History Lesson time and more on The Association of Pleasure Craft Operators

Moored Nethercote, Oxford Canal

It’s the Oxford Canal where we are moored, between Braunston and Napton Junction, but it shares it with the Grand Union Canal on it’s way to Birmingham.  The Oxford Canal Company were so peeved that traffic from London was now using the Grand Union Canal and not the Oxford Canal and River Thames anymore that they petitioned Parliament for the Grand Junction Canal (later the Grand Union) to pay massive tolls for boats using their bit between Braunston and Napton.  That at least gave them some compensation for loss of traffic south of Napton. 

The Oxford Canal is a canal of contours, finding it’s way round the humps and bumps of the countryside, and from where we are moored north it was straightened saving a lot of mileage for the boats.  South of where we are moored no straightening has taken place, and in some places it takes an hour just to go 200 yards as the crow flies as it rounds a huge hill rather than go over it through locks.

It was while out walking today that I discovered part of that straightening just to the south of Braunston, here some of the old canal in water, you can even see the old towpath on the other side….

There is no bridge where I took the photo from, just a path, and on the other side of the path opposite this….

You can easily follow the old line of the canal as it bends to the right.  You can’t see it very well in the pic, but there is quite a depression in the land, and the tree line would have been the towpath.  It is continuing round to Braunston where it will cross the now straight canal at Puddlebanks and go around to Braunston, I think I am right, through the marina before bending off to the left again.

Ha history lesson for you then and I was never much good at history at school!

The blog about the Association of Pleasure Craft Operators certainly made a lot of people comment.. Here are all the comments.  I have also had an awful lot of emails.

Thanks for all those comments and emails, I have enjoyed looking through them and reading your thoughts.

I am still at a loss as to why a trade body such as APCO are asking private boaters to sign such a petition.  I feel, like one of my email correspondents, that there is a more sinister reason.  All to do with hire boats wanting more of the canal system to themselves more like.

I have been pointed in the direction of NABO who issued a statement in December, presumably Stuart Sampson, the chairman, was at the same meeting as John Slee (who commented on the blog) and so saw this petition put on the table.

I cannot find another publication of it on the internet, and there is not one jot about all this on their own (APCO) website.

I am going to keep a good eye on what is going on and hope that British Waterways are not taken in by some trade body trying to cause trouble and tension.  But I am happy in the knowledge that NABO are looking after narrowboats like No Problem from this type of victimisation.