is not just Continuous Cruiser licence holders, as we Continuous Cruiser are not all the same, but also the ever increasing miles and miles of long-term linear moorers and many of these moaning about speeding boats all the time even when they are going as slow as conditions allow.
Napton falling apart
I note that there are some unplanned stoppages on the Oxford canal below Napton. I have just been down there as far as Banbury and I'm not surprised the canal is falling apart I came back through the Napton Flight just a few hours before the notice was given that lock 14 had failed and I must say that the state of the locks all the way to Banbury was appalling.
Ungreased metal-workings meaning paddles could not be opened, gates that could not be moved or would not stay in place when they did, passing places on the narrows that were so shallow you went aground if you gave way to another boat etc.
Threatened with violence
Not only did I find the actual structure of the canal to be disgusting I also found this to be the case with many of the resident boaters down there. I was swore at, shouted at, ignored and even threatened with violence. If they want peace and quiet without any boats passing them then they could have stayed in their vacated marina slots. As a start, most of them need to learn how to tie a boat up properly to stop it banging and swaying about, I do. Couldn't wait to get out of it, disgusting place, disgusting people.
Although CaRT can't stop Continuous Cruisers, as the right to roam the canals is enshrined in law, perhaps it should stop issuing linear mooring permits and start a policy of revoking those it has? It won't of course, too much income for it involved!
Disgusting place
Perhaps this may be some part of the reason? As I passed through Hillmorton making my way to Sutton Stop. I tried to moor up at the 14 day mooring just below Hillmorton Locks 2-3 but a very wide ledge coupled with a very broken bank and badly spaced mooring rings prevented me from doing so. I moved on to find a place I could moor up safely for the night. Just another disgusting place on the cut, getting more and more of them as time goes by. Even the Continuous Moorers ignored this place.
As Victor says: 'I should imagine the genuine continuous cruiser is getting worried about the worsening mooring situation, with the ever increasing number of such licences being issued by the Trust to it seems, people who have no intention of continuous cruising, but just as somewhere to live. I know it affected us though only out for two weeks, so for someone out for the year they must cause a real problem'.
Getting worse by the day
Well I can tell him it is and it is getting worse by the day. I find it is not only the numerous groups of Continuous Moorers on the towpath but increasingly the mile upon mile of off-side long-termers who are exacerbating the problem. It's no wonder more and more boats are reluctant to slow down when passing moored boats as appears to be the fashion this year.
A word about grass cutting on the towpath. As I left Birmingham after the BCNS cruise I saw some men mowing the towpath on the Stratford on Avon Canal. They were strimming the edge and letting it all fall into the cut and making a right mess. I told them it was against the Water Resources Act 1991 to do that and they said that CaRT had told them to do it like that?
Complain
If I can I take photos and note their details from their van and report them to the Environment Agency, I hope others will do the same as the more complaints the EA gets then the more likely it will do something about it.
The Water Resources Act 1991 makes it quite clear that vegetation must not be allowed to fall into an inland waterway. Standard scale 4 is a fine of up to £2500. The Agency is the EA. The actual wording from section 90 in the Act is:
(2) A person shall be guilty of an offence under this section if, without the consent of the Agency, he:
(a) causes or permits a substantial amount of vegetation to be cut or uprooted in any inland freshwaters, or to be cut or uprooted so near to any such waters that it falls into them; and
(b) fails to take all reasonable steps to remove the vegetation from those waters.
(3) A person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable, on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding level 4 on the standard scale.
Fishermen are funny fellows at times...
Like Victor I have seen plenty of Plonk 'n' Danglers over the last weeks and I even saw one match with each fisherman fishing between two moored boats along the towpath, weird or what?
[Please note, the narrowboatworld office is still closed as we are cruising, so emails cannot be attended to.]