The Bridgewater Canal Co have recently announced changes under the reciprocal agreement for CRT Licence holders.

If you are a CRT licence holder and wanting to visit the Bridgewater, then you need to know about this.

BCCL say

Please note we are now operating a no return within 28 day restriction under the reciprocal agreement with CRT. We have been working on these changes for a year and BCCL have now decided to bring them into play this summer to reinforce our enforcement work and to protect the Canal from abuse. To help prevent further exploitation we have introduced a no return policy to the reciprocal agreement which now reads as;

‘C&RT licensed crafts are permitted upto 7 consecutive days free navigation on the Bridgewater Canal. No return within any 28 day period’.

The information is published in a news item on their web site here

Licence terms and conditions are here. Note at this time they make no mention of return rules.

If a boater is passing one way, say from the Rochdale to the T&M or L&L within 7 days, this has no impact. If the trip is out and back on a short trip, there is a consideration to make, pay or wait. Share boaters with moorings on nearby canals may be badly affected.

We have asked the Company to update the licence site and for an opportunity to further discuss this issue.