Welcome to the Bude Canal and Harbour Engagement Platform

Mariners are advised that the Sea Lock is now available to navigation, this is as a result of river levels stabilising and we can reliably resume abstraction. A trial swing of the Outer Gates has been made and lock movements can now be booked.

For the full list of Harbour Notices please visit: Document Centre - Cornwall Harbours

Mariners are advised that the Sea Lock is temporarily closed to navigation, this is as a result of the long period of time without significant rainfall. Water levels in the River Neet have dropped below a level that we can abstract water from to supply the Canal and replenish after lock movements. For more information and to see the live level data please see - https://riverlevels.uk/river-neet-bude-stratton-helebridge

The situation will be monitored on a regular basis and a further notice issued when river levels rise, and abstraction can re-commence.

Paul Vincent

Harbour Master

26th July 2023

For the official harbour notice, please see: Bude Harbour notice 3 of 2023

For more information: www.cornwallharbours.co.uk

On the sunning evening of Friday 16th June, Bude Harbour welcomes four visiting boats, entering through a successful operation of the Sea Lock.

The successful maneuvers were overseen by harbour Master, Paul Vincent and an gathering of spectators. Cornwall Harbors Manager Chris Jones remarked on how good it was to have four boats in together again.

The design of sea lock is as old as the canal, celebrating its 200th birthday this year. The gates and hand winches are Grade II Listed heritage features, but still helping the harbour fulfil its duty to provide portage today. Find out more at the Heritage Listing: Sea lock, lock gates and hand winches, Bude-Stratton - 1328520 | Historic England

The images below show just how smoothly the arrival went. Many thanks to Love Bude for sharing those great photos with us. Thank you to everyone in involved!

Bude is a statutory harbor managed by Cornwall Harbours, for more information, please visit: Home - Cornwall Harbours

All Photos in this post are with credit to Love Bude: Love Bude | Facebook

All photos on this post are with credit to Love Bude: Love Bude | Facebook

15th to 21st May 2023 is national Invasive species week, which has been established to help highlight information and concerns about the growing threat to our wildlife, environment, infrastructure, health, society and economy from Non-Native Invasive Species.

You may not already know that sections of Bude Harbour and the lower part of the canal are impacted by non-native invasive Zebra mussels.

This is a small population of Zebra mussels at Bude Canal, as it is a sub-optimal habitat for them and they were mostly likely brought to the canal on the hull or in the ballast water of a boat, but we will never know for sure how they arrived. They are a freshwater mussel with dark and light zigzag stripes, up to 5cm long and Bude is the only place that they are known to have impacted in Cornwall. Whilst they are small, they are prolific and differ from our native mussels by attaching to hard surfaces, this habit mean they pose a real threat of smothering our native mussels, blocking pipes and impact on angling and watercraft.

What are we doing about it?

We are working with a range of local people, organisations and experts to manage this species to prevent its spread to our reservoirs protecting our wildlife, our hobbies and our water supply.

In an exciting initiative, South West Water and Cornwall Council are working in partnership to prevent the spread of Zebra mussels from Bude Canal and are hoping to instigate a pilot control plan in 2023.

We hope to eradicate this invasive species from Bude; this also means from Cornwall!

But we need your help to achieve this positive aim, and would like all users of the canal and harbour to be aware of and follow some simple best practice for biosecurity.

Biosecurity is an important tool for us all to prevent the spread of Zebra mussels between waterways.

Please follow the simple three step process to reduce the risk of moving Zebra mussels from Bude canal into any other local water body.

When leaving Bude Canal please:

CHECK your equipment and watercraft to make sure there are no plant or animal stowaways.

CLEAN your equipment leaving any plant or animal stowaways on site where they are already present.

DRY your equipment for at least 48 hours (preferably in sunlight) before entering another waterbody.

Important note! -

Juvenile Zebra mussels can spread through pockets of water i.e. patches on a boat or within angling equipment. These are so small there are invisible to the naked eye, but can survive in these damp areas for over 2 weeks.

So, please ensure you check, clean and dry equipment before visiting any other waterbody.

To the north of the sea-lock are the remains of the sand tramway tracks, which rise up from the beach, on a ramp, towards the canal. This carried horse pulled trucks from the beach up to the Lower Wharf where the end-tipping trucks would pour the sand into tub-boats. Lengths of the tramway survive, with one section forming an access route to the crossing onto Summerleaze Beach to the north of the harbour.

Unfortunately, this 200-year old feature has experienced erosion that has caused scouring against the embankment wall which is deemed to be causing a trip hazard. Additionally, the scouring has begun to undermine the embankment wall, and some of the blockwork masonry has become loose, falling away from the face of the embankment onto the sand tramway.

Cornwall Council has been investigating a solution and made various proposals in consultation with heritage planning officers. Given the heritage significance of the feature it is important that there is an agreement on the eventual solution, which we intend to be long-term, and easily maintainable.

In lieu of an approved design solution, Cornwall Council has taken the decision to close the sand tramway to public access for health and safety reasons. It is expected that this will be a temporary measure, and that the tramway will be reopened again once the necessary repairs have been made.

The steps from the embankment to the crossing for Summerleaze Beach will remain open as an alternative route. We recognise that the steps do not provide as equal access as the tramway and are working to secure the reopening of the tramway as soon as possible.

Image showing the trip-hazard that has developed at the side of the historic sand tramway, Bude Harbour.

Progress towards the dredging programme continues and this month will see silt excavated in the section up-stream of County Road (Roads) Bridge.

Despite the challenges of the operation, dredging the canal is a priority to:

1. Reinstate a safe navigable depth for watercraft
2. Restore the role of the canal in carrying flood waters as part of the flood defence strategy for Bude
3. To make the canal more resilient to the impacts of climate change, such as the low water levels experienced in the drought of 2022

The section above County Road Bridge will see a further circa 120 meter of canal de-silted, adding to the successful operation completed alongside Whalesborough Ham in late 2022.

This operation will be completed by long-reach excavator, operating from the field and embankment on the right bank, therefore we expect minimal to no impact on the footpath and public access along the canal.

There are no planned dredging works on the Bude Canal in the main February half-term week, commencing 13th February. This means that the canal and the tow path will remain open as usual. A barrier remains in place along part of the canal bank beside the Crescent Carpark, where the canal edge is suffering from damage.

We will continue to update this page as the dates for dredging works are finalised.

Ahead of a public meeting scheduled for 12 January 2023, we’re updating stakeholders and the community about some changes to the timeline for dredging the Bude canal.

Dredging of one section of the Bude canal to the south of Truscott’s Bridge will begin as planned.

The start date for dredging the commercial lower zones of the canal has been rescheduled for later in the year to mitigate against any possibility of these major works affecting the town during the busy Easter holiday period.

Dredging the lower zones close to the town will have an inevitable impact and we are constantly reviewing our methods and programme to mitigate and reduce those impacts. Additionally, there are ecological constraints in the canal to consider. Taking all these factors into account, the window for completing all the dredging work this side of Easter is small.

For these practical reasons, dredging in the lower zones will now start when temperatures drop again later in the year, which is a constraint due to the presence of invasive non-native zebra mussel in the lower sections and is part of our environmental consent.

We continue to work hard to deliver the best scheme possible to protect this iconic asset for Bude.

The public meeting on 12 January will go ahead at 1pm Room 4 at the Parkhouse Centre (Bude Stratton Town Council).

We are preparing to dredge the canal and want to let you know what will be happening and how it might affect you.

Why is the canal being dredged?

1. Reinstate a safe navigable depth for watercraft
2. Restore the role of the canal in carrying flood waters as part of the flood defence strategy for Bude
3. To make the canal more resilient to the impacts of climate change, such as the low water levels experienced in the drought of 2022

When will the programme take place?

Exact dates will depend on a number of factors such as weather conditions, however we hope to begin in late January/February 2023 and to complete by the end of the 23/24 financial year.

What to expect:

Canal and adjacent paths

The canal will be closed for the duration of the dredging programme. Sections of the tow path and cycleway will also be closed when works are underway.

Keeping the canal and paths open would present an avoidable health and safety risk whilst the operations are ongoing, so in order to keep people safe and ensure the operation goes as smoothly as possible we will close the canal throughout the operation.

Sections of the tow path and cycleway will also need to have access restricted at times, whilst dredging machinery is moved, or when it’s working too closely to public areas. However we will do our best to limit these times of restricted access, and will fully re-open the path, as soon as it is safe to do so.

Activity providers will be notified in advance and should let their customers know. There will be cordons and signage on site indication the closure to the general public and visitors.

Harbour and Crescent Carparks

Part of the Harbour Carpark will be closed whilst it is used as a compound for the programme. Likewise, half of the Crescent Carpark will be closed whilst it is also used as a compound for the programme. These locations will be inaccessible whilst used for the dredging works. Access to premises will be retained, though may involve a diversion around the compounds.

Impact on leisure and businesses

Restoring the canal is a benefit to leisure and business in the long-term and every effort is being made to limit impact of the dredging programme on leisure and businesses by carrying out the works outside of the main summer season.

Lorries

Dredged material from the harbour and upper wharf will be stored temporarily in the adjacent carparks and then transported away by lorry. Due to the volumes of silt involved, it is anticipated that removal will take a period of about 5 weeks.

Smell

As organic matter held within the silt begins to breakdown one it is exposed to oxygen it is highly likely that it could smell. You could expect an eggy odour or a gassy smell. Sensors will be installed on-site to monitor the release of volatile gasses.

Where to find out more information:

The scheme is being deliver by Cormac Solutions.

You can get in touch via: customerrelations@cormacltd.co.uk Telephone 0300 1234 222

The Bude Canal offers a great range of the water-based activities, which are made possible through Cornwall Council's licence agreements for activity providers.

The Council is delighted to be working with seven providers on the canal in the current period, offering everything from canoe and stand-up paddleboard training to family pedalos for fun on the water whatever your ability.

We are hopeful that temporary measures put in place to keep the canal useable whilst repairs to the embankment are designed and approved will mean that everyone who wants to can still enjoy getting onto the water. Whilst the canal embankment is cordoned off, alternative launch areas have been designated for water users. Please follow on-site signage to the temporary launch area.

To help maintain communication and answer questions about use of the canal in this period and ongoing, please contact dan.lee@cornwall.gov.uk