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HIGH and dry: the beached barge
HIGH and dry: the beached barge

Canal barge left high and dry

Adam Derbyshire
17/ 9/2003

A BARGE owner was left high and dry in Mossley when a dozy canal user forgot to close the lock gates behind him.

Within an hour, thousands of gallons of water flowed away leaving poor Mick Davies' narrow-boat teetering at a precarious angle on the muddy bed.

Mick and his wife Yvonne were travelling home towards Rotherham on the Huddersfield Canal, but had earlier been forced to cut short their holiday after missing the tow-boat through the Standedge Tunnel. Landlord Phil Savage, who runs the Roaches Lock pub, Manchester Road, promised to keep an eye on the barge until they came back a week later. However, a canal user navigating the lock flight to Stalybridge left one of the lower paddles open and drained away all the water in the upper section.

Phil, 43, said: "My son James, 12, came running in and said all the water had gone. I rushed out to take a look and couldn't believe my eyes. Mick's barge was leaning to one side and looking very sorry for itself. It would have tipped over had it not been tied up. I phoned British Waterways and they came out straight away to sort it out. I dread to think how many fresh gallons of water they had to pump in to get the water level back up again. It looked like an expensive job though."

Mick, who is set to return later in the week to take the boat home, said: "It's not unknown for it to happen, but you do wonder how anyone can forget with all the notices telling canal users to 'close the gates'. I'm pleased to see it was sorted out so quickly though. I think one word sums up our journey through Greater Manchester - eventful!"


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