A wintry scene at Bugsworth basin. A National Trust for the Waterways
Setting a new course – Britain’s waterways in the third sector
British Waterways published a report on 17 December on its proposals to secure the future of the nation’s 200-year-old canals and navigable rivers by creating a ‘national trust’ for the waterways. The move to the third sector from direct state control has been met with wide-ranging support in England and Wales since its proposal in May. The publication of Setting a new course, Britain’s waterways in the third sector aims to advance the debate, promote discussion and further inform stakeholders’ views...
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Breaking the ice!
Warnings about the dangers posed by the waterways in the big freeze abound, with advice mainly aimed at boaters and walkers, but all the advice went unheeded by two motorists in Scotland. Incredibly, two men were arrested after driving a car along a frozen canal, until the ice broke and they sunk into the icy water. The incident happened near Winchburgh, West Lothian, on the Edinburgh-Falkirk, Union Canal, on 12 January. Both men, aged 22 and 24, initially escaped, but the car, a Peugeot 406 was discovered and the police were able to trace them and arrest them. They have been charged with reckless conduct and will appear in court at a later date. The Peugeot 406 submerged in the Union Canal near Winchburgh, West Lothian. Credit: Press Association
Main photo: The Chandlery, offices, shop and tea room on the Wharf at Norbury, inset: Simon Jenkins in his office, happily making out an invoiceTowpath Tales:
Passionate and unable to resist a deal
We owe so much to the pioneers who helped create the modern canal system and they are acknowledged as great characters – but don’t forget we now have a system busier than at any time in the past century and it has created its own set of individuals who make life on the waterways that much more colourful and interesting. Peter Underwood continues a series looking at some of today’s characters of the cut – people who add something special to the canal.
He’s tall, broad-shouldered and has a tendency to dominate any group he’s in. He admits he’s probably a salesman at heart but he is also passionate about canals and their future...
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The wet web:
Helen Gazeley looks at Hotel boating.
Canal holidays: one hand on the tiller, the other on a glass of beer and a modicum of exercise at the locks. But it doesn’t have to be your hand on the tiller. If you fancy a canal break without the planning, shopping or scheduling, then when better than 2010, the sixtieth anniversary of hotelboating?
When it all started in 1950, you still rubbed shoulders with canal workers. In Precious Cargo: Fifty Years of Hotel Boats
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Editorial - Brian Sharpe
As a new year starts and waterways are in the grip of the coldest winter for 30 years, reports on the future of the canals continue to come thick and fast.
Clearly it is going to happen; BW will move into the ‘third sector’, probably by the creation of a ‘National Trust for the waterways’...
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Pivotal moment for waterway freight?
I READ with interest George McNally's article (November Towpath Talk) on barge carrying in the north-east, and the comments attributed to Kevin Hornshaw.
The current recession has meant a steep decline in the demand for aggregates in certain areas, and this has impacted on the barge operators affected, especially those with only one contract. One can sympathise with Kevin Hornshaw, who has seen his earnings decline so dramatically, and so soon after heavy, and welcome, investment in his craft...
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