narrowboatworld

BOATERS in the capital are extremely worried at British Waterways' new policy of  of getting rid of its mooring wardens at its insecure locations.

During March, the last of the wardens, that ensure moorings are safe and secure, will vacate his post, leaving the boats wide open to vandal activity with one present mooring warden, Simon Grindrod, who has been the mooring warden  at Camden for 10 years, telling narrowboatworld:

Last locked moorings

"The direct result of this action will be that the last locked mooring in London will have no locked gates. This will lead to more anti-social behaviour on the towpath, particular during the summer months. During last year's riots our gates were closed at 16:00, boats not on the mooring had a great deal of damage done to them.

"British Waterways have stated that there is a new officer responsible for making sure that boats move at the allotted time, all well and good, but she will not be there at 22:00 to tell a boater to shut down a noisy generator or be there on an August Bank Holiday to remove drunken youths from the mooring."

Rely on the warden

What is so surprising is that the service cost of the present mooring warden is nothing more than a free mooring, yet there are many people not only in the moored boats but in local houses that rely on the warden .

Simon tells us that no one at the moorings has any idea why the service is being axed, he did have a meeting with British Waterways but admits 'as ever British Waterways  does not always make sense'.