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Waterway users wish list

Jo Gilbertson

By Jo Gilbertson
in General Boating

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magpie patrick Veteran II

magpie patrickDonate to Canal World

Posted
Posted

More self-pump-out opportunities that cassette emptiers can share, more evenly distributed along the waterways.

 

Having enough water under the hull and the infrastructure working should be a given not a request/wish!

 

That shows you've been around less than 30 years!

 

While things have got better and then worse, we came up the locks in Worcester on Monday, and Dad commented at Blockhouse lock that he had walked there 43 years ago from Commandery lock to get the lock keeper because they had wedged their hire boat at that lock

 

In 1973 I recall going down the Rufford branch, the gates were more noted in the absence that the presence, the lock only worked because the leaks at the top equalled the leaks at the bottom

 

in 1986 going up to Llangollen it was the norm to spend 20 minutes aground every day

 

The only time things have got anywhere near this bad for me recently was on the Huddersfield Narrow Canal in 2007, when itb took me 45 minutes to get into lock 17e at Linthwaite

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Smudge Community Regular

Smudge

Posted
Posted

My wish is for BW and EA to cut through all the suffocating bureaucracy and 'elf and safety <_< . Maybe then we might have more money to spend on general maintainence and waterway restorations might move a bit quicker and cost less to implement as a result - not that the above are totally to blame of course!

Couldnt agree more If they did that most of the maintainence would be done in one winter :cheers:

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carlt Veteran II

carlt

Posted
Posted (edited)

That's not really within the gift of either the EA or BW though......

 

Now a wish list from HMRC.......... :)

It should be a wish list from IWA, not BW or the EA.

 

One would expect them to be enthusiastically lobbying any government dept, which has an influence on the waterways, including HMRC.

Edited by carlt
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alan_fincher Veteran II

alan_fincher

Posted
Posted

More GRP cruiser friendly moorings would be a bonus please.

 

The moorings on the Fossditch/Witham are very cruiser friendly however some, the Aire & Calder gets special note here, are a little less friendly to the GRP. Broken concrete and protruding steel beams with sharp edges may be suitable for narrowboats to moor against but they dont do GRP any favours.

 

On the same note BW, if you do go to the effort of providing apparently cruiser friendly floating pontoon wooden moorings, please ensure you have countersunk the bolts in an adequate fashion. Protuding bolt heads dont do GRP hulls any favours either :rolleyes:

So that's more moorings to be converted to have broken concrete, protruding steel, sharp edges and sticking out bolt heads then ! :lol:

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Dominic M Influencer

Dominic M

Posted
Posted

I overheard a conversation recently where a boat owner was complaining about BW failing to cut back overhanging branches near their mooring. My wish? Stop expecting the state to do everything for you, and cut the things down yourself. We whinge about the Nanny State, and then whinge about its failure to Nanny us.

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Neil TNC Rising Star

Neil TNC

Posted
Posted

I overheard a conversation recently where a boat owner was complaining about BW failing to cut back overhanging branches near their mooring. My wish? Stop expecting the state to do everything for you, and cut the things down yourself. We whinge about the Nanny State, and then whinge about its failure to Nanny us.

 

When I am now out with Mrs TNC, I tend to get rather bored...so now have resorted to using some of the TNC pruning equipment around locks / between locks / standing on the roof. Some people think I am mad, but there seem to be a growing number of people that give me the thumbs up, saying they do, or will be doing, the same.

  • Greenie 1
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alan_fincher Veteran II

alan_fincher

Posted
Posted

- Put 3 bollards alongside every lock.

 

- Put up notices telling people to keep boats forward of the cill in locks.

 

- Put up notices to warn fisherman about overhead electric lines.

 

- Fit baffles to gates padles to trap rubbish and stop the water passing through.

 

That enough?

 

David

Sell of fleet of usable old maintenance boats, and replace with fleet of highly expensive and unreliable leased boats, where you are not even allowed to load spoil directly into the bottom of them for fear of damaging them, and having to pay heavy compensation to their owners ?

 

Put loosely attached wooden poles with reflective markers around along any bank where someone may be driving on or off with a car ?

 

Mark every bridge and culvert with numbers and names, using laminated paper and drawing pins and blu-tac for longevity..... ?

 

Fit near impossible to operate locking mechanisms to swing bridges, then take away the locking mechanism some time afterwards ?

 

Put anti-vandal padlocks on a stretch of the GU, attached loosely by fairly weak chains, then act surprised when most of those locks have quickly gone missing.

 

Don't get me going again, David - surely BW don't waste the limited funding at their disposal ?

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Guest

Guest

Posted
Posted

In terms of revenue generation I'd like to see BW make hire boat companies pay more towards maintenance as they cause so much damage. Making them train crews would also be good.

 

But they pay an increase in licence fees already over non hire boats and they train crews (OK to a debatable standard some of them but they do do it)

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Guest

Guest

Posted
Posted

It used to be 2.47 times a 'private' licence but the gap has narrowed very slightly over the years.

 

Mmmm - so lets squeeze a bit more out of 'em and see how many more we can put out of business....not one that would get my vote I'm afraid.

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Idunhoe Community Regular

Idunhoe

Posted
Posted

This is an easy one - I'd just like BW to perform in accordance with their published service standards.

 

If you haven't read them it's good for a laugh.

 

I fully agree - they have set their own standards which they constantly fail to live up to.

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Natalie Graham Proficient

Natalie Graham

Posted
Posted

That shows you've been around less than 30 years!

 

While things have got better and then worse, we came up the locks in Worcester on Monday, and Dad commented at Blockhouse lock that he had walked there 43 years ago from Commandery lock to get the lock keeper because they had wedged their hire boat at that lock

 

In 1973 I recall going down the Rufford branch, the gates were more noted in the absence that the presence, the lock only worked because the leaks at the top equalled the leaks at the bottom

 

in 1986 going up to Llangollen it was the norm to spend 20 minutes aground every day

 

The only time things have got anywhere near this bad for me recently was on the Huddersfield Narrow Canal in 2007, when itb took me 45 minutes to get into lock 17e at Linthwaite

 

 

Awww, you are getting me all nostalgic now. ;)

 

 

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