Llangollen Basin

[whammy]

We are cruising the Llangollen Canal this winter and have found it to be as great as everybody says it is, we are a short way from the end of the line at Llangollen at the moment a decided to pedal into Llangollen today to see the lie of the land as we had heard that the new basin did not provide electricity to the pontoons in the winter and as I was intending to give my batteries a treat on the 240v we thought we would take a look.

Got there and the online moorings were about half full and they did have the provision for 240v. We then went up to the new basin - NO BOATS, EMPTY, NADA, MOORINGS FOR MAN AND BOY = BUT NO ELECTRIC. BW have put signs up saying no electric available at the new basin but you can moor there if you want.

 

As I stood staring at the empty basin my first thought was they have paid all this money for a trendy new mooring facility and then shoot themselves in the foot in the winter. I am sure they could come up with a reason why they dont supply 240v in the winter - does anyone know why ????

 

I just thought what a waste of resources. I am sure if they made half the pontoons temp winter moorings they would have their hands bitten off, they could leave the other half for winter visitors which I assume are not very numerous - just a thought !!!!

 

Anyway the Llangollen valley is looking superb and will probably look better tomorrow with the snow !!!!!!!!

[Christine]

We had a fantastic holiday last March in the Llangollen. We moored at the town moorings where mains hook ups were available.

 

Here's the Dee Valley in the snow.

 

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[Hairy-Neil]

Here's the Dee Valley in the snow.

 

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Surely that's the Ceiriog Valley in snow.....

[fender]

Surely that's the Ceiriog Valley in snow.....

 

defintely the Ceiriog!

[Blue_skies]

As I stood staring at the empty basin my first thought was they have paid all this money for a trendy new mooring facility and then shoot themselves in the foot in the winter. I am sure they could come up with a reason why they dont supply 240v in the winter - does anyone know why ????

Hi, I'm just wondering if BW generally discourages liveaboards but encourages holiday usage? Would this situation reflect that? I say this as I got a fairly cold reaction from the information people on a BW information barge in London once I'd told them I was intending to do a liveaboard. Up to that point they were quite positive and helpful.

 

Just a thought.

[WJM]

The Lllangollen is a small canal that becomes very overcrowded in the summer. If BW do have a policy of discouraging residential boating then fair enough, they are doing something to alleviate the overcrowding and make the canal available to more people - focussed pro-active management.

 

This time of year has to be the best for the Llangollen, I was there this week last year and it was marvelous!

[magnetman]

Hi, I'm just wondering if BW generally discourages liveaboards but encourages holiday usage? Would this situation reflect that? I say this as I got a fairly cold reaction from the information people on a BW information barge in London once I'd told them I was intending to do a liveaboard. Up to that point they were quite positive and helpful.

 

Just a thought.

 

I wouldn't be surprised if BW had noticed that there is an increasing problem of more and more boats being built, not just boats being sold on but new boats, which take up more space than existing boats (because they previously didn't exist) and a lot of them are used as residential vessels without allocated mooring spaces.

In the spring and summer leisure boaters and hire boaters come out and complain to BW (Some would say with good reason) about the lack of available moorings close to facilities and amenities.

If someone is comlaining in your ear about a problem which you had previously tried to legally address (1995) without success and you knew perfectly well that there was going to be a bit of a situation then you are probably going to be a bit annoyed by the people who cause the problem and those are generally perceived (often wrongly) to be residential boaters.

The main money is in leisure and tourism, they pay a lot more license fees and generate a lot of tax. Residential boaters, while enjoying the canal for far more overall hours, do not contribute nearly as much as a hire boat and therefore should, in theory, not have equal rights to visitor moorings.

 

I'm not having a go at residential boaters without moorings, I think live and let live but at the end of the day I can understand if there is an attitude shift beginning to happen at BW.

[Christine]

defintely the Ceiriog!

 

 

DOH...you are just sooo right!

[whammy]

The Lllangollen is a small canal that becomes very overcrowded in the summer. If BW do have a policy of discouraging residential boating then fair enough, they are doing something to alleviate the overcrowding and make the canal available to more people - focussed pro-active management.

 

This time of year has to be the best for the Llangollen, I was there this week last year and it was marvelous!

 

 

I would be very dissapointed if BW do have a policy of discouraging residential boating, I have been continuous cruising for just over a year now and from what I have seen so far there is room for us all if we abide by a simple rule - treat everybody the same way you wish to be treated -

Still dont know why they switch the 240v off in the basin in the winter - maybe they should explain it in the notice they have slapped on the noticeboards in Llangollen.

It mus be a bit hectic in the summer - glad I am here now, have only seen 2 other boats moving in the last few days.

[mikevye]

Maybe its just me but why didn't you just hook up to the line mooring, straight down the steps and your on the main road whereas the visitors moorings are a pain in comparison. The basin is only full during high peak such as school hols.

[whammy]

Maybe its just me but why didn't you just hook up to the line mooring, straight down the steps and your on the main road whereas the visitors moorings are a pain in comparison. The basin is only full during high peak such as school hols.

 

We will make use of the online 240v when we do go in but the basin moorings appeal to us more for various reasons and I just wanted to know the reason why they switch off the 240v in the winter

[whammy]

Have now arrived in Llangollen and spent a night on the online moorings which have 240v posts, we had to go into town and buy a BW electricity card from hardware store - cost £12.10 - After one night we moved up to the new basin, only one other boat here, the 240v posts are different here they are not the same as the online moorings i.e. you cant put the BW electric cards into them, so I have now deduced that the electric is included in the summer time mooring fee of £5 a night (its free to moor for 48 hours in the winter but as I have said before - no electricity) which leads me to believe that the reason for no 240v in the winter is because BW cant afford to employ someone to collect the £5 in the winter so they cut the 240v supply to boaters (mind you the 240v posts arfe lit up like christmas trees).

I was speaking to another boater the other day and she told me that the new basin does not have full support of local residents who are worried about noise levels from boaters - it is strange then that the noise from boaters running their engines to generate electric in winter does not cause more complaints from them.

 

just a thought

 

Anyway despite this the area is very scenic, the Lamb shank in the Bridge End pub is delicious and we are off to Horse Shoe falls tomorrow.

[Keeping Up]

I was speaking to another boater the other day and she told me that the new basin does not have full support of local residents who are worried about noise levels from boaters - it is strange then that the noise from boaters running their engines to generate electric in winter does not cause more complaints from them.

It's just as bad in the summer, the majority of boats that visit there don't have electric hookups (particularly as most of them are hireboats) and it really spoiled it for us that there were so many boats running their engines all the time. The basin was full and there was only one boat apart from us that was plugged in; there wasn't a quiet moment from first thing in the morning through to mid evening.

 

Allan

[WJM]

"BW cant afford to employ someone to collect the £5 in the winter" "only one other boat here"

 

Obviously!