Have things calmed down ?

[Bullfrog]

Don't want to troll this issue, but when I 1st joined this forum in 2005, every other post was about vandalism, rock throwing youths, no-go areas, bandit country, etc.

 

It was therefore with some trepidation we bought our boat and set off on our canal adventures. Needless to say we have experienced none of the horrors so widely reported at that time (touches wood carefully !), and have thoroughly enjoyed our canal experience so far.

 

Have things gone a bit quieter, I hope so.

[Arthur Marshall]

Ah, it took real men to go boating in them days, not the panty-waisted mollycoddled namby-pambies who go poncing about today. I could tell you stories...

[churchward]

Like many things that are topic of the month here they can present an exaggerated view of what is really happening or not out on the cut.

 

I find the canals in a city no less safe than if I was to be walking around the quieter places in any city. I have had very few examples of many years of bad behavior when boating. I did once have a few stones thrown from a tunnel exit in Brum and some odd goings on in manchester but the chapos aim was poor and mine was better with my camera.

 

As you have experienced boating on the whole is great and it was never that bad in the first place so I don't think it has got better as such. just on the whole not an issue.

 

Of course if one has been a victim of vandalism or some such then understandably it will influence your outlook significantly.

[Guest]

Don't want to troll this issue, but when I 1st joined this forum in 2005, every other post was about vandalism, rock throwing youths, no-go areas, bandit country, etc.

 

It was therefore with some trepidation we bought our boat and set off on our canal adventures. Needless to say we have experienced none of the horrors so widely reported at that time (touches wood carefully !), and have thoroughly enjoyed our canal experience so far.

 

Have things gone a bit quieter, I hope so.

Can't say we have had no issues, but mostly been fine, even going through areas that we were told were dodgy (afterwards!)

It is the old story I am afraid; if there is an issue on one part of the canal (boat broken into behind us last year for example) we tend to remember that, but not the infinite amount of time when nothing went wrong.

 

But wait, given the amount of boats now, I think the cut is an extremely dangerous place in all aspects, and best avoided at all costs

Edited March 8, 2016 by Guest

[churchward]

Ah, it took real men to go boating in them days, not the panty-waisted mollycoddled namby-pambies who go poncing about today. I could tell you stories...

Arf! You should have tried boating through Manchester in the 1970s. The Rochdale 9 took pretty much all day with little water and you had to dodge cars in the cut! Kids today no nothing I tell you!

[mrsmelly]

Don't want to troll this issue, but when I 1st joined this forum in 2005, every other post was about vandalism, rock throwing youths, no-go areas, bandit country, etc.

 

It was therefore with some trepidation we bought our boat and set off on our canal adventures. Needless to say we have experienced none of the horrors so widely reported at that time (touches wood carefully !), and have thoroughly enjoyed our canal experience so far.

 

Have things gone a bit quieter, I hope so.

 

We moved aboard in 1989 . The difference then of course there were no silly internet forums blowing reality out of all proportion. In our 26 plus year we have never been broken into even in the middle of nowhere and only been stoned three times, once in Knottingley and twice approaching Thrupp You have far far more chance of burglary or damage I would think in a house rather than a boat.

 

Tim

[Guest]

 

We moved aboard in 1989 . The difference then of course there were no silly internet forums blowing reality out of all proportion. In our 26 plus year we have never been broken into even in the middle of nowhere and only been stoned three times, once in Knottingley and twice approaching Thrupp You have far far more chance of burglary or damage I would think in a house rather than a boat.

 

Tim

Good point. They can tell a good tale on the towpath sometimes too! I felt sorry for a bloke a couple of years ago when he told me that he had tied up somewhere to go to Tesco, and some kids had said "Mind your boat for a fiver mister?" He replied "The dog does that." Then the kids said "Can your dog put out fires then?"

Then I heard exactly the same story elsewhere! These stories do the rounds it seems; there was one about a kid nicking a penguin from a zoo a few years back.

[Arthur Marshall]

Arf! You should have tried boating through Manchester in the 1970s. The Rochdale 9 took pretty much all day with little water and you had to dodge cars in the cut! Kids today no nothing I tell you!

I know. One of my friends went through Manchester then with a shotgun on the roof! Me, i was chicken in them days. Still am, in fact - I like the peace and quiet of the rural bits while still appreciating the industrial chunks (what's left of them).

Best things I had chucked at me back then - one was going under a bridge on a broiling hot day somewhere near Leicester some lads generously chucked a bucket of water (and it WAS just water, I checked) over me, for which i thanked them politely, and another time in Chester some kids threw toffees at me, which was nice. I munched them all the way to Christleton if I remember rightly.

[magictime]

Our boat was badly vandalised and robbed while moored at Wigan a couple of years ago, but I put that down to bad luck and poor judgement (in not choosing a safer place to moor) rather than any widespread and general problem. We've covered many hundreds of miles all over the North in trips long and short, left the boat on the towpath in all sorts of places for 1-2 weeks at a time, and one unpleasant incident doesn't change the fact that our experience was overwhelmingly positive. I certainly don't have the impression that boaters are putting themselves at any more risk of crime by boating than other people are by owning/renting a home, driving a car, going for a walk, etc. etc. Of course it doesn't hurt to be aware of problems in particular areas, or to be sensible about security in general, but taking to the cut is hardly like venturing into No Man's Land.

[churchward]

I know. One of my friends went through Manchester then with a shotgun on the roof! Me, i was chicken in them days. Still am, in fact - I like the peace and quiet of the rural bits while still appreciating the industrial chunks (what's left of them).

Best things I had chucked at me back then - one was going under a bridge on a broiling hot day somewhere near Leicester some lads generously chucked a bucket of water (and it WAS just water, I checked) over me, for which i thanked them politely, and another time in Chester some kids threw toffees at me, which was nice. I munched them all the way to Christleton if I remember rightly.

Funny thing is no harm came to us at all through Manchester then either. It was just a struggle with stuff in the cut and jammed gates full of rubbish we even had some workers leaning out of windows cheering us on! Also leading up to the junction with the Rochdale at a narrow lock we encountered a number of youths cooling themselves by diving into the full lock. They were a friendly bunch but less keen on swimming in the lock when they saw the leaches attached to the walls. Further back the canal was still suffering badly from its industrial past with inky (truly) black water devoid of all life and a bit smelly. I would not have liked to have fallen in!

[cuthound]

Then I heard exactly the same story elsewhere! These stories do the rounds it seems; there was one about a kid nicking a penguin from a zoo a few years back.

I heard that one too. He threw the penguin into the lion's enclosure, but the lion's couldn't get the wrapper off

[b0atman]

Rochdale 9 in the seventies we paid the money as it was private and the society took us through by stealing water from the Rochdale canal the team worked us through to Portland basin.

The internet far from being at fault is a godsend as most potential vandals are in their bedrooms cruising the net,

[churchward]

Rochdale 9 in the seventies we paid the money as it was private and the society took us through by stealing water from the Rochdale canal the team worked us through to Portland basin.

The internet far from being at fault is a godsend as most potential vandals are in their bedrooms cruising the net,

Yes that's correct we paid a toll to go through the Rochdale 9. I can't remember how much it was but I have a feeling it was relatively expensive particularly given the state of locks and pounds. No help for us though they just took the money and we went on alone.

 

You could be right on the internet also. Early morning is also your friend as the baddies tend to be still under their rocks at that time.

Edited March 8, 2016 by churchward

[valrene9600]

Ah, it took real men to go boating in them days, not the panty-waisted mollycoddled namby-pambies who go poncing about today. I could tell you stories...

Name and shame these namby ....maybe not.

[captain birdseye]

Rochdale 9 in the seventies we paid the money as it was private and the society took us through by stealing water from the Rochdale canal the team worked us through to Portland basin.

The internet far from being at fault is a godsend as most potential vandals are in their bedrooms cruising the net,

If that was in the mid to late seventies and there was a young lad with them it was probably me

Yes that's correct we paid a toll to go through the Rochdale 9. I can't remember how much it was but I have a feeling it was relatively expensive particularly given the state of locks and pounds. No help for us though they just took the money and we went on alone.

 

You could be right on the internet also. Early morning is also your friend as the baddies tend to be still under their rocks at that time.

It was only weekends you got the volluteers helping you through. The rest of the time RCC just took your £6:50 and went away.

[churchward]

If that was in the mid to late seventies and there was a young lad with them it was probably me

It was only weekends you got the volluteers helping you through. The rest of the time RCC just took your £6:50 and went away.

It was I am not sure what year we did it possibly 1977 or 78. £6.50 sounds about right I was thinking it was change from a tenner. Still relatively expensive particularly given that I was a student at the time and earning about £25 per week in a part time job. Them was the days!

[comfortably numb]

I don't think it's changed much over the last 20+ years. There's always a chance of becoming a victim if you happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, but generally if you're sensible about where you moor and what times you travel in certain areas then it significantly reduces the chances. I also think engaging with potential trouble makers rather than ignoring them helps too.

 

We've cruised much of the system including the BCN regularly, and in 25 years all we've had is some kids throwing stones on the rural southern Shroppie, and on 2 occasions in Stoke on the Calden Canal. The 2nd time we were wiser and when I held up my phone and filmed the 2 kids they dropped their stones and decided against it.

 

Ironically these two incidents happened in exactly the same place but 20 years and a day apart. Perhaps these kids were the offspring of the kids who'd stoned us before!

[Sir Nibble]

[quote name="comfortably numb" post="1778477" timestamp="

 

Perhaps these kids were the offspring of the kids who'd stoned us before!

No one will ever know.

[Pete of Ebor]

It was I am not sure what year we did it possibly 1977 or 78. £6.50 sounds about right I was thinking it was change from a tenner. Still relatively expensive particularly given that I was a student at the time and earning about £25 per week in a part time job. Them was the days!

It was I am not sure what year we did it possibly 1977 or 78. £6.50 sounds about right I was thinking it was change from a tenner. Still relatively expensive particularly given that I was a student at the time and earning about £25 per week in a part time job. Them was the days!

We were 'fined' by The Rochdale Canal Co in 1993. We ascended the flight,but on arrival at the top lock, we found it chained up. Not exactly the best place to have to spend a night... Stan went off the hut in the car park where you had to pay for the passage, but no one there... In the meantime, Ernie had realised that the chain had a D-shackle in it, and was able to unlock the lock. Stan never found anyone to pay, so we moored up at Piccadilly Village. On arrival back at the boatyard on the following Sat, we were summoned to the office and told to pay £30 for not paying the Rochdale fee. So there WAS someone who saw and identified the boat, but could not be bothered to collect the fee...

[PaulG]

Don't want to troll this issue, but when I 1st joined this forum in 2005, every other post was about vandalism, rock throwing youths, no-go areas, bandit country, etc.

 

It was therefore with some trepidation we bought our boat and set off on our canal adventures. Needless to say we have experienced none of the horrors so widely reported at that time (touches wood carefully !), and have thoroughly enjoyed our canal experience so far.

 

Have things gone a bit quieter, I hope so.

We bought our narrowboat in late 2006 and did our first cuise on the narrow canals in 2007.

 

By then I'd come across the horror stories (mostly by reading the "Dark Side"), and so I was pleasanty surprised that we were able to do a 100-plus mile cruise without being accosted by the local yoof, stoned, p*ssed on or otherwise attacked.

Sure, we came across some dodgy stuff - groups of (mostly) men hanging around while swilling strong cider, evidence of recent hard drugs abuse littering the area around a flight of locks, gangs of yoofs skulking under canal bridges to avoid the CCTV, to name but a few. Otherwise, our holiday was incident-free.

 

I remember getting the feeling that there might have been a teensy-weensie bit of exaggeration of the dangers of canal cruising...

[X Alan W]

The problems from back in the 60's /70's there were fewer boats so it was less likely that there would be another boat or people to help (other than the yoof around that were causing the problem) the locks probably took longer to operate due to dis repair. Joe Public viewed canals as rubbish filled ditches that should be filled in, or a good place to dump your unwanted junk as a good amount disappeared under the water ( until some one drained the pound)The Meths drinkers were under most town/city bridges, drugs were not such a problem in those days.The "ammo" of the yobs was more varied Metal milk bottle crates being a weapon of choice followed by railway ballast, bridge bricks/coping stones that were easier to pry loose due to lack of maintenance. I guess the boater from that period was more of an enthusiast & possibly accept things/ actions that now would be to contact C&RT & ask for help or complain I guess that the amount it costs to keep a boat on the canal one should expect a better system, less problems, rather than the DIY way of getting around then, a Tirfor being essential part of your boating kit;along with a piece of plywood or corrugated iron to stem lock gate leaks to make a level, stove ash to rack the gates for the same reason. Not having boated on a regular basis since 1972 i cannot say if theft etc is better or worse, but in 2012 on a 3 week trip the "jungle seemed to be much more civilized"

[dogless]

Only problems nowadays is everyone complains about you....

not cruising,

not being on board,

cruising too fast,

cruising too slow,

having too many boats

and don't get me started about C&RT

Rog