Slow going on the Mon & Brec

You tell us that the Mon & Brec has sprung another leak, and also mention the breach last year that cost £1 million to repair, the money being taken from that put aside for the restoration of the Cotswold Canals, writes John Holloway.

I've been a member of the Cotswold Canals Trust for many years and it is in fact very short of money. To comply with conditions laid down by the Heritage Lottery Fund, this year WRG have had a big increase in work parties on the canal to help get the restoration completed by the end of the year.

Withdrawing

British Waterways were originally leading the restoration of the Cotswold Canals, but in October 2007 there was a big breach on the Mon & Brec and overnight they turned round and announced that they were withdrawing from the restoration of Cotswold Canals and were taking their £7 or £8 million to repair the Mon & Brec. This was the breach between bridges 105 and 106.

My wife and I hired a boat on the Mon & Brec in September this year and found it very slow going as it is so silted up, and we were lucky to achieve 2mph. One day we caught up the slow boat to China; in an hour and 50 minutes we travelled 1.25 miles.

The off side was very overgrown and as usual at it's worst on sharp bends.

Too stiff to operate

There were quite a few small signs asking cyclists to slow down for walkers, but we didn't see many cyclists or walkers. The paddle gear on some of the locks was too stiff for my wife to operate; luckily someone always came to her aid.

[John has been boating since 1979 and has been a working member of the Wilts and Berks Trust since 1991.]