Floods close rivers

FROM closure through lack of water to flood conditions is the state of both the Avon and the Severn, with all boating suspended.

The Avon at Bath too is in flood, with both Pulteney Weir and the weir at Saltford disappearing under fast flowing water, with Trevor Skoyles, lock keeper at Hanham Lock, reporting levels as high as 12 feet above normal this week.

Hire boats secured

During this week four hire boats on the waterways had to be secured to prevent them being dragged downstream.

As Victor Swift reported, the Trent is in flood, though dropping, but the Soar is closed, which will of course affect the Loughborough Boat Festival this week-end, and the Leicester Section of the Grand Union is also closed—though through lack of water!

A boater stuck on the Thames near Maidenhead tells us that that too is in flood, though he was lucky enough to be tied-up to a floating pontoon as the river rose.