Jump to content

Harecastle Tunnel


Arthur Marshall

Featured Posts

10 hours ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

I tried to cycle through Harecastle tunnel with a fishing rod, but they wouldn't let me. Effing CaRT. Only interested in catering to boaters. ?

The towpath was removed long before email was invented! 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, ditchcrawler said:

Could this be the start of things to come, All Anderton lift passages pre booked at £5 all trips through Harecastle tunnel pre booked, all trips to Liverpool pre booked, all passages down the Mont pre booked. I am sure there are more

Won't be long before we need to book a simple cruise down the canal through a few locks.  I'm not a CRT basher but I do wonder why they've half the staff on furlough. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have just read that someone phoned Anderton to book a lift passage and only got an answer phone as there is no one there and you have to book the lift online, Its good you have to pay a £5 service fee for booking when you have to do the booking yourself

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, jeddlad said:

Won't be long before we need to book a simple cruise down the canal through a few locks.  I'm not a CRT basher but I do wonder why they've half the staff on furlough. 

Economics.

 

Keep staff off work and get paid for them doing nothing.

 

Then provide a crap customer service.

 

A lot of 'businesses' are doing the same.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, Mike Todd said:

The towpath was removed long before email was invented! 

The lack of a tow path shouldn't interfere with my right to cycle through Harecastle Tunnel with a fishing rod. They said I should email them to book so the T&M summit pound could be drained before they would allow me passage. An outrage! Elth'n'Safety gone mad! CaRT ignoring cyclists and fishists in favour of boaters!

Jen ?

 

I don't think I am being unreasonable. I do accept that cycling through the tunnel with a carbon fibre fishing rod would have been dangerous back when there were overhead wires for the electric towing tug, but carbon fibre hadn't been invented back then.

  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

17 hours ago, ditchcrawler said:

Could this be the start of things to come, All Anderton lift passages pre booked at £5 all trips through Harecastle tunnel pre booked, all trips to Liverpool pre booked, all passages down the Mont pre booked. I am sure there are more

Except some things have gone the other way over the years.  You used to have to book the Rochdale Summit and Tuel Lane.  Not now afaik.

12 hours ago, Arthur Marshall said:

No, my phone makes phone calls. It doesn't do email  because it's a phone. It may be 10 years old but it works fine, does maps and texts, but not internet stuff. It doesn't actually predate the web, but it's too obsolete to use it any more. I've only just bothered to get a net enabled tablet as what I like about spending half the year boating is that I can get away from all that.

I suspect I'm not the only Luddite on the system.

If you were a Luddite, you wouldn't dream of having a phone.  Or a powered boat for that matter.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

44 minutes ago, doratheexplorer said:

Except some things have gone the other way over the years.  You used to have to book the Rochdale Summit and Tuel Lane.  Not now afaik.

Good point. Some things have gone the other way, with no booking. The Rochdale might not be the best example as it is closed to through trips more often than it is open these days!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 hours ago, ditchcrawler said:

I have just read that someone phoned Anderton to book a lift passage and only got an answer phone as there is no one there and you have to book the lift online, Its good you have to pay a £5 service fee for booking when you have to do the booking yourself

 

Nobody in at Anderton but the North West Regional Team can book you on by phone.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

Good point. Some things have gone the other way, with no booking. The Rochdale might not be the best example as it is closed to through trips more often than it is open these days!

I think at the moment you have to book Tuel Lane as there are so few boats.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

19 hours ago, Alway Swilby said:

Doesn't exist. however clueless.uneducated.tower is in Myanmar.

Capture.JPG

The Harecastle Tunnel might as well be there as the average CaRT call centre operator wouldn't know any different - I'm sure they don't teach geography at school these days. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, doratheexplorer said:

Except some things have gone the other way over the years.  You used to have to book the Rochdale Summit and Tuel Lane.  Not now afaik.

If you were a Luddite, you wouldn't dream of having a phone.  Or a powered boat for that matter.

I used to know about the Luddites, but I no longer do. I have a vague feeling they weren't against progress as such, just the fact that they were goiing to have to starve because the spinning jenny put them all out of work, and they wanted fair treatment. I do recall these was more to it than just smashing things up.

So I'm not a luddite, but I see no reason to buy a new phone every couple of years when my old one does everything I need, including a ten year old GPS Garmin app which is ten times better than the new ones. But these are odd times, and I'm quite pleased I've lived through them so far, so I'm not really that bothered about a minor bit of CRT mismanagement.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

17 hours ago, The Happy Nomad said:

Economics.

 

Keep staff off work and get paid for them doing nothing.

 

Then provide a crap customer service.

 

A lot of 'businesses' are doing the same.

I had to phone the bank yesterday, first I got the usual multi choice menu, then a long covid message, then more multi choices, another covid message trying desperately to get me to use the web site (I was calling because the web site had said I needed to), I evntually got into the queue 5minutes41seconds into the call, I was informed that their agents were working from home in this covid evnvironment and so delays should be expected. At 31 minutes and 24 seconds I got an agent, who was in India, and not working from home. My guess is they have Furloughed their UK based staff and are blaming everything on Covid.

  • Greenie 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

19 hours ago, nbfiresprite said:

First email was sent in October 1971 by Ray Tomlinson. The towpath was removed between 1973 and 1977

But several sections of towpath had been removed before 1970. I went through a few times in the 1960's and there wasn't a continuous towpath in 1964.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

35 minutes ago, PhilR said:

But several sections of towpath had been removed before 1970. I went through a few times in the 1960's and there wasn't a continuous towpath in 1964.

A working boatman told me how he ran his boat up the towpath in the tunnel one night where part of it was removed. He sat in the cabin having his tea until the next boat came along and they dragged him off.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 minutes ago, Rob-M said:

A working boatman told me how he ran his boat up the towpath in the tunnel one night where part of it was removed. He sat in the cabin having his tea until the next boat came along and they dragged him off.

 

Old Bill the tunnel keeper told be that there was a BW boatman in the end of the carrying days who hated the tunnel so he never went through it.

He would drop the boat into gear  send it in and walk over the hill to collect it at the other end.

TD'

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, Arthur Marshall said:

I used to know about the Luddites, but I no longer do. I have a vague feeling they weren't against progress as such, just the fact that they were goiing to have to starve because the spinning jenny put them all out of work, and they wanted fair treatment. I do recall these was more to it than just smashing things up.

 

“Enoch made them and Enoch will smash them” something like that. 
Enoch was a blacksmith who made iron work for the new weaving machines. 
And Enoch also made the sledge hammers that smashed up the same machines. 
Genius. Win Win. 
Family grave is in Marsden, 5 min walk from the canal. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

26 minutes ago, Tracy D'arth said:

Old Bill the tunnel keeper told be that there was a BW boatman in the end of the carrying days who hated the tunnel so he never went through it.

He would drop the boat into gear  send it in and walk over the hill to collect it at the other end.

TD'

I've heard a number of tales of putting the tiller strings on and leaving the boat to run on its own through the tunnel whilst you go inside and have something to eat.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So back to the topic of the Harecastle Tunnel.....

 

I you want to go through it, you need to send an email, in advance of you passage? To secure a booking.

Not sure of our plans yet this year, but don't want to lose a day to waiting for a passage!

 

Details appear to be as follows

 

Email: EventsNorthStaffs@canalrivertrust.org.uk 

Phone: 03030 404040 

https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/enjoy-the-waterways/canal-and-river-network/trent-and-mersey-canal/harecastle-tunnel-opening-days

 

 

Daniel

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, DHutch said:

So back to the topic of the Harecastle Tunnel.....

 

I you want to go through it, you need to send an email, in advance of you passage? To secure a booking.

Not sure of our plans yet this year, but don't want to lose a day to waiting for a passage!

 

Details appear to be as follows

 

Email: EventsNorthStaffs@canalrivertrust.org.uk 

Phone: 03030 404040 

https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/enjoy-the-waterways/canal-and-river-network/trent-and-mersey-canal/harecastle-tunnel-opening-days

 

 

Daniel

I'd add to that:

 

If you phone, select the options that lead you to the 'West Midlands' Regional Team. This way you go direct to C&RT and bypass the 3rd party call centre.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.