Vandalism incident at Teddington - ongoing

boatone

boatone

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Just a few cables from Boulters Lock
www.tmba.org.uk
EA report just received via Twitter of river closure at Teddington due to serious incident:

“Three boats were set on fire and had their moorings cut upstream of #Teddingtonlock. Two of them drifted into the barge lock and main lock and sunk. The navigation is closed until recovery can be secured, which given current flows, may be delayed.”
 
LimL said:
That’s strange. I thought Teddington Lock was manned 24/7 ? And surely the top gates of both locks wouldn’t have been left open?
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Perhaps better than letting them sit burning against the gates and damaging them as well.

Any more news on this and what boats were involved?
 
Boats were downstream of the locks I would guess by where toughs yard used to be.

ETA not a Facebook user myself but this link was posted on another forum.

It seems to me improbable that boats moored above the lock would get to the lock as the weir would pull them. Unless they were quite close to the lock or moored near the footbridge.

The story here is much more plausible:

Environment Agency River Thames Waterways Team

London VTS are now including a one week closure due to "several obstructions" for Teddington lock in their River Broadcasts.

I guess they are referring to the normally used Launch lock rather than the barge lock.
 
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I am breaking my ybw.com forum cover to report on the facts.

They were all at Teddington Harbour (not Toughs , by the bridge.)

One large fire, two smaller. As hard as it it is to imagine, due to the flow, two made their way to the lock where they burnt to the waterline and sunk. One in each chamber!

There is no evidence to suggest this is arson at all .

The EA got it very wrong by tweeting it was above the lock when they sunk IN the lock!!! it's all on Twitter. follow Teddington Harbour.
 
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CLB said:
What ever happened to Teddington Lock, the forumite?
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He's alive and well and living on Twitter! Like me we don't come on here much due to the abuse (no blame!) I spoke to him this morning, he is busy running Teddington Harbour which he owns with his father. He was also a bit busy last night putting out fires, literally!
 
The London Fire Brigade account doesn't help much as it doesn't tie in with the EA one on some points.

Four boats were badly damaged by fire on Teddington Lock.

A passer-by called 999 after seeing a number of boats alight.

Two boats on the south side of the river were badly damaged by fire and sank. A further two boats on the north side of the river were also damaged by fire.

There were no evacuations and no reports of any injuries.

Four fire engines and around 25 firefighters were called at 0132 and the fire was under control by 0358. Fire crews from Kingston and Surbiton fire stations attended the incident. Teddington life boat also assisted fire crews at the scene.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Boat fires – Teddington

It's not really clear what is being referred to as the 'North' and 'South' of the river (I suspect 'North' is the Middlesex bank and 'South' the Surrey bank). However, the clear picture is that these boat fires appear to have had separate origins so almost certainly deliberate.

According to the EA the boats "... came loose from their moorings. These were pushed upstream by the tide towards our lock" . This is VERY odd. The brigade were called at 0132 - more than 2.5hrs before HW when the currently high fluvial flow ensures the current is firmly downstream and any possible (but still unlikely at that time) back eddy into the locks would only extend a few metres from the lock entrances at most. That this happened at the entrance to both the Barge AND Launch locks (seperated by 150 metres or so) with one boat sinking in each lock further suggests this is far from an accidental occurence.

Pushed - maybe - by the tide as the EA suggest - I doubt.
 
Lower Limit 1909 said:
The London Fire Brigade account doesn't help much as it doesn't tie in with the EA one on some points.

Four boats were badly damaged by fire on Teddington Lock.

A passer-by called 999 after seeing a number of boats alight.

Two boats on the south side of the river were badly damaged by fire and sank. A further two boats on the north side of the river were also damaged by fire.

There were no evacuations and no reports of any injuries.

Four fire engines and around 25 firefighters were called at 0132 and the fire was under control by 0358. Fire crews from Kingston and Surbiton fire stations attended the incident. Teddington life boat also assisted fire crews at the scene.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Boat fires – Teddington

It's not really clear what is being referred to as the 'North' and 'South' of the river (I suspect 'North' is the Middlesex bank and 'South' the Surrey bank). However, the clear picture is that these boat fires appear to have had separate origins so almost certainly deliberate.

According to the EA the boats "... came loose from their moorings. These were pushed upstream by the tide towards our lock" . This is VERY odd. The brigade were called at 0132 - more than 2.5hrs before HW when the currently high fluvial flow ensures the current is firmly downstream and any possible (but still unlikely at that time) back eddy into the locks would only extend a few metres from the lock entrances at most. That this happened at the entrance to both the Barge AND Launch locks (seperated by 150 metres or so) with one boat sinking in each lock further suggests this is far from an accidental occurence.

Pushed - maybe - by the tide as the EA suggest - I doubt.
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I agree it sounds very hard to believe.

All boats originated from the Teddington side, I'm not saying too much but having spoken to more than one person on-site there is nothing to suggest any criminal wrongdoing.

quite a feat ending up in the locks I give you that!
 
Launch lock boat was pulled out a week or so ago. The barge lock one was cleared Monday 16th. A 35ft boat I'd guess on twin shafts. Bertha was on it's limit until some water was pumped out.

Having seen just how far into the lock it was I'm still completely flummoxed as to how - like it's counterpart in the launch lock - it made this journey all by itself and against the current ...

1 2020-03-16 10.37.51.jpg2 2020-03-16 10.42.43.jpg3 2020-03-16 10.42.51.jpg4 2020-03-16 10.47.50.jpg

5 2020-03-16 10.52.28.jpg
 
Bottom of the boat suggests a very recent coat of A/F and the rest of it looks fairly clean.
Not derelict or abandoned boat ?
Twin screw on shafts.
 
Shame.The underneath suggests it was a loved boat.
Assume EA will be tracking down the owner and his insurance company. ?
That salvage will be a few tens of thousands.
 
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