broken towpath

[davehull]

I would like to share something with you.

 

A few weeks ago, the 10th sept to be exact, we stopped at the visitors mooring at Cherry tree just before Blackburn on the LL.

 

Most of the concrete bank had fell away into the cut taking the rings and quite a lot of the towpath with it, we managed to get in on what was left of the mooring late Friday afternoon. After walking our dogs the following morning we were chatting to a local lady walking her dog when my wife screamed and ran off shouting for help. Looking round startled, I noticed a lady stood by the collapsed towpath and a push bike by her side, the owner of said bike was stood in the cut. Moments later I realised why Louise was screaming, a pram was in the cut, with the child face down in the water, the bike rider was desperately trying to lift the pram out. I got there seconds later and we managed to drag the pram and child out. After what seemed like an age we got the 3 wheeled modern buggy on to safer ground and much our relief the tot was alive and well, I helped the cyclist back onto dry land and quickly wrapped the freezing tot in a warm blanket from our boat.

 

At first I thought the cyclist and pram had collided, but it wasn't the case, the lady with the pram had lost control on the collapsed towpath and the buggy had tipped over into the canal, she said it was too heavy to stop once it had started going wrong. The cyclist had seen this happening and jumped into help and in my opinion is a bloody hero. The local dog walker took the lady and child back to their home close by and later came to let us know the child was none the worse for his ordeal. As we talking a lady came down her garden opposite the incident and said that she had seen the whole thing and had phoned CRT to report it.

 

A couple of things hit me later, My first impression that the cyclist had maybe been the cause of the accident was completely wrong and I felt a little ashamed of myself. I was also completely astounded by the weight of the buggy when we were hauling it out of the cut, the cyclist was by no means a small guy and was struggling to get the baby's face out of the water until I got there, he admitted as we were talking later, that he didn't think he would have got it out on his own. The buggy had a bag of the usual baby stuff underneath and completely waterlogged with the tot securely strapped in, weighed a lot.

 

God knows what the outcome would have been if neither the cyclist or ourselves hadn't have been there, the fact that we were outside talking to a local is another long shot. The lady with the tot, his Grandmother I assume, was clearly in shock and wouldn't have had a cat in hells chance of recovering the buggy from the water, I guess someone was looking out for the little one that day.

Is there a way of finding out if CRT have/or are doing something about this other than phoning the main number ? I kick myself now on not taking pictures of the area and reporting it myself, the Grandmother of the tot asked us not to report it and we honoured her wishes, but this happened in broad daylight and anyone walking at night would be hard pressed to see the damage before it was too late.

 

I have been in 2 minds on sharing this story, hence the time delay in posting, but it felt ok actually writing it down so to speak, were we wrong in not reporting it, even though it had been reported by the lady opposite?

 

Dave and Louise (Changing Pace)

[MHS]

I think you are both heroes just like the cyclist. Well done for reacting so quickly.

 

Report it immediately to CRT. I would write an email detailing exactly what happened and ask what is being done about it.

[TheBiscuits]

Report it.

 

The collapsed towpath has been reported several times, with photographs to show it getting worse.

 

It got formally noted by the AWCC after being reported by members of the local boat club.

 

Even the maligned cyclists have reported it as a hazard, but your first hand account of a near fatality might get something done.

[ditchcrawler]

I think you are both heroes just like the cyclist. Well done for reacting so quickly.

 

Report it immediately to CRT. I would write an email detailing exactly what happened and ask what is being done about it.

I almost agree but I would put it in a letter addressed to Tony Stammers head of safety and maybe email him as well. I would guess his address is a.stammers@ etc.but you could copy it to t.stammers@ as well.

[Rob-M]

I almost agree but I would put it in a letter addressed to Tony Stammers head of safety and maybe email him as well. I would guess his address is a.stammers@ etc.but you could copy it to t.stammers@ as well.

A quick Google gives an email address of tony.stammers@can.......

[ditchcrawler]

A quick Google gives an email address of tony.stammers@can.......

Ta, I will make a note of that, I may need it myself one day

[Laurence Hogg]

Theres no mention of it, but was a ambulance called? A child face down in canal water isn't healthy. CRT need to be more responsible, without question this was a very near miss.

[patty-ann]

Under Health and Safety Law I believe we all have a responsibility to report that which can be seen to be a danger to the public...at least thats what I have been advised in various places I have worked and indeed I have reported potentially dangerous incidents.

This could so easily have ended in tragedy if you had not been there to help the cyclist.

I would certainly inform CRT and copy H and S and ask if any action has been taken.

[David Mack]

I would report it to the local council as well. Its not their direct responsibility, but they may well take an interest in the safety of residents (and visitors) using a local public facility. That will add to the pressure on CRT to do something about it.

[magictime]

Definitely report it. Obviously I feel for the poor woman who had this experience, but she has no business trying to stop the incident being reported when it clearly illustrates the need for urgent action to prevent similar incidents.

 

What you say about the weight of the pushchair makes sense. I've read before now that getting yourself or someone else out of the water when they've fallen in fully clothed can be more difficult than you might imagine, simply due to the weight of waterlogged fabric.

[terriegym]

well done on your quick actions. I hope the little one is ok. any child who has unexpectedly fallen in must be checked out by a paramedic/doctor in case of secondary drowning.

[waterwitch]

Dear god! What an awful experience for all of you.

[The Toad in the Hole]

This is the kind of event that nightmares are made of. You should be very proud of yourselves, but please don't dwell on "what if"s. I could see that it would be very easy to brood after the even

[TheBiscuits]

This was the state of the towpath at that location nearly a year ago, 13th November 2014.

 

Edited October 5, 2015 by TheBiscuits

[Ally]

Well done for your actions and those of the cyclist. I wonder if the grandmother was worried you would report it in the sense of reporting her, to social services or the police, for negligence. Clearly this wasn't the case, but at that moment she must have felt guilt and blame, seeing her grandchild in the water. Poor woman! I can't see there could be any reasonable thinking behind it not being reported to C&RT. Report and follow up.

[davehull]

TheBiscuits, on 05 Oct 2015 - 8:32 PM, said:

This was the state of the towpath at that location nearly a year ago, 13th November 2014.

 

20141113_114332.jpg

That's more or less as it was when we were moored there, I thought it had gone in recently, quite shocked that it has been left nearly a year without any work or safety precautions put in place. Will report the incident to CRT and maybe the local council as suggested. We never thought to involve the emergency services as the tot seemed to be ok, looking back I don't think the Grandmother would have hung around to wait for them. We thought it best to get the child home asap to get him into clean and dry clothes. We don't know if the parents took him elsewhere later.

 

Dave and Louise

[davehull]

Quick update, after reporting to both CRT and Blackburn council this morning, I have received a reply from the highway dept of Blackburn works who are going to look at making the area safe. No reply from CRT as yet.

 

Dave and Louise

[patty-ann]

Good at least some one has taken note.

[davehull]

Reply from CRT

 

Mr Hull

 

Thanks for reporting this to the Trust, we were not aware of this incident. I have passed this to the management team for the Leeds & Liverpool Canal for them to deal with directly.

 

Regards

 

Tony Stammers

Head of Health & Safety

Canal & River Trust

[TheBiscuits]

Thanks for the update Dave.

 

Hopefully they will do more than just put orange plastic round it this time!

 

We have family in the area, so we will keep an eye on any progress.

[Burgiesburnin]

Well done on your actions and a fine piece of writing as well. I was holding my breath while reading it to find out the outcome.

[peterboat]

my next door neighbor but one fell through a floating pontoon a month ago and badly injured her legs we had reported a number of the pontoons for poor condition at the beginning of september, they had been repaired with patches but clearly large areas had been missed as my better half put her leg through one it seems that some people just dont care about the work they do

[TheBiscuits]

Thanks for the update Dave.

 

Hopefully they will do more than just put orange plastic round it this time!

 

We have family in the area, so we will keep an eye on any progress.

 

 

Well it's been a while, but I promised an update - we cruised past Cherry Tree this afternoon.

 

The work has been done, and now looks a lot better. Not a shiny finish, but a huge improvement. Well done CRT, even if it took ages!

 

[furnessvale]

 

 

Well it's been a while, but I promised an update - we cruised past Cherry Tree this afternoon.

 

The work has been done, and now looks a lot better. Not a shiny finish, but a huge improvement. Well done CRT, even if it took ages!

 

IMG_20160501_153638787.jpg

I wonder where the coping stones are?

 

George ex nb Alton retired