The following has been taken from a press release issued by the Canal and River Trust:
Canal engineers have been buoyed
by the support of local boaters as they attempt to assess the full damage
caused to the historic Calder and Hebble Navigation by the Boxing Day floods.
Members of the Calder NavigationSociety (CNS) and Inland Waterways Association (IWA) have been offering their
boat-handling skills to enable staff from the Canal and River Trust to
assess the damage from the water.
The floods were some of the worst
ever seen on parts of the waterway network in the North and the scale of the
damage means that the Trust’s own workboats either can’t get to some areas or
are being used on other flood-related repairs.
Using a boat lent by hire firm
Shire Cruisers at Sowerby Bridge, members of the CNS and IWA have taken staff
from the Trust out on to the water to get a better look at lock gates and
mechanisms and also to check out any obstructions in the water. The Safe AnchorTrust based in Mirfield has also made a similar offer of help.
Jon Horsfall, waterway manager
for the Canal and River Trust said; “We were delighted to receive the offer
from the Calder Navigation Society, IWA and Shire Cruisers and it’s been a
genuine help in enabling us to get a clearer picture of the damage caused by
the floods.
“Their offer has helped us to see
things that you wouldn’t be able to from the towpath and to get into hard to
reach places on the opposite side of the canal. It’s a fantastic, and very
warmly received, example of people pitching in to get things back up and
running as quickly as possible.”
Mike Fretwell, Secretary of the
Calder Navigation Society said; “The damage to the navigation is obvious and we
wanted to help out in any way we could to get things reopened as quickly as
possible. While we may not be experts in bridge construction, we are practised
boaters and used to operating locks and so we were happy to offer our help in
surveying the navigation, where possible by boat.”
Nigel Stevens from Shire Cruisers
said; “Everybody is pitching in and it was nice to be able to help. We had one
of our hire boats available and wanted to do our bit to help get things back up
and running.”
Elaine Scott, IWA West
Riding Branch Chairman said; “It is brilliant that the Canal and River Trust
can bring different people together to try and get the navigation open as
quickly as possible”.
For more information on the
impact of the Boxing Day floods on the region’s waterways go to:
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