Victor tells we've fallen into the trap of the boating 'season'

Published: Saturday, 05 November 2022

IT IS Anne of NABO who asks if we too have fallen in to the trap of perpetuating CaRT's misnomer?

And I have to admit we have! Yet there is no 'season' for boating, in spite of CaRT trying to establish otherwise, she rightly tells, adding that the use of this expression should be totally avoided in case by the well known method of constant repetition, it becomes 'fact'.

Then winter stoppages could overtake the summer ones as navigation of the system will be considered to be unnecessary as 'out of season'.

Yet by encouraging more and more continuous cruisers and its insistence they cruise every 14 days it has itself shown there is no such thing as a boating 'season'. Which is also shown by 'winter works' now being undertaken all summer!

And there is of course all the other boaters who either take advantage of the cheaper hire charges or take their own boats out in the winter, as we too have often done in the past, all showing there is no 'season' that CaRT obviously wants to perpetuate.

The triple lock

Anne also mentions the problem of the triple lock telling that  Age UK is encouraging all to write to their MP, there's less than two weeks to do it:

https://campaigns.ageuk.org.uk/page/115080/action/1?ea.tracking.id=Email6&utm_source=campaigns_newsletter_031122&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=campaigns_newsletter

Freight on the Aire & Calder

With the construction of Port Leeds comes the possibility of freight once again on the Aire & Calder Navigation, meaning that it can once more be transported by the waterway between Goole and Leeds, plus a facility at Stourton with interest from prospective operators.

Yet October saw eight 'Navigation: closed' notices issued by the trust for this navigation.  How on earth can a freight company be prepared to risk its deliveries on such unreliable maintenance?

CaRT shut down its freight department early in its reign, which must tell us something...

No place for intolerance

In its guide to to Understanding Diversity & Inclusion at Canal & River Trust, the boss man states 'It must be absolutely clear that there is no place for intolerance of any kind here at the Trust'.

Yet there is at least one fella on the list of the members of the British National Party/wikileaks.org.

And they don't show much intolerance, eh?

The 'forgotten few'

I was pleased to see that our Keith had taken to the Express to tell Rishi Sunak that pensioners are 'not a cash cow that can pay for the debt of the country' as fears grow over the government's dropping of the triple lock on pensions as the cost of living crisis bites.

He believing as a continuous cruiser he is one of the 'forgotten few' who are already being ignored for state aid in various ways though the cost of living is rising dramatically.

Victor Swift