Jump to content

Paddington Arm - man in yellow jacket...


MaryP

Featured Posts

Hiya and Happy New Year!

 

Yesterday we went down the Paddington Arm looking to moor up. There was very little space even for our small boat, apart from the rings nearest the end of the arm. There were 2 or 3 free, so we started towards them.

 

A chap in a yellow hi vis jacket then called to us to say there was no mooring allowed there. I asked him why, but he just stated the same. I asked where the signage was, and got the same again. We then went off to read all the signs we could find, and no mention was made of the rings he was protecting. We thankfully fitted into a space further back, and found the boats next to us had experienced the same thing without a reasonable explanation.

 

My guess is that he didn't want boats with potentially smokey fires next to the posh restaurant there. Or possibly it is permits only on that side (on the left as you face the dead end of the arm).

 

Any thoughts?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

He probably the security from Merchant Square. How far down did you go to the pub? at the very end it's reserved for some boaty activity but not narrowboats IIRC.

Edited by mark99
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks. It was dark and windy, so we only argued for a short time, then headed off to find somewhere else.

 

It was next to a restaurant named Kupp, so no not right at the very end by Merchant Square.

 

No matter now really, but it annoyed me at the time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Is it worth a quick rant at CRT maybe on Twitter? They seem to reply to that quite quickly. If someone is acting outside their payscale it would be worth stopping it sooner rather than later. It would also let others know if you posted the reply back on here.

 

Cheers

 

Gareth

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Is it worth a quick rant at CRT maybe on Twitter? They seem to reply to that quite quickly. If someone is acting outside their payscale it would be worth stopping it sooner rather than later. It would also let others know if you posted the reply back on here.

 

Cheers

 

Gareth

 

Aren't you presuming that this was someone from CaRT?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Aren't you presuming that this was someone from CaRT?

 

Well if it was one of their contractors (which I think is the case with the security at Paddington), then CRT are still responsible.

 

On the other hand if it wasn't someone from CRT or one of their contractors, then CRT may be interested in knowing that someone is acting in an official capacity and telling boaters not to moor in places where they may be entitled to.

Edited by blackrose
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Well if it was one of their contractors (which I think is the case with the security at Paddington), then CRT are still responsible.

 

On the other hand if it wasn't someone from CRT or one of their contractors, then CRT may be interested in knowing that someone is acting in an official capacity and telling boaters not to moor in places where they may be entitled to.

 

I don't think he was from CRT (no logo on his jacket), and am going to mention it to them, but I don't have twitter, so it will be by email.

 

Thanks for the comments.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Aren't you presuming that this was someone from CaRT?

No I'm not! I was merely suggesting that getting an answer from CRT as to if he had the authority to say where mooring was or wasn't allowed was possibly the best course of action.

 

Cheers

 

Gareth

Link to comment
Share on other sites

He would have been security from the office complex. They patrol the waterside down the Paddington Arm. Nothing to do with CRT whatsoever, so my gut feeling is that if you thought he was getting involved with something outside his jurisdiction you could have told him to bog off and moored there anyway.

 

Even if it was a CRT 'No mooring' area, I'm 99% sure that a private security guard has no right to try and physically stop you mooring there. He may try it on verbally of course which i suspect is what happened here.

 

The 1% i am not sure about is that these security guards are quite established there and have been there at least a few years and not just some two bob outfit. IF CRT have handed part of the waterside over to the developers/land owners/tennants then i guess there is a tiny chance they could have a say in what part is 'no mooring'.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'll repeat myself.

 

The yellow jackets are Merchant Square contractors (is/was contracted out to Capita Symmonds). They manage that area in partnership with CaRT** since the redevelopment of the basin. The far area is no mooring.

 

They are omni present and woe betide any undesirable poor street life who wanders into the area - they are cleansed out. Three years ago, the penthouses were selling for £4M (one person reputably bought two "off plan" and knocked em into one).

 

This was done pre CaRT by BW. "The area of water you refer to is leased out to Paddington Basin Business Barges Ltd, a company in which BW is a 505 shareholder. It is envisaged that this area will become an area for static boats and for use by a canoe club".

 

This assumes of course it's at the end of the basin the OP was excluded from.

 

One final piece of info is that 1 Merchant Square is known as "The Cucumber". Name never really caught on unlike t'others. My recollection was that there is signage.

Edited by mark99
Link to comment
Share on other sites

When we were there last summer, the mooring rings outside Kupp were being used by three narrowboats which arrived after us. We had a look at mooring there but decided against because it looked to be very busy with drinkers at the outside tables. There was no hint of not being allowed to moor there. We shoehorned ourselves into a berth opposite.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am probably way out of date but when I was there a few years ago the rings at the end (before the lift bridge) were marked no mooring to leave space for winding. We did turn a 66ft boat there which would have been possible with a boat moored there but was certainly easier without.

 

Is that a possibility ... that it is to be kept clear for winding?

 

 

SDC10770.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Outside kupp has been no mooring for a long time. The rings there should evidently have not gone in. Its the only place to wind a boat, and with it always being windy there, can be a pain to wind if boats moored.

The rings were in there a long time before a dyslexic coffee shop designer came along.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Outside kupp has been no mooring for a long time. The rings there should evidently have not gone in. Its the only place to wind a boat, and with it always being windy there, can be a pain to wind if boats moored.

They were certainly stopping people mooring there 12 months ago with that reason being given.

 

However they do now allow double mooring of narrowboats on the hospital side.

Edited by pearley
Link to comment
Share on other sites

We walked down to the end of the moorings just before Christmas in the hope of finding that there might be room to moor on Christmas and Boxing Days but soon realised that it was moor than full! I can confirm that the rings at the end are marked by attached signs (there is nowhere else sensibly to put them I guess) which state that they are not to be used for mooring because the area is a winding point. It has been this way since the end was re-furbished (a couple of years back?) I suspect that their installation showed a lack of understanding of canal activities by the site designers,

 

Also, yes the security people are from the development and are very very useful to bona fide moorers! I think I have reported before our experience of seeing them in action when the boats attract unwanted attention from those inclined to do them damage, both physical and not.

 

They also (or used to in our experience) routinely monitor how oong botrs sty and are moved on if they attempt to overstay the five day limit.

 

My only gripe is that CaRT have not yet found a way of including the whole arm in its new scheme for booking Rembrandt Gardens - although, to be honest - in season we have not usually found it a problem. The regular monitoring of overstaying does mean that there is a steady turnover of spaces which is not found nearby.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.