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March Town Centre Pump Out Facilities

The Middle Level Commissioners are very pleased to be able to report that they have been working closely with Fenland District Council (FDC) to identify opportunities to maintain and enhance the navigation experience through March. As part of these ongoing discussions FDC have reaffirmed their commitment to maintain the pump out facilities in the centre of town. These are currently non-operational but this week confirmation has been received that a replacement pump has been ordered, allowing for planned installation and commissioning late summer or early autumn this year.

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Marmont Priory Lock Side Moorings – Refurbishment

The MLC will be carrying out extensive refurbishment of the downstream lock entrance moorings.

Work will commence on 23rd May 2022 and is likely to take around a week to complete. As there will be no place to moor up a boat at this end of the lock during this time a temporary lock keeper will be on hand each day to assist from 8am to 5pm, until the moorings are reopened.

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Designated Rural Moorings – March 2023 Update

The Middle level Commissioners, as part of their plans to improve navigation facilities within the Middle Level system, have been informally collecting views of navigators on what they would most like to see us deliver in the next few years. This has been achieved by gathering information from many conversations the Navigation Officer has had with vessel owners. One request that has come through strongly is the provision of simple rural mooring sites where boaters can stop for a while during the day or overnight.

There are currently nine Designated Rural Moorings within the Middle Level System. These are 24 hour stay moorings where mooring is allowed without seeking prior permission. They each consist of 5 mooring posts approximately 32m in length located at the toe of watercourse. These moorings have signs adjacent to them, and consist of driven timber posts and mown bankside vegetation. They are designed to be simple and no other provision or facilities provided. You may choose to stay overnight or simply stop here for a short break before carrying on.

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New Ramsey High Lode Moorings

The new Ramsey moorings received an enthusiastic thumbs up from the crews of eight Middle Level Watermens Club narrowboats who moored there overnight during their 2022 Easter weekend cruise.

 

One encouraging fact emerged in that it was just about possible to swing a sixty foot boat in the winding hole! However this required some effort, removing and or lifting fenders and some volunteers on ropes who were able to pull the boat around. The feedback given was that with some vegetation removal and dredging around the edge of the winding hole, to remove silt and rubble that has fallen from the walls, a sixty foot boat would be able to tuck into the corners and make a successful swing. We will see what can be done.

Thanks are given to the MLWC for supplying the feedback and photographs.