Wide beams on narrow canals

THE North Oxford is not the only narrow canal on which wide beam boats are appearing, writes David Hymers.

Last summer I passed the boat pictured on the Trent & Mersey between Anderton and Saltersford Tunnel. Since it could not pass Croxton Aqueduct or Preston Brook Lock it can only have reached the canal by being craned in or via the Anderton Lift.

Should have been spotted

 If the latter, what on earth are CaRT up to letting it into a narrow canal? Even it were craned in without CaRT's knowledge, surely one of its 'asset checkers' should have spotted it and it should have been told to move.

It's bad enough meeting wide boats on canals where they are legitimate, given that they are difficult to pass and a nightmare when met at a bridgehole. Since this boat cannot cruise very far on the T&M, it is presumably going to be used as a cheap static holiday home—it certainly would not be able to meet the requirements of continuous cruising.