Harecastle

[Greybeard]

Hi

 

Off on hols this afternoon along T&M.

 

Could anyone explain how I check the airdraught on the boat please?

 

Someone has told me that there are height restrictions going through the tunnel at Harecastle.

 

I've spoken to BW and they've told me that the maximum boat height through Harecastle is 5'9" but the boat moored beside us is definitely higher than that and he's just been through.

 

I don't want to get there and find the boat won't fit.

 

Has anyone had problems going through the tunnel due to their boat's height?

 

Thanks

 

Mike

[rgreg]

I'm 5'9 and had plenty of room but I expect it will depend on water levels.

[WJM]

Bring a cushion - steering on your knees is more comfortable with one!

[sociable_hermit]

I don't remember Harecastle being that tight?

[WJM]

I recall bashing my head on the ceiling before kneeling and peering through the tiny gap between boat and roof. Not at the ends, but in the centre where it gets very tight.

[ditchcrawler]

Hi

 

Off on hols this afternoon along T&M.

 

Could anyone explain how I check the airdraught on the boat please?

 

Someone has told me that there are height restrictions going through the tunnel at Harecastle.

 

I've spoken to BW and they've told me that the maximum boat height through Harecastle is 5'9" but the boat moored beside us is definitely higher than that and he's just been through.

 

I don't want to get there and find the boat won't fit.

 

Has anyone had problems going through the tunnel due to their boat's height?

 

Thanks

 

Mike

I think most boats get through there OK including hire boats which are not normally of the lowest design

[Greybeard]

Thanks all for replies.

 

I'll give it a go and see what happens.

 

BW are in attendance and they'll either let me through or not.

 

Mike

[sociable_hermit]

I remember Harecastle being uneven in terms of both headroom and some minor pinch-points, twists and turns, but just not that low. It was also quite a wet tunnel (from above, I mean), and the water at one end was green-ish and at the other end, rust coloured. And it has forced ventilation - the BW guys shut the door behind you and turn on the fans. Also possibly a towpath at one time, which has now collapsed?

 

However it was a while ago now, and I might actually be remembering a different tunnel entirely. Does the rest of the description match?

[Thewatchmaker]

I remember Harecastle being uneven in terms of both headroom and some minor pinch-points, twists and turns, but just not that low. It was also quite a wet tunnel (from above, I mean), and the water at one end was green-ish and at the other end, rust coloured. And it has forced ventilation - the BW guys shut the door behind you and turn on the fans. Also possibly a towpath at one time, which has now collapsed?

 

However it was a while ago now, and I might actually be remembering a different tunnel entirely. Does the rest of the description match?

 

Sounds about right to me, although I don't remember seeing any sign of a collapsed towpath on my trip last year.

[mayalld]

Sounds about right to me, although I don't remember seeing any sign of a collapsed towpath on my trip last year.

 

The towpath has long since been totally removed, except for a tiny section at either end, and a very short section in the middle of the tunnel

[the grinch]

The towpath has long since been totally removed, except for a tiny section at either end, and a very short section in the middle of the tunnel

 

hasn't been there for a long time!! there are two sets of stop plank grooves in the centre, but no towpath that i know off.

 

as for headroom Communicator could just pass through (tiller pin had to be removed!) and she has a higher than normal cabin top, with 6'2" headroom in front cabin

[nb Innisfree]

7'6" air draught last year, at a pinch we could have left our pramhood up. I was told by BW staff there that improvements have removed the old air draught problems, in fact the old height marker boards at he ends had been removed.

[alan_fincher]

No,

 

It's simply not that tight, nor anything like, since the tow-path was removed many years ago.

 

(Used to be worse, as you were kept to one side, and away from highest point).

 

We are well over 5' 9", and no part of the boat came anywhere close to the roof at any point, not within a foot, I'd guess.

[Lady Muck]

Came through last summer and we fitted (we have solar panels on tiltable frames, on the roof). It is not as low as some of the low bridges on the River Stort.

[Richard T]

Not as tight generally as Ghosty Hill which has no warnings!!!

[Graham Bowers]

I came through traveling South in my cruiser a couple of weeks ago. At the North (non-gated) entrance there are chains hanging down that indicate the height of the tunnel at the lowest section. I'm sure you'll get through OK, but the chains will hopefully give you confidence. Not sure if there are any at the South end as I didn't look.

[Natalie Graham]

Not as tight generally as Ghosty Hill which has no warnings!!!

Is it haunted too?

[JamesFrance]

In the 60s the towpath was still there but parts were under water, so we usually took hirers through as I seem to remember the remains of the handrail was impossible to see, so there was danger of holing boats on the spikes. I don't remember the roof being so low then either, presumably it is still sinking.

[5thHorseman]

We are based at Etruria so pass through the tunnel a dozen or so times a year, the water level is down a couple of inches over two years ago to reduce the pressure on an aqueduct over a road on the Macc. This has made it easier to get through with higher air draught boats.

The comment made about the tunnel is that "just when you thought it couldn't get any lower, it does" is true. the problem is that the whole tunnel in the middle section has sunk, so the first point of contact if you "lose it" with a high air draught boat is not the hull but the handrails which produces a shower of sparks (so much for turning off all ignition sources before entering) and a consequent loss of copious amounts of paint and metal.

The rebuilt/reinforced sections also step down, they are clearly marked and show up well in the tunnel light but if you hit them (as we saw with a boat in front of us) the effect is traumatic, with cabin front corner destroyed and the first window shattered.

My recommendation is that just take it easy through the low section , concentrate and don't have and light source that can ruin your night vision and you will be OK. It should take you about 35/40 minutes to go through and is an experience not to be missed.

 

5th

[DHutch]

Thanks all for replies. I'll give it a go and see what happens.

 

BW are in attendance and they'll either let me through or not.

 

 

Its not mega tight, we get through fine, but it does step narrower and narrower as you go through.

 

 

Daniel

[mayalld]

hasn't been there for a long time!! there are two sets of stop plank grooves in the centre, but no towpath that i know off.

 

as for headroom Communicator could just pass through (tiller pin had to be removed!) and she has a higher than normal cabin top, with 6'2" headroom in front cabin

 

Yeah, the stop plank grooves do tend to surprise the unsuspecting.

 

The "bit of towpath" may be nothing of the sort, but there is an uneven ledge about a foot wide around about halfway through.

[Ron]

went through last week in a Timeshare boat. Plenty of romm except for one low section where we had to watch our heads at the tiller. Most Hire boats should get through without problems

[the grinch]

Is it haunted too?

 

which Harecastle or Gosty? harecastle definately don't know about Gosty or should that be Ghosty!!

[PhilR]

There is now loads of headroom in Harecastle.

 

To be honest I am amazed that anyone might even think that they might have a problem with headroom.

Are people worried about their roof gardens, satellite dishes, top boxes, wind turbines, bikes, cannabis plants, or lack of a hard hat?

 

Harecastle used to be more interesting before the towpath was removed, and when there was no tunnel keeper and no fans during the weekend. But people used to cruise in boats (rather than floating homes/cottages) in those days ...................

 

I'll duck down like I used to many years ago in Harecastle...........

[alan_fincher]

There is now loads of headroom in Harecastle.

 

To be honest I am amazed that anyone might even think that they might have a problem with headroom.

Granted, if you have been though it.

 

But not having done so since the 1970s, I recall asking the same question before tackling it.

 

The BW "Maximum Craft Dimensions" document actually shows this part of the T & M as having a maximum headroom of just 5' 9".

 

Clearly it is wrong, as our boat has a bigger air draft than that, and other than ducking for the low bits of Hraecastle, I can't remember anything very tight at all on the T & M.

 

Begs the question why BW publish such a low height, though ?