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Foul ridge Tunnel


jonathanA

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Original message:

 

As part of our Desmond Family Canoe Trail project, we have implemented new measures which will allow canoe users access through Foulridge Tunnel as from 3 June 2017.

To celebrate the opening of the Foulridge Tunel for canoe customers, we are hosting a mass paddle through the tunnel on Saturday 3 June 2017. Due the volume of participants taking part in the event, Foulridge Tunnel will be closed to other boat traffic between 10am and 12:30pm. Normal passages will resume after 12:30pm using the traffic light operating system.

Please follow the advice and instructions given by Canal & River Trust staff during the affected period.

To find out more about the Desmond Family Coast to Coast Canoe Trail, please follow this link: https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/about-us/our-work/youth-engagement/the-desmond-family-canoe-trail

I am intrigued about how canoes will be able to use the tunnel ? Does anyone know how that will work can't find anything obvious on the CRT site. 

 

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Given that Foulridge is controlled by traffic lights, and that canoes are usually faster than narrowboats, there shouldn't be a problem.

That said, however, the last time (few years ago, now ) we did Foulridge, we arrived about 15 minutes before we were due a green light, and turned off the engine. When the light went green, I thought I heard an engine running in the tunnel. Couldn't see anyone, though. I managed to convince myself that there was someone there, and, sure enough, just as the light went back to red, a narrowboat arrived, towing a GRP cruiser, and neither having any light. The chap on the GRP was a bit shaken when I told them that if we had arrived on the green, I'd have been straight in. It transpired that neither boat had a working horn, either. Despite this, they'd gone in on a red light, as "the canals were quiet at this time of year."

No system is foolproof, as it is not possible to overestimate the ingenuity of fools :)

  • Greenie 1
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you'd think between them they could have rustled up a torch or a whistle !!

I had a bit of the opposite problem sat there waiting for a green light which never happened. Rang CRT and their advice was 'proceed with caution' I reckon you could pass another Narrow beam would wouldn't be nice to meet a fat boat... 

So you think the 'access to canoes' will be dash through when the lights are on green, perhaps with a light showing.... ?

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And from https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/news-and-views/news/mile-long-foulridge-tunnel-becomes-britains-longest-for-canoes

"Chantelle Seaborn, our waterway manager said: "The nation’s canals are enjoying a renaissance, with more people using them than ever before. Narrowboats have been a common sight at the Tunnel for over 200 years..."

Really ? CRT rewriting history again!

I would imagine that narrowboats were a very rare sight indeed at Foulridge before about the 1970s.

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It sort of hints at some sort of variation of the traffic light system, wonder why Chantelle can't actually tell us how's it going to work....  

I'm all for canoodleists just interested in how it's going to work in practice, guess I'll find out next time I head that way....

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We  moor very close to the tunnel and use it a lot,  I'm really looking forward to meeting a canoe coming the other way  through Foulridge !!!!!

I do hope they can go faster than narrowboats !

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1 hour ago, Titus said:

We  moor very close to the tunnel and use it a lot,  I'm really looking forward to meeting a canoe coming the other way  through Foulridge !!!!!

I do hope they can go faster than narrowboats !

So am I !!!!

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1 hour ago, Titus said:

We  moor very close to the tunnel and use it a lot,  I'm really looking forward to meeting a canoe coming the other way  through Foulridge !!!!!

I do hope they can go faster than narrowboats !

But do they go through faster than cows?

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