Undaunted

IN MY last article I included a report from my friend Doug Wildman and his account of the alleged lack of care displayed by Canal & River Trust during his extrication from the major breach on the Trent and Mersey, writes Frank Hurst.

You may have read the Trust's explanation of the decision not to aid his escape from the breach via the shorter and more economic route up the Manchester ship Canal onto the Bridgewater Canal, its reason being that they considered the trip as too 'Daunting', even though it rescued the other trapped boaters via the Manchester Ship Canal to Ellesmere Port Boat Museum on the same canal!

Unwelcome comments

I thought no more of this until another friend pointed out to me that CaRT's comments were unwelcome and were reflective on another Canal operator i:e Manchester Ship Canal Company, I then realised how damaging this statement could be in all sorts of situations. Will CaRT suddenly decide that other rivers or canals are 'Too Daunting' for leisure use, the ramifications are serious.

I know it has made no statement on plans, but it conceivably could suddenly declare that the Thames, Severn, Weaver, Ouse, Ribble Link and countless other water courses and inland waterways are no longer suitable for leisure use and deny boaters help or access to them from their waterways, we have a national treasure in this country, it has been rescued and brought back into use by large numbers of dedicated enthusiasts, it needs to be protected.

More navigations

The tradition of individuals and canal restoration groups is the prime reason we have such a wonderful waterways system, and there are numerous projects throughout our country, which are either being planned or are well advanced, so we hope the fruit of these endeavours will be the addition of even more canals and river navigations to the system.

I write specifically of a project in my local area, the restoration of the Runcorn Locks. The Runcorn Locks Restoration Society was formed in 2004 with the aim of campaigning for the Runcorn Old Line of locks to be restored. This will reinstate the link between the end of the Bridgewater Canal in Runcorn and the Manchester Ship Canal.

Second Cheshire Ring

The link will create a second Cheshire Ring with the beautiful Weaver and historic Anderton Boat Lift as a centre-piece of the route.
As you will see this project relies heavily on the fact that part of this new ring is the Manchester ship canal, a canal that at the moment is used by many leisure boaters in this area, and it gives access to Salford Quays and other locations. Hopefully the unwelcome comments from CaRT will not prejudice this ambition to reopen a ring that will provide enjoyment for many boaters in the future.

60 years of tradition

This last weekend at the Bridgewater Motor Boat Club we celebrated 60 years of tradition in canal boating that puts our club amongst the oldest canal clubs in the country.  Our Life President Ken Parkes and a group of boaters on the Weaver in 1951 decided that the Bridgewater Canal would present an ideal opportunity for a new base for canal cruising, so set about searching for that base, and they found it in the old Victoria Dockyard and a place called Big Pool in Runcorn.

This location had been used for countless years as the site for the construction and maintenance of traditional wooden canal barges. The members had a huge task on their hands restoring the site, digging out a neglected dry dock and constructing a slipway on the site.  Over the years they have built a magnificent clubhouse, and have acquired and developed two other sites on the Bridgewater Canal as outlying moorings for our ever increasing membership.

Reputation for hospitality

We have had many visitors to our club from every part of the inland waterways system, and we have a deserved reputation for hospitality, and we owe all this to the pioneering boaters of the past who saw a valuable asset in dire trouble, so along with like minded people all over the United Kingdom they set about restoring this national treasure, so I would like to thank them and everyone who has fought to preserve our heritage for the future.

I hope that like our club many more boating clubs have the opportunity to celebrate many years of happy boating, that is if we get a regulator who is dedicated to maintaining the good work started by the volunteers, and is interested in the canal system being used for what it was designed for and not a linear cycle , walking, and nature trail.