Latest news with #canals
BBC News
3 days ago
- Climate
- BBC News
Falling water levels affecting West Midlands canal network
Increasing numbers of canals in the West Midlands are closing, due to a lack of water. The Canal and River Trust has warned that dry conditions were causing problems at a number of locks, including Wolverhampton lock flight. It will close from Wednesday 30 July until there is sufficient rainfall to replenish reservoirs, said the trust. The measure was necessary to help protect vital water resources on the Wolverhampton level, which supports several other parts of the Birmingham Canal navigations, it said. "Whilst the majority of the network is open and fully navigable, there are currently restrictions in place on certain canals," the trust said. Other areas affected in the region include:Birmingham and Fazeley Canal - Minworth lock is closedCoventry Canal - Atherstone top lock to lock 6 has restricted passageRushall Canal lock is closedWalsall Canal - Ryders Green lock has restricted passageCaldon Canal in Staffordshire - Cheddleton top lock to bottom lock is closed Volunteer lock-keepers have been helping to manage boat traffic at lock flights "to ensure water supplies are used as sparingly as possible," said national boating manager Alex Hennessey. "Water levels are being reviewed on a daily basis and we will remove, or introduce, water-saving measures as necessary," he added. Follow BBC Wolverhampton & Black Country on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Amsterdam is installing hundreds of tiny staircases along its canals to keep wildlife safe
Along the canals of Amersfoort in the Netherlands are hundreds of little wooden staircases leading out of the water and onto the banks. These special steps were installed as part of an initiative to protect wildlife that sometimes falls into the water and cannot climb out because of the high sides. Now, Amsterdam is looking to create similar escape routes for its small creatures. So far this year, 19 cats have drowned in the city's canals, a statistic that has prompted local pro-animal party PvdD to propose taking a leaf from Amersfoot's book. Now, Amsterdam councillors have voted to earmark €100,000 to make the waterways safer for animals. Amsterdam to install canal escape routes for cats In June this year, Amersfoort, in the province of Utrecht, announced it was installing 300 exit ladders along its waterways to help prevent wildlife from drowning. Now, Amsterdam has agreed to ask the animal welfare organisation Dierenambulance to identify where cats and other creatures are most frequently unable to escape from the water along its canals. The council will use this information to select sites for the new escape routes. According to the Dutch news site Parool, the city's animal welfare chief Zita Pels was already in favour of a project like this, but abandoned the idea because of a lack of funds. The PvdD, however, highlighted that there is an unused €100,000 in her budget reserved for so-called 'wildlife exit points', allowing the scheme to get the go-ahead. 14 people die a year in Amsterdam's canals Cats can accidentally fall into canals when they get startled, Maggie Ruitenberg from the feline information centre Katten Kenniscentrum told Dutch daily Volkskrant. Although cats are able to swim, they get exhausted quickly because their fur is weighed down by the water. 'A ladder can really save their life, as long as there are enough of them,' she said. Related Raccoons may look cute, but scientists warn they're causing ecological havoc in Germany Emergency water deliveries begin on Serbian mountain as drought endangers some 1,000 cows and horses Official figures also show that around 14 people a year drown in Amsterdam's canals by accident. Between 2014 and 2024, 142 people died in the city's waterways, many of them foreign tourists who fell in when drunk or under the influence of drugs. In some places in the city, renovated canals have been fitted with special ledges that people can hold on to if they find themselves struggling to get out of the water.
Times
20-07-2025
- Politics
- Times
Times letters: Costs and compromises of preserving heritage
Write to letters@ Sir, Richard Morrison says that the Canal & River Trust (CRT) 'is clearly never going to earn enough income … to maintain 2,000 miles of leaky canals on a diminishing subsidy' ('English Heritage and the National Trust are on the brink', Jul 18). He is spot-on in his assessment, but inland waterways are in a worse situation than he describes. CRT is responsible for only 2,000 of Britain's 5,000 miles of canals and navigable rivers. The rest are managed by bodies ranging from the Environment Agency to local authorities to small charities, all facing cuts or uncertainty in income. The benefits of Britain's waterway network are well understood, and the return on investment is huge. CRT's present grant of £53 million per year results in economic and social benefits worth £6.1 billion. Failing to maintain waterways will sacrifice these benefits and put communities at risk, as in 2019 when 1,500 people had to be evacuated when the Toddbrook reservoir dam threatened to collapse. This is why more than 160 organisations representing hundreds of thousands of users and supporters have come together as Fund Britain's Waterways, to campaign for action. We urge all who care about our inland waterways to support the campaign and make their views known to their O'HareDeputy national chair, Inland Waterways Association Sir, I am confident that English Heritage and the National Trust are serious about resolving their financial difficulties. However, it would be wise for them to look at the salaries in the upper echelons, rather than at dismissing cleaners and kitchen staff. If visitors notice a drop in standards and a shortage of decent food, they will vote with their feet. This will cause a quick doom BostonKingshill, Kent Sir, I agree with Max Falconer, (letter, Jul 19). Entry fees at National Trust properties are ludicrously high for non-members. My wife and I were recently at Fountains Abbey in Yorkshire. The cost for entry was £42 for two pensioners. I asked if I could have a credit against applying for a full membership later, but the answer was: 'We don't do that any more.'Rod StoneBishopsteignton, Devon Sir, Max Falconer is wrong. If we didn't get free entry we would cancel our DuganHazlemere, Buck Sir, The National Trust has a winning formula that suits millions of committed supporters. But recent changes at the properties, made in good faith, may be upsetting the golden geese on which the trust relies. Hitherto, members have considered that the trust protects the 'Old England' they love, and remembered it in their wills. But four years ago the trust took on 90 staff 'with curator in their job title', mostly from museums, the centre of woke. All but 28 of the trust's mansions have since been deemed second division and eligible for change. With the impending job losses comes an opportunity for the trust to put its architectural legacy to the fore, led by an expert on historic architecture. Its present competence with architecture is shown by its refusal to restore the superlative Marble Hall at Clandon, in favour of a costly modernist installation. A change of tack is HaworthMalvern, Worcs Sir, In response to Lt Col Peter Haldane's letter (Jul 19), I am proud to wear my late husband's medals. I know which side I should display them but I would put them anywhere on my jacket to honour his nine and a half years of service in the Royal Air Force. We are losing Royal British Legion clubs weekly thanks to outdated rules and conditions governing ceremonies and even entry to the club — we tell people 'you can't sit there' and 'you can't wear that', and my committee wonders why clubs are dwindling and we may have to close. We should encourage new members, but even former service personnel are unwilling to join because they do not feel welcome. This is the same with many of the few clubs we have left. I respect the work of our forces, but sometimes we should bring ourselves up to Towers Honorary secretary, Hedon & district Royal British Legion, Hull Sir, Lt Col Haldane forgets one of the most basic military principles. The way the chief of the naval staff wears his medals is, by definition, correct — unless, of course, the chief of the defence staff decides Neil Munro (ret'd)Salisbury Sir, As a former circuit judge in the crown court for 21 years, I support the suggestions made by Edmund Vickers (letter, Jul 19) for dealing with the courts backlog. 'Plea bargaining', which was rather disparaged in my day, is very productive if done sensibly by an experienced judge. I found that in many cases defendants were quite prepared to plead guilty if they were told by the judge in open court the sentence they were likely to be given. Similarly, the prosecution were also likely to reduce or withdraw charges shown by the judge to be unrealistic. It was not uncommon for the listing office to list up to four trials per day in front of me, knowing that most if not all of them were likely to be cracked. This was a very effective method of reducing the backlog of trials in our Honour Richard BrayHarrold, Beds Sir, Dr Brian W Darracott (letter, Jul 18) must have retired as a magistrate quite a long time ago. The concept of proof 'beyond reasonable doubt' fell out of use more than 20 years ago. Juries are now required to be 'satisfied so that they are sure' before they find an accused Mark Hill KCLondon EC4 Sir, The verdict of a jury is almost always accepted by the public. This would not be the case for verdicts by judge and assessors. Jury trial should be kept as a right in serious cases. Arthur Noble West Kirby, Wirral Sir, Action is urgently needed to stem the alarming outflow of wealth from Britain. The advisers Henley & Partners estimate 16,500 wealthy people will leave this year, while Oxford Economics forecasts more than £1 billion in direct tax revenue will be lost annually due to the abolition of non-dom rules. The exodus threatens jobs, public services and investment. I am a sponsor of today's parliamentary reception for the non-partisan advocacy group Foreign Investors for Britain, which is calling for the reintroduction of an investor visa underpinned by a tiered wealth tax scheme. Entrepreneurs would pay up to £2 million annually, while their overseas assets would be protected from UK taxes. This model, which would generate large revenues and a variant form of which is already used elsewhere in Europe, is politically viable and fiscally sound. It would be a win-win for the UK and public service funding — and for entrepreneurs who proudly call the UK their MobarikHouse of Lords Sir, Dr MacKellar refers (letter, Jul 18) to a principle that all present and possible future children have equal worth, but this principle has long been abnegated. In families with a known propensity to have children with 21-trisomy — Down's syndrome — parents can request artificial insemination and selection on the basis of genetic heritage. There is also an accepted effort to eliminate Huntington's at a pre-embryo stage. Few in this country, I believe, think this raises a pressing ethical Graham ReadCardiff Sir, Diane Abbott's observation (News, Jul 19) that black people can face immediate and unthinking discrimination while those who do not look visibly different can experience discrimination after something is known of belief or lifestyle is simply a statement of the obvious. It is a worrying indictment of Labour leadership that this should lead to her suspension from the Singh of WimbledonHouse of Lords Sir, Gerard Baker (Comment, Jul 18) describes President Zelensky as the man President Trump and JD Vance 'humiliated in the Oval Office'. In my opinion, Trump and Vance humiliated themselves and their BaxterBeckenham Sir, Elisabeth Braw (Comment, Jul 18) laments a lack of 'cable surgeons'. Perhaps we need to channel the spirit of Sir James Anderson. The Great Eastern, a steamship to carry 4,000 passengers, was the last designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel and its construction was a financial disaster for him. After his death it was converted for cable laying. In 1865, Captain Anderson was charged with laying a cable between Foilhummerum Bay in Co Kerry and Heart's Content in Trinity Bay, Newfoundland. Not too far from the destination and at an estimated depth of 2,000 fathoms, the cable was dropped — oops. The task was abandoned, but in 1866 Anderson set off again in Great Eastern to find the cable. Using a grapnel, he and his team found the cable, spliced it and completed the job. For his efforts he was knighted by Queen Victoria. In October 1866, The Times wrote: 'The name of Captain Sir James Anderson must ever be prominent on the roll of British seamen.'Catherine UsherLondon W5 Sir, You rightly describe ('Going for Growth', leading article, Jul 19) the parlous state of the economy and Labour's mistakes that have contributed to it. But the reference to the 'slump' in London house prices implies that this is a bad thing. A fall in house prices at the upper end of the market will feed through to other properties, and anything that makes housing more affordable — particularly for younger people — should be seen as a Grossman Northwood HA6 Sir, Further to your anecdote about Ted Heath (Diary, Jul 19), Douglas Hurd confirmed in an account of a Conservative Association dinner Heath's sulkiness and hatred of chit-chat. As Heath sat glumly silent between two women, a note was passed up the table by an aide begging him to make conversation with his neighbours. A scribbled note came back saying: 'I have.'Bruce ParkerAppleshaw, Hants Sir, Further to the letter about the Hastings embroidery (Jul 18), a full-size replica of the Bayeux Tapestry is displayed at Reading Museum. It is 70m long and was made by 35 female Victorian embroiderers. Viewing is SultoonCobham, Surrey Sir, Further to your letters on 'deep breath' explanations (letters, Jul 17-19), my mother must have had much the same feeling when she told me about menstruation. I had asked about mensuration. Her answer was of limited assistance with my maths ReeceBrook, Kent
Yahoo
15-07-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Happy anniversary, Mariner 4! NASA probe got 1st-ever up-close look at Mars 60 years ago today
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. "That Mars is habitable by beings of some sort or other is as certain as it is uncertain what these beings may be," wrote Percival Lowell in the early 20th century. While the theories of this well-heeled amateur astronomer might seem fanciful when viewed from 2025, given what was known at the time, a large percentage of the public found Lowell's theories about an inhabited Mars not just credible, but likely. Lowell went so far as to theorize that the planet was straddled by canals, designed and executed by hyper-intelligent beings, that would carry water from the poles to the equator of the apparently arid planet. While other astronomers had their doubts, popular notions of Mars as a colder and drier near-twin of Earth persisted for almost a half century longer, well into the 1960s. In 1953, Wernher von Braun, who would go on to design NASA's giant Saturn V moon rocket, wrote a seminal work called "The Mars Project,' the first comprehensive look at how to send people to the Red Planet. The centerpiece was a number of huge, winged gliders that would land astronauts on Mars by navigating what was then thought to be an atmosphere perhaps half the density of Earth's. More generally, contemporary maps of Mars were still based on observations from telescopes like Lowell's 24-inch refractor up to Mount Palomar's 200-inch giant reflector. But even that latter monster showed only a shimmering red blob of a planet with shifting, indistinct imagery. In short, in the mid-20th century, our understanding of Mars was still as much intuition and imagination as fact. That all changed 60 years ago on July 14, 1965, when a small spacecraft sped by the planet at a distance of just 6,118 miles (9,846 kilometers). After the 22 low-resolution TV images made it back to Earth, the Martian empire dreamed of by Lowell and fiction authors like Edgar Rice Burroughs were smashed into red dust. Some of NASA's earliest planetary missions, Mariners 3 and 4 were planned and executed by a group of pioneering scientists at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and its associated NASA field center, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). NASA was a brand-new agency when the planning for the first Mars flyby was begun a few years earlier, but the core science team had been working together at Caltech for years, and included one of the newest additions to the geology faculty — Bruce Murray, who would later become the fifth director of JPL. Other Caltech professors on the Mariner Mars team were Robert Sharp and Gerry Neugebauer, professors of geology, and Robert Leighton and Victor Neher, both professors of physics. Despite the impressive intellect brought to bear, the project was, by today's standards, a plunge into the unknown. The combined Caltech and JPL team had little spaceflight experience to guide them. There had been just one successful flight beyond lunar orbit — Mariner 2's dash past Venus in 1962 — to build upon. There was no Deep Space Network to track and command the spacecraft, and navigating to Venus was less challenging than the voyage to Mars, which was almost twice as long — some 325 million miles (523 million km). And while the Mariner design was ultimately quite successful, at the time, flying machines in the harsh environment of space was in its infancy. Most failed to achieve their goals. Incredibly, the probe was originally designed, like the Venus-bound Mariner 2 that had recently returned copious "squiggly-line' data from that planet, without a camera. Leighton took exception to this, realizing that a lot of valuable data would be gleaned from visual imagery. He had a long history in optical astronomy and was not about to pass up this opportunity to get a close look at Mars. He also understood a more human side of the mission: Images of the planet could forge a powerful connection between planetary science and the public. Mariner 4 had a twin, Mariner 3, which launched on Nov. 5, 1964. The Atlas rocket that boosted it clear of the atmosphere functioned perfectly (not always the case, given its high failure rate in that era), but the fairing in which Mariner 3 rode became snagged, and the spacecraft, unable to collect sunlight on its solar panels, died within hours, drifting into a heliocentric orbit. After a hurried fix, Mariner 4 launched three weeks later on Nov. 28 with a redesigned fairing. The probe deployed as planned and began the long journey to Mars. But there was more drama in store: The primitive guidance system, oriented by a photocell device that was intended to acquire and track the bright star Canopus, became confused — both by other stars of similar brightness and also by a cloud of dust and paint flecks ejected when the spacecraft deployed. Ultimately, the tracker was able to find Canopus and the journey continued without incident. This star-tracking technology, along with an instrument-laden scan platform and various other design features, was central to planetary missions for decades. Just over seven months later, Mars was in the crosshairs. On July 14, 1965, Mariner's science instruments were activated. These included a magnetometer to measure magnetic fields, a Geiger counter to measure radiation, a cosmic-ray telescope, a cosmic dust detector, and the television camera. This last device had caused no end of consternation. At the time, TV cameras used fragile glass tubes and, with their associated electronics, were slightly smaller than dishwashers. Space-capable TV imagers were not available, and few people had thought to even try designing one. Leighton's team spent countless hours coming up with a low-resolution, slow-scan Vidicon tube — a glass vacuum tube aimed through a toughened telescope — that could withstand the violence of launch and the harsh temperature variations in space. Just a few hours after the science package was put to work, the TV camera began acquiring images. About nine hours later, with the spacecraft heading away from Mars, the on-board tape recorder, which had stored the data from the primitive camera, initiated playback and transmitted the raw images to Earth. And what images they were. The first views arrived at JPL shortly after midnight on July 15. These were initially represented by numeric printouts that had to be interpreted into black-and-white images, but the imaging team was impatient. They cut the numbered paper into strips, pasted them onto a backboard, and played "paint by numbers" with grease markers to create an eerily accurate first look. Once the computer-processed photographs arrived, though they were soft and indistinct, and spectroscopic and other measurements were still inexact, the combined data turned our notions about the true nature of the Red Planet on their head. Within hours, Mars had descended from Lowell's fever dreams to cold, harsh reality. Quick calculations told the story — Mars was a frigid, desert world, and those who still held to Lowell's dreams of a possible Martian empire had to concede defeat. The planet was a moon-like desert, a place of intense cratering and wide empty plains. The final blow came shortly after the flyby, when Mariner directed its radio signal through the limb of the Martian atmosphere. The atmospheric density was found to be about 1/1000th that of Earth. For the dreamers, Mars died on that day in 1965. Related Stories: — Mariner 4: NASA's 1st successful Mars mission — Mars: Everything you need to know about the Red Planet — Mars missions: A brief history But for the gathered Caltech team savoring the fuzzy pictures from Mariner 4's sprint, this was a victory. After the discovery of Venus' true nature, when a planet thought to be a swampy, humid world was revealed as a hellish place of intense pressure and searing temperatures, Mars seemed almost welcoming. And the inclusion of a TV camera on the mission added a human touch that transcended the numbers, bringing the fourth planet into living rooms worldwide. When discussing the mission a few years later, Leighton related one touching letter he received from, of all people, a milkman. It read, "I'm not very close to your world, but I really appreciate what you are doing. Keep it going." A soft-spoken Leighton said of the sentiment, "A letter from a milkman… I thought that was kind of nice." After its voyage past Mars, Mariner 4 maintained intermittent communication with JPL and returned data about the interplanetary environment for two more years. But by the end of 1967, the spacecraft had suffered close to 100 micrometeoroid impacts and was out of fuel. The mission was officially ended on Dec. 21. Since then, a multitude of spacecraft have rocketed Marsward from a variety of nations. The path to Mars is still challenging, and the U.S. leads in successes. From the Viking Mars orbiters and landers of the 1970s through the Curiosity and Perseverance rovers, which are still operating today, the Red Planet has crept from the dreadful waste seen by Mariner 4 to a place once covered in shallow oceans and with a possibly temperate atmosphere. And while we have never found any signs of Percival Lowell's high-society Martians, we may soon live in their stead.
Malay Mail
08-07-2025
- Sport
- Malay Mail
Canal-jumping, pole-vaulting, and a bit of swimming: Why ‘fierljeppen' is the Netherlands' craziest sport
LOPIK (Netherlands), July 8 — Smiling and relaxed, Dutch farmer Jacob de Groot grips a pole and walks to the water's edge — chasing a thrill he first felt aged 10, vaulting across a canal. Every summer, Dutch provinces from Friesland to Utrecht leap into 'fierljeppen' season — a uniquely Dutch sport combining pole-vaulting, long jump and, when misjudged, unplanned swimming. 'This is really a typically Dutch sport,' De Groot, holder since 2017 of the long jump record at 22.21 metres (73 feet), told AFP. 'I think because in the rest of the world there are not so many canals and also maybe the people are not so crazy.' The sport involves competitors sprinting toward the water and launching themselves into the air on a 12-metre carbon pole — roughly the height of a four-storey building. But the vault is only half the challenge. Mid-flight, competitors must climb the pole, tilt it forward, and aim to land as far as possible on a sandbank. If the timing is off, they plunge straight into the water. Every summer, Dutch provinces from Friesland to Utrecht leap into 'fierljeppen' season — a uniquely Dutch sport combining pole-vaulting, long jump and, when misjudged, unplanned swimming. — AFP pic 'It's just extreme and crazy and addictive,' said the farmer, who trains year-round and has introduced his children to the sport. The sport traces its roots to farm life, when Dutch farmers used wooden poles to cross their fields, vaulting over their canals and ditches. Over time, it evolved from a daily task into a folk challenge, and then into a formal sport. The earliest known competitions date back to around 1767. Local legend has it that in 1575, during the Dutch revolt against Spanish rule, one man hid a secret message in his pole before slipping through enemy lines. The shift to a sport reportedly happened in a bar, according to Eelco Tigchelaar, spokesperson for the local fierljeppen association in Lopik, central Netherlands, where an annual Friesland-Holland grudge match is held. 'Farmers' sons got together, drank a little and said, 'I can jump a canal of two metres'. 'Oh, I can jump three metres'.' 'And the barman said, 'oh, maybe there's money to be made. I'll make a canal of five metres and they'll have to jump'.' Today, fierljeppen — 'long jump' in Frisian — is a recognised sport with its own regulations, practised mostly by men, though a small number of women have also made their mark. Today, fierljeppen — long jump in Frisian — is a recognised sport with its own regulations, practised mostly by men, though a small number of women have also made their mark. — AFP pic 'With a lot of women, once they go to study or they have kids, they quit,' said Tessa Kramer, who is part of the Holland team. 'I'm one of the oldest now... But that's good, you're setting an example as well,' said the 31-year-old software developer. — AFP
