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If you were in charge of the Canal & River Trust for a week, what one or two things would you change about the Trust?


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4 minutes ago, Goliath said:

I’m filling in a CRT survey that’s supposed to take 10 minutes. 
ffs how do you answer that!!

 

Just where do you start with that?

 

 

 

The main change I would make is I would do away with "friends" and have members who have a vote at the AGM as the NT and SNT do.

 

I would happily pay a membership fee if I felt I had some "comeback" but I will not throw money at an organisation where I have no input what so ever.

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I'd change all the new signs to black and white, and replace all the nasty stainless steel water tap bollard things with proper, historically appropriate black-painted cast iron jobbies again. 

 

After dredging all the canals to 5ft again, obviously. 

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8 minutes ago, MtB said:

I'd change all the new signs to black and white, and replace all the nasty stainless steel water tap bollard things with proper, historically appropriate black-painted cast iron jobbies again. 

 

After dredging all the canals to 5ft again, obviously. 

Keep the stainless steel water taps boards.Dredge to 4 ft. 

Edited by Jon57
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16 minutes ago, Jon57 said:

Dredge to 4 ft. 

 

Ok, another massive debate subject. 

 

To what depth should the canals be dredged (were money to be no object), in order to keep them historically accurate?

 

The tops of the vintage/historic concrete pilings on bits of the cut around Braunston have the legend "Dredge to 5' 6"" cast into them. 

 

 

Edited by MtB
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Offer all the Friends Recruiters alternative employment as Lengthsmen and assistants; see how many stay. Withdraw funding from cycle path towpath improvements unless the local councils want to provide it, along with the provision of steps and handrails for pedestrians.

use the money for dredging and mooring stabilisation.

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31 minutes ago, MtB said:

I'd change all the new signs to black and white, and replace all the nasty stainless steel water tap bollard things with proper, historically appropriate black-painted cast iron jobbies again. 

 

After dredging all the canals to 5ft again, obviously. 

 

Converting the new signs back to the old ones is easy, they are almost doing it themselves, grab a hold of that peeling corner, give a little tug, and I expect there's a lovely old BW sign underneath.

Grants Lock.JPG

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2 minutes ago, dmr said:

 

Converting the new signs back to the old ones is easy, they are almost doing it themselves, grab a hold of that peeling corner, give a little tug, and I expect there's a lovely old BW sign underneath.

Grants Lock.JPG

 

 

Ok, great opportunity to swerve orf at a tangent. 

 

Who was grant, was there more than one of them and why do CRT signage designers not understand/use apostrophes? 

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22 minutes ago, dmr said:

 

Converting the new signs back to the old ones is easy, they are almost doing it themselves, grab a hold of that peeling corner, give a little tug, and I expect there's a lovely old BW sign underneath.

Grants Lock.JPG

You noticed that as well

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3 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

You noticed that as well

 

As you know due to lockdown etc we have now spent a fair while up on the Rochdale. Its very worrying to be back on the Oxford after a gap of a couple of years. Its a really busy canal, popular with hirers, and always felt reasonable cared for, but to me it now feels very neglected. Paddles really stiff or not working, mechanisms breaking off the beams, lock beams not painted and going rotten, lock buffers broken and fallen off, running aground all over the place, towpath falling into the cut etc etc.

Cynical me wonders if because the towpath is still a towpath and not a cycle racetrack that CRT have lost interest???

We all joke that the Oxford is a muddy ditch, but very soon it will be,

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Day 1, have a blue sky meeting with boaters.

Day 2, extend my 1 week contract to 3 years and get rid of Parry.

Day 3, arrange with Sustrans that all towpath improvements must be done with traditional methods in mind, ie, cobbles.

Day 4, ban 50 foot Carp poles from the canals, and charge fishermen a separate licence fee for the massive trolleys they use.

Day 5, Develop meaningful relationships with all relevant user groups...boaters and err

Day 6 and 7, Work the weekend answering the 0303404040 number and astound the boating public that someone actually knows where a certain lock or canal is, and then send someone out to fix the problem, not just wrap it in tape for eternity.

 

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1 minute ago, dmr said:

 

As you know due to lockdown etc we have now spent a fair while up on the Rochdale. Its very worrying to be back on the Oxford after a gap of a couple of years. Its a really busy canal, popular with hirers, and always felt reasonable cared for, but to me it now feels very neglected. Paddles really stiff or not working, mechanisms breaking off the beams, lock beams not painted and going rotten, lock buffers broken and fallen off, running aground all over the place, towpath falling into the cut etc etc.

Cynical me wonders if because the towpath is still a towpath and not a cycle racetrack that CRT have lost interest???

We all joke that the Oxford is a muddy ditch, but very soon it will be,

 

 

I have been oiling the paddle gear with my oil can up and down around Cropredy and other boaters have bin amazed at how much it frees up the impossible-to-wind paddles, (as have I!) 

 

More worryingly, my oilcan does not fix all the broken buffers.

 

 

350B0D30-BC82-4E53-9BEB-19FF9B3F8E19_1_105_c.jpeg.467fd5cc1ea8d929d0b221a9cd837b16.jpeg

 

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6 minutes ago, MtB said:

 

 

I have been oiling the paddle gear with my oil can up and down around Cropredy and other boaters have bin amazed at how much it frees up the impossible-to-wind paddles, (as have I!) 

 

More worryingly, my oilcan does not fix all the broken buffers.

 

 

 

 

It was probably you following me with a metal oilcan in hand the other week

 

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2 hours ago, Jerra said:

The main change I would make is I would do away with "friends" and have members who have a vote at the AGM as the NT and SNT do.

 

I would happily pay a membership fee if I felt I had some "comeback" but I will not throw money at an organisation where I have no input what so ever.

Be careful what you wish for!  There are potentially far more walkers, cyclists, anglers and the rest out there than boaters, who might well vote to spend more money on towpaths, interpretation boards and wellbeing stuff, and less on all that expensive dredging, lock gate repairs, paddle maintenance....

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8 hours ago, MtB said:

 

Ok, another massive debate subject. 

 

To what depth should the canals be dredged (were money to be no object), in order to keep them historically accurate?

 

The tops of the vintage/historic concrete pilings on bits of the cut around Braunston have the legend "Dredge to 5' 6"" cast into them. 

 

 

To whatever depth they should be.

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9 hours ago, Ex Brummie said:

Offer all the Friends Recruiters alternative employment as Lengthsmen and assistants; see how many stay. Withdraw funding from cycle path towpath improvements unless the local councils want to provide it, along with the provision of steps and handrails for pedestrians.

use the money for dredging and mooring stabilisation.

I thought that your funding proposal is the status quo. You are fast becoming a snake oil salesperson - promise to deliver what you already know to be true.

 

More particularly, I can remember, alas, what towpaths were like before alternative funding came along.

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The number one priority for whomever is in charge is to secure continued public funding from Government after the current grant agreement expires in 2027. Without it the waterways are doomed. Conc entrating on boaters requirements only will simply not do that.

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9 hours ago, dmr said:

 

As you know due to lockdown etc we have now spent a fair while up on the Rochdale. Its very worrying to be back on the Oxford after a gap of a couple of years. Its a really busy canal, popular with hirers, and always felt reasonable cared for, but to me it now feels very neglected. Paddles really stiff or not working, mechanisms breaking off the beams, lock beams not painted and going rotten, lock buffers broken and fallen off, running aground all over the place, towpath falling into the cut etc etc.

Cynical me wonders if because the towpath is still a towpath and not a cycle racetrack that CRT have lost interest???

We all joke that the Oxford is a muddy ditch, but very soon it will be,

 

Another example of the long term neglect you mention is the top gate at Marston Doles. Balance beam rotted away at the gate end and fixed on with a large ratchet strap.

 

 

IMG_3602.png.1186bcb7c612db2ccac28b006e549de8.png

 

 

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I wonder if a canal version of "FixMyStreet" would be helpful.... "FixMyCanal"? Of course they could still ignore it but at least there would be publicly available data to say - Lock X has had a paddle broken for y months/years and you've done nothing. Might shame them into some actual action at some point?

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1 hour ago, Orwellian said:

The number one priority for whomever is in charge is to secure continued public funding from Government after the current grant agreement expires in 2027. Without it the waterways are doomed. Conc entrating on boaters requirements only will simply not do that.

 

I am far convinced about this and now maybe this tail is wagging the dog.

The plan was to become self sufficient but that's gone wrong, it needs a rethink and doing again only better.

If getting the grant ultimately requites filling in the canals to make cycleways then lets learn to live without the grant.

It was said that boating provided 1/3 of the income, and property maybe another 1/3.

Now boating only provides 1/10 or something like that, but boating is increasing so what has changed? some other income,? or just some new dishonest anti-boat accounting??

There are a lot of brand new boats about, big widebeams, and many liveaboards. Boaters can pay more, they will whinge but they will pay.

Get rid of all the engagement officers and the blue sign designers and improve the efficiency of the maintenance, it can be done.

However, I do think the government will have to accept they they must provide some money for major infrastructure like the reservoirs and the pontywotsit bridge.

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