A very bad start to October

A VERY bad start indeed to October with four stoppages closing waterways on the 1st of October.

Stoppage No 1—The Liverpool Link requires work to its entrance lift bridge by the lock, which means it will have to be lifted out, Keith Gudgin reports.

Extend work by three weeks

This will extend the original work to the lock by three weeks.

Stoppage No 2—The Grand Union Canal is closed at Marsworth Lock 39 until further notice.

But this time no fault of Canal & River Trust as the stoppage is caused by a body being found in the canal by the Red Lion Pub and as a result, the trust tells 'we have put in place a navigation closure in this area to ensure that investigations by the police are carried out unimpeded. An update will be provided as soon as we have more information.

Stoppage No 3—The Oxford Canal is closed at Middle Bridge 145, as it requires strengthening and repairs.

Pontoon under bridge

A pontoon platform will be situated within the canal beneath the bridge whilst the strengthening and repairs are being undertaken, that prevents navigation.

Stoppage No 4—The Ashton Canal is closed between Lock 1 and Lock 18, including Marple Flight.

This is caused by a 'blown cill', that can take weeks to repair so seems unlikely the navigation will be open this 'season', should this need replacing.