THE lack of maintenance these days not only causes the seemingly endless stoppages as the the waterway infrastructure fails, but allowing important warning signs to become unreadable puts boats in real danger.
As proved when a family on their first ever outing on a boat could not read the dilapidated warning sign on a bridge on the Soar at Barrow, and inadvertently steered into what looked liked the main course of the river, but onto a sand bar, becoming completely grounded.
Dangerously unreadable
The picture of the important warning notice shows that it is so dilapidated that is dangerously unreadable.
So obviously having no warning, a first-time family with five children on a day boat from Pillings Lock Marina did not know where to go resulting in the boat being completely grounded with the children becoming very distraught at being stuck in the middle of a river.
Two hours to rescue
Paul Lillie from the marina told us it took two hours to complete a rescue with the family having to be passed onto the rescue boat to lighten the load so that the boat could get off the sand bar, explaining:
"There was no way to disembark them to the bank as it was unsuitable for getting off the boats and they were trapped in the middle of the river. Not an ideal experience for new boaters who had not hired before!"
Yet all over the system new notices are appearing on bridges extolling the virtues of Canal & River Trust, whilst important warning notices are being allow to simply rot away, as the above picture clearly shows.