Talk:Canals of Great Britain

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Contents 1 New routes 2 Disused Canals Undergoing Restoration 3 Photographs 4 Douglas Navigation, Lancashire 5 Width of narrowboats? 6 Why remove link? 7 Thames barges 8 No Northern Ireland...? 9 Infobox 10 Lord Ward's canal 11 Navigable Rivers

[edit] New routes

Which new routes are under constuction? The ribble link has been completed and I'm not aware of anything else new.Geni 12:47, 23 Aug 2004 (UTC)

There are proposed plans for canals (subject to funds) in Slough, Maidenhead, Lichfield, Milton Keynes and Manchester to name but a few, how many of these become a reality remains to be seen, but most look likely. Grunners 13:30, 23 Aug 2004 (UTC)

P.S. Good luck with your challenge of adding a page for every British canal! Shout if you need help! Grunners 13:33, 23 Aug 2004 (UTC)

Updated new routes list Grunners 15:21, 25 Aug 2004 (UTC)

Portsmouth - London "new route" isn't a new route...it's a proposed restoration of the Wey - Arun canal / navigations. In fact, this is the only canal owned by the National Trust. That is, unless someone has proposed a new canal from this route to somewhere near Portsmouth...can't see why though, although the flatness of the terrain from about Arundel to Chichester would make it not that difficult if the funds were available.

I'd assume the latter, seeing as the restoration would be a London - Godalming route, getting no where near Portsmouth. Grunners 09:39, 12 August 2005 (UTC)

Agreed not a new route – the restoration of the Wey & Arun Canal (and implicitly the Arun Navigation) is sometimes described as restoring the route from London to Portsmouth, somewhat misleadingly as it ignores the vital Portsmouth and Arundel Canal. StephenDawson 12:51, 12 August 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Disused Canals Undergoing Restoration

I think this may be going to case a problem. Where should the line be drawn here? most of the themes and severn is closed but short streches are open. Where does that go?Geni 16:05, 24 Aug 2004 (UTC)

I think it should be defined as canals which have been fully abandoned but which are undergoing work with a view to being reopened. Those canals such as the Thames & Severn which are part open should IMO go in the lists at the top of the page. Just my opinion though, and I agree that for the next decade or so there will be many canals which have fallen partly into disrepair but are also partly open.

You seem to know more than I so I'll leave the final decision in your hands. Grunners 07:56, 25 Aug 2004 (UTC)

On second thoughts, we could just stick them all in the top list and just note their state of use and repair on their individual pages? Your call buddy! Grunners 08:02, 25 Aug 2004 (UTC)

I'd still like to leave abonded canals sperate since there are a few that are now under cities and such. I tend to feel that anything else should go in the top list though (if only to save time in the long run :-) )Geni 10:20, 25 Aug 2004 (UTC)

Done :) Grunners 15:19, 25 Aug 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Photographs

I'm searching out some of my own photos and some online that can be used legally. Anyone have any of their own? Grunners 09:19, 27 Aug 2004 (UTC)

I'm planning to email some local canal socireties about this.Geni 16:45, 15 Jan 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Douglas Navigation, Lancashire

I think this counts as a river rather than a canal.Geni 17:50, 21 Oct 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Width of narrowboats?

How wide are the narrowboats, and the locks through which they go?

There are more than one standard width - what are the other common widths?

Syd1435 04:52, 2004 Nov 1 (UTC)

About 6 foot ten inches wide. Locks should be 7 feet wide but not all of them are.Geni 08:48, 1 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Depends on what usage the canal had during its 'working' days, as Geni says most are of a certain width but some are smaller, hence the invention of narrowboats as barges were too large. Grunners 22:37, 1 Nov 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Why remove link?

Hi there. Why was the external link UK Canals Network removed from this article? I neither put it there nor have anything to do with the site, but have checked it out and it seems a useful link. JackyR 12:34, 16 January 2006 (UTC)

History shows it was removed by Geni, best to enquire on his talk page. Grunners 16:51, 16 January 2006 (UTC)

User:212.100.250.213 spamed that link accross about a dozen pages.Geni 20:49, 16 January 2006 (UTC)

OK. But it's useful for this page, and this page is an appropriate place for it (I'm guessing you pulled it out of specific canal pages). So it'll restore it here only. Cheers JackyR 23:28, 16 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Thames barges

I'm wondering whether to include Thames sailing barges on the list of canal boats, because the Thames and Medway Canal was specifically built to take the 60-tonners with their masts dropped. Of course, the boats also plied the two rivers and the Thames estuary, so they're not solely canal boats. What do people think? JackyR 17:22, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] No Northern Ireland...?

This so-called "list of canals in the united kingdom" completely omits Northern Ireland! --feline1 16:10, 3 April 2006 (UTC)

It is stated that the NI canals are on the Canals of Ireland page, as it makes more sense to have them grouped with other canalson the same island. This page however should probably be renamed Canals of Great Britain. Grunners 13:22, 6 April 2006 (UTC)

Indeed. It's quite insulting otherwise! And since the canals of great britain and northern ireland are merely separated by sea, they are still inter-navigable ;-)--feline1 14:09, 6 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Infobox

It would be nice to have an infobox for British canals. It could include information like location, places served, length (original/planned + currently open to navigation), and what canals/rivers they connects with. Would anyone be able to design one? Blisco 07:56, 25 May 2006 (UTC)

I think thats a good idea. How about something like this

{{{British Canal}}}

{{{caption}}}
Name:	{{{example}}}
Length:
Date Chartered:
Date Completed:
Places Served:
Adjoining Canals:
Adjoining Navigable Rivers:
Status:	{{{Abandonded}}}

Any ideas on what else needs including Ydam 16:33, 6 June 2006 (UTC)

Looks good! A field for "Current navigable length" would be useful too. The "Status" field might be difficult to complete succinctly for some canals: take the Lancaster Canal, where most of it is in use, part of it is in water but inaccessible, and part of it is abandoned and partly filled in. It should be possible to come up with a set wording though. In fact looking at the coding it seems there's a space for footnotes, which should solve most problems. Otherwise I reckon it can be templatised and put into use. -- Blisco 10:11, 9 June 2006 (UTC)

Date Completed is also going to have some oditities.Geni 14:11, 14 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Lord Ward's canal

Anyone know what state it is in?Geni 01:11, 14 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Navigable Rivers

Should navigable rivers be included in this page? This would seem a better place than in the Rivers of the United Kingdom article, as navigable rivers are quite relevant to the canals, with many canals built just to link rivers directly or indirectly. Starsean 11:35, 7 September 2006 (UTC)

Their history is very different though. Probably better to put them in with Rivers of the United Kingdom.Geni 12:02, 7 September 2006 (UTC)