Victor discovers CaRT is piling it on

Published: Sunday, 07 November 2021

CONTRIBUTOR John Coxon clearly pointed out the usual duplicity in CaRT's Annual Boaters' Report.

 It certainly wasn't an accurate report as far as this boater had experienced—I wondering if it was concerning some parallel universe unbeknown to us mortal boaters.

The facts and particularly the figures were certainly not ours as John pointed out, and I shall add just one more with the statement that there were '68 arising and emergency repairs' during that calendar year.  I counted over 100 we published and we certainly did not show them all, especially the ones that are attended too quickly by what it calls its 'local team'.

So they seemingly halved the figure—that looked much better.

Brain-washed

John too had the misfortune to meet one of those 'friends' that had been brain-washed into believing all was so wonderful with the waterways, but together with another boater soon put her straight.

We too had the misfortune to meet one at CaRT's stand at Foxton during an event there, with Jan assailed by a woman peddling the wonders of what CaRT was achieving, but it was the woman's statement that 'the trust had been brought in to rectify the harm done by British Waterways' that had Jan telling a few home truths, but the woman had been completely brain-washed this time and wouldn't believe it.

Of course she was no boater, or else the never ending stoppages would have given here the truth—that I reckon CaRT had been brought in for the opposite...

Those stoppage updates

I do wish that the trust would get someone literate to write its stoppage notices, after all they are what the boating public see and so at least should be presentable, something that they most certainly are not.

Take this three word phrase from the stoppage notice concerning one of the breaches that read '6 mile stretch' that is totally wrong!  Anyone with any modicum of knowledge realises that words up to 10 are spelt-out. The number of miles is plural so there should be an 's' and surely everyone connected with the waterways knows it is not a 'stretch' of water but a 'pound'.

So the '6 mile stretch' should be written 'six miles pound'.  And of course we still get the 'draft' of water, that refers to people drafted into military services, instead of 'draught' that refers to the depth of water.

Get someone who is capable please—it reflects so badly.  Surely there must be someone who is literate.

Those 750 millions

I'm of course referring to those 750,000,000 visitors a year to the towpaths that CaRT would now have us believe, it obviously latching onto those Londoners that took to its towpaths a while ago during lockdown for a couple of months, that have been obviously added as now being permanent for month after month year after year.

All us boaters know its worth, with our Keith telling me they achieved this figure by including people on the bridges over the waterways and even those in cars on the bridges.

And no doubt adding a few thousand 30's or 40's a time for those in buses.  After all they are over the towpaths, and we all know how things can be stretched to suit, eh?

Will it ever end I ask?  Are we to look forward to a trillion visitors a year?  I give up.

One thing for sure is that they will never exaggerate the number of those that die in the waterways or in fact publish them.

Victor Swift