Is the shortage of funds for canal maintenance starting to show? As the commentary on this video says, there have already been a number of serious breaches or failures of equipment reported this year.
Trekking Exploration - why not subscribe to this YouTube channel? - follows up reports of a stretch of the Erewash Canal without water, and finds they are right. Both the upper and lower gates at one lock are letting water through, so the pound above has run dry.
The Erewash stretches from Great Northern Basin at Langley Mill to the Trent at Long Eaton. It was built to connect local coal mines with the inland waterways system.
Breaking...
I have now set sail from Foxton Locks to check it out. Let's' hope we can get past Long Eaton!
ReplyDeleteGood luck!
DeleteUpdate: Water was low on the Soar Navigation. Thurmaston Lock is partly broken and needs man-handling, leading to further wear. The Erewash below Potters Lock has a stoppage due to low water (the water lost?). We are trapped near the Steamboat Inn!
ReplyDeleteThere are also stoppages on the Pocklington, Rochdale, and Leeds-Liverpool canals. The Bridgewater and Macclesfield canals are breeched, cutting off parts of the network. It is as if there is some factor warming the planet and reducing the value of the capital stock of the built environment. We seem to need a political party that is not in hock to fossil-fuel interests.
Thanks for the update and I'm sorry to hear you are trapped. I hope the inn is some solace. Would you like to write a guest post on the state of the canals?
DeleteUpdate: The stoppage was lifted and we made our way up Greens Lock and Potters lock. We spotted two sunken boats and ran aground on a third. Happily a CRT volunteer witnessed this. Water levels slightly low. We reached Langley Mill Basin - an IWA Silver Propeller location. Apparently not many people reach there. Many of the locks are in poor condition but locals have been very helpful manhandling them. We are returning to the Steamboat Inn - a lovely real-ale pub. We learn that the Soar is closed around Thurmaston Lock.
DeleteI shall have a think about a guest post, there is a lot to condense.