Canal Boat — January 2018

(Jacob Rumans) #1
canalboat.co.uk Canal Boat January 2018 7

Going


underground...


The European Commission is
pressing ahead with plans to
prosecute the UK over what it
sees as the illegal use of ‘red’
diesel in leisure boats, despite
the Brexit vote which looks likely
to see such issues overtaken by
events in the medium term.
Since 2008, when the general
derogation allowing UK boaters
to run their engines on lower duty
red fuel, the UK has operated the
current system whereby boaters
self-declare (and pay higher duty
on) the proportion that they will
use for propulsion (as opposed
to heating and other uses). This
suited boaters and boatyards as

it avoided the need for separate
tanks and pumps for red and
‘white’ (road) diesel. But it didn’t
suit the EC, which said that
(irrespective of what duty had
been paid on it), red was not to
be used for propulsion in leisure
craft, and the UK system was
therefore illegal.
And now, despite the UK’s
decision to leave the EU (which
would put it beyond such rules),
the Inland Waterways Association
has highlighted renewed concerns
for boat owners and boatyard
operators, after the EC in
September re-stated its plans for
a legal challenge to be mounted.

Red diesel still under threat


It isn’t just the canal system where a
programme of winter work has begun


  • the Environment Agency is spending
    £1.4m on lock overhauls on the River
    Thames, including gate refurbishment
    and replacement of timber buffering.
    On the reaches above Oxford, Shifford
    Lock is closed from 30 October to 16
    January; on the middle river Clifton Lock
    near Abingdon shuts from 2 January to
    23 March, and on the lower lengths a
    stoppage at Bell Weir Lock near Egham
    runs from 13 November to 15 December.
    The longest stoppage is at Blakes
    Lock in Reading (run by the EA’s


Thames Region even though it is on
the River Kennet) involving work on the
chamber and gates, cutting off access
to the Kennet & Avon through from 13
November to 23 March. “The work we
are doing at Blakes Lock is extensive,
and very complex, but only needs to be
done once in a generation,” explained
Waterways Manager Barry Russell. “It
will keep the lock in good working order
for another 30 years or more.”
Teddington Barge Lock is also
scheduled for work, but as the locks are
paired and the adjacent Old Lock remains
in use, there will be no closure. And work
scheduled for Molesey Lock has been
postponed to the following winter.

RIVER THAMES


Thames works get under way


Engineers are pictured examining
and recording the state of the
Llangollen Canal’s Chirk Tunnel
using traditional methods – a
hammer and a notepad and pen.
The work formed part of the
Canal & River Trust’s three-yearly
‘Principal Inspection’ of the
421-metre 212-year-old bore,
the longest of the four navigable
tunnels in Wales.
The specialist engineers were
checking the entire tunnel (which
was built from over a million bricks)
for any leaks, cracks, damaged
brickwork and other changes that
have occurred since the previous
inspection, in order to determine
whether any repairs are needed.
Work is now under way across
the canal network on the Trust’s
£38m winter maintenance
programme. To find details of
closures (which run until 16 March,
but with a break from 16 Dec to 1
Jan) and also this winter’s series
of public open days at work sites
(featuring a ‘pop-up museum’ this
year), see canalrivertrust.org.uk.
Free download pdf