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Mooring at Goring


Phil.

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I see from various online photos, that there is plenty of mooring space below the Lock at Goring on the river Thames. Are these time limited, or is it ok to stay there for up to four or five days, don't mind paying to do so.

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4 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:

I think they are EA 24 hour moorings. The lock keeper may have paid for moorings for longer.

Confirm the above .

First night is free One extra night for a fiver

Compliment the resident lockie on his singing and you may be able to negotiate extra day(s). Relief lockies won't know what you're talking about 

If you don't mind mooring at the far downstream end of the moorings - and there's nowt wrong with them, he may be more helpful on the official stay (within reason).

He may also not be too keen if you're just going to dump the boat. It's his choice... 

 if it's not busy (In school holidays the answer may be 'no'.

There's one extra mooring at the head of the lock that may be available this can be pre-booked but if you're any length it may be a challenge - it's really intended for cruisers, and I think the charge is more

It's a popular mooring length at the weekends, but folks prefer to moor at the front - hence the comment about the bottom end which IIRC might require pins - local boats don't understand mooring pins....

 

The basic details are available here:-

https://www.thamesvisitormoorings.co.uk/moorings/Goring/

 

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24 hours free, fiver each night for two more nights and then off you go...unless you can arrange something else or just stay there like some have...

 

Electric is available on the lock island head mooring for a fee which i don't know.

 

Don't believe there is a resident lockie in the house just yet as it is let but one is due...

 

Steve is the resident at Cleeve lock just up from Goring and may be able to help as he often double mans it.

 

* Sometimes boats stay on the tail mooring but weir stream side, that may also be a option.

Edited by Paringa
* This bit of extra info
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32 minutes ago, Paringa said:

24 hours free, fiver each night for two more nights and then off you go...unless you can arrange something else or just stay there like some have...

Or go to the pub with the lockie, like I used to.  Can't remember his name.

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11 hours ago, Paringa said:

24 hours free, fiver each night for two more nights and then off you go...unless you can arrange something else or just stay there like some have...

 

Electric is available on the lock island head mooring for a fee which i don't know.

 

Don't believe there is a resident lockie in the house just yet as it is let but one is due...

 

Steve is the resident at Cleeve lock just up from Goring and may be able to help as he often double mans it.

 

* Sometimes boats stay on the tail mooring but weir stream side, that may also be a option.

The extra nights for a fiver no longer apply, TVM ran this on a trial basis which finished at the beginning of this year.

 

Keith 

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12 hours ago, Paringa said:

24 hours free, fiver each night for two more nights and then off you go...unless you can arrange something else or just stay there like some have...

 

Electric is available on the lock island head mooring for a fee which i don't know.

 

Don't believe there is a resident lockie in the house just yet as it is let but one is due...

 

Steve is the resident at Cleeve lock just up from Goring and may be able to help as he often double mans it.

 

* Sometimes boats stay on the tail mooring but weir stream side, that may also be a option.

 

39 minutes ago, Steilsteven said:

The extra nights for a fiver no longer apply, TVM ran this on a trial basis which finished at the beginning of this year.

 

Keith 

 

15 minutes ago, Paringa said:

Well that contradicts what I was told last week

Gentlemen -

A minor muddle -

Steve is the Resident at both Cleeve abd Goring, but will spend mor time at Goring as it's a more 'difficult' lock than Cleeeve (this latter must be the easiest  electric lock to use on the River...)

 

The first night free and pay for the next xx nights is standard EA practice for those locks with moorings attached to the layby (I don't have a better description) - nothing special to do with TVM (who has been mucked about by EA, but that's another issue).

 

Trust me it's my patch (runs for cover).....

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12 minutes ago, OldGoat said:

 

 

 

 

Steve is the Resident at both Cleeve and Goring, but will spend more time at Goring as it's a more 'difficult' lock than Cleeve (this latter must be the easiest  electric lock to use on the River...)

 

 

not surprising, the fall is only 2ft.  

 

I have often wondered why Mapledurham is enormous, whilst other locks nearby are so small.  Caversham comes to mind, but that may appear small because I always seem to have to share it with Mr Salter.   

 

none of them is really terrifying, unlike Bath Deep Lock for example which I shared with a swimming boat skipper the last time I went through (the classic step onto the ladder before the boat is properly secured.  Many of us have done it but not in a scary lock like that).  Didn't help that he was German and there was the usual crowd of gongoozlers who must have thought it was part of a circus act.

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3 hours ago, OldGoat said:

 

 

 

Gentlemen -

A minor muddle -

Steve is the Resident at both Cleeve abd Goring, but will spend mor time at Goring as it's a more 'difficult' lock than Cleeeve (this latter must be the easiest  electric lock to use on the River...)

 

The first night free and pay for the next xx nights is standard EA practice for those locks with moorings attached to the layby (I don't have a better description) - nothing special to do with TVM (who has been mucked about by EA, but that's another issue).

 

Trust me it's my patch (runs for cover).....

Well  ( and it's my patch too ) when EA announced the end of the trial period involving TVM they specifically said  that all such moorings would revert to 24 hours only.

I actually questioned whether or not the one day free followed by up to two further days at £5 each would still apply and they categorically said no.

To my knowledge that has never been E.A.,NRA, Thames Water or TC practice and was Rex Walden's idea to improve mooring availability on the Thames which he put to EA and they agreed to a twelve month ( initially at least ) trial period. 

Chargeable moorings at the lock are for every day and last Autumn/Winter I paid £7 for below the lock on the weir stream and £13 above the lock including power hook up.

 

Keith

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1 hour ago, Steilsteven said:

Well  ( and it's my patch too ) when EA announced the end of the trial period involving TVM they specifically said  that all such moorings would revert to 24 hours only.

I actually questioned whether or not the one day free followed by up to two further days at £5 each would still apply and they categorically said no.

To my knowledge that has never been E.A.,NRA, Thames Water or TC practice and was Rex Walden's idea to improve mooring availability on the Thames which he put to EA and they agreed to a twelve month ( initially at least ) trial period. 

Chargeable moorings at the lock are for every day and last Autumn/Winter I paid £7 for below the lock on the weir stream and £13 above the lock including power hook up.

 

Keith

I was about to apologise - however I've just checked (at the only moorings in which I'm particularly interested) and it's still  first night free and £5 for the second and third.

I'm sure if that was totally incorrect, Rex would have amended his site - which he has kindly left operational for the benefit of boaters.

It's disappointing that I could not find any public information on EA sites, but I will return to grovel if I'm wrong.

 

I've been boating on the River for more years that I care to admit and the free first night, £5 therafter has always been the rule. It was not something special to the TVM trial contract.

 

Perhaps the rules are different for Great Big Boats....

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There are signs now at Goring saying "Mooring Fees apply contact duty lock keeper"... There is no mention of what the fee actually is or for what. They have only just gone up in the last couple of weeks.

 

When i asked the duty lockie i was told the info which I gave to the OP.

 

Why would the EA put up those signs if there were no fees?

 

What a mess... or am i being daft and missing something.

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1 minute ago, Paringa said:

There are signs now at Goring saying "Mooring Fees apply contact duty lock keeper"... There is no mention of what the fee actually is or for what. They have only just gone up in the last couple of weeks.

 

When i asked the duty lockie i was told the info which I gave to the OP.

 

Why would the EA put up those signs if there were no fees?

 

What a mess... or am i being daft and missing something.

No you're not daft or missing something. The management of the Thames is a complete and utter mess and nobody really knows why. Mebe it's budget cuts?

There's been so much fuss over the DE (not D of E) ongoing fuss at Reading and Hampton Court as well as CMers camping on all over the place, that perhaps local navigation management are trying to show that they have EA owned moorings under control.

The 'poor boater' is left confused not easily knowing in advance where he can moor. Rex's site is excellent, but now nobody's paying for it.

 

If only local boaters would show more interest in the management and state of the river, that might help somewhat...   

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my observation is that all the Thames lockies (staff and volunteers) are interested in providing a good service to boaters, but the EA only feels obliged to maintain the weirs, and is looking to cut back on the number of lockies to that required only to operate the sluices to safely manage river levels.

 

the EA website listing the locks was last updated in 2017, since when there has been no electricity available at Benson, which is listed as having power.  A lockie told me that the bollard (not the cable) has failed, and the EA cannot contact the supplier.....  (for 2 years!!).  This is inconsistent with the EA's policy to extend the number of electric points available for charging electrically powered boats.  Surely the provision of a simple electric point (they are not metered - just a breaker and an outlet socket) is not beyond the wit of the EA?    I wonder if CRT would perform any better.

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This is the sign - first image - at Abingdon. It is not worded exactly like the temporary looking ones at Goring but near enough...

 

When I asked the resident Abingdon keeper just now what the charges were he said: "24hours free, then a fiver each night for the next two days, after that fifty a night"

 

I asked will that be the same at Goring? "Yes"

 

Why couldn't the EA just put up these signs - 2nd image at Staines - at their sites as soon as the TVM signs came down early in the year?

20190615_165857_resized.jpg

20180811_085017_resized.jpg

Edited by Paringa
Clarity...i think
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42 minutes ago, Murflynn said:

my observation is that all the Thames lockies (staff and volunteers) are interested in providing a good service to boaters, but the EA only feels obliged to maintain the weirs, and is looking to cut back on the number of lockies to that required only to operate the sluices to safely manage river levels.

 

the EA website listing the locks was last updated in 2017, since when there has been no electricity available at Benson, which is listed as having power.  A lockie told me that the bollard (not the cable) has failed, and the EA cannot contact the supplier.....  (for 2 years!!).  This is inconsistent with the EA's policy to extend the number of electric points available for charging electrically powered boats.  Surely the provision of a simple electric point (they are not metered - just a breaker and an outlet socket) is not beyond the wit of the EA?    I wonder if CRT would perform any better.

I agree generally with your first paragraph; IMHO that although the lockies' job is principally to maintain river levels and flow, income from boaters makes a considerable contribution to EAs navigation staff costs as well as knowing that locals can bring pressure to bear when the is a public protest - as there was when EA wanted to sell of lock keepers cottages.

 

The electricity points were really installed when 'somebody' tried to electrify the inspection launches - which was a failure (I don't know why...).  I guess when that happened, 'somebody' decided that they could be used by boaters for a fee. Now of course with interest in electric propulsion the bollards are no longer 'fit for purpose'. They are usually tucked away in a spot where only a launch could reach or have space! 

 

Some years ago there were keen people who wanted to improve the River - but they've all retired and there seems to be little enthusiasm for any form of innovation.

 

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55 minutes ago, Paringa said:

This is the sign - first image - at Abingdon. It is not worded exactly like the temporary looking ones at Goring but near enough...

 

When I asked the resident Abingdon keeper just now what the charges were he said: "24hours free, then a fiver each night for the next two days, after that fifty a night"

 

I asked will that be the same at Goring? "Yes"

 

Why couldn't the EA just put up these signs - 2nd image at Staines - at their sites as soon as the TVM signs came down early in the year?

20190615_165857_resized.jpg

20180811_085017_resized.jpg

Both of those are clear, the Abingdon says it all (except who / where to pay).  Probably due to pressure from local staff that never get implemented in general.

Sometimes I wonder whether there's a resistance to changes from within.

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