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Why are crt taking away bank moorings?


Johny London

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I don't know about elsewhere in the country, I should imagine it's something specifically to do with the K&A, but I just keep finding stretches of river bank that have been widened by adding a low level, weedy/overgrown type edge that is hopeless for mooring onto. Just leaving Devizes the other day and seeing a lot of work going on at the popular stretch just east of the town, which is normally full of boats. I can't be sure how it will turn out of course but it doesn't look like they are trying to do anything particularly boat friendly (ie dredging and putting a nice clean edged bank into place). Is this in order to meet some kind of minimum towpath width? Or perhaps increase wildlife habitat? Or maybe it literally is to stop boats mooring? Or to catch falling cyclists? 

Of course I could just ask crt but that would be no fun!

 

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Difficult to say for sure but that bank looks as if it wasn't really suitable for mooring and maybe mooring pins have badly damaged it. 

 

Repairing banks by putting in material supported by stakes then backfilling putting cour rolls on top is fairly common.

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Yes that's it - I saw kind of long sausage shaped things done up in netting or some such, look like they will be plonked in, but it makes for a bank you cannot use. It's the same just west of the town - where last winter (bottom of main flight) there was a stretch of good bank, it's now held back by several feet of nettles/weeds etc and you cannot tell what you are stepping off into, it beggars belief - there is almost nowhere near the town at all that you can moor other than the 3 day vms now.

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Surely the answer would be to make the bank decent so the pins stay in?

 

Suitable plants if you like nettles!

 

Surely having such an ill defined edge becomes hazardous to all canal users?

 

It's finally dawned on me that crt don't really care about boaters, we're just an inconvenience.

Edited by Johny London
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11 minutes ago, Johny London said:

It's finally dawned on me that crt don't really care about boaters, we're just an inconvenience.

 

Its worse than that. To CRT boaters are a constant pain in the arse and running the canals would be SO much easier with no boats. 

 

Boaters as a breed don't help themselves. The moaning minority never satisfied with anything CRT do or say put all of us in a bad light and I'm not surprised CRT don't put boaters' needs top of their priority list. 

 

 

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It's all become clear to me - what an epiphany. So that's why you get to a rubbish point and it's been removed. Or a water point, and it's been removed. THAT'S why they always take stuff away and never add anything (except more restrictions).

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5 minutes ago, Johny London said:

It's all become clear to me - what an epiphany. So that's why you get to a rubbish point and it's been removed. Or a water point, and it's been removed. THAT'S why they always take stuff away and never add anything (except more restrictions).

 

The easier you make it for boaters, the more get sucked in and the more wear and tear on the system to repair and congestion and all the rest. 

 

Is it any surprise that taking away facilities works better for CRT than adding them? 

 

 

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10 minutes ago, Johny London said:

It's all become clear to me - what an epiphany. So that's why you get to a rubbish point and it's been removed. Or a water point, and it's been removed. THAT'S why they always take stuff away and never add anything (except more restrictions).

Boaters are a minority income and a majority expense.

 

The sooner they get rid of us the sooner they have more to spend on Dragon Flies and Cyclists.

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Cost cutting. It is still possible to moor on coir rolls and fabric banks with care. 

Accept that piling is expensive in materials and labour, the convenience of us mooring with nappy pins is not high on CRT's agenda.

No doubt there are very few workers left who can pile properly.

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15 minutes ago, Johny London said:

It's all become clear to me - what an epiphany. So that's why you get to a rubbish point and it's been removed. Or a water point, and it's been removed. THAT'S why they always take stuff away and never add anything (except more restrictions).

Been a few Years since I was down on the K&A , happy memories of Lovely Women and a Free and Easy Lifestyle , has this changed ?

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11 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

The easier you make it for boaters, the more get sucked in and the more wear and tear on the system to repair and congestion and all the rest. 

 

Is it any surprise that taking away facilities works better for CRT than adding them? 

 

 

On another Bugbear of ours I was walking the Jack Russell earlier this morning by some ramshackle Boatyard south of Leighton Buzzard , four Brand New Widebeams just recently been lifted onto the Water , where is Buster Crabb when you need him ? ?

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It occurs to me - and I've mentioned this before - that facilities are far better up north, from my limited experience at least. Serviced pump outs £15 a go with free blue and a smile, armco everywhere, even recycling as well as bins.

and ale 2 and six no doubt, whatever that is...

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2 minutes ago, Johny London said:

One thing I haven't found much of on the canals is women, lovely or otherwise :(

The K&A was famous for it . The West Country always had that Alternative Image , Liberal and Free Thinking .

Just now, Johny London said:

It occurs to me - and I've mentioned this before - that facilities are far better up north, from my limited experience at least. Serviced pump outs £15 a go with free blue and a smile, armco everywhere, even recycling as well as bins.

and ale 2 and six no doubt, whatever that is...

I think broadly speaking thats true . Beer for me is a moveable feast , I have been drinking Banks Sunbeam in Wetherspoons at £1.99 a Pint , in Milton Keynes of all places .

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One of lifes pleasures is sampling the local fayre - I'm talking about beer here not women before anyone starts! Had an enjoyable visit of the Brewery in Devizes with a good tasting session. (Luckily crt don't own it else we'd have been left out on the rain).

 

What's the deal with the tea pot thing???

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3 minutes ago, Johny London said:

One of lifes pleasures is sampling the local fayre - I'm talking about beer here not women before anyone starts! Had an enjoyable visit of the Brewery in Devizes with a good tasting session. (Luckily crt don't own it else we'd have been left out on the rain).

 

What's the deal with the tea pot thing???

I was going to ask Alan that , he doesn't sound like a Mushroom Imbiber to me but I could be wrong . ?

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11 minutes ago, Johny London said:

 

 

What's the deal with the tea pot thing???

If it's a code then it's unlikely anyone in the know is going to let you in on the secret.

 

Why don't you put one on the roof, preferably near the front or rear doors, and see what happens. Might be best to wait until after tomorrow though, or it may get relocated by the weather.

 

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