Canal Closed for lack of water

[Slug]

Saw this on my local news last night.....not caving related as such....but look at who now stuck in Northamptonshire. (last interviewee) https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c24ml8v2lm7o

Nice to see he's ALMOST enjoying his retirement.

 

[Fulk]

Steve Round said; "But it's all down to water and there's nothing we can do about that; we can't blame anybody except nature." Really?

 

[underground]

The photo subtitled ‘Low water levels (pictured in 2025) have forced the closure of the Northampton Arm’
I might not know what I’m looking at; but it looks a lot like high silt levels as much as low water, how does a boat get over that even when it’s full?

 

[mikem]

You can see the normal water level on the walls - narrow boats only have a draft of 0.6 to 0.8m

 

[Slug]

Even then they still need a few tons of concrete ballast to get them to that draft level.

You can see the normal water level on the walls - narrow boats only have a draft of 0.6 to 0.8

 

[underground]

would the canal hold more water if it held less mud though, and is it supposed to have all that mud in there or does it need dredging?

 

[mikem]

Won't make any difference to canal operation as long as boats aren't grounding out or it blocks lock gates, although will increase individual fuel requirements due to drag

If they aren't ballasted then most narrow boats sit stern down as that is where the engine is

 

[Jim MacPherson]

would the canal hold more water if it held less mud though, and is it supposed to have all that mud in there or does it need dredging?

Dredging can have the unintended result of breaching the puddled layer as any time-served gongoozler would mutter about , so the water level would be even lower but the silt's pretty fertile stuff with quite good water retention qualities so the CRT could flog it to concerned gardeners.

To be honest the article smacks of August paper padding as not much happens with the added plus that it ropes in the latest (or 'on-trend') fascination with drought.

Jim

 

[wellyjen]

Won't make any difference to canal operation as long as boats aren't grounding out or it blocks lock gates, although will increase individual fuel requirements due to drag

If they aren't ballasted then most narrow boats sit stern down as that is where the engine is

Even with ballast, they are still ballasted a little stern down, as they handle better like that. Well, as well as a narrowboat can handle!

 

[wellyjen]

so the water level would be even lower but the silt's pretty fertile stuff with quite good water retention qualities so the CRT could flog it to concerned gardeners.

Unfortunately, a couple of centuries worth of industrial waste was poured into canals from factories built alongside, because, why not? Imagine you are the 19th century owner of the Belcher Toxic Chemicals Company and there is a canal alongside. What would you do? The silt has to be disposed of in registered waste disposal tips.

 

[alanw]

That reminds me of the radioactive silt at Maryport harbour (about 40km up the coast from Sellafield)

Radioactivity (Maryport) (Hansard, 22 December 1983)

Radioactivity (Maryport) (Hansard, 22 December 1983)

api.parliament.uk

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0265931X9090024P

 

[Jim MacPherson]

Unfortunately, a couple of centuries worth of industrial waste was poured into canals from factories built alongside, because, why not? Imagine you are the 19th century owner of the Belcher Toxic Chemicals Company and there is a canal alongside. What would you do? The silt has to be disposed of in registered waste disposal tips.

To continue in true gongoozler style (which should include a trilby and clipboard), CRT do flog silt as an agricultural soil improver after contaminant checks but they do have a slight problem with waste disposal as the water content it too high initially for most sites to accept.

Jim

 

[wellyjen]

Which is why CRT have their own registered disposal sites for dredgings

 

[Hunter1]

Pretty sure it was the same last year, just didn’t hit the headlines.

 

[mikem]

The silt photo is from last year - the difference this year is a caver being stuck! Seems that a couple of individuals opened every lock gate in June 2025, draining the pounds, which wouldn't have helped. Then:

Water shortages declared a 'Nationally Significant Incident'

The Canal and River Trust have been restricting lock access on a number of canals and from 26th August 2025 will be closing the locks at Braunston.

www.lnbp.co.uk

Somerset reservoirs actually have more water now than last August:

Current reservoir storage

Up to date information about Bristol Water's reservoir storage levels.

www.bristolwater.co.uk

Whilst Devon and Cornwall are slightly lower, but not as bad as 2022:

Reservoir levels | South West Water

Track our reservoir levels across our region on a weekly basis.

www.southwestwater.co.uk

 

[Slug]

Believe it or not, I only meant to say, "hey look, that's Steve Round, former proprietor of Bernies Cafe, the poor bugger is stuck at Stoke Bruerne due to low water".

Unsurprisingly, this thread has drifted into the realms of water management and silt removal/disposal, and narrow boat engineering.....I'm surprised nobody had invoked Godwin's Law and blamed it all on Albert Speer/Organisatzion Todt (ie: the Nazi's) yet.....

 

[owd git]

Believe it or not, I only meant to say, "hey look, that's Steve Round, former proprietor of Bernies Cafe, the poor bugger is stuck at Stoke Bruerne due to low water".

Unsurprisingly, this thread has drifted into the realms of water management and silt removal/disposal, and narrow boat engineering.....I'm surprised nobody had invoked Godwin's Law and blamed it all on Albert Speer/Organisatzion Todt (ie: the Nazi's) yet.....

Can we not ,somehow lay the blame on t' witch from Grantham? ( just an idea! )

 

[wellyjen]

Can we not ,somehow lay the blame on t' witch from Grantham? ( just an idea! )

The actual Grantham canal was closed when young Margaret Hilda Roberts was only eleven years old, so it shows her malign influence, even then.