Canal Cuttings
So we have ended up in a drought situation again.
After a wet winter and pretty full reservoirs, the very hot and dry summer meant that levels were rapidly reduced. Saddington reservoir was soon empty and also suffered some vandalism; the summit reservoirs were also severely depleted. The locks from Kibworth down to Leicester closed first. By July the Foxton flight had working hours reduced from 8am – 6pm to 10am – 3pm. As of 12 August, they were further reduced to only opening Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, 8 – 12noon.
The hire boats from Market Harborough were moved to North Kilworth. Private boats had to scramble to get where they wanted/needed to be. It has been announced that the whole Leicester Line will close on 1 September, which is another severe blow to the many businesses that rely on canal trade. At least, unlike last year, the locks managed to stay open throughout the school holidays but it is still a bad situation.
Similar to 1976
People are comparing it to 1976, but the circumstances then were different. 1975 having been a very dry year and the reservoirs started the year low. The outcome is the same though and obviously many other businesses and people are affected. Not to mention the vegetation and wildlife. In 1976, the weather broke on the August Bank Holiday Monday, when there was biblical rain and it then rained consistently for several weeks. We went from drought to flood conditions very swiftly. Structures like embankments are vulnerable to these changes. The whole canal system (which is now well over 200 years old) is suffering failures. The backlog of maintenance gets longer and there are currently very few waterways fully open to navigation. Many people are selling their boats, some after decades on the water.
Canal & River Trust tried to put together a summer programme of events to attract the public. Some of which were more successful than others, but the good weather has at least ensured that the visitor numbers have been fairly high. Although everybody is disappointed if there are no boats on the move).
Mary Matts
Festival of Cycling
