Quiet moorings on the Huddersfield Narrow?

[Neil2]

On 30/07/2021 at 09:06, nicknorman said:

Yes. It is only when you actually go to book passage that you find a link to the new procedure under Covid, which is as I describe. They drive your boat, you have to stay inside. “But don’t worry, it’s insured” they say.

 

Go to make a passage booking and you will see what I mean. I recently wrote a letter of complaint about this and received a reply 20th July (after “freedom day”) saying they were continuing with the process for the time being.

 

I’m really glad we did the tunnel a couple of years ago, no way am I going to let some random person drive my boat through it. As it was, I drove and the “chaperone” stayed at the front. We didn’t hit anything. And to be honest the whole fuss about the tunnel is overkill, it is just a tunnel, quite narrow low and twisty in places but nothing worse than some other tunnels. Just somewhat longer.

 

Does anyone know if the policy of chaperones taking the helm is still in place?

 

As I don't have a boat at the moment I can't go through the booking procedure to find out.

[Jon57]

5 hours ago, SimonTaylor said:

 

What does this have to do with the question asked Nick? 

 

You seem to have a dislike of volunteers and try twist any thread you can into having a pop at them. 
 

I suspect for most it’s not a case of it being their “playground”, but rather them giving up their free time to make a difference in their community. Those litter picking, vegetation clearing or painting help make the area look more appealing to the general public, resulting in a safer environment for us boaters. And the lock keepers I’m sure are a welcome sight to must come rain or shine.

 

As for the Standedge Tunnel, I’m sure you’ll be aware that until recently the chaperon role was  carried out be paid staff. If it’s deemed essential those using the tunnel do so with a chaperon and CRT no longer wish to pay people to do this, then I suppose you’d prefer to see the tunnel closed rather than someone volunteering to take on the role.

 

With a live important railway line running alongside, which is accessible from the canal tunnel, I can fully understand the need for a chaperon just on this count alone.

 

I’m sure those doing the role these days are fully competent to do so. If we don’t like it then no ones making anyone go through that way.
 

Plus at the end of the day let’s face it. Most of us are only skippering a narrowboat or at most a widebeam on an inland waterway network at 4mph. We’re not talking supertankers on the open ocean, it’s not that difficult. Driving a vehicle on the road takes more skill these days.

Having done the tunnel west to east in 2019 and 2020 on a boat with a 2 ft 10in draft. The fist time was with a volunteer chaperone called Alister who used crutches. He sat at the front of the boat and talked to the wife about the tunnel. He had been through the tunnel over 160 times. He new it like the back of his hand. Granted not steering but his instructions were very helpful. Over shot the checking points as the boat take some stopping 😁. There are three check points to make sure everything is ok. Like Alister says it’s the safest tunnel on the system. If your lucky you my see a passing train which is a fascinating sight.  In 2020 Covid system was in place. As we waited for our passage west to east, a brand new boat with quite a large air draft came out of the tunnel. Not a scratch on it . No protective padding. When I approach the chaperone he was  the trip Boat skipper he obviously new his stuff. When he saw my boat his first words was something like I hate these kind of boats 🤣🤣. I said I was more than happy to drive the boat through the tunnel. Which is what I did while he sat in the boatmans cabin socially distancing. Didn’t have to stop at the check in points as the volunteer drove to the checkpoint to se if we arrived ok. All in all very good system in unusual circumstances.

Some people should give it a go before they make a comet without having experiencing it. I know I must be mad but I decided to give it a miss this year.🤪🤪🤪 

[frangar]

58 minutes ago, MtB said:

What a load of sycophantic codswallop.

 

I take it you are a CRT employee or volly? 

What a charmer you are when you want to be....🤣🤣🤣

[MtB]

31 minutes ago, frangar said:

What a charmer you are when you want to be....🤣🤣🤣

 

Touché!

[David Mack]

Back in the late 70s Blisworth Tunnel was having problems. BW eventually rebuilt the centre section, but there was a time before that when the centre section was heavily shored up with timber shoring, and narrow boats were taken through by BW staff, with owners and crew taken over the top by minibus (and widebeams couldn't go through).

One steerer of an ex working boat told me of his passage. The BW steerers were temporary staff, mostly students, with little experience. On this occasion the steerer picked up the boat at the south portal of the tunnel and dropped the boater off, and as the boater looked on, the steerer made a complete mess of getting out from the bank and ended up with bow aground on the offside and stern aground against the towpath. The boater had to get back on board to free the boat off and was then again dropped off on the towpath. Steerer made a similar hash of things, and the boater had to reboard again, and get the bows pointing towards the tunnel mouth. Boater suggested that to avoid going aground again he should stay on board. Steerer, by now completely stressed, reluctantly agreed, on condition that the boater stayed in the back cabin for the entire passage, which he did, feeling the boat crashing and banging its way through the tunnel, including a couple of heavy impacts with the shoring that was all that was holding up the collapsing bits of the tunnel...

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

On 10/09/2021 at 07:27, Neil2 said:

 

Does anyone know if the policy of chaperones taking the helm is still in place?

 

As I don't have a boat at the moment I can't go through the booking procedure to find out.

A mate went though the other week and steered his boat. 
The volunteer stood beside him. 

[Neil2]

4 minutes ago, Goliath said:

A mate went though the other week and steered his boat. 
The volunteer stood beside him. 

 

Thank goodness sanity has returned.  

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

Haven’t read the details in this thread but my preference is any where from Roaches Lock and over to Titanic Mill is ok. If you can get in to the side to moor. 
 

I think someone may have got Dobcross mixed up with somewhere else?
It’s a lovely spot, just above Uppermill. I spent the first lock-up there.  
 

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

I still think it’s my favourite canal. 
Taken a few locks at a time it’s easy enough. 
Trying to smash it in a few days is hard work. 
The scenery is lovely and the villages friendly. 

[SimonTaylor]

**duplicate in error - mods please delete**

Edited September 11, 2021 by SimonTaylor
Duplicate in error - mods please delete

[SimonTaylor]

On 10/09/2021 at 06:58, MtB said:

What a load of sycophantic codswallop.

 

I take it you are a CRT employee or volly? 

Neither, not now or every.

I’m just a boater who doesn’t think fondly of those who give people the impression we are all self-entitled grumps who can’t simply say “no thank you today, but I appreciate the offer” when encountering volunteers.

[nicknorman]

3 hours ago, SimonTaylor said:

Neither, not now or every.

I’m just a boater who doesn’t think fondly of those who give people the impression we are all self-entitled grumps who can’t simply say “no thank you today, but I appreciate the offer” when encountering volunteers.

I don’t think anybody on here is averse to saying  “no thank you today, but I appreciate the offer”. Although the last bit would be a lie, but never mind. The problem is that all too often, it is not possible to utter that phrase before the volunteers muscle in and start telling you what to do, how to do it, opening paddles, and in the case of Standedge, demand to take over control of your boat.

 

Of course there are plenty of volunteers who aren’t like that and only a minority who are, the problem being that “the system” empowers the latter to suck the fun out of boating for their personal gratification. And stress is created by the not knowing which type of volunteer is just ahead in that blue uniform.

 

Personally I would prefer it if there were no volunteers (because of the above stressor) but I can appreciate that some people do want them, and so it would be mean of me to wish for their demise. However CRT are demonstrably as competent at maintaining quality control of their volunteers as they are competent at maintaining the quality of the navigation infrastructure, and therein lies the problem.

[Neil2]

13 hours ago, nicknorman said:

I don’t think anybody on here is averse to saying  “no thank you today, but I appreciate the offer”. Although the last bit would be a lie, but never mind. The problem is that all too often, it is not possible to utter that phrase before the volunteers muscle in and start telling you what to do, how to do it, opening paddles, and in the case of Standedge, demand to take over control of your boat.

 

Of course there are plenty of volunteers who aren’t like that and only a minority who are, the problem being that “the system” empowers the latter to suck the fun out of boating for their personal gratification. And stress is created by the not knowing which type of volunteer is just ahead in that blue uniform.

 

Personally I would prefer it if there were no volunteers (because of the above stressor) but I can appreciate that some people do want them, and so it would be mean of me to wish for their demise. However CRT are demonstrably as competent at maintaining quality control of their volunteers as they are competent at maintaining the quality of the navigation infrastructure, and therein lies the problem.

 

We came up the Bosley flight some weeks ago where two vlockies were in attendance.  By the time we got to the top, no, by the time we were halfway up, my wife and I were discussing what, if any, training these people receive.  The two guys on duty were pleasant enough but I swear we would have done the flight in literally half the time it took had we been on our own.  It was very busy, both ways, but one guy was completely clueless and the other only helped with the first 2/3 locks as he wanted to stay in the shade...

 

 

[jetzi]

Standedge Tunnel is fully booked until mid October, but I booked a return trip with just a week on the east side of the pennines.

 

At 65' my boat can't get past Huddersfield anyway. I really just want to do the tunnel and I'm a bit disappointed by the lack of nice moorings, rowdy youths and rather towny setting of the Huddersfield Narrow.

 

I don't really have an appetite for 42 locks down and then 42 locks back up again, but a part of me fears missing out because I doubt I shall come this way again (unless I get a shorter boat that can do a full round trip).

 

Am I selling myself short by only allowing a week in Yorkshire? Is it worth the effort to descend at least a few of the locks on the east end of the HNC?

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

3 minutes ago, jetzi said:

 

Am I selling myself short by only allowing a week in Yorkshire? Is it worth the effort to descend at least a few of the locks on the east end of the HNC?

Yes, it’s lovely. 
Just do it a bit at a time and enjoy. 
 

 

[nicknorman]

5 hours ago, jetzi said:

Standedge Tunnel is fully booked until mid October, but I booked a return trip with just a week on the east side of the pennines.

 

At 65' my boat can't get past Huddersfield anyway. I really just want to do the tunnel and I'm a bit disappointed by the lack of nice moorings, rowdy youths and rather towny setting of the Huddersfield Narrow.

 

I don't really have an appetite for 42 locks down and then 42 locks back up again, but a part of me fears missing out because I doubt I shall come this way again (unless I get a shorter boat that can do a full round trip).

 

Am I selling myself short by only allowing a week in Yorkshire? Is it worth the effort to descend at least a few of the locks on the east end of the HNC?

We did the Hud Narrow from Manchester in 2018. Planned to do a round trip, but on reaching the tunnel a lock somewhere on the outskirts of Huddersfield went U/S for the duration. We went through the tunnel, down a 1/2 dozen locks and then returned. Although not without its difficulties, we enjoyed the trip and “glad we done it”. I don’t think it can really be described as “towny” once past Stalybridge. However a week east of the tunnel is probably enough to get the gist, it is quite a short canal albeit with a lorra locks. Definitely worth the modest effort.

[jetzi]

14 hours ago, Goliath said:

Yes, it’s lovely. 
Just do it a bit at a time and enjoy.

 

So you reckon I should extend my time on the east side of the canal? From the map it looks like it's fairly rural (apart from Slaithwaite) until you get to the outskirts of Huddersfield at Milnsbridge, but from what everyone has said it's not really possible to moor except in towns, which isn't my bag. I am mostly happy to play by ear but the booking of the Standedge tunnel kind of makes it awkward as I have to plan around dates, and there really aren't many at all to choose from. Perhaps I should call up CaRT and see if they can let me know if there is an earlier cancellation.

 

8 hours ago, nicknorman said:

We did the Hud Narrow from Manchester in 2018. Planned to do a round trip, but on reaching the tunnel a lock somewhere on the outskirts of Huddersfield went U/S for the duration. We went through the tunnel, down a 1/2 dozen locks and then returned. Although not without its difficulties, we enjoyed the trip and “glad we done it”. I don’t think it can really be described as “towny” once past Stalybridge. However a week east of the tunnel is probably enough to get the gist, it is quite a short canal albeit with a lorra locks. Definitely worth the modest effort.

 

A half dozen locks and back is kind of what I had in mind for the week, or as many as needed to find a quiet spot to moor. At a push maybe the 21 locks down to Slaithwaite to use the services, and then turn around and come back. So I'll probably do roughly the same as you. Thanks for the advice.

[nicknorman]

There are some mooring options before Slaithwaite - just beyond the reservoir IIRC as an example. Yes you would probably be on pins, but on the other hand passing traffic is minimal. It’s pretty rural. I just counted, 10 locks down not “half a dozen”, longish pound with winding hole at the end. And there might be piled mooring outside the demolished factory, can’t remember if that was viable. We moored just before the winding point, a bit shallow but not too bad.

[Mad Harold]

2 hours ago, nicknorman said:

There are some mooring options before Slaithwaite - just beyond the reservoir IIRC as an example. Yes you would probably be on pins, but on the other hand passing traffic is minimal. It’s pretty rural. I just counted, 10 locks down not “half a dozen”, longish pound with winding hole at the end. And there might be piled mooring outside the demolished factory, can’t remember if that was viable. We moored just before the winding point, a bit shallow but not too bad.

There is a quiet mooring above lock 31E.You can wind there too.

Slaithwaite is good for pubs,shops,chippys and cafes.

Little point in coming much further down as the HNC is closed for the present from lock 1E to 8E due to low water.

I am told that the Standedge Tunnel is booked up untill mid October,and the Huddersfield Broad is closed from locks 1-8,due to low water.

 

Where is all this water going??

 

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

I’m always banging on about how nice the Huddersfield is. But appreciate it’s not everyone’s favourite. I would suggest give it a go. As Nick says it’s a quiet canal regards boats and very peaceful in general. 
 

As an idea;

you can’t moor anywhere near to the tunnel end because the trip boats need the space. (You may get away with it, as I have, on your return journey, if you moor later in the evening prior to going through the tunnel. Apart from the trains, it’s silent there). Plenty of mooring 5 min further on. Again quiet except for trains. Above lock 42. 

As Nick has said down 10 locks is a lovely spot. Peaceful, with pretty views. It’s above lock 31E(?) This is one of the best spots. Cottage on other side of winding hole puts out jams and pickles for sale. It’s a short walk across the fields to the Olive Branch, and main road (which you won’t hear or see from the boat) where you can catch a bus. 
Only bit annoys me about these 10(11?)locks is they’re all hydraulic with metal straps for unlocking. On me own so I tend to work one side. But it’s a lovely stretch and worth just relaxing, taking a leisurely approach. 
You must remember to fill lock ahead before emptying your lock.  

Slaithwaite is a half hour stroll from 31E(?)so you can walk the locks and see what you think. In fact  from tunnel to Slaithwaite is less than an hours walk. 
I’ve used moorings above Guillotine lock lots of times with out trouble and it’s very peaceful. Just take care with water levels there. If someone don’t know what they’re doing at Guillotine lock they can begin draining the pound. 
 

All the villages along the canal can be explored by bus, you could go ahead and look for suitable moorings.
It is hard to get into the side in a lot of places, but it is reasonably acceptable to use the lock landings over night if you need. I’ve tended to tie to the end and leave some room. 

 

 

[Hudds Lad]

51 minutes ago, Mad Harold said:

Where is all this water going??

University data centre?

[Mad Harold]

19 minutes ago, Hudds Lad said:

University data centre?

It used to be ok up to about two years ago,when you could come and go as you pleased.But now you have to book passage through lock 1E forty eight hours in advance,so for me I can't now think what a nice day,and go for a jolly up the HNC.

So unless the data centre has dramantically increased it's water abstraction,I can't see that this is the sole cause of the low water.

Much more likely is lack of maintainance on the lock gates,on both the Broad and Narrow.

 

[Hudds Lad]

1 hour ago, Mad Harold said:

It used to be ok up to about two years ago,when you could come and go as you pleased.But now you have to book passage through lock 1E forty eight hours in advance,so for me I can't now think what a nice day,and go for a jolly up the HNC.

So unless the data centre has dramantically increased it's water abstraction,I can't see that this is the sole cause of the low water.

Much more likely is lack of maintainance on the lock gates,on both the Broad and Narrow.

 

Just seems odd that Lock 1’s pound is where they take the water from and that’s the one always low? Perhaps a combo of extraction and leaks as you suggest.

 I’d heard they used to send a chap every morning to top it up, perhaps this stopped and now they only bother when someone books passage, leaks never get smaller on their own.

[Stroudwater1]

Lockie on lock 1 told us that  the amount extracted had been excessive to what was intended but this has reduced and isn’t the problem. The gates aren’t  too bad there and he/ CRT suspected there was a leak somewhere in the pound above lock 1.
 

The guillotine lock gate at Slaithwaite was leaking badly in June , despite proper usage at the time we were there so the pound above seems to be very low most of the time. The guillotine gets ill used as you have to drain the lock with the paddle on the guillotine first but can open the guillotine too early which I’m sure doesn’t help. . There seemed  to be a sunken boat there too (Swan Ganz) . Unless the leaking is less it’s probably better really to moor in the pound below the narrow in Slaithwaite where the water point is though the wood factory can be noisy at times. 
 

 

[jetzi]

Ooh, there's a guillotine lock at Slaithwaite?? Why didn't you say so, now I have incentive to go down at least the first 21 locks!

I've never been through a guillotine lock gate before, would be nice to have a tiny bit of experience when I finally get to visit the East Anglian Fens!