IT SEEMS TO BE A BAD NEWS DAY today, with little hope of the Llangollen Canal reopening anytime soon.
With both Baddiley Lock and Swanley Lock closed, Keith Gudgin reports.
Unable to leave or join
These two locks, just a mile from where the waterway joins the Shropshire Union Canal, cut of the Llangollen Canal completely, with boaters unable to leave or to join the Llangollen.
And it has been so since the 6th August—nearly three months.
With work that is required on Swanley Lock not being done when everything was dry, but delayed until the rains came, no work can now be undertaken as the whole site is now waterlogged.
This no longer allowing machinery to be safely taken to the site.
Heavily saturated
A number of options have been explored to remove water from the area, but the surrounding fields and drainage ditches remain heavily saturated, stopping any method of getting machinery to the site.
A pity the work was not undertaken when it was dry for the months before the rain.
Obviously the plight of the boaters and particularly the hire companies, who want to get there boats either off or onto the Llangollen Canal was not considered.