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Huddersfield canal 'should be closed


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40 minutes ago, Idle Days said:

Ouch! That brought the old crusties out in force.

 

What was the point of spending £30 million on the restoration if not to make it navigable?

I thought that too. What would the funders (National Lottery, local and regional councils etc.) say if 20 years after spending £30 million the navigation gets closed.

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Maybe anyone restoring / re-opening an old canal should have a legal obligation for the maintenace for (say) 99 years.

I'm sure C&RT have enough problems spreading the budget thinly across the main waterways and would wish that no new ones, (that have been restored to absolute minimum specifications and are marginal as to them being navigable) are added 'onto their books'.

 

Would we rather have 75% of the network well maintained and a pleasure to use with the other 25% slowly becoming derelict (again), or, all 100% of the network badly maintained & slowly becoming anything but a pleasure to use.

 

I can see the time will come when the decision has to be made.

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I did the full length of both the Huddersfield Narrow and Broad 2 years ago in a boat that draws 2ft 8in.....and went both ways.....we did benefit from a bout of wet weather which improved the water situation but it wasn't that bad at all really.....we really enjoyed ourselves....met a couple of boaters who were whinging and moaning about not being able to moor every 5 mins and that there were a lot of locks some of which you couldn't use the lock landing etc....what you did need was a working brain that enabled you to think for yourself and realise that there was some boating skill needed...something which these vloggers seem to lack in any form. The only plus point of idiots like this is that they can stick to the lower GU and leave the more interesting bits of cut for those who appreciate it.

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I've been trough the tunnel on C&RT 's visitor boat. It's highly recommended. You get to study the tunnel properly rather than worry about smashing your cabin on the tunnel walls. Keep in mind that you have to make your own way back to where you started and it's quite a stiff climb over the top if you are walking. 

 

There's also an organised flotilla trip through chaperoned by C&RT and Huddersfield Canal Society members. I think it's in June. 

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1 hour ago, Alan de Enfield said:

Maybe anyone restoring / re-opening an old canal should have a legal obligation for the maintenace for (say) 99 years.

 

Hardly going to encourage restoration, if one is then lumbered with maintaining the re-opened canal for 99 years.  How about a party (to be discussed) that did not participate fully in the restoration being responsible for ongoing maintenance; that should get things moving!

 

In my view, the HNC is a great canal with superb scenery.  It is a bit (but not ridiculously) more challenging than other canals, providing there are at least a crew of two.  This is not so much as to share the conventional work, it is that you really need one person on the bank to let down some water when grounded in a pound - because, have no doubt, you will get grounded at some point.  If there is no one suitable on the bank, you stand a good chance of being stranded.

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3 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

Maybe anyone restoring / re-opening an old canal should have a legal obligation for the maintenace for (say) 99 years.

I'm pretty sure the Millennium money used to complete the restoration of the Rochdale and Huddersfield canals came with a requirement to keep the canals navigable for a specified period. Not 99 years - may have been as short as 25, in which case now is the time to boat them!

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26 minutes ago, David Mack said:

I'm pretty sure the Millennium money used to complete the restoration of the Rochdale and Huddersfield canals came with a requirement to keep the canals navigable for a specified period. Not 99 years - may have been as short as 25, in which case now is the time to boat them!

A lot of Millenium projects, like the lottery funded ones, are for capital costs only. There have been a few museums and suchlike that started enthusiastically but found running costs impossible and have closed, leaving a white elephant of a structure and a stack of lost jobs behind. It's politics rather than policy, sadly. As far as canals go, "navigable" is a bit of a movable feast of a word.

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1 hour ago, TheBiscuits said:

 

Stand Up Paddleboards can navigate most of them ...

Perhaps not as daft as it initially sounds.

No need to 'do' locks, no pollution apart from sweaty armpits, low costs.

With a bit of forward planning, you can stop at B+B's, or Premier Inns etc.

I bet it will still be cheaper than a boat's running costs.

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9 hours ago, Mac of Cygnet said:

 

I've done the HNC twelve times, mostly singlehanded.  I've never been stranded in the middle of a pound.  Grounded once or twice, yes, but able to get off.  That has only happened to me on the Rochdale, which I personally found harder than the HNC.     I've also met several other singlehanders on the HNC who didn't moan about it, because they knew it wasn't like other canals and just got on with it without feeling 'challenged'.

 

I don't know if this link will work for everyone, but if it does it shows what you sometimes have to do when stranded mid-pound on the (glorious!) HNC... 😉

 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/oMraBjDnEHsPw4FB6

Edited by IanD
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When I was grounded on the HNC just after leaving a lock, single handed I was in the middle of the canal. 

Boat wouldn't move forward or back, and I was thinking of paddling ashore when a bunch (bevy) of fit female joggers in spray on jogging suits appeared. 

"Tha' seems to be stuck Luv" said one and I had to agree. I threw them the bowline and three of them managed to heave the bow close enough to the edge for me to jump off Thanking them I let some water down to float off.

Friendly people in the Colne Valley.

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31 minutes ago, Mad Harold said:

When I was grounded on the HNC just after leaving a lock, single handed I was in the middle of the canal. 

Boat wouldn't move forward or back, and I was thinking of paddling ashore when a bunch (bevy) of fit female joggers in spray on jogging suits appeared. 

"Tha' seems to be stuck Luv" said one and I had to agree. I threw them the bowline and three of them managed to heave the bow close enough to the edge for me to jump off Thanking them I let some water down to float off.

Friendly people in the Colne Valley.

Reminds me of one time I was on top of Kinder Scout surrounded by "hikers" in their day-glo safety gear, hiking poles and walking boots as if they were tackling Everest. Among them were two local lasses out for a stroll and a chat dressed like they just nipped out for a fag break from a shop. Made me laugh.

Edited by Slow and Steady
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18 minutes ago, Slow and Steady said:

Reminds me of one time I was on top of Kinder Scout surrounded by "hikers" in their day-glo safety gear, hiking poles and walking boots as if they were tackling Everest. Among them were two local lasses out for a stroll and a chat dressed like they just nipped out for a fag break from a shop. Made me laugh.

 

And the other side of the coin ...............

 

 

Five students wearing trainers and no warm clothes had to be rescued from freezing conditions on Wales’ highest peak.

They had become lost in the snow and ice on Snowdon on Thursday night and had to be airlifted to safety by a rescue helicopter from Valley on Anglesey.

The group, from Bangor, was found on the Snowdon ranger path, without warm clothes, climbing equipment, a map or compass.

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8 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

And the other side of the coin ...............

 

 

Five students wearing trainers and no warm clothes had to be rescued from freezing conditions on Wales’ highest peak.

They had become lost in the snow and ice on Snowdon on Thursday night and had to be airlifted to safety by a rescue helicopter from Valley on Anglesey.

The group, from Bangor, was found on the Snowdon ranger path, without warm clothes, climbing equipment, a map or compass.

It was a clear sunny summer day. I can assure you the locals around kinder Scout are well aware of what they're doing regarding the weather, a far cry from idiot students well out of their comfort zone on Snowdon. :)

 

I do have a thing about day-glo hikers littering the countryside though. It's very clear to a seasoned hill walker that THEY are also out of their element and over-doing it. All the gear and no idea?

Edited by Slow and Steady
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Tom Rolt and Robert Aikman must be turning in their graves.

 

Clearly this vlogger doesn't understand the concept of use it or lose it.

 

I did the HNC in 2003 in our second shareboat, so soon after it opened. It was hard work but enjoyable. However given CRT's maintenance policy it has probably deteriorated since then.

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4 hours ago, Mad Harold said:

When I was grounded on the HNC just after leaving a lock, single handed I was in the middle of the canal. 

Boat wouldn't move forward or back, and I was thinking of paddling ashore when a bunch (bevy) of fit female joggers in spray on jogging suits appeared. 

"Tha' seems to be stuck Luv" said one and I had to agree. I threw them the bowline and three of them managed to heave the bow close enough to the edge for me to jump off Thanking them I let some water down to float off.

Friendly people in the Colne Valley.

I once threw my windlass to a young couple and gave them instructions how to help me by letting some water down. 
 A couple of locks down from Slaithwaite.  
Yes, very friendly people. 
I could see they’d get fed up waiting and asked them to leave the windlass at the lock and I waited to float free. 
 

If I ever need help with something like that I start with “do you know how to work a lock?” “No..would you like to learn?” And generally folk are all to eager. 

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