Yikes - one of our favourite places to moor.
I've jus looked at their Ts and Cs scection and it states
24 hours only no BBQs etc:- Facilities & Useful Information - Beale Park.
???
Just come past hoping to moor there. They are all along the whole stretch. The story is there have been problems with behaviour and lighting of fires there, but that’s third hand. Pretty upset as it’s our go to spot with very few other options nearby, although there are quite a few boats there tonight ignoring the signs. We’ve managed to squeeze into a spot in the trees below the goring moorings which understandably are full with some boats rafted.
That’s a real shame if true, as always found that to be a lovely mooring. Never found it to be a spot that was abused by the unlicensed liveaboard community, although in hindsight they never seemed to come and monitor who was moored there, but we only ever went there maybe once or twice a year.
There is another obvious possibility which is that there has been an increased incidence of generalised idiot behaviour related to the recent Covid situation. It's happened in a lot of places and in some cases there have been serious problems with things like littering and fires and general behaviour. Idiots basically.
Perhaps this is a temporary measure and things will get back to normal after a while.
The moorings have been very busy since lockdown ended, but it’s not a place for particularly bad behaviour as it’s relatively remote. I can see that fires there could be a real problem though given the dry and very hot weather we have had followed by strong winds in the last few days. An out of control fire could spread very quickly and could be devastating for the park and the animals.
Hopefully it’s just a temporary measure
Although the 'printing' on the sign looks 'hurried', the posts and fixings look substantial and therefore far from temporary.
There was a time when stock was grazed fu8rther up and possibly - with the shortage of good grazing, it may be intended to run stock in the fields above the entrance again.
Friends of ours asked the Whitchurch lock keeper about it yesterday and were told that it was due to nuisance and littering. Some people cannot help being a nuisance but littering baffles me. Presumably they go there because it is an attractive place to be but then spoil it for themselves and others.
The point about an actual wildfire getting going is very interesting and makes me wonder if they have some sort of insurance clause which has forced the decision to "close" the moorings.
I don't suppose many idiots come by foot but unfortunately you also get a lot of idiots on boats specially near slipways one of which is just below Whitchurch lock...
Spoke to a couple of boaters who pulled in their last night and the bailiff came knocking to turf them off. One had a visit that evening and the other the following morning. The first one managed to talk him round to allowing them to stay the night. Apparently they have had problems with rubbish and fires and have had enough. Sounds like they are going to be pretty proactive in monitoring the moorings.
Spoke to the lock keeper covering Cleeve and he tried to ring Beale to get the official word so they could warn boaters but just got a message that the park was closed. I suspect they’ve had quite a few calls.
Make sure your anchor light works, have a black ball, and a Broads type mudweight - stop in your favoured spot against the bank & drop the hook, use the mud weight to keep your stern in close, quote TC Act 1937, and see the reaction.
If they have bailiffs I'd have thought they would be clever about it and allow some moorings with a charge like in Henley.
Cutting off the moorings completely seems a bit silly really when there is some income available. People would pay a mooring fee to stop there. Although I suppose you'd still get trouble unless the bailiff was on site all the time keeping an eye on everything.