Filling a Canal on The Cotswolds

[@7thDaughter]

This is exactly what I was looking for - thank you! I've been trying to find out about this network and you popped onto my feed just now, got to love the algorithms sometimes! Subscribed and look forward to more updates.

[@CourtAboveTheCut]

Some of my older stuff covers different sections of the canal. I’ve covered all of phase 1 and parts of 2+3

[@rogerclarke3291]

Superb video. seeing empty then full was cool; I would have loved to see the process. Thanks for sharing.

[@CourtAboveTheCut]

Thanks

[@stevem7868-y4l]

I enjoy these types of vids, easy going, informative and interesting

[@CourtAboveTheCut]

@@stevem7868-y4l thank you :) it’s the first easy one for a while, I seem to always end up down the rabbit hole!

[@malcolmrichardson3881]

Thank's for very informatibve update. As you say, it's always good to see water in a canal and they've done a great re-profiling job on that section. Onwards - and upwards towards Saul Junction!

[@CourtAboveTheCut]

@@malcolmrichardson3881 5 years hopefully 🤞 hopefully I’ll be on one of the first boats through

[@mikepowell2776]

Good to see what progress is being made. The canal’s dimensions were not useful just for the smaller throws. Clarke’s boatyard at Brimscombe built some fairly substantial steamboats, many for international clients, which were ‘extracted’ via the cut having been tested on the G&S canal.

[@CourtAboveTheCut]

Very interesting, I wasn’t aware, was that on the port itself?

[@Gizepi]

Great video Stephen. Audio also great after the magic bit. Sometimes I wish there were canals in my part of the world but none are left.

[@CourtAboveTheCut]

@@Gizepi it’s a new camera and mic, I’m still trying to get used to a few things but I’ll get there. Im glad you’ve said this as I did wonder if anyone would notice the difference!

[@davidh8664]

Top class video Steve and great to see more progress being made with the Canal, thank you !

[@CourtAboveTheCut]

@@davidh8664 thanks, soon we will be sat here talking about how they are digging the new channel, exciting times!

[@beverleybutler7685]

Good news and brilliant to see the hard work gone into it all!👏

[@CourtAboveTheCut]

@@beverleybutler7685 I think the next few years is going to reveal so much!

[@stephenholmes1036]

Well done

[@CourtAboveTheCut]

👍

[@dennyporter2447]

Wow.. great progress!

[@CourtAboveTheCut]

Amazing to see them filling sections isn't it!

[@marilynbalderstone696]

Getting there. It’s wonderful.

[@CourtAboveTheCut]

@@marilynbalderstone696 I can’t wait to be on a boat along there!

[@billbasherbill1364]

Thank you for another informative video .

[@CourtAboveTheCut]

@@billbasherbill1364 no problem, thanks for watching

[@RJ1164]

Health and Safety, then.

[@CourtAboveTheCut]

It’s the UK we are health and safety mad

[@tonycamplin8607]

A good start but lots left to do, hopefully it will be done soon. I was extremely surprised and shocked to hear that those lock gates needed replacing after only about 30 years. Surely the original canal lock gates lasted many times longer than that?

[@CourtAboveTheCut]

@@tonycamplin8607 wood rots, it’s even worse when it’s left to dry out. Most locks don’t last that long. There’s some interesting work going on with lock gates at the moment, the mon and Brec canal have made a composite/metal lock that looks really good. They’ve just installed a set at fourteen locks which I visited last week, I’ll make a video soon. You wouldn’t guess until you tapped them. They last 100-300 years, depending on material.

[@CourtAboveTheCut]

@@tonycamplin8607 and yes there’s still a lot to do, once John Robinson is done though the rest is much easier, it’s easier to build new than to restore

[@davejones8612]

Great to see, but a slight loss of sense of proportion to say how careful have to be when repairing lock gates because of some moss growth; it's like saying have to be careful to re-lay a road because there's an eco system in the gutter. Don't get me wrong, I like to see the growth on gates etc. and think it a shame will be lost in the renovations, but unfortunately you can't make an omelette without breaking eggs. If you've got to remove a bit of moss to re-point some brickwork, it's hardly the Amoco Cadiz.

[@CourtAboveTheCut]

@@davejones8612 my comment was actually meant more for the lock walls rather than the gates, that pointing houses so much. Canal restoration is all about environment now, it won’t get anywhere without that. If gates need replacing or repair then that’s more important than smaller ecosystems as without those repairs the canal won’t function and you’ll lose them completely. It won’t take long for them to reestablish themselves on a gate anyway. The whole canal is a nature highway

[@davejones8612]

Fair enough, but maintenance is maintenance.

[@CourtAboveTheCut]

@@davejones8612 I didn’t say it wasn’t, I was merely pointing out what habitats the locks hold.

[@davejones8612]

Obviously not, no one suggested otherwise; I'm just pointing out that maintenance is maintenance and has to be done, wherever it is and whatever loss is caused to moss etc. is inevitable. Great video anyway.

[@CourtAboveTheCut]

@@davejones8612 I’m with you, if you watch the video I made in between shooting each half of this one I meet with Gloucestershire wildlife trust who are working on this section to provide perfect habitat for voles. We go into the fact that it had to be stripped bare for the restoration but how the habitat before was poor anyway. Canals are a massive improvement even in their most sterile form which often isn’t the case. Current and Future funding will be based on mental health and environment rather than heritage, especially in times like now with the economic pressures on the cost of living.

[@TheDalaiLamaCon]

I walk the Planekeepers Path along the old towpaths that brought sand for building from Summerleaze Beach at Bude to the top of Hobbacot incline. I would love to be allowed to refill the old canal, I often get subversive impulses to drop a few bags of concrete in strategic locations,....(hope I didn't type that out loud).

[@CourtAboveTheCut]

I’ve never walked any of the canal down at Bude, I’d love to try and find some of the inclines

[@Dave5843-d9m]

Those habitats on the lock walls mentioned @ 11:00 are a serious issue. Leave them to grown and your wall falls down. Dig out the tenants and you destroy the habitat. Best bet is to build a proper job in the first place.

[@CourtAboveTheCut]

@@Dave5843-d9m you don’t want tree growth or large rooted things, the larger stuff in there will get knocked off as the locks are used but stuff like the mosses will stay, that’s excellent habitat without damaging the locks.

[@1258-Eckhart]

What an excellent magic jump cut - some precision camera work required for that!

[@CourtAboveTheCut]

There’s 3 drains there, I got there for the second bit this morning and it was fenced off 🤦🏻‍♂️ I’ve changed cameras as well so the zoom is different

[@thenoworriesnomad]

Excellent video..👍👍

[@CourtAboveTheCut]

@@thenoworriesnomad thank you :)

[@KevDYAD]

WRG BitM (Bit in the Middle) are there this weekend.

[@CourtAboveTheCut]

@@KevDYAD are they? I should really look at the calendar in navvies, do you know what they are doing?

[@anthonywhitehouse2295]

Why dont the modernisation of these locks widen them to take wide beam boats . There is no future vision in the sence of the more that can use it will .

[@CourtAboveTheCut]

@@anthonywhitehouse2295 these locks are massive, some of the biggest on the network. On others they are volunteer led, driven by charity funding etc. do you know the incredible cost you would add so wide beams could use them? It’s just not financially viable for a few extra boats

[@anthonywhitehouse2295]

@CourtAboveTheCut maybe the routes we be more used if they were open to be used. Lack of investment and lack of vision and greedy ownership.

[@CourtAboveTheCut]

@ I agree with lack of investment. What do you mean by greedy ownership all these things are charity owned

[@anthonywhitehouse2295]

@CourtAboveTheCut CRT Is a charity but with paid employment from the bottom up to the top , The Charity should be exactly that a charity. The money from boat down to the fishing licence should go directly into it. Its a bit of a p--s take claiming we need volunteers when they are a paid sector. OK I understand money for paper work to phone calls to lock gates but there would be more available.

[@CourtAboveTheCut]

@@anthonywhitehouse2295 CRT have very little to do with restoration though. All the trusts/societies are independent charities, nearly all of them are 100% volunteer led

[@Michael-ln7us]

I thought the locks being made from such thick wood would have lasted longer than 30 years. Maybe not

[@CourtAboveTheCut]

Wood rots very quickly when in the right conditions and canals are perfect for it. They are best when left full, drying out is the biggest issue

[@carlt570]

👍

[@CourtAboveTheCut]

@@carlt570 thanks

[@petercrossley1069]

It’s not “on” the Cotswolds. It’s “in”.

[@CourtAboveTheCut]

Well I’m talking about the canal not the region, you don’t say you are in a canal you say you are on it. You’d be in trouble if you were in it

[@altvamp]

It's in not on

[@CourtAboveTheCut]

@@altvamp I’m in the region of the Cotswolds, I’m on the Cotswold canal, I’m not stating the region I’m stating the canal. If I was in it my camera wouldn’t work

[@altvamp]

@CourtAboveTheCut But that's you not the canal, the canal is *in* the Cotswolds not on it! You might be on the canal but that's not what it says either.

[@CourtAboveTheCut]

@ I see what you are trying to say but it’s not what I’m trying to say. I’m 100% saying I’m on the Cotswold canal. I probably should have dropped the s on Cotswolds