Stoppages—is it the whole story?

I AGREE with your frustration at Canal & River Trust's 22 or 21 or whatever stoppages. But I wonder if it’s the whole story? Asks Dave Irving.

We plan to travel the Erewash soon, and checking CaRT’s stoppages page yesterday, found a navigation ‘restriction’, dated 21/1/2021, saying there was a sunken boat between bridges 2 and 2B, and that that boats could not pass. So not a restriction at all, rather a closure.

Argued if canal was closed.

I called the helpline, chose the appropriate number, then was asked which region I was enquiring about. Of course, the region isn’t identified on the restriction notice, so I ended up talking with some central location.

They assured me the information was current, argued with me about whether the canal was closed (of course it was!), and confidently expected it would be clear for our journey—with no data to say why, and no explanation why the boat hadn’t been moved in the last three months.

Pressed for more information

Luckily I pressed for more information and was told the region team may know more. The regional team responded very promptly, told me the boat had been removed, and updated the notice to confirm the canal was in reality open.  Phew, and thank you! But no indication of why the notice hadn’t been removed when the boat had been removed.

I wonder how many out of date notices remain, and whether there are any other closures masquerading as restrictions.

Just a thought. Keep up the good work.