WITH THE MESS BEING the state of the waterways under ten years or so of Canal & River Trust.
The start of the mess—and I don't apologise for telling it again—the decision to sell most of the equipment needed to maintain the waterways, then passing it on to contractors, that so obviously hadn't a clue, but certainly knew how to drag jobs on costing so much that it arrived at the state when there wasn't the money in the kitty to repair what should be repaired.
With a chunk of the money also going on to things that have nothing to do with navigation—remember that expensive poetry carved on to gate beams. And the increase in new managers with strange titles?
It leaving stoppages galore as the trust struggled to maintain the system on the money left.
The outcome being a broken and patched-up system that simply creates stoppage after stoppage. And here's an example with the Big Lock at Middlewich on the Trent & Mersey Canal, that certainly will not last the season. And the other gate is in a similar condition.
May stoppages
That of course brings me to the stoppages in May, certainly confirming the state of the system. There were 37 altogether—just one less than April at the start of the season, making 75 stoppage since the start.
With of course the northern canals suffering the most in May, with the Leeds & Liverpool having four stoppages, the Rochdale five and the poor Huddersfield Narrow six.
The listed stoppages did not include vehicle strikes on bridge barriers.
Barriers
But bridge barriers took a bashing lately with four reported to have caused stoppages.
A vehicle strike damaged the barriers on the Wrenbury Bridge on the Llangollen Canal.
It was a vehicle strike bashing the barriers that also closed the Godnow Swing Bridge on the Stainforth & Keadby Canal.
Then it was the Worcester & Birmingham Canal's turn with a vehicle putting its barriers out of action, but not telling which bridge.
Finishing off, for the time being, with Shirley Bridge (pictured) on the North Stratford Canal having its barriers busted.
So you all know what I am going to bring up now, don't you?
Get some bloody cameras fixed, as was mooted, then the drivers can be walloped for cash—that is much needed.
Then comes the lack of the wet stuff
We have had a spell of summer weather with little rain, so once again come the stoppages through lack of water, as pounds become unnavigable.
I'm not going to list them, as they are rapidly gaining in frequency, but why the excuses from Canal & River Trust like that of the water loss of such as the Wolverhampton Flight, (pictured) our being told—'it is currently experiencing significant water loss due to vandalism and misuse, including gates being left open and paddles left raised'.
Such excuses really come too often, yet most boaters can notice the ever-leaking lock gates and broken cills that allow for such a waste of water.
For over a year now we have been prevented taking our fairly long cruises—getting from Mercia Marina to just Erewash and back though lack of water, then not risking it at all on our early cruise this year by taking to the Lancaster, with no locks.
And a good job we did not take to the Glasson Branch, as it gets many a stoppage, so the hire companies make sure there's no windlass in their boats, as we discovered! Sensible!
That's a good idea
A good idea indeed from Dave Hargreaves concerning the many stoppage notices:
Wouldn't it be more useful if CRT just said which canals remain open instead of the the never ending list of closures?
Good thinking Dave, so having a daily list of the navigations that are open, boaters' would have least know where they could cruise at any particular time.
And keep an eye on the list to see if their passage is still clear.
Eh?
Whilst discussing stoppages brings me to a most strange stoppage notice last week concerning Wigan Flight on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal.
On Wednesday the flight was closed, with the trust telling—it was due to damaged cills at Lock 70 and Lock 75 on the Wigan Flight (pictured) on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal.
Then we were told that the Canal & River Trust team needed to dewater the affected locks to allow an investigation and create a method of repair.
So I assume boaters thought, as I did, that it would be closed for quite a while, setting up barriers then draining the two locations then eventually repairing the cills.
Yet the following day, Thursday, the navigation was reopened...! Sort that one out.
Victor Swift—telling tales for 26 years