Victor can't make head or tail of it!

IT WAS way back in October of last year that a 'significant leak' occurred at Rishton on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal.

This affected both Barrowford and Blackburn flights, with dams installed and then eventually 'design engineers' brought in, but to design what was not stated

This was followed in November by a trackway to the site then followed by a working site established a month later.

Then came the New Year with, we were told, contractors working on behalf of the Canal & River Trust having initially installed emergency dams on either side of the 'breach' (upgraded!) between Bridge 109, New Barn Bridge and Bridge 110, Aspen Bridge, Rishton, to secure the canal. Though we had been told dams were already installed in October!

February saw 'work progressing well despite the recent storms', though of course the navigation was still closed.

Now up to date, with the job taking five months, yet still no ending in sight with our Keith reporting that Canal & River Trust would have us believe:

'An outbreak of Covid-19 amongst the site team, in addition to a succession of storms throughout the last 4-week [four weeks] period has had a detrimental effect on the planned programme to repair the breach between Bridge 109, New Barn Bridge and Bridge 110, Aspen Bridge, Rishton on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal'.

And now comes the flannel:

'However, through risk reduction meetings and re-programming activities to outside of the critical programme path, we still hope to have the canal open to navigation for Friday 8 April'.

That I just cannot make head or tail of—perhaps you can do better!

But it signifies the restoration of what after all is just a collapsed culvert will have taken all of six months to repair, at what cost is any one's guess, but will be astronomical, that's for sure.

An example

Sandiacre Lock on the Erewash Canal is an example of costs these days, that required brickwork to the lock and attention to a gate that took contractors four weeks to complete.

Knocking CaRT back a cool £50,000 in the process. Which would perhaps go towards explaining why so many winter maintenance jobs were knocked back.

Somebody, somewhere coining it, don't you reckon?

Could do with a spend

According to boater Richard MacKenzie, the Oxford mooring on its canal could do with a bit of a spend, he telling the Oxford Mail they are 'amongst the worst and most dangerous he has seen in the UK'.

Adding that boaters are avoiding the Oxford Canal because of 'atrocious' moorings, he arriving in Oxford telling he was 'disappointed to see bank walls collapsing and potholes opening up and that boaters are avoiding the city for this reason', further adding:

"Boaters don't want to come here which is a real shame. It is a real let-down. I am so incredibly proud of the Oxford Canal but whenever we speak to boaters they say, 'oh, we never go down to Oxford, we turn off and go down the Thames. The boaters are really lovely but the moorings are atrocious.

“And that’s why we are missing out on boaters coming in. Oxford is one of the stop-off points, but they don’t come here because it’s not safe.

“The issue with the side of the canal is it is a stone wall, and that wall has fallen in. When you come to the bank, your foot falls into the soil and you can’t get the boat into the side as obstacles are stopping you."

His comments in the Oxford Mail prompted comments from other boaters about the poor state of moorings, one telling that over the years he had reported the dangerous state of the visitor moorings in his home city of Oxford to CaRT, but nothing had been done.

Not too popular

Back to the Leeds & Liverpool. These days it really is a little used waterway, mostly populated with hirers, who are not aware of its perilous state due to many failures.  So many in fact I cannot remember when it was free of them.

As those people who hire, must surely have problems with their boats stranded with stoppages.  Not only the breaches and other failures that seemingly take forever to repair, but the never ending swing bridge failures preventing hirers getting boats back in time for the next hire.

And single handers too are few and far between as the many swing bridges are operated off-side making it often impossible for single handers to operate.

So sorry all so negative this week, but telling it like it is...

Victor Swift