Richard Fairhurst

I'm still here, just a bit busy to post too often. We are indeed doing a new interactive all-singing one. It's a completely different GIS to the one mentioned in the article - there wasn't anything available that did what we wanted for Waterscape, so I've developed our own. But they do share quite a lot of data. Richard

The Waterscape spokesman has been on holiday but will wave the forum in front of the BW spokesman round the corner when he gets back on Monday. (If you can wave a forum, that is.) cheers Richard

You could give Jem Bates a call - he's based at Lock 11 on the Aylesbury Arm and at the dry-dock up at Bulbourne, and provides towage services. 01296 632017.

Thanks - we're reliant on information supplied by the navigation authorities to keep it up-to-date. BW, EA, Broads Authority and MSC Co. (Bridgewater/Manchester Ship Canal) are all fine but some of the smaller ones don't always send us the info. Will prod accordingly. Richard

I'll look into whether we can provide some sort of textual reference (e.g. '200 yards west of Bridge 92'). It's not something that'll happen in the first release but could be a later improvement. cheers Richard

Indeed - we're collecting the information but haven't yet worked out the best way to represent it on the map. Richard

No, we're not. If you compare the PDF link I posted to a Nicholsons, you'll find an enormous difference in the amount of information provided. BW has been asked repeatedly by boaters, and user groups, for information on its winding holes, water points, sanitary stations and so far. Until we (BW and Waterscape jointly) started on this project at the end of last year, we actually didn't have this information. I don't think it's unreasonable for boaters, who help to pay for these facilities, to ask where they are and expect an answer. The map format simply happens to be the best way of doing it. For what it's worth, BW doesn't pay us to produce the PDFs, and we don't (and won't) charge users for them. But we do sell Nicholson's, Pearson's and GEOprojects guides through Waterscape, in conjunction with the IWA bookshop. If we were just in it for the money, surely we'd either charge for the PDFs or not produce them at all? Personally, I've been using Nicholsons for the last 10 years and have no intention of changing! (Never really got on with Pearson's...) cheers Richard editor, Waterscape.com

No problem, will post a note. There will be a webpage for each waterway on Waterscape.com listing the facilities, as you'd expect. But you'll also be able to download a PDF with waterway maps and symbols for each water point, sanitary station, visitor mooring and so on. The idea is that it's something you can print out and take with you on your boat. You can see an early version for the London canals here - we're currently working on refining it further and adding info for all the other canals. Richard

We're working on it at present - water points and a whole lot more besides. Will be on Waterscape.com in the next few months. Richard editor, Waterscape.com

I believe there was one lock on the Chard Canal, just south of Ilminster Tunnel. But I'd guess that the title does indeed refer to the Thornfalcon inclined plane, and that 'lock-keeper' is just used as a catch-all description. There were also four locks on the River Tone navigation, not that far from Thornfalcon. Richard

Douglas Maas published a book back in 1997 called 'Inland Waterways Boat Listing', listing pretty much every boat registered on the canals. You might well be able to find a copy floating around cheaply. There aren't any hard-and-fast rules on what's suitable and what isn't. If I had my way, there'd be a ban on portmanteau words made up from the owners' names, but I realise I'm fighting a losing battle on that one. Richard nb Hagley (and occasionally nb Waterscape.com)

I'd agree with the 57ft consensus. Theoretically you can do the C&H in a 60ft, even 61ft narrowboat if you go through certain locks (Salterhebble Middle I think is the tightest) both diagonally and, depending on direction of travel, backwards. But boating is meant to be fun and navigating C&H locks in a longer boat certainly wouldn't count as that. There are, of course, a couple of shorter locks out east that you won't be able to navigate in anything longer than 40ft, but these only restrict you from a few miles of rarely-used waterway (the Little Ouse below Brandon Lock, the Middle Level southern route).

Hello all, The following is not an official reply on behalf of BW (for those who don't know, I work for Waterscape, which is one of their subsidies) but I hope might shed some light. It's not a company limited by guarantee but I believe it's still a company, in which the sole shareholder is the Government. As you say later, its official status is that of a "public corporation". But until a couple of years ago (cast your minds back to John Prescott's 'Waterways for Tomorrow' announcement at Willowtree Marina), it was a "nationalised industry", one of precious few left. This makes it clear that BW was effectively a company (or group thereof) which was taken into Government ownership. It is very clearly not a Government agency (i.e. part of the Civil Service), which the Environment Agency is, for example. So I believe the phrase "Government-owned company" sums it up best. (Perhaps the closest analogue is the Ordnance Survey, but that's officially a "trading fund" so that might just muddy the waters...) BWML (the usual abbreviation) is an arms-length subsidiary running a number of marinas, e.g. Sawley. Right about 'public corporation', but it wasn't set up by an enabling act. It's a direct descendant from the British Transport Commission, the body which contained all the nationalised railways, haulage companies and (most of the) canal companies, which started life on 1st January 1948. The body and its responsibilities evolved as a result of numerous successive Transport Acts (most famously Barbara Castle's 1968 one). That's not a rumour I've heard. The Conservatives have announced they'll sell BW's portfolio of investment properties (i.e. the ones which make money which can then be reinvested in the waterways). That's not the same as selling all BW's assets. Personally I suspect the Agency would actually lobby against being given custody of all the canals. As I understand it, the Government gives a lot more money to BW than the total of all the craft licences that you and I buy. It's not "the entire cost". I believe very strongly that the Government should continue to subsidise the canals, but at the same time, we place much greater demands on it than anyone else - locks are expensive structures to maintain! - so should expect to pay more. Walkers have much lower demands, and pay through general taxation. Our webmaster at work is an angler so it's probably safest if I don't comment about them. (That's a view I've held since long before joining Waterscape - I've not been "turned"...!) cheers Richard

I'd strongly recommend the RYA Inland Cruising Helmsman's Certificate course - probably the best 'fast introduction' to narrowboat cruising that you could get. Canalboat Holidays, amongst others, offer this course. Richard

Do I presume it's the Leven Canal? Richard

I wouldn't necessarily say we do...! That's actually something we're working on at the moment - a project called the Boaters' Directory. The local units are currently gathering all the information (got the North-West stuff in today - really comprehensive): we'll then be making it available through the site, as downloadable PDFs, and in printed format. Should start to appear from next spring. Search and moorings are the two banes of my life at the moment. I'll happily agree that the current search facility is rubbish - we're replacing it and, again, will have a new one in the spring. Moorings aren't quite so far advanced but I do understand that it's a problem. cheers Richard

It's very flattering to be the subject of all this attention all of a sudden. Seriously, in order: I'm the editor of the BW-owned leisure website Waterscape.com, used to be deputy ed of Canal Boat magazine, and have been involved in a couple of restoration societies; I go by the name of Richard Fairhurst (and my boat goes by the name of Hagley - website here); and I haven't posted into this particular discussion over the few hours it's been running because, er, I've been working! I'm very happy to answer questions on Waterscape, or offer suggestions as to the best place in BW to direct comments/complaints. I can't really offer answers on the operational side - as I'm not involved in maintenance or upkeep, I tend to see the waterways from a boater's point of view. Eugene Baston, BW's customer relations manager, is responsible for handling comments and complaints and I've alerted him to the existence of this forum. He does pop up regularly on both uk.rec.waterways and the Yahoo list, so he's by no means a stranger to the net. He's also a bit of a waterways nut and has taken the mickey out of my narrowboat handling skills on one too many occasions... cheers Richard

I enjoy reading forums like this full of people's boating tales... always makes me wish I was out on the water instead of stuck here in this office. I'm probably not the right person to ask about general BW operational queries - strictly speaking, since I'm an employee of Waterscape Ltd rather than BW itself, I can't make promises on BW's behalf! But will try to help where possible.

Sorry for the problems you've been having. We're planning to rewrite the online licensing system in the next few months (so that it can cope with renewals, for example) and expect it to run much more smoothly in the future. Richard editor, Waterscape.com