Shiplake Lock

Steve Clayton

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Sunday morning: Shiplake lock gate is fixed but water level so high that the lock remains closed.

Red flags up and if you are out and about then at Mapledurham the lower waiting pontoon is under water so you can't land. The weir is opened such that the stream is so strong it will push you onto the bank.

Lock keepers are on call as necessary; some are on the lower end on the Kennet and Avon doing support work.

Not allowing traffic out of Thames and Kennet.

Still loads of water to come down- Evenlode has burst banks.

If you're on the Thames on a temp licence about to expire and you can't get off then there is an "amnesty" so you won't be charged more.
 

pheran

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TV news 1825 Sunday. Thames expected to burst its banks at Purley 'within the hour' Peeps are being evacuated. I feel so sorry for the householders in Purley Gardens - they've been through all this before.
 

Steve_Jones

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Steve,

Any more news on this, we are just about to purchase a house on the river bank at Purley. We'll probably take a trip up there later today but I'm just wondering if anyone has any advance information? Angela??

Thanks.

Steve
 

pheran

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Nothing further on current conditions.
Although I now keep my boat abroad, I still have my mooring at Purley. Being just downstream of Mapledurum and on a narrow reach, its rare that a winter goes past without the landing stage ending up under water. The riverside areas of Purley Gardens can get somewhat 'damp' to say the least. A couple of years back when the waters rose, some of the streets there were impassible by car, particularly the one leading to the church.
I must say I always envisaged coming back to the Thames once I had finished ambling round Europe but what with the practical problems posed by the influx of narrow boats plus their effect on the essential character of the river, savage licence fees, and now flooding, I am seriously reconsidering whether its all worthwhile.
 
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