Victor: Middlewich Breach fiasco

Published: Sunday, 26 May 2019

SO THE Middlewich Breach was neither the fault of boaters or vandalism as CaRT attempted to blame.

In addition to the revelation by Alan Davis telling of the failure of CaRT to implement the recommendations of a Principal Inspection Report carried out by its Earth Structure Inspection Team back in March 2010, it also failed to produce a Principle Inspection Report after the event, though it did for the Dutton breach.

This was exposed through a Freedom of Information request, that took a great deal of ferreting out, and today we publish yet another complainant of CaRT's handling of the matter, by Freddy Brown, telling again of the cover-up of the reason for the breach, that again was exposed through a Freedom of Information request, and that again took a great deal of obtaining.

It was narrowboatworld that pointed out at the time that leaving paddles open could in no way cause a breach as neither could vandals who would need earth moving machinery for the purpose, though of course such excuses would be accepted by a gullible public, they were not by those who use the canal and certainly not by Alan Davis and Freddy Brown, both of whom stuck to their guns notwithstanding the reluctance from CaRT to supply the demanded information.

But now we know...

True representation

The Yorkshire Garden showing the leaking lock gates was voted the peoples’ favourite at Chelsea Flower Show it was announced on BBC2 last night, Roger Fox tells me.

As he remarks. perhaps it won because many people saw it as a very true representation of how they find canal locks, but must be a mixed message for CaRT!

Accosted by volunteers

In addition to both Helen Cripps and Jim Cracken, a number of you have mentioned being accosted by CaRT volunteers telling that CaRT was brought in to remedy the 'mess left by British Waterways'.

Notwithstanding that it was a name change only, with the same people still in charge, it is of course totally untrue, with the opposite being the case, as the present state of the waterways clearly shows.

Both Helen and Jim should know what they are talking about, as both have been boaters for a long time, both first contributing to narrowboatworld when it was first published some 19 years ago...

Is it that bad?

I tend to see how publications are going by checking their circulation figures on the Audit Bureau of Circulation, keeping tabs on such as Waterways World, but was alarmed to see it was no longer listed.

This isn't very good at all, as way back in 2008 it had an healthy 16,212 sales, but dastardly narrowboatworld and the like giving instant news on the internet knocked it right down to just 8,803 in 2016.

I'll have to ask at its stand at Crick Show tomorrow, and as it must be five or six years since I last saw the publication, get a copy and find out who is its editor these days.

Victor Swift