|
Hello and welcome to the newsletter, which this month is the bearer of bad news, although you're probably already aware of it if you've looked outside a window in the last month or two.
It's the weather, which has resulted in a genuine crisis on the canals and rivers across the UK, water levels being so low that reservoirs are practically empty, rivers are turning into little more than streams, and canals are on lockdown to limit water losses.
Unusually then, it is rain (and lots of it) that everyone is begging for, with showers in recent days being nowhere near enough to restore supplies.
Until we get more of the damp stuff falling from the skies, canal travels remain limited with some hire firms stopping operations entirely.
The Met Office say it's almost certainly going to be the warmest summer on record and whilst that's great for ice cream vendors, it's prompted the catastrophy for the canals.
Cheers
David |
| |
|
News from the canal world.
*** Press releases or other news snippets can be sent to me at newsletter@cruisingthecut.co.uk ***
Lockdown
On August 14th, the Canal & River Trust sent an email to all registered boaters announcing a "nationally significant incident", namely that the prolonged drought has lead to such low water levels that extreme action was to be taken.
That action has meant the entire closure - 24/7 - of many lock flights since August 26th, resulting in boaters unable to cruise and some hire firms unable to trade effectively.
Whilst stretches of the canal are still navigable in themselves, closures at places such as Hillmorton (the busiest lock flight in the country) have locked off sections of the canal from each other.
Boaters who live aboard were advised in advance to move to locations with water and waste facilities, and that the usual rule to move on after 14 days would be waived until such time as the restrictions are lifted.
Even river-fed canals have been impacted as the water levels dropped. The CRT advises that the Ashton, Caldon, Grand Union Leicester Line, Grand Union, Leeds & Liverpool, Macclesfield, Peak Forest, Rochdale, South Oxford and the Trent & Mersey are badly hit by low reservoir levels.
There's a dedicated drought web page on the CRT website, at https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/news-and-views/news/drought-conditions-navigation-update which also links to the CRT's Stoppages page from which you can see a map of the closures by selecting "Low Water Levels" as the closure reason, then clicking "Map View".
At the time of writing, it looks like this:
Open Sesame
Given the drought and resulting shutdown of the network, there is a wry irony in the announcement by the CRT of the re-opening of Tardebigge top lock this week.
The lock had to be closed entirely for a rebuild some months ago after it was found the brickwork of the lock walls was caving in and liable to collapse.
The stoppage affected a major boating route (Tardebigge flight being one of the key routes into Birmingham from the south west) but its re-opening is now largely an irrelevance in the light of the subsequent drought.
See https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c620926y4lro
Growing Season
Elsewhere around the canals, the Aquavista group has announced it's bought three more marinas, bringing their total to a whopping 32.
The additions are Fettlers Wharf Marina near Ormskirk and Furness Vale Marina and Marple Marina near Stockport.
Long-term moorers with Aquavista can stop for free at any marina in the group for up to 100 days a year, so the expansion means they have a greater choice of secure overnight stays while travelling.
https://www.aquavista.com/
And finally
Results of the CRT's annual "boat count" have been published and numbers are up in terms of boats overall and unlicensed boats.
Alarmingly for the Trust, evasion now stands at a fraction under 10% through a total boat population of 33,080 across the network.
Continuous cruisers are up by 12% to 8,519 but boats with moorings went down by 2% to 23,889.
For the first time since 2018, licence evasion in London is down, albeit to 15.5% from 17.9%.
In the last financial year, 101 boats were removed from the waterways for not paying their dues, after extensive legal process.
The CRT insists boaters must pay as the money contributes towards lock repairs, providing boater facilities, and maintaining canals for navigation.
(Editors note: no doubt many boaters will be scoffing at much of that justification, given the state of the network in recent years!)
See https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/news-and-views/news/national-boat-count-2025 |
| |
|
My recent videos
In the last newsletter, I promised you I was going to get back to repairing Twiggy and so I have delivered, with my latest video showing me back at the boatyard, using a thickened fibreglass resin to glue the top and bottom halves of the boat back together. More DIY will follow soon!
As well as that, the continuing voyage of narrowboat Gentian to the Midlands continues to be documented, most recently the weekend trip from Beeston marina to Mercia marina (vlog 376, parts A and B)
Click the links below to watch.
|
| |
|
Book your perfect canal boat holiday! |
| |
|
What am I up to?
With no water left on the canals - see 'news', above - I haven't felt much need to go boating lately, as well as being pressed for time as usual. That has, however, given me opportunity to return to the Stourport boatyard where my fibreglass cruiser Twiggy remains!
I have already published one new video about the ongoing restoration (see above) and have filmed another where - gasp - I actually measured and cut the plywood for the new transom core!
This is edited but not yet transmitted. I'm toying with whether to put this out next or continue with the Gentian videos and intersperse them with Twiggy once a month or so.
Unfortunately but unsurprisingly, despite making a template, the wood didn't fit (of course!) so it now needs some light fettling to make it slot into place. This will be filmed, and I am still optimistic that I will have fibreglassed over the back of the boat before this year is out! |
| |
|
Events for your diary
September 12th (evening) - 14th
At Bumble Hole Nature Reserve,
It's the annual Black Country Boating Festival, featuring boat stalls, craft stalls, a funfair, boat trips, live music, and a dog show.
See https://bcbf.com/
20-21 September
Huddlestone Junction, Lichfield WS13 8PX
Held by the Lichfield & Hatherton Canal Restoration Trust, the Huddlesford Heritage Gathering is a popular biennial gathering of historic boats, floating traders, private boats and classic vehicles.
See https://heritagegathering.uk/ |
| |
|
Into the dusty archive...
Given the drought status of the waterways, there can only be one choice for my archive suggestion this month, and it's vlog 247, "The L'eaudown" in which I visited CRT reservoirs to find out how water gets distributed around the network.
Watch at https://cruisingthecut.co.uk/2021/09/01/vlog-247-the-leaudown/ |
| |
|
My YouTube top pick of the month
Travel, as you know, is expensive. So why not do it the cheapskate way, by watching YouTube videos! There are many channels devoted to every possible type of journeying, from rail trips to cruises to backpacking and so on.
As an occasional viewer of such entertainment, YouTube suggests various options to me and this month it was Bright Sun Travels.
Mostly covering luxury experiences (hotels, ships and so on) but with a critical eye, these are very enjoyable trips.
Watch at https://www.youtube.com/@BrightSunTravels |
| |
|
Final Thoughts
Dear reader, I have an awful confession to make and have been toying with whether to admit it or not. Good conscience dictates that I must but I feel so bad...
Ever since I began publishing this newsletter two years ago, I have encouraged feedback and responses by reply email. Yet I have been mildly puzzled by the lack of such replies.
Well ... it turns out that there have indeed been many replies but due to a misconfiguration of my server's email settings, I have not been seeing some of them.
(And that's the really odd bit because some of the emails did turn up, whilst others have been sitting in an unread mailbox)
I believe I have now rectified the situation such that any reply to this newsletter should definitely, 100%, certainly now drop onto my laptop.
I therefore beg your forgiveness if you have messaged the newsletter and not received a reply; you must think me so rude.
Please do not be put off, and should you have any response or contribution to submit, do try again.
With a heavy heart for my own foolishness, I bid you adieu once more.
David |
| |
|
