ALTHOUGH there are improvements to be seen around the canal network, I think most of us would say that on the whole, the network is in a state of decline, writes Glen Summers.
On each canal we've travelled on this year we've encountered some of the problems with locks or moorings that others have spoken about. From leaking gates and out of use winding gear to collapsed banks and silted up moorings. Some of the locks having been in a bad state for years.
Nothing gets done anyway
We don't bother reporting anything now because nothing gets done anyway. You get a polite thank-you and a year later you pass by and the problem is still there unattended to and usually worse.
If I was given an amount of government money to maintain something and instead spent it on building up a property portfolio, I'm sure I'd soon have somebody like the fraud squad on my doorstep.
Future looking rosy
The canals should have been maintained properly in the first place and then and only then should any spare money be invested. Twenty years ago there wasn't such a huge problem. In fact the canals were 'on the up' and the future was looking rosy.
I've attached a picture of a common enough problem on the Staffs & Worcs. The tops of the lock gates meet but as you can see, nowhere else does. So much for wasting water.
Buzzed
Also we encountered a new problem whilst going down the Bratch. I was buzzed all the way down by a drone with a camera attachment. Not only a menace but it got close enough to my head to be dangerous.