Is anyone maintaining the canals?

[TheBiscuits]

13 minutes ago, MtB said:

 

Locking the flight at dusk would make more sense then. That way the after-pub idiots are stopped but us sober evening-cruisers do not have our evenings wasted.

 

Oh, I agree.  The issue at this time of year is that it's too late by dusk for the staff to still be working. A lot of the people who actually do the work start at 7 or half past, so I'm sure most of them don't want to still be at work at 9 pm just to let the three boats who navigate after 4pm through a few more locks.

[dmr]

A few days ago we stopped two locks down from Napton summit. I had a late evening walk up to check the summit level and found a boat sat in the top lock with all 4 paddles up.

There is maybe a slightly tenuous argument that if somebody does something daft at the very end of the day then its a bit less likely to be spotted and sorted out?

I fear that at some stage the locks will only be open when the volunteers are on duty to keep an eye on things.

[TheBiscuits]

Just now, dmr said:

There is maybe a slightly tenuous argument that if somebody does something daft at the very end of the day then its a bit less likely to be spotted and sorted out?

 

It's not that tenuous Dave, it's exactly what they blamed the £3 Millon Middlewich breach on!

[Machpoint005]

13 hours ago, MtB said:

lanning on a couple of hours of quiet evening cruising, only to find the Marston Doldrums locks in front of me closed on arrival here at 6pm, as a "water saving" measure. I'm not entirely sure how making me wait until 8am tomorrow to transit the locks saves any water.

 

As I understand it, if lock use is concentrated into a shorter period each day, then a lockful of water gives one uphill and one downhill transit. Locks are never (or less often) filled or emptied with no boat in them, so in the best of all possible worlds only half the volume of water is used.

 

Whether that works out in practice is another matter altogether.

[dixi188]

16 hours ago, dmr said:

 

Good to see a few signs now say winding hole rather than winding point as most do. I half remember one at Devizes saying turning place for boats.

 

In general CRT look to be finding any excuse for erecting yet another blue sign, but warning other boaters, especially hire boaters, of an approaching winding hole is not such  a bad idea as they might just meet a boat right across the canal.

In fact...the winding hole a little up from Clattercote wharf is next to a bridge on a sharp bend. We had a trial wind there today in case we need it later in the week and did indeed confuse a hire boat by half winding then unwinding. Its very silted but just doable in a 70 footer.

Did you realise that heading up from Cropredy its here or nowhere? Next chance is Fenny Marina (where I think it says no winding), then its right over the summit and down Napton locks to the engine arm.

You can wind by the Wharf pub at Fenny Compton.

[Mad Harold]

20 hours ago, JRT said:

 

So, what do I pay my CRT licence for? It’s clearly not so they can maintain canals so they are fit for the purposes of boating!

 

 

From my five or so years boating the northern canals,I would say yes,70% of the time they are fit for boating,and 20% not fit,and 10% don't know.😃

20 hours ago, JRT said:

 

So, what do I pay my CRT licence for? It’s clearly not so they can maintain canals so they are fit for the purposes of boating!

 

 

From my five or so years boating the northern canals,I would say yes,70% of the time they are fit for boating,and 20% not fit,and 10% don't know.😃

[Idle Days]

19 minutes ago, Mad Harold said:

From my five or so years boating the northern canals,I would say yes,70% of the time they are fit for boating,and 20% not fit,and 10% don't know.😃

From my five or so years boating the northern canals,I would say yes,70% of the time they are fit for boating,and 20% not fit,and 10% don't know.😃

 

Then come south. 

[Arthur Marshall]

32 minutes ago, Idle Days said:

 

Then come south. 

No way. We obviously take better care of our canals up here...

[Machpoint005]

And we have better beer.

 

[MtB]

1 hour ago, dixi188 said:

You can wind by the Wharf pub at Fenny Compton.

 

Provided there is not a boat on the water tap. 

 

DAMHIK. 

[Idle Days]

32 minutes ago, Arthur Marshall said:

No way. We obviously take better care of our canals up here...

 

Then we shall head north, just as soon as my new Billhook is delivered.

[dixi188]

36 minutes ago, MtB said:

 

Provided there is not a boat on the water tap. 

 

DAMHIK. 

Came through there a few years ago and a full length boat had got wedged between the water point mooring and the boat that seems to be always moored in the winding hole.

I took about half an hour to remove the stern fender and pull it round with ropes. The wind wasn't helping.

My boat is only 57ft so no problems for me.

[Tracy D'arth]

20 hours ago, Jim Riley said:

Latest new shiny blue signs seen today, while cycling the towpath, "cyclists please dismount and walk" . Grrrr! One was at a fairly steep cobbled towpath descent at a lock tail going immediately under a bridge, t'other where a gate beam end is within 2 ft of a fence. I've competently cycled through both "obstacles" for years often fully loaded, sometimes pulling a trailer full of shopping.  Meanwhile there are paddles to be fixed...  Get a grip CRT.

I think you are a bit silly and inconsiderate.

17 hours ago, TheBiscuits said:

 

It's not that tenuous Dave, it's exactly what they blamed the £3 Millon Middlewich breach on!

And it was totally fictitious then.

[dmr]

2 hours ago, dixi188 said:

You can wind by the Wharf pub at Fenny Compton.

 

There is a boat long term moored in that winding hole so not sure its big enough for a 70 footer, in fact not even sure it would be big enough if the boat wasn't there. The water point is also inconvenient, but that's less of a problem.

 

[matty40s]

22 minutes ago, dmr said:

 

There is a boat long term moored in that winding hole so not sure its big enough for a 70 footer, in fact not even sure it would be big enough if the boat wasn't there. The water point is also inconvenient, but that's less of a problem.

 

It is wide enough for a 70 footer.

[dmr]

2 minutes ago, matty40s said:

It is wide enough for a 70 footer.

 

Have you done it? I just did an estimate on Google Earth and got about 19.5 metres????  

[matty40s]

You have to bang the nose in the corner nearest the road bridge, there is a little spare towpath side, then pull the stern round from the towpath. 

That's if it's still the same boat moored there and not one which fills the gap.

[Waterway2go]

On 14/08/2021 at 18:02, MtB said:

 

SO no, paying your licence doesn't grant you any rights to any particular standard of maintenance of any particular waterway.

 

 That's not entirely the case. as the public at large have a right to expect a certain standard of maintenance.  Canal & Rivers Trust have a statutory obligation to maintain waterways.  This is what section 105 of the '68 Act ( as updated in 2012 to include CRT) says:

"

105Maintenance of waterways.U.K.

(1)With a view to securing the general availability of the commercial and cruising waterways for public use, it shall be the duty of the Waterways Board and of Canal & River Trust, in relation to the waterways comprised in their respective undertakings, subject to the provisions of this section—

(a)to maintain the commercial waterways in a suitable condition for use by commercial freight-carrying vessels; and

(b)to maintain the cruising waterways in a suitable condition for use by cruising craft, that is to say, vessels constructed or adapted for the carriage of passengers and driven by mechanical power."

 

The problem now is that whilst originally this statutory obligation was  placed on BWB,  so that if it was unable to meet the obligation then Government as the ultimate owners of BWB would normally be expected to step in with more resources.    Now that the statutory oblgation is placed on a charity a lack of resources means that they just say "we don't have enough money" and Government can claim it is no longer their responsibiity.

[Jim Riley]

2 hours ago, Tracy D'arth said:

I think you are a bit silly and inconsiderate.

And it was totally fictitious then.

Why silly and inconsiderate? That's a silly and inconsiderate statement. Would you care to justify it?

 

I take my time, sound my bell if there's a blind exit beyond any obstacle, I've been doing it for years on the places in question with consideration. The only difference is CRT have now decided to make life better by water, rather than on it, by wasting money on ridiculous signs rather than making life better on water fixing lock gear etc. What else has changed?

 

If a lycra clad idiot tried to zoom through the bridge and lock in question they'd end up in the cut. 

 

Had the same sort of signage on a local roadworks, Cyclists dismount and walk. Why? From the front of the queue I'm off and half way through before the cars have started. Why not have signed that says, "Caution, respect cyclists." I did check and the signs have no legal standing. I ride through. 

Edited August 15, 2021 by Jim Riley

[Tracy D'arth]

5 minutes ago, Jim Riley said:

Why silly and inconsiderate? That's a silly and inconsiderate statement. Would you care to justify it?

 

I take my time, sound my bell if there's a blind exit beyond any obstacle, I've been doing it for years on the places in question with consideration. The only difference is CRT have now decided to make life better by water, rather than on it, by wasting money on ridiculous signs rather than making life better on water fixing lock gear etc. What else has changed?

 

If a lycra clad idiot tried to zoom through the bridge and lock in question they'd end up in the cut. 

 

Had the same sort of signage on a local roadworks, Cyclists dismount and walk. Why? From the front of the queue I'm off and half way through before the cars have started. Why not have signed that says, "Caution, respect cyclists." I did check and the signs have no legal standing. I ride through. 

Because pedestrians always have the right of way. Being clever about your skills riding through small gaps and up and down steep ramps is silly.

Your bell is fine, what if the person is deaf, a child, a disabled person, a wheel chair user. Consider others rather than your false heroics please.

[Jim Riley]

8 minutes ago, Tracy D'arth said:

Because pedestrians always have the right of way. Being clever about your skills riding through small gaps and up and down steep ramps is silly.

Your bell is fine, what if the person is deaf, a child, a disabled person, a wheel chair user. Consider others rather than your false heroics please.

Have you seen me ride through? No! Your presumptions are uncalled for. I always defer to pedestrians, in such situations if I meet any of your list I stop. I'm not "being clever". It's something I and many have routinely done safely for years, run of the mill. Sometimes with a trailer full of shopping. No showing off, stunt riding etc. Best not to exaggerate for effect when you are ignorant of the situation. 

Edited August 15, 2021 by Jim Riley

[Tracy D'arth]

1 minute ago, Jim Riley said:

Have you seen me ride through? No! Your presumptions are uncalled for. I always defer to pedestrians, in such situations if I meet any of your list I stop. I'm not "being clever". It's something I and many have routinely done safely for years, run of the mill. Sometimes with a trailer full of shopping. No showing off, stunt riding etc. Best not to exaggerate for effect when you are ignorant of the situation. 

It is you who are exaggerating your riding ability. I presumed nothing other than you being so  full of yourself as to post such a silly comment on a topic where it was and is, not relevant.

[Jim Riley]

1 minute ago, Tracy D'arth said:

It is you who are exaggerating your riding ability. I presumed nothing other than you being so  full of yourself as to post such a silly comment on a topic where it was and is, not relevant.

How do you know I am exaggerating my riding ability? Where is your evidence? The thread mentioned unnecessary blue signage, I was pointing some out. You are still being presumptuous, with no evidence whatsoever, overly judgemental. 

I could presume you put both legs down one leg hole of your pants this morning and it's made you overly grumpy today. But I won't😂!

[Tracy D'arth]

2 minutes ago, Jim Riley said:

How do you know I am exaggerating my riding ability? Where is your evidence? The thread mentioned unnecessary blue signage, I was pointing some out. You are still being presumptuous, with no evidence whatsoever, overly judgemental. 

I could presume you put both legs down one leg hole of your pants this morning and it's made you overly grumpy today. But I won't😂!

Avatar says it all.

[Jim Riley]

Just now, Tracy D'arth said:

Avatar says it all.

Totally, not many have the skill. I can assure you I don't zoom around on  the 5ft giraffe unicycle, or go anywhere that isn't smooth and flat.