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Boaters converge on Broxbourne


Alan de Enfield

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NBW Report (not seen it mentioned here)

 

 

BOATERS and their boats are descending on Broxbourne in protest against Canal & River Trust's 'water safety zone'.

They are heading en masse to Broxbourne on the Lea to protest on Saturday 17th April, at the introduction of the Canal & River Trust’s new rules that restricts or prohibits the mooring of boats, and will displace 550 boats, including 150 from sites in Hackney, Tottenham and Clapton in addition to Broxbourne.

No evidence

The trust states it is addressing the safety concerns of rowers on the Lee but the National Bargee Travellers Association (NBTA) boaters say the rust has provided no evidence that moored boats are a risk to rowers.

The NBTA argues that the policy is profoundly ill-conceived in the context of a housing crisis and a pandemic. They also argue that evacuated canals will turn the towpaths into the danger zones they once were, prior to the growth in the boating population with Ian McDowell, Chairman of the London branch of the NBTA arguing:

Incidents are between rowers

“Three quarters of rowing safety incidents occur between two rowers rather than between rowers and boaters. The relationship between moored boats and rowing safety incidents is very weak, if there is any relationship at all.

“CaRT has provided very limited data to justify this policy, and yet the impact on the boating community will be drastic. Many boats in London are homes. Boaters who are forced out of London will be forced out of their homes because they have built their lives in London. They will have to abandon the boating life and their homes with it.”

Drive boats off the waterways

Boaters believe that the ‘safety zone’ policy is part of a larger attempt to drive them off the waterways, and the trust aims to introduce policy proposals later in the year aimed at ‘managing boat numbers’.

Boaters say they have asked the CaRT for the data they have used to calculate an 'optimal' number of boats, but have been met with silence. They say they are left to conclude that the CaRT’s various manoeuvres are motivated by an underlying prejudice against nomadic communities and that this prejudice will have dire consequences for the London boating community.

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14 minutes ago, junior said:

"Drop the pace, share the space" clearly doesn't apply to rowers then.

 

Whilst I agree with you (and the sentiment) I don't think many rowers use the towpath

 

The 'Drop the pace, share the space' is C&RTs 'Towpath Code'.

 

1. Share the space

Towpaths are popular places to be enjoyed by everyone. Please be mindful of others. Keep dogs under control and clean up after them. 

2. Drop your pace

Pedestrians have priority on our towpaths so cyclists need to be ready to slow down. If you're in a hurry, consider using an alternative route for your journey. 

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Our club used to rent moorings at that rowing club, one of the reasons they got rid of us was to make more space for their absurdly wide (when you count the oars) boats. It rather backfired we bought a field just a little way downstream and now the other bank is full of continuos moorers they are not having much luck. In truth the river is fairly narrow such that they only train here and go elsewhere to race also there is a place hiring dayboats rowing skiffs and canoes.  They were offerd a lake to row in at the time of the olympics but declined

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There seems to be an aspect of our society who believe that their views over ride all others.

 

It is now a frequent cause for complaint and I do wonder if these have influenced the decision referred to as above

 

Examples include:

A certain weather girl complaining about the music at venue in Birmingham after moving into a new apartment opposite, even though the venue had been established before the new apartments. The result was the closure of the pub. 

And more recently :

Motorists complaining about horse droppings in the road and expecting riders to dismount to clear in order to clean it up.

 

To institute a water safety zone, seems to be a new developments, perhaps somebody could either concur or give over examples.

 

It is an extremely worrying development as other water safety zones could seriously effect the waterways live on board population. 

 

It is a pity CRT do not introduce towpath safety zones. Now that is a thought.

 

 

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33 minutes ago, Heartland said:

 

 

 

Motorists complaining about horse droppings in the road and expecting riders to dismount to clear in order to clean it up.

 

 

easier to sort than the others, Brugges horses carry a bag behind them for their odures

image.jpeg.c40601bd37853c82a065ddfbb1e95818.jpeg

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21 hours ago, Heartland said:

There seems to be an aspect of our society who believe that their views over ride all others.

 

And more recently :

Motorists complaining about horse droppings in the road and expecting riders to dismount to clear in order to clean it up.

 

 

Having been in a car that did a 180 spin due to the road being coated with several inches of slick cow manure I really do think that people (horse riders, farmers etc) should be made to clean up after their animals.

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25 minutes ago, StephenA said:

 

Having been in a car that did a 180 spin due to the road being coated with several inches of slick cow manure I really do think that people (horse riders, farmers etc) should be made to clean up after their animals.

A dim view would be taken of say a lorry dropping part of its load, say a couple of bricks, and leaving them in the road, or an oil spill from a car.

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  • 10 months later...
On 17/04/2021 at 08:42, Alan de Enfield said:

NBW Report (not seen it mentioned here)

 

 

BOATERS and their boats are descending on Broxbourne in protest against Canal & River Trust's 'water safety zone'.

They are heading en masse to Broxbourne on the Lea to protest on Saturday 17th April, at the introduction of the Canal & River Trust’s new rules that restricts or prohibits the mooring of boats, and will displace 550 boats, including 150 from sites in Hackney, Tottenham and Clapton in addition to Broxbourne.

No evidence

The trust states it is addressing the safety concerns of rowers on the Lee but the National Bargee Travellers Association (NBTA) boaters say the rust has provided no evidence that moored boats are a risk to rowers.

The NBTA argues that the policy is profoundly ill-conceived in the context of a housing crisis and a pandemic. They also argue that evacuated canals will turn the towpaths into the danger zones they once were, prior to the growth in the boating population with Ian McDowell, Chairman of the London branch of the NBTA arguing:

Incidents are between rowers

“Three quarters of rowing safety incidents occur between two rowers rather than between rowers and boaters. The relationship between moored boats and rowing safety incidents is very weak, if there is any relationship at all.

“CaRT has provided very limited data to justify this policy, and yet the impact on the boating community will be drastic. Many boats in London are homes. Boaters who are forced out of London will be forced out of their homes because they have built their lives in London. They will have to abandon the boating life and their homes with it.”

Drive boats off the waterways

Boaters believe that the ‘safety zone’ policy is part of a larger attempt to drive them off the waterways, and the trust aims to introduce policy proposals later in the year aimed at ‘managing boat numbers’.

Boaters say they have asked the CaRT for the data they have used to calculate an 'optimal' number of boats, but have been met with silence. They say they are left to conclude that the CaRT’s various manoeuvres are motivated by an underlying prejudice against nomadic communities and that this prejudice will have dire consequences for the London boating community.

Hard to know what exactly to make of all this. 

 

They announced it originally as water sports sites, then changed it to "safer mooring zoned", then said they'd dropped it. 

 

That's the last I heard, officially. And I will confess I haven't done, er, due diligence, and checked for further updates, though an NBTA rep told me they'd come into force. 

 

I come through there a lot. I always slow down for the rowers. Sometimes I've pulled up to a bank and stopped completely. I also have chatted with a few instructors, and they all have said words to the effect of, "You're alright, you're being considerate, it's boats who plough through without a thought for us who are the issue." When I mention mooring, they look confused and say its not stationary boats that are the issue. 

 

I've no idea if those views are representative, but if so it really does make you wonder. 

 

As do the rumours that a new Crt top brass member is a director of the rowing club. No idea if that's true or not

On 17/04/2021 at 09:51, Alan de Enfield said:

 

Whilst I agree with you (and the sentiment) I don't think many rowers use the towpath

I think nearly all of them do, just not generally in their rowing boats ;)

 

Their instructors are often on the towpath barking instructions, though. But I don't think they're inconsiderate or tend to be going especially fast

 

None of which is entirely relevant

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On 18/04/2021 at 10:19, john6767 said:

The original post does not really describe what the issue is.  Is it that the river at this location is too narrow, with moored boats present, to allow two rowing boat to pass safely?

It seems like a really wide bit of river to me, but that's just relative. It's wide for the River Lea

 

I think with 12' beams it might be a bit of a stretch to get two rowing boats abreast there. 

 

There are some sections of river not far upstream with good piling that would make, I suspect, make for good mooring and might help relieve the pressure on the rower's stretch, but there are young willows growing out onto the river making that impossible. Maybe the crt could connect the dots...?! 

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30 minutes ago, captain flint said:

There are some sections of river not far upstream with good piling that would make, I suspect, make for good mooring and might help relieve the pressure on the rower's stretch, but there are young willows growing out onto the river making that impossible. Maybe the crt could connect the dots...?!

Weeds growing out from piling, ten minutes with a saw and you have a nice mooring.

It's how it used to be done when men were men😱

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35 minutes ago, Loddon said:

Weeds growing out from piling, ten minutes with a saw and you have a nice mooring.

It's how it used to be done when men were men😱

When I said young willows I didn't mean weeds! They may be young but we're talking trees here, not saplings! 

 

But if, as a Real Man, you're offering to come round, chop them down, check if a little light dredging is required, and then remove all the waste, I'll happily give you a slice of quiche 

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43 minutes ago, Loddon said:

Weeds growing out from piling, ten minutes with a saw and you have a nice mooring.

It's how it used to be done when men were men😱

👍 Maybe a sign of the Young Boaters, who don’t want to get their hands dirty with a little self help and 10 minutes real graft. As could damage their hands and may effect their grip on their gaming control or their touch screen iPad sensitivity 😱

Edited by PD1964
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I don't really know what to make of all this, but I will note, entirely selfishly, that the sections they are saying not to moor /double moor/no wide  beams, are not the bits I usually moor in. I have friends in the area I like to visit and was worried I wouldn't be able to be in the right pound, but to be fair, it's just sections of it. I'm moored here right now as it goes, and while it may well be a different story in summer, I've had no problems finding a spot I'm allowed to be in. At least, I'm pretty sure I am....! 🤞🏻

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2 minutes ago, PD1964 said:

👍 Maybe a sign of the Young London Boaters, who don’t want to get their hands dirty with a little self help and 10 minutes real graft. As could damage their hands and may effect their grip on their gaming control or their touch screen iPad sensitivity 😱

Ah, yes, I too have happy childhood memories of watching grizzled old Real Boaters tearing semi mature trees out with nothing more than their bare hands 

 

What's gone wrong with the world eh

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2 minutes ago, captain flint said:

Ah, yes, I too have happy childhood memories of watching grizzled old Real Boaters tearing semi mature trees out with nothing more than their bare hands 

 

What's gone wrong with the world eh

  I was going on the previous post, not knowing the area. But since you know the area. Would it, as the post suggests Displace 550 boats? Are the areas effected that big or that congested?

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Honestly, I have no idea. 

 

Seems rather a large estimate to me, but then again, it's possible that many boats *could* moor in the affected areas. I'm not comvinced I've ever seen the spots in question absolutely full, but I do have a terrible memory and I've only been cruising here three and a half years

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2 hours ago, captain flint said:

When I said young willows I didn't mean weeds! They may be young but we're talking trees here, not saplings! 

A weed is a plant in the he wrong place which from your description these obviously are.

Anything growing up through piling is fair game as far as I am concerned as it shouldn't be there in the first place.

What sort of trunk diameter are you talking about ?

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On 17/04/2021 at 09:51, Alan de Enfield said:

 

Whilst I agree with you (and the sentiment) I don't think many rowers use the towpath

 

The 'Drop the pace, share the space' is C&RTs 'Towpath Code'.

 

1. Share the space

Towpaths are popular places to be enjoyed by everyone. Please be mindful of others. Keep dogs under control and clean up after them. 

2. Drop your pace

Pedestrians have priority on our towpaths so cyclists need to be ready to slow down. If you're in a hurry, consider using an alternative route for your journey. 

The rowers don't but their blooming coaches do and often at speed to keep up with the boat. Molesey on Thames had them always going up and down the towpath

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1 hour ago, Loddon said:

A weed is a plant in the he wrong place which from your description these obviously are.

Anything growing up through piling is fair game as far as I am concerned as it shouldn't be there in the first place.

What sort of trunk diameter are you talking about ?

 

 

These are small trees, multiple trunks, roots wrapped around pilings, lots of branches

 

Trunk diameter isn't really the issue. Getting rid of the foliage and the stuff round the pilings would be. I'm not going to get into a debate about this. Of course it could be got rid of with just a few days hard work by anyone with a saw, but we're taking several trees etc. I'm not talking about freeing up one space for me, in any case, I'm talking about a whole stretch

 

If I had pictures I'm fairly sure you'd see where I'm coming from

But thanks so much for the definition of a weed, I was completely unaware of it and its especially relevant here ;)

 

 

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