SAFE PASSAGE

When we’re all back at Crick, there’s a better way to arrive!

Since the former Braunston Boat Show was moved in 2000 – to the new larger site offered by Crick Marina and its neighboring farmer – there has been the health and safety issue of the dramatically increased number of pedestrians and vehicles using the old small canal bridge at the nearby Crick Wharf, which during the event, provided the main access route to the site.

The bridge had only the narrowest of pavements for the pedestrians, who felt they were taking their lives in their hands by using it. The bridge, therefore, discouraged visitors to the show from cycling to it or walking up across the canal to the village to use its shops, pubs and Indian restaurant. In addition, traffic on the road was increasing generally, added to by the expansion of Crick Marina to its present size of 270 boats.

In response to much lobbying over a number of years, Northants County Council was finally able to allocate funds to build a pedestrian bridge over the canal, to lie alongside the existing one. Nearing completion, it ironically would have been ready in good time for this year’s now canceled Crick Boat Show.