Canal cuttings – March 2025
Boat movements were down all last year. The winter was pretty quiet too. The seemingly unending storms wreaked havoc across the waterways system, bringing many trees down to block the navigation. There seems to have been a small spurt of activity for the February half term. Nobody is sure how the season will pan out. Some hire firms report bookings are slow. Private boats, whose numbers are increasing, tend not to travel far, and the trends are not very encouraging. Perhaps if we are blessed with some good weather, and not so many floods, things will pick up.
Water levels
Water is regularly being drawn off the summit canal at the top of the locks as there are some problems with one of the reservoirs. Also, with the earth embankment for the river Avon aqueduct near Welford, so the levels need to be kept down. Water management is a huge, if largely unseen and expensive part of Canal & River Trust’s responsibilities. Earth embankments can be a serious concern, as being artificial they are prone to sinkage and sometimes failure. Particularly if prolonged heavy rain soaks down to the foundations and makes them unstable. Also badgers are very fond of making their setts in the comparatively soft earth. They are protected by law and notoriously difficult to move once established.
Badgers
The old arm to the top of the Inclined Plane has a considerable embankment on the road side, and has been home to badgers for as long as anybody can remember. They were all re-homed, at considerable cost, when the arm was piled, re-lined and re-watered as part one of the proposed restoration of the Plane in 2003. This is currently not a feasible proposition. After the various financial crashes since then, the creatures have taken the opportunity to return. After dark a drive down the access road can be tricky, dodging rabbits, badgers, and the occasional fox or muntjac deer. Those who walk round the locks site and are observant may notice the dead bracken and reeds strewn across the top-arm path. These are being utilised to re-line the setts before the new growth takes over.
The swans are starting to nest hunt, and there is some rivalry between two pairs, causing a bit of noisy excitement at times.
Bridge 61 pub and shop is open every day 9.15am to 4pm with last orders for food at 3.00pm and 3.30pm at weekends. This is subject to change due to staff and weather conditions.
Mary Matts
New sports facility at Leicester Grammar School
Coronavirus journal – Living in a coronavirus pandemic
