16/09/2026
A personal message from me – Jess ❤️
I have thought long and hard about whether to write this.
For around six years I have deliberately remained silent publicly about the ongoing difficulties surrounding our business at Park Gate. I have never wanted Georgie’s Canal Cruises, our staff or our customers dragged into a dispute between neighbouring businesses.
Unfortunately, following a post published on social media yesterday specifically naming Georgie’s Canal Cruises and describing us as “inbred bullying tossers”, I feel I finally need to say something.
Firstly, I was the person driving the vehicle referred to in a post and video that is circulating on social media
I was travelling slowly, through our access route whilst leaving work on Monday evening. I could see a gentleman close to the gate and was concentrating on making sure I passed him safely, as I wasn’t certain whether he had seen me approaching.
I genuinely had not seen his beautiful dog.
When I became aware of him, I reacted immediately to avoid him. Thankfully there was no collision and neither the gentleman nor his dog were injured.
I completely appreciate that seeing a vehicle unexpectedly close to your dog could be frightening. What I cannot accept is the subsequent personal abuse or the suggestion that I intentionally or recklessly attempted to harm somebody’s animal.
Unfortunately, however, yesterday's incident does not exist in isolation.
Over a number of years Georgie’s Canal Cruises and those associated with our operation have experienced repeated disputes and actions affecting our business.
These have included attempts to challenge our boat operation and licensing; reports to Environmental Health; approaches to people connected with our business seeking information about our activities; inproveked physical contact with an ex employee; interruption to our former water supply; vehicles obstructing access across the bridge; coach operators being contacted with false information or challenged; coach operators being approached on arrival with slanderous and damaging abuse; guests cars being defaced and repeated disputes and claims concerning commercial vehicles and access to the boatyard. There list goes on.
We have dealt with these matters through the appropriate channels and continued running our business.
What has become particularly difficult for me is when our customers are brought into it.
We have had guests arriving for what should be a lovely canal cruise become confused, uncomfortable or distressed after interactions while simply trying to find us. We have had issues surrounding coaches accessing us and customers trying to establish where they should go.
Our guests have absolutely nothing to do with any dispute surrounding this site, and I don't believe they should ever be made to feel that they do.
So I want to make one thing extremely clear to anyone visiting Georgie’s Canal Cruises.
Please follow our directions and signage and do not park on or enter the neighbouring private properties.
Our access from Teddesley Road takes you across the bridge and along the established access road, around the rear of the large green building and into the boatyard.
There is also a lay-by before the bridge which may be used as an optional overspill parking area, followed by a short walk across the bridge. This area is not owned or managed by Georgie’s Canal Cruises and vehicles are left there at their owners’ risk.
You will see a clear access map attached in the comments below so that everybody visiting us knows exactly where to go.
If you are ever unsure, please stay where you are and call us on 07946 490203. Somebody from our team will happily come and help you.
And please drive extremely slowly when passing through the neighbouring properties and entering the boatyard. There may be pedestrians, customers, animals and vehicles moving around, and everyone’s safety must come first.
I also want to address the continuing issue surrounding the bridge.
Considerable and conflicting information has been circulated over the years regarding the bridge, its history, weight restrictions and the vehicles permitted to cross it.
This is and historically has been a working boatyard and after many years has prescriptive rights. Businesses operating from a working boatyard inevitably require access for deliveries, building supplies, servicing, waste collection and other commercial activities.
We have obtained our own information concerning the bridge, including information regarding its construction and strengthening, and we have gathered historical records and evidence concerning the longstanding commercial use of the boatyard and the vehicles that have historically required access.
One photograph we have is a small but fascinating piece of that history – the beautiful Dutch barge Florence IV being transported out of the boatyard in the early 1990s.
I am not suggesting that a historic photograph determines what the bridge can safely carry today. That is something for appropriately qualified professionals to establish.
A full review of the bridge, its history, restrictions and access arrangements is now taking place so that this matter can finally be established properly using evidence and professional advice rather than conflicting claims on social media. Canal and River Trust have been very supportive in this on going matter and whatever the outcome of that review, we at Georgies Canal cruises will of course comply with the requirements that apply.
After years of trying to deal with this quietly, I will now also be seeking formal legal advice.
This will relate to the wider issues affecting our business, access and customers, together with material being published publicly about Georgie’s Canal Cruises.
For that reason, I will not be entering into arguments with individuals on Facebook or responding to abusive comments.
If somebody has a genuine concern about our operation, there are appropriate authorities and professional channels through which those concerns can be raised. We will cooperate with them, as we always have.
For nearly a decade I have poured everything into Georgie’s Canal Cruises.
I employ local people. We work with and support other local businesses. We bring visitors and tourism into Penkridge, and my team and I work incredibly hard to give thousands of people a wonderful experience on our canal year on year.
I don't know what anyone ultimately hopes to achieve from the continued conflict, and I am not going to speculate.
What I do know is that I simply want to be allowed to run my business peacefully.
I want my staff to be able to come to work without finding themselves caught in the middle.
I want suppliers and coaches to be able to deal with us through the proper arrangements.
And most importantly, I want our customers to arrive excited about their canal cruise — not worried that they have inadvertently become involved in somebody else's dispute.
Ultimately, none of this is what Georgie’s Canal Cruises is about. ❤️
All I have ever wanted to do is create something special — to bring people together, give our guests wonderful experiences and help create memories with their families and friends on our beautiful local canals.
I want Georgie’s to continue bringing visitors and tourism to Penkridge and cruising these waterways for many, many years to come.
I genuinely never imagined I would find myself having to write a statement like this. I am naturally a peaceful person and, for years, my approach has simply been to keep myself to myself, concentrate on my business and avoid confrontation wherever possible.
Perhaps I have remained silent for too long.
But speaking now isn't about retaliation, and it certainly isn't about encouraging hostility towards anybody else.
It is about protecting my business, my team and, most importantly, the guests who trust us to give them a safe, happy and memorable experience.
That's all I have ever wanted Georgie's to be.
One final request.
If you have visited Georgie’s Canal Cruises and have personally experienced an upsetting or concerning interaction while arriving at or leaving our premises — particularly in relation to access, parking or finding your way to us — and you feel it is something we should be aware of, I would be grateful if you could contact us privately rather than naming or discussing individuals publicly in the comments.
Please email [email protected] with a brief description of what happened, approximately when it occurred and, where possible, any photographs or other information you may have.
We will keep a record of the information received so that, where appropriate, it can form part of the matters we are now documenting and seeking professional advice about.
I have remained publicly silent for years because I believed that was the professional thing to do. Yesterday, after Georgie’s Canal Cruises was publicly named and personally attacked, I felt that remaining completely silent was no longer appropriate.
I've said what I needed to say. From here, I intend to deal with these matters privately, professionally and through the appropriate channels.
Thank you, genuinely, to everyone who continues to visit, recommend and support Georgie’s Canal Cruises.
This statement is about what im fighting to preserve - and not who im fighting with.
Your support means more to me and my team than you probably realise right now. ❤️
Jess x
