Holed up on the L & L

We knew there would be problems with water levels on the Leeds & Liverpool canal, but water shortages and broken bridges seem to be affecting quite a few parts of the system at the moment.

The Macclesfield Canal has a lack of water and has closed its main flight of locks at Bosley, the Peak Forest Canal has a broken lift bridge which is causing a bit of a headache for boaters up near to Bugsworth Basin, including Holly the Café boat, Holly is stuck on one side of the bridge and their accommodation boat, Zero, is on the other. There are also water resource challenges on the Huddersfield and the Rochdale and we were lucky to get up the Wigan Flight before they shut it for repairs. And to cap it all, there’s a section ahead of us which has developed a breach. 

Bearing in mind that these canals are 200 years old, it’s not a complete shock that they have taken on some damage and sprung a leak. The weakest points do seem to be worn-out locks, overwhelmed embankments and collapsing culverts. That’s what’s happened here, it just looks like someone has pulled a plug, it only looks like a small whirlpool from above, but the volume of water running off is scary.

As you can see from the pictures, CRT have already built a dam on either side of the breach ahead of us and they are pumping water around it to raise the water levels downstream. 

It’s no one’s fault, it’ll be a combination of seepage and damage caused to the culvert by storm water and debris gradually washing out mortar and stonework. The downward pressure of the canal water weakens the damaged structure and can eventually cause the breach. Any boats in this section of canal will just see the water level drop and will be grounded until the breach is fixed. It is a bit of a worry that one day it’ll be our turn and we’ll be the ones waking up to discover out boat is at an horrendous angle sitting on the bottom of a dry canal. I have huge sympathies for anyone that this has or is happening to.

Having guardianship of the 2,700 miles of navigable waterways must be a bit of a nightmare. At 125 miles, the Leeds & Liverpool is one of the longest canals in England and seems to be having at least one major breach every year. Given the vast distances involved, the speed at which the Canal & River Trust respond to an incident is impressive. Repairs can be time consuming and expensive, but they get on with the job and do whatever they can to mitigate the situation for boaters in the vicinity.

Despite all of this, we are loving this way of life, you literally have to go with the flow! As it happens, we weren’t planning to go much further for a few weeks. The boat is tied up in a marina under the shadow of Pendle Hill and we’re heading off into the hills on four wheels. Hopefully by the time we get back from our travels there will be progress with the repairs.