Heartbreak Hill short of water

THE Canal & River Trust has warned of a shortage of water on a huge section of the Trent & Mersey Canal.

This stretches from Kidsgrove at Lock 41, right down Heartbreak Hill to past Middlewich at Lock 74, a distance of 12 miles, Keith Gudgin reports.

Conserve water

It states it is experiencing low water levels along the whole 33 locks and is asking boaters to conserve water by making sure all paddles are closed and to share locks—though how on a narrow lock waterway is not told.

Our own recent experience on these locks, where we encounted boaters with paddles open at both ends, draining pounds—both hire and private—must go some way to explaining the shortage, obviously through lack of knowledge.