canalboat.co.uk Canal Boat November 2017 9NEWS
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MARPLE LOCKS PROBLEMS
Marple Locks on the Peak Forest Canal
were affected by an emergency closure in
September as a result of subsidence of the
lockside and movement of the adjacent
lock chamber wall at Lock 15. As we went
to press investigations were still under way,
but it was anticipated that the flight would
be able to reopen before the end of
September, subject to a 6ft 10in width
restriction until repairs can be scheduled.CALDER BRIDGE REOPENS
The second of two bridges over the Calder
& Hebble Navigation which had to be
rebuilt after the Boxing Day floods of 2015
has been completed. Crowther Bridge, a
foot and cycle crossing near Brighouse,
has been rebuilt in concrete but faced with
local stone to resemble the old bridge.FEN ROUTE ‘NOT FIT’ – IWA
The Inland Waterways Association has
declared the Old Bedford River ‘not fit for
purpose’, after a second campaign cruise
this year was threatened by navigation
authority the Environment Agency. The EA
cited possible environmental damage from
boats cruising through decaying algae as a
reason for trying to put the trip off until
autumn, but IWA said that waiting four
months for a different part of the EA to
clear an obvious obstruction was “not in
anyone’s interest”. Meanwhile, IWA
continues to campaign for repair of
Welches Dam Lock at the far end of the
Old Bedford River, reopening a second
route across the Middle Level which has
been unusable since the EA blocked it in
2006, but says that discussions with the
Agency have had “little success”.GOING UNDERCOVER...
Police chasing a suspect in Kidsgrove had
to call in the fire brigade to help after he
jumped into the Trent & Mersey Canal and
tried to hide in Harecastle Tunnel. By the
time fire crews rescued him using a
dinghy, they also needed an ambulance to
take him to hospital with hypothermia. He
was later arrested on suspicion of burglary.THE FOURTH ANNUAL Festival of Water hit lucky with
the weather as a sunny bank holiday weekend brought
the crowds out for the Inland Waterways Association’s
event held this year at Ilkeston in Derbyshire.
The event succeeded in its aims of encouraging
local people to appreciate the Erewash Canal and
attracting boaters onto the underused waterway, with
15,000 visitors and over 100 boats including historic
former working craft on display.
Time will tell whether it achieves its third aim of
drawing attention to the importance of protecting the canal from the effects of the HS2 high-speed railway
and associated road works, which threaten to
overshadow the canal with obtrusive viaducts.
Attractions also included classic cars and buses,
the Waterway Recovery Group’s ‘drive a digger’
experience, canal society displays, craft stalls,
entertainments and a real ale bar. Next year the
Festival of Water heads east, to the Great Ouse and
a site at St Neots where it aims to highlight IWA
concerns about underfunding of the Environment
Agency’s waterways, and encourage more boaters
to enjoy the quiet Middle Level Navigations.THE LATEST DREDGING contract to get underway
on the Canal & River Trust’s network sees work in
progress on the Grand Union Canal in Buckinghamshire.
The £650,000 project will involve the Trust’s
dredging contractors Land & Water spot-clearing
various reported problem sites in the county, including
bridges and lock approaches, with the dredgedmaterial spread on canalside agricultural land.
CRT dredging manager Paul Fox said the Trust had
“known for a while that some boaters have had
problems due to the build-up of silt”.
The project is due to end around the end of October.
Next on the list for dredging between now and the
spring are the Leeds & Liverpool Rufford Branch,
Lancaster Canal, Coventry Canal, Montgomery Canal
and Ribble Link.It’s a Festival of sunshine for the IWA
Dredging crew Bucks up on the GU...
TWO COMPLAINTS AGAINST the
Canal & River Trust last year were
partly upheld by the Waterways
Ombudsman, and two more
ended up with CRT making
financial awards.
Details of these, and the rest
of the 17 unresolved complaints
put forward to Ombudsman
Andrew Walker, have been
published on the CRT website.
Of the two partially upheld, one
concerned a boat bought in need
of restoration, but whose licence
expired while the work was in
progress. The Boat Safety Schemecertificate had run out, CRT would
not re-licence the boat without
one (which could not be issued
until more work had been done)
and applied a late payment charge.
The boat owner said she had
been told that in the circumstances
it would be acceptable to renew
without a certificate – and CRT
had subsequently offered her a
goodwill payment. On the
Ombudsman’s instruction, CRT
increased its offer by £75.
The second case related to a
registered disabled continuous
cruiser, who said CRT had failedto agree within a reasonable
timescale to his request for
reasonable adjustments (under
the Equality Act) to the
requirement to move his boat
according to its guidelines.
He had gone to court to resolve
this, but withdrawn his action.
CRT denied that it had harassed
or victimised the boater and could
not see how it could be required
to compensate him. The
Ombudsman said CRT could have
acted more promptly and
helpfully, and should make a
goodwill award of £300.Ombudsman agrees over licence and cruising
EREWASH CANAL
GRAND UNION
100 boats turned up
Queuing-up at the stalls