THE Canal & River Trust (CaRT) pulled out all the stops to repair the lock gate on Caen Hill Flight that closed the flight, after a hire boat lifted the gate out.
The flight was reopened this afternoon (Friday) actually ahead of the scheduled reopening of tomorrow, Alan Tilbury tells us.
Trapped
Many boaters were trapped both at the bottom of the flight and at the top after the incident last Saturday (Kennet & Avon closed) after hirers failed to close the paddles after their boat was caught in the gate lifting it out in the rising water, and damaging its anchor plate in the process.
It was a floating crane brought in from Newbury that managed to refit the gate into position, which was then adjusted by the workers to fit.
As previously stated, as the hirers were obviously to blame, CaRT is now in discussion with the hire company involved with a view to damages.