Barton Aqueduct Restriction

A restriction on opening times for Barton Swing Aqueduct has been announced. With effect from today until Thursday 30th September the aqueduct will be open to navigation by boats on the Bridgewater Canal between 9.15 am and 4.30 pm only.

This is due to temporary electrical problems with the aqueduct.

Normal Winter opening hours (9.15 am to 4.30 pm) will commence on 1st October. (In effect this means that the Winter opening times start a week early. The aqueduct would normally have been open until 9.00 pm up until 30th September.)


Barton Aqueduct seen from the Ship Canal

Leeds and Liverpool hire boat company to close

Rosewood Narrowboats, one of the hire boat companies forced to re-locate during the recent closure of 60 miles of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, is to cease operating at the end of the season.

Rosewood Narrowboats, which has been running for 5 years, has a fleet of seven narrowboats between 45 and 60 feet in length, catering for parties of between 4 and 8 people.

The company is based at Reedley Marina, near Burnley, which was in the middle of the closed section of canal. In order to continue in business and not to let customers down, the company's operation was transferred to Nantwich on the Shropshire Union Canal in Cheshire.

Nigel Feeney, who runs the family company, said that transferring everything to Nantwich had been a big upheaval and that a lot of time was spent travelling down there from Blackburn four times a week to turn the boats around.

The business will continue to run until the end of the season but will then close. The main factor behind the decision was the closure of half of the Leeds and Liverpool this year and the risk that this could be repeated in future years. Water supply has been an ongoing problem and there have been restrictions on lock use in previous years.

"It was a carefully thought out decision," Nigel told us. "We had to weigh up the risks, and I did not have enough confidence that it would not happen again."

"We have been selling holidays on the Leeds and Liverpool, and 99% of our customers want to go up over the summit to enjoy the scenic rural part of the canal. Our bookings have dropped off and the canal closure has damaged future bookings."

Nigel said that operating at Nantwich had worked quite well but had been costly in time and money. He had looked at the possibility of re-locating permanently but that would have needed a move of house because of the travelling time involved.

"We are doing this out of passion," said Nigel. "It has taken time and effort to get to where we are, but we can't drive the business forward when things like this happen that are out of our control."

The news comes just as boats start moving again on the canal. The section between Wigan and Colne re-opened last Friday and the remaining 20 miles between Barrowford Locks and Gargrave re-opened today. The sixty mile stretch was closed on August 2nd when reservoir levels reached exceptionally low levels.


Photo: Rosewood Narrowboats

Rain improves Leeds and Liverpool reservoir levels at last

The latest figures from British Waterways showing the levels of the four reservoirs dedicated to feeding the Leeds and Liverpool Canal's summit show that the total amount of water held has increased substantially since last week, thanks to heavy rain in the area. This means that British Waterways is now re-opening the canal between Wigan and Gargrave.

The reservoirs are now holding 17.7% of their capacity, which is 3.1% more than last week's figure of 14.6%.

British Waterways had said that levels would need to rise to around 20% before they could consider re-opening the 60-mile closed section of canal. However, the figure of 17.7% combined with further rain since the readings were taken has given BW the confidence to re-open part of the canal today and the rest next week. BW has calculated that there is now a less than 10% risk that the reservoirs will not be able to satisfy demand over the rest of the boating "season". The levels are still lower than normal so there will be restrictions on lock opening times.

While Lower Foulridge reservoir is still at just 11.1% of capacity, the other reservoirs are well up. In addition, the holding of Winterburn reservoir is now 76.7%, an increase of 17.9% on the previous week. Winterburn is not included in the figures for the summit reservoirs as there is a statutory obligation to provide compensation water from Winterburn into Eshton Beck, but the high levels mean that some water can be fed into the canal as well.


The reservoir holdings as of 13th September were:

reservoir	capacity when full	current holding	percentage of capacity	change since last week
Lower Foulridge	1,557 million litres	156 million litres	11.1%	up 1.1%
Upper Foulridge	442 million litres	97.6 million litres	28.5%	up 6.4%
Slipperhill	170 million litres	50.8 million litres	42.5%	up 12.7%
Whitemoor	658 million litres	108 million litres	19.4%	up 3.0%
average holdings of these 4 reservoirs			17.7%	up 3.1%

Boats will soon be passing through Greenberfield Locks again.

Leeds and Liverpool Canal to re-open in two stages

British Waterways has announced that the closed section of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal is to re-open in two stages, after the latest review of the reservoir levels.

The 40 mile section between Wigan and Barrowford will re-open on Friday 17th September. The remaining 20 miles from Barrowford to Gargrave will re-open on Wednesday 22nd September.

British Waterways staff are removing stop planks from above the Wigan, Johnsons Hillock and Blackburn lock flights in readiness for Friday's re-opening. Barrowford, Greenberfield, Bank Newton and Gargrave lock flights will re-open next Wednesday.

Restricted passage on the Wigan flight will resume as before the closure, i.e: ONE supervised passage starting at 10.00 am between Locks 65 (Wigan Top Lock) & Lock 85 (above junction with Leigh Branch. Any boats arriving after this time will have to wait until 10.00 am the following day for the next available passage.

Passage through other lock flights will be restricted to 9.00 am to 4.00 pm.

Vince Moran, operations director for British Waterways, says that the re-opening has been made possible by a significant increase in rainfall in the last two weeks.

He said, "We would like to express our sincere thanks to all of our customers, boating businesses and members of the public for their patience and understanding during this demanding time."

"While the canal has been closed we have been able to bring forward a number of projects which would otherwise have been carried out during the winter, including lock gate replacements and repairs and leak prevention works," said Mr Moran, adding that BW hopes to have a much reduced maintenance program on the canal throughout the Winter stoppage season.

Waterway manager Debbie Lumb said that three pairs of head gates have been installed (at Lock 44 Greenberfield, Lock 61 Johnson’s Hillock and Lock 65 Wigan Flight). In addition to the head gates being replaced, the tail gates, ground paddles and faulty masonry have been repaired or modified. Also wash wall repairs, by-wash maintenance and leak prevention works have been carried out.


Wigan Locks, Leeds and Liverpool Canal

Radio 4 Programme on Leeds and Liverpool

BBC Radio 4's "Open Country" programme was devoted to the Leeds and Liverpool Canal this week.

In particular the programme dealt with some of the issues around the closure of the 60-mile stretch between Wigan and Gargrave.

Presenter Helen Marks spoke to boaters who live aboard boats on the canal. She spoke with BW's Vince Moran about the reason for the recent closure of almost half of the canal. Mike Clarke of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal Society tells Helen about the canal's history and about his involvement with the Short Boat Kennet, one of the last unconverted boats which worked on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal.

The programme can be listened to on-line for the next few days by following this link.

New Manager for BW North East

British Waterways has appointed a new manager for its North East area based at Leeds.

Jon Horsfall, 39, comes to BW after a successful 20 years at United Utilities. Trained as a chemist, Jon's experience includes operations management, commercial activities, capital investment, water quality, safety and efficiency.

"BW is a custodian of one of the most important network of heritage structures in the country," said Jon. "Since my arrival I've been blown away by the passion and enthusiasm of my new team.

Jon is looking forward to the challenges ahead. "It's an exciting time to join the organisation as we work towards making the move to the third sector and all the challenges this will bring," he said. "My priorities are safety, customer service and increased efficiency and I'm looking forward to meeting our customers as I get to know the patch better in the coming months."


Jon Horsfall

Unwise boaters intimidated by youths

Two boaters were intimidated by a group of youngsters and left stranded after they unwisely chose to travel along an urban canal as darkness fell.

The pair, in their 30s, set out along the Ashton Canal in the evening and attracted the unwelcome attention of a group of youngsters who first spat from a bridge, then asked for money for a "mooring fee". The youngsters then opened paddles on a lock, leaving the boat aground away from the bank.

The two men, although not harmed, were worried that the youths would return, and stayed on the boat until morning, when they re-filled the pound.

The incident has been widely reported in press and television, although some reports failed to mention that the incident took place at 8.30 pm.

The Ashton Canal at one time had a bad reputation and some boaters are still put off the canal by hearing out-dated stories of doom. The truth is that the Ashton Canal is now considered to be safe - no worse than other urban canals. It is used by hundreds of boats each week, doing the Cheshire Ring, without any incident worse than getting rubbish on the propeller. However, groups of youngsters are known to congregate near the canal in the evenings and it is the accepted wisdom that boating between Droylsden and Ancoats should be done during the daytime.

It is unfortunate that the two young men, who live in Stockport, chose to travel through the Clayton area so late in the evening and that they have then gone to the media with their story.

Other boaters should not be put off travelling along the Ashton Canal as a result of this incident as long as they plan their journeys so that they travel during the daytime.


The Ashton Canal at Clayton

Leeds and Liverpool Reservoirs: Levels not improving

The latest figures from British Waterways showing the levels of the four reservoirs dedicated to feeding the Leeds and Liverpool Canal's summit show that the total amount of water held has reduced slightly since last week. This is disappointing news for anyone hoping for a swift re-opening of the canal between Wigan and Gargrave.

The reservoirs are currently holding just 14.6% of their capacity, which is 0.1% less than last week's figure of 14.7%. At this time of year British Waterways would expect these levels to be around 60%. Levels will need to rise to around 20% before BW can consider re-opening the 60-mile closed section of canal.

While the two smallest reservoirs are still more than 20% full, the largest of the four reservoirs, Lower Foulridge, is at just 10% of capacity, a reduction of 0.4% in the last week.

A spokesman for British Waterways explained that the reduction was due to "transpiration" due to the warm weather during the previous week. The current week has been wetter and it is hoped that the figures to be published next week will be more encouraging.

There had been concern for the well-being of fish in pounds on the Gargrave flight that were drying up but recent rain has helped to raise the levels of these pounds.

The reservoir holdings as of 6th September were:

reservoir	capacity when full	current holding	percentage of capacity	change since last week
Lower Foulridge	1,557 million litres	156 million litres	10.0%	down 0.4%
Upper Foulridge	442 million litres	97.6 million litres	22.1%	up 0.2%
Slipperhill	170 million litres	50.8 million litres	29.8%	up 0.1%
Whitemoor	658 million litres	108 million litres	16.4%	up 0.1%
average holdings of these 4 reservoirs			14.6%	down 0.1%

BW is constantly reviewing the situation with all the reservoirs feeding the canal with the hope of re-opening the navigation as soon as this can be done. On Monday BW suggested to the Lancashire Telegraph that the canal could remain closed until October.

The reservoir at Winterburn (capacity 1,270 million litres) is not included in these calculations at present because of BW's statutory obligation to supply a compensation feed back into the Eshton Beck (although some of this is being fed into the canal at Holme Bridge to maintain levels through to Skipton and Bingley).

The feed to the Leeds and Liverpool Canal summit was cut at the start of August, when reservoir levels were approaching 10%, resulting in the current closure of the sixty miles of waterway between Gargrave and Wigan. Some water has to be left in each reservoir to preserve the wildlife.

Foulridge Upper Reservoir. Photo: Richard Carpenter

Lift Bridge Problem on Rochdale Canal

A problem with Grimshaw Lane Lift Bridge is causing possible delays for boaters on the Rochdale Canal between Rochdale and Manchester.

The vertical lift bridge, which has had a number of problems since it was constructed in 2002, is currently undergoing repair and is not operable by boaters. Those wishing to pass through the bridge should contact British Waterways on 01782 785703 to arrange a passage.

Grimshaw Lane Lift Bridge is two miles north of the 19 locks between Manchester and Failsworth which require a booked passage, and between those locks and the recommended overnight stop at Irk Aqueduct/Rose of Lancaster.

Update, 10th Sept. 11.00 am:
The repairs to the bridge have been completed and normal boater operation of the lift bridge has resumed. There is no longer a need to arrange passage through the bridge.


Grimshaw Lane Lift Bridge

Leeds and Liverpool Reservoirs: Slow Progress Continues

The levels of the four reservoirs dedicated to feeding the Leeds and Liverpool Canal's summit are continuing to fill slowly, but it will still be some time before British Waterways will be able to re-open the canal between Wigan and Gargrave.

The reservoirs are currently holding just 14.7% of their capacity, which is 1.6% more than last week's figure of 13.1%. At this time of year British Waterways would expect these levels to be around 60%. Levels will need to rise to around 20% before BW can consider re-opening the 60-mile closed section of canal.

While the two smallest reservoirs are currently more than 20% full, the largest of the four reservoirs, Lower Foulridge, is at just 10.4% of capacity and this has increased by only 0.2% in the last week.

The reservoir holdings as of 30th August were:

reservoir	capacity when full	current holding	percentage of capacity	change since last week
Lower Foulridge	1,557 million litres	162 million litres	10.4%	up 0.2%
Upper Foulridge	442 million litres	96 million litres	21.9%	up 3.7%
Slipperhill	170 million litres	50 million litres	29.7%	up 7.7%
Whitemoor	658 million litres	107 million litres	16.3%	up 2.2%
average holdings of these 4 reservoirs			14.7%	up 1.6%

BW is constantly reviewing the situation with all the reservoirs feeding the canal with the hope of re-opening the navigation as soon as this can be done. On Monday BW suggested to the Lancashire Telegraph that the canal could remain closed until October.

The reservoir at Winterburn (capacity 1,270 million litres) is not included in these calculations at present because of BW's statutory obligation to supply a compensation feed back into the Eshton Beck (although some of this is being fed into the canal at Holme Bridge to maintain levels through to Skipton and Bingley).

The feed to the Leeds and Liverpool Canal summit was cut at the start of August, when reservoir levels were approaching 10%, resulting in the current closure of the sixty miles of waterway between Gargrave and Wigan. Some water has to be left in each reservoir to preserve the wildlife.

Foulridge Upper Reservoir. Photo: Richard Carpenter