Victor congratulates Mercia
MY CONGRATULATIONS to Mercia Marina for its help towards those poor Ukrainians being deprived of their country by that maniac.
Not only is it out to raise £10,000 on its giving page, but intents to match the donations pound for pound—£10,000 —should its target be reached.
This morning, Sunday, the total so far received had reached £3,800. To give.
A worry
It was indeed a worry for our Thomas when the site went down on Thursday after just a single update, especially as he had been somewhat derogatory of Putin.
He wondering if that crazy man had knocked-out all the sites giving him a mention. But realised in that case most of them in the world would have suffered.
So the couple of burly men with a bottle of a suspect Novichok did not turn up at his door!
Good news for the Leeds & Liverpool
A bit of good news about the Leeds & Liverpool. The leakage between Bridge 109, New Barn Bridge and Bridge 110, Aspen Bridge at Rishton is repaired and the pound being re-watered, with the hope the navigation will be reopened next Friday, the 8th.
Mind you, it has taken rather a while as the 'leak' occurred way back last October—it taking the contractors six months, at what cost we are not told.
This waterway holds the rather suspect award of being the most breaking down on the system, with at present 10 stoppages and restrictions listed on CaRT's own pages.
But at least all its swing bridges are working!
A new season...
A new season for boating, but what, I have to ask, will it bring?
If the past one is anything to go by, we will again by at the mercy of contractors and their all to often Monday to Friday repairs, even for the simplest job,
And as we are thinking of the Leicester Ring again I have doubts, for the last time that-a-way we were stuck at that lock that needed those strips on its bottom gates that took the week then again on Foxton Flight on the Sunday when CaRT decided to take it over and take people up and down.
We can but hope for better.
Will it make a difference?
The strict restrictions on air travel during coronavirus caused quite a revival for the demand for home-grown holidays, with the boat hire businesses getting a much wanted boost.
But things are very much different now, I just having heard that East Midlands Airport is having its busiest weekend ever, with people jetting away once again for their holidays.
Which means that there will not be the heavy demand for boating as before. And coupled with the high incidence of the new strain of the virus, and people having to cancel, doesn't look too good for the industry.
Victor Swift