Thames Moorings

[Nightwatch]

We are moored South of Oxford on the Thames at Rose Island. Been here two days in the middle of nowhere. A nice elderly gentleman spoke to me this morning. Saying the rule of thumb is one night. 
 

I said I had no idea of this, there are signs he says. I say not seen any. He said they are not conspicuous.

 

We walked into Oxford yesterday and didn't see any signs.

 

What is the general consensus of mooring times on the Thames?

[magnetman]

The bylaws state if it is land owned by the navigation authority it is 24hrs.

 

Private land owners can allow mooring as long as they wish or restrict it. 

 

Councils may or may not have bylaws restricting moorings.

 

Is Rose island the bit with the mooring bollards along the bank? If so then yes I believe that IS a 24hr mooring as it seems to be EA owned land... 

 

I was told exactly the same thing on that mooring. 

 

 

Edited July 25, 2020 by magnetman

[Tony Brooks]

The mooring times on the Thames are in the gift of the riparian owner. The moorings administered/owned by the EA were traditionally 24 hours free and some allow longer for a fee. I don't recall ever seeing EA or Thames Conservancy signs at the meadow opposite Rose Island but have half an idea that there may be virtually unusable EA moorings closer to the railway bridge. I don't think the EA own that medow so no signs means no time limits unless the owner or their agent comes around to take money of you.

[magnetman]

I see where you mean now above Sandford lock on the bend.

No I don't think that's 24hr. It's possible that there were some district enforcement signs around there at one time but they were a load of nonsense. 

 

I moored there a while ago and huge numbers of public descended on the area for swimming and general noise making. 

 

Fingers crossed for bad weather

 

Handy little co-op just other side of the railway. 

Edited July 25, 2020 by magnetman

[OldGoat]

Thanks for making me look up exactly where Rose Island is. Ther are always boats moored on the bank (I assume the island is private) - so I assumed the were something to do with the boat club (?) further upstream.

There are relatively few EA moorings monitored by EA other than those very near the locks, the rest are either well signed - or where the riparian owner 'just let people moor and doesn't collect a fee.

 

It's a bit of a pain - but do you want a forest of signs?

 

[magnetman]

I was assuming they were moored bankside not actually on the island itself as that seems to be a private residence. 

 

ETA I'll be down that way in next couple of days will toot as I pass. Grey steel trawler about 30ft long

 

just dragged it up to Lechlade. Bit shallow but made it just. 

Edited July 25, 2020 by magnetman

[Onewheeler]

I recall that there used to be signs there which were handy to tie to but they fell apart, possibly with some assistance from long term moorers.

[OldGoat]

21 minutes ago, Onewheeler said:

I recall that there used to be signs there which were handy to tie to but they fell apart, possibly with some assistance from long term moorers.

Yes - No Mooring.......

 

[Nightwatch]

35 minutes ago, magnetman said:

The bylaws state if it is land owned by the navigation authority it is 24hrs.

 

Private land owners can allow mooring as long as they wish or restrict it. 

 

Councils may or may not have bylaws restricting moorings.

 

Is Rose island the bit with the mooring bollards along the bank? If so then yes I believe that IS a 24hr mooring as it seems to be EA owned land... 

 

I was told exactly the same thing on that mooring. 

 

 

We are on the tow path side just before the sharp bend heading into Oxford. Adjacent to Kennington. There are no bollards.

[mrsmelly]

2 minutes ago, Nightwatch said:

We are on the tow path side just before the sharp bend heading into Oxford. Adjacent to Kennington. There are no bollards.

Bloody continuous moorers ?

[Nightwatch]

28 minutes ago, OldGoat said:

Thanks for making me look up exactly where Rose Island is. Ther are always boats moored on the bank (I assume the island is private) - so I assumed the were something to do with the boat club (?) further upstream.

There are relatively few EA moorings monitored by EA other than those very near the locks, the rest are either well signed - or where the riparian owner 'just let people moor and doesn't collect a fee.

 

It's a bit of a pain - but do you want a forest of signs?

 

Nope. Don’t wants signs. It was Mr Jollyman who mentioned the signs.

[Onewheeler]

3 minutes ago, OldGoat said:

Yes - No Mooring.......

 

Something like that ?

[Nightwatch]

Just now, mrsmelly said:

Bloody continuous moorers ?

Absobloominglutely! 

[magnetman]

8 minutes ago, Nightwatch said:

We are on the tow path side just before the sharp bend heading into Oxford. Adjacent to Kennington. There are no bollards.

Yes I put in another post as realised where you meant. 

Edited July 25, 2020 by magnetman

[erivers]

The Thames Conservancy Act 1932, in relation to moorings in the Thames belonging to the navigation authority, (and no subsequent Thames legislation or byelaw has over-ridden this) states that "No charge shall be made for vessels tied up or moored at night or for a reasonable time when not at work unless the traffic of the Thames is thereby impeded." No specific time limit is stated.

 

It was this clause, when the EA was reminded of it, that stopped their nonsense about having to register arrival at a mooring or be subject to penalties. There is no legislation that permits that.

[waterdog]

1 hour ago, Nightwatch said:

 

 

What is the general consensus of mooring times on the Thames?

It's not easy in places, we are a bit ahead of you and now down at Henley on the SRB moorings, waiting for the knock on the boat to pay the £10 fee.

 

Don't be mislead by the mooring sites marked in Nicholsons, especially the out of town ones. Some of them look like you would need an excavator to get a narrowboat in and a Kukri to hack back the vegetation

 

The further down river you come I would plan to stop earlier to have a chance of a decent mooring, we passed the moorings at Rod Eyot about 11.00 this morning and it didn't look good for getting anything over 50ft in, loads of git gaps though.

[Nightwatch]

Have my brother staying for a few days. We have been to Abingdon and now on our way back to his car in Wolvercote. We have a license until 9/8 so we plan to head off south for a few days.

[waterdog]

Last nights mooring,

 

https://photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipNvcgvp_15tmDCPPywTplVaIQaxmL187QP91EE

 

 

[magnetman]

2 hours ago, erivers said:

The Thames Conservancy Act 1932, in relation to moorings in the Thames belonging to the navigation authority, (and no subsequent Thames legislation or byelaw has over-ridden this) states that "No charge shall be made for vessels tied up or moored at night or for a reasonable time when not at work unless the traffic of the Thames is thereby impeded." No specific time limit is stated.

 

It was this clause, when the EA was reminded of it, that stopped their nonsense about having to register arrival at a mooring or be subject to penalties. There is no legislation that permits that.

Thanks for that. I really did think 24h was in the bylaws. Will amend my earlier post.

 

ETA unable to edit it. Sorry for the misinformation.

Edited July 25, 2020 by magnetman

[magnetman]

This is interesting to read as an example of Thames moorings.

 

The comment that the EA have adopted 24h as an "reasonable time" is intriguing. I guess they can't do that...

 

https://www.elmbridge.gov.uk/moorings-unauthorised/

 

 

There are obviously certain hotspot areas on the River where moorings have become a problem. 

 

Richmond has done a proper byelaw. Over 1 hour on their land = criminal offence. 

 

Other councils will copy this. 

 

Then the problem will fall onto corporations and finally private land owners..

 

And a lot of currently useable mooring sites will end up being prohibited completely. 

 

Logical outcome. 

Edited July 25, 2020 by magnetman

[OldGoat]

The above is all very confusing - even if you read the whole thread.

EA can only make conditions for their own moorings

An other riparian owner can make whatever rules they like. Some of the longstanding mooring have adopted the 24 hour rule - but ut's their option.

Elmbridge is trying to confuse the issue - or mebe the occupiers of certain stretches are trying to confuse the issue my misquoting the TCA rules - which may have been changed by the TWA 2010 (or whatver it was).

[magnetman]

Even more confusing when it becomes clear that there is a lot of Thames River bank land which is unregistered. 

 

In theory this would default to being under ownership of the navigation authority. 

 

It's going to be interesting to see how that plays out down at Molesey where the EA have done an adverse possession claim followed by the boat owners who have occupied the land for some years fencing off sections of land and presumably making their own claims for adverse possession.  

 

Intriguing situation. It seems to me that this could result in some people ending up owning freehold Thames River bank land for nothing. 

 

That would be a very interesting precedent if it were allowed to happen !

 

Usually Riverside plots go for £3k a foot or more. 

Edited July 25, 2020 by magnetman

[Scholar Gypsy]

6 hours ago, magnetman said:

Even more confusing when it becomes clear that there is a lot of Thames River bank land which is unregistered. 

 

In theory this would default to being under ownership of the navigation authority. 

 

 

This is an interesting statement - interested what information/evidence you have to support it. A lot of land is not yet registered with the Land Registry, but is still owned by someone.  Or to put it another way, if land is not yet registered then that does not necessarily mean its ownership is unclear. 

[magnetman]

To be fair the only bit I know is under dispute is the Riverside (towpath side) above Molesey but I'm sure there are other places where people have never actively used the river bank and it has no "owner". 

 

I can't prove that so maybe my statement was incorrect but I think it's likely to be the case.

 

This is the story at Molesey 

 

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://thamesriverusersgroup.org/mobicms/pdffiles/viewfile.php%3Fviewfile%3D1564302134-Sunbury-Molesey%20Land%20Registration%20Issues.pdf%26recid%3D82&ved=2ahUKEwjuzprVw-rqAhUyt3EKHdqABZYQFjAAegQIARAB&usg=AOvVaw1gMy0sRHmqQui4vefNAYMv

 

(Downloads a small pdf)

 

Maybe I am getting the wrong end of the stick but it appears to me that the "squatting" boats may be awarded freehold of the riverbank they have claimed (by fencing and veg management) in this case. 

 

Or maybe it's a clear cut situation and is basically EA land.  Perhaps they could get mooring rights but land still belong to EA.

 

I know of another similar mooring which has been occupied for quite a long time further up the river but this might just be someone taking advantage of a local authority's lack of powers to control moorings. However I think it might be another unadopted parcel of land. 

 

 

ETA the term "adverse possession" seems to imply legally transferring ownership without the permission of the owner. So if the EA are doing this then presumably it had been shown that they don't already own it... 

 

? 

 

One for Nigel if he is about. 

 

Edited July 26, 2020 by magnetman

[ditchcrawler]

15 hours ago, Scholar Gypsy said:

This is an interesting statement - interested what information/evidence you have to support it. A lot of land is not yet registered with the Land Registry, but is still owned by someone.  Or to put it another way, if land is not yet registered then that does not necessarily mean its ownership is unclear. 

Didn't CRT BWB try that one by trying to register all unregistered canalside land as theirs