Forth and Clyde "not a safe place for holidaymakers"
Niall
the tugs and drivers of Delta Marine Services, who were subcontractors
on the restoration.
The owner of the company, Gary Ward, is quoted as saying that his
company had been seriously thinking of putting a dozen hire boats on
the canal, but had since changed his mind; "I don't think it would be
a safe place to have holidaymakers", he said.
An interesting point to me is that there is also a response from Jim
Stirling, BW director Scotland, but he seems to be talking about
incidents of stone throwing *during* the reopening cruise, which is
not mentioned anywhere else in the article.
I know there were incidents in the days after the opening cruise while
boats were returning east, but I wasn't aware of anything during the
opening.
There is a lot of stuff about the tug attacks being racist because the
company is English, but that's rubbish.
One of the reasons we wanted to do the opening cruise (turned down due
to lack of space) was that it appeared to be the only opportunity to
navigate the Glasgow bit of the canal safely.
Right from the start of the restoration proposal, I've always thought
this would be a serious problem; the canal passes close to bits of
Glasgow which are basically a war zone. This isn't just bad council
schemes, this is streets which look like Beirut. Places you don't go
through in a car because a brick through the window is inevitable, and
the buses don't go for the same reason.
Jim Stirling says in the article "This behaviour won't be tolerated
and is a matter for the police." but in terms of the sort of thing
which regularly goes on in these areas, a few boats getting bricked is
simply not going to rate a response. A murder a week is about the
going rate.
This is part of the reason the canal was closed; I can't see how it
can be reopened without addressing the problem which has certainly got
worse in the interim.
--
Niall
Pam Scruton
"Niall" reported a story from the Herald (formerly the Glasgow Herald)
I don't have a boat on the Forth and Clyde (not yet anyway) but I live
within easy reach of Bowling Marina and have cycled along the towpath
through Glasgow (including the more worrying bits) many, many times.
Only once have I felt at all threatened or afraid - and that was when
cycling with my children we rounded a bend and saw a transit van bearing
down on us at great speed along to towpath. My back wheel ended up
perilously close to the edge, we were subject to a degree of abuse and crude
comments but nobody got hurt and nobody got wet. The van belonged to a
group of travellers who had encamped (but were being moved on by the police
when we returned two hours later).
We (English) have lived here over 20 years and have experienced anti-English
sentiment from time to time. It happens more frequently to our
Scottish-born children (with more or less English accents) at school than it
does to us but even so, it's not something that regularly features in their
day or even their month - but it does happen. We have experienced far more
Scottish warmth and friendliness - this is our home. I doubt that
anti-English activities have been sufficiently well organised in recent
years to account for a concerted attack on any particular business. Sounds
like plain old-fashioned vandalism to me.
I also doubt that what may have been happening in Glasgow is any worse than
has been happening regularly in every other large city in Britain.
(Security in Leicester was the subject of a recent thread.) However it is
true that the Millennium Link restoration project represents a major
environmental change and has displaced or threatened to displace some
dealers and users who have treated some tow path areas as their 'safe'
territory - as can be seen by what they leave behind them. The opening
cruise brought thousands and thousands of people onto the tow path including
large numbers of BW staff and police who were around until quite late in the
evening. This is not what you want when you are used to going about your
'business' unobserved and unmolested.
What we want on the Forth and Clyde is many, many more boaters - loads and
loads and loads of them. We need local shops to understand how much they
could benefit from the canal trade so that local people have a vested
interest in making sure it is a success. The thousands of people who lined
the towpath during the celebratory cruise were there to see the boats and
wave at the boaters - not to throw stones at us.
From time to time I have joined women's groups reclaiming the night along
tow paths, river banks etc. - if we get more and more boaters on the Forth
and Clyde we will reclaim the canal (and keep the weed down much more
effectively than BW!)
Roll on the Falkirk Wheel
--
Pam
Take out thedog to reply
John Howell
Pam Scruton <Pam.S...@thedog.blueyonder.co.uk> wrote in message
news:lriY6.65603$J25.7...@news1.cableinet.net...
>
> "Niall" reported a story from the Herald (formerly the Glasgow Herald)
>
> I don't have a boat on the Forth and Clyde (not yet anyway) but I live
> within easy reach of Bowling Marina and have cycled along the towpath
> through Glasgow (including the more worrying bits) many, many times.
>
I just checked with the skipper oF a yacht that went through after the
opening ceremony and he reports no problems other
thaan repeated groundings and in Clydebank the locals were only too happy to
take ropes and heave him over
the shallow ground...He draws all of 1 metre!!!!!!
BW lifted the boat at Bowling to their cost to check for damage and remove
poly bags and weeds.
A second skipper reports similar experiences.
John
Iain and Ann Street
We agree that we need lost and lots more boats but BW, Scotland, with their
licensing policy is not exactly helping this. We are working on them!
We had stones thrown at us at Lambhill on the way back and although there
was a group of about 20 - 30 of them the thrower looked about six years old!
As far as we can gather from other boaters, this is where anyone who had
trouble had it and the rest of the canal through Glasgow was OK. In fact, I
have just been looking (again!) at a video of the event and the beauty of
the canal in Central Glasgow was a great surprise to me. I had heard all the
horror stories and expected a no mans land but no, it was as nice a bit of
canal as I have seen - anywhere!
BW are well aware of the problems in Lambhill and are working with the
Police on solving them. The local yoofs being aware of the fact that lots of
boats had gone west on Sunday, figured out that they would be coming back
again a few days later. We were sitting targets and they knew that. The
novelty of stone throwing at boats may ware off as more boats use the canal
or the activities of the local Police may convince them that they should
spend their time doing something more useful;. we live in hope.
Mind you, I can't blame the children for stone throwing as it seems to be
acceptable behaviour nowadays. I even encountered a mother with a small
child in a pushchair encouraging it to throw stones at ducks in our local
pond last week. She seemed surprised when I pointed out that this may just
result in an older child throwing stones at another child and causing
injury. "Oh, I hadn't thought of that, she replied".
Ann
Richard Lucas
news:9gtf82$b3aid$1...@ID-72921.news.dfncis.de:
> Well said, Pam,
>
And so do I. THe only place I have ever had stones thrown at a boat was on
Jemima D on a rural stretch of the Caldon Canal - by a child aged about
six. Of course Glasgow has yobs - where doesn't. Using the canal is the
best guarantee of keeping it safe.
--
Best Wishes
Richard
David Long
Lucas <Ric...@thelucases.fsnet.co.uk> writes
amount of indecent exposure thee, too - and the boys of Nancy - well, I
ask you!) We were also spat on in deepest Loiret at Briare from the
bridge we used to take Falcon's engine out.
--
David Long
Sankey Canal Restoration Society
http://www.scars.org.uk/
Updated June 2001 - another issue of our magazine CANAL CUTTINGS - illustrated
Ewan Scott
>
>One of the reasons we wanted to do the opening cruise (turned down due
>to lack of space) was that it appeared to be the only opportunity to
>navigate the Glasgow bit of the canal safely.
Oh, the old No Mean City syndrome. Sadly I no longer have the
opportunity to visit Glasgow as often as I'd like. I moved down to
West Yorkshire eleven years ago. I'll warrant walking through some
areas of Huddersfield or Wakefield is more intimidating than walking
through Glasgow.
>Right from the start of the restoration proposal, I've always thought
>this would be a serious problem; the canal passes close to bits of
>Glasgow which are basically a war zone. This isn't just bad council
>schemes, this is streets which look like Beirut. Places you don't go
>through in a car because a brick through the window is inevitable, and
>the buses don't go for the same reason.
I used to hear this sort of crap when I was at College in Glasgow, its
just not as bad as it is painted. Since I moved down here there have
been riots in virtually every main town in the North of England. Can't
recall seeing much on the news about these riots in Glasgow. Or is it
that things are so bad in the Mean City that the press and public are
inured to it?
>Jim Stirling says in the article "This behaviour won't be tolerated
>and is a matter for the police." but in terms of the sort of thing
>which regularly goes on in these areas, a few boats getting bricked is
>simply not going to rate a response. A murder a week is about the
>going rate.
And you think it's much different in any other large town?
As far as yobs lobbing bricks are concerned, we have had to take
evasive action in Wakefield, it's amazing how fast you CAN make a
barge run if you need to - the lazy little yobs couldn't be bothered
chasing after us.
And canoeing on the Huddersfield Broad we have more than once had to
abandon training and set off at race pace to avoid the bricks being
lobbed at us from above. Friends have had boulders dropped on their
canoes as they pass under bridges.
We can either pack it all in and let the thugs use the canals as
rubbish tips again, or we can carry on and press the authorities to do
something about it. But don't prolong the exagerrated stories of No
Mean City by making it out to be worse than it actually is.
Mind you, I can see how some megebucks cruiser might attract the
attention of jealous yobs - but narrowboats, I think would be less of
a problem. Just paint them in Partick Thistle colours and everyone
will fall about laughing at them rather than stone them :-)
Ewan Scott
Adrian Stott
Someone mentioned a property development going on adjacent to "some
canal docks" in Glasgow. Am I right (and sad) to conclude that this
is the obituary for the great collection of docks on the F&C in
Glasgow, which some criminal had cut off from the rest of the canal
with a highway interchange?
Adrian