I definitely don't believe that we are considering the Lancaster Canal for our usual May cruise.
Not only is it too far away, with the access via the Bridgewater closed for a couple of years, but our Jan reckons there are no more tidal rivers for her—having had four cruises on the tidal Trent and one on the tidal Thames—and not liking any of them!
So with the Lancaster needing a trip across the tidal Ribble—across that is, not with it, there's no way Thomas is getting her across there. (The picture on the river is by Geoff, one of our former writers.)
But I ask—the Lancaster? It's only a bit of a canal, around 40 miles long and no locks so should see it done and dusted in four days.
Or perhaps only getting from Mercia to Alrewas on their last trip brought home just how relaxing it is just piddling along, instead of having a set destination every time—then of course running out of waterways having done 10,755 miles together with 6,918 locks!
Hold on—there aren't any locks on the Lancaster, only off it. So what will there be for me to tell a tale about, eh?
Well, we shall see...
Not so clever
So the Canal & River Trust in its suspect wisdom has walloped Sherborne Wharf with seven years extra back rent charges.
So putting the marina straight into liquidation, with it then most likely the trust getting nowt.
For it stops them of getting any income whatsoever, that seems somewhat stupid to me.
And what about all those moorers that had to be turfed-out, loosing all they had paid. That does not show the trust as being such 'a caring company' as so often told.
What of the future of the other small marinas, should this be a normal new procedure?
A stoppage by another name
The trust, obviously realising that all these stoppage notices show it in a bad light, are now calling them restrictions!
Though in fact they are still stoppages!
So when the offside gate of Woodlesford Lock 5 on the Aire & Calder Navigation packed up and so made passage impossible it was not a stoppage. But a restriction!
But how many will that fool? Picture by Pennine Waterways Woodlesford Lock.
Too many paddle failures
Here we are at the end of the winter maintenance period yet already this year there have been nine paddle failures.
Alas I am not at all sure about the total during the whole winter period, as our Thomas does not keep a record of those late in the year it coinciding with the winter works.
If only we had those old British Waterways lengthsmen on hand who checked such as paddles to make sure they were in good working condition, for it is obvious that no one does now—hence so many failures.
The Jericho cock-up
I was down on the Oxford a couple of times during that Jericho cock-up with the then British Waterways (BW) and cock-up it definitely was!
BW then brought in the heavies in the form of bailiffs and outed all the boats from the yard.
And then after the years of wrangling BW fenced it all off, so it became known as Stalag Jericho, pictured below, to stop any boater getting back. Plus a massive wall around the site that had to be lowered, as shown.
It's plan was to put the yard up to the highest bidder to build houses, but even with fancy drawings of blocks of flats and the like it never materialised, even after 20 odd years.
But now a bit of sense as Oxford City Council are doing a split between mooring and houses, but even that is proving hard work, with little interest.
Let's hope though that mooring will be back at Jericho moorings, and lessen the long, long line of double mooring along the waterway.
Victor Swift—telling tales for 26 years
