Thanks to Steve and Nick Hudd for taking the trouble to pass on the
information.
We have received information from the British Waterways Marketing and
Communications section at Willow Grange, Church Road Watford WD1 3QA
and highly recommend that anyone interested should contact them. The
pamphlets include a really good map, and a booklet called Explore London's
Canals. The information is so well presented, that it is almost a
temptation to hop on a plane and get over there to see it.
Nick says that much of the system is derelict or impassable, but the
booklet sounds really optimistic, and it seems as though there is a
'community conscious' about the role canals could play as recreational and
environmental pleasure - at least in the British Waterways organisation.
Maybe the London sections, with its greater population base, and therefore
public monies available, is more able to get on with the job ?
When we lived in England, we always felt that they should have got back
to the Canals for transport, using hovercraft type vehicles, which would
mean they could be used, even if the canals themselves were in need of
repair - but the government of that time rather sneered at my suggestion -
I thought it would get a lot of noisy smelly vehicles off the roads (and
into the nice quiet clean canalside parts of the country?) but they didn't
agree. Oh well, it was just an idea.
Cheers from Australia
Eunice and Ron
At 18:18 16/11/98 -0500, Nick Hudd wrote:
>Further to Steve's comment, I would add that the canal was strategically
>important in England's commerce. It linked the country's main canal system
>to the midlands and north, with the docks in the east of London (via the
>route which Steve describes). In theory you still can travel almost
>anywhere in this country by water because of the canal system (but only in
>theory - much of the system is derelict or impassable)
>
>Nick Hudd
>
>
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