Boaters' Update May 2011

Countdown to Crick 2011: 28 - 30 May

With only two weeks to go to the country’s biggest inland waterways show, there is still time to save money by pre-booking your tickets.

This year, for the first time ever, there will be a ghost/Crick village history tour which will take place on Saturday and Sunday evenings including reported sightings of ghosts on the canal at Crick!

There will be a huge range of exhibitors specialising in all things boat-related as well as food, crafts, leisure and arts. For the young (and the young at heart) there is an inexhaustible list of activities including face painting, circus skills, traditional fairground with Punch and Judy show, arts and crafts, bouncy castle, pedal karting, bungee-trampolining and a giant spider mountain. Little ones will love the daily appearances from a very special guest – Peppa Pig - who will be meeting children at various intervals during each show day.

There will also be live cookery demonstrations, a heritage marquee, real ale, wildlife features from The Wildlife Trust and RSPB, live music (including BBC Radio 2 Folk Award Nominees James Fagen and Nancy Kerr, David Gibb and Soul Deep, an RnB / soul band who have supported the Brand New Heavies, Mica Paris and Third World).

Feeling lucky? There is also a massive £6,000 worth of prizes to be won at the show, ranging from a short break holiday to boat batteries, and lots of things in between.

To book tickets or find out more visit www.crickboatshow.com or call 01283 742962.

Boating in London during summer 2012

Planning to cruise your way to the Olympics? Booked your visitor mooring? If not, click through to BW’s online booking system at www.waterscape.com/londonboats2012 to secure your space now. The anticipated increase in visiting boats for this once in a lifetime event requires a dedicated moorings plan to manage these exceptional circumstances. It will ensure that the network is efficiently managed and that moorings are reserved for those who have booked them. There will be a ‘controlled zone’ for several weeks throughout the Olympic summer.

Boats that have a home mooring within the ‘controlled zone’ will be largely unaffected. Visiting boats, however, will only be able to enter with a confirmed booking of a visitor mooring (with BW, another operator or individual). Boat licences valid during July and August 2012 will be subject to a few extra conditions. These will be published on www.britishwaterways.co.uk/licensing very shortly.

BW’s London waterway manager, Jon Guest, comments: “It’s easy to walk to the Olympic Park from the moorings on the River Lee and Hertford Union Canal and a short DLR ride from moorings in Docklands, whilst the Regent’s and Grand Union canals are close to Central London’s attractions.”

The pre-bookable BW visitor moorings will vary in price depending on location. The objective in setting prices is to ensure that the additional costs involved in accommodating the expected large increase in boat numbers are covered, with any surplus re-invested in the historic waterway network.

The ‘controlled zone’ will cover approximately 15-miles of London’s waterways, meaning that there remain nearly 85-miles of canal and river where moorings will be available as usual on a first-come first-served basis.

Read more about boating in London during summer 2012

Historic waterways ‘access’ the digital age

BW is mapping its canals and rivers to provide information on access for people with restricted mobility as well as families with buggies, cyclists and other towpath users.

The project is currently being trialled by 20 volunteers in London, who are using smart phones to take GPS-linked photographs of the locations and gather comprehensive data on access points, barriers, facilities and public transport, as well as information on the surface type, average width and gradient of the towpath. BW is now looking for volunteers to extend the project to the rest of the canal and river network. All the information will then go live on www.waterscape.com, where the public will be able to add updates, providing an up-to-the-minute picture of the condition of the towpaths.

BW’s chief executive, Robin Evans comments: “Although canals were built by Georgian engineers whose primary motivation was to build an industrial highway, their legacy is also an amazing 2,200 miles of flat accessible towpaths available for everyone to enjoy. Inevitably the type and condition of our towpaths varies from place to place but with the use of mobile technology, we’re asking people who visit the waterways to help keep a virtual waterways map up-to-date.”

Can you help? Whether it’s one walk or ten over the summer, all input will be valuable. Simple training is provided, and you can bring your own smart phone or BW will supply one.

If you’d like to take part, or would like get more involved and play a key role coordinating local walkers please have a look at the role profiles for more information.

Read more about how waterways ‘access’ the digital age

BW publishes proposed winter maintenance schedule

Plans for winter maintenance to BW navigations over 2011/2012 are well underway. The first draft of the proposed winter stoppage programme is now live at www.waterscape.com/winterstoppages. BW is welcoming feedback via the website until Friday 3 June 2011. All comments will be taken into consideration and a revised programme will be published in July, with the final programme following in early September.

BW’s operations director, Vince Moran said: “Last year’s trial early publication of the proposed programme for public feedback was incredibly useful for us and welcomed by waterway users. It’s really important that we get the winter stoppage programme right. I would therefore encourage people to contribute and to be as specific as possible when giving us their feedback as this will help the works planners to revise the programme where possible.”

Water resources update

March and April this year have been the second driest in 100 years, and exceptionally high numbers of boaters have taken to the water. Despite this, water resources are holding up well across most of the country.

BW’s group hydrology manager, Adam Comerford said: “Once again we are experiencing unusually hot and dry weather conditions for this time of year. This, coupled with the long Bank Holidays weekends, has meant our waterways have experienced huge numbers of boaters moving around the network.

While this is extremely positive and great news for the nations’ canals there are a small number of areas where we are watching water supply with some caution.”

Areas currently with boating restrictions, or that are under review include: Tuel lock at Sowerby Bridge on the Rochdale Canal, the summit section of the Leeds & Liverpool Canal, the Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal and on the Gloucester & Sharpness Canal.

You can help by doubling up at locks, waiting for others boaters before setting locks and ensuring paddles are closed. We have also already suffered from some mindless acts of vandalism across the network which needlessly wastes millions of litres of water and we are requesting that you report any suspicious behaviour to the local police.

Adam continues: “On the whole the picture is positive, with most reservoir holdings within normal range, if slightly below long term average for the time of year, and we remain optimistic about water supplies across the country. The situation on the Rochdale, Leeds & Liverpool, Monmouthshire & Brecon and Gloucester & Sharpness canals is being reviewed daily and www.waterscape.com/waterwatch has full details.”

Read more about keeping BW’s canals full

For more information on booking passage, current restrictions and water resources updates visit www.waterscape.com/stoppages

BW moorings consultation extended

As part of a consultation on proposals to introduce a new moorings management plan for the River Lee, River Stort and the Hertford Union Canal, BW is asking local authorities, residents, boaters and all who use the waterways to send in their responses.

The proposals were drafted in response to the increased number of boats mooring in the area – an increase of nearly 40% over the past four years.

Have you logged your views? To date, BW has had an excellent response to its on-going consultation. However, in light of the recent spate of public holidays and the local government elections, the deadline is extended to Tuesday 31 May to ensure that everyone has ample time to respond.

The draft proposals were published for public consultation on 15 February 2011 and can be downloaded from www.britishwaterways.co.uk.

Read more about BW moorings consultation

Licence evasion rates remain stable

Since the March 2010 National Boat Check, licence evasion across BW’s waterways in England and Wales has remained stable, with 95 per cent of boats holding licences.

Over the year BW seized 80 boats, of which 34 were in such poor condition they had to be destroyed and 14 boats were sold to recover the unpaid licence fees and associated costs. The remainder will be sold or destroyed once the legal process involved is complete.

BW’s marketing director, Simon Salem, comments: “Our enforcement teams have done a hard job well this year and I want to thank them for their work. I’d also like to thank all our customers who license on time and display their licences, reducing the enforcement work that has to be done. I can assure you that we will continue to take action on cases where people are not paying.”

Read more about BW’s latest licence evasion rates

Have you noticed an unlicensed boat? Visit BW’s online boat checker

Free identity consultancy for new waterway charity

This month brings us another massive step closer to the realisation of the new waterways charity for England and Wales as global, multi-award winning design agency, Pentagram, has offered the waterways its services free of charge. Pentagram’s clients include Citibank, The V&A, Tiffany & Co, The Co-operative and Tesco, and are offering free advice and guidance on the new waterways charity’s name, logo and design.

BW’s marketing director, Simon Salem said: “To be successful, the new charity has to reach out and appeal beyond the waterways’ existing supporters. The look and feel of the new organisation will be an integral part of its future success, underpinning its fundraising and public engagement efforts.”

John Rushworth, a partner at Pentagram, is leading the project and is already familiar with the network, having designed both the current BW and The Waterways Trust logos. John says: “This is a tremendously exciting opportunity to be part of the beginning of the next chapter in the waterways’ history, and to help shape the identity of the organisation tasked with their future. We are pleased to be able to offer the new charity consultancy and design services which we hope will help it get off to the best possible start.”

The name of the new waterways charity is the subject of a three-month public consultation which runs until the end of June 2011. Final decisions about the new charity’s name and brand will be made this summer following the appointment of the organisation’s first trustees.

Read more about the free identity consultancy work for the new waterway charity

So near yet sonar

This year BW’s wildlife survey highlights bats - Britain’s only flying mammal whose numbers have dramatically declined since the 1950s.

BW’s national ecology manager, Dr Mark Robinson, explains: “Intensive use of land for residential, commercial, transport or agricultural purposes has meant that vast areas of untouched habitat, rich in thousands of different species of plant and animal have been reduced in size and isolated from one another. The passage between these ‘islands’ has become an exhausting journey for the animals that have to cross them and makes them an easier target for predators.”

Canals and hedgerows therefore play a vital part in Britain’s natural world by acting as ‘green corridors’, creating sheltered passages through open farmland and allowing bats and many other species to travel safely between feeding grounds.

These routes between habitats are especially important for our 17 species of native bat because they rely on the dark, insect-rich environment that canals provide at night, as well as ideal structures, such as our bridges and aqueducts, to roost and breed in. Read more about how canals are crucial to the survival of bats.

You can record sightings of all wildlife you spot on the canal, as many times as you like until September. To take part in BW’s wildlife survey or to find your nearest guided bat walk visit www.waterscape.com/wildlifesurvey.

Julia Bradbury's Canal Walks

And finally, have you been watching ‘Julia Bradbury's Canal Walks’? If not, it’s not too late to catch up on BBC iPlayer and start watching the next episodes in the series. TV presenter Julia Bradbury takes to the towpath to explore the country's canals on BBC 4 on Monday nights at 2030 (with repeats on Tuesday and Saturday evenings) during May. The four part series includes walks along: the Caledonian canal, the Worcester & Birmingham canal, the Kennet & Avon canal and the Llangollen canal.

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Last updated: 13/05/2011