Boaters' Update 28 February 2014
Finally, the skies have started to clear, the wind’s eased and the sun has made the odd cameo appearance over the past week. We’re far from out of the woods yet; we’re still getting a lot of rain on the parts of the system that are already saturated, and the impact of the weather is slowly revealing itself as the water starts to recede.
On the upside, the vast majority of the canal system has shown it resilience yet again, coming through relatively unscathed. Among other things, you’ll find a full update in this edition:
- Last week, this week - what’s happening on or by the cut?
- An update on the flooding impact
- Judicial Review of ‘Guidance for Boaters without a home mooring’ abandoned.
- Waterways Craft Guild – learn from the best
- TV’s Penny Smith backs volunteer lock keepers
- Coastal cruising
- Round up of other news
If you’d like to have your say in a future edition of Boaters’ Update, or there’s a topic you want to see covered, then drop me a line and I’ll try to oblige!
Happy boating,
Damian
Last week, this week
Over the last week or so you may have heard that:
- 21 Feb - World War One medal found at the bottom of South Yorkshire canal – can you help reunite it with its owner?
- 21 Feb – More information published about how local Towpath Taskforces are likely to help with specific ‘Flood Clear Up’ days.
- 25 Feb - £220,000 pound project to improve stretch of Llangollen Canal towpath announced.
- 26 Feb – Due to popular demand, Richard Parry held two open boater’s meetings in Banbury (the next ones are in Leeds on March 13 and Gloucester on March 22).
In the coming week or so you might like to know that:
- 01 & 02 Mar – Fancy a small day out? Then you could visit the Model Boat Show at the National Waterways Museum, Ellesmere Port.
- 02 Mar - Glasson Bird Courtship Talk - Join Trust representatives and Russ Hedley from Nature Talks and Walks to explore the fascinating world of bird courtship.
- 04 Mar – IWA Lichfield branch is hosting a walk along the Coventry Canal.
- Every day – Just to prove that a little bit of rain can’t keep a good boat moored up; take a boat trip on the Regent’s Canal.
Repair of the nation’s canals continues following launch of National Flood Appeal
As water levels begin to recede, we're preparing to get the nation’s canal network repaired and fully open. Hundreds of trees have already been cleared and engineers are beginning to assess the cost of damage to towpaths, bridges and embankments, mostly in parts of the South and South West. Across large parts of the country the remarkable resilience of the two centuries old canal system has again been proven and it remains open for people to use.
In a few places the damage is severe – the slippage on the Mon & Brec, at Llanfoist, is expected to take at least nine weeks and about £1million to fix. For a detailed update on all of the repairs and impacts, check out the dedicated webpage.
After widespread media coverage of flooding and rain, some prospective boating holidaymakers might think that canals and rivers are off-limits this year. Please help us to put them straight – the vast majority of the network is open for business, and the rest of it is being fixed up as soon as we can!
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Judicial Review of ‘Guidance for Boaters without a home mooring’ abandoned.
Those of you active on social media may have already seen news of the abandonment of a Judicial Review (JR) brought by Nick Brown of the National Bargee Travellers Association.
At the end of the first morning of the two day hearing at the High Court, after comments from Mr Justice Lewis in respect of the case put forward by Martin Westgate QC (representing Mr Brown), Mr Brown applied to discontinue his claim for judicial review, thus bringing to an end a process that Mr Brown has been conducting for years.
To clear up any confusion, we’ve now issued a brief Q&A document that covers off the key points. To confirm, the Guidance remains firmly in place for boaters without a home mooring.
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Waterways Craft Guild – learn from the experts
We’ve all admired them - beautifully decorated boats with traditional signwriting, fenders and Rose & Castle painted pots. That’s just the outside. Venturing inside you’re likely to find crocheted blankets, rag rugs and intricate lacework.
The exact roots of these ‘canal crafts’ isn’t clear but printed references go back over 150 years. A quick search of the internet, for canalware, shows that some boaters are keeping the skills alive.
If you’ve been to any of the main boat shows over the last few years you’re likely to have come across someone from the Waterways Craft Guild (WCG) demonstrating one or another waterway associated craft. While, yes, they actually do this for fun, the Guild’s aim is to encourage, set and maintain high standards of knowledge and practice in the traditional skills of those who lived and worked on and around the waterways in the days of commercial carrying.
Of course, all those currently practicing these arts had to start somewhere. Throughout the year, and in a variety of locations, you can find your place to start at one of the WCG’s courses. From boat fender making through to the more delicate cabin crochet, you’re likely to find something of interest!
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Penny Smith supports volunteer lock keepers
Last year 380 volunteers, quite a few of them boaters, took up the important role of volunteer lock keeper to help keep canals flowing over the busy summer months. This year several new sites have been selected around the country and, with the help of TV’s Penny Smith, we’re calling for more volunteers to get involved.
As a boater you probably enjoy spending time outdoors and meeting new people as you cruise around, making you an ideal candidate! You might already know that the roles cover the main boating and visitor season from March to October and each volunteer commits to one or two days a week. Even if you always leave the locks to someone else, don’t worry, no previous experience is needed as full training is given and each volunteer wears a Trust uniform to identify them to visitors and other boaters.
Sounds interesting? If so, read the full press release.
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Coastal cruising – well worth the training
After the last Boaters’ Update we were pleased to receive a suggestion, by email, from a boater who ventures into coastal waters. In particular, he recounted the pleasure, and urged caution, when going down the River Severn, on to the Avon and, finally, the Kennet & Avon (K&A) Canal at Bath:
‘I’m surprised at how many canal boats do this trip so, before starting, I want to point out two things. Firstly, it’s foolish to take on any coastal trip without first obtaining training, in things such as navigation, from the Royal Yacht Association, or similar.
The second important point is to do your local research. Before embarking on this trip make sure you contact Bristol Port. It’s a fast flowing channel with some massive freighters moving cargo into the Deep Sea Container Terminal. That said, if you’ve done your homework and taken advice from the authorities, it’s hugely rewarding.
Once you’re on to the Avon the 10.5km voyage to Cumberland Basin entrance into Bristol’s Floating Harbour is really very interesting. I think the icing on the cake is passing through the Avon gorge and under Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s suspension bridge.
When you’re still upstream from the floating harbour, you make contact with Bristol’s Marine Services (harbourmaster). You’ll be directed into the lock by VHF and port operators will be waiting to take your lines and give you a warm welcome.
There’s a lot to see and do in vibrant Bristol and, just a relatively short cruise down the Avon and you reach Bath, with an entirely different feel. Here you can then join the western end of the tranquil K&A – cruising east for around 110km before hitting the next major urban area in Newbury. Any skipper that has done this trip will feel a great sense of achievement.....good luck and fair winds.
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Bits and bobs
- Next time you’re out cruising, or even just on the towpath, take a look around. Most of those appreciating the usually calm splendour that is the ‘waterways experience’ are, to put it diplomatically, closer to their Golden Years than their early ones. To encourage a whole new, younger, generation of boaters, volunteers and supporters, the Trust has appointed 19 year old Chloe Donovan as the first chair of the Youth Engagement Advisory Group.
- To finish this edition we end with a gentle reminder about setting up your email preferences. As many know, to access useful tools such as the stoppage notification system you need to have created a MyTrust account. Once signed in you can also let us know what, if anything, you’d like to hear from us about. Simply go to the communications tab, scroll down and check the relevant boxes!
The end,
Damian
