The Spalding Water Taxi is back in business after weeds blocking the River Welland were cleared by the Environment Agency, reopening the not-for-profit service between Spalding town centre and Springfields.
The route had been suspended since the beginning of September as vegetation built up quickly across the river. The blockage stopped the taxi operation and Anthony Grunwell’s self-hire boats, while also causing problems for Spalding’s yacht club.
The weed did not remain confined to one short stretch. It spread from the yacht club to Little London Bridge and caused a foul smell in the town centre, adding an unpleasant consequence for people in the area while the river services were out of action.
Water taxi service resumes
Operator Anthony Grunwell announced that the water taxi would restart on Tuesday, September 15. The supplied report was published on September 16 and says the self-hire boats returned on Wednesday, although the source does not explicitly state the year for those individual service dates.
“Yippeeeee! I am happy to announce that the Water Taxi will resume its service on Tuesday, September 15,”
The announcement followed intervention by the Environment Agency, which brought a weed-clearing vessel onto the Welland at the weekend. The vessel was used to remove the vegetation that had blocked the river and disrupted both sides of the boating operation.
Clearance restores river activities
With the blockage cleared, the town-centre connection to Springfields is operating again. The return of the self-hire boats also restores another part of the service that had been unavailable since the weed began causing problems at the start of the month.
The disruption affected more than the water taxi itself. The rapidly growing weed reached the yacht club, covered the stretch towards Little London Bridge and produced a strong smell in central Spalding. The source does not provide a precise measurement of the area covered or explain how long the clearance is expected to last.
The Environment Agency said it had spent £80,000 this year on weed and vegetation maintenance on the Welland. That figure provides the stated background to the latest clearance work, although the report does not give a separate cost for the weekend operation.
Residents and visitors can therefore use the water taxi between Spalding town centre and Springfields again, while self-hire boating has also resumed after the weed-related interruption.