It seems that despite it being the peak of the holiday season, since the signs went up threatening £25 per day overstay penalties, that occupancy of moorings at Stoke Bruerne has been very low, and on occasions there have been very few boats now visiting at all.
These picture of the moorings that were once supposed to have been in so much demand are all taken in the morning between about 8:00 am and 9:15 am, as we were setting off down the locks. At most two boats had set off from the pound between the top lock and the tunnel, and it seems highly unlikely any more than this had left the "long pound" below the top two locks.
The previous night The Boat pub and restaurant had been remarkably quiet for August.
I can't prove the signs are now actually reducing the numbers of boaters wanting to make an overnight stay at Stoke Bruerne, but for some reason the moorings are unbelievbly quiet and under-used.
Perhaps those behind this in CRT see the situation we found as a "success", as certainly when we had turned up at nightfall the previous evening, there was massses and masses of space available. However the usual vibrancy of the place was missing, and it certainly didn't feel like Stoke Bruerne in the Summer school holidays.
 |
| Only one other boat between us an the tunnel. |
 |
| Otherwise completely empty. |
 |
| Boating down the previously popular "long pound" - completable empty this morning. |
 |
| Lock-wheeler's view of the "long pound" |
 |
| Meanwhile, just along from the massive new "Welcome to Stoke Bruerne" boards. |
No comments:
Post a Comment