Conservation on canals

[Pluto]

I have written a paper, you can read it at http://www.mikeclarke.myzen.co.uk/ConservationL&LC.pdf, on the conflicts between those conserving the natural environment and those who want to conserve the built environment. Although I have concentrated on the L&LC, it could relate to anywhere on the canal system. What do you think about the problems?

[greywolf]

It is a thought provoking document,and on a subject that needs addressing.Nature should always be given a high priority in a shrinking natural/semi natural environment but often all it needs is a chance to inhabit an area and then it can look after itself.Balance is important.

[Derek R.]

No answers, just comment.

 

Any new industrial artefact, be it canal, railway, motorway, will draw complaint. It represents a change from what has gone before, and usually that was field and farm which represented stability, solidarity, and reliability - even if only in the mind.

 

I'm reminded of the Greywell tunnel on the Basingstoke canal. When talk went around that there might be a possibility of restoring the tunnel for navigation, shrieks of protest went up about how the boats would disturb the now large colony of Bats that dwelt within - "Where will the Bats go - Save our Bats!". There were other considerations involved in such a restoration, and the idea seemed to be dropped, but it does beg the questions; Where did the Bats live before the tunnel was built? and; what was it built for anyway?

 

It seems to me the most ardent environmentalists today are middle class people who have never got their hands calloused from wielding manual tools, and who see 'Nature' as vulnerable and sacrosanct, and in need of saving no matter what is involved. Whenever some species or other comes into contact with mankind's work, they are there to leap to its defence.

 

There are instances of netting and other forms of animal access made available to wildlife where concrete walls of motorway embankments have cut through regular wildlife trails, and we know the most efficient kind of canal bank protection in the form of steel and concrete piling is far from wildlife friendly, and all who cherish the 'natural' form of canal that meanders rather than goes bullet straight, are far more attractive to cruise on - but that was not what they were built for - nor do they now appear as they were built! However, as the journey along country lane is a far more attractive proposition than a Motorway for pleasure, then a modern day compromise is needed when viewing what is best suited for a canal environment that both serves as a reminder of its industrial past, and at the same time making maintenance and ongoing sustainability (never thought I would come round to using 'that' word) of canal side architecture. If a Mill building cannot be utilised into a block of residences, then ultimately it will disappear - Wander's. Unsustainable. In 1983 we went through Shelton Steelworks that still sounded to the continuous ringing of hot metal through the rolling mills. There was a sense of urgency and industry that could be felt in the very air we breathed - exciting and intoxicating - this was no place for Moorhen and Kingfisher, yet still, they were not far away.

 

I have a photo I took in 1988 at Plank Lane with the pit head gear in place. It serves as a graphic reminder of the area and its industry. Gone, the place tells us little of what the area was. No reminder of those who worked below in dust, dirt and noise. New canalside housing estates sanitise and fudge the landscape into a picture book with no pictures. Pass by John Dickinson's at Apsley, or Croxley, and the past is no longer there. Re-visit a place of your childhood where railway sidings and goods yards existed complete with the sounds of clinking buffers and whistles, and the view is now of flats and shopping malls. A place as alien as the surface of the Moon.

 

To the new resident of such a canalside home the canal appears as a strip of natural water upon and along which wildlife thrives - a waterfeature par excellence. They might have been less enthusiastic about coal boats and the smoking chimneys that so disturb the new residents of warehouse dwellers in inner city basins. The new intolerance of people for other people, living, and perhaps working a different lifestyle to their own in 'their' new back yard, is a symptom of the modern world. All created by the need to recreate an outlook from a glossy property developers portfolio, 'Nature' magazine, or holiday brochure. Good riddance to smoke, smells, and noisy workmen's banter. It's as though what had been before, never existed. It is the intolerance born of ignorance that leaves us with insanity, a loss of logic - and amongst those who remember - a craving for the past.

 

Derek

Edited October 26, 2009 by Derek R.

[denboy]

Excellent Derek

[journeyperson]

This reminded me of Bugsworth, which is a peaceful, pleasant and clean destination where the industrial architecture has been preserved for the boater to enjoy. But there is a display there in which a vivid picture is painted about it's industrial past.

 

 

The excerpt from lines by a local poet reads:

 

Dark'ning the Summer's sun with columns large,

Of thick sulphoreous smoke, which spread, like palls,

That screen the dead, upon the sylvan robe,

Of thy aspiring rocks; pollute thy gales,

And stain thy glassy waters.

[Sue1946]

wow Derek - that was good! Thank you.

[Derek R.]

Thank you Sue, and Den, I admire Rolt's writing, and whilst not trying to emulate him - these are my own sentiments - I think he might be jogging my arm a bit. But that's just a fancy.

 

Derek

[Pluto]

No answers, just comment.

 

To the new resident of such a canalside home the canal appears as a strip of natural water upon and along which wildlife thrives - a waterfeature par excellence. They might have been less enthusiastic about coal boats and the smoking chimneys that so disturb the new residents of warehouse dwellers in inner city basins. The new intolerance of people for other people, living, and perhaps working a different lifestyle to their own in 'their' new back yard, is a symptom of the modern world. All created by the need to recreate an outlook from a glossy property developers portfolio, 'Nature' magazine, or holiday brochure. Good riddance to smoke, smells, and noisy workmen's banter. It's as though what had been before, never existed. It is the intolerance born of ignorance that leaves us with insanity, a loss of logic - and amongst those who remember - a craving for the past.

 

Derek

I think, from the length of your reply, that I have encouraged you to consider the historical side of the canal environment which we love, and how it is changing. I am sure that no one from this group really needs encouragement to protect the heritage of canals, but what we do need to encourage others. One way is by explaining the history of canals to the public in general. It is this area that the natural environmentalists have a 30 year head start on those seeking to preserve the built infra-structure of the past.

 

Change has to happen, and I wouldn't want to stop that, but I do want to encourage people to think about those changes, and to ensure that canals are such that future generations can understand their background history, and the conditions people worked under. To this end, some trees, etc, do need to be cut down, and in the time I've been interested in canals, I have noticed that there are many more trees around, often in places which can damage canal structures. I know BW do try to keep them under control, but we, as enthusiasts, need to help educate people generally about the importance, historically, of canals, and that there is little green environment which is truly natural. Then it may be easier to conserve the built structures along canals, at the same time managing the natural environment so that it does not destroy, or dramatically alter, the built environment.

 

As you suggest, an answer is difficult to find. One possible way is to provide guided walks for the public on your section of canal, pointing out the historical, and heritage features on the way. The L&LC Society have been doing this for over ten years, and it has had some effect. I have had several non-canal people say to me, on meeting some time after the walk, how they get so much more from walking along the towpath now that they can recognise and understand features on the canal. I do think that it is up to us to get out there and promote canal heritage.

[CanalWalker]

I thought the bit about trees obscuring the views was interesting and something not always taken into account. I did notice that some trees had been cut down on the approach to the Pont Cysyllte Aqueduct. I dont know whether that was for the view or just removing dead trees. I thought there could be a balance there between the trees and the view.

I dont think that all canal or industrial heritage should be or could be saved forever. I do sometimes wonder what the mill owners and miners would have thought about peoples sentimentality over disused factories etc

I think as far as the L&L is concerned the big worry is the Weavers Triangle in Burnley.

[Max Sinclair]

Trees can cause considerable damage to canal structures.They also drink water which might be vital to navigation.They really have no place on canal banks. Their roots encourage rodents and rabbits to dig and cause leaks.

When we started restoring the Droitwich Barge Canal we had to remove over a thousand elm trees which had self seeded after 1939 when the banks were clear.They varied from 6 inch to 6 Feet in diameter.

[mykaskin]

Trees can cause considerable damage to canal structures.They also drink water which might be vital to navigation.They really have no place on canal banks. Their roots encourage rodents and rabbits to dig and cause leaks.

When we started restoring the Droitwich Barge Canal we had to remove over a thousand elm trees which had self seeded after 1939 when the banks were clear.They varied from 6 inch to 6 Feet in diameter.

 

Properly planted and maintained trees can be used to reduce evoporation especially in hotter countries like France.

 

However I feel we are being invaded by trees, and they are a weed that need to be controlled. Just look at old photos, hardly any trees, and you can actually see things!!

 

Mike

[Steilsteven]

Properly planted and maintained trees can be used to reduce evoporation especially in hotter countries like France.

 

However I feel we are being invaded by trees, and they are a weed that need to be controlled. Just look at old photos, hardly any trees, and you can actually see things!!

 

Mike

 

Here on the River Kennet they've become a serious hazzard to navigation but BW don't seem to see the urgency for doing anything about it.

On many sections trees have encroached at water level to the extent that only 50% of the width is available. On others large trees have been allowed to grow out of the bank on bends which are difficult to negotiate even if they weren't there. Huge boughs now extend over the water just waiting for the day when they will come crashing down, which they do quite regularly only to be left for many months before they are cleared.

 

This has nothing to do with DEFRA cutbacks because this growth has developed over the last ten years.It is to do with poor management, whereby, had the banks and trees been tended to properly with regular removal of saplings and pruning of trees there would now be no problem. As it stands now, with only one lengthsman covering the area from Reading to Hungerford, a distance of around 25 miles, and all work being contracted out, my fear is that it has become so expensive to put it right that it will never get done.

 

Keith

[CanalWalker]

There are plenty of stretches of the L&L that would look terrible without the trees on their banks, some sections are only worth visiting because of the trees.

[johnjo]

Where trees are concerned, it's a balance, obviously where the canal passes through a valley the main concern is when they encroach or overhang the canal in such a way as to cause an obstruction or undermine the canal bed. On the other hand when growing along raised embankments then they need to be constantly monitored to ensure that the don't damage the embankments and again undermine the canal bed.

 

Personally I love to see them, as wherever they are, there is normally an abundance of wildlife, but here again we have to be careful because, as already stated, rabbits and other burrowing animals could cause just as much damage as a rogue tree.

 

When the canals where first used there were no trees along much of their routes, and no requirement in those days for tree reinstatement or similar planning clauses, and who cared about the boatmans lot anyway, he would just have to wrap up well against the elements.

 

These days the trees not only look pleasant but keep us well sheltered too, so it's a balance for the pros & cons.

Edited October 30, 2009 by johnjo