Boaters come first at Mercia

IT WAS five years ago, just after it had first opened, that we first visited Mercia Marina on the Trent & Mersey Canal, when its Manager Robert Neff told us 'everything we do is for the boaters, as they provide the money'.

Five years later the results of his conviction is obvious, as the marina is very much boater biased, and still progressing in its aim to be the best, with even in the age of falling boat numbers its capacity being over 90%.

For its customers

At the very start he realised that simple things like being able to 'black' your own boat and have good workshop facilities were all important, so a DIY dry dock was installed, and then that a good chandlery was also necessary, so went for Midland Chandlers, with a purpose built building erected, stocked with every conceivable boaters' needs.

Knowing the number of dog owners amongst the boating fraternity, they are well catered for with a field given aside for their exercise, in addition to paths out of the marina to the canal towpath.

Boaters often swap, sell or buy boats, so the sales jetty is easily accessible, and most important not filled with scruffy uncared for craft, but with the marina employing Doug to keep them spotless, with Robert telling that he is a hard worker, with the boats then being attractive to view. Even the sales jetty has power for this purpose as can be seen in the picture.

A sensory garden is also planned for the future to add to the marina's effort for wildlife, that has earned it the David Bellamy Gold Award for the last four years.

Trading boats

Another new venture is the provision of six spaces set aside for trading boats, with Robert telling us:

''Trading boats visit various festivals but there are less of them now, so we thought we would give them space in the marina close to the new Broadwalk, where they will get customers from so many visitors when they have no festivals or rallies for them to trade.''

Privacy

Again with his boaters in mind, the sales jetty, trip boats and trading boats are well away from the private boats, and should loud music become a problem Robert insisted that it will be turned down to give boaters the peace they expect at Mercia. As can be seen from the photograph unlike most marinas that have berths crammed into a large area, Mercia has individual areas dotted about that was once a fishing lake, with the planted trees making it most attractive.

When welcoming his first boaters he promised a pub, believing it an essential part of boating 'get together', and last November its building was started, but not just a pub but a food and shopping complex too, including a farmers' market, ladies clothes shop, ladies accessories and beautician with empty properties waiting to be filled.

The Broadwalk

With a 14ft raised walkway, as seen in the picture, not yet complete, running the whole length of the building, it will give it the name of The Broadwalk. This will contain the chairs and tables for use of the various outlets to cater for their customers, with the raised view overlooking the marina and its activities.

To make the cladding used on The Broadwalk to be something special, experiments were undertaken with different treatments, being interested in the Japanese of obtaining an outstanding grain to its wood that also had the advantage of being long lasting.

Eventually larch was obtained from Finland, heat treated and given a UV treatment to get rid of the sap, then brushed to bring out its grain, with the result of an outstanding finish, that will show the building off to its best. All in all it took a year to find, but seeing the finished product it was obviously well worth it.  The picture shows Robert explaining the method to Jan of narrowboatworld.

Residential

With the ever increasing demand for residential boat living, this was accommodated, with the marina taking up the matter with the local council, and Robert telling us:

''We now have 180 residential berths with all facilities, that reflects the change in boating over the past few years, with an extra charge of £150 for a berth, with them secured by a cost of contribution council tax of £110,000.''

Now in its sixth year, Mercia Marina, with over 90% of its capacity taken, is a success story indeed, but one that has been very much worked for, with always the boater in mind, a policy that has obviously well paid off.