'Someone's going to fall in' - canal towpath causing concern

[zenataomm]

'Someone's going to fall in' - canal towpath causing concern for elderly and disabled

http://www.lincolnshirelive.co.uk/news/local-news/someones-going-fall-in-canal-953688

Concerns about the state of a canal towpath have left one man fearing people could fall in.

Retford resident Bob Davenport has been worried about uneven surfaces on sections of the Chesterfield Canal path between Aldi and Grove Mill Snooker Club in the town.

And he says the hedges there are often so overgrown that people could fall in the canal as they try to clamber around them.

He wants action to be taken immediately to avoid a tragedy, and says he is particularly concerned for vulnerable adults and children.

"The hedge often grows over part of the towpath and people are having to walk closer to the canal because of a wooden board edge sticking out - anyone could trip over it," he said.

"There is also a danger sign but I think it's for the electric cables buried in the hedge that no one can see.

"There are a lot of people who walk down this part of the canal and in my opinion it is dangerous for old people, disabled people and children.

"I would like to know what would happen if someone fell in and drowned.

"Part of the hedge between Grove Lane and Leverton Road needs reducing. I have also asked about the condition of the footpath at the back of Aldi and the back of the snooker hall."

People walking in the area said the path on that section is "very uneven" and "extremely awkward" to negotiate with a wheelchair or pram.

Mr Davenport claimed not to have heard back from canal bosses after flagging up his concerns earlier this year - although they say they have spoken to him.

The Canal and River Trust, which cares for the Chesterfield Canal, said they have checked hedges along the Retford stretch of the canal and spoken to Mr Davenport.

"We have been contacted by Mr Davenport throughout the year and have spoken to him on a number of occasions but we’re really sorry if he feels that we haven’t kept him updated," a trust spokesperson said.

"After receiving his comments we have inspected our hedges in the area and we don’t believe they are causing an immediate problem.

"However, they are due for their annual cut in February.  

"We have a long-term aspiration to improve the towpath through Retford and are currently looking into securing third party funding to enable us to do so.

"However, in the short term, there may be opportunities to improve it with the help of our volunteers - as we’ve recently done on the stretch behind Retford Hospital.

"We would be very pleased to meet Mr Davenport on-site to discuss his concerns."

The trust has been out this week and removed the exposed wooden board that Mr Davenport mentioned and also trimmed the hedge so that people can see the sign.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Ok, so C&RT having opened up the canals as a resource to all and sundry for free now has yet another bunch to be responsible to.  Looking at the photos in the article, and speaking as a boater I wouldn't object too much to experiencing towpaths like those. Still so long as the Aldi customers wanting to pop along for a quick game of snooker can do so without fear of fighting with hedges then I guess C&RT's responsibilities will have been met and boaters' needs move even further down the priority list.

All power to The Chesterfield Canal Society for the sterling work they do, perhaps Retford resident Bob Davenport would like to volunteer with them.

 

[rgreg]

Mr Davenport could perhaps use the publicity to help resolve the issue by volunteering and encouraging others to do the same. Perhaps he could also form a group to adopt that section? Whilst he has the interest of the press it presents the ideal opportunity.

 

[pete.i]

I'm not sure what that video has to do with the report. That tow path looks perfectly okay for cyclists to go hell for leather down. The overgrown bit is the non towpath side. So I think that video was just chucked in for the sheer hell of it. fake news if that video is anything to go by.

[Sea Dog]

9 hours ago, zenataomm said:

Ok, so C&RT having opened up the canals as a resource to all and sundry for free now has yet another bunch to be responsible to.  Looking at the photos in the article, and speaking as a boater I wouldn't object too much to experiencing towpaths like those. Still so long as the Aldi customers wanting to pop along for a quick game of snooker can do so without fear of fighting with hedges then I guess C&RT's responsibilities will have been met and boaters' needs move even further down the priority list.

That Genie isn't going back in the bottle either. I've said before, CRT should have run the canals for a couple of years to understand them before implementing sweeping changes about the way in which they're used. 

Still, could have been worse: they could have taken over from Railrack!  Imagine the fun and frolics of sharing those transport arteries... 

[ditchcrawler]

5 hours ago, Sea Dog said:

That Genie isn't going back in the bottle either. I've said before, CRT should have run the canals for a couple of years to understand them before implementing sweeping changes about the way in which they're used. 

Still, could have been worse: they could have taken over from Railrack!  Imagine the fun and frolics of sharing those transport arteries... 

I thought that is what he did before he took leadership of CRT

[cheshire~rose]

I have only just come across this thread and think it might have been the gentleman named in the report that we met up with when we were coming through with Python in October. 

I would say that from memory I am struggling to think of any hedges between Aldi and the Grove, I suspect there are some but that stretch of towpath is well kept and well used by local people. I would be very surprised to find an overgrown hedge on that stretch and I will have walked it in October so if I was having to shimmy around a hedge with a fear of falling in I think I would remember it. 

With regard to a section towards The Leverton Road Bridge. We encountered a chap waiting for us by a short length of hedge that needed a good short back and sides. It is a hawthorn hedge so not especially fast growing but when advised of the problem we could see what we suspect is repeated annual cutting has not taken the hedge back quite as far as it should meaning the really good graveled surface of the towpath was disappearing under the hedge and had caused pedestrians and cyclists to detour onto the grass margin between the path and the edge of the cut. In doing so it had eroded the soil at the side of the wooden support for the made up towpath making it a trip hazard. 

There was around 6' to 10' of hedge needing cutting. It is a tall hedge too. The only tools we had on board to do it were 2 pairs of  hand shears (we do not use power tools on board) and if we were to cut it it would use up a large chunk of our working time that day. Our priority  with Python is to do offside vegetation where a boat is needed. towpath side is easily accessible by any CRT staff who have access to petrol powered trimmers. We had also had reports from the trip boat of discarded fishing hooks at eye height being a problem in the willows just the other side of Leverton Road bridge and we knew there was at least an hours work to do to tame those willows before we moved on. 

With this in mind we used our bright yellow paint spray to spray the trip hazard surrounding the eroded piece of wood and I immediately called my CRT contact to explain the problem. Once home I emailed him a map and photographs showing exactly where the problem was and he said he would get someone out to sort it, from memory, that week. 

Two of the volunteers who were with us that day lived in one of the houses that is visible from the canal at that point and they said they would walk round there and keep and eye that it was dealt with. I didn't hear any more about it so assumed it had been sorted but as that paper is dated December it makes me wonder whether it has just not been done to the gentleman's exacting standards or whether it has not been done at all and my volunteers failed to come back and have a whinge at me about it. 

Knowing the CRT team and how brilliantly they manage the canal I struggle with the thought that it had not been done but I will go and have a look whether the "February cut" has now done the trick 

[MtB]

Surely the obvious response to his nit-picking whiny complaints ought to be to close the towpath to the general public if it is that dangerous.

[cheshire~rose]

I tend to think that there are likely to have been a host of folks deciding they would walk the dog, take a run or just detour along there to see what all the fuss is about and realised how lovely it is to walk along the towpath there.

He is probably doing a great job of promoting the canal  

[mark99]

On ‎28‎/‎03‎/‎2018 at 21:42, Mike the Boilerman said:

Surely the obvious response to his nit-picking whiny complaints ought to be to close the towpath to the general public if it is that dangerous.

 

Nah - just him the whinging git.

[john6767]

Based on that video and the 2 pictures, the towpath looks to be in superb condition to me.  If he thinks that is bad he needs to get out more.

[mrsmelly]

On 25/12/2017 at 23:33, zenataomm said:

'Someone's going to fall in' - canal towpath causing concern for elderly and disabled

http://www.lincolnshirelive.co.uk/news/local-news/someones-going-fall-in-canal-953688

Concerns about the state of a canal towpath have left one man fearing people could fall in.

Retford resident Bob Davenport has been worried about uneven surfaces on sections of the Chesterfield Canal path between Aldi and Grove Mill Snooker Club in the town.

And he says the hedges there are often so overgrown that people could fall in the canal as they try to clamber around them.

He wants action to be taken immediately to avoid a tragedy, and says he is particularly concerned for vulnerable adults and children.

"The hedge often grows over part of the towpath and people are having to walk closer to the canal because of a wooden board edge sticking out - anyone could trip over it," he said.

"There is also a danger sign but I think it's for the electric cables buried in the hedge that no one can see.

"There are a lot of people who walk down this part of the canal and in my opinion it is dangerous for old people, disabled people and children.

"I would like to know what would happen if someone fell in and drowned.

"Part of the hedge between Grove Lane and Leverton Road needs reducing. I have also asked about the condition of the footpath at the back of Aldi and the back of the snooker hall."

People walking in the area said the path on that section is "very uneven" and "extremely awkward" to negotiate with a wheelchair or pram.

Mr Davenport claimed not to have heard back from canal bosses after flagging up his concerns earlier this year - although they say they have spoken to him.

The Canal and River Trust, which cares for the Chesterfield Canal, said they have checked hedges along the Retford stretch of the canal and spoken to Mr Davenport.

"We have been contacted by Mr Davenport throughout the year and have spoken to him on a number of occasions but we’re really sorry if he feels that we haven’t kept him updated," a trust spokesperson said.

"After receiving his comments we have inspected our hedges in the area and we don’t believe they are causing an immediate problem.

"However, they are due for their annual cut in February.  

"We have a long-term aspiration to improve the towpath through Retford and are currently looking into securing third party funding to enable us to do so.

"However, in the short term, there may be opportunities to improve it with the help of our volunteers - as we’ve recently done on the stretch behind Retford Hospital.

"We would be very pleased to meet Mr Davenport on-site to discuss his concerns."

The trust has been out this week and removed the exposed wooden board that Mr Davenport mentioned and also trimmed the hedge so that people can see the sign.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Ok, so C&RT having opened up the canals as a resource to all and sundry for free now has yet another bunch to be responsible to.  Looking at the photos in the article, and speaking as a boater I wouldn't object too much to experiencing towpaths like those. Still so long as the Aldi customers wanting to pop along for a quick game of snooker can do so without fear of fighting with hedges then I guess C&RT's responsibilities will have been met and boaters' needs move even further down the priority list.

All power to The Chesterfield Canal Society for the sterling work they do, perhaps Retford resident Bob Davenport would like to volunteer with them.

 

Plonker.

[X Alan W]

On 3/28/2018 at 22:42, Mike the Boilerman said:

Surely the obvious response to his nit-picking whiny complaints ought to be to close the towpath to the general public if it is that dangerous.

Totally agree. I wish the towpaths in some area's had been as good as that back in my boating days  I alwayswas the towpath was for boater use nowit seems to be for every body but boaters MrDavenport want to pay a visit to the local Spec Savers or failing that put his snooker cue down for an hour or so & sort the job  himself (Local Hero) If he's that bothered about folk falling in tell them to not use the towpath wouldn't be suprised at C&RT facing insurance claims in the not to distant future A MrSmelly says Plonker indeed

[tree monkey]

2 hours ago, mrsmelly said:

Plonker.

Note the "we have spoken to him on a number of occasions" thats corporate code for, he's doing our fecking heads in