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14 Miles of canal and 1 boat


cotswoldsman

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I have now covered the full 14 miles of canal from Tewitfield to Kendal. 10 miles is capable of taking boats but unfortunatly is in sections due to canal being filled in to build roads mainly the M6 what a shame they did not build bridges. Plenty of water in a beautiful part of the country and only one boat.

If you would like to see what you are missing I have taken some photos just click the link below

 

http://johnsloan.squarespace.com/photo-gal...ancaster-canal/

 

No one seems to think it will ever be opened :lol:

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I have now covered the full 14 miles of canal from Tewitfield to Kendal. 10 miles is capable of taking boats but unfortunatly is in sections due to canal being filled in to build roads mainly the M6 what a shame they did not build bridges. Plenty of water in a beautiful part of the country and only one boat.

If you would like to see what you are missing I have taken some photos just click the link below

 

http://johnsloan.squarespace.com/photo-gal...ancaster-canal/

 

No one seems to think it will ever be opened :lol:

 

Nice pics - lovely canal in a really nice area. Another example of our heritage being swept away by the road builders - making provision for bridges would have added but a small percentage to the overall cost of building the M6.

 

You are probably right that it will never be re-opened - what a dreadful shame. :lol:

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I think they should demolish the housing estate built on top of the Walton Summit branch and build the aqueduct they had originally planned and finally link the North and South sections of the Lancaster Canal. There are too many houses in this country anyway. A canal to Kendal makes more sense than a canal to Bradford in my opinion, esp. if you can sail to Windermere as well.

 

The bridges are still okay

 

waltsumm04.jpg

 

waltsumm12.jpg

Summit Bridge needs a bit of gardening

 

waltsumm07.jpg

tunnel needs a little work

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You may not be aware but the closure of the northern reaches is partly "our" fault. When the M6 was proposed the MoT as it was then offered "boat creeps" under the motorway. The northern reaches were already in disrepair and the canal dry at Kendal so this was, for the time, a major concession. A "boat creep" was a tube under the motorway big enough for a reasonable sized cabin cruiser. The IWA objected saying "it's proper bridges or nothing". They got nothing.

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The IWA objected saying "it's proper bridges or nothing". They got nothing.

The IWA's "No compromise" stance lost an awful lot of canal mileage, to dereliction, not to mention the disillusionment of many high profile campaigners, who wanted more dialogue than Aickman was willing to accept.

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You may not be aware but the closure of the northern reaches is partly "our" fault. When the M6 was proposed the MoT as it was then offered "boat creeps" under the motorway. The northern reaches were already in disrepair and the canal dry at Kendal so this was, for the time, a major concession. A "boat creep" was a tube under the motorway big enough for a reasonable sized cabin cruiser. The IWA objected saying "it's proper bridges or nothing". They got nothing.

 

Rather ironic in the light of the current IWA advert.

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You may not be aware but the closure of the northern reaches is partly "our" fault. When the M6 was proposed the MoT as it was then offered "boat creeps" under the motorway. The northern reaches were already in disrepair and the canal dry at Kendal so this was, for the time, a major concession. A "boat creep" was a tube under the motorway big enough for a reasonable sized cabin cruiser. The IWA objected saying "it's proper bridges or nothing". They got nothing.

 

A similar story to telford Horsehay Steam Trust (now Telford Steam Railway) based in Telford Shropshire. Back in the early eighties they were running on a short length which was end of approximatly 5 miles of track maintained by a local bridge building company joining onto the ironbridge power station mineral line that goes through Coalbrookdale.

 

The bridge company closed down so the line was no longer needed. Unfourtunatly during discussions to buy the whole line scrap prices went up slightly and the trust refused to pay the extra as it would have meant borrowing money.

 

The result was the line was scrapped and later a new road was built cutting through the embankment and severing the powerstation line.

 

Totally lost oppurtunity.

 

These days to rebuild the line it would cost approximatly two pounds an inch to repalce what was lost in the eighties!

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A similar story to telford Horsehay Steam Trust (now Telford Steam Railway) based in Telford Shropshire. Back in the early eighties they were running on a short length which was end of approximatly 5 miles of track maintained by a local bridge building company joining onto the ironbridge power station mineral line that goes through Coalbrookdale.

 

The bridge company closed down so the line was no longer needed. Unfourtunatly during discussions to buy the whole line scrap prices went up slightly and the trust refused to pay the extra as it would have meant borrowing money.

 

The result was the line was scrapped and later a new road was built cutting through the embankment and severing the powerstation line.

 

Totally lost oppurtunity.

 

These days to rebuild the line it would cost approximatly two pounds an inch to repalce what was lost in the eighties!

 

Thirty or forty years ago before the days of the Lottery , Goverment Grants and Local Authority involvement if you went to a lender and asked for money to buy a railway , a locomotive or a narrow boat for preservation would probably have questioned your sanity or you would at least been regarded with considerable suspicion.

 

The Telford Railway may have a long way to go in restoring their line but in view of the progress they have made particularly in the last year I have no doubt they will get there in the end.

 

I suspect it will be the same with other schemes such as the Northern Reaches , Cotswolds Canals and even the Somerset Coal Canal which I hope will all be completed one day by a future generation - whether we are still around to see it is a different matter.

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A canal to Kendal makes more sense than a canal to Bradford in my opinion, esp. if you can sail to Windermere as well.

Whilst I think a canal to Kendall would be a great idea, it would be a tragedy, if they ever linked the waterway system to Windermere.

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With the speed limit on the lake now they may as well have canal boats on it. It would be quite nice to sail to Ambleside.

 

 

I don't agree, or rather, I can see it would be nice but I don't like the principle (that narrow boats should be allowed to go everywhere) and the implications of narrow boats in their thousands descending on windermere doesn't fill me with enthusiasm. I've gone lukewarm about a link to the broads for the same reason. If it ever is built, it should have locks 48 feet by 12, the size of the largest boards cruisers.

 

I was not happy about the windermere speed limit either, even though I have no desire to have a vessel that could break it. We are in danger of having everything to the liking of a genteel middle class with no or limited diversity. And yes, I probably am genteel middle class.

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It seems from conversations with many visiting boaters on the Lancaster that one of the things they enjoy about it is the relatively light boat traffic - I can imagine that if there was a "Link to the Lakes" then it would be likely to become the watery equivalent of the M6 that runs alongside it!

 

The northern stretches in water are still pretty well looked after as they serve as a feeder for the rest of the canal - up to around 16 million gallons a day. As John pointed out - just one narrowboat north of Tewitfield, the trip boat "Waterwitch" which runs from Crooklands northwards. This boat is owned by the Lancaster Canal Trust and operates free trips (though donations are asked for) on Sundays and Bank Holidays through the summer season.

 

Cheers,

 

Andy

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Some really nice pictures in the OP's original post.

 

Shame it can't be opened up really as it could be a really nice stretch to cruise.

 

Thanks for posting them

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Some really nice pictures in the OP's original post.

 

Shame it can't be opened up really as it could be a really nice stretch to cruise.

 

Thanks for posting them

 

There are active proposals to open it up and if the noise problems at Tewitfield can be overcome it will be popular. Just need to find £60-£80 million but others have managed it. It stands a better chance than the Somerset Coal Canal at present!

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Does anyone know if the suggestion to link the canal to Windemere has ever progressed in any way .

Having lived in the area for a number of years I was interested in what route it might take . I assume a southerly route via Carnforth , Levens and Grange over Sands to eventually join the lake at Newby Bridge would be the easiest engineering option but this wouldnt necessarily be of any help to restoring the Lancaster Canal Northern Reaches

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There are active proposals to open it up and if the noise problems at Tewitfield can be overcome it will be popular. Just need to find £60-£80 million but others have managed it. It stands a better chance than the Somerset Coal Canal at present!

 

I don't think the noise at Tewitfield is that bad at all. No one's going to be be sleeping in the locks, and the visitor moorings are more peaceful than Carnforth (petrol station, pub and arsonist scallies) or Lancaster (students!). There *are* some very frisky ducks there at the moment, though :lol:

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I don't think the noise at Tewitfield is that bad at all. No one's going to be be sleeping in the locks, and the visitor moorings are more peaceful than Carnforth (petrol station, pub and arsonist scallies) or Lancaster (students!). There *are* some very frisky ducks there at the moment, though :lol:

 

the noise levels are well above what would be acceptable in, say, a suburban garden, and my father has taken coach parties there and had people back out because of the noise levels. You will be standing next to the motorway for an hour or more. Some will cope, many won't.

 

The end of the canal is three times as far away (150 feet instead of 50 feet) which means it is nine times noisier at the locks

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I can't say I've found the noise from the M6 particularly bad meself, though I've not tried sleeping there. We've had plenty of boats mooring for a few nights right at the end of the canal opposite the sani station, which is the same distance from the motorway as the locks, and presumably if it was that bad they'd have moved down to the visitor moorings proper which are a little further away.

 

Maybe the people on the coach parties were perhaps a little over-sensitive? I agree it's louder than your average suburban garden, but then again, so is the noise of a travelling narrowboat generally.

 

@TheWilk - have we met yet? Pretty sure I've clocked your boat - that wasn't you walking past the other day when we were having a brew (erm......"engaging in customer relations work") on the back of Gemma-Joy was it?

 

Andy

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I can't say I've found the noise from the M6 particularly bad meself, though I've not tried sleeping there. We've had plenty of boats mooring for a few nights right at the end of the canal opposite the sani station, which is the same distance from the motorway as the locks, and presumably if it was that bad they'd have moved down to the visitor moorings proper which are a little further away.

 

Maybe the people on the coach parties were perhaps a little over-sensitive? I agree it's louder than your average suburban garden, but then again, so is the noise of a travelling narrowboat generally.

 

@TheWilk - have we met yet? Pretty sure I've clocked your boat - that wasn't you walking past the other day when we were having a brew (erm......"engaging in customer relations work") on the back of Gemma-Joy was it?

 

Andy

 

Yes, that would be me! Wasn't that... er... yesterday, when I'd just moored up? :lol:

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