Boaters cause damage

YES, boaters do cause damage to locks, writes Peter Earley.

We were stuck in the ice at Marsworth earlier this year when a wide trip boat came by, crashing his way through the ice. He proceeded to push the bottom gates open against the ice rather than drop his lock worker off first.

Not best practice

The next day we received an email from the Trust to say the flight was closed as the gate anchor on the top lock had come adrift. Maybe an assumption on my part or maybe coincidence but to me, pushing a gate open against 10mm or so of ice is not best practice.