Breach waiting to happen

AT THE beginning of this month I cruised along the northern section of the Trent & Mersey Canal, and somewhere in the region of Croxton Flash I passed a place where the canal was trickling across the towpath, writes David Hymers.

I thought at the time 'I hope CaRT know about that, because that looks like a breach waiting to happen'. I regret that I neither took a picture nor reported it, but I wonder if that has any connection with the breach—if so, why was it not spotted by CaRT's inspectors?

Suspicious

I am rather suspicious that CaRT are blaming floods—that part of the Trent & Mersey has a history of breaches caused by subsidence from former brine pumping operations; that's why the flashes are there. It is not so many years since there was a major breach nearer Preston Brook, and at Marbury a whole new section of canal had to be built back in the seventies. If you look at the towpath edge you can see where it has had to be built up to counteract the subsidence.

Two preserved railways have suffered flood damage in recent years with one of them being still partly closed as a result. In both cases, they carried insurance against the risk, which did not cover anything like all the costs, but was a big help. Does CaRT not carry insurance against natural disasters? If not, why not - after all, they are a charity exactly like the preserved railways.

Words fail me

As to CaRT appealing for donations to fund the repairs, words fail me. It says it has a contingency fund, but it is needed for routine maintenance—in that case, it is not a contingency fund, it's part of their budget.

Personally, I will not give CaRT a penny I don't have to while they are still grossly overpaying their senior management; perhaps they should be the ones making the donation—after all, they are responsible for the canals.