Bandits beware!

Narrowboat stoned on the Rochdale

ANOTHER boater has come under fire from yobs on the Rochdale Canal, with his narrowboat being stoned.

Norman Bate was dropping down towards Manchester through Newton Heath when the attack happened, explaining:

"As we got close to Clegg Hall a group of about 10 lads appeared on a bridge and pelted stones at us. I have never been so angry in my life.

"Rochdale Canal is a beautiful canal, having had more than £20millions spent on it in recent years, and it’s awful that this kind of thing should happen."

Norman of course reported the attack to the police and British Waterways.

A spokesman for British Waterways commented:

"The incident was ‘regrettable’, and fortunately didn’t happen often.

"This kind of thing is pretty isolated and we do try to minimise it, but it does happen everywhere from time to time, not just on canals.

"If it does happen we advise boat owners to contact the police in the first instance as they can be on the scene much quicker than we can. Boat owners should then try to get to a safe mooring area."

Boaters know differently, as do British Waterways, which is why its staff ride 'shotgun' on boats passing through that particular area, which is recognised as the most deprived in the country.

[Our own boat came under attack on the Rochdale Canal, and we took refuge in a tunnel under a motorway bridge that had no towpath.]

Vandals set boat adrift on the Severn

THE sleeping crew of a narrowboat moored in Worcester on the Severn hadn't realised that their boat had been cast adrift by vandals and had drifted down the Severn to become lodged at an angle between the bank and a pillar of a railway bridge.

It was the Hereford & Worcester Fire and Rescue Service who had been called out by a towpath walker late at night, and climbed aboard to tell them they had been drifting down the river.

Alec Mackie, a spokesman explained:

"The fire-fighters couldn't see any activity so climbed aboard and called out 'anyone on board' which woke the trio. They had been fast asleep and couldn't believe where they were!" .

The firefighters unwedged the boat by pulling it away from the bridge and returning it to its original mooring for the rest of the night. 03/07

Embankment attack

A YOUNGSTER was approached by a group of seven Asian males on Peterborough's Embankment of the Nene during late May and attacked by one of them, the 14 years old teenager then needing hospital treatment.

Witnesses however have provided two descriptions, which is making the police investigation more difficult, and so are appealing for more information. 04/06

Doing something about it

WHILST travelling back from Central Birmingham down the Grand Union Mainline, Jannock got attacked with stones by a group of four youths dressed in school uniform and hiding under a road bridge.

The damage caused was limited to chipped paintwork, with no windows broken, but I did manage to get one good photo of one of the perpetrators (whilst trying to retain control of the boat and get away as fast as possible).

Once we had moved away from the area we reported the incident to West Midlands Police using their non-emergency number in order to obtain a crime reference number. The Police were surprised to hear that boaters travelled this section of canal as it is known to have a bandit problem. We then sent a copy of the photo to the police and also to the head of the nearest secondary school identified using Google maps.

The school responded almost immediately stating that the uniform pictured was from another school in the area and that their canoe training session on the Grand.Union. that same afternoon had been the subject of a similar attack by the same youths. This information was forwarded to the police who have since sent their community officers into the local schools to try and identify the individuals.

They have also equipped their beat officers with mountain bikes and are including the towpath along that stretch of canal in their regular patrols. The parting words of the investigating officer when he called us today to close the case were “We can only do something about a problem area if people make the effort to report the issues to us.”

Therefore I would like to recommend that any boaters experiencing ‘bandit’ problems whilst travelling to make the effort to ring the local police and report the incident. Always demand a crime number from them when you make the call as this ensures the incident is recorded into the crime log and has to be investigated.

Graham Keens

Security at Banbury

WITH the problems with attacks on boaters at Banbury, the organisers of the Banbury Canal Day, responding to a boater's concern, have intimated that they will employ security.

The boater was told:

"There have been a couple of incidences recently. If finances permit then we were going to hire a security group to be on hand and patrol the canalside for both Friday and Saturday evening—providing we have enough boats booked in to warrant this. I did ask the police to help out last year and they did agree to, but we never saw them so that didn't really work too well."

The spokesperson hoped that the boater would 'risk it and join us'. 28/07

Bombarded on the Stratford Canal

I was tootling back from the Drawbridge pub Saturday night 11.8.07 at about 9pm I passed through Bridge 6 on the Stratford Canal when four little darlings aged between 15 and 19 started shouting abuse.

That was ignored, but the large clump of sand and bricks were not as they hit the stern of my boat and found their way through the open door where two of my friends were sitting. We quickly closed the door, and thankfully they didn't chase us.

Watch out for them, as they apparently come out after 7pm to torment boaters passing through.

Louise, NB Tom Thumb

Never again on the Calder & Hebble

This is the third time I have been up the Calder & Hebble and on all three occasions, something has occurred that has been, let’s say, a little off-putting. The first time was about 13 or 14 years ago, on a friend's cabin cruiser and we ended up cruising till dark to find a suitable mooring, because the place we had moored up at for the evening suddenly got an uneasy feel to it, there were some local youths in the woods nearby and we didn't really fancy staying so we upped sticks and found a safer place to moor up for the night further away.

The second time was about 8 or 9 years back now, when I had the 60 footer. It was a nightmare getting the boat up there because of the size and an even bigger nightmare coming back down. Then when we reached Brighouse Basin, we encountered a very drunk and aggressive man, who swore at me and to cut a long story short he ended up on his back with his legs in the air (my then husband had intervened, which involved him coming off the boat, from the bottom of the river lock, to quell the drunken man, as it were). I wasn't best impressed with the whole thing and vowed that due to the size of the boat and the man; I didn't really fancy going up there ever again.

Youths on the balance beams

Anyhow, scooting forward in time to May 2007, and bearing in mind my new boat is 58 feet long, we decided to venture up the Calder & Hebble. All was going reasonably well till we got to the lock just up from the Navigation Pub at Calder Grove, near Wakefield. My heart sunk as sat on the lock balance beams were about 8 or 10 youths with hoodies on. Anyway, I disembarked and made my way towards the lock, and the fact that none of the youths had the decency to get out of my way, to let me operate the paddle gear, should have pre warned me of what was to come. Now boys and girls, I think you know where this story is going? don't you?

I filled the lock and my partner was on the boat waiting to go in the lock, I opened the gate, and some of the youths(younger ones) did help, but all the time they were firing questions at me, wanting to know if I opened the gates would it cause a tidal wave, etc. etc., and things like that. Anyway as my partner was approaching the lock some of the others started to close the gate which I and some of the others had just opened. My partner had to back pedal at that point. Anyway I re-opened the gate and our boat managed to get in to the lock this time, but as the tail end of the boat passed by, one of the older youths grabbed our flag and bent the flag pole.

Degenerated badly

At that point my partner got off the boat and things degenerated badly from there in; he asked the youths to go away and be off, but by this time they(about three or four of the older ones) were getting quite cocky, and you could see things were not good. I felt sick because there were just us two and all these idiots, and it was starting to get very hairy, like being in a nasty movie, by this time!

We were stuck in the bloody lock and had 10 youths giving us grief. I won't go into much detail but I ended up calling the police because things got so bad, and the best thing I did was pick up the digital camera and hand it to my partner to start taking pictures. At that point the penny dropped and they all backed off and they started walking away, and by this time you could hear the police approaching with the blues and twos on.

The moral to this story? Well the first thing you do is get your camera out. Do not try to start physically kicking off with them as this will only inflame things further. And get straight on to the police. The police turned out very quickly when I told them we had been assaulted (as my partner actually had) he was on the floor at one point with the eldest youth, and the others were about to start kicking the living crap out of him when I intervened telling them to all back off. I honestly thought that I was going to have to start giving one or two the wrong end of my windlass! And I would have, without a doubt, for it's funny what crosses your mind in a split second.

Not be venturing again

All in all, I will not be venturing up there ever again, that I can assure you. Its not funny being stuck in a lock not daring to move in case they all got on the boat. I know lots of you will be saying, yes but that could have happened anywhere, and you are right, it could. I just think the canal is a bad omen for me, that’s all...

Since this incident I have spoken to a few friends who are boaters, and one informs me that he was subjected to a very similar incident on two occasions that he ventured up the Huddersfield…

Charlie Wall

Canal Watch for the Grand Union towpath

SUCH is the 'bandit' activity on the waterways, that at last British Waterways has acknowledged the problem in one area at least, and has joined forces with the Metropolitan Police to launched a Canal Watch scheme.

This will cover the area of the Grand Union Canal between the junction of the Slough Arm through Uxbridge to Denham Deep Lock.

With a similar neighbourhood watch scheme already in place within Packet Boat Marina, the new one extends the scheme to a 3½ mile stretch of towpath.

Matthew Bannister, mooring coordinator for British Waterways, comments:

“Police officers patrolling the canal will now be a far more regular occurrence making the canal seem and feel a safer place to live and use." 28/07

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The non-emergency police telephone numbers

WE HAVE now included the complete list of non-emergency police telephone numbers which can be printed out as suggested by Graham Keens who used the system. As he advises, boaters who are attacked or threatened in any way should contact the police on the relevant number and advise them of the situation, and at the same time demand a crime number.

Download the list

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Stoned at Wallingford

Have just read on your website re the problems at Wallingford. We were stoned by youths under Wallingford Bridge and got no response from the police whatsoever.

Your list of police contact numbers will be very useful.

Does anyone know what British Waterways are doing with regard to 'continuous cruisers' who are multiplying by the day. We have just come down the Grand Union and it is enough to make a person weep. If British Waterways needs to generate money they should be charging these people fees.

Another question is—why do these 'continuous cruisers' have to be so scruffy (lack of paint, wheelbarrow, logs, bike, their worldly goods and not forgetting the blue tarpaulin.

Yvonne Umpleby

Another walker assaulted and pushed into the Coventry Canal

OVER the past few years, three people have been assaulted on the towpath of the Coventry Canal and pushed into the water, with the latest being a 39 years old man.

He was approached by a white man and three black men, aged between 17 and 18, as he walked along the towpath towards Old Church Road in Coventry.

They threatened and then assaulted the man before pushing him into the canal. Luckily he could swim, and though hurt managed to get to the other side. 30/05

Weaver police patrols

SO BAD is the vandal situation on the Weaver at Runcorn, that police have mounted patrols on the outskirts of the town to attempt to diminish the problem.

Vandals have also damaged other facilities using power tools and destroyed fencing with cutting equipment.

British Waterways have told police that repeated attacks on its property have reached unaffordable levels, and demanded police patrols.

Even minor damage now needs expensive contractors to repair. 03/07

Woman attacked on Erewash towpath

A WOMAN has been attacked and robbed on the Erewash Towpath near Ilkeston as she was walking her dog.

The attack happened last Tuesday, with the woman noticing a man approaching her, but then struck her to the floor and kicked her. She managed to get to her feet, upon which the man grabbed and threatened her and demanded she empty her pockets.

He stole a mobile phone, an iPod and a watch, then ran off along the towpath towards Ilkeston.

The man is described as 6ft tall, in his late 30s, of medium build and had short wavy scruffy hair. He was wearing a royal blue Adidas zip-up top, dark blue jeans and brown or black trainers.

The woman's small dog who tried to defend her, was also kicked and hurt, and the woman herself was left shaken and suffered minor grazes and bruising, vowing never to walk the towpath ever again. 18/07

Fellow boater threatened with gun

A BOATER on the South Yorkshire navigation at the wharf at Doncaster took exception to being told-off for dumping a sack of rubbish in the waterway by a fellow boater and threatened him with an air rifle.

It all ended up in court after the other boater, Andrew Melbourne called the police. The gun owner Frederick Sutherland was arrested and charged with possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear or violence, which he admitted when he appeared at Doncaster Crown Court.

Frederick Sutherland earned himself a nine months suspended sentence but was given a night-time curfew to remain in his bungalow between 9pm and 9am for four months instead of sleeping on his boat.

The incident happened when Andrew Melbourne fished out the rubbish the other boater had thrown into the water and handed it back to him. Upon which Frederick Sutherland promptly threw it back in the waterway.

Andrew fished the sack out again and put it in a bin, upon which he found himself staring down the muzzle of a gun, so went for cover and called the police.

Local boat watch scheme

AFTER problems with vandals both with local boats and those visiting on the Kennet & Avon Canal, a neighbourhood boat watch scheme has been devised at Bristol moorings.

It is drunks who are being blamed for both damaging boats and setting them adrift.

A meeting is to be held on 1st May at Lloyds building on the waterfront to discuss setting up a boat watch scheme.

The problem is always worse in the summer with people coming out of the local bars looking for trouble, seeing it as a joke, but hardly understanding the consequences of what they are doing.

Don't moor overnight

Just a brief note to suggest that boaters seriously question mooring overnight at Tipton Green near Dudley.

I did last Friday 13th July and experienced one of my windows being smashed by a large concrete block thrown by local louts.

Frightening experience and I shall not stop there again.

Alan Jeffreys

Happy-slapping on the Regents Canal

LAST week Jeremy Codd, walking the towpath of the Regents Canal was pushed into the water by a passing cyclist.

The cyclist, ignoring all the new signs, rushed past him at speed just missing Jeremy, who shouted at him to be careful.

Then moments later, another cyclist came at him from behind and kicked him in the back, pushing him in the canal.

Another towpath walker attempted to stop the cyclist, but he sped on, laughing.

Regents Canal towpath in Islington

There are reports of another man that had been pushed into the Regents Canal in the same circumstances, but further along the waterway.

The police are investigating what could easily end as murder, with Detective Constable Dave Ross hunting the culprits and stating:

"It could be that this is the next happy-slapping that they think is hilarious. But it's too early to definitely say the two incidents are related. It is very dangerous and could have disastrous consequences"

The suspect in the first attack was a white young man with dark hair. The suspect in the second attack is described as a white male, in his early 20s, with black hair, and a thin face.

Two teenagers arrested over towpath attack

TWO teenagers have been arrested in connection with an attack on the Kennet & Avon towpath in Bath that has left a 17 years old fighting in a critical condition.

One of the teenagers was released on police bail but the other, Lloyd Ingleheart, 19, has been charged with grievous bodily harm in connection with an incident that took place on the towpath last Tuesday as reported in narrowboatworld.

He appeared briefly before Bristol Magistrates Court at a special hearing on Saturday morning and was remanded in custody.

The victim of the alleged assault remains in a critical condition in Frenchay Hospital in Bristol.

Water bombing boaters

BOATERS should be extra vigilant when passing through Middlewich on the Trent & Mersey Canal, as teenagers have been patrolling the towpath slinging water bombs at passing boaters.

The youngsters, believed to be aged between 13 and 16, have been throwing balloons filled with water at boats and each other—and even the public.

The culprits have been spotted over the past week on the towpath and around the locks. 16/05

Vandals slung into canal

THE staff of a kebab house in Loughborough were so annoyed at two vandals attacking their shop by the Grand Union Canal, that they took matters into their own hands and slung them both into the canal.

The police took little notice of the complaints of harassment by the vandals which include trying to break the windows, which prompted the staff to retaliate.

The police are investigating the staff. 16/05