The Floater March 2018

March 2018 - Canal & River Trust's interim waterways manager for the North West, Steve Higham, is adamantly refusing to reinstate the Owd Lanky Boater's adoption of the Tewitfield lock flight – despite admitting that he can't justify the ending of the agreement by his predecessor Chantelle Seaborn just before her departure from the Trust.

Steve Higham agreed to speak to The Floater's Peter Underwood and the interview was recorded in a busy bar at Liverpool Marina.

March 2018 - C&RT’s reorganisation grinds on. It appears to be aimed at shedding senior managers by decentralising many of the functions centralised by Chief Executive, Richard Parry, just a few years ago. Evidently, the Trust is trying a ‘new broom’ approach, with the old broom still in charge. Allan Richards delves deeper into one of the reasons for reorganisation - Waterways Partnerships failure to attract funding.

March 2018 - A boater labelled a ‘Hammer-Wielding Bird Lover’ by the media has been cleared of an alleged assault after a a group of rowing marshalls claimed he had attacked them.

The National Bargee Travellers Association reports that James Deane, a disabled Cambridge boat dweller who says he was attacked by a group of rowing marshals and then arrested for alleged assault on one of them, was found not guilty of all charges at Huntingdon Magistrates court.

March 2018 - The Canal & River Trust is trying to persuade politicians to change existing plans for the new high speed rail link North of Birmingham, the section that runs from the West Midlands to Crewe will impact on the Trent and Mersey Canal in three places, and may mean canal closures over many years, as Alec Wood reports.