I HAVE just read your most disturbing news that part of the BCN is recognised as the fourth grottiest place in the country, and to my mind it should be stated that the people at Canal & River Trust should be ashamed writes James Henry.
For we all know why it is rated such, as are many other parts of the canal system—there are no real people anymore looking after the waterways, just volunteers, and it is winter so many of these volunteers will not turn out, and who can blame them?
'No money to spare'
I have been boating for more years than I care to remember, and have seen the not-so-gradual decline in the state of rubbish clearance from the banks of the canals. It has all come about since British Waterways were turned into a charity, with the never-ending excuse 'we are a charity and have no money to spare' or words to that effect.
Yet this self-same 'poor' charity can squander money on dishing out thousands of pounds for those so-called Water Partnerships that do absolutely nothing for the canals, creating ridiculous jobs—the latest being a Milepost Community Officer to oversee the mileposts on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal, even though it calculates its distance in kilometres! And not forgetting its compulsion for all things wildlife.
Worst thing that could happen
I guess that there must be many boaters like me who believe that turning British Waterways into a charity was the worst thing that could happen to the waterways with its rush to get rid of anyone who looked after it. This followed on from the downward spiral introduced by Robin Evans, which brings me back to when I first started boating, when the banks were clean of rubbish, when there was no millions of pounds maintenance backlog, when there were no endless stoppages and it did not take a fortnight to fill a hole in the towpath—when we had lengthsmen....