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K&A Closed Until Further Notice


Alan de Enfield

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From Date:
4th December 2018 at 08:00
To Date:
until further notice
Type:
Navigation Closure
Reason:
Repair
Notice updates:
06/12/2018 @ 10:20

Following the inspection it has been found that the bottom approach chamber wall support has collapsed.

Consequently the lock will remain closed until further notice.

Engineers are currently working on a method of repair.

An update will be issued on Friday 14th December

05/12/2018 @ 16:43

Following the inspection it has been found that the bottom approach chamber wall support has collapsed.

Consequently the lock will remain closed until further notice.

Engineers are currently working on a method of repair.

An update will be issued on Friday 14th December.

Description:

Lock 16 will be closed to boating traffic from 8am on Tuesday 4th December to 4pm on Thursday 6th December with the pound between Lock 15 and 16 being drained of water.

We are inspecting the lock before we carry out repairs to the chamber walls of Lock 16, which will be done as part of the winter stoppage planned to take place from 7th January 2019.

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Until we accidentally became Northerners we spent every winter on the K&A. I can't think of a single year when it was possible to navigate end to end throughout the winter so this stoppage is no big deal.

There was one year when a weir (belonging to Kate Bush who did not behave very well) collapsed and it was not possible to get off the K&A (via Reading) for most of the summer. That was a significant stoppage.

 

This "closed until further notice" always generates an overreaction. It is not saying "this is a disaster", it's just saying "we have not worked out a completion date yet".

I agree this one is an earlier than advertised closure which will disrupt some boaters quite seriously.

 

...............Dave

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This will come in jolly handy for any reluctant CCers up that end. Getting 'stuck' at stoppages is great reason not to move.

 

Getting 'stuck' behind stoppages actually strikes me as having enormous potential for raising to an 'art form', with some really clever advance planning. Being prevented from moving by CRT stoppages just sounds so reasonable. There is an extreme opportunity at Great Bedwyn shortly. Two locks 1/4 mile apart being closed simultaneously for two months shortly.

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9 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

This will come in jolly handy for any reluctant CCers up that end. Getting 'stuck' at stoppages is great reason not to move.

 

Getting 'stuck' behind stoppages actually strikes me as having enormous potential for raising to an 'art form', with some really clever advance planning. Being prevented from moving by CRT stoppages just sounds so reasonable. There is an extreme opportunity at Great Bedwyn shortly. Two locks 1/4 mile apart being closed simultaneously for two months shortly.

If a boat zig-zags back and forth 80 times it will have travelled 20 miles,if my mental arithmetic is correct.

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9 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

This will come in jolly handy for any reluctant CCers up that end. Getting 'stuck' at stoppages is great reason not to move.

 

Getting 'stuck' behind stoppages actually strikes me as having enormous potential for raising to an 'art form', with some really clever advance planning. Being prevented from moving by CRT stoppages just sounds so reasonable. There is an extreme opportunity at Great Bedwyn shortly. Two locks 1/4 mile apart being closed simultaneously for two months shortly.

Although you might want to think twice about mooring next to where the big crane will be coming alongside the canal ...

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When they did Hungerford Lock a few years ago a boat moored on the prime offside spot just before the work started. The work got delayed and delayed due to bad weather but he stuck it out (looking a bit uncomfortable) for months till the work actually started....then he relaxed a bit and waited for it to get finished  (and then waited 14 days more).

 

..............Dave

 

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7 hours ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

I might have known if anyone would misunderstand the requirements it would be you!!

Not at all - if you're stuck between two closed locks you can't travel beyond them.  Getting stuck between two of the locks on the Caen Hill flight would be even better: "But officer, I've travelled 55 yards today, that's as far as I could go".

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Not something I’d want to do , but if on a genuine long term cruise I don’t see what the problem is mooring up before a stoppage until such time as the stoppage is lifted and you can continue in a journey. We now seem to be in danger of a restricted summer cruising season. Often it would be better for some of these planned stoppages to be carried out in the summer , longer hours, better use of labour and materials, preventative maintenance before it breaks blah blah

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15 minutes ago, Tuscan said:

Not something I’d want to do , but if on a genuine long term cruise I don’t see what the problem is mooring up before a stoppage until such time as the stoppage is lifted and you can continue in a journey.

It's not a convincing excuse when CRT publish planned stoppages months in advance.  If it is an emergency stoppage then there may be an argument for it within a reasonable time, perhaps up to three weeks.

 

Hanging around Middlewich since the breach waiting for it to reopen would be taking the mickey in my book. It was immediately obvious that was going to be months pf a job, so move on somewhere else. 

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27 minutes ago, TheBiscuits said:

It's not a convincing excuse when CRT publish planned stoppages months in advance.  If it is an emergency stoppage then there may be an argument for it within a reasonable time, perhaps up to three weeks.

 

Hanging around Middlewich since the breach waiting for it to reopen would be taking the mickey in my book. It was immediately obvious that was going to be months pf a job, so move on somewhere else. 

You tell that to the two lads on their way to Bath from Whilton with their new boat last week, they reckoned they would be there in 2 and a half weeks. ☺

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4 minutes ago, matty40s said:

You tell that to the two lads on their way to Bath from Whilton with their new boat last week, they reckoned they would be there in 2 and a half weeks. ☺

Are Tuckey's busy until just after Christmas then? :D

 

I suppose if you had just bought a boat you probably wouldn't have been looking at winter stoppage notices in July.

 

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On ‎07‎/‎12‎/‎2018 at 22:27, dmr said:

This "closed until further notice" always generates an overreaction. It is not saying "this is a disaster", it's just saying "we have not worked out a completion date yet".

I agree this one is an earlier than advertised closure which will disrupt some boaters quite seriously.

I guess the seriousness of this stoppage is that it is unplanned.

The planned stoppage (in Jan) was for 'routine maintenance' but the 'emergency stoppage' is because the chamber wall has collapsed.

If it is anything like when the Chamber wall had problems at Holme lock on the Trent or, Marple locks, (both of which went on and on and on for 6 months) as more and more remedial work was found to be needed, it could be a 'long job'.

Edited by Alan de Enfield
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I have not been and looked, but I do not think the stoppage says the main chamber of the lock has collapsed.  It talks of the "bottom approach chamber wall support" which I interpret as CRT speak for the bottom of one or other of the lower wing walls below the gate. If so something similar happened at Napton a couple of years back.

Fortunately this time CRT had actually had noticed that the lock was in need of repair because the original non-emergency stoppage was to assess what needed doing in the coming planned stoppage. However, judging by other lock collapses, even with the logistics of a repair stoppage pre-planned we have to be looking at  8 weeks from early January before there is any hope of repair being complete.

N

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On 07/12/2018 at 23:08, Mike the Boilerman said:

This will come in jolly handy for any reluctant CCers up that end. Getting 'stuck' at stoppages is great reason not to move.

 

Getting 'stuck' behind stoppages actually strikes me as having enormous potential for raising to an 'art form', with some really clever advance planning. Being prevented from moving by CRT stoppages just sounds so reasonable. There is an extreme opportunity at Great Bedwyn shortly. Two locks 1/4 mile apart being closed simultaneously for two months shortly.

Small query, if they are closing two locks 1/4 mile apart, is there going to be any water in the pound between them?  If not, who wants to sit in a boat at a 30 degree angle for the winter?:unsure:

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17 minutes ago, Wanderer Vagabond said:

Small query, if they are closing two locks 1/4 mile apart, is there going to be any water in the pound between them?  If not, who wants to sit in a boat at a 30 degree angle for the winter?:unsure:

 

Probably. Most of the K&A locks have bywashes and certainly these two have. 

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On 09/12/2018 at 12:01, Johny London said:

I'm planning on going through the Caen hill flight before the closure on the 7th Jan. Was going to ask if anyone on here is going through (say between 3-6th). Looks like I'll get stuck betweeen locks 22 and 16 but I'm Bristol bound so certainly not turning back! 

Why bother going down the Caen Hill flight, there are not many shops near this stretch of canal, Just stay on the long pound above Devizes.

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30 minutes ago, Johny London said:

If that is an attempt at sarcasm, I don't appreciate it. I had panned my cruising some time ago, taking into account the planned winter closures.

I am not sure why you construe that F Drake's comments are sarcastic, I thought he was offering sensible advice. Barretts lock is on the outskirts of Semington, which has a good pub, but not much else, I am not sure that it even has a provisions shop any more. The nearest shops are about three miles away in Melksham, Ok if you have a bike, but a long walk along a very busy Main road.. If you stay above Caen Hill, the canal runs through the centre of the Devizes where there is a good choice of all sorts of shops and ameneties, plus a small Chandlery near the town wharf and a Marina for boating requirements.

 

 

Edited by David Schweizer
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3 hours ago, Johny London said:

If that is an attempt at sarcasm, I don't appreciate it. I had panned my cruising some time ago, taking into account the planned winter closures.

Aren't you being somewhat paranoid?

There was nothing sarcastic in that post.  He was just pointing out that if you were to get stuck anyway, you would be better off stopping before entering the flight, rather than half way down with no facilities.

I would think an apology is due.

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11 hours ago, Johny London said:

If that is an attempt at sarcasm, I don't appreciate it. I had panned my cruising some time ago, taking into account the planned winter closures.

I think a comment of one of my sailing friends is possibly apposite here, he always tells me,"We do destinations, we don't do timetables" and that applies to boating on inland waterways just as much as offshore sailing. Whatever plans you may wish to make have to factor in just these sorts of eventualities and can include trees down, damaged locks, canal breaches,cars in the canal (not an exhaustive list!)

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