Canal restorations

[AMModels]

It seems like things have gone very quiet on all of the major canal restorations recently, Im a member of the L&H and apart from concreting a small section every week and a lot of fundraising, little progress is being made. It seems the same on the Monty as well with no new lengths being opened for a while.

 

Is there a dearth of volunteers or has the funding dried up or is it the dreaded H&S meaning the old get out and get on with it attitude is now risk assessed to death? Has English Nature put too many blocks in the way of sorting out the restorations or is it something else?

 

I doubt I will see the L&H or the Lichfield part that is under restoration anyway open in my lifetime and its beginning to look that way with the Monty too. Im sure one of the magazines did a section about 20 years ago on where they would be in 2015 and I think the reality is very different to what they thought. Anyone got a copy of the article or have I imagined it?

[W+T]

i think things have come to an end on the Bolton and Bury canal , never seen a thing happen.

[billS]

The problem is that if you spend time and effort restoring a navigation, you find that you are soon overwhelmed by swarms of pensioners demanding manicured moorings, dredging, toilets and stuff...

[Laurence Hogg]

It seems like things have gone very quiet on all of the major canal restorations recently, Im a member of the L&H and apart from concreting a small section every week and a lot of fundraising, little progress is being made. It seems the same on the Monty as well with no new lengths being opened for a while.

 

Is there a dearth of volunteers or has the funding dried up or is it the dreaded H&S meaning the old get out and get on with it attitude is now risk assessed to death? Has English Nature put too many blocks in the way of sorting out the restorations or is it something else?

 

I doubt I will see the L&H or the Lichfield part that is under restoration anyway open in my lifetime and its beginning to look that way with the Monty too. Im sure one of the magazines did a section about 20 years ago on where they would be in 2015 and I think the reality is very different to what they thought. Anyone got a copy of the article or have I imagined it?

 

Andy with all due respect are you even up to date with the L&H job? They have just purchased a complete length of the canal from The Boat inn to the aqueduct, cleared it of foliage, are rebuilding the towpath and laying a electricity line in that towpath. Apart from this there are the presently buried tunnels under the ring road, tracts of land purchased and the magnificent Borrowcop locks canal park. Add into that the tenacious moves being made and you may well boat this canal well within your lifetime.

 

I agree with you in that the Monty is virtually a lost cause and personally I wish the efforts wasted there were put elsewhere. I remember Welshpool having a active trip boat, even a hire fleet, now it has weeds and plenty of them. CRt keep blowing a trumpet down there but still Powys is deaf to restoration, can we ever see those bridges rebuilt on a certain main rd?

 

Elswhere big strides have been made, ie Wendover and the Cromford.

 

Some schemes will fail for sure but some will not.if only we had the drive and finance the preserved railways have we would be telling a different tale.

[Capt Ahab]

The L&H is fast reaching a stage where every show stopper obstruction has been avoided and the possibility of at least reaching Lichfield in the next 10 years is a strong possibility.

As for the rest, if the first couple of miles can be made navigable the rest can follow using the string of pearls approach.

[AMModels]

Yes mate, follow the weekly and even sometimes daily updates on work parties. The L&H resto website is one of my most visited, I know theyve purchased tracts of land and have the Atkins feasibility report regarding the full length of the Lichfield section but at the rate at which it is going its going to take many years.

This isnt a complaint about the speed or activities but a genuine question about the timescale of restoration. Even according to their own figures they need a minimum of £48 million to complete and that is using mainly volunteer labour.

The Tamworth road site is advancing at a rate of maybe 5-10 metres a week and they have built a slipway there as well recently but it is still slow going.

 

Do WRG still help with restorations or is it mainly maintenance these days I havent seen much about the Wergies recently hence the question.

 

The Monty could be a massive tourist spot for the towns in that part of Wales, Welshpool itself would benefit massively imo and they have already built layby moorings as part of a recent car park upgrade now its just waiting for the boats, Powys was once very supportive especially with Lemsip Orbit as MP but recently things arent as rosy, one of the most difficult bridges to sort was done as part of the bypass works in the town but maybe the present economic climate means they have to be more careful with their spending?

 

Cant argue with the railways comparison, we need some sort of sexy steaming beasts with a higher top speed then 4mph to get those people though, they dont know what theyre missing imo.

[nomad - tuttle hill]

Please check on the Ashby canal aca , things are happening here!

[AMModels]

Havent they got to get under the A5 yet Capt A or did I misread them needing to bore or cut and cover a crossing there? Some of the info on the L&H website is difficult to age.

[ditchcrawler]

It seems like things have gone very quiet on all of the major canal restorations recently, Im a member of the L&H and apart from concreting a small section every week and a lot of fundraising, little progress is being made. It seems the same on the Monty as well with no new lengths being opened for a while.

 

Is there a dearth of volunteers or has the funding dried up or is it the dreaded H&S meaning the old get out and get on with it attitude is now risk assessed to death? Has English Nature put too many blocks in the way of sorting out the restorations or is it something else?

 

I doubt I will see the L&H or the Lichfield part that is under restoration anyway open in my lifetime and its beginning to look that way with the Monty too. Im sure one of the magazines did a section about 20 years ago on where they would be in 2015 and I think the reality is very different to what they thought. Anyone got a copy of the article or have I imagined it?

I thought there was some good stuff in the L&H magazine as to what was happening