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The Canal Revolution


Alan de Enfield

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https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/jul/25/the-canal-revolution-how-waterways-reveal-the-truth-about-modern-britain

 

The canal revolution: how waterways reveal the truth about modern Britain

 

Every second Monday of the month, a small group of volunteers meets in the training room of a Birmingham supermarket. They discuss what has long seemed to many of their friends a crazy and probably doomed idea: how to excavate a contaminated 40-year-old waste dump, create an urban marina, restore three miles of derelict canal and build several new bridges and locks.

 

 

 

…………………. In addition, canals have become a real alternative for people unable or unwilling to buy city property. The 100 miles of canals that run through London are now lined with vessels, and the city, with around 4,000 boats lived on by possibly 10,000 people, is thought to have a larger permanent floating community than Amsterdam with its 3,000 houseboats.

 

Ten years ago 10% of the boats on British waterways were used as primary residences. It is now 26%, says the CRT.

But concern is mounting that the CRT, which controls 11% of all moorings, is “gentrifying” the canals, reducing the number of long term public moorings and offering few facilities for people who want to live on boats.

“There are not enough moorings, definitely,” says Beryl McDowall, publicity officer for the Residential Boatowners’ Association, which estimates 15,000 people now live afloat. Moorings [which were public] are going into the hands of private ownership and owners don’t want the boats,” she says.

“There is an acute and chronic lack of basic facilities on London’s waterways such as potable water taps, waste disposal facilities (for domestic waste, recycling, chemical toilets and motor oil), landside toilets and landside showers. For example there are only 17 water taps, 10 chemical toilet disposal facilities and 10 rubbish bins in the CRT Greater London region,” said the NBTA.

Edited by Alan de Enfield
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Er, it's a bit of a non sequitur: there appears to be no connection between the bit about the volunteers in Brum and the rest of the piece, which is mainly about boating in London.

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I'm still trying to work out what the "Canal Revolution" is and what it reveals about modern Britain? More people live on boats now because housing is expensive? If that's really a revelation to anyone they must have been living under a rock for the past 15 years.

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29 minutes ago, Hudds Lad said:

usual journalistic bait & switch

If you read the full article in the link, rather than Alan's massively edited version, you will realise that it is he who is guilty of "bait & switch" not the Guardian journalist

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2 minutes ago, Athy said:

What might "bait and switch" be?

I've not heard it being used in journalism but on the internet it is where you are redirected automatically from the site you thought you were heading to to another completely different one.

 

peanuts.jpg.7219895905a76bbac5d855665f02588b.jpg

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I wonder of Guardian journalist are paid peanuts?

 

Actually the article written by John Vidal starts off by talking about the Lapal Trust and the plan to restore the Dudley No 2 canal from Selly Oak towards the infilled tunnel at Lapal. Such restoration would provide additional space for moorings at spot neat shops and transport links. 

Edited by Heartland
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16 minutes ago, Athy said:

It must be the Grauniad. The photo captions are the wrong way round.

Which doesn't stop it being quite an accurate, balanced and interesting article... ?

Edited by IanD
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2 hours ago, David Schweizer said:

If you read the full article in the link, rather than Alan's massively edited version, you will realise that it is he who is guilty of "bait & switch" not the Guardian journalist

Yes - a very brief synopsis of the contents - a bit like Readers Digest where they summarise a whole book in a single page.

 

Not click-bait at all.

Just a paragraph on each of the main topics - could be called a 'management summary' with further details attached (the link)

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1 hour ago, Heartland said:

 Lapal Trust and the plan to restore the Dudley No 2 canal from Selly Oak towards the infilled tunnel at Lapal. Such restoration would provide additional space for moorings at spot neat shops and transport links. 

Just outside the student accommodation so complaints about noise before 10 am and a serious complaint about smoke which will probably succeed. Students keep windows open all year for some reason, I know because I have a student house I rent out and it leaks heat and rain gets in. The fact that boaters will be disturbed in the wee small hours with singing, jumping on roofs, posing for selfies in various states of inebriation and undress, won't counter the student complaints.

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9 hours ago, Heartland said:

I wonder of Guardian journalist are paid peanuts?

 

Actually the article written by John Vidal starts off by talking about the Lapal Trust and the plan to restore the Dudley No 2 canal from Selly Oak towards the infilled tunnel at Lapal. Such restoration would provide additional space for moorings at spot neat shops and transport links. 

I can see the continuous moorers lining up already.

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8 hours ago, Detling said:

Just outside the student accommodation so complaints about noise before 10 am and a serious complaint about smoke which will probably succeed. Students keep windows open all year for some reason, I know because I have a student house I rent out and it leaks heat and rain gets in. The fact that boaters will be disturbed in the wee small hours with singing, jumping on roofs, posing for selfies in various states of inebriation and undress, won't counter the student complaints.

To be fair, the student accommodation is next to the canal and the moorings in Selly Park are half a mile away, and the basin in California will be 2 miles away - so not a lot of conflict is to be expected.

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11 hours ago, Athy said:

What might "bait and switch" be?

You’re drawn to the article by the headline - the bait. Then you read the article and realise it actually has little or no relevance to the headline - the switch. 

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11 hours ago, carlt said:

on the internet it is where you are redirected automatically from the site you thought you were heading to to another completely different one.

And ‘clickbait’ Is when you read a headline like ‘He cracked open the egg and you WON’T BELIEVE what he found inside’. If you bother to follow the drivel that the link takes you to then the ‘unbelievable’ discovery is nothing more than a double yoke. The purpose was simply to get their ‘click count’ (number of site visits) increased. 

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I didn't look at this post when it was first posted because it didn't seem interesting. Having now read it I didn't find the article that interesting, but the link in it was.

That's why, not knowing of this topic, I started another one on the same article. This has now been closed. 

My reason for the post was to highlight the 'Then and Now' section of the article, which A de E's post doesn't seem to mention - that's the bit I thought CWDF members might enjoy, hence this post to let people know about it.

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