Fenny Stratford

[Parahandy]

I dont know if its been mentioned before but it was good to see the Improvements to the Towpath when I came through Fenny Stratford last week , a proper path has been laid with Tarmac and proper Concrete Edging and its a vast improvement on what was there before , there was even space to moor .? I dont know if the Local IWA had any input or it was simply CRT but in the Present Climate with all the Maintenance Issues we face as Boaters it was good to see a job well done . I wonder about the future of the Permanent Moorings on the offside , these Moorings are adjacent to Travis Perkins Yard and the Company is due to relocate in August with the Yard apparently scheduled for Housing Development , there was only the Former Mooring Warden Alan still in situ when I came through , though some could be out cruising I certainly know of two former Moorers who have relocated . Further round the corner through the Lock I notice some more Canal Side Housing constructed with new Armco alongside allowing easy mooring , long overdue as the Canal Edge was always pretty poor there and again totally empty of Boats . Gentrification is coming to Fenny Stratford and not before time but will it take those Permanent Mooring with it , time will tell ? 

Edited April 23, 2018 by Parahandy

[Mike Tee]

I’m sure that I saw those moorings by Travis Perkins being advertised as residential moorings - but I can’t remember where!

[Sea Dog]

1 hour ago, Parahandy said:

...a proper path has been laid with Tarmac and proper Concrete Edging and its a vast improvement...

Can you still get a mooring pin in or does the cycle path and concrete edging now join and preclude this as I've seen elsewhere?  If so, it might be great for cyclists, but it's the opposite of a vast improvement for navigators.

[MoominPapa]

2 hours ago, Parahandy said:

I dont know if its been mentioned before but it was good to see the Improvements to the Towpath when I came through Fenny Stratford last week , a proper path has been laid with Tarmac and proper Concrete Edging and its a vast improvement on what was there before , there was even space to moor .? I dont know if the Local IWA had any input or it was simply CRT but in the Present Climate with all the Maintenance Issues we face as Boaters it was good to see a job well done . I wonder about the future of the Permanent Moorings on the offside , these Moorings are adjacent to Travis Perkins Yard and the Company is due to relocate in August with the Yard apparently scheduled for Housing Development , there was only the Former Mooring Warden Alan still in situ when I came through , though some could be out cruising I certainly know of two former Moorers who have relocated . Further round the corner through the Lock I notice some more Canal Side Housing constructed with new Armco alongside allowing easy mooring , long overdue as the Canal Edge was always pretty poor there and again totally empty of Boats . Gentrification is coming to Fenny Stratford and not before time but will it take those Permanent Mooring with it , time will tell ? 

This was all happening when we were there a month or so ago.  The new tarmac ends halfway down, and it's still muddy opposite the end-of-gardens nearest the bridge. The orange army doing the work didn't know for sure, but thought it was part of the development of the builders merchant site and that was paying. Whoever it was, certainly wasn't paying to go any further.

 

MP.

 

1 hour ago, Sea Dog said:

Can you still get a mooring pin in or does the cycle path and concrete edging now join and preclude this as I've seen elsewhere?  If so, it might be great for cyclists, but it's the opposite of a vast improvement for navigators.

I think you can still get pins in, but it's Armco all the way down there, so why would you bother?

 

MP.

[Parahandy]

3 hours ago, Sea Dog said:

Can you still get a mooring pin in or does the cycle path and concrete edging now join and preclude this as I've seen elsewhere?  If so, it might be great for cyclists, but it's the opposite of a vast improvement for navigators.

Yes you can still get a Mooring Pin in Sea Dog as the Tarmac Path runs down the centre of the Towpath , I shall check how far it runs MP though I have a feeling it now runs the full length .

[MtB]

5 hours ago, MoominPapa said:

 

I think you can still get pins in, but it's Armco all the way down there, so why would you bother?

 

 

There seems to be a trend when piling the banks to leave off the horizontal armco rail. I hope this does not continue. 

[mrsmelly]

55 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

There seems to be a trend when piling the banks to leave off the horizontal armco rail. I hope this does not continue. 

It probably will continue as it makes it easier for boaters to take up prime angling spots.

[Sea Dog]

9 hours ago, MoominPapa said:

I think you can still get pins in, but it's Armco all the way down there, so why would you bother?

For example, there's a stretch of the T&M just after Stratford Jn that has a plain concrete edge with a Tarmac towpath right up to it - effectively a "no stopping zone" for quite a distance.  I was worried about a proliferation of that.

7 hours ago, Parahandy said:

Yes you can still get a Mooring Pin in Sea Dog as the Tarmac Path runs down the centre of the Towpath , I shall check how far it runs MP though I have a feeling it now runs the full length .

Thanks PH.

[Suzi]

It might just be me, but I never had a problem mooring at fenny and it breaks my heart that more houses are going up impinging in our privacy from bricks and mortar.....I came out here to get away from all that nit have it shoved right in my face grrrrr.....also hate the fact they've laid tarmac.....it's wild and natural out here and that's how it should be.....it's not a city centre or the M1.....maybe it's just me but it saddens my heart .....

There's been a spate of boat robberies over the last week or so.... completely emptying boats and trashing some personal effects.....on the grand union

I just want a peaceful life surrounded by the natural world..... 

[sirweste]

58 minutes ago, Suzi said:

It might just be me, but I never had a problem mooring at fenny and it breaks my heart that more houses are going up impinging in our privacy from bricks and mortar.....I came out here to get away from all that nit have it shoved right in my face grrrrr.....also hate the fact they've laid tarmac.....it's wild and natural out here and that's how it should be.....it's not a city centre or the M1.....maybe it's just me but it saddens my heart .....

There's been a spate of boat robberies over the last week or so.... completely emptying boats and trashing some personal effects.....on the grand union

I just want a peaceful life surrounded by the natural world..... 

Wild and natural....you're pretty much in MK. The towpath there was a complete state, pleased it's got sorted. 

 

If you want wild and natural I'd suggest moving out of the city boundaries!

[Suzi]

4 hours ago, sirweste said:

Wild and natural....you're pretty much in MK. The towpath there was a complete state, pleased it's got sorted. 

 

If you want wild and natural I'd suggest moving out of the city boundaries!

I'm pleased to say I'm no where near MK, though there are some beautiful places at intervals all the way to Hemel Hempstead.....I'm actually closer to Fenny!!  So I thank you kindly for suggesting I move out of a city boundary but I never have and never plan to be in any city boundary.....each to their own but I'm not sure why you assume I would be in Milton Keynes.... although the actual canal has beautiful parks all along it down there and the 48hr visitor mooring right next to Great Linford park is fab if you love medieval history etc

Edited December 17, 2019 by Suzi

[sirweste]

I assumed you were in Fenny as you posted in a thread specifically about it and said 'I came out here to get away from all that'; in regards to houses being put up.

You also said that you don't like they've laid tarmac, saying it's 'wild and natural out here and that's how it should be...it's not a city centre', again in a Fenny thread.

 

It definitely sounded like you were in Fenny! 

 

I agree with you that tarmac would be an eyesore if it were laid out South of Leighton Buzzard in the countryside. But we're talking about Bletchley, it's pretty urban

 

[Suzi]

1 hour ago, sirweste said:

I assumed you were in Fenny as you posted in a thread specifically about it and said 'I came out here to get away from all that'; in regards to houses being put up.

You also said that you don't like they've laid tarmac, saying it's 'wild and natural out here and that's how it should be...it's not a city centre', again in a Fenny thread.

 

It definitely sounded like you were in Fenny! 

 

I agree with you that tarmac would be an eyesore if it were laid out South of Leighton Buzzard in the countryside. But we're talking about Bletchley, it's pretty urban

 

Hahahaha the biggest whoops from me......I am talking about Fenny Compton down the Oxford !!!!!! ???????

 I do indeed know Fenny Stratford though ..... apologies for wrong thread!!!

 

 ????✨?

Edited December 17, 2019 by Suzi
Numpty....?

[sirweste]

Haha! That makes more sense! Yes I agree with you 100% then!

Tarmac and new builds in FS fine sure, no bother. Tarmac and new builds in FC...that would be pants!

[zenataomm]

On 23/04/2018 at 19:09, Sea Dog said:

there's a stretch of the T&M just after Stratford Jn

Well, if we're going to start making this up as we go along, then ....

The basin aqueduct just past The Anderton Boat Tunnel on The Staffs & Union is the same.

[Suzi]

1 hour ago, sirweste said:

Haha! That makes more sense! Yes I agree with you 100% then!

Tarmac and new builds in FS fine sure, no bother. Tarmac and new builds in FC...that would be pants!

Yes and I've only been FS this year so nothing to compare with must admit !....but I did moor Infront of the new houses and I'm sure it's a beautiful setting fir them but I personally don't like it at all.....I saw the same up towards Fradley junction last year, big housing estate being built canal side and also near Hillmorton and near ? Braunston tunnel?....  ?? Me no likey....

[MtB]

16 hours ago, Suzi said:

Hahahaha the biggest whoops from me......I am talking about Fenny Compton down the Oxford !!!!!! ???????

 I do indeed know Fenny Stratford though ..... apologies for wrong thread!!!

 

 ????✨?

 

Ah but at least in Fenny Compton we are not infested with monster great widebeams... thank heaven for small mercies!!

 

 

[Suzi]

4 hours ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

Ah but at least in Fenny Compton we are not infested with monster great widebeams... thank heaven for small mercies!!

 

 

Ohhh lordy I know!! My first time down to Hemel area and I couldn't believe the amount of "fat" boats, near enough every other boat and some vessels looked like they took a wrong turn at Portsmouth ???... I know it's each to their own....but....

 

So glad to be back to narrowboat country!!!

[matty40s]

21 hours ago, Suzi said:

....... big housing estate being built canal side and also near Hillmorton ......

That's not a new housing estate, it's a new town.!!!! 

[Suzi]

2 hours ago, matty40s said:

That's not a new housing estate, it's a new town.!!!! 

??? .....and they've even built a new road ain't they?! I've moored opposite there a fair few times and watched a resident kingfisher, kestrels and buzzards hunting those fields....?

 

Let's have done with it and concrete the whole surface of this planet.......who wants grass and wildlife..... weirdos....???....do we really need this many new houses?? Where are all the people buying them currently living? Has there been a mass alien invasion.....?????

Edited December 18, 2019 by Suzi
More gobledeegook added....

[system 4-50]

8 minutes ago, Suzi said:

Has there been a mass alien invasion.....?????

no, just a plague/epidemic of children.

[Mike Todd]

13 hours ago, Suzi said:

??? .....and they've even built a new road ain't they?! I've moored opposite there a fair few times and watched a resident kingfisher, kestrels and buzzards hunting those fields....?

 

Let's have done with it and concrete the whole surface of this planet.......who wants grass and wildlife..... weirdos....???....do we really need this many new houses?? Where are all the people buying them currently living? Has there been a mass alien invasion.....?????

If you look at the longer term government plans for housing requirements that local authorities are required to meet (and these go back well before Boris!) you might be surprised. Rural areas are having to work especially hard as the quantity of land needed almost certainly implies that a larger part of it will be agricultural or amenity at present and planning consents are hard fought, as are the enabling Neighbourhood Plans.

 

The background is the assessment that the supply of housing falls well short of demand, which continues to fuel substantial real terms price increases. Part of the 'problem' is that no-one body controls the whole equation. In particular, whilst the LAs have a role in allocating land they cannot (yet) compel developers to build on it - and so-call affordable and social proportions are hotly contested. It is hard to escape the conclusion (which others have drawn) that the developers (which are rapidly approaching semi monopolistic conditions) control the supply in order to drive demand and hence prices.

 

An where are people at present? Firstly there is an important distinction between houselessness and homelessness. There are significant numbers who are not where they would wish to be and whose living circumstances are not ideal. One theme: living with parents. A growing proportion of those aged just above college age now return to the parental home simply on the grounds of affordability. Arguably this is not only driving a significant underlying shift in overall attitudes but also contributing to the continuing rise in the age at which parents have their first child (whether single or shared parenting)

 

The site at Hillmorton (officially Houlton) was mostly once the Rugby Radio Station (remember the iconic masts as landmarks?) so the site is somewhat in the category of re-use rather than removing strictly rural landscape, even if the actual structures on the site did not cover a high percentage of the area. Looking at all the information in the public domain I do wonder if it is a social disaster waiting to happen: it is not properly a new town with self sufficient infrastructure and a broad base of non-home facilities. Some of the motivation in the early planning seems to be a desire to restore the fortunes of Rugby (rarely a runaway economic success - very mixed history) which had/has fallen on poor times. But unless a lot is done to ensure that employment grows proportionately in the local area, it will simply become a massive dormitory with all the attendant loss of a sense of community. Not all of the New Towns movement was an unqualified success but the last couple of decades are definitely a move in the wrong direction leading - arguably - to the rise f the 'squeezed middle' that has driven recent political trends. Once the promises are found to be unreal, and most folk end up in the same strata of society as they were, then there is a real danger of social dissatisfaction with unknown consequences. But then, politicians of all types and localities are not known for thinking beyond the immediate and looking at consequences.

[Suzi]

21 minutes ago, Mike Todd said:

If you look at the longer term government plans for housing requirements that local authorities are required to meet (and these go back well before Boris!) you might be surprised. Rural areas are having to work especially hard as the quantity of land needed almost certainly implies that a larger part of it will be agricultural or amenity at present and planning consents are hard fought, as are the enabling Neighbourhood Plans.

 

The background is the assessment that the supply of housing falls well short of demand, which continues to fuel substantial real terms price increases. Part of the 'problem' is that no-one body controls the whole equation. In particular, whilst the LAs have a role in allocating land they cannot (yet) compel developers to build on it - and so-call affordable and social proportions are hotly contested. It is hard to escape the conclusion (which others have drawn) that the developers (which are rapidly approaching semi monopolistic conditions) control the supply in order to drive demand and hence prices.

 

An where are people at present? Firstly there is an important distinction between houselessness and homelessness. There are significant numbers who are not where they would wish to be and whose living circumstances are not ideal. One theme: living with parents. A growing proportion of those aged just above college age now return to the parental home simply on the grounds of affordability. Arguably this is not only driving a significant underlying shift in overall attitudes but also contributing to the continuing rise in the age at which parents have their first child (whether single or shared parenting)

 

The site at Hillmorton (officially Houlton) was mostly once the Rugby Radio Station (remember the iconic masts as landmarks?) so the site is somewhat in the category of re-use rather than removing strictly rural landscape, even if the actual structures on the site did not cover a high percentage of the area. Looking at all the information in the public domain I do wonder if it is a social disaster waiting to happen: it is not properly a new town with self sufficient infrastructure and a broad base of non-home facilities. Some of the motivation in the early planning seems to be a desire to restore the fortunes of Rugby (rarely a runaway economic success - very mixed history) which had/has fallen on poor times. But unless a lot is done to ensure that employment grows proportionately in the local area, it will simply become a massive dormitory with all the attendant loss of a sense of community. Not all of the New Towns movement was an unqualified success but the last couple of decades are definitely a move in the wrong direction leading - arguably - to the rise f the 'squeezed middle' that has driven recent political trends. Once the promises are found to be unreal, and most folk end up in the same strata of society as they were, then there is a real danger of social dissatisfaction with unknown consequences. But then, politicians of all types and localities are not known for thinking beyond the immediate and looking at consequences.

And of course they'll all go down to the canal to alleviate their boredom.... hopefully to be inspired by nature and uplifted....rather than to "vent" frustrations.....

Oh and thanks for such an in depth reply....it has concerned me for some time now that the big corporations and "so called" people in power seemingly care for nothing but man made money and control of the masses....it's actually one of the saddest things about the human ego.......the sheer lack of care to share with nature.....

I bet certain ego controlled people genuinely want control over all living creatures and even the weather instead of living in harmony with the natural world,  or at least trying to.

 

I don't care if we wipe ourselves out, that's our fault... But to take other creatures with us and destroy is such a human "fault" and I wish more would awaken to that.....it's so much more complex than just the housing.... and like you say...it's knee jerk reaction with no forward thinking, no care for other equally important factors and like you say probably very much encouraged by house builders........

 

Hey ho.....I do what I can and thankfully others do too.....I'm building an arc and taking the creatures with me...off into the stars....?✨???

 

See what laying tarmac on the towpath awakens.......?!!!

[LadyG]

15 hours ago, Suzi said:

??? .....and they've even built a new road ain't they?! I've moored opposite there a fair few times and watched a resident kingfisher, kestrels and buzzards hunting those fields....?

 

Let's have done with it and concrete the whole surface of this planet.......who wants grass and wildlife..... weirdos....???....do we really need this many new houses?? Where are all the people buying them currently living? Has there been a mass alien invasion.....?????

It's a treadmill, a hamster wheel. I don't subscribe to population explosions, maybe folks like me should get paid £5K every year they don't replicate?

 

Edited December 19, 2019 by LadyG

[Mike Todd]

4 minutes ago, LadyG said:

It's a treadmill, a hamster wheel. I don't subscribe to population explosions, maybe folks like me should get paid £5K every year they don't replicate?

 

Of course governments have sought to affect population reproduction through tax and benefits for some considerable time, with varying degrees of success/failure. Different countries take different approaches to meet individual circumstances. What you suggest is a perfectly feasible political suggestion although I suspect it will not find widespread appeal! But it may yet come to that even if the Chinese experience (to limit the number of children) was not ultimately deemed a success. In some countries birth rates started to fall to levels below maintaining the population level, along with an ageing, and therefore less productive, society.

 

But there is also an issue over how far society should impose average economic parameters - if you have no children you still pay for education through taxes. You will pay for the emergency services even if you never use them. Older people pay less for health than younger people who are generally less frequent users. None of these are widely seen as injustices and often are considered to contribute to desired social goals.

 

One area that has been contentious over the past couple of decades is that of tertiary (college) education. In the 1960's is was considered a 'good thing' to ensure that the country had a better educated work force and therefore that at least 50% of each cohort should be enabled to go to university (or similar). In the 1990s (?) the view arose that a degree was mainly of benefit to the individual and therefore each person should pay the greater part of the cost. To some extent this was driven by a recognition that, arguably, we were producing too many graduates and not all ended up in jobs where a degree was necessary or relevant. There is some sign that this view is again reversing as international comparisons suggest that we have an educational deficit compared with better (economically) performing countries. What goes around, comes around!