difficult for an inquirer to determine whether the reason why coal is included in the property description in a title sheet is due to the fact the terms of the title date from pre-nationalisation days or because title to coal has been acquired from the Coal Authority. Where the former applies, the title insofar as it relates to coal is and will remain ineffective to the extent that the 1994 Act provides that no one shall be able to acquire an interest or a right adverse to the title of the British Coal Corporation or Coal Authority by virtue of prescription. Thus, in order to ensure the Land Register does not mislead anyone or create a potential competition in title, the Keeper will add coal interest exclusion notes to the property sections of all title sheets (a) which are either created or updated with effect from 31 October 1994 or after; (b) which either relate to minerals or which specifically include minerals in terms which allow the conclusion to be drawn that coal is or may be included; and (c) where there has been no grant by the Coal Authority to justify that interpretation. The exclusion note will run in terms similar to the following: ‘Note: Notwithstanding any other terms of this title, no interest in coal or allied minerals is included in the subjects in this Title.’ Conclusion 6.98  Handling  applications  involving  title  to  minerals,  including  coal,  is  inherently  problematic.  The Keeper  is  always  happy  to  discuss  the  evidential  requirements  pertaining  to  any  particular  case (especially as regards possession, normally by working, of minerals for the prescriptive period). Queries, preferably in writing in the first instance, should be directed to the Pre-Registration Enquiries Section. Natural Water Boundaries 6.99 Subjects which have as one of their boundaries a natural water feature, such as a river, loch or the sea, present additional considerations for the Keeper and the submitting solicitor both at the time of  first  registration  and  subsequently.  Such  considerations  include  two  related  issues,  namely identification of the actual position of the natural water boundary and alluvio. The problem with natural water boundaries 6.100 References in a deed to a natural water feature can take many forms. Where it is a river the boundary is commonly stated to form the medium filum but it can, for instance, be the near or far river bank. Similarly, with the sea the boundary could be stated to be the foreshore or low or high water mark  of  ordinary  spring  tides  or  some  other  feature.  In  other  cases  the  actual  position  will  not  be defined, rather the deed will simply narrate that the subjects are ‘bounded by the River X’ or ‘by the sea’. Where that occurs consideration has to be given to the judicial interpretation of such references in order to determine where the particular boundary is deemed to fall. (See, for instance, Professor Halliday’s Conveyancing Law and Practice⁵⁰, 2nd Edition, Volume II paragraph 18-11.) Under registration of title the main difficulty with natural water boundaries derives from the fact that they may not remain static. The medium filum, for instance, is a fairly abstract notion as the width of a river is not constant. Similarly both the width of a river and sea boundaries can change with the seasons and be affected by other factors such as weather conditions and alluvio and avulsion. The practical consequence of the latter two events is that the actual course of a natural water boundary may at the time of registration

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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