First stupidity of 2010

It was well known bloggers Lesley and Joe on their narrowboat Caxton, stuck in ice at Great Haywood, who spotted the first BW stupidity of the year.

Three men, with three vans installing three bollards at Great Haywood  Lock on the 5th January. It's not as if BW had to go far to find something useful to spend our money on, for the lower gates on this particular lock have been leaking for some time, Allan Richards reveals.

Boaters are marooned across the country, perhaps running low on food, water and fuel but with overflowing holding tanks and cassettes. Pedestrians in built up area are slipping and sliding on towpaths. So what does BW do? Installs some more bollards so that someone can trip over them or newbie hirers can hang boats up.

As bollards are installed on the opposite side of the locks from the ladder, perhaps they will come back in a few weeks and waste more of our money by moving the ladder to the bollard side.

One trusts that Lesley and Joe's black Labradors, Fletcher and Floyd will find a use for the new bollards during Caxton's forced stay even if boaters are unable to.

Lesley and Joe may not win narrowboatworld's photo competition with their photograph, but they have found the earliest BW stupidity of 2010. Unless, of course anyone knows different!