Water prediction coming true.

[Arthur Marshall]

I can't see the Stoke flight getting much use. It'll be Heritage boats coming and going, me going home and a few boats on the Caldon. There's nowhere to go north of the Harecastle.

[john6767]

I see there is now a restriction out for Claydon locks starting on 8 August, restricted to 9:30 to 4:00 each day.  Nothing for Napton though.

 

We are planning to go on the Thames for a bit leaving Napton probably on the 6 August, not so sure it is going to be a good idea. 

[Tracy D'arth]

Doing a fly run last year we did Great Haywood to the Tunnel south portal  in a day without breaking into a sweat.

 

Very different this year!

[Tracy D'arth]

The reason that the flights down from Claydon are short of water is mainly due to Broadmoor lock having severely leaking gates. 

Then  ! someone !  is running water down through Elkrington's and Varney's locks at night to maintain the marina's level?

 

Level still hopelessly low below Cropredy though boats are moving I think.

I would imagine it is going to get much worse as the Fairport gig happens on the second August weekend and it is always madly busy there then.  Only maintenance and rain will save the day.

[Lily Rose]

32 minutes ago, Tracy D'arth said:

 

Level still hopelessly low below Cropredy though boats are moving I think.

 

 

I'm just above Clayton top lock and heading down to Cropredy tomorrow then Banbury after that. Coming up the Napton flight yesterday I spoke to someone going down on one of the blue Heyford hire boats about water levels and they said they hadn't had any trouble since leaving the base on Friday. Those boats may well be very shallow-drafted, I'm sure mrsmelly would know.

 

 

[roland elsdon]

We saw the signs about ‘someone’ a couple of weeks ago!!!

[Stroudwater1]

2 hours ago, Tracy D'arth said:

Doing a fly run last year we did Great Haywood to the Tunnel south portal  in a day without breaking into a sweat.

 

Very different this year!

We did from a little way above Trentham to below Great Hayward junction this year sweaty less two of us deep drafted boat on the first week of July, including a slow passage through Stone as a couple had a 5 day old brand new boat they were fearful of scratching. 🤣

There was no low pounds anywhere at all. It’s terrible how rapidly it’s deteriorated. There are some unorthodox boaters around who don’t bother to drop paddles so suddenly a pound is low. Afraid that could be a part of it 

[Arthur Marshall]

15 minutes ago, Stroudwater1 said:

We did from a little way above Trentham to below Great Hayward junction this year sweaty less two of us deep drafted boat on the first week of July, including a slow passage through Stone as a couple had a 5 day old brand new boat they were fearful of scratching. 🤣

There was no low pounds anywhere at all. It’s terrible how rapidly it’s deteriorated. There are some unorthodox boaters around who don’t bother to drop paddles so suddenly a pound is low. Afraid that could be a part of it 

There are always some who forget to drop paddles, and some, like the ones I met last year on a hire, have no idea why they should. But it's relatively rare. The really bad pounds on the Cheshire flight have been bad for years - I suspect the bottom is a lot nearer the top than it ought to be, as well as leakage meaning the top is nearer the bottom. I suspect low water reduces the ability of the canal sides to retain water too - certainly on the Macc, both the towpath and the offside are visibly degrading.

[Momac]

On 10/07/2022 at 16:46, Naughty Cal said:

 

 

Some friends posted some pictures of the Trent at Torksey yesterday and it was as low as we can remember having see it already.

But no one is blaming C&RT for that.

 

We did travel up the river a couple of days earlier than that  and it was  shallow . We had to double pen into Cromwell to clear the middle cill.

But not really an issue for narrowboats.

 

[Naughty Cal]

4 minutes ago, MartynG said:

But no one is blaming C&RT for that.

 

We did travel up the river a couple of days earlier than that  and it was  shallow . We had to double pen into Cromwell to clear the middle cill.

But not really an issue for narrowboats.

 

Who said they were?

 

On a separate note it was interesting to spend Friday night and Saturday morning on the banks of the Humber around low tide and observe just how extensive the mud banks and shallows really are. Not something we ever saw from the boat due to only travelling the river around high water.

 

Was nice to see it flat calm as well. We never saw that either 

[Athy]

15 hours ago, Tracy D'arth said:

 

I would imagine it is going to get much worse as the Fairport gig happens on the second August weekend and it is always madly busy there then. 

Well, possibly. But, although we are not there at the moment to see how it is this year, usually the boats which have come for the festival are already moored up a fortnight beforehand and won't move until the gig is over. Most private boats know that it's best to avoid the area during this period, and most of the moving boats are hire craft.

   In any case, the approach of the festival weekend just about guarantees heavy downpours!

[Momac]

1 hour ago, Naughty Cal said:

Who said they were?

Some  folks are  blaming C&RT for the lack of water (on some canals). 

 

Yes we also also saw a lot of exposed mud on the Humber that is normally covered  , above the Humber Bridge . 

I have seen the Humber smooth once or twice  , but we were  unlucky with that on our recent voyage .

 

 

 

[Arthur Marshall]

1 hour ago, MartynG said:

Some  folks are  blaming C&RT for the lack of water (on some canals). 

 

Yes we also also saw a lot of exposed mud on the Humber that is normally covered  , above the Humber Bridge . 

I have seen the Humber smooth once or twice  , but we were  unlucky with that on our recent voyage .

 

 

 

You can certainly blame CRT for the lack of maintenance and incredibly slow responses to warnings of impending doom. But, a bit like blaming the council for the state of your roads, it comes down to the money supplied from the government, ie you and me via taxation.

No money, crap roads and a defuncting (I just invented that word) canal system. Perhaps we'll get some of Truss' 40 billion, though I doubt it. The consultants might, though.

[Athy]

2 minutes ago, Arthur Marshall said:

a defuncting (I just invented that word) canal system.

It that the stage just before it becomes completely funct?

[Arthur Marshall]

11 minutes ago, Athy said:

It that the stage just before it becomes completely funct?

I do believe it is!

[Mike Todd]

4 hours ago, Arthur Marshall said:

You can certainly blame CRT for the lack of maintenance and incredibly slow responses to warnings of impending doom. But, a bit like blaming the council for the state of your roads, it comes down to the money supplied from the government, ie you and me via taxation.

No money, crap roads and a defuncting (I just invented that word) canal system. Perhaps we'll get some of Truss' 40 billion, though I doubt it. The consultants might, though.

I thought she wanted to cut taxes by that sort of amount?

[PhilR]

On 22/07/2022 at 15:14, Arthur Marshall said:

Cheshire locks closed at least until Monday. Update coming then.

Out of interest, what feeds the run south from Stoke? Presumably the top bit comes from the Macc and the Caldon, so is the Stoke flight running low too? There must be feeders lower down to keep the Stone flight etc full?

The summit pound of the T & M is fed from:

1. Ground water from Goldenhill (Harecastle)

2. Rudyard Lake

3. Knypersley Reservoir

4. Stanley Pool

5. Water from the Macclesfield Canal via the Hall Green branch.

 

2, 3 & 4 above are via the Caldon Canal, which enters the T & M 

at Etruria, immediately above Stoke top lock.

 

In the heyday of canal carrying the T & M was extremely busy. Which

is why the Cheshire Locks were duplicated. I presume water shortage

wasn't a big problem in those days because the company managed

to pay massive dividends to their shareholders for quite a few years.

 

Water levels at Rudyard looked OK for this time of year when I passed

on Saturday.

Phil 

[Arthur Marshall]

2 hours ago, Mike Todd said:

I thought she wanted to cut taxes by that sort of amount?

Yes, but she's borrowing 40 billion to do it. There must be a few quid to spare for us. Or she could just borrow another one. Nobody would notice.

Anyway , taxes never go down, it's against nature.

[Cheshire cat]

I cycled along the T&M through Cheshire today. All water levels are near normal. The bywashes are moving water down the flight to Middlewich. Even the boats at Hassell Green appear to be floating although there are still a couple of abandoned Black Prince boats at that particular location.

[trane]

This notice supersedes previous notices for the Caldon and Trent and Mersey canals.

Despite some recent rainfall, there has been no significant impact on our reservoir holdings that supply the Trent & Mersey and Caldon Canals as this has been absorbed into an already dry landscape. In order to protect our infrastructure and the wildlife that inhabit these waterways, we will be implementing closures on the lock flights below:

Trent & Mersey Canal

• Lock 41 to Lock 71 will remain closed
• Passage through Lock 40 to Lock 36 and Harecastle Tunnel will remain possible between 8.00am and 12.00pm daily until last passage on Sunday 7 August
• Lock 40 to Lock 29 will then close to navigation from 8.00 am on Monday 8 August

Caldon Canal

• Hazelhurst Locks to Froghall will remain closed
• Lock 9, Top Lock at Stockton Brook to Lock 1, Bedford Street, Etruria will be closed from 8.00 am Monday 8 August

Whilst these closures will prevent use of the lock flights, cruising between the locks and through Harecastle Tunnel (pre booked passages only between 8.00am and 12.00pm daily) will remain available.

The local team have been in contact with customers affected by the closure to assist them off the Cheshire Flight (locks 41 – 71). If you have not been contacted and are waiting to leave the flight, please contact our North West team on 0303 0404 040 as soon as possible.

We’re continuing conversations with customers affected on the Caldon Canal and the Trent & Mersey from Stoke to Stone (lock 29 to 40).  If you have not been contacted and would like assistance in leaving this section, please contact our West Midlands team on 0303 040 4040 or enquiries.westmidlands@canalrivertrust.org.uk as soon as possible.

It is not clear how long the restrictions will be in place. We appreciate this is disappointing news for our customers and we hope that by providing notice of these closures, it will help our customers plan their upcoming journeys or move to alternative locations to avoid the impact of the closures on their cruising plans.

To conserve as much water as possible whilst these closures are in place, the lock flights will be padlocked closed and secured against operation with the gates ‘ashed up’ to reduce leakage. Implementing these closures now means that we can conserve water, allowing the reservoirs to start to refill should we have significant rainfall. Although the Trent & Mersey Canal will remain open north of Great Haywood junction, we are encouraging boaters to minimise travel towards Stone, and consider other available routes, to help conserve water in the area.

We apologise for the inconvenience this will undoubtedly cause our boating customers and boating businesses.

Our teams will continue to monitor our reservoir holdings and surface water feeders and we will provide updates on the water position throughout the closed period.

[MrsM]

We came through Cropredy to Banbury yesterday. Passed some gorgeous old boats at a wharf on route. Pounds low but passable.

[john6767]

The latest two sets of restrictions that come out today for Atherstone and Hillmorton, have the opening house of 6:30 to 15:30 and 6:30 to 16:00.  Does anyone understand the rational for having the opening start so early in the morning, they are usually something like 8:00 to 18:00.

[Midnight]

On 26/07/2022 at 11:55, Arthur Marshall said:

You can certainly blame CRT for the lack of maintenance and incredibly slow responses to warnings of impending doom. But, a bit like blaming the council for the state of your roads, it comes down to the money supplied from the government, ie you and me via taxation.

No money, crap roads and a defuncting (I just invented that word) canal system. Perhaps we'll get some of Truss' 40 billion, though I doubt it. The consultants might, though.

I'm voting Arthur Marshall for PM the campaign starts now!

[Rob-M]

2 minutes ago, john6767 said:

The latest two sets of restrictions that come out today for Atherstone and Hillmorton, have the opening house of 6:30 to 15:30 and 6:30 to 16:00.  Does anyone understand the rational for having the opening start so early in the morning, they are usually something like 8:00 to 18:00.

Maybe to give time to clear the flight before the vollies turn up 🤣

[Cheshire cat]

Arthur has just become a CCer. With the latest closure of the T&M all the way down to Stone he's got no way of getting back to his home mooring.

 

If lock 29 is closed from August 8th Stone cruisers and the the Ginger boats will surely empty the pound on turnaround days.