Informal moorings above Day's lock

TrueBlue

TrueBlue

Well-Known Member
Joined
30 Apr 2004
Messages
4,476
Location
Sussex
Visit site
There's a run of very pleasant moorings above Day's Lock on the Dorchester side. The fields along that side have recently changed hands and the new owner has erected quite serious barbed wire to prevent public access.
Looky here:-

http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/15...UKIP_treasurer_began_fencing_off_countryside/

"Sources close to EA" say that there's now no access from the bank to the lock and the waterside trees have been quite seriously pollarded. Said source is now fed up (not unreasonably) with folks contacting him as it's nothing to do with him or the EA.

It may well be that the owner's intention is to keep walkers and hounds away from whatever livestock he may be putting in the fields - so perhaps any fence would also prevent said animals from falling in the River, so if you can moor, you won't have access to Dorchester or anywhere else!
 
if he owns the land he owns the mooring rights(?), so I would think not. Unless you dropped anchor and went up the Thame in a dinghy.
 
Actionmat said:
if he owns the land he owns the mooring rights(?), so I would think not. Unless you dropped anchor and went up the Thame in a dinghy.
Click to expand...

Yes he would own the mooring rights - not that they have any real net value. A previous farmer / tenant used to try and collect fees, but gave up.

It's an assumption - but I guess is that he just wants to stop folks who let their dogs run wild, hence the netting all along the boundaries. The land is pretty poor as it floods and in some parts very wet, so perhaps he's going to turn it over to sheep.

For us it's a shame as Dorchester is nice to visit, over the fields a short hop, by the footpath a bit of a slog (OK you could moor by the Thame, but it's not so 'nice'.
 
I asume this doesn't affect the moorings directly upstream of the lock (about 100 / 150yards), as this is the area that is by the public footpath that goes from the lock to the village. Is it just the moorings that are next to the 2 small lakes (look on google earth) that are affected?

Dorchester is a lovely village but one that can easily be missed by boat, as you have to walk a few hundred yards to get there. We have moored by the river Thame entrance a few times, sometimes by the the two lakes (mentioned above), and last year moored up on the lock itself (for a small fee).
 
thamesS23 said:
I asume this doesn't affect the moorings directly upstream of the lock (about 100 / 150yards), as this is the area that is by the public footpath that goes from the lock to the village. Is it just the moorings that are next to the 2 small lakes (look on google earth) that are affected?

Dorchester is a lovely village but one that can easily be missed by boat, as you have to walk a few hundred yards to get there. We have moored by the river Thame entrance a few times, sometimes by the the two lakes (mentioned above), and last year moored up on the lock itself (for a small fee).
Click to expand...

My understanding is that he has fenced the public footpath AND the path from the lock to where it joins the PP. so it affects the run of moorings from the lock head to those two lakes. I don't know if he has / will run a fence up tight to the river bank or just run it along the line of bushes past the gun emplacement.
He's pollarded the willows either as a gesture to EA (because he doesn't have to) or for a more sinister reason....
 
on the link I posted (google earth) it shows two small boats just upstream from the lock moored up in a small triangle shaped field next to the the gun emplacement. Is that land where they are moored (including the gun emplacement) , owned then by the person in this article or by the EA. If owned by the farm owner, am I right in thinking that he has basically fenced of the footpath right up to the lock, and therefore making access to where those two boats are in the link impossible?
 
thamesS23 said:
on the link I posted (google earth) it shows two small boats just upstream from the lock moored up in a small triangle shaped field next to the the gun emplacement. Is that land where they are moored (including the gun emplacement) , owned then by the person in this article or by the EA. If owned by the farm owner, am I right in thinking that he has basically fenced of the footpath right up to the lock, and therefore making access to where those two boats are in the link impossible?
Click to expand...

Yes, that's my understanding.
There's a public right of access to the lock at the head and tail and that I understand has been fenced off.
I haven't seen the plans submitted by the owner - didn't try hard enough on the CC site. Perhaps somebody will help??
 
Exmoor farmers are given guidance that if footpaths are fenced off, the fences must be 2 metres apart to cope with 2 people and a dog walking side by side.

Also, if the locals can find evidence that they have used a path for (I think) 12 years, then permitted access is given - which means the landowner needs to close the path one day a year to maintain his rights.
 
Having a few moments to spare - One's afternoon Tea, you understand - I thought I'd go and look at some footpath maps. From the great (OS) and other sites linking to Ordnance Survey; fine but can you save an image - can you - expletive....
An hour later :-


Dorchester.jpg

Sorry lurkers - you've got to join this forum to see the above.
For everyone else, read on -
The main path from Bridge End is a bridleway and links up to the bridge over the lock cut. There's a footpath spur which takes you over the head gate and weir and joins up with the Thames path.

Now the interesting (?) part:-
There's a short spur leading to the gun emplacement and goes no further (perhaps some 'kind' wartime authority created it for the defence-of-the-realm). Now, given that it's an official path, the new landowner can't block it off. If perverse he could block the end, but I don't think that's the objective.
If my local information is correct then he might have just ignored that spur and blocked that off. If so perhaps OCC should make him unblock it. If (as suggested) his fence follows the line of trees (see google earth), then 'our' moorings may survive.

For those who like to moor in the dark by the Thame bridge, then there's an official footpath into town. I can't see him fencing off the Thames path, but then...


Dorchester protesters.jpg




On the matter of the bridleway - I'm wondering where the photo on the newspaper site was taken. It's certainly too narrow for a bridleway and if on the main path then he should be compelled to widen it.
It's bad enough that footpaths get mucked around with, but bridleways and RUPPS / ways open to all traffic are even more precarious.

I hope he's trying to be reasonable in what he's done.

(Click on the images to enlarge them)
 
Last edited:
ianc1200 said:
Surely if the landowner is stopping the villagers walking, the dreaded "No Mooring" signs will follow.
Click to expand...

It's a bit more than just Villagers, with the Thames path crossing at the lock and the medieval mounds, Wittenham clumps etc there are hundreds of walker's passing through nearly everyday. Not to mention a few dozen boats moored and walking into Dorchester for food and drink. He will not have made many friends.
 
here is another picture which does seem to show that he has blocked off all access to the moorings just above the lock, and where the public footpath should be leading up to the gun emplacement

3C47611100000578-0-image-a-48_1484827407386.jpg
 
Chris_d said:
Knowing how popular the area is I suspect he will be repairing those fences on a regular basis.
Click to expand...

They've already had to, as I understand it! As well as making changes to the barbed wire.

There is apparently a group been formed - FODLWOS (Friends of Dorchester and Little Wittenham Open Spaces) with their own face book page and they have already petitioned OCC to get Dyke Hills and Days Lock Meadow village green status. This though is a long term process.

Meanwhile villagers have been sent an invitation to Bishops Court Farm Lambing Open Day on a date to be confirmed in April to see Suffolk, Kerry Hill and Zwartble sheep in the lambing shed. Ironically the invitation was accompanied by a page, ostensibly written by our two PCSOs, about a sheep worrying incident on 19th February, so the fences aren't doing much good, and a second page from RMPI Solicitors who apparently acted for the buyer, trying to justify the actions taken by the buyer and attempting to refute that there are any open spaces on the farm they purchased. What they don't seem to have hoisted in is that whilst the previous owner may have tacitly allowed the usage of the areas without a formal declaration that they were permitted to, by putting up all the fences the new owner has sufficiently annoyed enough people locally that they are taking the necessary steps in law to have certain areas declared as village greens for all time.

So perhaps any boaters who have moored here in the past, and would like to in the future, would like to support FODLWOS in their project.
 
thamesS23 said:
here is another picture which does seem to show that he has blocked off all access to the moorings just above the lock, and where the public footpath should be leading up to the gun emplacement

View attachment 63209
Click to expand...

Fyi. The picture seems to show the tail layby ( looking up river )and if you zoom in you can see the post which marks the footpath by the river side.
If you want to take the path along the river then you are squeezed into a narrow often slippery path next to the river or walk diagonally across the field and hang a sharp left towards the top gates.
 
chief1 said:
They've already had to, as I understand it! As well as making changes to the barbed wire.

There is apparently a group been formed - FODLWOS (Friends of Dorchester and Little Wittenham Open Spaces) with their own face book page and they have already petitioned OCC to get Dyke Hills and Days Lock Meadow village green status. This though is a long term process.

Meanwhile villagers have been sent an invitation to Bishops Court Farm Lambing Open Day on a date to be confirmed in April to see Suffolk, Kerry Hill and Zwartble sheep in the lambing shed. Ironically the invitation was accompanied by a page, ostensibly written by our two PCSOs, about a sheep worrying incident on 19th February, so the fences aren't doing much good, and a second page from RMPI Solicitors who apparently acted for the buyer, trying to justify the actions taken by the buyer and attempting to refute that there are any open spaces on the farm they purchased. What they don't seem to have hoisted in is that whilst the previous owner may have tacitly allowed the usage of the areas without a formal declaration that they were permitted to, by putting up all the fences the new owner has sufficiently annoyed enough people locally that they are taking the necessary steps in law to have certain areas declared as village greens for all time.

So perhaps any boaters who have moored here in the past, and would like to in the future, would like to support FODLWOS in their project.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that info.

The Facebook page is interesting and includes a link to this YouTube video.

https://lm.facebook.com/l.php?u=htt...a-23QdXU2GTpEjm0TeeT7gONtfUyxxGevEC6iGKrA&s=1
 
kremmen said:
Thanks for that info.

The Facebook page is interesting and includes a link to this YouTube video.

https://lm.facebook.com/l.php?u=htt...a-23QdXU2GTpEjm0TeeT7gONtfUyxxGevEC6iGKrA&s=1
Click to expand...

Thanks for posting that link. It makes you wonder how this could have happened without any public consultation or planning permission. The damage along the Thame especially, won't grow back in our lifetime even if the land owner capitulates. Not a good advert for his political party:mad:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top