Grass cutting update
Grass cutting update In April’s NABO News, we set the scene for CRT’s mowing plans for this summer. So how is it going? Well it is clear that not all is well. The only really good point is that there are a very great number of wild flowers on the towpath fringes.In an unprecedented admission, […]
Meeting with CRT in May
Meeting with CRT A summary of the meeting by Mike Rodd and Anne Husar with Matthew Symonds and Rachel Hayward in May. Facilities review: CRT anticipates that the first part of a consultation will take place later this summer and will cover minimum cruising distances between services (e.g. a five-hour cruising distance, but also take […]
Happy 30th, NABO
Happy 30th, NABO Although formed in 1991, last year’s pandemic distracted everyone from NABO’s 30th anniversary. Here’s a belated summary of some of the issues facing NABO 30 years ago. Formation Phil Bland and Jon Darlington formed NABO, joining forces with Syd Beacroft and Dave Green, who had called a meeting to form a boaters’ […]
The Broads and canals – they are not the same …
The Broads and canals – they are not the same … Mark Tizard is getting used to his new boating environment. Hire craft on the Broads seem to have got larger and ever more sophisticated, with two decks. I wonder if the hire market has peaked, with prices ranging from £1300 to £3300 a week, […]
South West and Wales
South West and Wales A not very well-attended meeting of the South West Users’ Group, with only some 24 folk present (including numerous CRT people) but still a useful and well-structured session. The Regional Director, Mark Evans, gave a slick summary of the past year and, of course, highlighted the difficulties caused by the storms etc. […]
Towpath trials
Towpath trials Carolyn (CJ) Green watches the goings-on from her tiller. As you already know, CRT doesn’t possess a magic money pot, so improving crumbling towpaths is not high on its list of priorities. Instead, they look to outside agencies (councils etc.) for assistance. When Sustrans decided to upgrade sections of towpath, CRT must have […]
April National Users’ Forum
National Users’ Forum The April forum had poor attendance, with more CRT staff than other group representatives. Water resources – due to reservoir issues, the Chesterfield, L&L, Macclesfield and Peak Forest, and Huddersfield Narrow canals will probably all suffer to some degree from restrictions this ‘season’. Review of works – 13 winter stoppages have overrun […]
Effects of ‘bonfire of the quangos’ start to hit home
In the Chair Effects of ‘bonfire of the quangos’ start to hit home Mike Rodd analyses how DEFRA policy is driving the change in emphasis by CRT and the EA away from boating. We’ve seen many intriguing responses to our appeal for members to write to their MPs asking for support for CRT to continue […]
Editorial May 2022
Editorial Having had virtually unbroken sunshine since the last issue, the waterways have been at their busiest so far this year. But the increased lock usage, coupled with lack of rainfall and reservoir issues, means that it is only a matter of time before we’ll start to see restrictions appearing on some of the more […]
Thames Navigation Users Forum on Wednesday 13 April
Andy Soper of the Dutch Barge Association and NABO Member, reports on this meeting: I attended a meeting of the Thames Navigation Users Forum on Wednesday 13 April. Some 25 people attended with about 15 from user organisations including all of the principal boating user organisations (RBOA, NABO, RYA, ATYC, TMBA, IWA ) along with […]
