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Middlewich Branch breach - Shropshire Union


lostnortherner

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The worrying omission  in the last update was WHICH Christmas? Sadly there has been so many delays already that my confidence of satisfactory repair this year is waning.

 I do hope that before they fill the canal up again that they remove ALL that stone, not like the cock up at Minworth.

 

 

There are new events on the branch. Would you believe JELLYFISH? These are fresh water with an unpronounceable latin name, an invasive specie.

About 25mm in diameter with tentacles beneath about the same length.

Lots off them I am told in colonies.

 

Could they be alien canal builders, like in " Batteries not included"?

 

 

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17 hours ago, Boater Sam said:

The worrying omission  in the last update was WHICH Christmas? Sadly there has been so many delays already that my confidence of satisfactory repair this year is waning.

 I do hope that before they fill the canal up again that they remove ALL that stone, not like the cock up at Minworth.

 

 

There are new events on the branch. Would you believe JELLYFISH? These are fresh water with an unpronounceable latin name, an invasive specie.

About 25mm in diameter with tentacles beneath about the same length.

Lots off them I am told in colonies.

 

Could they be alien canal builders, like in " Batteries not included"?

 

 

does this mean the voles will be out of a job 

 

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I went to have a look today to see what was going on. One JCB and operative. No wonder it's not going to be open before Christmas. 

 

I also noticed the owner of one of the offside bungalows taking the opportunity to get rid of his bankside silt while the water is 18" down. No doubt he will have an end of garden mooring by the time the dam is breached.

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A new dam has been made between Stanthorn lock and the breach and that short pound put in water. A large flexible hose is now allowing water to bypass the breach. Stank planks just before Wardle lock maintain the level of this reach about 2’ below normal

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It would be of interest to know what challenges CRT have for this repair, including the extent of the damage done. Also with all the other emergency repairs going on, have CRT given priority to other jobs. 2018 has certainly created its share of infrastructure issues for CRT. Yet such problems are a regular facet of operating their network of waterways. 

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Judging by the number of side issues that have been raised and the terrible lack of progress on the repair \i think we are on the bottom of a very long list of work in hand.

The begging bowl did not produce much and CRT must by now be desperate for money after wasting it on the blue circle debacle.

 

The farmer whose field is the only access is ripping them off big time, maybe that is where the funds are going instead of getting on and fixing it.

 

I have never understood why construction architects  think that the longer it takes the cheaper it gets. All the major successful projects that came in on time and budget were completed speedily by throwing plenty of labour and resources at them, like the M1 construction.

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Mostly, yes. I cannot divulge too much but based on heritage and reputation it is expected that the bill for access will be substantial and ongoing. The farming community around here is under pressure to make what they can when they can, the dairy industry is on very tight profit margins and with the lack of rain, the herds are having to be fed on the forthcoming winter feed stock and bought in feed. All are praying for steady rain. The fields are brown.

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Intuitive, an inspired guess if you like, with its foundation in local hearsay and loose talk.

The supposition is pretty accurate as far as I know.

Which causes me once again to question why the repair will be allowed to take so long.

 

Taking a large sum weekly for no outlay or loss and gaining a new roadway where there was a muddy track for nothing seems to be an excessively good deal to me.

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It gets sillier.

 

CRT wanted to charge the farmer for the stone used to build up the access road where his farm track was and the tons they have poured into the canal bed. I do hope they remember that they need to dig it all out again, not another Minworth I trust.

According to the local TV last night, seems work on actually fixing the breach has started.

 

About time.

 

 Its only 5  months since it occurred.   

 

That's 5 months of good weather wasted on pointless wildlife searches, filming badgers which need to be culled anyway, watching birds feed their young and holding out the begging bowl without any real result.

 

No rush then to get the canal open for which Christmas?

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  • 2 weeks later...

There is much fencing, roadway, 2 dams, pipes and pumps, a ramp into the canal, warning notices and barriers on the tow path, but damn all work on the actual breach on either side of the hole.

We are now five and a half months since this occured and still no nearer to actually having a canal back.

 

And now they will down tools totally for 2 days while they show off their vanity project access and wildlife efforts to all and sundry who want to see their inadequacies.

 

I despair.

Edited by Boater Sam
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6 minutes ago, Boater Sam said:

There is much fencing, roadway, 2 dams, pipes and pumps, a ramp into the canal, warning notices and barriers on the tow path, but damn all work on the actual breach on either side of the hole.

We are now five and a half months since this occured and still no nearer to actually having a canal back.

 

And now they will down tools totally for 2 days while they show off their vanity project access and wildlife efforts to all and sundry who want to see their inadequacies.

 

I despair.

Not forgetting the £1000 a week they are paying for access.  Do the job in x weeks less and you pay x times £1000 less for access.

 

George

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Peter X are you here to see? If not, believe just how much money and time has been wasted here so far. We have a civil engineer close by who reckons a week or so sheet piling al a Shebden embankment and the job could be finished, sod the fish ( all gone with the water) the badgers ( probably the cause of the problem and to be culled anyway), and the birds who would not be bothered. As for the heritage, what is more important, a museum or a working canal?

Meantime the hire fleets are struggling to find routes their customers can use, & we are sitting in a dead end 2.6 miles from a winding hole.

Edited by Boater Sam
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  • 2 weeks later...

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