Well done Wiltshire Council for taking a step in the right direction. So often bureaucracy blights people's lives. The Canal and River Trust has not got off to a good start and seems to be continuing the history of mis-management of British waterways. No doubt there are many people employed by them, who have no interest in canals and rivers making decisions about things they have no experience of. C'est la vie !
I live on a boat & just found this video & it is really great. Thank you. More councils need to support the boating community and canal and river trust need to uphold the continuous cruisers way of life :-) Well done Wiltshire Council
We were on the Avon & Kenington for a few days and were amazed by the number of canal dwelling people - everyone was really wonderful - its easy to see the attraction
It's really simple . If you choose the lifestyle of continuous cruise you will need to be either retired, able to work from your boat or own a car / bike for long distant travel. If you have kids and school them at a fixed establishment then a long term mooring or a marina mooring is essential ( universal credit offer housing benifit for low income boaters ) . Staying in one Pacific area makes it difficult if not impossible for other boaters to find a visitor mooring when continuous cruises hog those moorings . I continuous cruised for 15 years until I fell in love with a certain area ... I now have a linear mooring belonging to canal and river trust . I live on a 54ft boat . My total mooring fee including the licence fee is £233 a month .
Credit to those that live this lifestyle. Ive been on the canals and really there is a bad element in wrecked boats turning the tow path into a mess. Shanty town and slum springs to mind. They exist in housing estates too no just canals. Live aboad boaters need joint representation and they need to get rid of those that want to turn the waterways into Shanty towns. CRT should be forced to have live aboard boaters involved and consulted in the management of the waterways, they are there for everyone.
Unfortunately, the canals will go the same way as every other community resource in the UK. Big corporations see potential for profit., they get involved through some kind of ('well we had to in order for canals to survive' old chestnut) Firstly through the development of lots of private marinas, then more directly with the actual canal network. Then costs go up and Canal usage changes towards the most profitable enterprises (not liveaboards). There is no part of UK society safe from capitalism and the big fat cats anymore. Cheap family run campsites now run by huge companies that rip your wallet apart. Parks being closed and the spaces being bought and used by developers for housing profits. And now the canals are in their sights. There were laws in the UK to protect open spaces like Greenbelt, but they have been ignored and overturned in favour of profit. It would be useless to even think of asking for protection on the canals from corporate destruction, as it would just get overturned or ignored. People and communities don't matter anymore unless they can be used for financial rape. It may sound alarmist or dramatic, but its the absolute truth, its happening and its very sad and wrong.
Like everything the big people money and security victimise the people who lv this life and choose it as there lifes leave the boaters to live there lives you have your security let them have there's
Well done Wiltshire Council for taking a step in the right direction. So often bureaucracy blights people's lives. The Canal and River Trust has not got off to a good start and seems to be continuing the history of mis-management of British waterways. No doubt there are many people employed by them, who have no interest in canals and rivers making decisions about things they have no experience of. C'est la vie !
I've just come across this piece on TH-cam I hope all the canal boat community are well and still enjoying there freedom 👍
I live on a boat & just found this video & it is really great. Thank you.
More councils need to support the boating community and canal and river trust need to uphold the continuous cruisers way of life :-)
Well done Wiltshire Council
Interesting & informative documentary. Good luck to all the canal boaters.
Nick Hill I wish I could live this way
We were on the Avon & Kenington for a few days and were amazed by the number of canal dwelling people - everyone was really wonderful - its easy to see the attraction
I could dig life like that
It's really simple . If you choose the lifestyle of continuous cruise you will need to be either retired, able to work from your boat or own a car / bike for long distant travel.
If you have kids and school them at a fixed establishment then a long term mooring or a marina mooring is essential ( universal credit offer housing benifit for low income boaters ) .
Staying in one Pacific area makes it difficult if not impossible for other boaters to find a visitor mooring when continuous cruises hog those moorings .
I continuous cruised for 15 years until I fell in love with a certain area ...
I now have a linear mooring belonging to canal and river trust .
I live on a 54ft boat . My total mooring fee including the licence fee is £233 a month .
thank you for sharing
Credit to those that live this lifestyle. Ive been on the canals and really there is a bad element in wrecked boats turning the tow path into a mess. Shanty town and slum springs to mind. They exist in housing estates too no just canals. Live aboad boaters need joint representation and they need to get rid of those that want to turn the waterways into Shanty towns. CRT should be forced to have live aboard boaters involved and consulted in the management of the waterways, they are there for everyone.
Unfortunately, the canals will go the same way as every other community resource in the UK. Big corporations see potential for profit., they get involved through some kind of ('well we had to in order for canals to survive' old chestnut) Firstly through the development of lots of private marinas, then more directly with the actual canal network. Then costs go up and Canal usage changes towards the most profitable enterprises (not liveaboards). There is no part of UK society safe from capitalism and the big fat cats anymore. Cheap family run campsites now run by huge companies that rip your wallet apart. Parks being closed and the spaces being bought and used by developers for housing profits. And now the canals are in their sights. There were laws in the UK to protect open spaces like Greenbelt, but they have been ignored and overturned in favour of profit. It would be useless to even think of asking for protection on the canals from corporate destruction, as it would just get overturned or ignored. People and communities don't matter anymore unless they can be used for financial rape. It may sound alarmist or dramatic, but its the absolute truth, its happening and its very sad and wrong.
Neoliberalism my friend.
The Narrow Boaters need a spokesman to address all these issues and be a go-between to resolve some of the problems they face.
I agree, yet if we had so called leaders who prevented repressive behaviour instead of instigating it, this would not be necessary.
excellent insight
It would help to get rid of the nasty unkept boats. Leave these nice folks alone. They keep up their boats and add to the community.
Living a a tiny environmental footprint too!
i have to learn the wiltshire accent and this is really useful lmao
looks like a great way of life, but I dont think I'd want to try it without a permanent mooring if I'm honest.
when I go to sleep at night I try to dream of living on a narrowboat with my dog
Seems to me there's always some authority that will make people's lives harder
GOOGLE PRIME has a wonderful series on NARROWBOATS.
Like everything the big people money and security victimise the people who lv this life and choose it as there lifes leave the boaters to live there lives you have your security let them have there's