Boater ties up to ladder, ignores new bollards

British Waterways spent hundreds of thousands of pounds last year fitting three 'bollards' to every narrow lock on the canal system.

The point was to ... well, there were a variety of reasons, but one reason advanced was that many inexperienced boaters were tying up to lock ladders and bending them.

Yesterday at Glascote Locks I spotted a single-handed narrowboater tying up to the lock ladder and ignoring the bollards.  The boater had the air of someone experienced - he'd only opened one paddle anyway, and then returned to the boat immediately.   He wasn't in a hurry, and the boat was certainly not a hire craft.

It's clear that BW Technical Director Jim Stirling, who took the decision to install all these new posts, has his work cut out justifying them.  If the boaters won't use them, are they a waste of time?

Indeed, the lock ladder proved an adequate hitching post for this boater, so if one is worried about the ladders being bent, why weren't they simply redesigned to be stout enough to tie up to?

I guess it's a matter of BW director's will being in direct conflict with the BW customer's won't!

Comments

[Chris]

If you're single-handed, its just so easy.

Stops the boat doing any harm when it moves as you open the paddle(s), and you can stroll back without rushing.

[Paul Savage (NB Adreva)]

I stopped under a bridge near Middlewich Easter 08 as it was starting to get painful in the Hail Storm. My wife and kids called me a wimp - albeit from the safety of the cabin, with the fire on!!!

[Sandra & Barry]

Hi there. We went past Streethay Marina yesterday and were dissapointed not to see you there, then saw that Granny Buttons was in dry dock! We only left Glascote and came through the locks yesterday - when we were there a narrowboater had decided that as it was raining he would wait until it stopped - in the lock! There were 6 boats waiting to go through. There are certainly some unusal characters on the waterways!
NB Northern Pride