Christmas cruising plans take a knock; Harecastle Tunnel closed to Granny Buttons

At a late stage I'd decided to continue my ten-year cruise up the Trent & Mersey Canal and around the Four Counties Ring, with a New Year detour to Manchester. 

But now it looks like I can't get through the Harecastle Tunnel.

Harecastle is the bottleneck for any Trent & Mersey Canal trip.  A claustrophobic, narrow 3,000-yard tunnel with gates and ventilation installed at one end and with keepers monitoring boat passage, it requires booking during the winter, normally with 48 hours notice. 

Because it's coming up to Christmas, I rang the new BW Manchester/Potteries office early last week to ask how much extra notice I needed to give for a passage next week, before the New Year.

"You'll need to book before Christmas", said the lady at the other end.

Because the canals were started to freeze over last weekend, I left it until the last moment - this morning - to make sure there'd be a thaw.  I didn't want to book and then find I couldn't make it.

Things now look good, with the ice thawing.  So this morning I rang the office again - only to learn that "before Christmas" meant Tuesday 22nd.  Despite the fact that the BW office is staffed today, Christmas began three days before, for office administration. 

I asked:  Could I go through with another boat if it's already booked through?

"Oh, no!  You must be pre-booked individually. They are very strict about that."

This sounds daft to me.  Surely it can't raise costs to have, say, three boats going through in a convoy instead of two?  And after all, it's not as if they are charging tolls.

Or is there another, more annoying and more bureaucratic reason at work here?   Based around administration rather than bankside staff?

Personally, I think a toll or surcharge for out-of-season passages would make sense on occasions like these.  I think I'd be willing to pay a surcharge for travelling through the tunnel over Christmas, to cover the extra cost of BW overtime.

Indeed, while it was laudable for BW to abolish tolls for the Standedge Tunnel and Anderton Lift five years ago, I think it makes sense to reintroduce them in places, in these straitened times. 

Meanwhile I'm trying to decide whether to turn up anyway (either on Monday or Wednesday, the two days when boats are currently booked) and see if they'll mind if I tagged along.  I'm sure the tunnel keepers aren't bribable, but perhaps they are amenable to a little, um, Christmas spirit?

It'll be an awful gamble to go all the way there and then have to turn tail at the behest of a jobsworth.

Granny is now at Barton Turns, south-west of Burton, and only lightly iced-in.  I'd hoped to set off earlier, but now plan to resume tomorrow, Christmas Day.

It's a near-repeat of exactly three years ago, when I 'christmas-eved' at Willington and spent the whole of Christmas Day on this same stretch to Fradley Junction.

Dammit, if you are alone at Christmas anyway, there's no better way to spend it than at the tiller of a canal boat.  But I'd like to have a destination in mind.  And a city destination for the New Year.

Comments

[Ray Oakhill]

I went through here solo in the summer and I would not fancy going in convoy, especially if I was the last boat. Even going solo, the fumes were quite horendous after another boat came through in the opposite direction. Good luck, if you are going to chance it. I'm sure all the jobsworths are in the office and not out getting their hands dirty!
Oakie

[Martin Clark]

Andrew - it wouldn't have helped you phoning this morning, but the Waterscape site currently says:
"The last date for booking passage through the Harecastle tunnel for travel between Monday 28th December 2009 and Monday 4th January 2010 will be 5.00 pm on Wednesday 23rd December 2009 by phoning 01782 785703."

[Alan Glass]

Hi Andrew, a similar event happened to me when trying to use Frankton locks two summers ago. Trying to come onto the Llangollen canal all passages were booked 12 was the maximum, however the long standing lock keeper smuggled me through no questions asked....just go for it and get your hot toddies ready for thr tunnel men.

[Richard]

If I were you I would just turn up, I did last Monday, having previously booked Wednesday because of the Middlewich stoppage, and they let me through, no questions asked. A bigger problem for you may be the ice. It's pretty thick up here at the moment.

[Mike]

Same reason is preventing me from setting off Southbound on Zulu, as with the ice I couldn't make my booked slot through Harecastle last Monday, and uncertain about which day I am now likely to reach the tunnel, I am probably forced to take the Shroppie south instead rather than risk turning up on spec.

Not only is there no way to book a passage now, but there is also no way to cancel an existing booking despite the ice. Wouldn't a simple online form be so simple!