The Floater
  • The Floater November 2018
  • The Floater October 2018
  • The Floater September 2018
  • The Floater August 2018
  • The Floater July 2018
  • The Floater June 2018
  • The Floater May 2018
  • The Floater April 2018
  • The Floater March 2018
  • The Floater February 2018
  • The Floater January 2018
  • The Floater December 2017
  • The Floater November 2017
  • The Floater October 2017
  • Floater September 2017
  • Floater August 2017
  • The Floater July 2017
  • The Floater June 2017
  • The Floater May 2017
  • The Floater April 2017
  • The Floater March 2017
  • The Floater February 2017
  • The Floater January 2017
  • Floater December 2016
  • Floater December Update
  • Floater November 2016
  • Floater October 2016
  • Floater September 2016
  • Floater August 2016
  • Floater July 2016
  • Floater June 2016
  • Floater May 2016
  • Floater April 2016
  • Floater April 2016 PAGE TWO
  • Floater March 2016
  • Floater February 2016
  • Floater January 2016
  • Most recent issues
  • Information
  • The Floater on Facebook and Twitter
  • The Floater January 2017
  • Link Page
  • The Floater January 2017

The anglers are coming and royal plant returns

16/8/2017

3 Comments

 
The Canal & River Trust's team of spin doctors churn out largely self-congratulatory press releases every week, you can read them on their website if you are interested. Now and again there is something on interest to boaters and Peter Underwood has been sorting the wheat from the chaff.


If you are one of the hundreds of boaters planning to pass along the Shropshire Union Canal this week – and especially next weekend – C&RT is delighted to tell you that you'll be meeting hundreds of dedicated anglers.


Nearly 500 of the nation’s top anglers are holding practise sessions this week and will be out in full strength next weekend for the Angling Trust Division One National Championship. 
Picture
The Canal & River Trust is working alongside the Angling Trust and Hodnet Angling Club to host a major championship along 'the Shroppie' around Market Drayton on Saturday 19 August – the largest single one day event in the angling calendar.


It is also the middle of the school holidays and the busiest time on the Shroppie, with hire boats racing around the Four Counties Ring and other boaters taking their annual summer cruise.


A total of 490 competitors will be populating a 15 mile stretch of towpath, complete with the usual barrowload of gear and bait required by match fishermen.


Some 49 teams, each fielding ten anglers, plus a number of advance practice matches, will be on the towpath and C&RT claims 'the contest is set to give a major boost to the local economy'.


The Trust boats: “This month will be the pinnacle of the fishing year for Canal & River Trust national fisheries & angling manager John Ellis and his small team. Their work involves managing £40 million of fish stocks across the canal network, organising agreements with over 250 angling clubs and encouraging more people, especially youngsters, to take up the sport.”


Apparently, spectators are welcome at the competition to pick up a few angling tips as they walk along the towpath 'but it’s important everyone takes care and respects the wishes of the competitors'.


C&RT does acknowledge the potential for conflict between boaters and fishermen and says: “We thank everyone for their patience. It can get rather crowded with boaters on the water and walkers on the narrow pathway, so it’s particularly vital to ‘Share the Space’ and be considerate to other users.”


Meanwhile, on another canal, it is plants that are occupying C&RT – specifically the restoration of the rare plant, Royal Fern, to the Huddersfield Narrow Canal this month after a 'remarkable rescue'.


It's part of a canal habitat improvement project Making Special Places for Nature.
The plant, believed to be the Huddersfield Narrow Canal’s only surviving Royal Fern specimen, was saved in 1992 when the canal was being restored by Huddersfield Canal Society in preparation for its reopening in 2001.
Canal Society ecologist Dr Bob Gough noticed the Royal Fern had been discarded during the excavation works and managed to scoop up the plant from the water.


He took it home to his terraced house in Failsworth and has carefully nurtured it in a black plastic plant pot in his back yard for the last 25 years. A few weeks ago Tom King, one of C&RT's ecologists, heard about the rare Royal Fern and invited Dr Gough to return the plant to its natural home.


Tom said: "Dr Bob Gough has done an amazing job to keep alive this Royal Fern in a plant pot in his back yard for 25 years. It was only a chance conversation that led me to even know about its existence.


“There are currently no other known examples of Royal Ferns on the Huddersfield Narrow Canal. Six miles of the canal are protected as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) so it is fantastic to return one of the original plants back to the canal bank.


“Royal Ferns like damp, humid, conditions so we are constructing a special bankside planter to give it the best chance to establish a new colony in Mossley.”


The re-planting of the Royal Fern, Osmundia regalis, is part of the Canal & River Trust’s wider 12 month project, Making Special Places for Nature, funded by a £350,000 award from players of the People’s Postcode Lottery. This involves improving vulnerable wildlife waterway habitats across 10 key sites totalling 400 hectares.
Picture
Bob Gough with the rare Royal Fern
3 Comments
Mick Fitzgibbons link
16/8/2017 07:22:27

As its the school holidays, we should not forget the cyclists families who will also be out riding along the towpath. I have to question why they chose a busy waterway with narrow sections of unmade towpath, to hold such an event. I am sure that many boaters will ignore the miles of anglers and proceed as normal. They should not be expected to proceed at tick over for the next fifteen miles its complete and utter ludicrous nonsense.

On another tack - Where are they going to park up the vehicles that 450 anglers have arrived in? Where are they going to park up the wheel barrows used to transport the huge amounts of equipment surely not on the towpath?

We are all aware that placing a boat mooring rope across a towpath is considered to be an unsafe hazard. Yet the huge poles don't only cross the towpath to reach the far side of the waterway but also intruded through the hedgerow. Is it time that poles were banned and a return to normal sized rod and reel implemented.

Then there is the litter often left by anglers at favoured fishing spots. That is to be seen cast into the hedgerow and the margins. Requiring organised groups of litter pickers from the local community to clean up. I certainly don't expect the fishermen will be taking all the vast quantity of maggots home. I have witnessed fishermen throwing left over bait such as sweetcorn and maggots into the hedgerow and waterway. I wonder what the local community will feel about the influx of flies.

I wonder if the the fisher folk feel as aggrieved about the overgrowth of bushes and trees on the off side. The problem is often highlighted by the sight of long lengths of monofilament fishing line occasionally accompanied by the odd gaily coloured fishing float and hooks. Which provide an additional hazard to boaters and the wildlife.

The Canal and River Trust have certainly come up with a novel idea to alienate the tens of thousands of potential daily visitors and sponsors (CaRTs own figures) to the 15 mile stretch of the Shropshire Union.

Maybe the 'Canal & River Trust national fisheries and angling manager John Ellis and his small team should get out of their enclave a bit more often. Because out in the real world this is a recipe for a public relations disaster.

Reply
Mick Fitzgibbons link
16/8/2017 07:46:01

I was intrigued by the claimed rarity of Osmunda Regalis, or Royal Fern. Requiring a special habitat to be created. Turns out its even more CaRT bollocks.

Royal Fern is a common species of deciduous fern, native to Europe, Africa and Asia, growing in abundance in woodland bogs and on the banks of streams. The species is sometimes known as flowering fern due to the appearance of its fertile fronds.

Royal fern is widely cultivated species and gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. Osmunda plants should be planted in highly acidic, very moist or wet soil. The care requirements are: Lift and divide any congested colonies in the autumn or early spring.

Its available here for £9.99 a pop. http://www.crocus.co.uk/plants/_/osmunda-regalis/classid.1834/

Reply
Linda Andrews link
16/8/2017 11:52:34

Can't see how they can be a boost to the local economy when all they do is sit on their bums on the towpath all day and scowl. Well some good will come of it - 490 giant rods across the towpath will slow the lycra brigade somewhat.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Write something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview.

    Archives

    August 2017

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly