Oxford quickly re-opened

THE Claydon Flight repair on the Oxford Canal has been quickly completed with the flight re-opened.

It was a broken beam of Lock 17 that caused the flight to be closed on Tuesday, but by yesterday, Wednesday, a new beam had been installed and the lock again in working order, Keith Gudgin reports.

Wait until it breaks

The poor condition of the beam, it being able to break off, shows that there is a 'wait until it breaks then mend it' policy now being operated by Canal & River Trust, but at least it does work, though perhaps causing inconvenience to some boaters.

However some of the locks on the flight are in a terrible condition, having been the subject of many stoppages over the past few years so surely proper maintenance beforehand would be a better method.