Flood warning boards

Published: Saturday, 03 May 2014

I HAVE had an email from Sean McGinley, East Midlands Waterways Manager, following my comments about the discrepancies in the Trent flood warning boards, writes David Hymers. Here is his explanation:

'Thank you for your comments about the flood warning boards. I've had a look into it and it is a deliberate decision to set the flood marker boards at different levels. The thinking behind this being that going upstream is much harder so the red mark is reached at a lower level at Beeston, whereas boats can still leave Cranfleet for a while. I understand that this may cause confusion, particularly with boaters advised to wait at Beeston yet see boats coming towards them from Cranfleet.
I think the best thing to do is to review it but it may be that there is still a difference for the reason given above'.

Less control

Interesting. I would have thought, as a boater, that while going downstream may be easier, it is actually a lot less safe if the river is high. Going downstream on a flood you have less control over your boat, because the rudder is less effective and since most narrowboaters keep their anchors at the bow, in the event of engine failure, you are likely to be swept onto a weir before you can deploy the anchor and it swings the boat round—not a pleasant experience, I would imagine, being broadside to the current while this happens. Going upstream, on the other hand may be hard work (2mph up the Trent is very boring, I can attest) but you remain in control of the boat and if you come to a standstill you can deploy the anchor more easily.