Peter's Waterways Blog More boats could enjoy the Tidal Trent This was first published in IWA West Riding's Milepost in December 2015, as a summary of the challenges on the river.

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Fulbourne on the Tidal Trent

The East Midlands CRT Partnership, ably spurred by IWA East Midlands Region Chairman David Pullen, presented at its Annual Public Meeting an initiative to encourage more boaters to try the tidal River Trent, maybe with a buddying scheme to avoid being on the river with a single boat, and mutual exchange of information and experiences. This year we had one trip on an early tide from Keadby to Cromwell, and another from Cromwell to Torksey and back. Using experience of earlier trips in 2010, 2009, 1991 and 1978, this is the outcome of discussions with Sean McGinley the C&RT East Midlands Waterways manager.

There are some useful 'Sunken-Island' warning signs on the banks, but the words to 'keep left' or 'keep right' need binoculars or a good camera, to know which course to steer. I think they ought to be reinforced with a large arrow to be seen from the greatest distance, and Sean said he would hope to make some improvements in 2016. As a general observation, I contend that CRT doesn't understand the need of planning a boating trip: there will always be constraints, however leisurely the crew may be. From hireboats to all-season cruisers, everyone needs to be back to a point by a particular time, maybe the hirebase or a station for some crew to go home, or weekend in Bournemouth with Auntie Mabel.

Sunken island sign

Early morning descent of Keadby Lock

All disturbance to our turn-up-and-go Waterways culture is disruptive, and tides are an unavoidable example of the length of the contingency needed to meet any single need-to-be-there-then. I first wrote this on the Shropshire Union northbound on a Sunday morning, and ten days' hence we had to be at the NorthEast portal of Standedge Tunnel, and had a whole day in hand for contingencies. The next possible passages would be two or five days later, but with no guarantee of a vacancy in the three-boat maximum on either day. We have met boaters who have turned around having missed their slot, and those thinking that possibility so awful as to abandon their whole trip are unknown to the booking system as potential users. Many tidal Trent trips may well be disappearing this way in the winter-planning armchair, so anything to reduce the restrictions and uncertainties could increase use of the river. Sean will aim to improve the notices and the publication of lock keeping times as CRT's contribution to this.

All the lockkeepers were, as usual, helpful and willing to share their experience of the river. At Torksey, the conventional wisdom needs some (flood) tide, to be sure of clearing the bottom cill in both directions; on our trip up the lock we were persuaded to moor and await the next tide to be sure of clearing it, as "boaters aren't always sure of their own draft". This cautionary view can extend a trip to Lincoln or Boston by a whole day, and this may deter potential navigators. We need to emphasise the importance of knowing a boat's draft, and then extend the tide-height marker on the Torksey tidal moorings downwards by a metre to more accurately show all depths over, say 30"; this would allow most modern narrowboats to know when they can safely pass through the lock. Sean agreed to look into extending this marker.

Depth marker for boats on the tidal side of Torksey lock

Moorings above Torksey Lock

Above Torksey lock, the visitor moorings are so far upstream that a decision with the lockkeeper to bring a boat forward to lock through takes twenty minutes to implement if the crew has to walk back to the boat and then bring it forward. So the 'no overnight mooring' signs immediately above the lock are ignored by lockkeepers and regular users, so would be better phrased as 'mooring for next tide only'. Boaters moored at Torksey bemaoned the uncertainty of setting off for Stockwith without knowing the likely wait-in-the-tide for the lock. Some floating mooring pontoons would improve navigation safety, and that needs both debate and money.

The combination of Cromwell, Torksey, Stockwith and Keadby needs to be a co-ordinated service-to-navigators, keeping track of all moving boats and offering VHF and mobile advice before and during passages. As to VHF, it can be a daunting prospect to the inland navigator and we don't seem to be consistent in our application of the rules: we could seek to abandon the need of VHF below Gainsborough, or we could seek greater integration of VHF communication with hand-held mobiles (a long technical discussion is possible here) or we could seek further progress in ease-of-training to become a VHF operators.

Bend on the Tidal Trent

Trent Tide Diagram

As to understanding of the tidal pattern, I like the diagram from the June 1975 Waterways World article (p16) by John Liley which shows the 'cone' of the tide and allows prospective downriver navigators to plot their probable times and predict where they will meet the turning tide.

Heading downriver from Nottingham, lockkeepers were happy to estimate "You'll get through X tonight" meaning X would still be operated by a lockkeeper. One interpretation is that X is the limit of tonight's boating, while all the locks above Cromwell can be self-penned (in the local parlance) through up-to-five extra hours of light after lockkeepers go home. That's not clear from the website, which Sean said he'd review - and encourage the shouted advice to be "You'll need to work yourself through, after lock X" It's a boater's accident at Holme Lock which, we were told, has reduced the ability of the lockkeepers to use all the paddles in filling that lock: it now takes half an hour to fill, either from the cabin or the pedestals: compare this with Aire and Calder locks which have greater filling ability from the lockkeepers' cabin. Not only is the lock slower than it once was, but this slowness causes greater tolerance of waiting-for-an-approaching-boat because of the extra hour they would have to wait if they just missed a pen. The Trent is an enjoyable boating experience, which we can encourage even more boaters to try.

Moored above Gunthorpe Lock

Peter Scott @peterjohnscott