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hi all which are the uks quietest canals least used?


colin1325

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Why do you ask? Seems a rather curious question unless you have a specific reason to need to know.

 

I'd nominate the Cromford canal as its short, and landlocked. Never been there to see though!


On reflection its probably the Basingstoke, as you need to book each passage in advance due to lack of water.

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The Chesterfield is very quiet too. I think many people are put off by a tidal river passage to get onto the canal. They really need not be, unless you have an especially under powered boat The Trent is a lovely river to cruise (providing it is given the respect it deserves)

 

It is such a beautiful canal I often wonder at why more people do not visit. I remember one very beautiful sunny August Bank holiday Sunday when I counted a total of 5 boats pass our mooring all day, two of them were boats that winded and came back to the mooring again.

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The Chesterfield is very quiet too. I think many people are put off by a tidal river passage to get onto the canal. They really need not be, unless you have an especially under powered boat The Trent is a lovely river to cruise (providing it is given the respect it deserves)

 

It is such a beautiful canal I often wonder at why more people do not visit. I remember one very beautiful sunny August Bank holiday Sunday when I counted a total of 5 boats pass our mooring all day, two of them were boats that winded and came back to the mooring again.

I would suggest that 5 moving boats is a lot! We went a whole day on the Middle Levels in August without seeing a single moving boat. I would suspect northern BCN would be similar.

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I would suggest that 5 moving boats is a lot! We went a whole day on the Middle Levels in August without seeing a single moving boat. I would suspect northern BCN would be similar.

 

It was a lot for The Chessie ......... we regularly go whole days in August without seeing a moving boat........... and it wasn't really 5 moving boats, it was three because 2 of they were the same boat returning after a trip to the winding hole

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The quietest one is the one I enjoy ..... and for that reason I'm not saying any more.

 

There is a potential problem with that....... no moving boats >excessive weed > any boats that want to move struggle > boaters tell everyone how difficult it was to travel the canal > fewer boats come.

 

Did you know there are counters on certain locks to show how often it has been used? CRT know which canals get the most use and with limited funds they will direct the money for maintenance to the canals where it benefits most boaters > fewer boats = less maintance

 

Enjoy your quiet canal while you can before it reverts to a ditch

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There is a potential problem with that....... no moving boats >excessive weed > any boats that want to move struggle > boaters tell everyone how difficult it was to travel the canal > fewer boats come.

 

Did you know there are counters on certain locks to show how often it has been used? CRT know which canals get the most use and with limited funds they will direct the money for maintenance to the canals where it benefits most boaters > fewer boats = less maintance

 

Enjoy your quiet canal while you can before it reverts to a ditch

 

I have been saying this for ages about the Northern system, particularly the North Eastern bit. Now that just about all the commercial traffic has gone (Exol Pride aside) you can see a case for allowing the Northern Waterways to be given much less priority for funding as cash gets tighter. There is very little hire boat activity too so very little reason to keep them open from that angle too.

 

Those big hydraulic locks and electric swing and lift bridges must cost a fortune to maintain for a start, from a purely financial perspective it's a no brainer really if you want to save money to keep the rest f the (much busier) system running.

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The Chesterfield is very quiet too. I think many people are put off by a tidal river passage to get onto the canal. They really need not be, unless you have an especially under powered boat The Trent is a lovely river to cruise (providing it is given the respect it deserves)

 

It is such a beautiful canal I often wonder at why more people do not visit. I remember one very beautiful sunny August Bank holiday Sunday when I counted a total of 5 boats pass our mooring all day, two of them were boats that winded and came back to the mooring again.

All in one day. I used to moor on the HNC. 5 in a day was almost unheard of!

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In 2015 at the monitored sites, the recorded annual lock usage varied from 30 for the Top Wide Lock at Ellesmere Port to 9101 at Hillmorton Locks 2/3.

 

https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/media/original/323-annual-lockage-report.pdf

 

 

At Turnerwood it gives 236 boats in 2015 - that is 1.54 boats a day. Given that any boat going up through Turnerwood must then turn around and come back down (there is nothing other than visitor moorings above that lock) it puts the figures into perspective for our canal.

 

We will be going through there with 2 boats on Friday so that will cause some excitement!

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