Sunken and damaged boats, thanks British Waterways!!!

A follow up to the video I did last year, same spot same boats, it seems that British Waterways, the governing body of the UK canal system, seem to not care about keeping the canals tidy and looking good, only about getting their money from licence payers and sinking the boats of those unable to pay...

Three of the boats have been there for well over a year, the fourth appearing within the last few months, so either this is a BW dumping ground, or people are coming to dump their boats, who knows!!!

Anyway, I spoke a few comments, so have a listen... :)

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• boats

[MrGrafted]

That Narrowboat is still a fair bit of cash.. Wondering why its been abandoned?

[twocvbloke]

@MrGrafted

Story goes that it was someone's home, moored up in Salterforth, couldn't keep up with the bills and license fees, British waterways took the boat and impounded it at Barrowford locks, not even giving them the chance to remove their belongings...

Last I heard of it though, it was saved from the BW boat crusher as was being restored and refitted, so it didn't end up suffering the same fate as the Norman boats next to it...

[gregfereday]

hi mate, are there any abandoned narrow boats near you now? if so please contact feredaygreg@hotmail.co.uk for reward. thank you

[twocvbloke]

@gregfereday

I don't know, I haven't been up by the canal for a while, so if there are any, I wouldn't know about it...

As for "rewarding" finding abandoned or impounded boats, is that even legal? ;)

[manaylor]

Can anybody squat on these abandoned boats?

[twocvbloke]

@manaylor

I wouldn't recommend it, unlike with houses, taking a boat is theft of property, and no matter whether you claim squatters rights, you would have zero rights and would be removed and arrested if caught... :(

Shame though, there are plenty of boats like this that have been either abandoned or taken by BW and are just wasting away... :(

[TheTomWarp]

Three letters.. T.L.C

[MrGrafted]

@twocvbloke Darn shame for the people who owned it. Even not being able to keep up the costs, that means selling it asap i would think. My self and new wife are gonna be buying a narrowboat soon and liveing in it full time. Much cheaper, nicer way of life. Thay cost a bomb.

[sharksandwich100]

i'm well up for that roast goose lad, i'll come round yours yeah? reet

[twocvbloke]

Ah, I couldn't tell you the difference between a springer and a josher, all these different names for boats!!! :S

From the info I have got from someone on a canal forum, the owner used to live on the boat at Salterforth, and when BW took the boat away, he was made homeless, all his possessions left on the boat, so he was left with nothing but the clothes on his back... :(

But that said, he was in financial difficulty and couldn't pay the licence fees, so in the end, BW did what they did... :(