canalboat.co.uk Canal Boat November 2017 25O
n the frontier of the
lawless land they
call the internet,
there are – if you
care to look for them – any
amount of enraged bloggers
evangelising about places
where you should never
NEVER moor under any
circumstances.
Places where, if you were
to even think about stopping
overnight, bands of itinerant
druggies and vicious
delinquents would descend
on you, looting your boat and
murdering your crew. There’s
even an internet magazine that
specialises in this sort of
exaggeration. It has a columnist
who in every piece he writes
never fails to mention ‘bandits’
and ‘bandit territories’.
God help us all. If the early
canal pioneers had been as
delicate as these snowflakes
there’d never have never been
a waterways system for us
to navigate.
Kids have always been
attracted to canals. I was. And
when they get there, they’ve
always got up to mischief. I did.
But kids have to go somewhere
and it’s no use treating them
like nascent criminals because
they dress differently and think
the Beatles are boring.
In the same way – though
obviously there’s no excuse for
it – we can’t be surprised at
low-lifes getting increasingly
interested in our boats when
we persist in stuffing them
with smartphones, TVs and
expensive music systems
and then taking them throughsome of the poorest parts of
the country.
But identifying an area as
‘bandit country’ doesn’t help:
it merely ensures we abandon
the towpaths to the oiks so
places become even more
dangerous and unattractive.
What we should do, of
course, if we hear of trouble
along any stretch of canal is go
there in numbers in order to
reclaim it for ourselves.
But what justifies writing off
a canal under any
circumstances? A bit of
banging on the top of the boat
at night? An outbreak of
stonethrowing? Intimidating
behaviour at a lock? I’m not
underestimating how
distressing experiences of this
sort can be – I’ve suffered them
all myself – and a good deal
more besides.
Yet by these criteria I should
think there’s not a stretch of
canal anywhere in the country
that at some time in its history
hasn’t had a problem of some
sort. Denouncing a canal asdangerous and unsafe based
on what are often apocryphal
incidents just isn’t helpful,
and in more than ten years
of writing a column for this
magazine, I’ve never been
drawn to do it.
Until now, that is.
My reasoning, sadly, is that
it’s no use burying your head in
the sand. Sometimes the risks
of encountering trouble along
certain stretches are too great
to risk the journey. And – more
importantly – sometimes it’s
only by acknowledging a
problem that we can get that
problem solved.
This, I’m afraid, is the
trouble with the Rochdale
Canal. Along its Yorkshire
section is has to be one of the
most beautiful stretches of
waterway in the country; the
summit is attractively rugged,
and a must-see for anyone who
loves the landscape of the
canals. More to the point,
it’s very safe.
However, as it falls towards
Manchester on the Lancashire
side, the Rochdale has always
been problematic, whether it
be farmers showing their
opposition to a canal bordering
their land by sawing off lock
balance beams, or kids runningriot on motorbikes. Regrettably,
word has now got around among
boaters. The Rochdale has got a
reputation and many wouldn’t
even consider cruising it.
The latest incident in which
a sizeable gang of youths in
balaclavas ambushed a couple
of boats and, in an organised
attack, terrorised those on
board can only make matters
worse.
A lot of money has been
spent restoring this waterway
and much energy and effort
has been put into it by
passionate professionals and
volunteers alike. It makes me
weep to see this fine canal
increasingly underused; and
an incident like this –
happening at just the time
people are planning their 2018
cruises – has proved the straw
that broke the camel’s back as
far as I’m concerned.
When the Rochdale Canal
first opened, British Waterways
(as it was then) arranged what
was called an ‘assisted passage’
for part of the trip down to the
canal into Central Manchester.
You met security guards at an
allotted rendezvous and they
rode shotgun for you. Alas,
even the rendezvous for those
trips has now become a no-go
area for boats.
The system has to be
reinstated and improved, and
this must be organised over the
winter in time for next year’s
summer cruising season. This
latest horrendous incident calls
for greater co-ordination
between the Canal & River
Trust and local police. Even so,
C&RT can’t offload its
responsibilities. It has a duty,
not just for the safety of
individual boaters, but for the
future of the canal itself.
Follow me on Twitter @CutdreamerReclaim the Rochdale from the thugs
STEVE HAYWOOD
Award-winning current affairs TV producer, journalist and author who has been a boat owner for nearly 40 yearsCB‘Regrettably, word has now got around.
The Rochdale has got a reputation and
many wouldn’t even consider cruising it’