Tring Summit closure

[BlueStringPudding]

Me too, Jen.

[GUMPY]

That's like a fishermans rant, kill the seals, they're eating our fish....

 

Some would say the trees shade the canal from direct sunlight, thus reducing evaporation....

Not at all

Have a look at some old pictures when the canal and banks were maintained properly.

To my eye it looks so much better, rather than the overgrown mess it has become.

[LEO]

Not at all

Have a look at some old pictures when the canal and banks were maintained properly.

To my eye it looks so much better, rather than the overgrown mess it has become.

 

Agreed, Gavin (ex BW) used to say that evaporation on a summer's day would lower the summit level by 1.5" to 2" excluding lock usage.

 

Another benefit with reduced number of trees - fewer leaves in the cut in the Autumn.

 

Jeff Wyatt warned users of the canal about the water situation last October at a BW users meeting, indicating that poor rainfall during the winter would cause problems during 2012 - he has acted accordingly.

 

I have met him a couple of times along the canal at various times and found him very helpful.

 

He presented a good case at the Meeting at Bulbourne last Saturday.

 

He was off to meetings with the organisers of Braunston and Crick show this week.

 

What more do you want the guy to do - hold a productive raindance and walk on the results?.

 

Leo.

[Jim Batty]

IM in Paddington basin.was going to stop at nash mills to see a mate for the day,then one week or less at bulborne to see some friends in bw,as I do on my outbound trip and the same inbound...

if I was aware saturday I could of pushed it to tring 50 locks in time from Paddington....I normally take 3 days solo ...

 

new plan of action cup of tea..will wait till tuesday then either go via the Thames and up the Oxford.....or creep slowly slowly to northchurch and wait.......which would not be good for me...dont like hanging around in places not conducive to my peace of mind thanks

 

The critical lock closures on the Thames are: Sunbury 9 Jan - 24 Feb; Chertsey 1 Nov - 16 Mar; Benson 1 Nov - 16 Mar; and Iffley Lock 30 Jan - 17 Feb. Not a good time of year to hang out on the Thames in a narrowboat anyway (if the rains were to come fast!) unless you know what you are doing.

[sheriff]

The critical lock closures on the Thames are: Sunbury 9 Jan - 24 Feb; Chertsey 1 Nov - 16 Mar; Benson 1 Nov - 16 Mar; and Iffley Lock 30 Jan - 17 Feb. Not a good time of year to hang out on the Thames in a narrowboat anyway (if the rains were to come fast!) unless you know what you are doing.

Hi I had not checked that there was a stoppage at cherstsey at the time of my post...I am waiting now to see when Ting will open,of course the other stoppages will come into effect soon and stop me.

[jenlyn]

Hi I had not checked that there was a stoppage at cherstsey at the time of my post...I am waiting now to see when Ting will open,of course the other stoppages will come into effect soon and stop me.

I am thinking of spending summer on the lea now, if the levels are ok

[Phoenix_V]

I am thinking of spending summer on the lea now, if the levels are ok

It will be the whole summer then they are closing the bottom end from July to september for the Olympics

[matty40s]

I am thinking of spending summer on the lea now, if the levels are ok

 

get up there now jen, cancel your licence and get a river only licence until next october.Surely your fat boat can get up the stort as well, or is it over 12.5 ft??

[jenlyn]

get up there now jen, cancel your licence and get a river only licence until next october.Surely your fat boat can get up the stort as well, or is it over 12.5 ft??

Was thinking that Matty, me license is out in march, am 10ft wide. Did lea and stort 2 years ago

[matty40s]

Was thinking that Matty, me license is out in march, am 10ft wide. Did lea and stort 2 years ago

 

 

Lovely patch, right from the Ducketts, I never felt in any danger in the supposed bandit territories of Hackney ,Tottenham or Stonebridge. Above that was sheer bliss. I couldn't believe last summer when in Lanzarote, watching my fave moorings at the epi-centre of the London riots.

I have yet to finish posting all my Lee and Stort grand tour photos to Flickr, but all I remember is that it is somewhere I shall return to soon.

[TimD]

Please Tring,.... take some of the surplus water in these Yorkshire Rivers!!!

 

After high river levels for most of december and flooding in early January, I finally got a couple of days cruising in, only for the river at Wakefield to go back into the red again.

[matty40s]

Knowing the cowroast/tring summit area fairly well I would be amazed if all the boats of the "cc'ers" in that area get to the Cowroast refuge, or indeed some boats that have had anyone near them in the last few weeks. what happens to these, are they stranded in a muddy ditch, what recourse do they have when they return to move their boats again??

If this has been SO evident for so long, surely this could have been planned and notified much earlier.

I am quite sure that if I moored my boat on Jan 2nd after a christmas cruise, left it for the 14 days, went home and got on with my job, I would want to return on Jan 16th and move it again!!

[David Mack]

Well thats just blown that plan out of the water!

 

Does that mean that Carton is boxed-in?

 

 

David

[koukouvagia]

There's been a delay while BW repaired and cleared out the stop plank grooves. Today they brought up the stop planks but they were too narrow for the grooves. So tomorrow they'll be back with timber to pack the grooves. Many of the boats that were moored between Cowroast lock and New Ground Bridge have now left. There's just twelve left plus, of course, the long term moorers. There's one boat on the summit whose owners have not yet been contacted. So the plan is to bow haul the boat 500 yards back into the containment area. There's also an abandoned small cabin cruiser that's been on the summit for ages. BW can't trace the owner.

 

It looks as though we'll be marooned in the Cowroast Lagoon for the long haul.

Edited January 12, 2012 by koukouvagia

[jenlyn]

There's been a delay while BW repaired and cleared out the stop plank grooves. Today they brought up the stop planks but they were too narrow for the grooves. So tomorrow they'll be back with timber to pack the grooves. Many of the boats that were moored between Cowroast lock and New Ground Bridge have now left. There's just twelve left plus, of course, the long term moorers. There's one boat on the summit whose owners have not yet been contacted. So the plan is to bow haul the boat 500 yards back into the containment area. There's also an abandoned small cabin cruiser that's been on the summit for ages. BW can't trace the owner.

 

It looks as though we'll be marooned in the Cowroast Lagoon for the long haul.

awful, hope its only temporary

[Lady Muck]

I am thinking of spending summer on the lea now, if the levels are ok

 

The only low levels will be in the pound where I moor (as per usual - bah!)

 

Although they did have the hydrology experts here the other night for an overnight stoppage to attempt to determine where all that water is going.

[jenlyn]

The only low levels will be in the pound where I moor (as per usual - bah!)

 

Although they did have the hydrology experts here the other night for an overnight stoppage to attempt to determine where all that water is going.

lol, well last time i was there, a whirlpool was near the lock, but someone in cafe told me it was a sewer pipe?

OMG, just looked at license for thames, £1000!!!!

Edited January 12, 2012 by jenlyn

[alan_fincher]

There's been a delay while BW repaired and cleared out the stop plank grooves. Today they brought up the stop planks but they were too narrow for the grooves. So tomorrow they'll be back with timber to pack the grooves. Many of the boats that were moored between Cowroast lock and New Ground Bridge have now left. There's just twelve left plus, of course, the long term moorers. There's one boat on the summit whose owners have not yet been contacted. So the plan is to bow haul the boat 500 yards back into the containment area. There's also an abandoned small cabin cruiser that's been on the summit for ages. BW can't trace the owner.

 

It looks as though we'll be marooned in the Cowroast Lagoon for the long haul.

This is amazing news Jim, because Narrowboatworld actually contains a story that says the planks were in yesterday, and the levels already on the way down

 

We are told it will be reduced by 12 inches, but from the photographs from Howard Clarke, taken yesterday, it will be seen that it is already down by around this amount, and the boats, that should have been removed, are still there.

 

Linky.....

 

And how about......

 

There have also been complaints of the lack of use of the back pumping system at Marsworth Locks, with boaters asking is there no money to turn it on?

 

Is there a back-pump on the Marsworth locks, themselves ? Where is the evidence of it, and, indeed where is the pump housed ? Perhaps there is a facility to return water back from below the Startopsend lock back to the reservoirs, I'm not sure, but surely there is no back-pump straight back up the 7 lock flight ? Is there ???

[ditchcrawler]

 

 

Linky.....

 

And how about......

 

Isn't that a boat coming up onto a closed summit.

[alan_fincher]

Isn't that a boat coming up onto a closed summit.

Indeed it is!

 

I can't resist going and taking a peek tomorrow, methinks!

 

Is it just me who might expect GU stop planks (and grooves) to all be much of a muchness thickness-wise too ?........

[Timleech]

Indeed it is!

 

I can't resist going and taking a peek tomorrow, methinks!

 

Is it just me who might expect GU stop planks (and grooves) to all be much of a muchness thickness-wise too ?........

 

I don't understand why it matters much if the ends are 'too thin', provided they're not so thin as to be weakened? They will seal on the pressure face, the back face does nothing much.

 

Tim

[ditchcrawler]

Indeed it is!

 

I can't resist going and taking a peek tomorrow, methinks!

 

Is it just me who might expect GU stop planks (and grooves) to all be much of a muchness thickness-wise too ?........

Does it matter if they are slack in the groves, surly water pressure will push the planks hard against the downhill side of the grove.

[alan_fincher]

I don't understand why it matters much if the ends are 'too thin', provided they're not so thin as to be weakened? They will seal on the pressure face, the back face does nothing much.

 

Does it matter if they are slack in the groves, surly water pressure will push the planks hard against the downhill side of the grove.

 

My initial thought were along these lines, but.......

 

They are only saying they will drop the level a foot or so......

 

I doubt a foot's level difference will be enough differential pressure on all the planks below water to cause them to make a tight seal against the edge of the groove on the lowered side ?

 

This isn't really the same as putting planks in for a total stoppage where all the water on the other side gets drained away, and the whole lot are holding back water.

 

Also in the scenario we have here, all the bottom planks will want to try and float to the surface, and only a "foot's worth" of plank will actually be trying to push downwards.

 

Can't quite get my brain around it - but it's an unusual case, certainly!

[David Mack]

I doubt a foot's level difference will be enough differential pressure on all the planks below water to cause them to make a tight seal against the edge of the groove on the lowered side ?

 

This isn't really the same as putting planks in for a total stoppage where all the water on the other side gets drained away, and the whole lot are holding back water.

 

Well it is really. All of the planks will experience a foot head difference in water pressure - much like the top plank normally does.

 

Also in the scenario we have here, all the bottom planks will want to try and float to the surface, and only a "foot's worth" of plank will actually be trying to push downwards.

 

Getting the planks down in the first place will be the same as normal. Once a foot of water has been drawn off then the flotation will be resisted by the friction between planks and grooves under the load of a foot head x 14 feet wide x 5-6 feet deep. Not a problem I think.

 

David

[koukouvagia]

I doubt a foot's level difference will be enough differential pressure on all the planks below water to cause them to make a tight seal against the edge of the groove on the lowered side ?

 

This isn't really the same as putting planks in for a total stoppage where all the water on the other side gets drained away, and the whole lot are holding back water.

 

Also in the scenario we have here, all the bottom planks will want to try and float to the surface, and only a "foot's worth" of plank will actually be trying to push downwards.

 

 

That's spot on, Alan. Exactly what the BW chap said.