Escape through Brentford.

[MoominPapa]

We've made it to Teddington. Currently moored at Teddington Lock. "£8.75 for 24 hours sir." Gulp.

 

Hanwell was open, but not without incident.

 

First we dropped down in lock 91 and setttled onto something. Given recent events, I did wonder, but given that the Police have been searching for over a week, I chose to assume they would have checked. We put enough water in to refloat, pushed over to the other side, emptied again and were on our way.

 

By the time we guot to the bottom of the flight and had seen no police, I was starting to wonder if it had been searched, so I called 101. For the second time this year I was confronted with a police control room with no idea about lock or bridge numbers on their patch. To cut a long story short, they hadn't checked that far up the flight, but sent an underwater search team, who called me later to say that they'd found only the normal bottom-of-lock junk, but plenty of it.

 

Further down, we found some bottom gates that wouldn't close because of crud on the cill. It was too far down to reach with a boat pole from the top of the gate, so we had to commandeer a BW work boat that was moored in the pound below, pole it back to the lock and grote the stuff off the cill from that.

 

Anyway, we got to Brentford basin in time to use the services, and to Thames lock just as it opened at 17.15. Uneventful run up to Teddington, and here we are.

 

MP.

[LJ Crew]

Thankfully the obstruction was not what you feared. But it has raised again the common belief by the emergency services that everybody will know the post code of where they are. Mind you, when I rang CaRT about Moss Bridge on the L&L (stuck again) recently I was asked the post code! And some time ago when I rang CaRT about a lock at Marsworth I was asked "what canal" and could I tell them where it was near. I said between London and Milton Keynes and rang off.

[Graham Davis]

Thankfully the obstruction was not what you feared. But it has raised again the common belief by the emergency services that everybody will know the post code of where they are. Mind you, when I rang CaRT about Moss Bridge on the L&L (stuck again) recently I was asked the post code! And some time ago when I rang CaRT about a lock at Marsworth I was asked "what canal" and could I tell them where it was near. I said between London and Milton Keynes and rang off.

 

The call centre that CaRT use is run by the West Midlands Ambulance Service, therefore how or why should they know the position of every lock or bridge on the canals.

[FadeToScarlet]

The call centre that CaRT use is run by the West Midlands Ambulance Service, therefore how or why should they know the position of every lock or bridge on the canals.

Well, it's not their fault for not knowing, but they probably should. If I'm reporting a problem with a specific lock and have the boat trapped, or have got stuck on a submerged object in the middle of the canal, or there's a fallen tree or 132,000 volt cable blocking progress, en in order to get help they need to understand where I am exactly.

[Keeping Up]

The call centre that CaRT use is run by the West Midlands Ambulance Service, therefore how or why should they know the position of every lock or bridge on the canals.

Imagine if the situation were reversed. Suppose the West Midlands Ambulance Service chose to devolve its call centre to a group of people who knew only the canal system, who knew every bridge number and every lock, and who had a full set of Nicholson's Guides, but who knew nothing of street names or postcodes and had neither any roadmaps or street plans. The Ambulance Services management would be rightly condemned for employing unsuitable subcontractors. Similarly CRT are at fault for devolving their call centre to one where the operators are insufficiently trained in Canal geography and do not have the necessary reference sources to be able to perform the task.

[matty40s]

Imagine if the situation were reversed. Suppose the West Midlands Ambulance Service chose to devolve its call centre to a group of people who knew only the canal system, who knew every bridge number and every lock, and who had a full set of Nicholson's Guides, but who knew nothing of street names or postcodes and had neither any roadmaps or street plans. The Ambulance Services management would be rightly condemned for employing unsuitable subcontractors. Similarly CRT are at fault for devolving their call centre to one where the operators are insufficiently trained in Canal geography and do not have the necessary reference sources to be able to perform the task.

 

which would be acceptable is the messages were passed on when CRT towers opens for business, which they are not.

It is very simple to let the WMAS have the correct information and train people in it's use.

 

Problem - Grand Union 7am - Buckby Locks.

Which Canal did you say you were on,

Grand Union.

- Is that Grand Union Paddington Arm, Slough Arm, Wendover...etc.

None of those, it's just the main Grand Union Canal between Norton Junction and Whilton Marina

I cant find that

Which town are you near

Daventry or Long Buckby are the nearest towns, I am in the SE Midlands

I can't find that - do you have a bridge number or lock number

The locks are numbers 7 -13 on the Grand Union Canal, I can't see a bridge number as I am currently stranded in a pound with no water and can't get off the boat - the pounds above and below are also empty..

I still can't find you.

The flight of locks is also known as Whilton locks, there is a large marina at the bottom of the flight known as Whilton Marina and the M1 motorway runs alongside - between Jnc 16 and Watford Gap services.

No, sorry, I still can't find you- I will pass your message on to the relevant persons when the office opens.#

 

 

No returned call, ever.

I managed to get a Norwegian hirer whose boat was stranded so he could get off the front end to go up the top lock and open a single paddle on every gate for 3 locks - this was obviously difficult for him to understand in a foreign language and with a complicated 250 year old lock system, but he managed it and half an hour later we starterd to float.

[Wanderer Vagabond]

Imagine if the situation were reversed. Suppose the West Midlands Ambulance Service chose to devolve its call centre to a group of people who knew only the canal system, who knew every bridge number and every lock, and who had a full set of Nicholson's Guides, but who knew nothing of street names or postcodes and had neither any roadmaps or street plans. The Ambulance Services management would be rightly condemned for employing unsuitable subcontractors. Similarly CRT are at fault for devolving their call centre to one where the operators are insufficiently trained in Canal geography and do not have the necessary reference sources to be able to perform the task.

I would have to say that in these days of technology there isn't really any excuse for these sort of failings. All that would be necessary would be to give their call takers access to Google Mapping, type in the town name given by the caller and home into the canal from there. Using that technology they don't need any real knowledge of either the canals or the road system, all they need is the wit to use the technology available.

 

As a test I tried the two locations mentioned above Whilton and Marsworth, found both in seconds, like I said no real excuse these days.

Edited September 14, 2014 by Wanderer Vagabond

[Wanted]

Glad you got through, I recon we must have just missed you. Have fun on the River

[adam1uk]

The locks on the Lee and Stort, and the Regent's and the Hertford Union have new CRT signs which include the postcode. Seemed like a good idea to me, and was quite interesting as we moved through a series of seemingly random E numbers, then EN, SG, and CM areas.

 

On the one occasion a couple of years ago when we had cause to phone Warwickshire Police, they asked for the bridge number, knew exactly where it was, and we're there within a few minutes. So it can be done.

[Athy]

 

 

Problem - Grand Union 7am - Buckby Locks.

Which Canal did you say you were on,

Grand Union.

- Is that Grand Union Paddington Arm, Slough Arm, Wendover...etc.

None of those, it's just the main Grand Union Canal between Norton Junction and Whilton Marina

I cant find that

Which town are you near

Daventry or Long Buckby are the nearest towns, I am in the SE Midlands

I can't find that - do you have a bridge number or lock number

The locks are numbers 7 -13 on the Grand Union Canal, I can't see a bridge number as I am currently stranded in a pound with no water and can't get off the boat - the pounds above and below are also empty..

I still can't find you.

The flight of locks is also known as Whilton locks, there is a large marina at the bottom of the flight known as Whilton Marina and the M1 motorway runs alongside - between Jnc 16 and Watford Gap services.

No, sorry, I still can't find you- I will pass your message on to the relevant persons when the office opens.#

 

 

 

I assume, and fervently hope, that you made up this conversation. Ineptitude on such a monumental scale surely does not happen in the real canal world.

[adam1uk]

We've made it to Teddington. Currently moored at Teddington Lock. "£8.75 for 24 hours sir." Gulp.

Not even the full 24 hours -- the mooring ticket says you can stay until noon!

[adam1uk]

Oh, and nice to see you albeit briefly yesterday evening. As we walked over the bridge to the pub, you were leaving the lock and being overtaken by that so-called paddle steamer thing.

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/68sn4vpys991ddl/IMG_20140914_184753.jpg?dl=0

 

(Sorry, don't seem to be able to embed the image using the iPad)

Edited September 15, 2014 by adam1uk

[MoominPapa]

Oh, and nice to see you albeit briefly yesterday evening. As we walked over the bridge to the pub, you were leaving the lock and being overtaken by that so-called paddle steamer thing.

 

[url=https://www.dropbox.com/s/68sn4vpys991ddl/IMG_20140914_184753.jpg?dl=0

 

(Sorry, don't seem to be able to embed the image using the iPad)

Nice photo. The paddle steamer is a complete fake. The paddles appear to have no mechanical drive at all, and are merely rotated by the boat's movement through the water. Drive is via a conventional prop. At least it doesn't have a bow thruster.

 

Cheers,

 

MP.

[Morat]

and was quite interesting as we moved through a series of seemingly random E numbers, then EN, SG, and CM areas.

I hope you were moving at idle!

badummm tisssshhhhh

[Scholar Gypsy]

The locks on the Lee and Stort, and the Regent's and the Hertford Union have new CRT signs which include the postcode. Seemed like a good idea to me, and was quite interesting as we moved through a series of seemingly random E numbers, then EN, SG, and CM areas.

 

On the one occasion a couple of years ago when we had cause to phone Warwickshire Police, they asked for the bridge number, knew exactly where it was, and we're there within a few minutes. So it can be done.

 

Or grid references, which the environment agency use on the Nene (for example).

[Peter X]

The locks on the Lee and Stort, and the Regent's and the Hertford Union have new CRT signs which include the postcode. Seemed like a good idea to me, and was quite interesting as we moved through a series of seemingly random E numbers, then EN, SG, and CM areas.

 

On the one occasion a couple of years ago when we had cause to phone Warwickshire Police, they asked for the bridge number, knew exactly where it was, and we're there within a few minutes. So it can be done.

 

It's always puzzled me why (1) London postcodes use 6 points of the compass (not NE=Newcastle or S=Sheffield) and

(2) each of these has its district 1 closest to the centre, e.g. SE1 is the South Bank/London Bridge/Bermondsey, but then goes seemingly random, e.g. SE2=Abbey Wood (miles away), so I looked it up. The answers, fellow postcode nerds, are here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_postal_district

namely (1) London did originally use NE and S but gave them up long ago, and (2) After SE1 etc. the numbers were mostly allocated by district name

[Dalesman]

Thankfully the obstruction was not what you feared. But it has raised again the common belief by the emergency services that everybody will know the post code of where they are. Mind you, when I rang CaRT about Moss Bridge on the L&L (stuck again) recently I was asked the post code! And some time ago when I rang CaRT about a lock at Marsworth I was asked "what canal" and could I tell them where it was near. I said between London and Milton Keynes and rang off.

If you have the E Canal app on your phone it shows you the Lat and Long and also the OS grid ref as well as the bridge numbers lock names etc a very handy thing to have in this sort of situation.I think

[Mike Kelly]

Thanks 'Dalesman' - our apps do indeed have the lat/long and OS grid reference for all locks and bridges as well as thousands of POIs - www.canalmap.info

[Tony Brooks]

I assume, and fervently hope, that you made up this conversation. Ineptitude on such a monumental scale surely does not happen in the real canal world.

 

I fear it may not be.

 

About three weeks ago a pond on the Leicester arm of the GU were very dry first thing in the morning. I could just about creep my 20" draft boat through but a 27" draft boat could not get over a cill. We came across a boat that had moored up but was now hanging on its ropes at a crazy angle with the top of the rudder and the uxter pale on oner side exposed. They could not release their ropes because if the tension on the lines.

 

This was about 10am. The crew told me that had phoned CaRT at 7.30 and given them lock & bridge number and canal but the operator insisted they must be on the Hatton flight. They were just confused and did not know the roe WMAS in out of hours cover. When we later met a CaRT chap who had driven from Shardlow to sort it out it seemed from the timings he gave me that he was dispatched as a result of my call much later direct to CaRT.

 

I know there is ample room for confusion by anyone not experienced with canals to confuse the GU and the Leicester arm but WMAS should, I feel, have the information available and training to avoid this confusion. I wonder how WMAS would have got on with one of the older and alternative names for the navigation that may have located the area more exactly

 

As far as I can gather the stranded boat had also not had a call back.

[junior]

This West Midlands Ambulance out of hours stuff seems bonkers to me.

 

Say you need 4 members of staff to provide 'out of hours' switchboard cover. 12 hrs a day (say 7pm-7am) 4 days on 4 days off.

 

You pay them £25k per year. So 4 X £25k is £100k per year. If CRT are paying West Mids Amb Service anything more than £100k per year for this service then they are wasting money?

 

Or am I showing how little business sense I have?

[WJM]

Well you need to provide them with an office, equipment, holiday cover and management. So double that for starters.