A stoppage a day keeps the boaters away!
KEEPING up the trend Canal & River Trust has reported 31 stoppages in August—averaging one a day!
Little wonder it is resorting to more 'vandals and boaters' causing problems, as such failures reflect very badly on the trust's ability to keep the system working.
Not used to capacity
It is realised that the lack of rain is exacerbating the situation, but this too is not helped by lack of dredging leaving the reservoirs unable to be used to capacity coupled with leaking gates losing so much water.
The latest waterway to be closed is the Erewash again between Potters Lock (69) and Pastures Lock (64), with boaters being blamed, it telling—'this is due to the very dry summer we have had, plus we have experienced more incidents of lock gates being left open'.
It overlooking the fact the only way it can then lose water is if the closed gates are leaking, which is not the fault of boaters.
For as Keith Gudgin remarked when reporting the stoppage—'Even if the gates are left open at one end of the lock the canal shouldn't just drain itself. Who are they trying to kid?'
Here's the list of closures for August
1 Sheffield & South Yorkshire—sluice requires divers.
2 Rochdale—bad leak at Lock 88.
3 Llangollen—Wrenbury Lift Bridge fails.
4 North Stratford—Lock 17 gate out of cup.
5 Chesterfield—41A drained, vandals blamed.
6 Harecastle Tunnel—one day closure lack of water.
7 Grand Union—Berkhamsted lack of water.
8 Aire & Calder—Whitley Lock problem.
9 Kennet & Avon—Crofton pump problem locks 51 to 60 closed.
10 Ouse—Boothferry Swing Bridge failure.
11 Sheffield & South Yorkshire—Waddington Lock hydraulic failure.
12 Stourbridge—top gate heel post snapped.
13 Trent—Hazleford Lock electrical fault.
14 Anderton Boat Lift—closed for rest of year.
15 Seven—Bevere Lock gates worn out closed for a month.
16 Leeds & Liverpool—Newlay Top Lock lack of water.
17 Stourbridge—lock failed with 1 to 16 closed.
18 Leeds & Liverpool—closed from Bingley Five Rise to Dobson's Lock.
19 Chesterfield—flash flooding damaged retaining wall between locks 50 and 51.
20 Lancaster—Glasson Branch closed as 'dry'.
21 Grand Union—Three Locks Flight closed.
22 Lee Navigation—closed to rescue dying fish at Lock 14.
23 Ashton—lack of water closes navigation.
24 Grand Union—Berkhamsted again lock gates will not close.
25 Kennet & Avon—Crofton pump fails again closing navigation.
26 Kennet & Avon—yet again with Wooton Rivers problem(?) closing navigation.
27 Aylesbury Arm—leakage closes arm for a week.
28 Rochdale—pump turned off it is told by vandals so no water.
29 Huddersfield Narrow—another pump turned off closing navigation!
31 Witham—Serious electrical failure closes Boston Lock for a week.
30 Erewash—Gate left open closing locks 64 to 69.