00:00Basically we've been warning and neighbours had been warning the canal authorities, British
00:10Waterways as they were at the time, that there were leaks in the canal and they ignored it.
00:16In fact the one that caused the collapse, we warned them that it was a serious leak
00:23and they said it was a spring.
00:25The gardener over there, he said if it's a spring, why does the water go brown half an hour after a boat's gone past?
00:33And they did nothing about it and then within a couple of days of our final warning, the whole lot came down.
00:43Great jets of water and then 20,000 tonnes came straight at us.
00:49And there were boulders the size of a mini and huge trees and it flooded right down to the village, blocked the road for, what was it, three days it took them to...
01:01Yeah, and fishermen in the usk, we were told five miles away, thought there'd been a cloudburst because the level of the river went up and it changed colour and they didn't know why.
01:17It was the wall next door held, the trees came down roots first and literally built a dam and instantly and diverted the water down the neighbour's drive.
01:28If that happened, we'd have gone under it.
01:30Well, we would have, we would have been killed and if it had been in the village...
01:35It would have been in another van, no question.
01:37It would have, because the village school would have been in the way.
01:42So, no, it's, it's, it was a serious, serious collapse.
01:48And it's still leaking today.
01:502014, a 50-yard crack, remember the canal is 20-odd metres high here and the bank is more than 45 degrees, appeared in the towpath and it dropped a foot.
02:08Well, when that's 23 metres up there, it's frightening and it took them till 2018 to repair it and even now it's, the repair is faulty.
02:24And, and it's, it's been, um, in a report written for the river trust, they said that it was badly repaired and there's still cracks in it and it's still leaking basically.
02:39The canal is a magnificent example of engineering, industrial engineering, and it would be tragic if it were allowed to just dry up.
02:54And they really need to get enough money into it to get it functioning safely for the boat owners and for those living either side of it.
03:06Um, because it's an artificial body of water and therefore the canal and river trust have a responsibility to keep it safe for both the boat owners and for people, um, living either side of it.
03:21And it would be, when you consider Blen Avenue as a, a world heritage site, this canal is all part of that.
03:30Um, this house was lived in by Crosha Bailey, who's the famous iron master.
03:36Um, this is all seriously industrial heritage, which it would be tragic if we lose, but they've got to put it right.
03:47These are people living their lives and they, they should be able to do so safely.
04:06Yeah.
04:07Uh, uh.
