The trust ignoring flagrant mooring rules breakers

Yesterday I brought my 7ft narrowboat south from Berkhamsted, intending to stop for a few days in Rickmansworth, writes Paul Bennett.

From Mead Lock (80) to just above Springwell Lock (83), a distance of two miles, it was impossible to find a mooring.

The towpath, and sometimes the off side, was occupied by moored boats, even where moorings for visitors were signposted. Many of the boats were in very poor condition and frequently displayed out of date licences or no licence at all. I estimate that there were at least a 100 such boats and probably many more.

My understanding is that boats without a permanent mooring should move at least every two weeks.

Certainly most, if not all, of the boats in the Rickmansworth area had not moved for a very long time. In fact we spoke to a number of people who confirmed this. In three days of moving from Leighton Buzzard to Rickmansworth we saw no other boat moving south, whereas above Leighton Buzzard we were able to share locks almost everywhere.

Is unauthorised mooring a particular failing of the London & South-east region and is this discouraging boaters from coming south?

I pay a very considerable licence fee (and a mooring fee of eye-watering size) and expect this to ensure that the waterways are managed correctly. I do not want to be supporting those who take advantage of the system to avoid costs. At the very least I expect to be able to moor in a town to do shopping and visit locally.

Having been using the canals for over 50 years, I have never encountered this problem to such an extent before. I need to be able to plan a cruise with the confidence that I will be able to moor overnight in reasonable places. I expect the trust to resolve this problem so that genuine cruising boats can use the facilities they pay for.

Disgusted Paul Bennett