"mick L" <[email protected]> wrote: >Just heard from a boater that BW have put a new sign on the Folly Bridge >Hertford close to the end of navigation Just before the last turning point, >saying. "No suitable for craft". This turning point is in the Nicholson book >on page 116. Will post a photos of the sign in the photo section, the other >red signs have been up for a long time warning of work.
Very interesting. As I had to go into Hertford this morning (by car), I took at look at the situation. It's true -- there is recent signage on Folly Bridge. This is the second bridge below the head of navigation, and between it and the next bridge upstream is the only (remaining) winding hole on the top pound so it's essential for the bridge to be navigable. On the south bank between the top two bridges development is taking place (a new library, some housing, etc.), and the work has involved some (probably unnecessary) alteration of the old wharf walls, insisted on by EA. While this work was taking place, there was quite a bit of activity in the water. As a result, a red "Caution -- River Works Ahead" sign was put on the downstream side of the bridge. Actually, whoever put it there seems to have a bad case of Hsitis, as two signs were installed. However, the "river works" seem to have been finished for some time, but the signs remain. Shouldn't the person who put them up be responsible for taking them down? Or maybe there's more work to be done soon? Nice to know. But as Mick reports, another sign has now appeared. This is indeed an official BW sign, and it does say "Not suitable for craft". Huh? So I phoned BW. That proved to be an interesting exercise. I first phoned the number of the Enfield maintenance office, which usually knows what is actually going on on the river. "Out of service" tone. Well, that office ceased to be a public contact point some time ago, so it wouldn't be a surprise if its number had been changed. So I phoned BW London, and the call said it was answered at Brentford. I said that I'd tried to contact Enfield, but its number seemed now to be out of service. "Oh, no", I was told, and was given a new number. Which I then tried. "Out of service" tone. So I phoned BWL again, and simply said I had a question about the Lee. At first, the person answering seemed not to have heard of the Lee, but then I was told all the phones in Customer Services were busy, so someone would phone me back. I said that wouldn't be convenient, so I would wait on hold. I was told I couldn't -- apparently BWL doesn't do "hold" any more. So I asked to speak to Jon Guest, the manager. He was not in the office. So I asked to speak to anyone at all in BWL, and was relieved to be put through to a helpful, courteous, and knowledgeable woman. Is this BWL's new approach? Doesn't seem to be designed for the convenience of the customer, I feel. It isn't reasonable to assume that it is always possible to call people back. What if I'd been phoning from someone else's phone, and would be leaving the premises immediately after the call? Anyway, the woman quickly understood the problem, and put me on hold while she talked to the maintenance supervisor. She then told me that the wrong sign had been put on the bridge! "Ah, good", I thought. However, she went on to say that the correct sign would replace it soon. And that that sign would say "End of navigation". Er, no. Folly Bridge is *not* the end of the navigation. It is the end of the part of the navigation that BW owns. I explained this. I also asked the supervisor to phone me in the next couple of days, and she said she would ask him to. I'll post the results. ISTM there's no need for any sign at all. After all, BW doesn't put an "End of navigation" sign at Limehouse lock, does it? And such a sign would be bound to cause confusion, suggesting to the unfamiliar that the bridge (and the waters beyond it) are unnavigable. How *do* these things happen? <sigh> (or should that be <sign>?) Adrian Adrian Stott 07956-299966
