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Boats rescued from Caen Hill

5th Oct 2006

Six canal boats stranded above one of the greatest canal engineering features of the UK’s 2,200-mile waterway network will be hoisted skyward on Friday 6 October as British Waterways comes to the rescue of the boat’s owners.

Six canal boats stranded above one of the greatest canal engineering features of the UK’s 2,200-mile waterway network will be hoisted skywards on Friday 6 October as British Waterways comes to the rescue of the boat’s owners.

The 29 locks of the Caen Hill lock flight on the Kennet & Avon Canal are usually bustling with boats traversing the 130-foot height difference on the edge of Devizes, but traffic has been brought to a standstill after a mystery boat rammed into the gates of one of the historic locks and shattered the oak timbers.

Free crane lift

As one of the Seven Wonders of the Waterways, Caen Hill lock flight is known far and wide amongst inland boaters as a daunting challenge that can take up to five hours to complete. With each of the 29 locks holding over 50,000 gallons of water, boat crews usually need a hearty breakfast before contemplating tackling John Rennie’s masterpiece that is crammed into a little over two miles of hillside. However, with the lock flight now out of action for up to five weeks as new gates are produced and fitted at a cost to British Waterways of £42,000, boats stranded either side are being treated to a free crane lift and transport to the other side of the unexpected blockage.

John Ward, British Waterways regional operations manager, is overseeing the boat lift while also arranging for new gates to be manufactured. He says: "Unlike most things in life these days, you don’t just pop down the High Street and buy a replacement set of lock gates. There are nearly 2,000 lock chambers across the UK, each with top and bottom gates and every single one of them is unique in its dimensions.

"The measurements have been taken and we expect the manufacturers to deliver a new set of gates in the next month or so. Because we use oak from sustainable sources it also adds to the time it takes for the gates to be manufactured – it’s not just a case of putting any old timber into this wonderful historic structure."

Minimising disruption to holidaymakers

Owned by local hire companies, the boats are being moved to help minimise the disruption to people enjoying a holiday on the canal.

Brian Poulton, chairman of the Kennet & Avon Canal Trust comments: "Waterside businesses have always been important to the canal. Trade and commerce was the reason the canal was built and now that it has been restored, the canal continues to support many hundreds of jobs and contributes to the local economy. We appreciate British Waterways keeping the traffic moving, craning boats and pulling out all the stops to re-open the waterway as soon as possible."

Last updated: 22/10/2008