Bridgewater & Taunton Canal

[blackrose]

Would I be correct in thinking that although the Bridgewater & Taunton canal isn't connected to the rest of the waterways system, it can be accessed via the Bristol Channel and River Parrett?

 

Does anyone know about the availability of moorings in Bridgewater Marina? It looks half empty on google maps.

[Tom and Bex]

No access from river unfortunately as entrance lock has (concrete?) dam across and badly silted up. Usually moorings available in docks though and BW normally have sign up saying moorings available with contact details.

 

Tom

[blackrose]

No access from river unfortunately as entrance lock has (concrete?) dam across and badly silted up. Usually moorings available in docks though and BW normally have sign up saying moorings available with contact details.

 

Tom

 

Thanks Tom. So boats on the B&T really can't get out onto the river and out into the Bristol channel? That means they only have a few miles cruising range.

[Tom and Bex]

Thanks Tom. So boats on the B&T really can't get out onto the river and out into the Bristol channel? That means they only have a few miles cruising range.

Unfortunately it's completely isolated length of canal. Even though they did restore the entrance lock (sometime in the late 1980's?) I can't ever remember it being used, although at the time very few boats were on the canal as it was not yet open. Not that it seems to matter to most of the boats in the docks because other than 1 or 2 most them very rarely move anywhere which is a shame because it's a lovely canal although shallow through the cutting in Bridgwater and the locks and some of the swing bridges are very heavy.

 

Tom

[blackrose]

Thanks. I'm amazed anyone would actually choose to launch their boat there? Anyway, I was just wondering about it as I have a job interview in Braunton, N. Devon, and that seems to be the only bit of canal or navigable river that's near.

[Springer Skipper]

Good luck 0n interview.

The Taw and Torridge estrury is very navigable and in Bideford many poeple are boat dwellers.The little river into Braunton at the side of the town is navigable,a few liveaboard take their boats down to Crow point and dry out on the beautiful beach there,unspoilt and quiet

[TimD]

I cycled the length of the B&T and back in a day last year. Got talking to a boater as he went through a lock. You get a 25% reduction in BW licence fee if you restrict your boat to this waterway. The guy I spoke to had a fibreglass narrowboat so he used to put it on a trailer and tow the boat to some part of the connected network for a 2 week holiday each year, and just pootled along the B&T the rest of the time.

[Tom and Bex]

Most of the boats in bridgwater docks are live aboard and a lot of the others are trail boats.

 

Just for interest the nearest navigable canal to Braunton would be the short isolated section of Grand Western canal around Tiverton controlled by Devon county council but don't think there are moorings on it and totally unsuitable for living on!

 

Good luck with the interview

 

Tom

Edited March 25, 2012 by Tom and Bex

[blackrose]

Good luck 0n interview.

The Taw and Torridge estrury is very navigable and in Bideford many poeple are boat dwellers.The little river into Braunton at the side of the town is navigable,a few liveaboard take their boats down to Crow point and dry out on the beautiful beach there,unspoilt and quiet

 

Ok, thanks for that. I wasn't aware of those rivers.

 

I cycled the length of the B&T and back in a day last year. Got talking to a boater as he went through a lock. You get a 25% reduction in BW licence fee if you restrict your boat to this waterway. The guy I spoke to had a fibreglass narrowboat so he used to put it on a trailer and tow the boat to some part of the connected network for a 2 week holiday each year, and just pootled along the B&T the rest of the time.

 

Can the B&T accommodeate a 12ft widebeam?

 

Most of the boats in bridgwater docks are live aboard and a lot of the others are trail boats.

 

Just for interest the nearest navigable canal to Braunton would be the short isolated section of Grand Western canal around Tiverton controlled by Devon county council but don't think there are moorings on it and totally unsuitable for living on!

 

Good luck with the interview

 

Tom

 

Thanks Tom

 

Mike

Edited March 25, 2012 by blackrose

[Tom and Bex]

Can the B&T accommodeate a 12ft widebeam?

 

Should be able to depending on length as locks only 54' but passing will be tricky and the cutting in Bridgwater has reputation for being very shallow although it doesn't look too bad to me when walking along there.

 

Tom

[blackrose]

Should be able to depending on length as locks only 54' but passing will be tricky and the cutting in Bridgwater has reputation for being very shallow although it doesn't look too bad to me when walking along there.

 

Tom

 

I'm 57ft.

[Tom and Bex]

I'm 57ft.

Too long then

 

Tom

[magpie patrick]

Mike,

 

If it became a serious option for you I'll pop along to the locks next time I'm in Taunton and actually measure them, but they are a funny size.

 

Devon County Council manage the Grand Western and they simply don't tolerate liveaboards.

 

For general info, the lock into the Parret was restored, and had an outward facing set of gates to keep spring tides out of the canal (there is water abstraction a couple of miles from Bridgwater, so saline water had to be kept out) but a boat locked out into the river, failed to close them properly, at which the next tide lifted the gates off and let saline water in, so the lock got sealed off

 

The Parret is a difficult river to navigate as well, it dries at low tide and has insufficient headroom through bridgwater at High Tide (although the canal joins below the town bridges) and has a fiece current between times.

 

Patrick

[GUMPY]

Mike if you get the job and fancy becoming land based again I know of a great apartment for sale

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-33108736.html

The other side of the estuary from Braunton but way way closer than any non tidal moorings.

[blackrose]

Mike,

 

If it became a serious option for you I'll pop along to the locks next time I'm in Taunton and actually measure them, but they are a funny size.

 

Devon County Council manage the Grand Western and they simply don't tolerate liveaboards.

 

For general info, the lock into the Parret was restored, and had an outward facing set of gates to keep spring tides out of the canal (there is water abstraction a couple of miles from Bridgwater, so saline water had to be kept out) but a boat locked out into the river, failed to close them properly, at which the next tide lifted the gates off and let saline water in, so the lock got sealed off

 

The Parret is a difficult river to navigate as well, it dries at low tide and has insufficient headroom through bridgwater at High Tide (although the canal joins below the town bridges) and has a fiece current between times.

 

Patrick

 

Thanks Patrick. I'll let you know if I get the job!

[Iron Dutchess]

Hi,

 

I realise this is an old thread, but it seemed the most appropriate place to ask the question.

 

Does anyone know if there is anywhere on the canal with sufficient access to crane in a 22 ton barge? I have researched the dimensions and according to the CRT it will fit. We don't plan to cruise much if at all, we are buying land with a mooring and intend to use the barge as our main home. As the canal is completely cut of from the network, a crane is the only solution.

 

https://the-iron-dutchess.com

[Bunny]

My family originated in Braunton, still have a bit of property there . Lovely village , good fish and chip shop and a busy 3rd generation butcher . Good luck with the interview . Bunny

[David Mack]

That interview was over 4 years ago!

Edited July 31, 2016 by David Mack

[Laurie Booth]

That interview was over 5 years ago!

Did he get the job?

[magpie patrick]

Hi,

 

I realise this is an old thread, but it seemed the most appropriate place to ask the question.

 

Does anyone know if there is anywhere on the canal with sufficient access to crane in a 22 ton barge? I have researched the dimensions and according to the CRT it will fit. We don't plan to cruise much if at all, we are buying land with a mooring and intend to use the barge as our main home. As the canal is completely cut of from the network, a crane is the only solution.

 

https://the-iron-dutchess.com

 

Every other boat on the canal that isn't trailable must have been craned in so the answer presumably is yes! There are a number of narrow boats on the canal although few ever go anywhere

 

Thoughts are Bridgwater Docks, also Priory Bridge Car Park is next to the river in Taunton, as are several other bits of road.

Also, there is a road alongside the canal where it goes under the M5, near a pub, the Hope and Anchor? The crane would physically get there although you'd probably need a licence off the Highway Authority to use it at that location. It would be a good deal if you could do this as the barge and the crane don't need to travel far off the motorway from J24

Edited July 31, 2016 by magpie patrick

[rustydiver]

You can crane in boats from Bridgwater docks. Not sure how heavy though. They put them in at the animal feed place Nr the canal. There are a few wide beams in the docks so they must have been put in there canal to narrow for them. Recently a semi restored ww? Torpedo boat has been put in there which took two cranes to put it in.

I live on the docks at Bridgwater and talking to boat owners on there you can only get 3/4 mile down the canal before you bottom out through lack off maintenance. Strictly speaking I believe there are no residential moorings there. But there are a lot off boats there that can't go anywhere.

 

It's such a shame they used to have regular boat pageants there years ago.

 

The pub is called the boat and anchor in Huntworth where the canal goes under the m5 bridge.

 

It's so close to me and I keep my boat elsewhere

Edited August 1, 2016 by rustydiver

[Iron-Dutchess]

Thanks for the info.

 

We went and had a look on Sunday, some sections are full of weeds and silted up leaving a draft of 15" to 18".

According to the CRT's official figures for the canal, it should be:

 

Bridgwater & Taunton Canal
Barge Lock to Firepool Lock - Higher Maunsel
Length: 16.8m - 55.12ft
Beam: 3.8m - 12.47ft
Draught: 1.36m - 4.46ft
Headroom: 2.2m - 7.22ft

 

Which if true would be OK. Don't the CRT have a legal duty to maintain the canals to the given specification?

[Iron-Dutchess]

This was in the transfer document when control was passed to CRT from BW:

 

7.1

The British Waterways Board (‘British Waterways’) is a public corporation with a

statutory responsibility for operating and maintaining those waterways, docks and

harbours in Great Britain that were transferred to

it in 1963 as one of the successors to the

British Transport Commission under the Transport Act 1962 together with waterways and docks acquired or restored since then. British Waterways is required by statute to

maintain the majority of the waterways in a suitable condition for the craft which use

them. British Waterways’ 2,200-mile network of historic canals, rivers and docks is

visited by 13 million people a year and delivers an annual £500m in benefits to the

nation, from amenity, flood relief and employment to green infrastructure, neighbourhood renewal and wildlife corridors.

There is also a post on this forum discussing licensing of a boat (see section below in blue) http://www.canalworld.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=78861&page=64 Where CRT state:

"The Claimant believes that unless it is granted an Injunction against the Defendant, . . . . . . . . . . the Defendant will simply move or tow the Boat to another mooring on the Canal or another canal or inland waterway controlled by the Claimant such that these proceedings will not have achieved their objective and will not enable CRT to comply with it's statutory duty to ensure that the inland waterways controlled by CRT are safe, well-managed and properly conserved."

This to me is an admission that they have a legal duty to do maintain the waterways. Otherwise they can't use it as an argument against anyone else.

Edited August 2, 2016 by Iron-Dutchess

[rustydiver]

I was just going by what some off the local boaters was saying. And too be honest I can't remember the last time I saw boat going out off the docks. Such a Shame as when you get out off town it's nice.

Where are you looking to keep the boat?

They seem too keep Mansuel lock well kept.

Edited August 2, 2016 by rustydiver

[magpie patrick]

I was just going by what some off the local boaters was saying. And too be honest I can't remember the last time I saw boat going out off the docks. Such a Shame as when you get out off town it's nice.

Where are you looking to keep the boat?

They seem too keep Mansuel lock well kept.

 

Some of the boats at Maunsell actually move! The trip boat goes out most days in summer, and I've seen him up as far as French Weir, not very often, but I have

 

It seems boats in Bridwater Docks don't leave and no one else goes down there...