Museum Matters February 2013 by Friends of the Canal Museum

MUSEUM MATTERS February 2013 The Newsletter of The Friends of The Canal Museum, Stoke Bruerne

50th anniversary celebrations kick off with gathering of historic boats

Sunny Valley moves into the Museum in 1963 The Waterways Archive/Canal & River Trust

Inside…  Report on Illuminations & Carols  Gala Weekend Update  Jack James Serialisation continues  Curatorial News  50 years of the Canal Museum  Funding & Awards Update  Winter Talks & Diary of Events

Easter Historic Boat Gathering 29th-31st March

year-long series of events is planned to celebrate 50 years of the Canal celebrations Museum at Stoke Bruerne - the brainchild of ex-boatman and lock-keeper Jack James, who originally put on his own display of artefacts and memorabilia in the legger's hut next to The Boat Inn, and British Transport Waterways' engineer Charles Hadlow, who had his own collection of canal documents. Displaying considerable foresight, they decided that the old corn mill would be the ideal place to house a museum and persuaded BTW to help them set it up.

50th

In 1963, when it opened, the Canal Museum was the first of its kind in the country and Jack James and Charles Hadlow’s collections were augmented with more items already in the care of BTW. A model of the cabin of Sunny Valley, built at Nurser’s Boatyard, Braunston and painted by Ron Hough, was also commissioned especially for the brand new museum. Sunny Valley later proved to be the catalyst for the formation of the Friends when it was realised she had to be removed from the Museum to make way for a much needed revenue raising cafe in 2005. Sunny Valley has now been restored to the top floor of the Museum and revitalised with the help of the Friends curatorial volunteers. The first celebratory anniversary event is a gathering of historic boats belonging to members of the Historic Narrow Boat Club at Stoke Bruerne over the Easter Weekend of 29th-31st March.

Christmas Market, Illuminated Boats & Carols

The magical Christmas scene at Stoke Bruerne with Santa Claus Photos: James Rudd

lluminated boats, carols, hot soup, chestnuts roasting over a hot fire, steaming mulled wine, a visit from Santa and a Christmas Market full of seasonal gifts....all added to the magical ambiance at Stoke Bruerne on 8-9th December for the annual event organised by the Friends, local businesses, schools and villagers.

possible with the help of the Inland Waterways Association who provided the stalls and Marstons Brewery who delivered them to us along with a regular beer delivery from Burton-upon-Trent where they are stored.

Friends member Roy Sears won the best illuminated boat competition with Hoperidge, receiving a signed certificate and bottle of champagne from judges and previous repeat This year for the first time a Christmas Mar- winners Tim and Roberta Casientieri. ket at The Navigation pub proved a big at- Another new addition this year was Santa, traction and Julian and his staff pushed the otherwise known as Alan Andrews from Blisboat out with a series of weekend fundrais- worth, who delighted the children and took ing activities raising ÂŁ550 for the Friends quite a few orders for presents. which we are hoping Marstons brewery, may match fund. The market was made Central to the seasonal activities were the

The Christmas Market at the Navigation was popular all weekend

children of Stoke Bruerne, Whittlebury and Tiffield Primary Schools who gathered on the canalside after a procession from the village school to sing carols on the canalside to the accompaniment of Lincoln Noel on electric piano and tenor Andrew Woodward from The Boat Inn.

Christmas lights illuminate the canal Photos: James Rudd

Next on the horizon is our Gala Weekend...

ur Gala Sub-committee is hard at work already making preparations for our Gala Weekend taking place over the weekend of 15-16th June, but because it is a special year for our Museum we want the event to be an extra special one. This means we need your help.

We‟d like to have more fundraising stalls this year providing opportunities for our visitors to have even more fun than usual. We have lots of ideas, but could you help set up and/or “man” a stall for us? It‟s entirely up to you how much time you‟d like to give but we‟d be very grateful for even just a few hours of your time on the day, even if just to relieve another volunteer so they can take a break. We‟re also happy to hear from members who have some interesting ideas for games or fundraising stalls or have hidden talents like children‟s face painting, juggling, balloon modelling or anything entertaining. Do you belong to a dance, theatre or music group? Why not let us know? Ring Sandie Morton on 01604 858294 or email membership@friendsofcanalmuseum.org.uk . This year will be the last time that we have the help of Tim and Bridget Carter who have staged our fantastic pirate spectacles for us. Tim and Bridget are offering to train volunteers in the use of pyrotechnics and stagecraft. Now that‟s an offer that can‟t be refused! Could you get involved with a view to taking over from them next year or are you a member of a local theatre group who might be interested? Contact us now!

Stoke Bruerne 50 years Ago The story of The Canal Museum by David Blagrove

t seems odd that I should be writing a sort of historical account of something that seems to have happened in what appears to have been such a short time span. Yet on reflection both society and the waterways were very different in 1963 from today. Changes in society would take too long to enumerate, but changes in the waterways and their environment often reflect these and would take a proportionate length of time. Fifty years ago the Grand Union Canal was still carrying a relatively year-round traffic of commercial cargoes. There were

Stoke Bruerne in 1960

then seventy or so pairs of boats still operating; southbound traffic being mainly coal with a northbound stream of grain, timber, foodstuffs, steel and other imported commodities bound for the industrial Midlands. A few pleasure craft were evident during the spring, summer and early autumn. At Braunston and at

Leighton Buzzard a couple of tentative hire boat fleets were operating, but from October to March the canal was almost entirely given over to commercial carrying.

Obsolete and expensive liability The communities along the banks of the canal were rarely aware of the amenity value of what passed their doors. At Three Locks and Stoke Bruerne and at a few individual locks some employees made a brave attempt to smarten the

David Blagrove Collection

place up, but in general the attitude of the public at large was indifferent. The attitude of the canalâ&#x20AC;&#x;s owners, the British Transport Commission, was equivocal to say the least. The BTC devolved their responsibility to an organisation called British Transport Waterways (or British Waterways for short). BTW was ex-

pected to make the best of a bad job in running the canals, but the BTC wanted to be rid of them as an obsolete and expensive liability. In consequence, when the BTW became aware of its intended demise there were two parallel schools of thought. One was to get rid of the canals to a separate body; the other was to preserve some of the artefacts of rail, road and canal. Already a sort of home for the BTC‟s collection of transport artefacts had been set up in a bus

rumours began to circulate among waterway enthusiasts that some sort of museum was going to be opened at Stoke Bruerne.

Stoke Bruerne was chosen That Stoke Bruerne was chosen was due to the efforts of two men from very different backgrounds. Charles Hadlow was a civil engineer based at Gayton Junction who had worked for the Grand Junction Canal Company before the formation of the

1967 postcard scene with the Canal Museum in evidence. The site of the old engine house is just visible as a low wall.

garage at Clapham in South London. Here such items as the locomotives “Mallard” and “City of Truro”, both onetime speed record holders, were kept like stuffed dinosaurs far from rails and lacking a meaningful ambiance of display. The Curator did his best with very poor tools, but it is to the credit of the BTC that they were persuaded that a more relevant place of display for their canal relics would be Stoke Bruerne. Thus it came about that during 1961

Grand Union Company in 1929. He had inherited a collection of documents and other archival material which he wished to see preserved. The lock-keeper at Stoke Bruerne since 1947 was Jack James, a born and bred boatman, who had worked on the Upper Thames in his youth and recalled the smart state of many of that river‟s locks. He took to smartening up the locks in his care and also displayed some of his collection of boating artefacts in the lock office to those who showed interest. It

also happened that there was an empty mill building on the waterside which could be used as a home for a display of waterway artefacts. With the transfer of the waterways impending, the BTC decided to amalgamate several collections and to make a museum in the old mill dedicated to waterways artefacts. Work began during 1962 and was well under way when the BTC and BTW were disbanded on 31st December and replaced next day by the British Waterways Board.

tion of double yellow lines through the village. The resulting chaos on fine weekends was blamed on the Museum, although most of the visitors who parked on the highway did not visit that institution. Eventually the Parochial Church Council and private landowners made fields available on a temporary basis and the local authorities relented,

Ready for opening at Easter Both Charles Hadlow and Jack James were due to retire and one of the last acts of the BTW was to appoint both men as officials of the new Museum. Charles Hadlow became the Curator and Manager and Jack James the caretaker. The Museum was ready for opening at Easter 1963, by which time the new BWB had decided to end its carrying activities on the Grand Union Canal, leaving the remaining carrying in the hands of private carriers. Thus the opening coincided to a large degree with the final days of the canal as a transport medium and the beginning of its official use as a public amenity. Regular carrying craft continued to pass the doors until October 1970, when the last contracts ended. In its early days the Museum attracted large numbers of visitors. Already Stoke Bruerne was a popular local destination and the Museum‟s opening increased the attraction. The small car park at the rear of the building, entered from Chapel Lane, soon became inadequate. This was partially alleviated by the purchase of a nearby cottage and the extension of the car park into its garden. However the problems of parking in the village were not helped by the persistent refusal of the Parish and District Councils to permit the installa-

This extract from a local newspaper in the 60s expressed concerns about the effect extra visitors were having on the village

but for the first ten years or so of the Museum‟s existence relations with the local community were often strained.

Alien features As part of the original display a number of alien features were introduced to the canalside. These included a pair of cast iron narrow lockgates from the Montgomeryshire Canal and a boat weighing machine from South Wales, which were installed in the remains of the original Top Lock. Had these items not been given a home at Stoke Bruerne they would almost inevitably have been scrapped, for interest in industrial archaeology was in its infancy in 1963. An exFellows, Morton & Clayton Ltd horse boat, “Northwich” was also brought to be moored originally outside the Museum as a floating exhibit, but soon after placed in the cradle of

the weighing machine, where it was inaccessible to the public. A favourite internal exhibit was the mock-up rear cabin of the horse boat “Sunny Valley”, which Jack James fitted out with some of his preserved cabin items. This was originally installed on the Ground Floor of the old mill building, where it remained for some thirty seven years.

numbers on the canal. Richard Hutchings retired. Tony Conder appointed as Curator. “Northwich” was removed from the weighing machine and taken by road to Norton Canes for refurbishment. A motor weed cutter put in its place temporarily. 1979. Canal closed at 24 hours notice in July due to water shortage, not reopened until end of October.

Sunny Valley was originally installed on the Ground Floor of the old mill building (currently the retail shop) image taken from an old museum catalogue

The remaining story of the Museum may simplest be told by means of a time-line: 1964. Mrs Janet Collings became Secretary/Deputy to Charles Hadlow 1969. A shop extension opened on the footprint of what had been the mill engine house. Charles Hadlow retired, later to be replaced by Richard Hutchings as manager. 1970. Jack James retired and was replaced by Reg Morgan. 1972. Mrs Collings left the Museum. 1974. Death of Jack James. 1977. Blisworth Tunnel closed for emergency repairs from June to October, greatly reducing visitor numbers. 1978. Braunston Tunnel closed for entire summer and winter, affecting boat

1980. This same year more problems were found with Blisworth Tunnel, which was partially re-opened during the summer and then closed for four years. “Northwich” was returned as a floating exhibit, being brought by the restored steamer “President”. Both boats remained as exhibits for two summers. 1982. Large scale protests at both ends of the Tunnel result in Treasury funding being made available to BWB for repairs. September, “Northwich” & “President” left for the Black Country Museum, travelling via Brentford and Oxford due to the tunnel closure. 1984. Tunnel reopened in August and visitor numbers once more rose. 1985. Motor Boat “Sculptor” arrived. Mrs Janet Collings returned as a village resi-

dent and resumed her job at the Museum. 1986. Tony Conder left to start up museum at Gloucester but is still responsible for Curatorial matters at Stoke Bruerne. Bob Topliss appointed Manager. 1986/7. Bob Topliss is replaced by Caroline Clarke as Manager. Janet Collings rejoins staff, later to be Shop Manager on retirement of Margaret Ratcliffe. 1988. “Sculptor” represented the Museum at the National Rally of Boats at Manchester, taken there by Julia and Lawrence Cook, Museum employees. Brian Collings joins staff in educational/ interpretation role. 1988/9. Caroline Clarke leaves and Lawrence Cook becomes Manager. A series of “Artists‟ Weekends” were instituted at Stoke Bruerne during 1989-1992 which subsequently inspired the Gala Weekends after 2006. 1990. “Sculptor” voyages around the canal system sponsored by the Cheese Industry and Cellnet with Brian Collings as skipper to promote 50 years of IWA. 1999. Museum becomes the responsibility of The Waterways Trust. Lawrence Cook leaves. Museum administered from Watford. Brian Collings takes over site

management in addition to existing duties. 2001. Alterations take place; some exhibits removed elsewhere, “Sunny Valley” and preserved engines moved into the shop area and the mill ground floor becomes a shop. 2002/3. Brian Collings retires and Alison Smith appointed as Manager. 2005. Blisworth Tunnel‟s 200th Anniversary Celebrations. Small plaque unveiling ceremony takes place on 25th March with Chairman of BW; major event takes place in June, bringing in an estimated 5,000 visitors. However declining visitor numbers become a concern later in the year. The removal of “Sunny Valley” and horse exhibits to the schoolroom at the rear to be replaced by a café causes local concern and a public meeting is called at the Village Hall in December. 2006. January. FOCM formed as a result of the December meeting. First Summer Gala is held in June. Alison Smith leaves and David Henderson appointed Manager. 2007. Janet Collings finally retires. 2008. FOCM hold first “Village at War” event. 2012. BW replaced by the Canal & River Trust. Biggest ever Village at War event.

Year Long Series of Events Planned for Museum’s 50th Anniversary Year With planning for two major annual events, the Gala Weekend and Village at War already occupying the full resources of our volunteer sub-committees, it was decided late last year that instead of an additional one off anniversary “do” the Friends would concentrate on adding a number of smaller gatherings, exhibitions and happenings which could take place throughout the whole year. Some of these are announced in this issue - a HNBC Historic Boat Gathering at Easter, and the Russell Newbery Register Boat Rally and Freemason‟s Square & Compass Party both in June, for example. And the good news is: all three organisations have expressed a desire for any fundraising they carry out to go to the Friends. More will follow including an exhibition of Jack James artefacts in the Legger‟s Hut, a celebratory event in the Museum in the autumn and, if funding and necessary permissions can be obtained, it is hoped to commission a commemorative sculpture or statue on the canalside. So, watch out for more announcements in the next issue of Museum Matters and on our website www.friendsofcanalmuseum.org.uk

Spring News from the Curatorial Group

uratorial activity at the Museum has been hampered in 2013 by the terrible weather conditions which have prevented the volunteer team from working for several weeks. However that is not to say that there has been no progress. Distance posts and boundary markers before...

The former display area featuring tramways on the first floor of the Museum has been cleared and handed back to the staff as a children‟s activity area where the younger visitors can occupy themselves with canal related games, dressing-up, art, etc. The back of this display now awaits some new interpretation panels based on Stoke Bruerne personalities.

...and after. Curatorial Work Party Volunteer Brian Mayland gives the display a bit of a facelift Photo: Mike Constable

New children’s area on first floor Photo: Mike Constable

Funding of £5,000 has been provided by the Friends for the purchase of new display cases and a further sum of up to £2,000 has been allocated for the new children’s activity/education area and for the purchase of dressing up clothes, games, etc.

The tramway display has been moved to a new case on the second floor. The case was purpose built for us and currently awaits some brackets which are being made by Bob the Blacksmith before the display can be completed. New interpretation panels are in progress. The extremely 'tired' (and moth eaten) wildlife display on the second floor has been removed and a new display on ca-

the quality of school visits. Training on the use of these objects is imminent. The introduction of the new management structure for the whole of the Canal & River Trustâ&#x20AC;&#x;s Museums and Attractions Partnership is beginning to take shape and I am pleased to be able to say that although things are moving very slowly, progress is definitely being made. Mike Constable February 2013 New tramway case on second floor Photo: Mike Constable

nal maintenance is under way. Some making good to the Museum structure is needed before this can be completed. Two new display cases are due to be delivered soon for the first floor. One will be a straight replacement in the first instance for the existing surveying display and the second will house a new feature on lock wheeling.

Volunteers Bill Mann and Mick Butler have moved Joey the boat horse back into the ground floor of the Museum from the rear schoolroom. Joey was moved out of the Museum along with the model boat cabin of Sunny Valley in 2005 to make room for the cafe. Concerns expressed at the time proved the catalyst for the formation of the Friends and their subsequent support of the Museum.

Awaiting development. A new canal maintenance display is planned Photo: Mike Constable

Popular with visitors, both exhibits were enquired about frequently and although available for visitors to see in the schoolroom when school parties were not present, access was dependent on volunteers being available to act as stewards.

The Curators have also been working closely with the Educational Team and new handling objects have been provided from the Collection to improve

Now both these iconic exhibits are back on display in the Museum where they can be seen all the time.

David Blagrove, Chairman of the Friends, writes…

“We have seen some of the birth pangs settle down”

y the time you read this the Canal & River Trust will have been in office as guardians of our waterway system for an infancy period of nine months, and during this time we have seen some of the birth pangs settle down, to be replaced by others. There is still controversy about the Trust, voiced on some waterway news sites and even in the regular printed journals, but my impression is that the views to the contrary are gradually becoming less strident.

Case of unforeseen consequences But that is not to say that all is perfect within the new set-up. We in the Museum world have recently come across what may well be a case of unforeseen consequences, but which is nevertheless a matter of some little concern to us. With the merger of the functions of British Waterways and The Waterways Trust has come the opportunity for the offshoots of CRT to buy in services in bulk at what, in accounting terms, seems like a good market rate. Maintenance services for example are provided by a central core of contractors at a fixed rate which is, on the face of it, a good thing for budgetary purposes.

Long-drawn-out process A similar system operated under the previous administration with the exception that, within The Waterways Trust, local managers had a certain amount of discretion insofar as small items were concerned. Thus, for instance, our Museum was able to call upon the services of a local craftsman and handyman for carrying out small items of maintenance without having to go through the

more long-drawn-out process of raising an official order. So if a window was accidentally broken, or there was an urgent need for some carpentry work, or the loos needed a quick fix it could be done within a very short time by a local man, and at a small cost. Now though, the rules have changed. Such small items as I mention now have to have an order raised and put out to the official contractors, so in order to change a light bulb or similar someone has to come from a central depot, at a fixed travelling rate and at a fixed contractor’s rate. The natural temptation therefore is to save up the petty jobs until it is worthwhile sending for the contractors, and allowing for the natural time that such an order takes to work its way through the system this means that simple replacements and maintenance begin to develop a backlog.

Corporate culture A problem that was noted before the war with the monolithic London, Midland & Scottish Railway was the scruffiness and generally run-down appearance of its stations. It was fine having streamlined, fast and comfortable trains, but the face shown to the travelling public was scarcely likely to attract custom, especially when people compared it to the stations on other railway companies’ lines. The reason for this was the corporate culture of the LMS. Stationmasters from Bath to Thurso who formerly had the power to authorise local expenditure on paint and glass, now had to seek approval through their divisional managers, who in turn were answerable to Head Office at Euston. It would be a great shame if the promise of the new Trust were to be swallowed up in a welter of poor maintenance and lack of window dress-

ing such as this. There ought to be some way in which local officials could be allowed some sort of control over day-to-day maintenance matters.

Mysterious influences While on the subject of maintenance, I attended, on your behalf, a C&RT meeting at the Museum before Christmas to which volunteer groups from all across the South East were invited. In conversation with the C&RT team I mentioned how some sort of group was needed at Stoke Bruerne, since it seems to be nobody’s job to do the sort of things that Jack James was wont to do when he was lockkeeper here. Through some mysterious influences Jack obtained paint and brushes, weed killer, whitewash, flower tubs, rose bushes, bedding plants and similar materials and, as photographs from the 1950s show, transformed the area round Top Lock as well as smartening up the rest of the flight. All this he did when things were quiet, or in his own time and to a great extent he made Stoke Bruerne what it was and thus a natural place for the British Transport Commission’s proposed Canal Museum. Jack once told me that he took the idea from prewar Thames locks, and it certainly made Stoke Bruerne a showplace. By comparison much of the canalside is pretty scruffy these days. Before the last Village at War weekend we had to clear out the entrance to the side lock which was full of dead leaves and muck from the previous twelve months since we had last cleaned it out. The C&RT team were in agreement and so at the next meetings of the Stoke Bruerne Canal Partnership and our own Council I raised the matter of forming a volunteer group to take the canalside in hand as part of the Museum’s 50th birthday celebrations. Both bodies agreed to support this idea, so the next stage will be to call a meeting of all interested parties sometime during March. I hope to put the idea to the Parish Council before then. It would be good if we could get some sort of pilot scheme going by Easter, or at least the first May Bank Holiday. Keep an eye on the website or local notice boards for more details. Initially I propose taking the stretch from the tunnel to lock 15 (the second one down) in hand,

but once some assessment of the task is done, to extend this to the whole flight. I might add that Northampton Branch of IWA has undertaken a similar scheme for the Northampton Arm, the Blisworth Partnership is doing great things for the canals at Blisworth, and the fledgling Braunston Canal Society is getting its teeth into the canal there.

Heritage Awards Our media expert, Lynda Payton, has been putting in much time recently in justification of our application to be considered for more Heritage Awards. You may recall that two years ago the Village at War received a coveted Waterways Renaissance Award. This year we have been selected to apply for another two and we have entered last year’s Gala and the Restoration of “Sculptor” as individual items. We have currently got, as it were, to the semi-finals and the assessor visited us on 11th February to question some of us in detail about the organisation and management of these two projects. We now wait to see whether we have gone through; a further assessment is due next month.

Potential attraction for trouser legs “Sculptor” has had a quiet winter since the Illuminated Boats and Carols event in December. Rob Westlake and Rick Thake managed to deck the boat out with coloured lights and she was able to take part in the arrival of boats. The canal outside “the Boat Inn” is not wide enough to wind a full length boat, so the following day, Sunday, she made an excursion down the locks, during which Rob managed to satisfy himself that the pound below Lock 16 is definitely NOT wide enough to wind a fulllength boat. One working party has been held at which the autumn accumulation of leaves was removed from the hold, the cloths straightened and tidied and the bilges pumped following the thawing of January’s snowfall. Bill Mann meanwhile has been busy constructing a guard for the alternator fan, an item that has a potential

attraction for trouser legs. By the time you read this it should be fitted and running. With the imminent onset of better weather we will be re-rigging the cratches and deckboard and unloading the last pieces of Friends equipment for storage elsewhere. David Henderson has ordered a set of steps so that the public may get into the hold safely, so by Easter we should have a boat well worthy of display.

An increasing problem Storage has become an increasing problem as our organisation has grown and developed. For a number of years now our marquee has been stored free of charge by Richard Traves (Julia Cook’s husband) at his warehouse and transported to and from there in his vehicles, also free of charge. We have also acquired a number of items, such as the gas barbeque and its bottles, more tents and gazebos all of which have been temporarily stored either on “Sculptor” or in a shed in my yard. This has not been a satisfactory state of affairs and so Council has been considering this matter for some months. We are now in the throes of acquiring more permanent storage in the shape of a shipping container, to be placed in a corner of the Museum car park thanks to David Henderson’s assistance. We have also been tentatively offered the use of the old stables at Bottom Lock and may well have need to take up this offer as our equipment continues to expand.

Stones unturned The winter programme of meetings has so far justified our decision to bring then back home to the Museum. Rose Granaghan has excelled herself in producing new speakers and topics and attendance has been extremely good. The January meeting was supposed to feature Tim Coghlan of Braunston Marina, but he was obliged to postpone this due to business pressure. Instead Rose literally rose to the occasion and managed to find a replacement at short notice. Tim was full of contrition and has promised to talk to us at our last such meeting of this season on 18th April. As I write he is en

route to Tasmania to interview one of the last survivors of the wartime boat women, so one cannot say that he leaves stones unturned in his researches.

Great skill and diplomacy A final piece of news broke in early February. Robin Evans, the ex-Chief Executive of British Waterways and currently holding the same position with the Canal & River Trust, announced his resignation, to take effect from May next. Robin was instrumental in bringing about the process that formed C&RT and, in my view, managed to process with great skill and diplomacy. His term in office has not been without controversy, but I firmly believe that the new regime will stand as a monument to his endeavours for many years to come. I wish him well in his retirement. Our good friend and C&RT Chairman, Tony Hales, was also going to retire this spring, but following Robin’s announcement has intimated that he will stay on until such time as a successor to Robin is in post and has settled to it. That at least is all good news! Easter is early this year. Events for the Museum’s half-century kick off with a gathering of historic boats over the Easter weekend and continue at intervals for the rest of summer and autumn, ending with the boats and carols event in December. We therefore anticipate a busy year and hope to see many, if not all of you, at one or more of these events. David Blagrove, February 2013

Subs are due 1st April Subscriptions are due on 1st April and rates are being held at the same level as previous years. Your continued support is vital to our work supporting our Museum so we very much hope you will want to renew your membership again this year. Reminders will be issued shortly, or e-mail Sandie at membership@friendsofcanalmuseum.org.uk

Treasurer’s Report February 2013 By Rick Thake Currently the combined funds of the Friends Charity and the Friends Trading Company amount to about £39,000. The breakdown is: Charity account £12,313.36 Trading account £24,886.78 Reserve account £1,051.20 Cash account £869.21 In December Council approved the purchase of additional lighting for the Illuminated Boats & Carols Event and made a donation of £80 to the Inland Waterways Association for the loan of market stalls. Council has also earmarked expenditure for a number of projects to assist the Museum totalling around £8,000. These projects are now in progress as described elsewhere in this issue of Museum Matters.

already become adoptees or are in the process of doing so. We think it would be a good idea for the Friends to get involved as we regularly help with local maintenance tasks and clean-ups already. So with this in mind David Blagrove has had discussions with the Stoke Bruerne Canal Partnership who we think would be the most appropriate body to be lead organisation and who could coordinate the involvement of other bodies such as the Parish Council, local businesses, school and others. Invariably, to start with at least, the Friends will provide the main source of volunteers.

But what does this mean and what is involved? Well, it could mean recording and improving wildlife habitats, taking part in practical work parties, promoting the waterway to other local people and running events and guided walks, much of which we do already for the Museum and the canal corridor immediately surrounding it. Essenand our canal heritage tially we would be making improvements to our bit of local waterway Many of you who belong to other ca- for the benefit of local people, visinal societies, the Inland Waterways tors and all waterway users. Association or have even become members of the new Canal & River It is early days and more discusTrust will probably be aware of the sion needs to take place but we CRT initiative for those who care hope you will all join with us in about their local waterways to get supporting what we think is a more involved and to consider adopt- worthwhile venture. ing their local stretch of canal. Watch out for more information in Many local organisations, such as the next issue of Museum Matters Milton Keynes & Northampton IWA, and keep an eye on the web site Buckingham Canal Society, Blisworth which is often more up to date. In Canal Partnership and newly formed the meantime if you are interested Braunston Canal Society have al- in getting directly involved let us ready grasped the nettle and have know.

CARING FOR OUR CANAL

Message from the Museum Manager David Henderson brings us up to date

will have been in post as General Manager for 7 years in July and in that time I have seen many changes culminating in The Waterways Trust transferring to the new Canal & River Trust (CRT). 2012–2013 has been the blip year. In the past six years The Museum has traded successfully with small profits or breakeven every year. When I arrived I was concerned to discover the Museum was close to closure. I must really thank the Friends for their invaluable support in ensuring The Waterways Trust continued to fund the Museum during those difficult times.

tion, a quality award for Visitor Attractions. As part of the improvement, all staff and volunteers will be issued with a new uniform and badge to promote both the Museum and CRT. The Museums & Attractions will become front line sites attracting new members to CRT. On the home front Joey the horse was moved by volunteers (Mick Butler and Bill Mann) from the Learning Centre back into the Museum Shop. This is similar to the return of Sunny Valley back into the Museum and is deemed important to our staff, Friends and volunteers that these objects be seen by the public. We have received many questions about the horse in the last few years from people that visited years ago and remembered Joey, especially as children on school visits.

This is our worst trading year since 2006 when I first arrived. We started with a drought which changed to flooding and now the financial year is ending with snow and very cold weather. As a tourist destination we are very dependent on the weather. If it rains people stay at home. Cold weather is not too bad as visitors can dress appropri- Mike and Sue Constable and their volunately and walk the towpaths and enjoy the teer curatorial team have been as busy as boats. ever during the winter closure on MonI am inevitably asked is CRT proving to be days and Tuesdays. As a result we now an improvement? Well yes, I believe CRT have some new exhibitions and are exwill provide the support and funding needed pecting delivery of two new display cases to improve the building and ensure the se- that were kindly purchased for the Mucurity of the Museum over the next few seum by the Friends at a cost of £5,000. years. There are many new rules and pro- The Friends have also agreed to fund up cedures we have to follow but Louise and I to £2,000 for improving our education and are adapting as fast as possible as part of family offer. On the middle (first) floor we the new Trust. have created an activity area and it is our We are now part of the Museums & Attractions Department headed up by Debbie Lumb who reports to the Director of Marketing. We have just produced a high quality A5 brochure „Where History Comes Alive‟ promoting the five sites at Ellesmere Port, Gloucester, Anderton Boat Lift, Standedge Tunnel & Visitor Centre and Stoke Bruerne.

intention to purchase dressing up clothes for all age groups so they can take photos in front of a suitable backdrop. We need an old wardrobe to store the clothes if anyone has one they no longer require. The clothes will be mainly Victorian and World War II themed. Most children when asked what is the best part of their school We have renewed our VAQAS accredita- visit say the boat trip and dressing up. The

Museum comes after pond dipping and watching the boats pass through the locks in the same list. The VAQAS report always refers to the importance of first impressions. A few years ago the car park was in very poor condition with pot holes in the surface. I am pleased to say that with the help of the Stoke Bruerne Canal Partnership match funding was gained from Northamptonshire Enterprise Partnerships and British Waterways undertook the contract to re-surface the car park and improve the Museum toilets. The coach or short stop visitors that require „a pee and tea‟ are very important customers to us and to complete the task we are now looking at treating all the fence areas around the car park. It will cost £600 with paint and labour but I think it will make the area much more inviting. Our Waterside Café has now been in operation for 7 years and we are still using the same furniture which is showing signs of wear. Louise and I spotted some excellent new wooden chairs at the NEC Spring Fair and will be seeking the funding to replace 24 chairs. The tables are still in very good condition, are easy to move and clean and are a size that can be pushed together for group visits, so these will be retained. Of course it is our 50th anniversary year so I have been in discussions with several sculptors about commissioning a full size bronze resin sculpture of Jack James. This would be fantastic for the village as well as becoming a unique selling point for the tourist. Bob the Blacksmith has proved an asset to the village and we have commissioned him to construct a gate to enclose the fence and toilet area at the back of the Museum. There will be a plaque on the gate with the commemorative date 1963 to 2013. These are very exciting times and I am hopeful of a bumper year after the „blip‟ for the first full year of CRT ownership. We are intending entering for a number of dif-

ferent awards in our 50th year and want to regain the People‟s Choice Award. We were asked not to enter in 2012 after winning the People‟s Choice for the previous two years and also the Museum of the Year Award. Thanks for all your help and support for the events and activities that we offer to the visitors. It is the surpluses from the big Friends organised events such as the Gala Weekend and Village at War that help to provide the extra funding to improve the Museum year on year. Please remember that the Museum is free for Stoke Bruerne residents, members of the Friends, volunteers and their guests. We want your Museum to be loved and used by the local community. All the best David

KEEPING OUR FINGERS CROSSED Awards and Funding Update As mentioned elsewhere in MM we have been busy with awards and funding applications and are now keeping our fingers crossed that these are successful. Currently we have an Arts Council funding application pending for replacement lighting on the gallery floors of the Museum to provide a sustainable energy solution for the time expired existing lighting. We hope to hear whether this has been successful at the end of March. If it is, it will require match funding from the Friends and the Museum. The Gala Weekend and Sculptor Restoration Project have been shortlisted for Waterway Renaissance Awards and we met with one of the judges earlier on this month. Village at War has been submitted for a Visit England Tourism Award which we feel is much deserved due to its high visitor attendance and benefit to local business as well as the Museum.

JACK JAMES ...a serialised biography by David Blagrove

PART 3

eorge James suffered a distressing accident in the early days of his marriage. He and his family were heading south along the Oxford Canal near Cathirons and George was steering the boat with his wife on the towpath driving the horse. The boatman, like many others in those days, kept a loaded shotgun in the cabin for the regular replenishment of the family’s larder, and one of the children was playing with this gun. Whether this was young Jack or not I did not discover, but suffice it to say, the gun went off and the shot hit Jack’s father’s arm.

A doctor was sent for He managed to steer, in great pain, as far as Newbold, where a doctor was sent for. As a result his right hand was amputated at Rugby Hospital and thereafter he wore a hook in its place and was known on the cut as “Hooky” James. Fanny James thereafter never allowed a gun on the boats that the family worked. One of the jobs that the family were employed on was carrying materials to the site of the Great Central Railway at Rugby, which crossed the Oxford Canal on a tall viaduct near Clifton Wharf. The “London Extension” as this engineering project was called by the owning Company was undertaken between 1893 and 1897, and the Rugby viaducts would have been constructed towards the latter part of the project. The viaduct has now been demolished and little trace remains. The family also worked onto the Thames above Oxford and Jack told me that his earliest memory was of coming down from

George James sporting his “hook” with young Jack on a pony The Waterways Archive/Canal & River Trust

“up west”, probably Eynsham, in flood conditions. The Thames had overflowed the banks, making it impossible for horse towage, so his father had taken the horses to the Dukes Cut by means of “the High Road”, in other words, overland, while Mrs James brought two boats down abreast, drifting with a weight over the sterns. They evidently floated over Eynsham weir (there was no lock on the Thames there until 1924) and took a short cut across the meadows. Jack told me that they drifted through a flooded farm yard and his mother threw a loaf of bread up to one of the upstairs windows where the farmer’s family had taken refuge. He also said that his mother had gone to the fore end and opened a farm gate with a shaft to let them through, but I rather fancy this may have been a typical Jack James embellishment in later years!

Show his father a profit When Jack was sixteen his father considered him sufficiently capable to work a boat on his own account and set him up with a single boat and a pony. George would find the work and paid his son half a crown (2s 6d or 12.5p) per week for which Jack had to work the boat and show his father a profit, which, Jack said, was fairly small as a rule. By now Jack had six sisters, the eldest of which were Amelia (“Millie”) and Martha, so in 1912 when Jack was fifteen his father bought another boat and a donkey. He was entrusted with these to work, along with his two eldest sisters.

Under his father’s thumb By the summer of 1914 Jack was nineteen and was beginning to chafe at being under his father’s thumb. He wanted his own pair of boats but either father could not afford them or else he considered Jack was too wild to be entrusted with a pair. There was plenty of work on the Oxford Canal at that time. Jack could remember that a boatman was paid £5 per loaded boat of house coal into Oxford Basin, payable in gold sovereigns. This would have been worth at least a hundred times as much in today’s money, while the value of gold had soared even more.

Foregather in pubs The boats were emptied by gangs employed by the coal merchants, who were wont to foregather in pubs adjoining Oxford Basin at lunch times. The pubs mainly used by boaters were the “Nag’s Head” (still there, beside Hythe Bridge), the “Running Horses” (long gone today) and “the Welsh Pony” adjoining Gloucester Green. This latter Jack maintained was a good place to find a rough house on a Saturday night. One of its regulars was the vicar of a parish adjoining Oxford who had been a boxing blue in his day. He was also somewhat over fond of the bottle and, on a Saturday night would go into the “Welsh Pony” and challenge any Irishmen to a fight for half-a-crown. This of course was a challenge few Emerald Islers could resist and

the parson would sometimes present a battered appearance in his church the following morning, and sometimes the effects of his previous potations were such that he had to be helped into the pulpit to preach.

Human punch bags My own father, who grew up in Oxford somewhat later, confirmed this tale to me, adding that he would take as his theme “Don’t do as I do, do as I say”. Sometimes undergraduates down on their luck would be engaged by the coal merchants to empty the boats in the Basin, and sometimes boatmen who were short of cash would hire themselves to prospective boxing blues as human punch bags. Adjoining Isis Lock, which admits boats to the Thames from the Oxford Canal, were the engine sheds of the London & North Western Railway and a large tank for watering the engines. A backwater separated the railway property from the canal and along this was a hedge used by the down-and-outs of Oxford as a dormitory. Boaters called it “the tank hedge hotel”.

Tank hedge hotel It was common for the denizens of the “tank hedge hotel” to walk up the canal in the early morning, sometimes as far as Heyford, to meet incoming boats. For a few coppers they would get the locks and lift bridges ready into Oxford and sometimes they would be allowed to sleep under the cratches at the fore-end if they were not too lousy-ridden·. The money so earned was called “a latchlifter” because it enabled them to get into a pub and buy a first drink, after which they might earn beer for the rest of the evening by singing or dancing or playing a mouth organ. So there was a sort of two-way dialogue between the canal on one side and town and gown on the other.

This serialization continues in the next issue of Museum Matters

COUNCIL 2012/13 Chairman David Blagrove 01604-862174 also member of the Curatorial Group & Trustee

Vice-Chairman Lorna York also Trustee

Treasurer Rick Thake treasurer@friendsofcanalmuseum.org.uk

Minutes Secretary Denis Atkinson

Membership Secretary Sandie Morton membership@friendsofcanalmuseum.org.uk

Publicity, Newsletter & Website Lynda Payton 01604-861205 publicity@friendsofcanalmuseum.org.uk

Museums & Attractions Partnership John Alderson Volunteer Co-ordinator Trevor Allum

Other David Henderson (ex-officio seat), Jenny Copeland (Trustee), Bill Mann and Michael Butler

Events Sub-Committees Dennis Atkinson, David Blagrove, Bill Mann, David Henderson, Lynda Payton (Gala SubCommittee Chairman), Rick Thake, Tim Carter (occasional), Laura Sturrock, Jenny Copeland and Michael Butler (Village at War SubCommittee Chairman), Trevor Allum, Helen Westlake, Mike Partridge, David Daines (corresponding), Terry Richardson, Roger Hasdell (corresponding), Graeme Scothern (corresponding) and Victoria Powell.

Non-Council Posts Roger Hasdell - Joint Newsletter Editor Terry Richardson - Assistant Publicity Officer Brian Collings - Curatorial Group Rose Granaghan - Winter Talks Organiser Laura Sturrock - Trustee

www.friendsofcanalmuseum.org.uk

DIARY DATES Talks will be given through the winter in the Schoolroom at the Canal Museum on the third Thursday of the month from September through to April inclusive. Details of speakers will be available on our website and in future newsletters. A donation is appreciated to help cover expenses.

Please put the following dates in your diaries: Thursday 21st March at 8pm Talk - Steve Miles with "Raymond's Progress" Friday 29th-Sunday 31st March HNBC Historic Narrowboat Rally at Stoke Bruerne Thursday 18th April at 8pm Talk - Tim Coghlan with "Braunston Historic Narrowboat Rallyâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;The First Ten Years" Saturday 11th May to Sunday 12th May Introduction to Traditional Canal Painting Contact Canal Museum on 01604 862229 to book Thursday 6th - Sunday 9th June Russell Newbery Register Boat Rally & AGM at Stoke Bruerne Sunday 9th June Rose of The Shires Rally Run, Sunbeam Vintage Motorcycle Club, 8.30-10am and again around 2-3pm. Contact Canal Museum on 01604 862229 for more information Friday 14th to Sunday 16th June Gala Weekend at Stoke Bruerne Monday 17th June Square & Compass Event on Museum Green (Freemasons and non-Masons welcome), in aid of FoCM (contact Andrew Woodward at The Boat Inn, 01604 862428 for more information). Tuesday 25th June Mikron Theatre, 7.30pm on Museum Green Bring your own chairs and a rug if chilly!