Anyone live near a canal?

paddylonglegs

Looking at a house right on the canal at the moment and I was wondering about the general pitfalls of living close. main concerns are rodents and midgies inthe summer time. Anyone had experience of living near the canal then?

Thanks all

L1011

Biggest problem if its the Royal in a built up area is likely to be teenage drinkers, rather than midges or rodents.

Midges aren't a serious problem along any of the Royal and the person I know who lives beside it hasn't had any problems with rodents but I wouldn't be sure that'd hold true for every dwelling - theirs is a fairly sturdy 1990s building.

n97 mini

Drinking teenagers don't tend to wander far from road bridges or other infrastructure at night as along the canal is pitch dark. So if the house is along a pitch dark stretch then you'll be alright in that regard.

In exceptional weather there can be an unusually high amount of midges, but I've only noticed that once or twice in 10 years.

Moonbeam

It depends al ot on where and how close to the canal and if it is in a housing estate or not.

herself81

Hi just bringing up this post again to see if anyone can tell me of the negatives or positives of living near a canal. We're looking at a house in the country and it has a canal running parallel to the house across the road. I'm thinking of safety concerns etc with small kids as there are no barriers beside it. Any information would be greatly appreciated.

coffeepls

I live near the canal. I got to say that I've never noticed teenagers hanging round drinking - it's just too dark late at night.
The midges do bother me. I find that I don't leave windows open at night as the light attracts them. I know they're only teeny weeny flies, but I hate them.

That's all the bad things - nothing that hasn't been said already... the canal is beautiful nearly all year round and I feel lucky to live so near it. I love the ducks and birds (swifts, martins and swallows doing crazy swoops that just near skim the surface).
Waterways seem to do a good job keeping it clean & dredged. Sometimes the water is so clear you can see the fish. I wasn't sure about living so close to the canal when I first moved here, but it's turned out to be a real bonus. I'm living near it 10 years now.

herself81

Thanks for the reply coffeepls.
Would you say the midges are very bad? I used to live in the country when I was younger and if you left the windows open midges would come in and we didn't live near any water. I never took any notice of that though. But are you saying that midges are worse near the canal?
What about safety? In terms of children falling in. I'm a little concerned that the water that near the house is a bit of a safety hazard. How about flooding, does that ever happen, especially in the current weather conditions?
Thanks again.

coffeepls

I'm a city girl to be honest - all flying insects aren't to my liking, but I think the midges may be just a country thing, perhaps slightly more near a canal, but not an epidemic. Anyway - every flying bug bites me, and they've never actually been a problem. It's just me that isn't keen on them!
Safety re. kids - hmmmm I don't know. I guess I wouldn't let them out of my sight near a river edge, or canal edge. I don't have kids so the problem hasn't arisen.
Flooding - seldom. There's never been any flooding of the grand canal near me, but I do remember the royal canal in maynooth flooding. Tbh, if the canal is maintained & dredged, and the locks are maintained & not all clogged, afaik the canal shouldn't flood.... (she says like she actually understands how they work).

herself81

Thanks for all that information. I really appreciate it. I guess what I'm thinking in terms of safety is when the kids are older (They are very young yet so I don't let them out if my sight anyway!) I'd be worried that they might fall in by falling off their bike for example as the canal seems very open. I guess I maybe over cautious. While the canal seems lovely from a nature point of view like you described I'm just a bit wary of the hazards of it, when it is so close to this house we are looking at. If it was a few fields away- grand, I wouldn't worry about it at all. Anyway thanks again for that feedback

Maura74

herself81 wrote: »

Thanks for all that information. I really appreciate it. I guess what I'm thinking in terms of safety is when the kids are older (They are very young yet so I don't let them out if my sight anyway!) I'd be worried that they might fall in by falling off their bike for example as the canal seems very open. I guess I maybe over cautious. While the canal seems lovely from a nature point of view like you described I'm just a bit wary of the hazards of it, when it is so close to this house we are looking at. If it was a few fields away- grand, I wouldn't worry about it at all. Anyway thanks again for that feedback

I think if your children learn how to swim then it should not be a problem for them living near a canal. When I was younger I lived next to the canal but that was a long time ago.
I remember 2 young children drowning in the grand canal. I cannot remember if the boys were able to swim not, but as I said if your children can swim then it should not be a problem living next to a canal.

herself81

Hi maura74. Yes that's true, being able to swim would be very important living near a canal or river. As is educating them about its dangers....so much to think about.

paddylonglegs

herself81 wrote: »

Hi maura74. Yes that's true, being able to swim would be very important living near a canal or river. As is educating them about its dangers....so much to think about.

Would irish water safety have any kind of numbers on fatalities on canals with children? Might give you an idea if it's a common occurance