Strange,I phoned BW London Office at 09.10 yesterday to speak to John Guest. Got straight through to him and discussed the sign. Ditto with Jamie France a couple of minutes later
--- In [email protected], Adrian Stott <re...@...> wrote: > > "mick L" <planel...@...> 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 >
