British Waterways funding to be cut

[Steve Walker]

However, for my own personal preference, i would much prefer a neglected canal to fish on.

 

I agree. Neglected, non-navigable canals make far more interesting fishing and are also much better wildlife habitats. I knew several stretches of the Huddersfield Narrow Canal which have been re-opened over the last 20 years. When I was a kid, they were shallow, fairly fast flowing, gin clear, overgrown with reeds, iris and lillies and teeming with wildlife. There used to be a field centre on part of it, where schoolkids were taken pond-dipping on the canal. The fishing was exciting. Often we could see the fish. Now it's a uniform turbid trench. I dare say there are still fish there, but I don't think I'd get any pleasure from catching them.

 

It's surprising that you don't get Swampy and his mates picketing canal restorations. If someone wanted to turn a disused bridleway into a road, ripping out the hedgerows and overhanging trees and destroying habitat, they'd be there in a shot.

[Janet]

If the canals aren't kept open and used by boaters (and anglers!), how long do you think they'd survive before being filled in and built over for new housing and yet another Tesco or Sainsbury? I think we all have a duty to help keep as many of our waterways as possible open so we and our children and generations to come can enjoy them. Once they've gone, a part of our heritage is gone too.

 

I'm one of the first to understand the delights of a disused canal. We recently visited the Manchester, Bolton and Bury canal, and it was idyllic, though disused. On our narrowboat holiday in May this year we cruised the Birmingham and Fazely canal. The water was crystal clear. Nearly grounded the boat several times watching the fish! The northern end of the navigable part of the Lancaster Canal is also another beauty spot, well used by both boaters and anglers.

 

Yes, some of the canals are busy with boats, but is it not in ALL our interests to share the waterways and keep them open, clean and available as a valuable resource for the future? The Huddersfield Narrow Canal would be nothing but an empty muddy ditch by now if it hadn't been restored and kept open for boat traffic. At least it's still there, still being used, and by the way - it's full of fish!

 

Janet

[*Ant*]

If the canals aren't kept open and used by boaters (and anglers!), how long do you think they'd survive before being filled in and built over for new housing and yet another Tesco or Sainsbury? I think we all have a duty to help keep as many of our waterways as possible open so we and our children and generations to come can enjoy them. Once they've gone, a part of our heritage is gone too.

 

I'm one of the first to understand the delights of a disused canal. We recently visited the Manchester, Bolton and Bury canal, and it was idyllic, though disused. On our narrowboat holiday in May this year we cruised the Birmingham and Fazely canal. The water was crystal clear. Nearly grounded the boat several times watching the fish! The northern end of the navigable part of the Lancaster Canal is also another beauty spot, well used by both boaters and anglers.

 

Yes, some of the canals are busy with boats, but is it not in ALL our interests to share the waterways and keep them open, clean and available as a valuable resource for the future? The Huddersfield Narrow Canal would be nothing but an empty muddy ditch by now if it hadn't been restored and kept open for boat traffic. At least it's still there, still being used, and by the way - it's full of fish!

 

Janet

 

[Janet]

Huddersfield Narrow canal a "Uniform turbid trench" ?

 

I don't think so. Take a look for yourselves. Have a virtual cruise.

 

Huddersfield Narrow

 

Janet

[Steve Walker]

Huddersfield Narrow canal a "Uniform turbid trench" ?

I don't think so. Take a look for yourselves. Have a virtual cruise.

Huddersfield Narrow

 

I'm afraid those photographs confirm what I said. This section is where we did a lot of fishing when I was 10 or 11 years old.

 

In this photograph, you can see the tunnel above the lock. At that time, the lock was out of use and the tunnel was almost filled in. The water through that tunnel was only about 18 inches deep and fast flowing. It was full of huge gudgeon, which we used to catch using the top sections of our rods, pole-style.

 

 

Here's the view into the tunnel from the other end, and a view up the canal. See how barren it is? This used to be shallow and weedy. There were extensive reedbeds which channeled the flow, and lots of lilies. We used to fish into bays in the weed. There were shoals of big roach which could be seen passing through. We didn't, in all honesty, catch very much there. The clarity of the water made the fish hard to catch. Nevertheless, it was a magical place for kids because you could so often watch the fish.

 

 

Upstream, near to Scout Green, here's a lock which used to be a cascade into a very narrow and overgrown channel of water. We used to use our short "picker" quiver rods to fish little balsa floats down the stream. We caught, would you believe it, small brown trout. I doubt they've survived the renovation of the lock, they were dependent on the fast flowing water and to my knowledge didn't occur anywhere else in that stretch of canal.

 

 

This was a good spot. The flow of the canal was culverted, and came out in a fast flow. There was a deep run along the far side (where you see the fence) which could be fished with a stick float and which produced nice roach and the occasional chub. I'm sure it's still fishable, I expect it's not a bad spot, but I doubt that it has any real character now.

 

 

The bridge below is new. It used to be a culvert. The section above it was shallow and silted. There were alders fallen into the canal and growing into it. There were also some absolutely stonking bream and tench which could be caught by fishing the pole tight against the trees in the water. I found the fish while walking along the towpath on a sunny day, and spotted shoals of large bream basking. They wouldn't take a bait, but a return trip found that as the evening settled they could be caught near cover. I also caught lots of smallish pike on sprats here. That section is now contiguous with all the rest of the canal. I guess those fish could be anywhere. The section immediately below it always was a bit featureless.

 

 

 

With all these places, there used to be some interest, some character. Now each is just another stretch of souless navigation. I expect there are still fish there. Hell, there are plenty of fish in my local carp puddle (which actually looks remarkably like a navigable stretch of canal). I'm not saying it should or should not have been preserved as it was. I'm saying that it was a much nicer place to fish before it was restored for boat traffic. Whether ruining it for that reason was the right thing to do or not is a different question to whether it was ruined.

Edited October 14, 2006 by Steve Walker

[Andy_1984]

thats just great, most of the BW maintained waters here in scotland ive been to are in desprate need of that money. there was recently a huge canal project down here in glasgow connecting spearswharf to pinkston basin at a cost of millions and it was oly connected to a tiny little bit of water (Pinkston basin) its about the size of a standard football pitch the area surounding it is rancid with junkies/thugs/theives/ and the sorts. now in this area the council is talking of building luxury apartmants for people with expensive boats, now can you imagine some rich bugger cruising up the forth & clyde with tens of thousands worth of boat and parking it in a bad area cause i cant

 

 

huge waste of money and on the subject of the electric things, they done that hear aswel by the time they had started all the canal connection the fish were long gone and they musta stuned about atleast 2 roach