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Look after it, or Lose it.
The picture above was a view of the British Waterways Depot in Harby taken in mid-February 2009. Despite being during the winter season when most of the vegetation dies back, the view is one of total neglect. BOWS' fund-raising and pressure on British Waterways has successfully enabled the Grantham Canal to benefit from two successive years of reed cutting which has transformed the state of the canal, particularly between Long Clawson Bridge and Plungar. The changes are particularly noticeable to the east of Harby.
For too long, insufficient resources have been made available by British Waterways to maintain the Grantham Canal to the standard we expect from the custodians for one of the Vale's greatest assets. However, the 2010 Reed Control Project has demonstrated that for relatively small sums (a budget of £20,000), can achieve a dramatic impact and British Waterways are now making provision to repeat the exercise on an annual basis.
The reed cutting operation which took place in March 2009, and then again in February 2010 has focussed on reducing the suffocating effect of Phragmites Australis (Norfolk Reed) and, consequently, the depth and rate of water flow noticeably increased. BOWS is now campaigning for work in the winter of 2010/ 2011 of the canal to be focussed on the problems of bulrushes and water soldier, particularly between Plungar and Redmile. The funding required to undertake this work would be approximately £20,000 but, without it, the canal in this area is certainly not canoeable at any time of the year.
An Amphibious reed cutter tackling reed outside the British Waterways depot in March 2009. BOWS is campaigning for this to take place at least every year or for the Norfolk reed to be dug out of the canal entirely. |
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