Offside overgrowth and towpath erosion, Husbands Bosworth

[Joe the plumber]

We went along the Leicester Line from Welford to Foxton and back over the weekend. I was pleased to see that a decent section of the hedge (or more correctly row of 30' high vegetation...) to the north of Husbands Bosworth on the towpath side has been drastically reduced in height, allowing some of the glorious views before you reach Laughton Hills to be seen again.

 

However, being able to see through the hedge made me aware of just how little of the canalside bank that the towpath sits on is left between water and field. The towpath erosion along there is dreadful, in places it's positively dangerous. What a walker couldn't see is how much undercut of the remaining towpath has taken place

 

A fair length of it seems to be just the bank at the base of the hedge, with the undercut path only being about 2' wide, muddy and steeply inclined. I would be very reluctant to try to walk it, and if it erodes much more, it looks quite likely it could break through, with the whole of the 20 mile summit pound at liberty to empty via it.

 

I've just e-mailed C&RT about it, but it got me thinking.

 

Opposite the towpath along there, there is considerable overgrowth of the canal from some pretty mature trees. This has had the effect of making all traffic move over closer to the towpath. The result is the towpath side is much more susceptible to the wash of boats, hence it has eroded so badly.

 

Had the vegetation been maintained properly over the last few years, chances are the towpath would not now need the (undoubtedly very expensive) remedial work that is going to have to be done.

 

If further ammunition is needed as to just how vital the regular maintenance of canalside shrubbery is, I'm sure this is it.

[Tuscan]

It is also very shallow on the towpath side making passing on that stretch sometimes difficult

[BWM]

Is that the stretch of towpath that mainly consists of sloping tree roots? We passed it by boat three years ago and it looked deadly.

[Joe the plumber]

Quite a lot of the towpath along there is like that, so it's difficult to be specific, but we found the section I've written to C&RT about so bad

back in 2015 that we've not tried to walk it again since, and it looked even worse to me from the boat on Saturday afternoon.

 

In spite of not being very far from the village, it's a pretty remote place and if someone on their own falls in from the towpath, especially this

time of year, it could be serious.

 

I hope C&RT get it looked at very quickly.

Edited January 23, 2017 by Joe the plumber

[zenataomm]

Rebuiding the towpath or chopping down the undergrowth on the off-side would only be papering over the cracks without dredging it first.

 

It's so shallow over the top between Watford and Foxton that even moorhens can cause a breaking wash.

 

Metal pile both sides and back fill with the dredgings would solve all problems, however succesive EU rulings about disposal of dredging spoil would most likely prohibit that as it's far too sensible and uncomplicated.

[BWM]

Rebuiding the towpath or chopping down the undergrowth on the off-side would only be papering over the cracks without dredging it first.

 

It's so shallow over the top between Watford and Foxton that even moorhens can cause a breaking wash.

 

Metal pile both sides and back fill with the dredgings would solve all problems, however succesive EU rulings about disposal of dredging spoil would most likely prohibit that as it's far too sensible and uncomplicated.

We dragged along the bottom all the way from debdale wharf to Watford locks, finally getting stuck fast about twenty yards from the bottom gates leaving the bottom lock of the Watford flight. One of the most beautiful stretches of canal in the area though.

[Boat&Bikes]

We dragged along the bottom all the way from debdale wharf to Watford locks, finally getting stuck fast about twenty yards from the bottom gates leaving the bottom lock of the Watford flight. One of the most beautiful stretches of canal in the area though.

Was this recently? I cover this stretch often without problems, obviously you may have a deeper draught than I.

 

Ian.

[Mike Todd]

Rebuiding the towpath or chopping down the undergrowth on the off-side would only be papering over the cracks without dredging it first.

 

It's so shallow over the top between Watford and Foxton that even moorhens can cause a breaking wash.

 

Metal pile both sides and back fill with the dredgings would solve all problems, however succesive EU rulings about disposal of dredging spoil would most likely prohibit that as it's far too sensible and uncomplicated.

I thought that backfill was one of the permitted options, provided that they are onto CaRT owned land. As I understand it, the problems arise when moving the dredgings from one 'site' to another such as when taking to a disposal site.

[Joe the plumber]

Part of the problem at Husbands Bosworth is there's a rocky outcrop into the canal that makes piling difficult (hence there's a short repair using those rock

filled steel mesh 'boxes' north of the tunnel), but I don't know if it goes as far as the part I'm concerned about.

[NilesMI]

rock-filled steel mesh 'boxes'

 

Gabions.

[Joe the plumber]

There's no need to be like that! :-)

[Joe the plumber]

I heard back from C&RT yesterday (I must admit I was wondering if I'd hear anything after over two weeks had passed) and they said this:

 

"Thank you for contacting Canal & River Trust and for all the information you have provided us with below.

I can confirm that our local Customer Operations team and our Engineering team have been in contact with

each other to discuss repairs moving forward.

 

Thank you again for taking the time to write to us and for bringing this to our attention."

 

We're hoping to go along the summit to Foxton again shortly, so I'll be very interested to see if indeed any repairs have "moved forward".

[Roadsteam]

We went along the Leicester Line from Welford to Foxton and back over the weekend. I was pleased to see that a decent section of the hedge (or more correctly row of 30' high vegetation...) to the north of Husbands Bosworth on the towpath side has been drastically reduced in height, allowing some of the glorious views before you reach Laughton Hills to be seen again.

 

However, being able to see through the hedge made me aware of just how little of the canalside bank that the towpath sits on is left between water and field. The towpath erosion along there is dreadful, in places it's positively dangerous. What a walker couldn't see is how much undercut of the remaining towpath has taken place

 

A fair length of it seems to be just the bank at the base of the hedge, with the undercut path only being about 2' wide, muddy and steeply inclined. I would be very reluctant to try to walk it, and if it erodes much more, it looks quite likely it could break through, with the whole of the 20 mile summit pound at liberty to empty via it.

 

I've just e-mailed C&RT about it, but it got me thinking.

 

Opposite the towpath along there, there is considerable overgrowth of the canal from some pretty mature trees. This has had the effect of making all traffic move over closer to the towpath. The result is the towpath side is much more susceptible to the wash of boats, hence it has eroded so badly.

 

Had the vegetation been maintained properly over the last few years, chances are the towpath would not now need the (undoubtedly very expensive) remedial work that is going to have to be done.

 

If further ammunition is needed as to just how vital the regular maintenance of canalside shrubbery is, I'm sure this is it.

Natural England wont permit the required bank repairs there due to water voles is what i hear. Now the farmer has fenced the4 field with barb wire you cant even utilise the gaps in the hedge to walk along the field.

[Joe the plumber]

I hope the voles can swim well when the whole summit ends up deposited in the fields then!