Towpath Talk - April 2015 - FULL EDITION

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Issue 114, April 2015

Birmingham’s canal heart

P4

FEATURE FOOTBRIDGE GETS A FACELIFT P5 LEARN THE RIGHT WAY TO PAINT YOUR BOAT

P52 Birmingham’s busy Gas Street Basin close to the aqueduct leak which caused a major stoppage. See Hole in the heart, page 2. PHOTO:WATERWAY IMAGES

Canal closure challenge to start of new season WITH the cruising season just weeks away, the Canal & River Trust and Scottish Canals had to pull out all the stops following a major leak and breach on their respective waterways.

At the end of February a serious leak was discovered in the aqueduct which spans Holliday Street on the Worcester & Birmingham Canal in Birmingham

BEYOND THE BARRAGE

P102

WHOSE BOAT HAS THIS MAN OVERBOARD?

Postcode Lottery boost

P110

THE Canal & River Trust has been awarded an additional £25,000 in funding by the People’s Postcode Lottery this financial year, bringing its annual total for 2014/15 to £250,000.

People’s Postcode Lottery has helped to fund a number of CRT initiatives including a national hedgerow restoration programme, the refurbishment of Postles Roving Bridge on the Llangollen Canal, funding for the repair of narrowboat Ferret at the National Waterways Museum and the restoration of the Guillotine Lock on the North Stratford Canal.

388 BOATS FOR SALE

Starts on

city centre between Gas Street Basin and The Mailbox. The resulting stoppage led to local canal-based businesses announcing that they were still operating albeit on modified routes.

Then, in early March, heavy rains and melting snow swelled water levels in Loch Oich, undermining the weir at Cullochy, six miles south of Fort

P15

Stourport Marina Tel 01299 827 082 Stourport on Severn

Tel 01753 851 717

River Thames, Windsor

Thames & Kennet Marina

Walton Marina

Tel 01932 221 689

CHESTERFIELD Canal Trust will host the Inland Waterways Association National Trailboat Festival at Staveley Town Basin during the Spring Bank Holiday 2016.

It is expected that dozens of trailboats will be moored in the basin and back towards Constitution Hill Bridge. Highlights will include an illuminated parade of boats and a convoy up to the River Rother at St Helena’s.

The trust ran successful IWA Trailboat Festivals at Tapton Lock in 2002 and 2005 as well as the Campaign Rally at Kiveton Park in 2009.

Boat sales at seven Marinas with over 150 boats for sale

Visit:

www.tingdene.net

Upton Marina

Tel 01684 593 111 Upton upon Severn

Walton on Thames

Brundall Bay Marina

Tel 01189 477 770

River Thames, Caversham

Tel 01603 717 804

Pyrford Marina

Tel 01932 343 275 River Wey, Surrey

Norfolk Broads

Temporary dams

In Birmingham, local contributor Peter Underwood reported that pumps were

Staveley to host festival

More locations, more choice Racecourse Marina, Windsor

Augustus on the Caledonian Canal.

Scottish Canals engineers decided to close the canal to allow them to repair the resulting major embankment breach between Inverness and Corpach.

soon in operation and the stop gates on Worcester Bar and the bridge beyond Salvage Turn were closed. But when these proved to not be sufficiently watertight, contractors fitted fabric dams either side of a smaller section of canal over the leak and the pumps emptied the water after a fish rescue.

• Continued on page 2

Mon & Brec repairs finished

MORE than £60,000 worth of improvement works have been completed on the Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal by Glandwr Cymru, the Canal & River Trust in Wales.

Engineers have carried out repairs to banks, bridges and lock gates along the 35 mile waterway including the refurbishment of stop plank grooves at Jockey Bridge, Pontypool, masonry repairs at Brynich Bridge and bank repairs in Peterstone Wood.

The two century old canal is a haven for wildlife and was recently voted the most popular attraction in the Brecon Beacons national park.

2 NEWS

www.towpathtalk.co.uk

WELCOME

Having read Polly Player’s tongue-in-cheek guide on how not to paint your narrowboat in our March issue, I attended one of John Barnard’s painting courses to find out how to do the job properly. See my report on page 52.

While chatting to boaters at the course, I heard about the disgusting state of parts of the Kennet & Avon Canal in the Bradford on Avon area. Not from dog poo, which is the usual bone of contention, but from human excrement – and some of this pumped directly out into the water by boaters.

As well as the revolting job of cleaning up dogs and children who have come into contact with faeces which could carry such nasties as Hepatitis, the health risks don’t bear thinking about.

With the diary starting to get busy, we have a larger What’s On section this month starting with the second part of Tim Coghlan’s two-part feature on Sonia Rolt’s boats on page 55. If you are planning your summer cruising schedule, check out Bob Mennell’s report about the Chesterfield Canal in the Holidays section on page 63; and, as we start a new season, this month’s treasure is the hotel boat on page 106.

Lee Senior is back with his gardening tips on Page 64 where you will also find this month’s recipes from Rexx & Phill which have an Easter theme.

I recently visited the Canal & River Trust’s most northerly outpost, the Tees Barrage – see my feature on page 102 – and Peter Underwood starts a new series asking ‘What’s the point?’ in the Last Word on page 110.

Happy Easter

TOWPATH

TALK

Janet

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A hole in the heart of the system

By Peter Underwood

STANDING on the bridge over Worcester Bar in Birmingham’s Gas Street basin, an unusually sombre looking Richard Parry surveyed the stretch of canal where, just hours earlier, water had been discovered running into a disused railway tunnel passing under the canal.

The Canal & River Trust chief executive had good reason to be concerned and he acknowledged to me that there could hardly be a more public

The fabric dam is put into place on Salvage Turn.

place for a potentially very damaging breakdown of the canal infrastructure – with the BBC just round the corner in The Mailbox and ITV news studios alongside in Gas Street itself.

In those early stages, the leak had the potential to become a disaster, as Gas Street – described as the heart of the canal system by the CRT – is on one of the longest pounds, something over 40 miles of water, and if the leak caused the tunnel roof to collapse the railway experts were predicting the water would flow first towards Fiveways

Removing the last of the fish.

Plaques for boaters who have cruised Liverpool Canal Link IWA Lancashire & Cumbria Branch has commissioned a plaque for boaters who cruise the Liverpool Canal Link, and also has Transpennine Plaques available for boats that travel between Eldonian Village, Liverpool and Office Lock, Leeds, during a calendar year.

If boaters would like to purchase either plaque, they should provide the branch with proof of passage.

station and from there into New Street Station itself.

Within hours pumps were in operation and the stop gates on Worcester Bar and the bridge beyond Salvage Turn were closed, but this was to become a battle-saga as the CRT fought to defeat the leak.

When the gates proved to not be sufficiently watertight, contractors fitted fabric dams either side of a smaller section of canal over the leak and the pumps emptied the water, after a fish rescue.

The first pump starts work on Worcester Bar. PHOTOS: PETER UNDERWOOD

Workmen gather over the hole on the side of the canal, ready to start filling it with clay.

Television news and newspapers continued to take an interest in the drama on their doorsteps as the bottom of the canal, complete with years of rubbish, was revealed, and the drama continued.

Hopes were high at the start of March that gloomy predictions of a closure until Easter would be disproved, and they were – the canal was reopened on March 12. This was despite a further de-watering and work to put down more clay as well as grouting a wider part of the aqueduct with cement.

Working group agrees on a partial resolution to Thames Tideway ban

For the Liverpool Canal Link plaque, which costs £7, a photo of your boat in Salthouse Dock should be provided along with payment.

For the plaque for boaters that travel between Eldonian Village and Office Lock, which costs £6, copies of the relevant boat log and/or photographic evidence should be provided, again with payment.

● Details of how to purchase the plaques are available on the branch’s webpages at www.waterways.org.uk/lancsand cumbria/plaques or email Audrey Smith for more information audrey.smith@waterways.org.uk

• Continued from page 1

Canal closures threaten start of the spring and summer cruising season Lawrence Tall, from the Canal & River Trust, said: “There was more work required than we first anticipated but, despite this, I’m delighted we’ve managed to reopen the canal ahead of schedule to allow boaters to cruise along the canals in Birmingham this Easter.”

Meanwhile in Scotland, work started immediately in a race against time to stabilise the embankment and repair the weir to allow the canal to reopen in time for the start of its busy spring and summer season.

Engineers started building a temporary dam by placing large stone blocks in the water next to Aberchalder Bridge and contractors stabilised the towpath site.

A Scottish Canals spokesman said: “The Caledonian Canal at this location, and for sea-to-sea transits, could be closed to navigation until the end of April, although we will do all we can to carry out the work as quickly as possible to minimise the impact on our customers.

“Once the work to stem the flow of water has been carried out, we hope to be able to manage the repair works to the weir while the canal is operational again.”

Scottish Canals has already moved a number of privately owned boats away from the site and has promised to keep canal users up to date with progress and reopening through its website ww.scottishcanals.co.uk and via its Facebook and Twitter feeds.

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Cullochy Weir after the breach. PHOTO: SCOTTISH CANALS

Holiday hire narrowboats will again be allowed to transit the Thames Tideway from here at Brentford up to Teddington. PHOTO:WATERWAY IMAGES

By Harry Arnold

INITIAL discussions by a working group on the recent ban on holiday hire narrowboats using the Thames Tideway have led to the issuing of an interim statement on progress made so far.

It reads as follows: “As a result of the lessons identified from a PLA investigation into an accident involving a hired narrowboat on the tidal Thames, the Port of London Authority (PLA) and representatives from the British Marine Federation (BMF) and the Association of Pleasure Craft Operators (APCO) have worked together to address the key safety and technical issues.

“The aim of this working group is to agree clear, safe and practical rules and guidelines to make it safe for hired narrowboats to transit the tidal Thames.

“Consequently, the PLA and BMF have agreed construction and operational requirements for narrowboats transiting the tidal Thames in the west of London between Brentford and Teddington Lock; the section of the tidal Thames most used by hired narrowboats.

“The PLA and BMF are now working on the detail of the relevant guidance documents for boat operators, which are expected to be published by the end of April.

“The construction requirements will be based on existing safety certification, plus additional measures to reduce the likelihood of a hired narrowboat flooding while navigating

through tidal waters. There will also be enhancements to the documentation provided and the existing handover procedures between the operator and the hirer or charterer.

“We expect that hire narrowboat operators will be able to prepare their vessels to meet the additional requirements for transits between Brentford and Teddington in preparation for the 2015 season.”

Discussions are continuing for hired narrowboats seeking to navigate the considerably more complex and challenging tideway conditions between Limehouse and Brentford.

The Association of Pleasure Craft Operators (APCO) has welcomed the agreement with the PLA to allow hired boats to continue to enjoy the tidal Thames as part of their holiday.

APCO chairman Ann Davies said: “This stretch is a part of the much larger Thames Ring, which includes the River Thames Navigation, the Grand Union and Oxford canals, so we are pleased to be able to promote this holiday cruise once again.”

She added: “APCO is also pleased that the PLA will also allow transit for hotel and timeshare boats using the same construction requirements and documentation enhancements. These procedures together with our new Quality Assessed Boatyard (QAB) scheme – formerly Hire Boat Handover – will further ensure that all customers can safely navigate the tidal Thames.”

NEWS 3

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Plan to give boaters more of life’s essentials on London waterways

By Polly Player

THE Canal & River Trust has announced that it is working to bring some much-needed extra facilities to canals and rivers in the London area following a significant amount of pressure from boaters in the capital.

The CRT’s canals and other waterways in Greater London are home to a significant number of continuous cruisers as well as being a popular destination for visiting boaters, and the total number of boats regularly sighted on London’s waterways has increased sharply over the course of the last couple of years.

This has placed additional pressure on the existing infrastructure in the area, with competition for mooring spaces and the availability of essential facilities such as water points, Elsan disposal points and rubbish collection facilities at a premium.

The problem of overcrowding on London’s waterways is one that is well reported, and as well as the competition for safe and accessible mooring spaces, facilities for boaters in London have long since proven to be unfit for the challenge of keeping up with the demand of the sheer volume of boats needing to use them.

Planned improvement works in April and early May:

• Ten new leisure mooring berths on the offside of the Regent’s Canal at Acton’s Lock will be known as Bluebell Moorings. An additional Elsan point and pump out facility will also be installed at this spot. Work on these facilities began at the end of March and will involve temporary stoppages along that stretch of the canal and the closure of the existing towpath moorings at Acton’s Lock during this time. The new facilities in this area are expected to be fully operational by the beginning of May. • Work is currently being undertaken on the Lee Navigation to provide a new pump out point and water taps, due to open in mid-April when work on new leisure moorings in Hackney Wick has been completed.

• Additional mooring rings are currently being installed along the Regent’s Canal and Hertford Union Canal in areas where high-voltage cables run under the towpath on behalf of The National Grid in order to provide a safe mooring option that does not necessitate the use of mooring stakes. A new row of mooring rings in the Shoreditch area has already been added, and additional work is still ongoing in the area.

• Heading east, new mooring rings have been installed in Hoxton along a section of the Regent’s Canal that was previously unmoorable.

Additional rings are also being installed on the Hertford Union Canal between Old Ford and Parnell Road.

One problem that London boaters often face is the fact that the existing infrastructure in terms of service points is failing under the pressure of demand for them. The few existing Elsan points, water taps and other facilities are often out of service, and in many cases once a service point fails or becomes unusable it is left to decay rather than being fixed.

The CRT has been unable to provide statistics for the exact number of functional service points across its London waterways. However, over the course of the last year, boaters have reported times when just three functional water points have been available for the use of boaters across the whole of London.

The scarcity of safe mooring berths in areas that either have rings installed or that have suitable banks to moor with stakes is something else that poses a constant challenge to the city’s boaters. The CRT has actually cautioned boaters in its latest bulletin to avoid creating their own ‘DIY moorings’ along the towpaths where infrastructure to moor or drive in moorings stakes is not already in place.

However, while the addition of new moorings and additional facilities is something that London boaters have been lobbying for for some time, many boaters (both those with home moorings in London and those that regularly cruise in the capital) feel that the additional facilities have been too long coming and are not farreaching enough to provide a significant improvement.

Stonebridge Lock Elsan in Tottenham in a bad state of repair.

PHOTO: JESS GOOD.

London boater Jess Good told Towpath Talk: “I’ve kept a boat in London for almost nine years now, and British Waterways closed several facilities on the Lee Navigation while the number of boats moored in the area has increased. We lost several taps and a toilet as well as bins. We have been asking for new facilities for at least two years because the ones we have are at breaking point.

“I am really pleased to hear that there are new facilities, but all the same we boaters are trying to work with the CRT to identify locations where we can install more. There are still not enough, especially in West London and on the Upper Lee and Stort.”

Boater fined for creating the wrong sort of rock at Henley festival AN INCONSIDERATE boater whose reckless skippering caused thousands of pounds of damage to other vessels during last year’s Henley Festival was hit in his own pocket at Oxford Magistrates’ Court.

Malcolm Howell, 29, of no fixed abode, admitted failing to navigate his boat Attention Seeker at a safe speed and with due care and caution.

He was fined £400 and ordered to pay costs of £3515, compensation of £612 and a victim surcharge of £40 – £4567 in total.

The court heard that in the early hours of Sunday, July 13, 2014, Mr Howell’s high speed manoeuvrings created

excessive wash, causing boats moored along this normally tranquil stretch of the River Thames to lift, rock and violently roll from side to side, sending cabin contents crashing to the floor, waking sleeping occupants and ripping some boats from their moorings.

One boater described the incident as “terrifying”; another labelled Mr Howell’s antics as “one of the most irresponsible skippering manoeuvres I have ever seen”.

Witnesses described how the incident started with Mr Howell demanding that festival security officers order him a water taxi to take him to his boat as it was moored

to a boom in the middle of the river and could not be boarded from the bank.

On being told that the water taxi service was no longer running, Mr Howell became verbally abusive, swearing at the security officers and members of the public. His companion then decided to swim out to the boat and retrieve one if its mooring lines which they used to pull the boat closer to the bank, enabling them to board.

Once on board, Mr Howell started the engine and immediately set off at high speed, careering first into the boom in the river and then racing downstream in the dark without the boat’s navigation

lights on, presenting a significant hazard to any other traffic on the river.

The powerful wash generated by the rapid movement of Attention Seeker through the water resulted in many of the other boats moored along the Thames, whose owners had chosen to travel to the festival site by river, being “thrown all over the place” according to one witness. Another stated that the wash was so violent it took 15 minutes for the river to calm down.

“As the navigation authority for the non-tidal Thames, we’re very keen on people using their boats to travel to events such as Henley

Festival,” said Nick McKieSmith, waterways operations manager for the Environment Agency.

“But we expect all river users to behave with consideration for others and to comply with the rules that are there to prevent situations that could see damage to property and harm to people, including navigating their boat no faster than 8km or 5mph – basically at no more than a brisk walking pace.”

The Environment Agency carries out regular speed and wash checks along the river and takes appropriate enforcement action against anyone not obeying the rules.

IN BRIEF New faces at the Canal & River Trust

THE Canal & River Trust has appointed Sandra Kelly to replace Philip Ridal as finance director with effect from the end of June. She joins the CRT at the beginning of April to enable a three month handover with Philip before he retires. Sandra spent eight years as finance director at the NHBC (National House Building Council) and previously held senior finance positions in the commercial sector, most notably for BMW UK. JOINING the CRT on April 27 as head of museums is Graham Boxer. He will be responsible for the National Waterways Museum at Ellesmere Port and the Gloucester Waterways Museum and all of the designated museum and archive collections.

Graham comes from the Imperial War Museum where, as a director, he was accountable for the Imperial War Museum North in Manchester, resulting in record visitor numbers. He previously worked for Liverpool City Council and Liverpool Culture Company and earlier at St George’s Hall and National Museums & Galleries on Merseyside.

Montgomery Canal survey

SUPPORTERS of the Montgomery Canal are being urged to complete an online survey to help the canal partnership’s bid for a near £4 million grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund. The application has been accepted in principle and Canal & River Trust staff are now working up the detailed stage 2 bid.

Total costs of the project are estimated at £6 million. Part of the HLF bid relates to showing the project has public support.

Please complete the quick and easy survey at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ Montgomery_Canal_consultation

Online vote

IN OUR last online poll at www.towpathtalk.co.uk we asked readers whether they are planning a working holiday this summer. More than half of those who responded are and a quarter are thinking about it. The others were split equally between those not planning a working holiday and those who weren’t this year but had done in the past. With the recent announcement of a new northern boat show in Liverpool, this month we are asking readers if they have used the Liverpool Link.

Cycle city

OXFORD is one of the eight cities nationwide to be awarded funding under the Cycling City Ambition Programme, writes Elizabeth Rogers. This will enable the city council to progress plans for a bridge over the River Thames linking the Iffley Road and Abingdon Road areas to contribute to a network of cycle links across the city. It will also fund the upgrade of the towpath.

4 NEWS

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Sustrans speaker hassled on speeding cyclists issue

By Harry Arnold

THERE are very few waterway events where delegates park their cars actually on a canal. But the early spring meeting of the Northern Canals Association (NCA) on Sunday, March 1, had this unusual distinction.

The parking facility for the venue – Ironville Church Hall – is part of the filled-in line of the Pinxton Arm of the Cromford Canal.

The Friends of the Cromford Canal (FCC) were the hosts and acting chairman John Baylis welcomed everyone, then introduced Matthew Rogers, who gave a very detailed outline of the situation on the Cromford Canal, past, present and possible future; including consultant’s costings and the society’s estimates and restoration aims.

An organisation that canal societies should perhaps pay more attention to and liaise with is Sustrans. So the presentation by Sustrans network development manager Gwyneth

McMinn – on towpath design for multiusers – was in my opinion most useful.

She however did get a bit of hassle during questions on the hoary one of speeding cyclists on towpaths. It was also quite surprising that many of the delegates knew nothing about the latest Canal & River Trust (CRT) multi-use of towpaths proposals. This was an ideal forum for airing them.

Operation of passenger boats was the subject of the final presentation and – with respect to some of us oldies who happen to have professional experience of this – it was refreshing to hear from a new and very enthusiast recruit to FCC, Vix Wilding, who has been managing most of the first season of the operation of the society’s trip boat Birdswood.

She was followed by the Chesterfield Canal Trust’s (CCT) chairman Robin Stonebridge who gave a wide, but detailed, overview of this wellestablished group’s successful experience of operating no less than four passenger boats at different locations.

John Baylis presents Robin Stonebridge with the IWA cheque for the grant towards the work on Python.

PHOTOS:WATERWAY IMAGES

After lunch there was the usual wide range of reports from representatives of the societies present which varied from a few words to a full-blown power point presentation. Apart from the obvious updates on progress, these are extremely valuable as an exchange of useful information and one of the real virtues of these gatherings. I did however think that a report from the

A chance for all to meet the election hopefuls at York Fishergate Ward and Guildhall Ward (City of York Council) and the prospective parliamentary candidates for the Inner York constituency.

All have been invited for refreshments at The Masons Arms pub from 10am and to

cruise on the River Ouse on Moon River from the lock basin to Scarborough Bridge and back (45min round trip carrying six at a time), starting from 10am and finishing at 2pm. Water levels permitting, there will be a demonstration of the lock itself.

✃

★ ★ Volunteer of the Year ★ Award 2015

★★★

THE IWA North Riding branch is hosting an open half day for members at Castle Mills Lock, York, on Saturday, April 11.

This will provide members with the opportunity to meet and chat to the prospective council candidates for both

Every month Towpath Talk reports on the work carried out by waterways volunteers and we want to say a big thank you to all these people and especially those unsung heroes who have gone that extra mile for their local canal, river or towpath, boat club, restoration project or community boat service.

Nominate the volunteer you feel deserves this accolade by using the form below or visit www.towpathtalk.co.uk/volunteer2015 About the person you are nominating:

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Terms and conditions apply. For full terms and conditions, please see www.towpathtalk.co.uk By completing this form you are allowing Mortons Media Group Ltd to contact you and the nominee regarding the Towpath Talk Volunteer of the Year project.

Only tick this box if you do not wish to receive information from Mortons Media Group regarding or relating to current offers of products or services (including discounted subscription offers via email / post / telephone). ❑ On occasion Mortons Media Group may permit third parties, that we deem to be reputable, to contact you by email / post / telephone / fax regarding information relating to current offers of products or services which we believe may be of interest to our readers. If you wish to receive such offers, please tick this box. ❑

Nominations should be sent to: Volunteer of the Award, Towpath Talk, PO Box 43, Horncastle, Lincs LN9 6LZ and will be accepted until 5pm on Friday, July 31, 2015

At Boat Dock Lock during the tour of the Codnor Park flight area of the Cromford Canal Wilts & Berks, although interesting, was stretching the geographical term ‘northern’ somewhat.

The inside part of the day was nicely rounded off with the presentation of the cheque for the grant of £15,000 from the Inland Waterways Association (IWA) awarded to Chesterfield Canal Trust to help fund the restoration of the historic ex working narrowboat Python presented by John Baylis, wearing his IWA Region chairman’s hat, to CCT chairman Robin Stonebridge. The money comes from

the Keith Ayling Bequest. The late Keith Ayling was a former long-standing chairman of the CCT and the purchase of Python was his last project for the trust.

Outside it was raining, but most people braved the weather for a walking tour organised and led by FCC members along the filled-in Pinxton Arm to Codnor Park Reservoir and down part of the derelict Codnor Park flight of locks. A wet culmination to another good NCA meeting, held at an interesting location.

Canal to feature in coat of arms for council

By Elizabeth Rogers

WATERWAYS supporter Sir Tony Baldry, who will be retiring as MP for Banbury at the May general election, is making a farewell gift to his constituency by covering the costs of establishing a coat of arms for Cherwell District Council.

In the design both the River Cherwell and the Oxford Canal are represented, the motto reading: ‘From Cherwell flows prosperity’.

Unveiling his plans at a Banbury dinner held in his honour by the district council, he explained that when

Cherwell was originally formed as a consequence of the 1972 Local Government Act, it brought together no fewer than four former local authorities but never applied for a grant of arms.

“This is something which I would like to remedy. So I am proposing to petition Garter King of Arms to grant a coat of arms to Cherwell and I will personally pay for this – so no cost whatsoever will fall to the council taxpayer.

“I hope that the design put forward by myself and the heralds at the College of Arms will command public support.”

The design has three elements:

The shield has a green background to represent the North Oxfordshire countryside with three lines running from top to bottom representing the river, canal and the M40 motorway.

It signifies the benefits that a combination of location and communication have brought to the area.

The crest is an oak tree backed by a rainbow, symbolising the Cherwell countryside and hearts of oak, appropriate for a district at the heart of England, with the rainbow for God’s covenant with mankind and as a symbol of diversity and inclusiveness.

Museum and project in desperate plea for funds THE Yorkshire Waterways Museum and Sobriety Project could close next month unless £50,000 can be raised.

An appeal has gone out to businesses and individuals to help save this important part of Yorkshire’s waterways heritage before it is too late.

It has already attracted pledges but needs to raise the total sum in order to release these.

The Yorkshire Waterways Museum sits beside the Aire & Calder Navigation in Goole and tells the important story of the most inland port in the country. It is home to one of the well-loved last remaining coal tugs, Wheldale, which was a key vessel in the Queen’s Jubilee flotilla on the Thames.

It is also home to the unique Tom Puddings, which carried coal along the waterways, and Grade 2 Star listed No. 5 boat hoist. All of these are industrial icons of national significance and are

cared for by the museum which is operated by the Sobriety Project, an educational charity which has been a community focus for over 40 years.

However, although an essential part of the project, the museum has put a strain on its finances for some time.

The Sobriety Project is a charity which attracts considerable funds to provide support, education, training and activities for disabled children, adults with learning disabilities, young people suffering serious disadvantage, ex offenders and others. It has not been able to raise the funds to pay for the running of the building in which these projects take place and in which the museum is housed.

The museum at Dutch River Side, Goole DN14 5TB opens on weekdays from 9am-4pm and, from March 28, at weekends from 10am-4.30pm.

● You can donate to the appeal through its Just Giving site which was due to go live after we went to press. Alternatively by cheque, in person, through electronic banking, through the website at http://waterwaysmuseum.org.uk or on Facebook, Twitter or by phone on 01405 768730.

Accessible boating on the Basingstoke Canal THE Accessible Boating charity is holding two open days in April to give interested organisations the opportunity to view its two boats.

These are the day trip boat, Dawn, and holiday boat, Madam Butterfly, at Colt Hill Wharf, Odiham RG29 1AL. Visitors will be able to see what the boats have to offer and supporters will be on hand to

answer any queries.

The open days take place on Tuesday, April 21, and Thursday, April 30, with sessions from 10amnoon, noon-2pm and 2-4pm on each day.

Accessible Boating is a registered charity that enables people with mobility issues to enjoy boating on the Basingstoke Canal in Hampshire.

● Further details at www.accessibleboating.org.uk Email stevelavender4@gmail.com with preferred session by Monday, April 13.

The holiday boat Madam Butterfly on the Basingstoke Canal.

NEWS 5

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Inspector is backing council’s stance on marina development A PLANNING inspector has backed Nottinghamshire County Council’s decision not to approve a large new marina development at Ratcliffe-on-Soar because of the damage it would do to the green belt.

Richard Morley of Redhill Marina Ltd appealed to the Planning Inspectorate in March 2013 on the grounds of ‘non-determination’ of its application for a new 553 berth leisure marina, ancillary buildings and 244 space car park on a 20ha site near to East Midlands Parkway Station.

The proposal, initially submitted in April 2012, included the excavation of 860,000 tonnes of material, including 500,000 tonnes of sand and gravel. The council had been waiting for the applicant to provide additional information about its plans before it could make its decision.

Details requested were in response to significant objections to the proposals by Rushcliffe Borough Council, Natural England, English Heritage, the Environment Agency and East Midlands Airport.

However, only information relating to Rushcliffe Borough Council’s objection – on the grounds that it was an inappropriate development for the green belt – was supplied. None of the other information was provided before the developer lodged an appeal with the Planning Inspectorate on the grounds of ‘non-determination’.

In May 2013, the county council’s planning committee unanimously supported the recommendation that had the planning application been considered by the committee in its current form, it would have been rejected on the grounds of insufficient information.

Planning inspector, John Woolcock dismissed the appeal and refused to grant planning permission.

He concluded that the proposal would result in an unacceptable environmental impact, would

conflict with the development plan and that national policy concerning the green belt weighs heavily against allowing the appeal.

While Mr Woolcock acknowledged that there was a dispute at the hearing about the demand for additional berths, he said there was no recognised and accepted methodology for assessing future need. Surveys by the county council and the British Marine Federation and statements from British Waterways Marinas Ltd (BWML) as well as representations in support of the plans were discussed.

Speakers from the floor included Braunston Marina owner Tim Coghlan who claimed another Midlands marina had recently closed 100 berths.

In a letter of objection to the planning authority on behalf of BWML, which owns nearby Sawley Marina, planning consultant Fran Chick stated that there was no need or demand for additional leisure moorings, a decline in occupancy rates indicating a downward trend. “There are in excess of 2000 moorings in the Midlands area unoccupied,” the letter added.

Planning inspector John Woolcock said he had considered the fact that Redhill marina could accommodate wide beam boats and the removal of on-line moorings would have navigational benefits.

He concluded: “There is evidence of demand, but no convincing evidence of an unmet need for berths that would amount to a consideration that would weigh significantly in favour of allowing the appeal.

“This was a matter that took up considerable time at the hearing, but on balance it seems to me that the supply/demand situation is neither a consideration for nor against allowing the appeal.”

A copy of the Inspector’s decision report is available to view on the county council’s website at www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk

New leisure berths on way for Acton’s Lock WORK was set to start on March 23 on new longterm moorings on the offside of the Regent’s Canal at Acton’s Lock.

Known as Bluebell Moorings, the scheme in Haggerston will provide 10 leisure berths as well as a new water point, Elsan disposal and pump-out which will be available for all boaters to use. They should be ready for use from May 1.

Although the moorings will be on a new pontoon on the off-side, the construction works mean that towpath moorings between Acton’s Lock and Queensbridge Road will need to be suspended for around six weeks.

The Canal & River Trust will be working with the contractors to ensure that boats can remain on site as long as possible and are only moved on when really necessary. There may also be occasional stoppages to the navigation for up to an hour at a time to allow heavy equipment to be moved.

New boater facilities are also due to be opened in April on the Lee Navigation, once new leisure moorings are completed in Hackney Wick adjacent to the Here East development in the Olympic Park.

The facilities will provide a new pump-out and water facilities, available for the whole boating community to use.

More moorings to boost Lancaster Canal tourism EXTRA moorings are being provided for canal boats on the Lancaster Canal to boost tourism and give boaters access to some of the best waterside pubs.

Changes are also to be made to visitor mooring times, allowing a greater number of boats to visit the most popular parts of the canal.

Canalside ‘service stations’ for boaters have also been upgraded.

The improvements have been shaped by the views of local boat owners who were keen to enjoy easier access to the most popular mooring destinations.

North West Partnership member and boater Mike Macklin said: “The changes have been brought about in response to many requests from boaters who want to be able to visit the most popular mooring destinations such as Bilsborrow, Tewitfield, Lancaster, Galgate, Carnforth and Hest Bank. These sites have some great visitor attractions close to them, as well as some of the best pubs in Lancashire!”

During the winter, the Canal & River Trust has worked to clear obstructions from the water, dealt with overgrown vegetation and has treated areas of encroaching weeds.

Spot dredging will also be carried out during 2015.

Mike added: “Some of the sites where we want to increase moorings will require extra work and this will need to be supported in part by donations.

We are keen to speak to companies that might be able to help if they have an interest in the canals in Lancashire.”

As part of the project to

Mike Macklin on the Lancaster Canal. PHOTO: CRT welcome boaters to the Lancaster Canal, the Canal & River Trust is also recruiting more volunteer rangers to provide information to boaters about available moorings and nearby attractions.

CHANGES TO MOORINGS

● A mix of 48-hour and seven-day moorings in the main boating

season and 14-day moorings the rest of the year

● Additional moorings at Lancaster and Galgate, with plans for

further moorings in other areas in the future

● The use of moorings at Lancaster University, available for a

nominal fee, for a trial period this summer

● Improved service stations for boaters at Cadley, Moss Lane

and Bilsborough

● If you would like to become a volunteer ranger or if you want to comment on the project please contact the Canal & River Trust at enquiriesnorthwest@canalrivertrust.org.uk

Go-ahead for bridGe scheme despite local concerns

By Elizabeth Rogers

CHERWELL District Council’s planning committee has approved plans by Oxfordshire County Council to reinforce a historic bridge over the River Swire in the village of South Newington, near Banbury, despite some local objections.

Its planning officer has recommended that the work should go ahead on this bridge on the busy A361 between Chipping Norton and Banbury.

The county council’s plan is for steel reinforcements in the central arch of the Grade II listed bridge. The work is also to include replacements of the kerbs and resurfacing of the western verge and the central carriageway.

Letters of objection to the district council had raised concerns at the impact of the work on the appearance of this historic bridge, and also on its structural integrity.

South Newington Parish Council, while not objecting to the application, asked that consideration should be given to whether the proposed method of reinforcement, which would leave a visible grid, should be the one to be used.

At present the two-way traffic on the main road over the bridge has a temporary restriction, with one-way traffic controlled by traffic lights which have been installed since September.

There have been concerns at the resulting queues of traffic hampering access to nearby properties.

Facelift for the Drayton Turret footbridge

By Harry Arnold

A FIVE week project has started to restore one of the most unusually designed footbridges on the waterways.

Spanning the Birmingham & Fazeley Canal, the early 19th century, Grade II listed Drayton Turret footbridge is located almost opposite the entrance of the Drayton Manor theme park, so is familiar to both canal users and visitors to the tourist attraction.

Its twin castellated white turrets – linked by wooden span – were originally constructed when Sir Robert Peel built a new mansion on his estate at Drayton Bassett. The canal ran through his estate and he was adamant that the bridge should be a feature rather than in the more practical and typical style.

The £54,000 restoration project is being funded by donations to the Canal &

Scaffolding is erected as work starts on Drayton Turret footbridge.

PHOTO:WATERWAY IMAGES

River Trust (CRT) and money from the Heritage Lottery Fund as part of the wider Tame Valley Wetlands Landscape Partnership project.

Work includes stripping off all the old paint and loose mortar from the turrets’ brickwork,

then repointing with lime mortar and finishing with a fresh coat of breathable white paint. The timber deck on the footbridge will be replaced and all the metal work stripped and repainted. A new towpath with a bound surface will be laid.

6 NEWS

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Renowned director joins Lancashire arts programme

IN BRIEF Window on the world

TWO historic boats at the National Waterways Museum, Ellesmere Port, will be restored thanks to a Heritage Lottery Fund grant of £790,300 and match funding of over £50,000 from the Wolfson Foundation.

The last remaining all-wooden ‘Mersey flat’, Mossdale, will be displayed at the museum and rare horse-drawn ‘short boat’ George will return to its original role as a working wide boat as part of an outreach and education project on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal.

The funding will also support the museum’s Window on the World project including new exhibitions and interactive displays.

Skipton bridge warning

WARNING signs have been erected on a canal footbridge where a man fell on steps and died from his injuries, writes Geoff Wood. Ian Martin, 68, slipped and fell last January on the Gallows footbridge over the Leeds & Liverpool Canal in Skipton town centre.

His widow Jane has since been campaigning for action to make the bridge safer and met officials from the Canal & River Trust to inspect new information signs. At the inquest, local coroner Rob Turnbull called for urgent measures to make the bridge safer.

Your lock needs you

THE Canal & River Trust is seeking volunteers to join the nationwide team of lock keepers. Last year over 480 people regularly volunteered for this outdoors position and there are over 80 locations where people can help, including 33 new sites for 2015.

The opportunities are at some of the most picturesque locks including Fradley, Caen Hill, Camden and Grindley Brook. Find out more at www.canalrivertrust.org.uk/volunteer

Laurie Peake: proud to be from Pennine Lancashire. PHOTO: CRT

A MAJOR arts programme which will work with communities along the Leeds & Liverpool Canal has appointed Laurie Peake as its director.

Super Slow Way has been established to create a lasting legacy of arts and culture between Blackburn and Pendle in Pennine Lancashire.

Laurie will lead the commissioning of artists for the three year project, running until 2017, which has received a £2 million grant from Arts Council England’s Creative People & Places programme.

Time is a major theme of Super Slow Way, which takes its cue from the Slow Movement. It will bring art and artists to a space where time slows down, to look afresh at how people live their fast-paced lives and how they relate to their environment, neighbourhoods and each other.

Laurie said: “I’m very proud to be from Pennine Lancashire and thrilled to be given the opportunity to get involved in the already vibrant cultural life of the region.

“I hope Super Slow Way can spark a creative revolution on the banks of the Leeds & Liverpool Canal; one that inspires new types of productivity and offers opportunities to spend our time more imaginatively, supporting existing cultural activity and encouraging new forms.

“My aim is to harness the arts to look

back at what shaped this area, to ask new questions about where we are now and imagine and propose new directions for where we are heading.”

Describing it as a “hugely ambitious project”, board chairman Tony Hales said: “Laurie has a superb track record of running major cultural programmes, so we are delighted to have her on board.

We’re now looking forward to turning our ambitions into reality and creating a truly unique cultural project together with the local people over the coming years.”

● Super Slow Way is a partnership made up of the Canal & River Trust, Newground, local authorities of Blackburn with Darwen, Burnley, Pendle and Hyndburn and Arts Partnership Pennine Lancashire (APPL).

For more information visit www.superslowway.org.uk

Boaters using Liverpool Link now face new rules

By Harry Arnold

REVISED regulations for boats using the Liverpool Link into the Albert Dock complex and the approach length of the Leeds & Liverpool Canal have been introduced by the Canal & River Trust (CRT).

Advance booking is now only required for the actual Link and Stanley Locks passage and booking can now be made three years ahead instead of one year; with service being free online but at a cost of £5 by post.

Passages will now be a maximum of six boats in each direction a day over the six working days and there will be only seven days’ free mooring in Salthouse Dock instead of 14 days; £20 a day overstay is charged after this. Some boating groups are unhappy about this, particularly the National Association of Boat Owners.

Bookings are already virtually full for this year and there is a waiting list. Apart from the obvious popularity of visiting Liverpool, the events planned

for 2015 – including a visit by three Cunard liners in one weekend – have brought record reservations.

There are apparent restrictions on water supplies – something we don’t recall being predicted in the original proposals for the Link – and the CRT says there are insufficient moorings in Salthouse Dock.

The CRT is also appealing for volunteers with a passion for Liverpool to greet boaters mooring in the city and explain the many attractions and facilities of the World Heritage Site. In our experience boaters already get considerable information on the Link and actually moor surrounded by a plethora of information outlets highlighting the attractions.

What the millions of non-boating tourists have great difficulty in finding is information about the Liverpool Link, CRT administration of the Albert Docks complex and what these lines of moored boats are about.

Anyone interested in becoming a volunteer greeter in Liverpool can find out more at www.canalrivertrust.org.uk/volunteer

Regulations have changed for cruising into and mooring in Liverpool.

RYA SPOTLIGHT 7

www.towpathtalk.co.uk The Royal Yachting Association (RYA) is the national body for all forms of boating, including dinghy and yacht racing, motor and sail cruising, RIBs and sports boats, powerboat racing, windsurfing, inland cruising and narrowboats and personal watercraft.

It’s not just hot air!

RYA urges boaters to be alert to the potential dangers from exhausts

FOLLOWING the fire on board ECC Topaz and its subsequent sinking, boaters are being reminded of the fire risk from exhaust gases and uninsulated exhaust pipes.

The catamaran ECC Topaz, a wind farm support vessel, caught fire off the coast of Lowestoft in January 2014. The Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) believes that the fire started in the starboard hull in an area directly under the wheelhouse and spread rapidly through the vessel.

The three crew members were forced to take to a life raft from which they were airlifted. The boat later sank.

It is thought that the fire may have been caused by an uninsulated section of a diesel fired air heater exhaust pipe touching the wooden deck under the wheelhouse – or by hot exhaust gases leaking from a deteriorated piece of exhaust pipe on to flammable materials kept in the compartment.

The flammable materials included rags, paper rolls, drums of diesel and lubricating oils.

The RYA, as the national body for all forms of boating, including inland cruising and narrowboats, urges all boaters to follow these safety steps: ● Check that all the exhaust systems on your vessel are fitted in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions

Make sure your boat is a safe haven.

● Inspect the exhaust pipes frequently for signs of

deterioration and replace if required ● Follow the inspection and maintenance schedule for your vessel’s air heaters as required by the manufacturer ● Do not store flammable material in the heater compartment

Refer a friend

RYA cruising manager Stuart Carruthers: “Be prepared to act quickly if you think you’re at risk.” PHOTOS: RYA

People asleep are particularly susceptible to carbon monoxide poisoning, and a number of deaths are recorded annually from carbon monoxide produced by malfunctioning or improperly vented appliances.

Prevention is key to staying safe

Each year boaters also run the risk of falling seriously ill from carbon monoxide (known as CO) poisoning.

Sadly it can be fatal. Our boats are designed and built to keep water out, but this also makes them good containers for gases and fumes – unless adequate ventilation is maintained.

The findings of the MAIB investigation into carbon monoxide poisoning on board Arniston on Windermere, Cumbria, were that exhaust fumes spread from the engine bay into the cabin when an improvised exhaust and silencer became detached from a ‘suitcase’ style portable petrol-engine generator which had been installed to supply the boat with 240v power.

As a result, the generator’s exhaust fumes filled the engine bay and spread through gaps in an internal bulkhead into the aft cabin where the mother and daughter were asleep.

When the owner of the boat awoke in the boat’s forward cabin, he was suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning but was able to raise the alarm. Tragically, the mother and daughter could not be revived.

The boat’s carbon monoxide sensor system did not alarm because it was not connected to a power supply.

Prevention is the key to staying safe. The important safety information following the Arniston tragedy is that all equipment needs to be fit for the purpose for which it is intended, properly installed, well maintained and used according to the instructions.

RYA cruising manager Stuart Carruthers explains: “CO can kill – be prepared to act quickly if you think you’re at risk. Our belt and braces advice is to be aware of the risks and signs of CO poisoning and fit a CO alarm approved to BS EN 50291; these are best suited for boats.

“CO alarms only detect, they cannot prevent the dangerous build-up of carbon monoxide. Everyone in the boating community should be aware of the risks and signs of CO poisoning and take steps to prevent tragedy occurring.”

CO build-up in your boat’s cabin can occur with one, or a mix, of these factors: ● Faulty, badly maintained or misused appliances ● Exhaust fumes from a boat’s engine or generator ● Escaped flue gases from solid fuel stoves ● Blocked ventilation or short supply of air “We recommend routine checking of your boat’s fuelburning appliances and engines, making sure they are free from signs of problems and in good condition. If in any doubt, get them serviced by a competent person – this will help keep you safe,” added Stuart.

What is carbon monoxide?

Coming soon

Think you know about CO?

Often known as ‘the silent killer’, carbon monoxide is a colourless, odourless, invisible and very toxic gas.

It is the product of incomplete combustion. If a carbon-based fuel – such as LPG (liquid petroleum gas), wood, coal, charcoal, petrol or diesel – is burned in an atmosphere with insufficient oxygen, carbon monoxide results.

The RYA is set to launch a brand new safety clip in the coming months, all about the risks associated with carbon monoxide and outlining the steps boaters can take to stay safe. Keep an eye on our safety hub at rya.org.uk/go/safety You can also read the latest advice for boaters at boatsafetyscheme.org/stay-safe

SINCE its launch in June 2014, the RYA Refer a Friend scheme has proved popular, with 130 RYA members taking advantage of the scheme and between them introducing 51 new members to the association.

The scheme offers new members 25% discount on the price of their chosen membership type; and once the friend or family member has signed up, the referring member will receive a special thank you gift of either an exclusive RYA branded umbrella or five litre RYA branded dry bag from Overboard.

During March, new referrals earned members a double reward of both gifts. ● To find out more about RYA Refer a Friend and for a copy of the referral form visit www. rya.org.uk/go/refer

8 NETWORKING

SOCIETY NEWS Laundrette list update

THE Aylesbury Canal Society has updated its Laundrette List which shows towns and villages with Laundrettes, which are listed alphabetically with directions from the canal and extra useful information. Canals and rivers are also listed alphabetically showing the towns and villages on those navigations where laundrettes exist. This has been substantially revised for 2015 and is now available from IWA Sales at www.waterways.org.uk/shop Code CC02 or from IWA Sales, Island House, Moor Road, Chesham HP5 1WA, 01494 783453 for £4.50 (payable to IWA Sales) including post paid to UK addressees. All profits from its sale go to the IWA.

Meet in the middle for restoration

THE Melton & Oakham Waterways Society committee has long debated the best way forward to a full restoration of the Melton Mowbray Navigation. It is now in the process of forming eastern and western waterways partnerships to solve the problems and find funding opportunities simultaneously at each end, and working to meet in the middle as soon as possible. The eastern partnership is to be chaired by county councillor Pam Posnett, who represents Melton, while at the other end MOWS is actively seeking a Charnwood councillor to do the same. (MOWS newsletter, spring 2015)

Last pint before the closure of historic pub

THE National Association of Boat Owners (NABO) has paid tribute to its council meeting venue for more than 20 years, the Waggon & Horses pub at Oldbury, following its recent closure. Built in 1890, the listed building has been boarded up.

According to Midlands regional rep David Fletcher, they had mixed emotions on leaving the cold upstairs room where they held meetings for a move to Wolverhampton Boat Club, as it was part of NABO’s history. (NABO News, February 2015).

Trust to take over running of DART

THE Bruce Trust is to take over the running of the Disabled Afloat Riverboat Trust (DART) with director Rebecca Bruce serving as the charity’s trustee and administrator. DART hires Bruce Trust boats for six weeks a year and provides volunteer crew for disabled holidaymakers unable to arrange their own. The Bruce Trust runs four wide-beam boats from its Great Bedwyn and Lower Foxhanger Wharf bases on the Kennet & Avon Canal. (Bruce Trust Newsletter, spring 2015)

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Canal society launches its bicentenary appeal THE Pocklington Canal Amenity Society has launched an appeal fund to raise £250,000 to restore a two-mile section of the Pocklington Canal.

It has chosen this year as it is the bicentenary of the passing of the act of parliament enabling the building of the canal and it is proposed that the works will be completed by 2018, in time to mark the bicentenary of its opening.

Since PCAS has been able to prime the fund with £80,000 from its accumulated funds, the amount remaining to be raised is £170,000.

The money will be spent on installing new wooden lock gates for Thornton and Walbut Locks and ensuring an adequate depth of water in the length, much of which is presently overgrown with vegetation.

Other items will include measures to bring the locks up to modern safety standards, with the provision of lock landings to allow boaters to disembark before entering the locks.

The project is supported by the Canal & River Trust (owner of the Pocklington Canal) and Natural England, which has a regulatory role, since the works are to be carried out within a Site of Special Scientific Interest. Work will be designed and scheduled to minimise interference with wildlife.

Appeal leaflets will be widely distributed in Pocklington and the villages close to the canal. Support will also be sought from the society’s own members and from waterways enthusiasts nationwide, as well as from charitable trusts.

To commemorate the bicentenary of the act of parliament, a boat rally is to be held at Melbourne on the Pocklington Canal over the weekend of July 25-26, 2015.

This is the first major boat rally to be held on the Pocklington Canal since 1987, when narrowboats from as far away as London took part in a rally to mark the extension of the navigable length to Melbourne.

The site is close to the village, which has a short canal arm. Most moorings will be on the main line of the canal, and so boats will require a boarding plank and mooring pins.

A range of low key events will be put on by the Pocklington Canal Amenity Society for boaters joining the rally, although it is thought that the main attraction will be the pleasure of visiting a very quiet and rural canal at the extremity of the English canal system.

The entry fee for each boat is £20, which will include a brass plaque commemorating the rally and help to support PCAS to extend the navigation by a further two miles from Melbourne to Bielby. ● Boatowners interested in taking part in the rally can download an application form from the PCAS website at www.pocklingtoncanal society.org For more information about the restoration scheme and details of how to subscribe to the appeal visit: www.pocklingtoncanalsociety.org/appeal

Lottery cash to fund clubhouse’s facelift COOMBESWOOD Canal Trust is celebrating a grant of £4700 from the Big Lottery Fund (Awards for All) to assist with the cost of the refurbishment of the club house at Hawne Basin, of the trust’s activities.

The trust took over Hawne Basin in the 1970s to provide moorings for local waterways enthusiasts, to encourage greater use of the local canal and provide a focal point for the canal in Halesowen.

It was formerly an interchange basin enabling canal freight to be transhipped onto the railway.

Over the years facilities have been provided within the basin, which are available not only to trust members but also to other local groups, and for the crews of visiting boats.

With the passage of time refurbishment of the clubhouse has become necessary and trust members have, with funds raised by the trust and the assistance of the Big Lottery Fund redecorated the interior and also reclad the exterior thus providing some much need upgrading and no doubt extending the life of the building.

The clubhouse comes into its own during the Hawne Basin open weekend

Biggest share of ‘unusual’ raffle’s proceeds goes to Cromford Canal THE Inland Waterways Association Restoration Raffle in 2014 was unusual in that the profits of the raffle were shared with the waterway restoration charities in respect of the number of tickets their members sold. Through concerted efforts by its members the Friends of the Cromford Canal sold the most tickets and were awarded with the highest amount of £1200.

FCC’s acting chairman, John Baylis, was recently presented with the cheque by IWA national chairman Les Etheridge the National Chairman of the IWA. Matt Rogers from the FCC engineering committee said: “The money awarded is being put towards the purchase of tools and equipment as the teams of volunteers commence full restoration works on the Ironville flight of locks.

“We will be welcoming back the Waterway Recovery Group this summer to continue the fabulous achievements of the 2014 Canal

Friends acting chairman John Baylis receives the cheque from IWA national chairman Les Etheridge. PHOTO: FCC Camp at Ironville to uncover the heritage of William Jessop’s locks.”

FCC has now adopted the Ironville locks from the Canal & River Trust to carry out the routine agricultural maintenance in addition to starting restoration work on the flight of seven locks. This work is involving volunteers from Jacksdale and Ironville as well as students from Broomfield College.

Ambitious plans from Swansea THE IWA Swansea branch has announced that the proposed integrated waterway linking the Swansea Canal to the Neath and Tennant Canals via a new route through Swansea Vale, the River Tawe and the Docks will be called the Swansea Bay Integrated Waterway (SBIW).

It is aimed to: ● restore the Swansea canal above Clydach ● build a new cut from the Swansea Canal into the River Tawe ● build a new cut from the River Tawe into Kings Dock ● reinstate the link between the Tennant Canal and Kings Dock ● restore the Aberdulais aqueduct On completion, the waterway will provide a 37 mile navigation from close to the Brecon Beacons National Park, via the Tawe and Neath valleys, through some of the most important historic South Wales industrial areas to the South Wales coast at Swansea and Neath.

This will benefit local communities providing employment through attracting visiting boats and tourists and providing excellent recreational facilities.

The branch, together with the Neath and Tennant Canal Trust and the Canal & River Trust are preparing coordinated statements in order to present a united front at the Neath Local Development Plan hearing on April 21.

This hearing is vital to the future of the SBIW as the council intends to remove protection to part of the lines of both the Swansea and Neath canals.

Helping hand for heritage barge Members celebrate the completion of the work to their clubhouse.

PHOTO: COOMBESWOOD CANAL TRUST

when the basin is open to the public so that they can come in and see the work of the trust. This year’s free event is taking place on May 9 and 10.

Not only will there be historic boats on display but there will be stands and displays from canal groups and other local charities. There will be entertainment for all ages and it is hoped to have a display of a horse-drawn narrowboat and birds of prey. Boat trips will be operating along the canal and refreshments will be available in the refurbished clubhouse.

THE Lincolnshire Branch IWA presented a cheque for £500 to the Newark Heritage Barge Charity at its recent AGM at the Lincoln Boat Club.

Leicester Trader is the last River Trent dumb barge remaining in near original condition. It was bought to convert it into a heritage centre, museum and educational resource as a tribute to all those who were involved in the river carrying trade on the Trent over the years.

Work has been continuing through the winter on the hull of the barge although at a slower pace due to weather constraints.

A fundraising evening of ‘Shanties and Stuff’ with live music from Liam Robinson was due to take place on Friday, March 27 at the Staythorpe Electricity Sports and Social Club.

Heritage Barge Trust chairman, Les Reid, right, receives the cheque from Lincolnshire IWA branch treasurer Andy Martin and chairman Dave Carnell.

PHOTO SUPPLIED

● For more information visit www.newarkheritagebarge.com

Logistics expert takes the helm of commercial boat association

Yorkshireman David Quarmby is hoping for more commercial traffic on the inland waterways.

PHOTO: CBOA

THE Commercial Boat Operators Association has appointed Dr David Quarmby to succeed the late Sonia Rolt.

As chairman of the Canal and River Trust’s Freight Advisory Group (FrAG), he led the development of a policy for waterborne freight and the commercial waterways, since adopted by CRT in 2014.

He is now a member of the CRT’s Freight Steering Group, created to take forward the FrAG proposals for Priority Freight Routes.

David is widely known for his long career in transport and logistics, with 39 years’ board-level experience in government, public agencies and the private sector.

Since 1996 his appointments have included chairman of the Strategic Rail Authority

and of the Docklands Light Railway, and board member of Transport for London; he has been a director of consultancy Colin Buchanan, and chairman of the RAC Foundation; he was president of the Institute of Logistics in the 1990s. Before 1996 he was joint managing director of Sainsbury’s, and earlier in his career managing director of London Buses.

CBOA chairman David Lowe said: “We are delighted that David has agreed to take on this role for three years.

“I know he will wish to be more than a ‘figurehead’ and will be getting out and about on freight boats and barges of all sizes, on the various UK waterways used for water freight. David’s expertise and wisdom

will be of great benefit to the association as it seeks to support its member companies and the navigation authorities and ports in the drive to attract more tonnage to the inland waterways.”

David said: “I look forward to working with them to help bring more traffic on to the UK’s inland waterways.”

Born in Halifax and brought up in Huddersfield; David took degrees at Cambridge and Leeds universities, and has now lived in London for more than 40 years. He is no stranger to the inland waterways though: with his wife and family – and often with friends – David has enjoyed more than 20 narrowboat holidays over the years.

NETWORKING 9

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Floating around with mood swings: Joel Sanders

By Polly Player

BETTER known to many as ‘The Angry Boater’, Joel Sanders is a 47-year-old liveaboard boater of six years, based in the London area.

Since launching his ‘Angry Boater’ blog last year, in which he recorded humorous anecdotes about his life on the waterways, Joel has now taken to the stage with his one-man comedy show, Angry Boater Live. I caught up with Joel on one of his more relaxed days, to find out more about his boating life, the inspiration behind his stage show, and what his future plans are.

Like many boaters, Joel felt trapped by living on land, disliking the noise from the street and his neighbours. A self-confessed control freak, Joel’s logic dictated that with a boat, if he didn’t like where he was or who he ended up next to, he could move on, instantly controlling those two variables.

A teacher and comedian by trade, Joel previously worked as a comedian in the USA, and also ran The Comedy Bunker in Ruislip for 16 years, during which time the club hosted such comedy bighitters as Al Murray, Jimmy Carr, Harry Hill and Omid Djalili.

Joel decided to start blogging because he wanted to give his writing muscles a workout, and to gauge the response he received with a view to ultimately turning his experiences into a live comedy show about boating life. The response to Joel’s blog was widely positive, and gave him the information that he needed to decide to launch his show: that his thoughts and ideas, as well as his unique way of expressing them, resonated with both other boaters and land-based visitors too.

Flaws and failings

Now that Joel’s show is live, his blogging endeavours are a little irregular, as his experiences are more likely to end up in his live show than online in the first instance. The Angry Boater live show takes the form of a one-man stand-up routine, in which Joel gives his own unique take on boating life and the problems and challenges that arise within it. He tries to remain up front about his own flaws and failings within the show, which is what he feels that people really want to hear; as Joel says, nobody comes along to hear all about how great he is.

‘Angry boater’ Joel Sanders. PHOTO: JOEL SANDERS Joel’s show is now hosted by The Barge House, near Kingsland Road, on the Regent’s Canal, having previously had a short run at The Backyard Comedy Club in Bethnal Green in late 2014. A consistent mix of both interested boaters and curious visitors make up Joel’s audiences, with many London boaters and several CRT volunteers having already seen the show. Joel intends to continue to work on the show and provide new material each week – having already developed a small contingent of keen repeat visitors – and hopes that interest and demand for his show will grow, bringing additional opportunities with them along the way.

Joel’s original run at The Barge House has just been extended, and he will appear there every Tuesday from now until the end of May. The doors open at 7.30pm for an 8pm start, and tickets can be booked in advance via We Got Tickets, or on the door for £10 (assuming that the shows have not sold out). The entrance to The Barge House is via the towpath at 45a De Beauvoir Crescent, London N1, with Haggerston being the nearest underground station. The venue also serves food.

It can be contacted on 0207 249 0765.

Joel will also be visiting his previous venue, The Backyard Comedy Club, in Bethnal Green, in April and May, hosting a live interview and audience question and answer session with comedian Jim Davidson on April 8, and the same again with Harry Hill on May 13.

● Further information on Joel’s upcoming sets and his ongoing comedy career can be found on his website: angryboater.com

No wind up: Hear all about it at Hollingwood Hub THE Chesterfield Canal Trust’s latest attraction at Hollingwood Hub is an audio post.

All you have to do is wind a handle a few times and the machine plays a choice of eight short messages about the canal, the trust and local history.

Where possible, recordings were made by people who did the work or have detailed local knowledge such as work party member, Dave France, who tells the story of installing the massive date stone by the lock.

Walt Jones used to work in the Metal Spun Plant at Staveley Works, which was just across the road from the Hub. He describes graphically the skill and danger of working with molten metal.

Other recordings include Sandra Struggles talking about the history of Staveley Works and Don Cambridge on the underground canal, which emerges only 200 yards from the Hub. The trust bought the audio post thanks to a grant from Yorkshire Building Society Charitable Foundation.

After a brief ceremony, attended by the people who made the recordings, representatives of the

Helping to launch the audio post at Hollingwood Hub are, from left, Sandra Struggles, George Bunting, Dave France, Walt Jones, Linda Wait and Kath Auton.

Don Cambridge could not make the photocall.

PHOTOS: CHESTERFIELD CANAL TRUST

Yorkshire Building Society, the trust and Derbyshire County Council (which owns the canal), there was a trip aboard Madeline – the Eckington School boat. The trust runs cruises aboard Madeline from Hollingwood Hub every Saturday from April to October.

Plansto boost canalvillage economy A SUCCESSFUL public meeting was held recently at the Holly Bush Inn, Cefn Mawr, to discuss the Cefn Mawr & Tesco Permeability Project.

Local shopkeepers, businesses and Tesco are working together to foster better links between the new supermarket and traditional shopping centre on Well Street and Crane Street.

Ideas included signposting to tell people that the local village centre is still alive and open for business, landscaping, and a number of footpaths that could be opened up to link everything together in a pleasant and attractive way, adding to the tourism appeal.

It is now hoped that the proposal can be taken forward and detailed planning can be prepared and grant funding sought. Once implemented the project would improve the commercial viability of the local economy and therefore add to the sustainability of the retail sector in the centre of Cefn Mawr, which is close to the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct World Heritage Site.

The spin-off would be that through improved business opportunity and activity more jobs would become available to an area currently suffering from high unemployment after the closures of Monsanto and Air Products Plants.

● For more information please see our website: http://www.plaskynastoncanalgroup.org/

10 VOLUNTEERING

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WORK PARTY ROUNDUP WITH IWA’S STEFANIE PRESTON

IN BRIEF

Peak Forest litter picking

IWA Manchester Branch volunteers arrived on the Lower Peak Forest Canal for the branch’s monthly work party in March. The weather was cold and wet but this did not deter the group who quickly got ready to start work at Bridge 1.

The aim was to get to the junction with the Ashton Canal by lunchtime, having litter picked the route along the way. Working hard, the volunteers had filled 12 litterbags by the time they reached the picnic area opposite the museum and filled a further 10 at this spot before heading home for the day.

The dog made 12 A TEAM of 11 volunteers and a well-behaved dog from the IWA Birmingham, Black Country & Worcestershire Branch litter picked along three miles of the Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal towpath between Falling Sands and Stourport.

They collected over 12 bags of rubbish all destined for the nearby council refuse depot.

Volunteers were keen to get involved and came from as far afield as Malvern and Quinton.

A tasting of hedge laying

FOUR of the 11 volunteers on IWA West Country Branch’s February work party on the Bridgwater & Taunton Canal had a hedge laying taster course, with a view to signing up for a full day’s training later in the year.

This will enable the branch to carry out a hedge laying project in the autumn. The remaining volunteers continued creating a dead hedge from the vegetation they had cut back from the towpath.

Branch completes vegetation project

IWA Chester & Merseyside Branch’s work party at the end of February was a good close to the month with 11 volunteers helping.

They finally completed the clearance of overhanging vegetation along a stretch of the Shropshire Union Canal that they had begun in Chester in December 2014.

This included the rediscovery of the lost offside bank copingstones at Union Terrace (Chester Cow Lane Bridge).

Throughout the project, the volunteers were especially careful to leave a selection of suitable areas for wildlife habitat.

First work party at Burslem Port A NEW work party was started by IWA North Staffordshire & South Cheshire Branch at Burslem Port in February. The branch was unsure how many would turn up and relieved when four volunteers did show up to help.

It then got even better when David Dumbleton of the Burslem Port Trust arrived with another five young people who were nearby litter picking as part of a community payback scheme.

With a healthy number of volunteers, it was possible to split into two groups, with the payback team and their supervisor litter picking near to the wharf and the rest of the group planning to clear trees and vegetation at the junction with the Trent & Mersey Canal.

A week before the work party a glass fibre boat moored at the end of the branch had been destroyed by fire. The two occupants had survived but their dog was not so lucky. Many of the boat contents had been thrown on to the bank and so added to the already huge pile of litter that had accumulated in this area.

It had been agreed with the Canal & River Trust (CRT) that it would collect this rubbish at the same time as the destroyed boat was removed, so some of the volunteers bagged the smaller

items and left them near to the bank for easy collection.

The main task for the day was to start cutting back trees and other vegetation that had built up since the site was last tidied as part of a Future Jobs Fund scheme in 2010.

The group used an assortment of hand tools and soon the site was looking very different. Two volunteers from a CRT volunteer group based at Etruria, who the branch had met at Middleport Pottery a couple of weeks earlier, joined the work party midmorning and made good headway working along the water’s edge.

Unfortunately strong gusts of winds meant that it was difficult to keep the fire going so most of the cuttings were stacked up for burning another day. The weather briefly threatened to turn worse when hailstones started to fall but they only lasted a few minutes and the rest of the day remained dry and mild.

The group finished just before 4pm and on crossing the canal via Newport Lane Bridge were happy that it was clear to see what a difference had been made. The church tower in Burslem was visible from the towpath once more and while there is still a lot to do the site was already looking better.

A busy winter on the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation ESSEX Waterways Ltd hosted a February Waterway Recovery Group (WRG) Canal Camp as well as several weekend work parties with Essex WRG and IWA Chelmsford Branch over the new year.

The volunteers carried out vegetation management work on the Chelmer & Blackwater Navigation during the winter period to help maintain the navigation. The towpaths are becoming busier each year and clearance work is much appreciated by the many users.

The work has also enabled Essex County Council to carry out informal surfacing between Barnes Lock and Sandford and will assist with future access for Essex Waterways Ltd’s Avant cutter.

PHOTO: MIKE SLADE

FEBRUARY was a busy month for the IWA Northampton branch with four work parties, two of which focused on reinstating one of the historic mile markers. The marker, which had become buried over the years, needed digging out and resetting.

After the first day, the volunteers reached the 12in diameter plate concreted in with broken bricks and it became clear a second day’s

work would be needed as well as a jackhammer. With the right tools for the job on the second day, the post came out and was reinstated at a proper height before being given a good lick of paint.

The group also had two litter picks during the month that collected a huge amount of rubbish. Volunteers at the first litter pick filled around 50 bags, and around 40 were filled at the second.

COLD and persistent rain didn’t deter six volunteers from turning out to help at IWA North Staffordshire & South Cheshire Branch’s Cheshire Locks work party on the Trent & Mersey Canal. They included two new faces, which is especially encouraging.

The focus of February’s work was to cut back overgrown vegetation and clean setts and copings. It was all a bit muddy but a good start was made on Lock 44. There was also an opportunity to clear out rubbish from an interesting wall feature and to cut back brambles and trim the hedge a little.

Anyone intending to attend one of these events for the first time should contact the organisers beforehand and wear suitable clothing and footwear. If staying all day take a packed lunch unless other arrangement indicated.

Wednesdays April 1, 8, 15, 22 and 29

IWA Ipswich Branch supporting River Gipping Trust: Pipps Ford (Needham Market, Ipswich, Suffolk IP6 8LJ) or Baylham Mill Lock (Mill Lane, Ipswich, Suffolk IP6 8LG) River Gipping. Meet at 9am to continue clearing storm damage to Pipps Ford or carry out maintenance at Baylham Mill Lock, finish at 3.30-4pm. Contact Martin Bird 01394 380765, restoration@rivergippingtrust.org.uk

VOLUNTEERS with IWA West Country Branch spent Valentine’s Day showing their appreciation of the waterways and environment.

Ten volunteers were on the Bridgwater & Taunton Canal Towpath at Lyndale cutting back vegetation to improve towpath access and help maintain a healthy hedge. The group included four new volunteers who were working with the branch for the first time and thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

More and more of the regulars are undertaking training with the Canal & River Trust to operate strimmers and some are now even moving on to operating workboats. The group’s skills are really growing and this all helps the branch undertake important work along the canal.

except for safety footwear which is required for boat-based work. Contact Philip Strangeway philip.strangeway@waterways.org.uk

Saturday, April 18

IWA Manchester Branch: Monthly work party at a venue to be confirmed in the Greater Manchester area, 10am-4pm. Tasks will include vegetation clearance, litter picking, painting and pulling rubbish out of the canal.

Contact secretary@manchester-iwa.co.uk or phone 07710 554602

Saturday and Sunday, April 18/19

Thursday, April 9

BCN Clean-up: The big annual clean-up organised by the BCN Society, Coombeswood Canal Trust, Dudley Canal Trust, IWA Birmingham Black Country & Worcestershire Branch and Waterway Recovery Group, working in partnership with the Canal & River Trust. Accommodation and catering available for those wishing to make a weekend of it (book at www.wrg.org.uk). Tea and coffee will be provided but volunteers are advised to bring packed lunch if not booked in with WRG.

Thursday, April 16

IWA North Staffordshire & South Cheshire Branch: Work party in Congleton as part of the Congleton Station project, 10am to approximately 12.30pm. Work will include vegetation clearance and litter picking to help improve the environment around Congleton Railway Station, the Macclesfield Canal Towpath and Hightown. Meet at the Queen’s Head Pub, Park Lane, Congleton CW12 3DE. Contact Bob Luscombe 07710 054848, bob.luscombe@waterways.org.uk

Wednesday, April 8

Work in the Elms Farm Heybridge area was also completed in early March when Essex WRG was joined by IWA Chelmsford Branch and the Sandford Boating Club, with 26 volunteers on site on the Saturday and Sunday.

At the end of the day, volunteers were wet and cold but satisfied with having made a real difference to this very popular area. Praise and thanks were received from several dog walkers and from the one intrepid boater moving that day.

The group will continue to work at Red Bull and move down the flight and along towards Wheelock, looking to bring the whole of the Cheshire Flight up to a high standard progressively over the next three years; a timescale that should ensure they can keep up the standard set to date.

FORTHCOMINGWORK PARTY EVENTS

Tuesday, April 7

Volunteers hard at work at Chelmer & Blackwater Navigation.

An IWA Northampton Branch volunteer paints the reinstated Mile Post 3. PHOTO: JOHN BANNISTER

Progress at Red Bull Flight for Cheshire Locks Work Party

IWA Northampton Branch: Monthly work party on the Northampton Arm. Contact Geoff Wood by email geoff.wood@waterways.org.uk

Volunteers loving their West Country waterways

The work party at Lyndale Avenue on the Bridgwater & Taunton Canal.

Buried mile post uncovered by volunteers

IWA Birmingham, Black Country & Worcestershire Branch: Monthly work party on the Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal.

Tasks to include painting, tidying and vegetation clearance at a location to be confirmed. Contact David Struckett 07976 746255, david.struckett@waterways.org.uk IWA North Staffordshire & South Cheshire Branch and the Caldon & Uttoxeter Canals Trust: Monthly work party on the Uttoxeter Canal, 10am-3pm. Vegetation clearance at Bridge 70, Crumpwood. No parking available at site so please meet at 9.30am at Denstone Village Hall, College Road, Denstone, Uttoxeter, Staffordshire ST14 5HR for a lift, or meet on site at Bridge 70 at 10am having made your own way on foot. Contact Steve Wood 07976 805858, steve.wood@waterways.org.uk IWA North Staffordshire & South Cheshire Branch and Trent & Mersey Canal Society – Monthly work party on the Cheshire Locks, Trent & Mersey Canal, 10am-4pm. Painting and vegetation clearance at locks 44, 45 and 46. Meeting point is Red Bull CRT yard, but parking is limited so arrangements have been made for parking at the Red Bull pub diagonally opposite over the canal bridge on Congleton Road South (A34), Church Lawton, Stoke-on-Trent ST7 3AP. Contact: Andy Hellyar-Brook 07926 204206, andy.hellyarbrook@waterways.org.uk

Friday and Saturday, April 17/18

IWA Milton Keynes Branch: Bi-annual clean-up on the Grand Union Canal taking place over two days. Volunteers start at Fenny Stratford Lock on Friday and finish at Galleon Wharf, Wolverton, on Saturday, working 9.30am to 2.30pm each day. PPE supplied,

Friday, April 24

Saturday, April 25

IWA Chester & Merseyside Branch: Monthly work party at various locations alongside the Shropshire Union Canal in the Chester area.

10am-4pm. Work will include painting and vegetation clearance. Contact Mike Carter 07795 617803, mike.carter@waterways.org.uk

Sunday, April 26

IWA Northampton Branch: Monthly work party on the Northampton Arm. Contact Geoff Wood by email geoff.wood@waterways.org.uk

Tuesday, April 28

IWA North Staffordshire & South Cheshire Branch supporting the Burslem Port Trust: Monthly work party on the Burslem Arm. Meet at Luke St, Middleport, Stoke-on-Trent ST6 3LY. 10am-3pm. Contact Steve Wood 07976 805858, steve.wood@waterways.org.uk

For further information on any of these events contact: Alison Smedley, IWA branch campaign officer (07779 090915 or email alison.smedley@waterways.org.uk) or Stefanie Preston, IWA branch campaign assistant (01494 783453 or email stefanie.preston@waterways.org.uk). Information can also be found on IWA’s website: www.waterways.org.uk

VOLUNTEERING 11

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Call for volunteers to join Skipton Task Force VOLUNTEERS who don’t mind getting their hands dirty are needed to join the Canal & River Trust’s Towpath task force to help look after the Leeds & Liverpool Canal in Skipton.

Towpath task forces are groups of like-minded people who want to get involved and help look after their local waterway but need the flexibility to fit their volunteering around their busy lifestyles.

The Skipton Towpath Task Force has been going for just over 12 months and its membership has gradually risen,

but more members are wanted to help look after the Leeds & Liverpool Canal as it wends its way around this busy market town.

The canal is integral to Skipton and keeping it in good order is important both for local residents and for tourists and boaters who visit the town. The canal is seen as a local oasis of peace and calm amid the hustle and bustle of modern life and it is important that this haven is maintained for everyone to enjoy.

Canal & River Trust volunteer

leader Alice Kay said: “We would be delighted for additional volunteers to join us, no experience is needed and the work might include vegetation maintenance work, litter picking and general towpath maintenance.

“It’s a great way to meet other like-minded volunteers and get to hear about volunteering opportunities if you fancy getting more involved.”

If you are interested in joining the task force you can register with volunteering@canalriver trust.org.uk

Share your local knowledge with canal visitors THE Canal & River Trust is seeking volunteers with local knowledge to help visitors explore some of the Midlands’ most popular waterside spots.

They will be based in special ‘welcome stations’ at Fradley Junction, Atherstone and Hawkesbury Junction.

The sites are among some of the most popular in the area for walkers, cyclists, boaters and anglers as well as families looking for a peaceful afternoon in the fresh air.

Tom Freeland, volunteer co-ordinator, said: “It’s a great opportunity to chat with people and help them to find the perfect picnic spot, canalside pub

or quiet place to watch wildlife.

“No one knows more about the area than local people so we really want to work with volunteers who can share their local knowledge, whether that be advising on the best pub garden or explaining about the history of the local canals.”

The role is open to people of all ages and abilities and is ideal for those who are outgoing, love meeting people, are passionate about their local area and who would like to share their knowledge with visitors. To find out more go to www.canal rivertrust.org.uk/volunteer or email tom.freeland@canalriver trust.org.uk.

Big spring clean-up attracts 60 volunteers A DIVERSE group of 60 volunteers took part in IWA Warwickshire Branch’s latest spring clean-up of the Grand Union Canal and the adjoining towpath between Tachbrook Road and St Mary’s road in Leamington.

They used grappling hooks to haul a variety of items from the canal bed including the usual selection of shopping trolleys and bicycles, plus two van doors and axles, a wheelie bin, a water butt, three motorcycles, lots of pipe and a mixture of metal and plastic. In addition, a litter pick produced over 30 black sacks of rubbish.

The volunteers were made up of IWA members, Warwick University students, St Mary’s Road residents, Love Leamington members and local residents; all supported by Canal & River Trust (CRT) staff and a work boat.

As well as filling the CRT boat with rubbish, two large trailer loads of metal were carted away to be recycled. Local MP, Chris White made a visit and was very impressed by the volume and variety of the collection.

IWA Warwickshire volunteers help boat arrive to pick up rubbish at the Leamington Spa clean-up.

PHOTO SUPPLIED

It is planned to continue the clean-up of the canal and newly laid towpath in Leamington in the autumn with a further event concentrating on the section from St Mary’s Road towards Radford Semele. If you would like to help or would like details of other, similar events please email info.warwickshire@water ways.org.uk.

Meet and greet on the Macclesfield Canal THE search is on for volunteer CRT greeters to staff a visitor ‘welcome station’ at Bosley on the Macclesfield Canal.

Anyone who enjoys being in the outdoors, interacting with people and has a few hours a week to spare would be ideal for the role.

Tracey Jackson, customer support co-ordinator with the Manchester & Pennine Waterway, explained: “The role involves being on hand to talk to visitors, telling them about the waterways and offering them practical advice and information about the local area. We’re not necessarily looking for canal experts but people who are friendly and

approachable and know who to ask if they don’t know the immediate answer.

“Full training will be given and we guarantee the job satisfaction of helping people and being at the heart of the trust’s warm welcome to the waterways.”

If you would like to find out more about volunteering opportunities with the Canal & River Trust and particularly being a greeter at the Bosley Welcome Station, please contact Tracey Jackson by email volunteer@canalrivertrust.org.uk or call 03030 404040. Or apply online at www.canalriver trust.org.uk/volunteering/opportunity. @CRTMan Pennine

Locks association seeks new helpers

Danny clocks over 13,000 visitors

NOW that it has been adopted under the stewardship of the Canal & River Trust, the Whilton and Buckby Locks Association (WBLA) urgently requires new volunteers to tend the local stretch of canal and locks on the Grand Union Canal in Northamptonshire.

The WBLA has recently purchased a top-of-the-range hedge trimmer. A number of members have been assessed as competent users of both hedge trimmers and strimmers by the CRT and a working party of volunteers has been busy tidying up part of the hedgerow along a section of the towpath.

New volunteers are invited to continue the work and participate in other working parties to maintain and improve the environment along the flight, including lock painting, gardening and the upkeep of a nature reserve.

Visit the WBLA website which includes, among other items, details of local walks and local information, a calendar of events, news and a photo gallery. To offer support, use the ‘contact us’ page at www.wbla.org.uk

FOLLOWING our report on the £3.8 million HLF grant to the Daniel Adamson Preservation Society (DAPS), the ‘Danny’ has now been closed to the public in Liverpool’s Albert Dock prior to the move back to Sandon Dock where restoration work will start.

During the Danny’s relatively short stay on public display – since June 2014 – it has attracted a staggering 13,110 recorded visitors and raised almost £9000 through donations and musical events.

All this is due to the efforts of volunteer members of DAPS.

By Harry Arnold

12 NEW BOATERS/COMMUNITY BOATING

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Virgin boat owners – the first year Wheelyboat activities at Overwater Marina The Not So Secret Diary of Witches Promise In this new series, we follow new boaters David and Alison Wilkerson during their first year on the cut. In part one,Alison talks about the purchase of their boat.

“LET’S buy a boat,” I suggested, “it’ll be fun.”

Being new to boating and complete novices with only my childhood memories as experience, we had no idea what delights/disasters to expect during the first year of owning our 1974, 35ft Calcutt cruiser stern, four-berth narrowboat.

My light bulb moment and our journey began in April 2014 following an ill-fated holiday abroad. I suggested we give overseas breaks a wide berth, replacing them with a slower (and hopefully) stress-free pace, taking advantage of our British waterways and, for me, numerous photographic opportunities.

We spent the next few weeks carrying out limited research by watching The Narrowboat Lad on YouTube, searching brokerages on the www, reading a few magazine articles and viewing a few ‘money pits’ at local marinas. We did not even consult our experienced hire boat siblings.

Our search ended with eBay (prior positive experience) and Witches Promise was viewed at her Welford Marina mooring (Welford Arm, Grand Union). She indeed was as described and her owners, Steve and Julie, were incredibly patient, answering all our naive questions, explaining the terminology/jargon, do’s/don’ts plus the physics of locks, while taking us out for a full afternoon to ‘have a go’. With six months’ licence and ability to turn her on a sixpence, we were ‘under her spell’!

Finally, at Easter weekend, with lambs galore, piercing blue spring skies, low temperatures but luckily little wind and having obtained insurance, short term marina mooring, two new life jackets, two Collins Nicholson Waterways Guides 1 and 3 (mile markers proved useful), we drove to Welford with my two family members (one nonswimmer) to help navigate to her new home.

Setting off mid-morning on Good Friday, we estimated the journey would take four days based on an average speed of 4mph, and being complete beginners we used a sat nav for speed purposes, not navigational (honest).

In at the deep end, we estimated our maiden voyage home, cruising south to Milton Keynes, would be about 46 miles and our epic journey with virgin crew would involve two tunnels and 22 locks. Our first day involved negotiating our first single width lock, manoeuvring in Crick Marina for diesel, an overzealous gunwale walk resulting in a broken window, tunnel light switch location panic, loss of a fender in Crick Tunnel and accidently jumping the queue and subsequently missing the last slot at the Watford Locks Staircase resulting in a sleepless night under the M1 motorway.

Day two involved Buckby Lock Flight, tree branch theft of a hat, Blisworth Tunnel and a crew swap. Day three (final day) included Stoke Bruerne Museum, more locks; finally arriving at our destination, MK Marina, ahead of schedule, in one piece, tired, slightly deaf due to engine noise, with windlass (lock key) muscles and tiller arm shake.

We swayed for a few hours after disembarking but were amazed at what we had achieved, learnt, seen and enjoyed since purchase.

What would the next 11 months have in store for us?

David and Alison Wilkerson on board Witches Promise. PHOTO: www.alisonwilkersonphotography.co.uk

With its level open deck, the wheelyboat provides complete wheelchair access throughout. PHOTOS SUPPLIED FREE boat trips and water-based activities for the disabled and mobility impaired are coming to Cheshire.

The Overwater Wheelyboat Project has been formed to buy a specially built boat with wheelchair, walking frame and walking stick access for people of all ages to enjoy the scenery, wildlife watching and even to fish from.

Project organiser Rodney Cottrell said: “There are over 16,000 registered wheelchair users in the area and the Wheelyboat will provide an enriching life experience to many people who wouldn’t otherwise have access to the canals.”

Due to launch in May, the wheelyboat will be based at the award-winning Overwater Marina, recently named 2015 THYA Marina of the Year. The marina has hosted a similar charity boat service, the Audlem Lass, for the last four years and this has proved a great success providing a weekend taxi service from the marina into the picturesque canalside village of Audlem for the cost of a donation to the RNLI. The MK III wheelyboat is a specially designed 5.3m aluminium boat with drop-down bow door for roll-on, roll-off

Passengers enjoying the chance to get out on the water. boarding and disembarking.

With its level open deck, it provides complete wheelchair access throughout, enabling groups and families to enjoy trips together in safety and comfort.

The Wheelyboat Trust, a registered charity dedicated to providing opportunities to mobility impaired people, has already supplied 164 similar boats in the UK.

It is hoped the new wheelyboat will be just as great a success as the Audlem Lass and will open up the canal to many more people who would not previously have been able to access the waterways.

The Overwater Wheelyboat Project fundraising appeal is looking for donations and support and all contributions are welcome.

● For more information visit www.overwaterwheelyboat.co.uk or contact Rodney Cottrell at rodney@kynsal.co.uk or on 01270 811454.

Meeting the challenges In this issue Derek Stansfield,chairman and director of training for the National Community BoatsAssociation,shares information from the annual report he presented to the NCBA’sAGM and conference on March 19.

LAST year it was reported that the previous year had been a challenging one for the NCBA and that we had managed to rise and meet that challenge. This year has been no less of a challenge in consolidating the work we had done over that year and establishing a base for future stability.

Our administration is now firmly established in Darlaston with Walsall Borough Council undertaking the administration and finance for us on a contract basis. We have now completed a full financial year with this arrangement and it does seem to have worked successfully, albeit with one or two slight glitches.

The aim at the start of the year was to try and maintain the level of service that has been provided in the past while at the same time doing this on a balanced budget, and our accounts show that we have achieved this objective, while hopefully maintaining a satisfactory service for our members.

Officials of the NCBA have met with Richard Parry, chief executive of the Canal & River Trust, and are looking forward to working together.

Training

With the election of three new trustee members to the board, the National Training Committee has been able to concentrate purely on the association’s training aspects. The committee, which consists of nine members from all geographical regions of the NCBA, meets on a quarterly basis.

During the past year, 16 new trainers have been registered and the following number of certificates issued:

Community Crew Course ..............................53 Boat Handling Course ...................................60 Certificate of Community .............................100 Boat Management CCBM Revalidations......................................40 Trainers ..........................................................16 Trainer Revalidation .........................................8 The NTC is also exploring the option of devising a one day course for boat handlers aimed in the main at boat hirers.

Delegates at last year’s NCBA annual conference and AGM. PHOTO: DEREK STANSFIELD Long serving training committee member Jim Marshall has now stood down and thanks have been expressed for all the valuable work that Jim has put into the role over many years.

While training is probably the strongest of the NCBA four pillars, it is by no means the only one and equal regard is given to national voice,

networking and support. To ensure that these retain their importance to the NCBA, an action plan is required that will establish a sustainable foundation for these three pillars so they are able to support the association with the same robustness as the training. That is the challenge facing the NCBA over the next two years.

● Follow NCBA on Facebook.com/NationalCBA and Twitter @CommunityBoats.

Blogging at http://blog.national-cba.co.uk

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BOATYARD & MARINA NEWS 51

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Course review Braunston preview What’s on

Russ Hubble is going ‘Slim Dutch’ with this new and stylish sailaway FOR the first time, Russ Hubble Boats is offering its stylish narrowbeam dutch barge style boat design as a sailaway, under the catchy name ‘Slim Dutch’.

The family firm has become well known for distinctive and imaginative boats over the years. It has built several fully fitted boats to this well tried and tested design since it was developed in 2007 and the boats have since travelled the country far and wide.

A sailaway option gives selffitters the unique chance to build themselves something really special that will stand out on the canal but that also has real practical advantages.

The shape of the shell makes the usable width far greater, and the cabin length is approximately 3ft longer than the equivalent boat in a normal narrowboat design. These factors add up to a far greater feeling of space, and a lot of boat for your money.

The ‘Slim Dutch’ sailaway from Russ Hubble Boats. PHOTO SUPPLIED The specification is also unusually high for a sailaway boat. The heavily built shell is fabricated and detailed, finished in two-pack primer on the top sides and two-pack epoxy blacking below, even the baseplate. Beneath the inch thick flooring ply and slab ballast, the baseplate is even waxoyled for added protection.

Add to this a Beta Marine 43 engine package and you have the base for a quality fit-out.

Special rates for smaller narrowboats and cruisers VENTNOR Marina is offering a special deal on a limited number of smaller berths for 2015.

Situated on the Grand Union Canal between Stockton and Braunston near Rugby in Warwickshire, this inland marina is often described as more akin to a wildlife haven.

The smaller berths have the added bonus of being close to the main facilities building at Ventnor Marina including all the services and the picnic area plus really easy manoeuvrability.

The berths are 33ft (10m) or 46ft (14m) in length and for any boats under 30ft (9m) Ventnor offers a yearly berth from £1000. With flexiberthing, this also entitles you to spend time at any other of Castle Marinas’ five inland marinas at no extra cost.

If you are non-liveaboard and looking for a permanent berth for your river cruiser or smaller narrowboat, contact Lee Cooper Blair and Karen Hughes of the new management team on 01926 815023. Visit www.castlemarinas.co.uk or email info@ventnormarina.co.uk to find out the price for your boat.

Russ Hubble Boats will be producing the Slim Dutch sailaway alongside its busy order book of fully fitted boats at its modern, well-equipped

premises at Debdale Wharf Marina and will offer a range of fit-out items such as bow thrusters, inverters etc. to help the self-builder.

● More details, photographs and of course prices can be found on the website www.russhubbleboats.co.uk, or you can contact the company by telephone on 07989-306176.

Alternatively, RHB will be exhibiting a fully fitted 58ft, Hybrid powered version of this design at the Crick Boat Show in May to show what can be done!

Two successful open days showpiece shared ownership company’s boats

By Harry Arnold

SHARED ownership company Ownashare recently held two open days when boats with a share available could be displayed and viewed at three locations: four at Bromley Wharf on the Trent & Mersey Canal, three at Nantwich Canal Centre on the Shropshire Union Canal and two at Wigrams Turn Marina on the Grand Union Canal.

Ownashare told us that the two days were a very successful showpiece for their boats in which prospective customers could still acquire a share. The company will be one of those participating in the annual Boat Share Show hosted by Braunston Marina, over the weekend of April 25-26.

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Food & Drink Holidays Bits & Bobs

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New brokerage partnership is ‘crying out’ for more boats A STRATEGIC partnership has been announced between ABC Leisure and Farncombe Boat House on the River Wey. It will allow customers on the River Wey to take advantage of ABC Leisure Group’s marketing solutions for selling boats while being assisted locally by the team at Farncombe Boat House.

Customers choosing to sell their boats through Farncombe can take advantage of ABC Boat Sales marketing services that include virtual tours, text messaging matchmaking service and email shots to registered buyers. They also benefit from using ABC Leisure Group’s client account which gives sellers and buyers peace of mind.

Russell Chase of Farncombe Boat House commented: “We are really pleased to be working with ABC and to be supported by its administration procedures and protection from the British Marine Federation. We are already selling boats.”

ABC marketing and sales director Haley Hadley said: “Last year, 2014, was our best year ever on brokerage, and 2015 has got off to an even better start. It’s great to have Russell and the team now brokering boats for us on the River Wey. We are selling boats so quickly at the moment we are crying out for more stock.”

More pitches for Bath caravan park BATH Caravan Park which is operated by British Waterways Marinas Ltd (BWML) will have 24 more caravan pitches from this month (April).

The site is a popular location as a base while holidaying in the south west, due to it close proximity to the city centre. It is close to a park & ride stop on Brassmill Lane, and in 2014 the site introduced a new hire bike scheme called ‘Net-Bikes’.

This is part of Bath Council’s sustainability

tourism, allowing guests to hire a bike and travel along the cycle path into Bath or Bristol.

Caravan park manager Kevin Soper said: “Due to the increasing demand, the small woodland carousel is to be reintroduced from April 2015 to increase the site’s overall number of pitches from 64 to 88. This area is able to accommodate smaller units that are self-contained and offer seclusion while visiting the caravan park.”

Church Minshull Aqueduct Marina celebrates its sixth anniversary

A prospective customer is shown around one of the boats on display at Bromley Wharf. PHOTO:WATERWAY IMAGES

Better outlook for Thames boatyard

ST VALENTINE’S Day was the date for Church Minshull Aqueduct Marina’s party to celebrate the sixth anniversary of the marina’s opening with a wine and canapés reception for staff, moorers and customers.

The invited guests enjoyed a sumptuous spread of delicious canapés provided by the marina’s cafe, The Galley.

Aqueduct Marina has provided six years of mooring, storing, installing, servicing, painting, shot blasting, events, good food and friendships.

Robert Parton, marina director, said: “Church Minshull Aqueduct Marina first opened six years ago and it has been a tremendous time.

“The marina continues to develop and move forward from strength to strength.”

During the anniversary event, Robert thanked everyone for their part in raising over £4000 for charities during the past year.

The Annual Aqueduct Marina Prize was awarded to Dr Maurice

The anniversary reception at Church Minshull Aqueduct Marina.

Ward, the marina’s ‘man in black’ (so called on account of his chosen colour of attire).

He helps organise the Independent Small Tasks Team in the North Wales and Borders Waterways area .

He also single-handedly operates the boat trips on marina open days each July.

The prize was presented by director, Andrea Parton.

The reception was followed by a dinner in The Galley for those who wished to stay and sample the new chef’s menu.

It was a memorable event.

The Better Boating Co’s narrowboat friendly yard. PHOTO SUPPLIED THE purchase of its Caversham premises has secured the Thames-side boatyard for the future according to Better Boating Co boss John Patey.

He took over the Berkshire-based business 10 years ago and it is family run with his son Jack and daughter Sarah.

John told Towpath Talk: “We have finally managed to buy it and secure it as a boatyard. It is great for the area; apart from the nearby Tingdene marina there are only a few left on the river near here.”

Between the Sonning and Caversham locks, a few minutes’ cruise from the junction with the Kennet & Avon

Canal, this narrowboat-friendly yard is popular with boaters. It offers services such as blacking, hull plating, maintenance and repairs in its large workshops.

Current occupiers include Elizabeth Green – a Dunkirk ship undergoing restoration – and an old steamboat which is nearly fully restored.

“We are a small yard and that is what people like,” John added. “There is a waiting list for moorings, we can accommodate up to 40 depending on the size of the boat.” These include narrowboats, cruisers and widebeams.

Facilities include fuels, pumpout and Elsan disposal, water and a secure gated car park with CCTV. Boaters and visitors can also browse its curio shop and chandlery with its ‘Aladdin’s cave’ of gifts from around the world and clothing as well as all the usual boating needs. ● Better Boating Co, Mill Green, Caversham RG4 8EX Contact 0118 947 9536, email: enquiries@betterboating.co.uk www.betterboating.co.uk

‘Man in black’ Dr Maurice Ward steering his narrowboat with passengers on a boat trip during last year’s open day. PHOTOS SUPPLIED

52 COURSE REVIEW

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Paint your narrowboat Janet Richardson dons her overalls for a painting course with a difference.

BOAT painting is an art form in itself but I didn’t realise how scientific the process is until I attended one of John Barnard’s weekend courses at his Painting School for Narrowboats at Debdale Wharf.

I joined six boaters and another journo for the hands-on training aimed at giving participants the skills to maintain and repair the paintwork on their own boats and perhaps even tackle more major projects, such as a full repaint.

The course takes place within a specially adapted workshop which DIY boat painters can hire to do their own paint jobs. It is heated and well lit to provide an ideal environment both for students and hirers.

Having outlined the weekend’s objectives – to cover as many areas of maintenance and repair as possible within the two days of the course – John introduced himself and told us about his experiences growing up as a ‘wharf rat’ on the Worcester & Birmingham Canal at Tardebigge.

By the time his parents moved to Weymouth he knew he would have something to do with boats and ended up going to sea from Lowestoft where he became one of the top local skippers. He was headhunted by the maritime department of the local college where he taught boat maintenance. “If you are going to teach you need to know everything about steel preparation; I had to learn quite a lot about the processes and products.”

The pull of the canals meant that John eventually decided to sell up and buy a boat and get back on the cut. He ended up working at Debdale Wharf, which is on the Grand Union Canal Leicester Line, and became a boat painter and is now helped by one of his former students, David Orme.

Data sheets

This is where the science started to come in. John stressed that an understanding of the products and their compatibility is vital.

The data sheets provided by each manufacturer – John mostly uses Craftmaster, International Yacht Paints and Epifanes – are essential reading to make sure you get the paints and the quantities right; for instance having too much paint is as bad as not enough.

“Always stick to well-known manufacturers,” he advised. “If they have stood the test of time there is a reason for that.”

He explained that the original purpose of painting a boat was to stop the steel from getting rusty. Although ideally a full paint system using compatible products from the same manufacturer should be used on any one surface, it is fine to mix systems for different areas of the boat.

“Paint includes a lot of different things put together for what the customer requires. Check the data sheets for its suitability for the intended use. For instance, gloss paint was not designed to put on roofs, the most weatherprone part of any boat.

John Barnard explains the technique of applying filler to rust spots.

Applying masking tape for the coachlines.

Finished coachlines on a newly painted boat.

“Primer makes a barrier between bare steel and the products you are going to put on top and will inhibit the process of rusting.”

He said that he paints the whole boat for seven consecutive days – four coats of primer followed by three undercoats.

After 72 hours, to allow the paint to fully harden, he then sands it flat and leaves it until the next day before applying the first of three coats of gloss. In all, the process of applying 10 coats of paint takes a minimum of 15 days.

“Think of paint as a living thing, it needs a little bit of nurturing. Scrimping on the undercoat stage leads to more work in the long term.”

For a tinted undercoat John sometimes adds a drop of gloss but normally uses blue-grey which is white with blue in.

Painting should be done in the driest conditions possible. He explained that there is only a short period of time, between

Advising two of the students about their panel.

Sunday morning and everyone is busy sanding their undercoated panels.

Inside the paint dock – note the ‘planks’ reducing the area of water open to the atmosphere.

John painting the gunnel before applying the sand.

LEFT: Fellow journo Martin Ludgate applying gloss to our panels after I painted the borders.

It was tricky trying to avoid drips!

10.30-11am and 2pm when you can successfully paint outdoors or in a polytunnel even in the summer due to humidity levels.

He advises against painting outdoors in the winter.

coachlines leaving a slightly wider gap beneath the bottom line. An optical illusion will make top and bottom both look the same.

Painting techniques

Having left our handiwork to dry overnight, Sunday morning saw us back ‘in the classroom’ learning about rust spots, scratches and dents, all of which should be treated in the same way.

John explained if you scratch a surface of your paint, you don’t have to repaint the whole boat.

The risk being that by masking off just the area of the scratch you’ll end up with a colour differential which, depending on the light, will probably show as a square on the side of your boat.

If the cabin side has other characteristics you may not be worried about that. At the next level you could paint in a whole section to cover up the piece.

He advised boaters: “If you have a project in mind, have you considered a) how much is it going to cost and b) how long is it going to take you. There are different levels to which you can go; you don’t have to go back to bare steel.”

When we sanded down the undercoat we applied the

After a morning’s theory, John showed us some of the tools he uses and the actual techniques of applying filler then painting with brush and roller. He prefers the Purdy brushes which are handmade in the USA and 4in foam rollers.

Theoretically you should always paint downhill and if righthanded start at the top right-hand corner – I am left-handed so it was the opposite for me.

Plan systematically, selecting start and stop points then paint, check and move on. “Paints dry too quickly nowadays to go back over. The longer paint is wet, the more bits will attach themselves to the surface.”

We also had a look in John’s painting dock where polystyrene planks are floated around the edges of the narrowboat to reduce the water surface as much as possible, thus reducing humidity.

In the afternoon we were split into pairs and allocated a steel panel and boat section on which John had created ‘rust spots’ which needed filling.

Our first job was to sand down the surface using an orbital sander and remove the dust with a vacuum cleaner before applying filler.

We also undercoated the steel panel which would be gloss painted the following morning.

John also showed us how to apply the masking tape – he uses top quality Tesa tape – to create

Rust spots

previous day, it quickly showed up where we had applied the paint too thinly. We then put on the masking tape for the coachlines ready for gloss painting after lunch.

We used different colours for the areas around and within the panels and found this trickier than it looked to avoid runs between the two.

Nevertheless it was very satisfying to see the ‘finished’ article.

John then demonstrated how to paint the gunnels and apply sand to make a safer surface to work on.

He concluded by giving us some advice on the care of new paintwork which, depending on climatic conditions, will not fully harden for around six weeks.

John stressed the need to be careful about scuffing or trapping moisture against the surface which should only be polished when fully hardened.

Harsh chemical or abrasive cleaners and wash & wax polishes should be avoided – most car polishes contain mild abrasives and silicone products.

John advised the use of pH neutral products and said that he would be launching a very gentle silicone-free wash plus Carnauba wax at the Crick Boat Show.

● Subject to demand, John runs a weekend painting course each month. His painting school will be evolving into the Narrowboat Skills Centre with new facilities at the North Kilworth Marina, currently under construction.

The aim is that this will become a RYA-accredited centre offering courses such as diesel engine maintenance and helmsman training.

All materials used on the course can be bought from the online shop at www.johnbarnard.biz For further information about courses contact John on 07598 865684, email john@nbsc.org.uk

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BRAUNSTON PREVIEW 55

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Sonia’s narrowboats Part 2 – The postwar years

Sonia Rolt, the widow of Tom Rolt, author of Narrow Boat, died in 2014 in her 96th year. In Part 2 we look at her postwar narrowboats.We are expecting to see four of her narrowboats at this year’s Braunston Historic Narrowboat Rally as a special tribute to Sonia.A plaque will also be unveiled to commemorate her Braunston-Barlow years, which are covered in this episode.

By Tim Coghlan

SONIA’S war service of canal carrying with her two young friends ‘Chattie’ Salaman and Meriol Trevor, came to an abrupt end in the days immediately after VJ Day on August 16, 1945, which marked the final end of the Second World War. The girls would have unloaded whatever they were carrying on VJ Day, and then returned their pair of Grand Union Canal Carrying Company’s (GUCCC) boats, the motor Phobos and the Moon to the GUCCC depot at Bulls Bridge in west London. Having done this they were paid off and left free to go.

The Warwick and Cairo returning empty from the Warwick area ascending the locks towards Napton in the mid- to late 40s. Barlows then had contracts to deliver coal to the Warwickshire Power Station and the Warwickshire County Mental Institution on the Hatton Flight, where inmates would come out with wheelbarrows to take the coal into hospital. George is winding the paddle.

Sonia is not to be seen. PHOTO: SONIA ROLT

They were three of some seven million women in the UK who had carried out war service, for which they received no public recognition of any sort until the erection of the recent monument to them in Whitehall.

Sonia and company had endured more than two years of tough, relentless canal carrying, including two long winters.

In all something like 120 women volunteered for the work, but only 30 or so made it through, and lasted more than six months. At best it is estimated that only 11 pairs of boats were operating at any one time, compared with the hundreds being run by the working boatmen, so the scale of the Idle Women’s contribution was quite small.

However the Idle Women did leave a lasting legacy in that four of them published books on their experiences, and other diaries are coming to light.

The boatmen were an illiterate community apart, with a life that had changed little in 200 years, but was to fast disappear after the war. These accounts together give a unique insight into the boatmen’s way of life.

After being paid off, Sonia’s companions left the canal there and then, and probably for good. But Sonia had other plans. She was going to marry a boatman – one George Smith – and become a proper boatwoman herself.

One of the reasons Sonia and her friends did survive was the great help and kindness they received from the working boatmen, and in particular George Smith, and his brothers. Just where and when George met Sonia, he could not exactly recall. However, Sonia was reticent in speaking more than generally about those days, and never specifically about how she met and later married George Smith in 1945 and for six years became a full-time boatwoman; and nor about how things fell apart.

Despite her considerable literary skills, she never wrote about those days – despite several requests to do so. The courtship must have been very brief and intermittent, as both were working pairs of boats for the GUCCC, with little time on their hands.

Sonia Rolt at her last Braunston Historic Narrowboat Rally in 2009.

PHOTO: STUART THURSTON

Brief holiday

After a brief holiday away from the canal in the remains of August 1945, Sonia met up with George in Northampton, where he had unloaded his pair of boats, and where they were married in the local registry office on September 1.

According to George there was no one else in attendance and they had to ask someone off the street to act as witness (whoever crewed down for George – probably one of his brothers – had already gone to another pair of boats).

There was no honeymoon and George and Sonia set off that very day on his pair of boats to load wherever they had orders. Sonia was now a boatwoman.

The marriage at first was a happy one, and Sonia saw herself not only as a proper working boatwoman, but also with her educated background, as someone to campaign on their behalf for better working conditions – something she had already started on in the khaki general election of July 1945, when she had covered her boats with slogans such as ‘Vote Labour’ and ‘A Fair Deal for Boaters’.

Margaret Cornish, who continued working the waterways for some months after the war, noted in her diary of December 6: “George and Sonia tied up alongside and came round to see us.

All of us piled into the butty cabin.

Much talking – Sonia has great plans for the amelioration of the boatpeople’s conditions. Everyone has left already.”

The author has failed to identify which pair of GUCCC boats the Smiths worked, and for just how long, but this may come to light one day. What is known is that at some time in 1946, the Smiths moved from the employment of the GUCCC to the Braunston-based Samuel Barlow Coal Co. Ltd. (Barlows).

The reason for that move is also unknown, but was probably due to the decline in trade for the GUCCC with its vast and increasingly idle fleet, whereas Barlows was a much smaller operation and had a number of coal contracts down to London and across the Midlands. Sonia would girlishly say they went to join Barlows ‘because the boats had a prettier livery’.

Film fame

A ‘close-up’ scene from the 1944 canal classic, which was filmed indoors in Ealing Studios using a mock-up of the back end of the re-named Sunny Valley – formerly the Northolt. This was specially built for the film by boat builders and coal carriers Samuel Barlows of Braunston. PHOTO: EALING STUDIOS

The motor Cairo steered by the clearly identifiable George Smith, with the Cairo astern and Sonia at the helm, with 70-plus passengers out for a ride at the IWA 1950 Market Harborough Rally. At similar events today, boats are restricted to a total of 12 passengers and crew per boat. PHOTO: IAN WRIGHT

George and Sonia were, at first, given a pair of boats, the motor Cairo, and ironically the butty Sunny Valley, which had been used in the film Painted Boats, on which in the summer of 1944, George worked for a day as an extra, when he was awaiting orders at Bulls Bridge. George disliked the Sunny Valley for its poor handling, and in 1947, it was changed for the Warwick, which pair George and Sonia worked for the four or so remaining years of their canal carrying. Those boats were to make them famous in the canal world, including doing IWA promotional boat trips in London in 1949 and again at the Market Harborough Rally in August, 1950.

Of the three boats the Smiths worked for Barlows, only the Sunny Valley is known to have survived into modern times. One reason is the boat’s fame from that film. Another is probably that the renamed Sunny Valley had been originally built in steel, whereas

A reflective Sonia Smith in about 1947, in the hatchway of butty Warwick, the motor Cairo tied up on the outside. With her is first husband George Smith – cigarette in mouth – and friends Michael and Polly Rogers and his brother. The Smiths were waiting to load coal at Newdigate Colliery, Bedworth. PHOTO:

LONGDEN/SONIA ROLT

both the Cairo and the Warwick were of timber construction, with an intended life of 25 years, including one major refit.

Few wooden boats from the war years and before now survive. The Cairo and the Warwick were built for the GUCCC respectively in December 1942 and November 1945, and were later acquired by Barlows as the GUCCC fleet went into decline in the postwar years.

The Sunny Valley was built as a butty to be towed by a motor for the Birmingham-based Fellows, Morton & Clayton fleet in August 1942, and prior to the film, was named the Northolt. The boat received a major makeover for the film at Barlow’s Braunston yard, including a smart new livery with its new name. Though intended to be towed by a motor, in the film it was horse-drawn.

Since the demise of Barlow’s, which finally ceased trading in 1962, the Sunny Valley has been through various ownerships and restorations, but importantly it has survived in its original form as an engineless butty – there are few such butties today.

Since the mid-1990s, it has been in the ownership of the Burge family of Alvecote Marina, who have a wellpreserved collection of historic working narrowboats, some of which have regularly attended the Braunston Historic Narrowboat Rally. Alvecote Marina now also hosts a well-attended annual historic narrowboat rally, held in September.

What became of the Cairo and Warwick is now not known. They were with Sonia and George until they split up in about April 1951, she leaving him to go to the canal author Tom Rolt, whom she later married. There is a record of the Warwick still in the much reduced Barlow’s fleet in 1958, when by then it was only 12 years old, but the Cairo is not there. All efforts on the part of the author to find out what then happened have proved fruitless.

In the years after her ceasing to be a boatwoman in 1951, Sonia kept an interest in the waterways, but did not do much boating. In the early 80s, she joined her son Tim and his university friend for a few days cruising on the Shropshire Union Canal, a canal she had previously not known. Then in

‘My Brünnhilde photograph’ so Sonia would refer to this photograph taken of her on the Warwick at the IWA Market Harborough Rally of August 1950. It shows how aged and worn out she was from her five-year boatwoman existence with George. Emma Smith wrote in Maiden’s Trip: “The canal women have a short and early blooming.”

PHOTO: SONIA ROLT COLLECTION

Back on the cut: Sonia at the helm of a hired narrowboat on the Shropshire Union that her son Tim and a friend had hired during a university holiday in 1987.

PHOTO:TIM ROLT

2000, when aged 81, she went for a twoweek cruise on the Canal du Nivernais in France, with her friend and former IWA chairman, David Stevenson.

All of Sonia’s surviving narrowboats – the Battersea, Moon, Phobos and Sunny Valley will be with us for the Braunston Historic Narrowboat Rally. They will be moored together in the marina’s Old Arm, close to where a plaque will be unveiled at 10am on the Saturday morning of June 27, to record Sonia and George’s Braunston years. ● The Rolt family welcomes all of Sonia’s canal friends to attend her memorial service at the Crypt in St Paul’s Cathedral on Thursday May 14, 2015, at 2.30pm. There will be a reception afterwards for refreshments at a venue to be announced.

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WHAT’S ON WHAT’S ON INAPRIL

If you want your event listed in our free monthly What’s On section email your entry to jrichardson@mortons.co.uk or use the events form at www.towpathtalk.co.uk/events.

As always please check with organisers on the details of the event before setting out on your journey.

April 2

Birmingham Canal Navigations Society: Pumping Engines by Chris Allen. Titford Pumphouse, Engine Street, Oldbury B69 4NL, 7.30pm. Contact Phil Clayton 01902 780920.

Southampton Canal Society: A SCS member will be sharing his interest in British Transport.

Chilworth Parish Hall, Chilworth, Southampton SO16 7JZ, 7.45pm. Visitors welcome. Contact 0238 067 5312, www.sotoncs.org.uk

April 3

Boat Museum Society: Death on the Shropshire Union, Peter Brown looks at the local newspapers of the time. Rolt Conference Centre at the National Waterways Museum, Ellesmere Port, Cheshire CH65 4FW, 7.30pm. Bar, everyone welcome.

April 11-12

Stourbridge Railway Society: Model Railway Exhibition including various layouts, trade stands, demonstrations and refreshments. Bonded Warehouse, Canal Street, Stourbridge DY8 4LU. Opens from 10am-5pm Saturday and 10am4.30pm Sunday. Admission £3 adults, £2 child/senior and £9 family (2+2). Free parking.

April 11, 25 and May 9

Weedon Art Group: Fun with oils, ideal for beginners and improvers. Scout Hut, New Street, Weedon. Three sessions £45. Contact Libby Hart 01327 341816, weedonart@btinternet.com

April 12

April 3-5

Norfolk Boat Jumble: The Royal Norfolk Showground, Norwich NR5 0TT (on the A47 southern bypass). Open to buyers 10am. Adults £3.50, children/parking free. Contact Roger Bell 01485 541566.

April 3-6

Irish Boat Jumble: Carrickfergus Sailing Club, Rodger’s Quay, Carrickfergus, Co Antrim BT38 8BE. Open to buyers 10am. Admission £4, €5 or IOM £400, children/parking free. Contact 07747 002411, www.irishboatjumble.org

April 4

Llimeys – Friends of Llanymynech Limeworks: Making waves in Llanymynech, the story of limestone and the Montgomery Canal. http://makingwaves2015.co.uk

St Pancras Cruising Club: Easter cruise, Hanwell via tideway or canal. Contact vicecommodore Perry Medhurst on 07880 351169, perrymedhurst@gmail.com Roving Canal Traders Association: Easter floating market on the Town Pound of the Trent & Mersey Canal at Middlewich.

Heulwen Trust: Adventure cruise – three-hour public trip to Brithdir. http://makingwaves 2015.co.uk

April 5

IWA Towpath Walks Society, London: Regent’s Canal: King’s Cross – Hitchcock’s Hackney.

Starts King’s Cross taxi rank at 2.30pm. Costs £9, £7 student/concs. Contact Roger Wilkinson 0203 612 9624.

April 14

IWA Chester and Merseyside: Fort Perch Rock, New Brighton – its hilarious history by Derek Arnold, chairman of Liverpool Anchorage Club.

Tom Rolt Conference Centre, National Waterways Museum, Ellesmere Port CH65 4FW. 7.45pm. Bar and coffee-making facilities available.

April 6

IWA Middlesex: The Panama Canal by Richard Thomas. Hillingdon Canal Club, Waterloo Road, Uxbridge, Middlesex UB8 2QX. Doors open 7.30pm for 8pm start. Contact Lucy at middlesex.socials@waterways.org.uk

April 7

IWA Northampton: An evening with Bob Nightingale, blacksmith. Walnut Tree Inn, Blisworth, 8pm. Non-members welcome, food and drink available.

Llanymynech Wharf Visitor Centre: Great Egg Race, build an Easter Monday raft to carry your egg across the canal. http://makingwaves 2015.co.uk River Foss Society: Foss Walk 2, a linear walk of about five miles. Meet in Terrington at the Tjunction leading to the church, parking where convenient, 9.30am. Lunch in either Terrington or Sheriff Hutton at about 1pm. Contact Bob Jowett 01904 764702, bob.jowett1@btopenworld.com Manchester Bolton & Bury Canal Society: A photographic history of the Lancashire coalfield

by Alan Davies. Whitefield Garrick Society Theatre (along unnamed Bank Street behind the Porada restaurant), park at Whitefield Metrolink car park, 7.30pm. Non members welcome.

April 8

IWA Warwickshire: Conserving waterways heritage by Nigel Crowe, head of heritage at the Canal & River Trust. The Sports Connexion Leisure Centre, Ryton-on-Dunsmore CV8 3FL. 7.30pm.

April 9

April 15

River Foss Society: AGM preceded by talk by Dr Neil Moran on Flowing Through History – the River Foss and York at 7pm. Strensall & Towthorpe Village Hall, all welcome.

IWA Lichfield: Canal & River Trust, current events and the future by CRT trustee John Dodwell.

Martin Heath Hall, Christchurch Lane (off Walsall Road), Lichfield WS13 8AY, 7.15 for 7.30pm.

IWA South London: London’s River, illustrated talk by city guide Pete Smith. The Primary Room, The United Reformed Church Hall, Addiscombe Grove, Croydon CR0 5LP. 7.30pm for 8pm. All welcome, no admission charge but donations of £2 towards costs. Contact Alan Smith 07787 077179 or email alan.smith@waterways.org.uk

April 17

IWA Leicester: Talk by TV producer, journalist, author and long-time boat owner Steve Haywood. The Gate Hangs Well, Syston, 7.30pm.

Contact Andrew Shephard 07710 362952, andrewshephard1946@gmail.com

Trent & Mersey Canal Society: The restoration of the Anderton Lift – hands on stuff by Rob Maddock. The Big Lock, Webbs Lane, Middlewich, Cheshire CW10 9DN, 7.45 for 8pm.

Macclesfield Canal Society: Droitwich Canal restoration by Ivor Caplan. Macclesfield Liberal Club, Boden Street, Macclesfield SK11 6LL, 7.30 for 7.45pm. www.macclesfieldcanal.org.uk

River Foss Society: Litter pick on foot and by boat. Meet at the arched footbridge opposite Morrisons on Foss Islands Road, 9.30am.

Contact Barry Thomas 01904 490081, barrythomas1@googlemail.com

April 10

IWA North Staffordshire & South Cheshire: Shrewsbury Canal network by TV presenter and writer Richard Vobes. Stoke-on-Trent Boat Club, Endon Wharf, Post Lane, Endon, Stoke-on-Trent ST9 9DT, 7.45 for 8pm. Refreshments available, non-IWA members very welcome. Contact Barbara Wells, 01782 533856.

April 11

Email details of your event to: jrichardson@mortons.co.uk or send details to: What’s on, Towpath Talk, PO Box 43, Horncastle, Lincs LN9 6LZ

Compiled by Janet Richardson

Stroudwater Navigation Archive Charity: Exhibition on the Stroudwater Navigation, its history and its people. Book signing in the afternoon with Michael Handford and David Viner.

Whitminster Village Hall, 10am-4pm. Admission free, refreshments available all day.

April 18

Cotswold Canals Trust: Concert featuring Dursley Male Voice Choir and RhythmMix supporting Phase 1B of the canals’ restoration.

Wycliffe College, Stonehouse, near Stroud.

7.30pm. Tickets £8 from Cotswold Canals Trust, Bell House, Wallbridge Lock, Stroud GL5 3JS, contact 01453 752568, mail@cotswoldcanals.com

April 18/19:

Day-Star Theatre: Roses & Castles workshop weekend at Audlem. No experience necessary, 10am-4pm each day. £75 (£25 deposit), materials lunch and refreshments provided, bring your own item for decoration. Contact Jane Marshall on 01270 811330, jane@day-star-theatre.co.uk or visit www.day-star-theatre.co.uk

April 19

Humberside Boat Jumble: Carlton Towers, Snaith, Goole DN14 9LZ. Open to buyers 10am.

Adults £3.50, children/parking free. Compass Events 01803 835915 / 07831 337951.

IWA Warwickshire: A walk at Golden Valley, Thames & Severn Canal. Meet at the Daneway Inn car park GL7 6LN at 10.30am. Contact IWA Warwickshire 01788 891545, info.warwickshire @waterways.org.uk IWA Towpath Walks Society, London: Regent’s Canal: King’s Cross – Granary Square – Camden.

Starts King’s Cross taxi rank at 2.30pm. Costs £9, £7 student/concs. Contact Roger Wilkinson 0203 612 9624.

April 20

IWA Birmingham, Black Country & Worcester: Idle Women – wartime canal workers by Vince Williams. Coombeswood Canal Trust, Hawne Basin, Hereward Rise, Halesowen, West Midlands B62 8AW, 7.15pm for 7.30pm.

Contact Chris Osborn 01299 832593, jcosborn@btinternet.com

Easter bunny cruises on the Chesterfield Canal THE Chesterfield Canal Trust has a whole range of special Easter cruises coming up – all accompanied by its Easter bunnies.

In Retford, on March 29, the Seth Ellis will be running Easter Egg Hunt cruises from the Hop Pole pub (DN22 6UG). Every child will get an Easter egg.

All tickets cost £6 and booking is essential, ring 07925 851569.

Over the Easter weekend from April 3-6, the Hugh Henshall will be running Easter bunny trips from the Lock Keeper pub at Worksop (S81 1TJ).

There will be an Easter Egg for every child, a drink and a hot cross bun for every adult. All tickets cost £6 and booking is essential, ring 01246 477569.

Meanwhile, in Chesterfield on Easter Saturday, April 4, the John Varley will be running Easter bunny trips from Hollingwood Hub (S43 2JP). Every child will receive an Easter egg with a drink and a hot cross bun for adults. There will also be a picture trail. All tickets cost £6 and booking is essential, ring 01629 533020.

April 22

IWA Chiltern: All Shipshape and Blackwall Fashion, Jeremy Batch talks about this fascinating area of London. Dr Challoner’s High School, Cokes Lane, Little Chalfont, Bucks HP7 9QB. 7.30pm. All welcome to attend. Contact 01932 248178.

April 24-26

Roving Canal Traders Association: Floating market above Lime Kiln Lock 30 of the Trent & Mersey Canal at Stone.

April 26

IWA Towpath Walks Society, London: The Olympics, Three Mills and Bow Back Rivers.

Starts Bromley-by-Bow tube station at 2.30pm.

Costs £9, £7 student/concs. Contact Roger Wilkinson 0203 612 9624.

Friends of the Montgomery Canal: St George’s Day Walk. http://makingwaves2015.co.uk

April 27

IWA Milton Keynes: The last of the line – classic ocean liners by John Allen. Milton Keynes Village Pavilion, Worrelle Avenue, Middleton, Milton Keynes MK10 9AD (accessed off Tongwell Street V11), 7.45pm.

April 28

Derby & Sandiacre Canal Society: The Ecclesbourne Railway by Eric Boultbee. The Wilmot Arms, 49 Derby Road, Borrowash, Derby, 8pm. Admission £2 members, £3 non-members.

April 29

Old Union Canals Society: The joy of painting

by Jayne Goode. Great Bowden Village Hall, Great Bowden, Market Harborough, 7.30pm.

Visitors welcome. Contact Mary Matts 01162 792285.

The Easter bunny and helpers on the Seth Ellis at Retford. PHOTO: CHESTERFIELD CANAL TRUST

Festival to celebrate the life of St Richard THE St Richard’s Boat and Car Festival will take place around Droitwich Spa town centre and Vines Park over the three days of the early May Bank Holiday weekend from Saturday to Monday, May 2-4.

Celebrating the life of the spa’s patron saint, it offers attractions to suit all ages ranging from boat trips on the Droitwich Canal to mediaeval reenactments and live entertainment.

The festival also sees a resurrection of the old tradition where the brine pit was decked with greenery and tapestry to celebrate the life of St Richard. It is a great way to meet other boaters and catch up with old friends, and trade boats are also welcome. For boat and trade booking forms visit www.strichardsfestival.co.uk

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IN BRIEF Take a look at Life on the Cut

THERE is still time to check out the Life on the Cut exhibition at Walsall Museum until April 11. An exploration of life on the canals in Walsall and further afield from the early 19th century to the mid-20th century, it draws on the museum’s canal collection of artefacts and examples of canal art. The museum is open Tuesday to Fridays 10am-5pm and Saturday from 10am4pm, admission free.

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Open day at Venetian Marina

Collectables afloat at Fradley

ANTIQUES Afloat will be at Fradley Junction over the Easter weekend, displaying its full range of affordable antiques and collectables (weather permitting). From there it will be trading along the Shropshire Union Canal every weekend on the way to Llangollen. For more details ring 07747 731896 or visit www.antiquesafloat.co.uk

Models on track at Stourbridge

THE Stourbridge Railway Society will be holding its Model Railway Exhibition at the Bonded Warehouse in Canal Street, Stourbridge DY8 4LU over the weekend of April 11-12. Open from 10am-5pm on the Saturday and from 10am-4.30pm on Sunday, there will be various layouts, trade stands, demonstrations and refreshments.

Admission is £3 for adults, £2 child/senior and £9 for a family (2+2). Parking is free.

Canal mania and sea shanties A CELEBRATION of music and verse will take place at

Gloucester Waterways Museum on Saturday, April 18.

Singers will be performing shanty music from 12.30 to 5pm and then in the evening from 7.45pm till 10.30pm there will be a special evening performance on the boat King Arthur by Heather Wastie and the shanty group Keepers Lock. The performance will be static on the quayside and will include a selection of cheese and biscuits; there is a licensed bar on board. Tickets priced £10 available to prebook or on the door.

Contact 01452 318200.

Rag rugging with museum friends

JOIN the Friends of Gloucester Waterways Museum to make a traditional narrowboat rag rug with a modern twist on Saturday, April 25, from 10.30am-3.30pm.

Everything you need to get started will be provided or you can bring an old T-shirt to cut up. Tools will be available to buy. Cost £30 including parking and refreshments, bring your own packed lunch. The museum is situated at Llanthony Warehouse, Gloucester Docks GL1 2EH.

Warm welcome at South Kyme

SLEAFORD Navigation Trust will be holding its annual boat gathering at South Kyme over the early May Bank Holiday weekend, May 1-3. South Kyme has always given boaters a warm welcome and traditionally the gathering coincides with village events such as a pub quiz, scarecrow competition, table top sale and boaters' church service. Contact 01522 689460 or email sleaford.navigation@ntlworld.com

Pulling the barge at Beverley Beck THE World Barge Pulling Championships will be held on the Beverley Beck in East Yorkshire on early May Bank Holiday Monday (4th) from 11am-3pm. Teams of four will be pulling the 64-ton barge Syntan down a course of around 200m in the fastest possible time. The event is in aid of Beverley Barge Preservation Society and the NURSES charity. For further information contact 07799 525429 or visit the website at www.syntanbarge.org.uk

Venetian Marina will be hosting its open day on April 26. PHOTO SUPPLIED NEW to narrowboating? The open day at Venetian Marina will have plenty for you to see including value for money boats, industry experts, refreshments and entertainment.

Everyone who attends the event on Sunday, April 26, from 10am until 4pm will be entered

into a free draw with the chance to win the top prize of a £200 Venetian Marina Chandlery voucher. Other prizes include Crick Boat Show tickets and subscriptions to Towpath Talk, Waterways World and Canal Boat.

Trading boats will include the Borders

Cheese Carrying Company and Croc’s vinyl cut records as well as the Wanderlust cruising art gallery, Lollipop boat and tarot reading.

Refreshments will be provided by Like Cake Catering, situated at the marina. For more information visit www.venetianmarina.co.uk

Celebrating the relaunch of historic boats at Ellesmere Port

By Harry Arnold

A MAJOR feature of this year’s annual Easter Gathering of traditional waterway craft at Ellesmere Port’s National Waterways Museum (NWM) will be a joint celebration of the relaunch of the Admiral class butty Keppel and of the 10th anniversary of the launch of the unique Shropshire Union fly-boat Saturn.

The event is being organised jointly by voluntary organisations, the Etruria Boat Group, owners and operators of the ex-British Waterways’ pair Lindsay and Keppel and the Shropshire Union Fly-boat Restoration Society (The Saturn Project), owners and operators of Saturn.

Keppel required considerable work and has been docked, rebottomed and extensively overhauled at Roger Fuller (Boat Builders) of Stone. Saturn has successfully completed 10 years of highly successful educational work since its complete restoration. Both groups have received considerable help from the Canal & River Trust (CRT) and The Saturn Project is a partnership with the latter.

The Easter Gathering runs over the holiday weekend from April 4-6 and as usual will provide a huge public spectacle when the many visiting historic craft will join with the NWM’s boat collection and other exhibits and attractions.

CRT chairman Tony Hales will perform the Keppel/Saturn joint relaunch – by the wide-locks in the centre of the museum complex – at 12.30pm on Saturday, April 4.

Etruria Boat Group chairman Andrew Watts works on the final finishing of Keppel at Roger Fuller (Boat Builders) of Stone. PHOTO:WATERWAY IMAGES

Boat club set to host a ‘wild west’ open day THE ‘wild west’ will come to town when the South Pennine Boat Club stages its open day and boat rally on Saturday, May 2.

People of all ages can enjoy an afternoon of family fun and entertainment at the club’s base in Mirfield, West Yorkshire, from 11am to 5pm.

There will be a children’s fancy dress parade and prizes for boys and girls with the best dressed ‘wild west’ outfits plus lots of other exciting activities and competitions.

Everyone will have an

opportunity to take photographs in the ‘wild west’ photo booth, while fully fledged cowhands will have a chance to test their rodeo skills on an electric bucking-bronco bull.

‘Townsfolk’ can view the inside of a modern narrowboat, which are based on the traditional designs of the working boats of the past, and enjoy a canal cruise in the Calder Navigation Society’s trip boat Savile.

Rally coordinator Peter Davies explained: “We are inviting visiting boaters and the

public alike to come along to enjoy and experience the local waterways at our club open day. We are expecting a large turnout as past rallies have attracted crowds of over 800 visitors.”

There’ll be plenty of ‘vittles’ too, including a sizzling barbecue, plenty of doughnuts, other refreshments, an all-day real ale ‘saloon’ bar plus live music and entertainment.

And all of this won’t cost a nickel or a dime as admission, car parking and temporary moorings are all free.

● For further details and temporary moorings please email rally@southpennineboatclub.co.uk or see www.southpennineboatclub.co.uk/content/rally

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Floral theme to Canalway Cavalcade CANALS in bloom is the theme of this year’s Canalway Cavalcade at the junction of the Regent’s and Grand Union Canals at Little Venice.

Organised entirely by Inland Waterways Association volunteers for over 30 years, it takes place over the May Day Bank Holiday weekend (May 2-4).

More than 100 boats will be attending, all competing with more bunting and blooms, cans and chimneys, polished and gleaming than you can imagine.

Some will have travelled hundreds of miles to be there and they’ll be taking part in processions and pageants accompanied by a marvellous variety of music.

There’ll be plenty of children’s activities, competitions, trade stalls, a real ale bar and a wide variety of tasty food.

Over the years the Cavalcade has become a tradition in the local community and a major event in the canal calendar. It is now one of the biggest waterways festivals in the country.

London’s most iconic canal venue Little Venice in Paddington is one of its main tourist attractions. It combines a boaters’ gathering with a trade show and a wide range of activities, attractions and delicious food stalls extending from Warwick Crescent into the Paddington Stone Wharf and Rembrandt Gardens on one side and from Delamere Terrace to Paddington Station on the other.

The site is accessible for wheelchair users.

During the event, visitors see the area at its best, full of colourful narrowboats with their

bunting creating a marvellous spectacle. There will be a themed pageant of decorated boats, a procession of illuminated boats and a parade of historic and working craft. The trade and craft show along Warwick Crescent and the towpaths is always lively and well patronised and the traders wouldn’t miss it for anything.

The event is open to the public from 10am to 6pm on Saturday and Sunday, 10am to 5pm on Monday. The raised pavements around the pool make ideal viewing platforms to listen to the music before the procession of illuminated boats at 8.30pm on the Sunday evening. Profits are donated to the IWA which passes them on to a range of waterway causes, mainly waterway restoration schemes. and community boat projects.

One of the historic maps which will be on display. PHOTO: CHESTERFIELD CANAL TRUST

Chesterfield Canal to display its treasures from the archive THE Chesterfield Canal Trust will be showing some of the treasures from its archive at Hollingwood Hub on Saturday and Sunday April 25-26.

The event is free and will run from 10am- 4pm each day.

An original copy of the 1771 act of parliament which enabled the canal to be built will be on display, plus the maps already on the walls and other items, especially maps, from the archive.

There will be a selection of old photos and original paintings of the canal. Staveley History Society will bring a display of old photos.

The trust is inviting the public to bring canal related items, photos or objects to show the archivists. These will be scanned and/or photographed, possibly even donated to the archive.

The main focus will be the local area, though

Little Venice is a sea of colour for the annual Canalway Cavalcade. PHOTO COURTESY IWA

Boats galore at the National Motor Museum

BEAULIEU will be holding its annual Boatjumble on Sunday, April 26. Now in its 38th year, it is the largest outdoor sale of boating items in Europe.

The Boatmall has the latest products from leading manufacturers displaying trailable yachts, dinghies, motorboats, accessories, clothing and services. If you are looking for a used boat, the Boatmart offers a unique opportunity to browse around a wide range of used craft for sale, from classics to nearly new and those in need of restoration.

In the enlarged Trunk Traders’ area, amateur jumblers clearing out their lockers, sheds and garages of boating bits can sell their surplus second-hand sailing items from the boots of their cars. Trading is brisk, so get there early.

In the display arena, first introduced last year, there will be special demonstrations, displays and interactive activities for children and adults. In the

children’s entertainment zone there are fun nautical themed slides and rides for younger visitors to enjoy.

The on-the-day, all-inclusive admission price of £9.70 for adults and £7.50 for children gives entry not only to the boatjumble, but also to the whole of the Beaulieu attraction in Hampshire.

See the National Motor Museum’s stunning collection of vehicles, On Screen Cars, World of Top Gear, Beaulieu Abbey and Palace House.

Advance tickets are available to purchase at an even lower price, by telephone on 01590 612888 and online at www.beaulieushop.co.uk Boatmall and Boatmart are open to visitors at 9am and Boatjumble at 10am, with the show closing at 5pm. There is a free shuttle bus service from Lymington Ferry Terminal, Brockenhurst Station and Buckler’s Hard, running between 8am and 6pm.

Open weekend at Snarestone Wharf

Visit Hawne Basin and Gosty Hill Tunnel

ASHBY Canal Association will be hosting an Easter open weekend at Snarestone Wharf on Saturday and Sunday, April 4-5.

A pair of working boats will be present and there will be horse-drawn boat trips to view the canal restoration with the new section in water.

There will also be the chance to grab a bargain at a grand bric-a-brac sale and all proceeds from the weekend will go to the Ashby Canal Restoration Fund, in particular the imminent Giliwiskaw Aqueduct Appeal.

Boaters can arrive on Good Friday and extend their stay. For those coming by car, access is via Quarry Lane, Snarestone DE12 7DD. Access on foot is along the towpath from Snarestone village across the playing field.

COOMBESWOOD Canal Trust will be hosting this year’s Open Weekend on May 9-10 providing an opportunity to visit Hawne Basin and learn about the work of the trust in promoting the use of the Dudley Number 2 Canal.

Admission is free to the event which the whole family can enjoy including displays of traditional crafts, stalls from local organisations and waterways societies, as well as other various activities and games.

There will be the opportunity to take a canal boat trip up to and into Gosty Hill Tunnel and it is hoped that there will be birds of prey and a boat horse towing the trust’s ‘Butty Boat’ Malus. All enquiries to Kath and Martin O’Keeffe on 0121 550 1355, email coombeswood@btconnect.com

anything to do with any part of the canal would be welcome.

The fervent hope is to see the holy grail of photos – a boat in Hollingwood Lock and a steam train in the station on the abutments above.

The Chesterfield Canal history book will be on sale, as will be copies of the 1772 map of the canal

by John Lodge.

The tripboat Madeline will be running cruises on both days and Nona’s Coffee Shop will be open. ● Hollingwood Hub is just off the A619, sat nav S43 2JP, there is plenty of on-site parking. The 90 bus runs right past.

For further information, ring 01246 477569 or email info@hollingwood.org

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FOOD & DRINK

nts Canalside pubs & restaura to satisfy all tastes...

Club seeks new caretaker

A NEW caretaker is being sought for the Retford and Worksop Boat Club which has a clubhouse and more than 800m of moorings on the Chesterfield Canal at Clayworth.

The caretaker is an employee of the club which has around 150 members and in return for undertaking certain duties is able to occupy the flat above the clubhouse rent free under a licence to occupy the premises.

Anyone interested in further details of this role should contact club secretary Chris Turner for an

information pack which will contain details of the caretaker’s duties and the service occupancy agreement for the flat. ● Contact Chris Turner, 01673 828142 / 07785 252570 secretary@rwbc.org.uk

The Packhorse Inn at Longport faces an uncertain future. PHOTOS: DAVID WRENCH

Music sessions move after historic pub faces closure DESPITE a last-minute reprieve until a buyer can be found, music sessions have moved from the historic Packhorse Inn at Longport, Stoke-on-Trent, to The Holy Inadequate at Etruria.

The Packhorse, which has served canalside customers for more than 200 years, was put up for sale by owners Trust Inns late last year and had been due to close at the end of February. It is being marketed by Humberts Commercial of Nottingham with an asking price of £165,000.

This is the last traditional pub on the Trent & Mersey between Kidsgrove and Barlaston. Built shortly after the canal opened with historical associations with canal builders James Brindley and Hugh Henshall, the large pub – the last of four in this area – included a brewery, pigsties, stables and skittle alley.

The pub had also been home for the past three years to The Full English traditional music and song session on Monday

evenings and one of the musicians, David Wrench, told us: “It is ironic that this pub faces closure just as £9 million has been invested in the Middleport Pottery 500m away, the historic Price and Kensington teapot works across the canal is to be renovated and now complete is a £2 million separate development at Steelite – all these with associated factory shops and tourist guided tours proposed. It would make a great coach tour destination pub.”

The musicians gave their best wishes to publicans Dave Buckland and Lynne Jordan who have been running the pub for Trust Inns for the past five years.

The Full English has moved along the canal to the CAMRA award-winning free house The Holy Inadequate at Etruria Old

Road ST1 5PE for a Monday night session. It is 500m from the Etruria Marina and moorings.

David added: “We hope to see all our old boater friends and also hope to see The Packhorse given a new lease of life. As we have moved, The Full English will be known as The Wholly English.”

Their first night at the new venue attracted 15 musicians including two boaters moored in Stone with another on the way from the Shropshire Union.

“It is looking good; the landlord invited us from the back room to populate the front bar around alcoves with huge roaring woodburners. This real ale and pork pie pub is within walking distance from Etruria Summit Lock and entrance to Caldon Canal arm.”

● For details of the music sessions visit the TheFullEnglishMusicSongSession and The-Wholly-English Facebook pages.

The Holy Inadequate – new home to The Wholly English.

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Canal breaks and river cruising in the UK, Ireland and Europe

Looking for somewhere different this summer?

By Bob Mennell

I GUESS you are sitting at home thinking when are we going to have some spring-like weather – and to make yourself feel better you will have started planning your summer cruise.

After considering all the options you may have come to the conclusion that you have done most or all of the rivers and canals.

If this is the case, let me suggest that you consider cruising on the Chesterfield Canal.

Access to this canal is off the River Trent at West Stockwith. I appreciate that this lock is on the tidal section of the river and you may

well have heard some disturbing stories relating to it.

My advice is to listen to the lock keepers as they monitor your passage from lock to lock, keep to the outside of the bends and take a VHF radio, life jackets and anchor.

The radio is an advantage over a mobile phone as you can make contact directly with the last or next lock and reception is usually better. The channel to call is 74.

At West Stockwith you are on one of the most beautiful canals in the north Midlands. For the next 15 miles there are only five broad locks until you reach the old market town of Retford.

Travelling up the Chesterfield Canal you will come to the Drakeholes Tunnel which is 135 yards long and as you exit the tunnel there are Canal & River Trust visitor moorings. However, should you wish to carry on for another hour or so you will come to Clayworth Wharf.

Here I can guarantee you will receive a very warm welcome from the Retford & Worksop Boat Club. Subject to availability, members of the AWCC can moor here free of charge for one week.

Once in Retford you can replenish your provisions and if you wish visit the market which is held in the

Cinderhill Lock No 41 near Shireoaks to the west of Worksop. PHOTO SUPPLIED

historic town square.

Markets are held on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. There are no overnight moorings in the town centre but there are available mooring bollards for a short shopping spree, sorry gentlemen!

Leaving Retford you will encounter the first of the narrow beam locks which will take you up to Forest Locks where there are CRT moorings.

Passing through these locks you are in a three-mile pound up to Osberton.

The lock here is on the edge of the Osberton Estate. The house as you see it today was updated between 1872 and 1880 but there have been smaller halls on this site since the 13th century. Next port of call is Worksop; again there are mooring facilities in the centre of the town. If you can spare the time, a short bus journey would take you to the village of Edwinstowe which is on the edge of Sherwood Forest and the home of the legendary outlaw Robin Hood.

Leaving Worksop you now travel through eight locks to Shireoaks Marina and if you were impressed with your journey so far, well you are definitely in for a treat.

A bridge over the peaceful and picturesque Chesterfield Canal. PHOTO SUPPLIED Beyond Worksop, the canal climbs its way from Nottinghamshire into South Yorkshire and just past Shireoaks; the Ryton Aqueduct marks the county boundary. Here the canal climb really starts with 22 locks to negotiate up to the summit level at Thorpe Top Lock.

These restored locks carry the canal through woodland up to the hamlet of Turnerwood where there is a small coffee shop by the bridge to refresh you before going through the first staircase locks at Turnerwood Double.

Further staircase locks are at Brickyard Double and three Riser Staircase at Thorpe Low Locks. Then the

final Triple staircase at Thorpe Top Treble and that’s it! Thirty locks up from Worksop town and a tree-lined summit pound up to Kiveton and the mouth of the Norwood Tunnel.

Up here the Chesterfield Canal is really beautiful, the towpath is superb for walking and the locks work easily. At Kiveton there is a railway station which connects Sheffield and Lincoln as well as The Station Hotel and The Backyard restaurant providing meals for weary boaters and towpath walkers.

The canal offers quiet boating in wonderful countryside, a real change from crowded Midland canals.

A warm welcome awaits at the Retford & Worksop Boat Club. PHOTO: JANET RICHARDSON

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BITS & BOBS GREETINGS! When we bake a gammon – so easy, just put it in the oven and check it every half hour or so – we include sweet potatoes and new potatoes on the roasting tin rack.

I like this approach to an Easter feast because the oven is doing most of the work while I catch up with the Sunday paper and then pretend to hunt for the Cadbury egg that I bet Rexx has hidden in one of my wellies.

Yes, I have bought her a basket of Easter goodies and I don’t think she will notice how many of the jelly beans I have scoffed.

by Rexx & Phill

April top tip

One of our budget meal stretchers is croutons for our soup. Home-baked croutons use up our stale bread, add flavour to the soup and increase that full tummy feeling. For fancy croutons we start with a flavoured butter. Here’s how we make it.

Bring butter to room temperature so that it is spreadable. Mix in one tsp of hot paprika for a spicy mixture, one tsp of Chinese 5-spice for an Eastern flavoured mixture, or one tsp of lemon pepper for a citrus flavour. I’ve also added chutney or jam spreads for a sweet flavour.

Then coat one side of the bread slices with the spread, slice into soldiers, line them up and slice them across to form cubes. Lay the cubes out on a baking tray and bake at 180ºC (350ºF) Mark 4 until golden brown (10-12min).

I sprinkle a few on the soup and put the rest in a bowl to add at the table.

There are many more flavours and some that I won’t mention that were a bit TOO creative when we were just using up some spread left in the galley.

Phill’s Baked Ham

Prep time 10 minutes, total cook time 2 hours, serves 4-6 For the bake up: ● 1.4kg (3lb) gammon ● 2 large sweet potatoes (use 1½ for tonight and save ½ for pea soup) ● 12 new potatoes (for tonight) ● Margarine to coat new potatoes ● 1 tbsp wholegrain mustard ● 1 tbsp honey or apricot jam

For the new potatoes: ● 2 tbsp butter

Preheat oven to 190˚C (375˚ F) Mark 5. Prick all the potatoes (sweet and new); rub them with margarine (gives them a nice flavour). Set the rack in a roasting tin and set the ham in it; cover with a tent of foil. Bake for an hour, remove to the hob, lift the foil, tuck in all the ‘jackets’ around the sides and continue baking for another half-hour.

Again, pull out the roaster, set it on the hob, take off the foil (save this for a later covering). Slather the ham with honey/apricot jam-mustard mixture and return the whole

shebang to the oven to bake for the final half-hour.

Then pull out the roasting tin and again set it on the hob. This time, remove the ham and potatoes to a serving platter and cover with the reserved foil tent to rest. If making the sauce, turn the burners on under the roasting tin and keep them on low.

Add the juice from the pineapple rings; stir to release all of the good bits on the bottom of the roaster pan. Add the pineapple slices and simmer to reduce the liquid and glaze the pineapple.

While the sauce is simmering to reduce (10min) turn to the sweet potatoes. Scrape out all of the pulp into a mixing bowl and whip in the butter and sugar.

Slit the potatoes, push them open, add a pat of butter to each and place around the ham (leave some room for the pineapple slices). Turn back to the sauce, remove the pineapple and place it in the remaining platter space. Toss a pat of butter into the sauce and stir to incorporate; tip the sauce into a gravy bowl and bring everything to the table.

Add a beef bouillion cube to two cups of the soup water and set aside. In a large soup pot melt together oil and butter. Add onion, ham, carrots and celery. Sauté until the onions are tender.

Add the dried marjoram and stir until you smell the flavour (5min).

Stir in the sweet potato pulp. Add remaining six cups of water, bouillon cubes, and split peas.

Bring to boil, reduce to simmer,

cover and continue to simmer until split peas are tender (45-60min).

Remove half of the soup to a blender, whizz up with the two reserved cups of beef bouillon water, add back to the pot, and bring to a boil. Add the frozen peas, reduce to simmer, and heat through (5min); they add a nice colour.

Fare well. May all of your chocolate rabbits have ears.

Rexx’s Pea Soup

Prep time 15 minutes, cook time 60 minutes or so, serves 4-6 main meal This is one of our hearty, heatermeals; it includes some of the ham left over from our Easter feast. We let the soup simmer away on top of our heater and enjoy the smells in the cabin while it is cooking.

I wonder what Phill will do when he discovers that I ate the ears off his chocolate rabbit and rewrapped it (so sorry Phill); it was a sacrifice that I was forced to make because otherwise it just wouldn’t have fitted in the toe of your boot). ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

1 tbsp vegetable oil 1 tbsp butter 1 large white onion, chopped 1½ cups cubed baked ham 1 cup chopped carrots ½ cup sliced celery 1 tsp dried marjoram OR mixed Italian herbs Pulp of half of a cooked sweet potato 6-8 cups (1½ quarts) cold water Depends on desired thickness 1 large chicken bouillon cube 1 small beef bouillon cube 250g (1lb) dried, split peas (about 2 cups) Salt and pepper to taste ½ cup frozen peas (optional)

Starting a new season of Lee Senior’s topical tips for growing your own fruit and veg.

APRIL is the busiest month of the year for sowing seeds. Don’t be put off from having a go if you only have limited space – these days there are dwarf varieties of just about everything, in flowers and vegetables.

Baby carrots and salads for instance are particularly tasty and perfect for pots and window boxes. All types of beans are easy to grow in containers too.

During April, a veritable mix of both hardy and half hardy summer bedding flowers and vegetables can be sown. A sunny windowsill is ideal for germination. A compact mini greenhouse is another alternative, as these take up little space.

Use fleece to protect seedlings from any sudden frost. Prick out strong growing seedlings into pots, discarding any leggy or weaker looking ones.

Perfect bedding flowers for confined areas are violas. If sown now they will flower this summer and are trouble-free and very easy to grow.

Potted herbs make a lovely feature

You can still sow seedlings even if space is limited. PHOTO: LEE SENIOR dotted around your boat: basil, chives and parsley can all be sown now.

Early fast maturing potatoes can be sown in patio sacks this month and should be ready in just 10-12 weeks.

Finally, if you are growing fuchsias, remember to pinch out the growing tips this month to encourage bushier plants with a greater number of flowers over the coming months.

A charity shop find opens up a watery journey of discovery

For the sweet potatoes: ● 2 tbsp butter ● 1 tbsp brown sugar

For the sauce (optional): ● 1 large tin pineapple rings (reserve juice) ● 1 pat of butter

Gardening afloat

I ALL too often fail to keep to my resolve to resist the temptation of browsing the bookshelves of my local charity shops, writes Elizabeth Rogers.

But sometimes I can forgive myself for doing so when I come across a particularly interesting discovery.

Such an occasion happened recently when I was fortunate to happen upon Where the Windrush Flows by Mollie Harris. Hers is a name that long-term listeners to the radio serial The Archers may remember as that of the actress who played one of the characters, Martha Woodford.

Mollie Harris was herself a countrywoman. Her country was that of the villages in Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire through which the River Windrush runs.

It is a countryside she had known well from a small child and in this book, published in 1989, she took her readers on a journey through these villages and introduced its local people with stories to tell.

Each stage, starting from the source in the hamlet of Taddington and ending at Newbridge with the confluence of the Windrush with the River Thames, is described during one month of the year.

Each chapter is complemented with illustrations, for Mollie Harris

collaborated on the book with a local artist Gary Woodley who has depicted in a delightful way historic buildings, countryside and wild flowers. Most delightful of all are those of the birds, for this is one of his specialities.

In this fast-changing world there will have been many changes over the past 25 years since the book was written, so the descriptions also provide a valuable storehouse of information.

Local history and legends are recorded. The river was important to many local industries, with mills along its course drawing its waters for their various purposes – fulling, dyeing and other processes in cloth-making, weaving, as in the famous blanket industry at Witney, corn, as at Ducklington, paper, supplying power to the big houses and even cider making.

The legends include the famous highwayman who struck fear into travellers around the area of Minster Lovell, including ‘Black Stockings’, a raider who dressed all in black.

Henry Taunt was an early photographer who recorded people and places in Oxford and its surrounding countryside, and an observation of his is included in the introduction to each chapter.

Where the Windrush Flows was published by Alan Sutton Publishing.

The River Windrush at Minster Lovell. PHOTO SUPPLIED

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READERADVERTS Boats for sale

36FT SEA OTTER built 2010, exc cond, it is the HSE version, which means that a bow thruster comes as standard, 4 berths, dinette seats 4 and turns into d/bed, front can be either a very wide d/bed or 2 beds, bathroom has a cassette, shower and a wash basin, cratch on front and the canopy/hood at back folds down easily. Tel. 01904 797496. York.

38FT NARROWBOAT 2-4 berth, ex BCN riveted (Harris’s) main hull section, welded steel counter stern, fully fitted pine cabin, v clean, full working order, sensible offer secures. Tel. 01889 270172; 0781 5024521.

Staffs.

57FT NARROWBOAT hull re-plated, Pro-Build, 2011, new BSC, good Lister engine, Morco gas boiler, Morso Squirrel, domestic electrics and interior need some work, no cooker or fridge, a sound boat that needs some DIY, will get you afloat very quickly, priced to sell. Tel. 07896 702966. Oxfordshire.

GREY LADY 20ft x 8ft, glass fibre fishing boat with Ford LXD diesel engine, wheelhouse and cabin having toilet and sink, £3200. Tel. 01406 490484 evenings. Lincs.

SEMI-TRAD NARROWBOAT 45ft, beautifully built by Bourne Boats of Cheshire, only 350 hours on clock, built 2009, must view, £41,000. Tel. 07979 102927. W Yorks.

MICROPLUS 16ft day boat, with pram canopy, on trailer, with new tyres, 4-stroke, 9.5 Tohatsu outboard engine, less than 10 hrs use from new, ready to go, £2150 ono. Tel. 07854 337497. Middx.

SEMI-TRAD NARROWBOAT 46ft, 2005, 2 berth, Isuzu 35 engine, professional fit-out in light oak tongue and groove, inverter, c/h, new anodes, Blacked last year, BSC 2017, bow thruster plus many extras, excellent condition, one owner from new, £39,500. Tel. 01524 421912; 07704 420432. Lying Lancaster Canal.

MILLIE-ANNE 50ft semi trad narrowboat, BMC 1.8L diesel engine, Boat Safety 2018, recently blacked, licensed 15/5/2015, Eberspacher diesel heater/calorifier, x2 inverters, new multi-fuel stove, pump-out toilet, immersion, mixer shower and many extras, £31,000. Tel. James 07456 185057. Leics.

NAUTICUS CRUISER 27 recon outdrive, recon cyl head, new drive shaft, new interior lights, immersion heater, Leyland 18 diesel, BSS cert till 2017, good all round cond, many extras, £8500 ono. Tel. 07923 298941.

Lancs.

BURLAND 26ft x 6ft 10”, 1975, GRP 4 berth cruiser, Ford 1.8hp reliable diesel & Enfield leg, gas oven, gas fridge, sink, 4ft worktop, wardrobe and convertible dinette, toilet compartment, cushioned cockpit seats and helmsman chair, berthed Peterboro’ YC, CoC, AW licence, £3500.

Tel. Pat 07989 742468. Cambs.

SHARE FOR SALE in 2003 Dutch barge, 17m x 4m, Private Owners Assoc, 3 weeks cruising per year, moored in Auxerre, France, fully equipped to cater for 6, £8500. Tel. 01904 653207. York.

FREEMAN 27 in excellent condition, all facilities, full galley with fridge, single Perkins 4108 diesel, h&c, clarifier, £18,000. Tel. 0207 7229897. Oxfordshire.

1.8 BMC ENGINE runs but several overheating occurrences have caused damage to the heads, will need work, low hours, recon typically under 20 hrs/year for past 10 yrs! gearbox is 150 and in good condition, at Evesham Marina, sold as seen, £300 ono.

Email: Andyp917@hotmail.com Oxford.

RELCRAFT ZIRCON 30ft x 10ft Volvo diesel, end bedroom needs kitchen fitting, Safety 2017 licence 2015, moored Whitley Bridge, £6500.

Tel. 074770 61752. E Yorks.

SEMI-TRAD NARROWBOAT 35ft, built 1993 by M Hurst (Mirfield), 1.5 BMC engine, BSC 2017, 4 berth, 3/4 bath/shower, solid fuel stove, fridge, cooker, TV,DVD, illness forces reluctant sale, therefore selling fully equipped with all items required for a canal holiday. Tel. 01254 886016.

Lancs.

HOT WATER CYLINDER copper, 76cm x 26cm indirect, £20 collection only from nottingham no texts! Tel. 07702 853910. Notts.

STECA PR-3030 solar charge controller (MPPT), brand new, unused, still in original packaging, bought in error as not big enough for new solar panels being fitted, £100 Tel. 07974 329668. W Mids.

STEEL FUEL TANK diesel fuel tank, refurbished with new 4mm bottom, very clean inside, pressure tested, two 3/8” BSP fittings, filler and breather, £40. Tel. 07890 604121.

Bucks.

SUZUKI BANDIT 600 2 stroke short shaft outboard motor 2.2, came with boat purchase but not needed, £100.

Tel. 07592 529378. Lincs.

TWO GAS CYLINDERS full, will separate, £20 each; will seperate. Tel. 01509 646479. Leics.

1 17 X 12 RH PROPELLER 1 ⁄2” shaft, exc cond, £150. Tel. 01283 810005.

Derbys.

TRAD STYLE NARROWBOAT. Tel. 07955 442552. Bucks.

PRINCESS 32 1973, twin diesel canopy, 3 year old, new diesel tank, full size cooker, 3 way fridge, hot and cold water, clarifier, 6” foam to seats, large cockpit, fish finder VHS radio, on hard standing, will anti-foul for buyer, viewing weekends only, £14,000 ono.

Tel. 07903 840293. Scotland.

DANFORTH ANCHOR unused, anchor 8kg, with force swivel convector, 3m galvanised chain and approx 5m rope. £50. Tel. Mike 07771 811211.

Cheshire.

Parts and spares

SWAN LINER 36ft, 1975, Lister engine, licensed until end Feb 2016, BSC til Feb 2016, last blacked and anodes 2012, great engine, new back, recently painted, great little first boat, will trade for something bigger, £9500 ono. Tel. 07708 546019.

Worcs.

EARLY 1900S BCN Unfinished project, Gardner 4lk, moored South Staffs, £20,000. Tel. 07809 686839.

Staffs.

EXCITING PROJECT! Historic narrowboat, ‘Chance 2’ – 70ft wooden butty, ex workboat (Chance and Hunt Ltd, Thos Clayton), full length conversion (inc wood burner), Royal Enfield engine, unique propulsion system using Hotchkiss cones, needs repair and renovation, £4000 ono. Tel. 07811 839285. Chester.

40FT PINNACE 1918, teak on oak, needs loads of work, hull deck, £5000. 07551 995959. Essex.

NAUTICUS 27ft Ford D, licenced March 2016, CFC 2017, full survey Aug 2014, Shoreline fridge, ropes, fenders etc, clean comfortable boat.

Tel. 0115 9398342. Lying Sawley, River Trent.

NORMAN 20FT Yamaha 10hp 4stroke outboard, new canopy, new seats, original gel coat, 2 ring gas cooker, chemical toilet, good all round condition, clean and tidy, £3250. Tel. 077130 39947. W Mids.

NORMAN GRP CRUISER 23ft, Honda 15hp o/board, just serviced, recently out of water, painted and anti-fouled, refurbished inside and out, new carpets, curtains, new canopy (£1000) BSS to Sept 2017, licensed to June 2015, moored at Fazeley, fees paid till end of May 15, nice little boat, £4995. Tel. 01827 767485; 07946 664749. Staffs.

OLD TOWN DISCOVERY SCOUT Canadian canoe, c/w three paddles, air bags, spares seats, good condition, £600. 07713 455270. Cheshire.

STOKE-ON-TRENT 60ft traditional, £83,000 ono. Tel. 07855 255389.

Cheshire.

PIPPIN 26FT NARROWBOAT all steel, BSS to July 2016, licence to April 2015, moored Ripon, North Yorkshire, £13,995 ono Tel. 07885 351460. N Yorks.

ENSIGN WATERSMEET 30ft cabin cruiser, 6-berth, BSS 2018, antifouled, new canopy, new fridge, diesel engine, toilet, sink, £13,000 Tel. 07542 296982; 01327 350434.

Northants.

Selling your boat is FREE for private readers of Towpath Talk

See coupon on page 100 for details

2 PETROL TANKS £20 each will seperate. Tel. 01509 646479. Leics.

TRADITIONAL NARROWBOAT 57ft, 1997, 4 berth Tyler/Wilson shell, Braidbar fit-out, BMC 1500 PRM gearbox, 3 Leisure and one engine battery, 1800w Sterling inverter, Waeco 45amp multi-stage charger, 16 amp galvanic isolator, Boat Cert 2017, blacked 2013, £42,000. Tel. 07552 186204. Email: losdevalde@ hotmail. com Lancs.

AVON S100 10ft 6", excellent condition, dry stored, £275 ono.Tel. 07982 193767. Liverpool.

BIRCHWOOD 33 Classic, Perkins twin diesel, original gel coat, rear deck, anti-fouled, Safety Certificate, sleeps 6, oven, 2 ring hob, fridge, hot water heating, shower, en-suite bathing platform, £22,000. Tel. 0114 2510098. S Yorks.

BRAUNSTON BARNEY BOAT 35ft, No 36, (1976), 10hp SABB, new gas hob, wood burner, Palmo water heater and cratch cover, needs some attention to fibreglass sides, moored River Soar, BSS ex 2018. Offers. Tel. 01509 502365. Leics.

DAWNCRAFT CENTRE COCKPIT 28ft, family owned from new, new windows, repaint, new cushions, good condition, nearly new engine, 4-stroke o/board, retiring, safety licence. Tel. 07941 706169. Warks.

FIBREGLASS DINGHY 12ft long, 4ft 6in wide, seats 6 plus, would take up to 10hp engine, repainted, good clean condition, £330. Tel. 077130 39947. W Mids.

AQUALINE WINDOWS 9 gold coloured, reasonable offers, good cond, taken out because had d/glazed ones fitted, 96cm wide by 58cm deep, 91_cm wide by 53_cm deep, port hole being taken out shortly, can be viewed. Tel. Pat 07900 915082. Derbys.

BRASS FAIRLEADS new, unused, still in original packaging, £10 pair; collect from NG13 0GA area. Tel. 01949 843572. Notts.

ANCHOR for 57ft narrowboat, 14kg weight, Danforth type folding anchor, new, unused, hence very good condition, £40. ono; collection only from NG13 area. Tel. 01949 843572. Notts.

FLOVER 55 electric outboard, used once, no longer needed, £150. Tel. 07472 191658. Cambs.

BMC 1800 fuel pump, (Mech), £300; BMC 1800 starter motor, £150; Lucas 70 amp alternator, 3125; Lucas 30 amp alternator, £100; 18" x 14" 3-blade propeller, £300. Tel. 01978 757987.

Wrexham.

BMC 1800 STARTER MOTOR and fuel pump (mech), gwo, £200 & £350 respectively; 70 & 30 amp alternators, gwo, £150 & £100 respectively; 18" x 14" three blade propeller - no chips or pitting, 1.5" shaft, £300. buyer collects.

Tel. Dave on 01978 757987. N Wales.

CIRCULATION PUMP 12v for Aldi boiler, very little used, cost pounds, £75. will sell for £25 Tel. 07807 571420. Clwyd.

GARDNER 1L2 diesel engine, fully rebuilt with engine, bed and drive pulleys for use as a generator, would also make excellent boat engine, full photo record of work from start to finish, this is a beautiful example of a rare slow running engine and an absolute show unit. Tel. 01254 202341. Lancs.

GARDNER 2LW diesel engine, fully stripped and rebuilt with new parts as required, fully marinised and c/w PRM 260 gearbox, this engine is to a very high standard and will look splendid in a traditional engine room, must be seen to be believed, will separate from gearbox if required.Tel. 01254 202341.

Lancs.

H/DUTY BATTERY CHARGER 24/12 volts, Sea Magnet with cable, £10; jerry cans, £10 each; moorings pins, £5 each; mooring hooks, £5 each; 3 ton trolley jack, £10. Tel. 07886 538350. Cheshire, Northwich.

JCB 850w 2-stroke inverter generator, excellent working order, new plugs, filter, oil etc, £85 ono; h/duty chest waders, used only once, £30 ono; Lucas 110amp dual purpose battery, as new, used on one occasion only, part no. LX31 MF, (receipt dated 19/07/14), £60. Tel. 01827 767485; 07946 664749. Staffs.

LISTER ST2 runs but smokes a bit, LM150 mechanical gearbox with drive stub, large quantity of new pistons, ring sets, big end shells all Lister, 2 new SR barrels, one new ST barrel, various other ST engine parts, £900. the lot Tel. 07899 697097. Northants.

SOLD NARROWBOAT age related reasons, various items for sale including own home made fenders, 12v equipment, other small items, fenders, 12v equipment unused. Tel. 01522 856915. Lincs.

MIKUNI MX40 diesel heater, working but no backplate, includes new glow plug, boxed. Tel. 07796 268479.

Cheshire.

MORCO F11E LPG water heater with roof cowl, brand new and still boxed; Arrow EVM, LPG, log effect stove, top or rear outlet if required, brand new and still wrapped, half original price, will secure both items (heater and stove). Tel. 01254 202341. Lancs.

SHURFLO DIAPHRAGM water pump, Model 2095-423-343, 12 volt, 10.6 litres/min, 30 PSI integral pressure switch, offered free for spares (pump body ok, motor shaft seized!)

Collection only from Warrington. Tel. 07940 538401. Merseyside.

SPARE PORTA POTTI TANK new and still in box, spare porta potty 365 holding tank, £35. Tel. 07923 569144.

Cheshire.

SR3 LISTER ENGINE with Lister hydraulic gearbox, starting handle, exhaust silencer and instruction book, £2000. Tel. 01283 810005 after 4pm.

Derbys.

TWIN WALL FLUE KIT brand new for Morso Squirrel stove, £325. ono Tel. 07538 433928. Cheshire.

VICTRON PHOENIX 3000 watt Pure Sine Wave inverter, brand new, still in box, £1000 ovno. Tel. 07807 571420.

Flints.

Miscellaneous

3 X ANODISED WINDOWS excellent condition, single glazed, toughened glass, top hopper, hidden screw fixings, for aperture: 912 x 532mm, £250 buyer collects from Leeds, W. Yorks.

Tel. Mark 0798 8097869. W Yorks.

BUTTON FENDER black polypropylene rope. 12 inch diameter, 6 inch depth. Used but fair condition. From 57 foot narrowboat, £10 ono; collection only from NG13 area. Tel. 01949 843572. Notts.

LOCKGATE MARINE diesel stove, with back boiler, s/s flu pipe and 20 gall diesel tank, recent service, new burner, pot and glass fitted by Lockgate heating, £500. Tel. 07877 678247. W Yorks.

PORTHOLE LACES and cabin lace, hand crocheted. Tel. 07887 512912.

Oxon.

ROPE, BLACK POLYPROPYLENE 10mm diameter, large coil, £25 the lot Tel. 01949 843572. Notts.

THETFORD MIDI PRIMA brand new, Mk III built-in oven, all accessories included, bought to fit into boat but due to changes in plans oven now not needed, £375 ono Tel. 07508 649426 or 07909 762362. Lancs.

AEROGON WIND GENERATOR with controller and 20 amp dump, short mast with stay wires, buyer collects, £100. Tel. 07508 954367.

Cambs.

TWO CABIN STOOLS height 15”, length 12”, width 12”, oak grained, £50 each; cabin stools, height 12”, length 14”, width 10”, some with drawers, some with lids, £35 each; cabin stools, height 4”, length 6”, waist 4”, £10 each; two new tip cats, length 20”, width 9”, £60 each; 6 new button fenders, width 10”; depth 9”, £60 each. Tel. 01283 810005. Derbys.

VICTORIAN KETTLE Victorian cast iron kettle made by T. Holcroft and Son, excellent condition, would look good as part of a tableau, cash on collection only, £120. Tel. 01525 211933. Beds.

BETTE HIP BATH - best make, white, 106cm x 72cm x 52cm high, vgc, available 1st March, cost new £300, asking £125 ono; glass shower door, 137cm x 70cm, vgc, new seals fitted, easily obtainable, available 1st March, cost new £55, asking £25.

Tel. 07513 437114. Glos.

BLAKE BABY MARINE sea toilet, good condition, including hand pump and fittings, £200. collect/deliver Herts Tel. 07548 241921. Essex.

BOSCH JIGSAW with blades, GST 60PBE, £30; Gunson 12v battery charger, automatic, £20; Starweld 180 arc welder, with mask, £20; satellite dish and digital receiver, £30; buyer collects. Tel. 01782 659493 after 4pm. Staffs.

GAS HOB new unused 4 burners still in package bought £260, for sale at £160. Tel. 07900 264050 for more details. W Yorks.

INLANDER FRIDGE 12/24 volts, 830cm high, 500cm wide, 500cm deep, £60. Tel. 07964 101998.

Northants.

JIGSAWS, 7 assorted, all with narrowboats/canals as subject, some vintage pictures, 4 complete, not sure about others, £5. lot ono. Collect from NG13 area. Tel. 01949 843572. Notts.

LACE & RIBBON PLATES 60 to choose from, various designs, subjects, £1. - £5 (Collection only NG13 area).Tel. John 07563 252073. Notts.

MIKUNI MX40 diesel heater, working but no backplate, includes new glow plug, boxed, £150 ono. Tel. 07796 268479. Cheshire.

PORTA-POTTI (regular size), on boat at Reading so can be seen & collected, £15 ono. Tel. 0207 7229897.

Berks.

TWO CREWSAVER life jackets, CWX150N, automatic, non harness, condition as new, 12 months' old, £50; alsoSeasearcher magnet with 10 metres nylon rope, £15.Tel. 07702 879759. Beds.

Wanted NARROWBOAT WANTED unfinished, sailaway or a project boat with a good running engine will consider a boat in need of overplating preferably 40ft upward in length. Tel. 0790 6019299. Norfolk.

PREMIER COOKING RANGE wanted, small, cast iron, solid fuel cooking range for a canal boat, good price paid for one in good condition. Tel. 01905 355606. Worcs.

WANTED - Dunton aluminium windless. Tel. 07969 851633. Skipton.

RENTING A BOAT TO LIVE ON, OR HIRING OUT YOUR OWN BOAT? Our important message to both groups is to do careful homework first and not to either hire out your boat or rent a boat that isn’t properly licensed for this use.

Please visit www.canalrivertrust.org.uk /boating/ a-boat-of-your-own to avoid any difficulties with the legal and safety issues involved.

102 NEWS FOCUS

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Beyond the Tees Barrage

Janet Richardson visits the Canal & River Trust’s most northerly outpost.

BELIEVED to be the only Canal & River Trust navigation without a narrowboat to its name, the River Tees flows for 85 miles from its source at Cross Fell in the North Pennines to reach the North Sea between Hartlepool and Redcar.

It used to be tidal for 21km (around 13 miles) until the Tees Barrage was built in the early 1990s between the industrial

towns of Middlesbrough with its iconic Transporter Bridge and Stockton-on-Tees, starting point for the world’s first public railway, to protect them from flooding and the effects of tidal change.

I met the Canal & River Trust’s river and harbourmaster, Stuart McKenzie, who also looks after the ‘bit’ beyond the barrage – about 25km (15.5 miles) of

WHITE WATER RAFTING

The white water course has recently been developed and improved to Olympic standards. Previously dependant on tide levels and gravity fed, it now has four Archimedes screws which enable the water to run irrespective of tides.

Manager Chris Walker, from Tees Active, explained: “We can manage how much water goes down the site depending on what the users need from up to 14 cu m (about 14 tons of water) a second going round the course.

“Before the £4 million upgrade we could release water 5-6 hours a day. With the introduction of the Archimedes Screws it can now run 24 hours a day as well as generating electricity which is sold back to the grid – this is the only white water site to do that.”

The course offers are a variety of different activities including kayaking for general public, white water rafting for high adrenaline parties and corporate events and is one of only a handful of sites in the UK offering rescue training to the emergency services.

“We can introduce situations such as vehicles and the blocks can also be moved to change the course,” Chris explained.

A conveyor belt takes canoes back to the top of the course and even seals have been known to go up it.

Gate No. 4 in the closed position.

navigable river up to Low Moor weir at Low Worsall near Yarm – and team leader, Lee Butler, who focuses on their day-to-day running. Operation of the river 200 yards below the barrage, which is five miles from the sea, is the responsibility of the Tees & Hartlepool Port Authority.

Stuart told me: “Although managed similar to other CRT waterways, the team here is unique. This is the only barrage on our waterways and I believe this to be the only CRT waterway which does not have a narrowboat on it. We do, however, have a wide variety of vessels ranging from cruisers and motor boats right through to sailing craft rowing boats and jet skis so the Tees does

looks a lot different to many of our other waterways.”

First mooted by William Pearson in 1972 to improve water quality and create a recreational water space, the Tees Barrage was instigated by the Teesside Development Corporation.

This Government-backed body was established in 1987 to fund and manage regeneration projects in the former county of Cleveland including Hartlepool Marina and the Teesside business and retail parks following Margaret Thatcher’s famed ‘walk in the wilderness’ at Stockton. TDC boasted it would turn this wilderness into the ‘Venice of the North East’ and its statues can still be seen dotted around local roundabouts.

Stuart McKenzie points out the information board showing how the Archimedes screws work.

The Tees Barrage team includes, from left: team leader Lee Butler, waterway administrator Justine Doughty, ecologist Jonathan HartWoods, harbourmaster and river master Stuart McKenzie, white water centre manager Chris Walker and waterway administrator Pauline Coates. PHOTOS: JANET RICHARDSON Designed by Ove Arup and the Napper Partnership and built by main contractors Tarmac Construction with work starting in November 1991, the Tees Barrage was opened in April 1995 and inaugurated by Prince Philip on July 17.

When TDC was disbanded in late 90s, management of the barrage and its neighbouring white water course went to English Partnerships with a £50-million dowry and was taken over by British Waterways in 2001. It is now operated by Canal & River Trust North East Waterways.

Gate No. 3 lifted with the sea beyond. The tide was coming in when this picture was taken.

Early warning system

Stuart explained that the barrage acts as an early-warning system and effectively stops the river from being tidal by holding the water back. A pumping scheme controls the ground water levels.

“If we didn’t do that rising ground water levels could cause local flooding,” he said.

All automated, the barrage has four fish belly gates which can operate individually. At low tide the sea will not reach river level but on some high tides it can, this is when the gates are used to hold the sea out. A combination of spring tides and high river levels has to be carefully managed.

This is when the gates are lowered in advance of the rising tide reducing the river level to allow the gates to be closed on the rising tide. Once the tide turns the gates are again lowered to allow the river to return to normal level.

Gate maintenance is carried out once a year when each section is dewatered, a crane on top of the bridge being used to lift in the huge stop logs that are used to form a temporary ‘dry dock’ around each gate.

Stuart continued: “There is quite a lot going on at this end of the river. We are doing quite a lot of work with the Stockton Council neighbourhood enforcement team with regular river patrols.

NEWS FOCUS 103

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The viewing area where it is proposed to have picnic benches.

All still when this was taken – the International White Water Course with the Tees Barrage beyond.

BARRAGE FACT FILE Some 16,500cu m of concrete and 650 tons of steel went into the building of the barrage.

Total length: 160m, longest span 7.5m Concrete base: 70m wide, 32m long and 5m thick Concrete piers: Five (three in the water) Fish belly plates: Four 8m tall, 50-ton plates to control water flow operated by 21 ton hydraulic rams.

Road bridge: 600 ton bridge of tubular steel Arches: Eight welded-steel arches each 17.5m wide Clearance: 5m (5.37 in the lock) Pavilions: Two, the south bank houses the barrage control room and a welcome centre is being created at the north bank

The fish trap and counter. The green cover is part of a shading experiment to reduce amount of light on the fish. This had an amazing effect with more fish using the pass.

“They are tasked with dealing with environmental crimes such as fly tipping, and attending incidents on the side of the river.

The Wheelyboat Trust provides skill training and skippers for the patrols .”

The Tees Wheelyboat Trust has a base at the water centre; suitable for anyone with a disability, this free activity is very popular. It is run entirely by volunteers and all the crews are qualified with RYA or similar skills.

There are also events such as the River Rat Race, held in late summer, in which competitors jump in and swim across, run up stream and jump through hoops in a sort of obstacle course.

And for golfers who enjoy something different, the Infinity Golf Challenge involves them aiming for a floating green on a raft in the middle of the river using special balls which float so they can all be gathered up afterwards.

There is also rowing, canoeing, jet skiing and dragon boat racing with craft being allowed to exceed the river’s 5mph speed

limit in the first kilometre, barrage-reach area. Stuart added: “The river is very popular with various teams that practise here, the access is good.”

There is a slipway at the top side of the lock for trailable boats and other activities including bell boating and school visits.

Commercial ventures include river trips on board the Teesside Princess which carries 110 passengers from Stockton and has proved quite a success. The operators are also enthusiastic to run a water taxi service.

Day hire rowing boats from Preston Park started in the second half of last summer and there are plans to extend that for people to row from Preston Park to Yarm. It is also hoped to introduce Canadian canoes.

Stuart concluded: “We are always keen to let people know there is a lot more happening on the river than just at the barrage. There is a good strong community and we are very proud of what people are doing here. They genuinely want to work with each other to develop the river and encourage its use.”

Team leader Lee Butler’s enthusiasm for his job shone through as he showed me round the control room in the south tower where he says the view gives him a ‘wow’ feeling every morning. He explained that the Barrage has a team of seven, working 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, so there is always someone on shift.

Soon to be updated, the control panel enables the operator to raise and lower the gates according to the river levels.

There are also controls for the lift bridge and navigation lock.

I also visited the engine room which is the powerhouse for the barrage. There are four hydraulic

units, one for each gate and if one goes down they can operate another gate. They are kept at a constant temperature to make sure oil is fluid and are electrically powered. As well as a standby generator, there is also a petrol-driven ‘donkey’ generator in case that fails. “We have lots of back-ups in place,” Lee added.

In the north tower CRT volunteer, co-ordinator, Claire McDonald, volunteer team leader, Lucy Dockwray, and volunteers including a student on work experience were painting the walls of the new welcome station, which is being developed in time for the spring season. They will also be painting the floor blue and green to represent water and land.

Educational resources will include a table of mystery items and a TV screen as well as a photo competition and community noticeboard. Outside is a viewing area where it is planned to install picnic benches for visitors to enjoy in the better weather.

Environmental impact

Volunteer team leader, Lucy Dockwray, painting a wall at the welcome station.

The effect of the barrage on the natural flows of the estuary is very challenging in environmental terms, changing the dynamic itself, explained CRT ecologist Jonathan HartWoods.

REDISCOVERING THE RIVER The River Tees has a partnership agreement with the Heritage Lottery Fund, explained Anne-Louise Orange of Groundwork NE & Cumbria and delivery manager for River Tees Rediscovered Landscape Partnership.

“It took four years to develop this project and put together a bid for HLF funding. We were awarded a grant in July last year and with HLF and other partnership contributions, the programme comes to £3.7 million, with 18 partner organisations including the Canal & River Trust and a number of stakeholders already engaged.”

It was due to launch in February and will continue until September 2019.

“We want people to be engaged with the river and over 50 community events will mark the launch of the project and help to get the message out there Anne-Louise explained.

Twenty-one project elements will be delivered, including a Teesdale Way walking route passport scheme, educational resource packs for schools, wildlife access, guided walks, conservation training and an apprenticeship programme.

Two of the four Archimedes screws. In the foreground is a fish pass and beyond is a conveyor belt which takes canoes back to the top of the course; even seals have been known to go up it.

The salt water and fresh water interface (brackish water) is in effect lost at the barrage with salt water in front (downstream) of and fresh water behind it.

“Quite a few birds and animals have evolved to cope with this change to brackish conditions, salmon and sea trout for instance, so they can be confused by the sudden change in conditions that can slow their progress upstream and makes them more susceptible to predation, which is why we have a number of fish-friendly routes built into the barrage infrastructure.

“Also freshwater fish can be washed down into brackish water so anglers have concerns about a structure like this and its impacts on the natural ecology of an estuarine river. Some animals use the barrage as a massive motorway service station for feeding with big predators such as seals, otters, cormorants, gulls and even guillemots in bad weather.”

Measures such as underwater sonic disruptors have been introduced in a bid to deter seals when the fish are running and a three-year study has just been completed into the behaviour of migratory fish and the impacts of seal predation on their migration. The findings of the study will be used to change management of the barrage to facilitate more effective passages across the barrage for migrating fish.

“It is quite difficult trying to stay ahead of the seals, they are clever and adapt quickly to new measures to curb their feeding behaviour,” Jonathan continued.

“They realise that when the sonic system is activated it is like a dinner bell. They are very clever at jumping over the gates and we had six seals upstream before Christmas leading to complaints from anglers.

“Seal numbers are slowly increasing but people come to see the barrage seals because they can get such good close-up views – common or harbour and grey seals – every day. It is up to us to try and mitigate these interactions.”

He added: “Before the barrage the river was dead because of the

Lee Butler in the engine room.

pollution. The Tees is seen now as a recovering river, but not yet at the quality levels of the Tyne and Wear but it is getting there, and this is thanks in part to the barrage which has helped to improve water quality. This is a very heavily industrialised area which still has a legacy of industrial pollution. We are working with the EA, Tees Rivers Trust, INCA and different angling groups to understand these complicated interactions and inter-relationships.”

But Jonathan pointed out that the Tees is fascinating from a wildlife point of view and is renowned as one of best pike fishing rivers in the country.

Upstream pike and otters are the top predators. Otters will move up to 8km a night and, like seals, can tolerate both salt and fresh water.

It is difficult to predict the number of fish that successfully pass the barrage, a lot depends on the season. “A couple of years ago when we had a very wet summer, we had the best salmon and sea trout run.”

Meetings are held with the Environment Agency and also with the Salmon & Trout Association on a regular basis.

Stuart explained: “EA specifies how we should operate the barrage to encourage fish migration past the barrage if we can do that without flooding we will do.”

Jonathan added: “We think the navigation lock may well be a good way of getting fish through the barrage but need to do some work on that.”

Ideas include penning the fish to get them through the sluices which seals can’t get into.

“Migratory fish don’t necessarily move in through the barrage.

Quite a lot of fish when they move in from the sea don’t want to move upstream and some can go back out to sea or into the Tyne so there are quite a few interactions that we don’t understand yet,” Jonathan added.

“We have volunteers on site monitoring fishing patterns of the seals and other predators, all of which is beginning to build up quite a good picture of what is happening here.”

104 TECHNICAL TIPS/ON SCOTTISH WATERS with Hugh Dougherty

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Spring is here, don’t forget to de-winterise

WITH the onset of warmer weather, it’s important to get the boat ready and dewinterise. This means checking and closing any taps left open though winter, replacing the plug in the water heater (if removed) and switching the water pump on.

Test the system to ensure there are no leaks or issues, and open and run water through each tap. Start with those closest to the pump and work through to the one furthest away – this’ll push any air locks through the system. Drain any water in the tank out and refill with fresh drinking water.

Remember servicing, including the engine, LPG and electrical systems, fire extinguishers and escape hatches.

Servicing your engine before cruising will generally safeguard against the most common issues, and also pick up any potential problems that need addressing.

Although no action is needed for gas pipes at the start of the winter, it’s a good idea to paint connections with 50% soap liquid and 50% water using a small artist’s brush – this will show up any minor gas leaks at the joints.

Water in the fuel is one of the biggest causes of breakdowns and poor engine performance, so before running the engine, check water trap filters and remove any excess water. If water is present or there are signs of diesel bug (black dust or jelly-dip the tank to

identify its severity and then treat with a fuel treatment or have the fuel polished accordingly).

If you do not have a water trap filter, you’ll need to check the main fuel tank.

The easiest way to do this is to use a clear plastic hose. Drop it into the tank (being careful not to disturb the fuel) and when you feel the bottom, place your thumb over the end to seal it and withdraw the hose. This should provide you with a sample of the tank (plus an indication of any diesel bug contamination) and show the amount of water present.

Before cruising, check the bolts on couplings, engine mounts (only adjust the bottom bolt) and prop shaft are tight, and clean off any corrosion on battery terminals. Check fan belt for tightness and wear, and gearbox oil levels.

Run your engines up to ‘running’ temperature (if a gauge is available onboard) or for about half an hour.

Check every inch of the cooling system for leaks or escaping steam and if something is found, check jubilee clips are tight.

If a split pipe is evident call out a qualified (RCR) engineer. Finally put engine into gear and check control leaver operation, these should move freely with no tightness or ‘grabbing’, grease the ends and check for fraying and replace if required.

● DO YOU have a burning question on boat maintenance that breakdown and assistance firm River Canal Rescue can help you with?

If you are keen to see a particular technical topic covered, why not get in touch? Contact us at Technical Tips, Towpath Talk, PO Box 43, Horncastle, Lincs LN9 6LZ; email editorial@towpathtalk.co.uk ● River Canal Rescue runs boat and engine maintenance courses throughout the year, to find out more visit www.rivercanalrescue.co.uk email enquiries@rivercanalrescue.co.uk or call 01785 785680.

In search of the perfect boat – for them IT IS one of the rules of boating that, no matter what boat you buy – even a brand new one – you will find after a few months that there are little things you want to change, just to make it perfect.

You will sometimes hear boat owners, faced with another repair bill, complain that BOAT stands for Bring Out Another Thousand; but tailoring a boat to be exactly what you want can be part of the fun of ownership.

The experts at Norbury Wharf, on the Shropshire Union, can do most things boaty, from paint to steelwork, engines to interiors and they often find themselves making the adjustments necessary for the owners to feel they have the perfect boat.

Not every list of improvements is as comprehensive as those required by boaters, Chris and Wendy Robinson, when they turned up at Norbury a couple of years ago, as boatyard boss Simon Jenkins explained.

As in many cases, it went from a simple paint job to ‘while you are at it’ just replace the windows, modify the heating oil tank, change the pipe work.

‘While you are at it’ change the engine, soundproof the engine bay, fit a new coupling, and the list went on.

All that’s left of all that effort by 200 Irish navvies in 1824.

Lost canal once served a busy industrial town THINK of Scottish canals and you’ll come up with the obvious – the Caledonian, the Forth & Clyde and the Crinan. But here and there, around the coasts and inland, are lost canals, largely forgotten since Victorian times before the railway came, but still there to be found by those who seek out the waterway past.

Many would never associate Gatehouse of Fleet, a quiet town between Dumfries and Stranraer, as a canal town. But it was, for in 1824 the local landowner, Alexander Murray, had his land factor, Alexander Craig, engage 200 of the strongest Irish navvies to dig a canal, 1400 yards in length, to improve access to the already navigable River Fleet.

Gatehouse housed a mill and several factories and warehouses, and the canal allowed quite large vessels to sail in from the Solway Firth to access what was known as Port Macadam, the inland town’s very own harbour, where a quay gave access to the local industry.

Today, the canal has largely faded back into nature, although small, leisure craft can still access the quay, while those in the know can just about make out the remains of a swing bridge over the canal among the undergrowth.

The Mill on the Fleet, the only substantial survivor of the town’s industrial past, houses a model of the town

The way it was: this model of Gatehouse of Fleet in its heyday is in the Mill on the Fleet. PHOTOS: HUGH DOUGHERTY in its canal heyday. It clearly shows how the canal, which straightened out kinks in the river while reclaiming land, would have looked, a far cry from the short, straight section of the waterway which can still be seen from the main road through the Galloway town.

Skatepark is planned to boost urban sports centre Ben Cruachan awaiting the finishing touches for the coming boating season.

PHOTO SUPPLIED

Well all that was sorted and off they went cruising. They had a trouble-free season and that led them to drop back in and it all started again.

Their boat is a very nicely finished and has been built to a good standard. They love the layout and, now it has the engine of their choice and a fresh paint job, it seems that the next logical step for Chris and Wendy is for them to carry on with the upgrades and some finer fettling.

So, after several meetings, a bit of head scratching and bouncing ideas back and forth the boat duly arrived at the end of last year’s boating season and is due to be collected at the beginning of March for their first outing this year.

The list of works is impressive and the upgrades will make boating just that bit nicer. To date this includes a refitted rear cabin, new wardrobes, new control panels, cupboards, flooring, roof and wall linings, wet hanging spaces, new steps.

As well as the partial refit, they have also requested an upgraded bow thruster and new tube with better electrics, new battery management system and control system to list just a few more of the upgrades.

All these jobs are nearing completion and by the time this article reaches you they will be on the final snagging list, if you see Ben Cruachan out and about give Chris and Wendy a wave, and ask them: “What’s in store for next winter?”

Baillie Liz Cameron, Glasgow’s canal champion, welcomes skatepark development at Port Dundas. PHOTO:

HUGH DOUGHERTY

GLASGOW City Council has voted to provide Scottish Canals with a £300,000 grant to transform a warehouse at Port Dundas, on the Forth & Clyde Canal’s Glasgow branch, into an indoor skatepark of international quality.

The move comes hard on the heels of the success of The Kelpies and of a £3.5 million urban watersports centre at Pinkston, both of which opened in 2014. A council report said that the proximity of the watersports centre to the proposed skatepark, will result in the establishment of a virtual urban sports centre beside the canal, further boosting the regeneration of the Port Dundas area.

Baillie Liz Cameron, the city council’s canal and regeneration champion, said: “In 2014 Scottish Canals produced an outline business case for the skatepark and has been working with designers.

“A fundamental element of the business case is the participation of the local community.

Sports development officers with local housing associations are working with Scottish Canals to encourage this.”

A Scottish Canals spokeswoman said: “The skatepark is part of our plans to create an urban playground in the heart of North Glasgow.”

New name given to The Kelpies!

SCOTLAND tourism body Visit Scotland has renamed The Kelpies – but only for Chinese visitors.

Tourist chiefs have dubbed them, in Mandarin, ‘glorious, armoured, giant horses’, to help explain the concept to Chinese visitors struggling to understand what the original name means.

The move is part of a scheme to make Scottish tourist attractions more accessible to the increasing number of Chinese visitors coming to Scotland.

There’s no new name for The Falkirk Wheel, but the Loch Ness Monster is now ‘phantom of Loch Ness’ to Mandarin-speaking boaters navigating the Great Glen via the Caledonian Canal and the loch.

A Visit Scotland spokesman said: “We tried to come up with descriptions which make sense to our visitors but

The Kelpies will always be The Kelpies first and foremost.”

The Kelpies are credited with boosting visitor numbers to the nearby Falkirk Wheel, with 514,170 people flocking to the world’s only rotating boat lift in 2014, smashing all previous records.

Canal chiefs say that many people are visiting the Falkirk Wheel and The Kelpies as a package outing, making the Wheel Scotland’s busiest tourist attraction outside a city centre.

And the success of the combination of the Falkirk Wheel, The Kelpies, The Helix and new canal, has put Falkirk and Grangemouth on the tourist ‘must-see’ trail in a way in which few could have imagined a decade ago, with the Forth & Clyde Canal at the heart of the turnaround.

Now Scottish Canals is to renovate

the Falkirk Wheel visitor centre later this year and extend the existing water playzone with two new pools, one featuring water dodgems and the other a giant map of Scotland depicting the country’s five canals. An enhanced visitor centre for The Kelpies and The Helix will open in autumn 2015.

ON SCOTTISH WATERS with Hugh Dougherty 105

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Diesel on the canal

Hugh Dougherty meets the engineers who keep the weed control boats in tiptop condition.

WHEN I meet Diesel Watson and his apprentice, Jamie Andrews, they’re thoroughly enjoying a major boat engine overhaul at their Scottish Canals Falkirk workshop.

“Basically,” said Diesel – and that is his first name – “if we don’t do our job by keeping the Lowland Canal weed control boat engines and systems in tiptop condition, no weeds get cleared and nothing sails.”

Add to that keeping the Falkirk Wheel visitor craft shipshape, requiring an early morning systems check, plus equipment for machinery and lock gates – there’s a hydraulic ram off the Erskine Ferry swing bridge on their bench awaiting attention – and you see why mechanical and electrical squad stalwarts Diesel and Jamie have never a dull moment.

“The sheer variety is wonderful,” said Diesel. “We’re very much aware of the key role we play in keeping traffic moving. If we don’t keep the weed control boats on the move, weeds soon take over, people get their propellers snagged and the complaints come in.

Our customers come first and we make sure that everything that should work, works and works well.”

That morning it’s off to the Falkirk Wheel, where a weed control boat operator has berthed his craft for a service. Diesel and Jamie are soon at work in the engine compartment, changing the oil filter, checking and servicing.

Jamie, who at the time of writing was in the second year of his apprenticeship with Scottish Canals, and studying for an HNC at college, learns on the job and

Jamie (left) and Diesel get stuck into this boat engine repair. PHOTOS: HUGH DOUGHERTY

Team work: Jamie, left and Diesel, right, with weed control boat operator Gordon Leckie, before starting to service Gordon’s boat. respects Diesel as a great teacher. “He knows all there is to know about diesel engines and systems,” said Jamie. “I’m learning all the time.”

Weed boat operator Gordon Leckie, who’ll be back in action by late morning, said that Diesel and Jamie

The Diesel duo test the pressure gauge on the hydraulic ram from Erskine Ferry swing bridge on the Forth & Clyde.

were a great team. “They really know their stuff and as well as servicing our boats, including all the hydraulics and replacing broken or blunted cutter blades, they come out to us anywhere on the canal if we have a problem or breakdown. That can mean carrying

Diesel above and below! Diesel supervises operations as Jamie gets to grips with the boat’s Perkins diesel and swaps the filter.

Towpath project gets a £3m boost

Clean sweep with a scientific approach

SCOTTISH Canals, Sustrans and the Scottish Government’s Future Transport Fund are to invest £3.4 million in popular towpaths in what is said to be the biggest path project undertaken on Scottish waterways since the building of the Millennium link.

Towpath and canal users can expect to see works in progress along more than 45km as the cash comes on top of £8 million already invested in towpaths since 2010.

Part of the new money will be spent on solar-powered lighting on more than 7km of towpaths in Glasgow between Maryhill and Speirs Wharf to boost public perceptions of the route as a safe cycling, walking and running link from dawn to dusk.

A similar light-up of the Union Canal

PUPILS from St Charles Primary School, Maryhill, Glasgow, put black bags, litter pickers, measuring tapes and scales to good use recently to launch the Cleaner Canal Science project on the Forth & Clyde Canal.

The scheme, backed by a £46,000 grant from the Scottish Waterways Trust, the Glasgow Science Festival and Zero Waste Scotland, aims to tackle litter and waste by teaching pupils about the damage it does to the environment, including wildlife, in and around the canal.

The youngsters got down enthusiastically to work with Dr Zara Gladman of the Glasgow Science Festival.

They picked up all types of litter from on and around the towpath, measuring

towpath in Edinburgh in 2014 has seen use of the section near the city’s Harrison Park double since the lighting was installed.

Towpaths in and around Falkirk, Glasgow, Kirkintilloch, Linlithgow, Inverness, Fort William and Dochgarroch will also be improved as part of the scheme.

Richard Millar, Scottish Canals director of heritage, enterprise and sustainability, said: “The towpaths are busier than ever and play a vital role at the heart of communities they run through. We are hugely grateful to Sustrans and our partners for supporting these important works and I am sure that we will see the number using the paths surpass the 22 million who currently use them for leisure and recreation.”

it and analysing it before bagging it for disposal.

Tracey Peedle, Scottish Waterways Trust development director, said: “This is a new way of tackling litter by using the same sort of methods that a biologist would use to study wildlife.”

Pupils from two other canalside schools, St Mary’s and Kilbowie primaries, will also take part in the project, with all involved learning more on a floating classroom barge.

They will produce a joint report which, when presented to the Scottish Waterways Trust, the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency, Zero Waste Scotland and the Glasgow Science Festival, will become a national standard for effectively tacking litter on canals.

their tools and spare parts for quite a distance, but I always know that they’ll be there.”

“We’re out in all weathers and go where we’re needed,” said Diesel, as he and Jamie worked away. “We make sure that everything we do is environmentally friendly and in the engine all we use is biodegradable oil, just in case we spill any or the boat has an oil leak, so the canal water isn’t contaminated.

“The wipes we use and the oil filters, like the one we’re changing, are also disposed of properly.”

Diesel and Jamie work closely with Gordon and his fellow boat operators, and get great satisfaction out of keeping the traffic moving. But Diesel loves nothing better than rebuilding an engine, being the sort of mechanic who’s becoming increasingly rare nowadays.

“If we can fix it, we will!” he said, looking forward to getting back to that engine rebuild at the workshop.

It’s in the bag: this foursome has tracked down some litter. PHOTO: HUGH DOUGHERTY Local businesses, including Tesco and Asda, and community groups are supporting the anti-litter drive with its unique scientific approach to making a canal clean sweep.

Better Bowling Basin thanks to Coastal Communities cash BOWLING Basin, the western gateway to the Forth & Clyde Canal, will become even better thanks to a £780,000 Coastal Communities Fund boost.

The cash will further bolster the £1 million project at Bowling, funded jointly by Scottish Canals and West Dunbartonshire Council. This has already seen disused railway arches transformed into commercial units as part of a drive to turn the basin, where the canal meets the Clyde, into a vibrant boating and tourism hub which will also benefit the local community.

The Coastal Communities grant is

the biggest single award made this year, and canal and council chiefs are delighted as it will help Bowling to be as attractive as the canal’s eastern end where The Kelpies guard over the Forth & Clyde.

Steve Dunlop, Scottish Canals chief executive, said: “We’re delighted to receive this award from the Coastal Communities Fund to drive forward the next stage of the award-winning regeneration of Bowling Basin.”

Scottish Canals has also revealed that it is exploring the possibility of starting public canal and River Clyde cruises based on Bowling Basin to anchor it firmly as a tourist

destination and as a quality boating site.

Discussions are at an early stage but the concept is thought to have real potential. A local oral history project has also been launched at www.bowlingbasin.com and anyone with memories of canal life at Bowling is invited to post them on the site.

Other waterway-connected bodies to benefit from the Coastal Communities Fund include the proposed Scottish Submarine Museum at Helensburgh, the Scottish Fisheries Museum at Anstruther and restoration of Carbost Harbour on Skye.

Bowling Basin, set for further development. PHOTO HUGH DOUGHERTY

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Hotel boat Tradition meets tourism Words: PHILLIPPA GREENWOOD Images: MARTINE O’CALLAGHAN

FRESHLY baked cakes, afternoon tea and a pre-dinner drink in the lounge before a feast, then off to bed to be lulled to sleep by the sounds of silence over the water.

A floating hotel has obvious attraction for the holidaymaker, but the business of taking passengers on a cruise along Britain’s canals and rivers serves more than one function. Hotel boats not only play a vital role in the leisure industry, which in turn helps Britain’s inland waterways to stay viable and vibrant, but many also help to keep canal heritage alive as they are operated using traditional boating skills.

Bywater’s Kerala and butty Karnataka on their way through Worcester.

When a towpath tourist meets a hotel boat, serious bouts of waving and nodding are guaranteed.

Hotel boats range from boutique style with full frills and jacuzzi to five-star traditional comforts, and even to the budget muck-in floating dorm. Some hotel boats are converted historic boats, others are newly built with bespoke fittings.

Many are narrowboats that quietly explore the rolling landscapes in greenest England and a few are bigger boats that stride into the feisty waters of the Scottish Highlands. But every hotel boat that travels the inland waterways

Nick and Irene Scott’s charter hotel boat Willow on the Avon Aqueduct on the Union Canal. PHOTO: JANET RICHARDSON

shares one aim, which is to pamper its guests. “Wonderful,” was the single word passengers aboard Bywater Hotelboat Cruises used unanimously to describe their summer holiday on the water.

Every narrowboat that travels the waterways is a floating ‘Tardis’ with miraculous facilities that unfold and swivel from any corner and crevice.

There are usually cabins to sleep in with mini en suite, a lounge, a sociable dining area for traditional canal chatter and decks for lazy day-long cruise-snoozing.

Passengers choose whether to walk on ahead to be alone or help at the locks or do absolutely nothing. In their holiday literature, hotel boats mention the core basics anyone would need to know before booking a holiday – such as details on cruising itinerary, on-board facilities, meals... and even ‘elevenses’.

But reading between the lines elevenses can be any time of day by ‘canal-time’ on a hotel boat holiday.

Some companies such as Bywater and Duke & Duchess have two narrowboats that work as a pair in the traditional working boat style – with a powered boat that tows an unpowered boat, called a butty.

The crew has to navigate the same tight bridges, impossible Brindley bends and torturous lock flights as a working boat would have done over 200 years ago. The towing rope, the barge pole and the boatman’s kettle all prove their worth, and teamwork is demonstratively visible. There is something about a pair of narrowboats on the move that is deeply satisfying to watch.

TOWPATH TREASURES/ANGLING 107

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The Towpath Angler

Our monthly look at the angling scene

Bywater hotel boat Kerala at Sidbury Lock on the Worcester & Birmingham Canal.

The tillerman, or tillerwoman, always appears graceful in a stance that fits beautifully into history, and the onlooker’s pleasure is to witness the glorious vision of two boats being steered with effortless control.

Yet appearances might deceive, since running a hotel boat is never effortless.

For the crew, the dawn to dusk job of looking after their boats and passengers has to be more than a job – it’s not even a vocation, it’s got to be a way of life they just love.

Is there a downside for passengers on hotel boat holidays? The Bywater passengers pause for a moment, then with a glint in their eyes they agree, “the cost!” The glint is the secret code that means it is worth every penny.

People travel from America, Germany, Scandinavia, South Africa, New Zealand and anywhere in between to experience a holiday on a hotel boat cruising Britain’s canals. So these canals can wave their flags in the global market of tourism, just as they once did in the era of great manufacturing industries.

Adapted extract from Britain’s Canals, A National Treasure in 100 Must-See Objects by Phillippa Greenwood and Martine O’Callaghan – published by Coolcanals July 2012.

Caledonian’s Discovery’s Fingal moored at Gairlochy on the Caledonian Canal.

www.coolcanals.com

FEBRUARY turned out to be really busy. Not only did I clear the huge email ‘aftermath’ following our late January holiday, I also had a stack of meetings plus some very urgent and time-consuming work for my own club. The net result was that I had very little actual fishing time in the month.

Importantly I attended workshops on three waterways designed to lay the foundations of their respective Fisheries & Angling Action Plans. Invites had been circulated to all angling club customers in each case and, thankfully, the clubs responded.

Not full houses by any means but attendances were still reasonable enough to be representative. Each workshop was handled slightly differently but all identified some really exciting targets which, if implemented, will make some significant difference for angling going forward.

However, it is imperative that the Canal & River Trust maintains the link with the clubs and, in turn, that the clubs continue to contribute.

The CRT’s National User Forum met last week in Birmingham. I have said before how vital these meetings are and this latest one did not disappoint. The updates from the chief executive and his team and the ensuing discussion are invaluable. The sharing of views and opinions benefits all.

There was a particularly interesting presentation on fundraising clearly showing just how well the still young Canal & River Trust is actually doing in this department. The Friends scheme looks to be especially successful and growing all the time. Of course anyone can sign up as a Friend for a small fee.

The Friends scheme is one possible opportunity for anglers to get closer to the trust. In my role as chairman of the Advisory Group I have had a number of conversations with members of the Fisheries & Angling team on this topic and there certainly seems to be scope to promote something along these lines.

A topic which arose at the user forum, as it has at a variety of meetings of late, is volunteering. Without doubt it is a tremendous success story for CRT and long may it continue. I frequently speak about the volunteering input by angling clubs, their officers and by those people who comprise the Advisory Group.

It has significant value and yet is probably still underutilised. Likelihood is it will be on the agenda of the next Advisory Group meeting which may enable some firm proposals to be formulated.

David Kent

Good results

I try to give a regular update on the CRT/Angling Trust Canal Pairs Championship. We are now very close to ticket application day and the news from the A T Competitions team is that there has been a massive expression of interest.

Clearly it would be dangerous to tempt providence by saying it will be a sell-out before tickets have gone on sale but the signs are really encouraging. I think this is because the competition has filled two large gaps in the national competition calendar i.e. a top class canal event open only to pairs of anglers.

Also because there is a qualifier in each waterway, anglers can have a try on their local piece of ‘cut’. Let us hope we can report on another great success late this year.

Talking of matches, it seems most canals are producing good results. The bigger South Yorkshire canals, which host numerous league events throughout the winter months, are as consistent as ever. Similarly the Trent & Mersey near Derby has turned up some good individual catches with punched bread seemingly a top bait.

One really good bit of news is that following the brilliant efforts of CRT’s Fisheries & Angling team and the Environment Agency to restore fish stocks in the Erewash Canal, angler catches are improving almost weekly.

Indeed two weeks ago one of my bailiffs caught a mixed bag of fish, including seven bream up to 3lb in weight. I feel sure a trial match or two is not far away.

If you get the chance to grab a couple of hours do not forget punched bread, especially if the water is clear.

Otherwise try a few worms for the perch. Tight lines.

Former head of crime unit joins enforcement team European Waterways’ Scottish Highlander moored after a day’s cruising on the Caledonian Canal.

FACT FILE There are hotel boats ranging from traditional narrowboat pairs cruising the historic waterways of England to huge converted barges in the Highlands of Scotland.

Cruising itineraries can vary every year so check with individual hotel boat operators for their latest information.

Location The canals are open all day every day – just find your local canal and you may be lucky enough to spot a hotel boat on the move.

How to get there By train National Rail Enquiries 0845 748 4950 By bus Traveline 0871 200 2233 On foot Canal towpaths are now easy routes to cycle and walk, many being part of Sustrans National Cycle Network or long-distance walking trails. www.sustrans.org.uk www.ldwa.org.uk

Moorings There are plenty of visitor moorings available along Britain’s canals Local Tourist info Canal & River Trust/Glandwr Cymru Use the Canal & River Trust website to find specific local information. www.canalrivertrust.org.uk Full listings of hotel boats in Britain can be found in the coolcanals online directory. www.coolcanals.com

Photo: ANGLING TRUST

THE Angling Trust has announced that former head of the police’s National Wildlife Crime Unit, Nevin Hunter, has become a key volunteer in its enforcement team.

He will continue to support the Angling Trust’s multi-agency approach to fisheries enforcement and its encouragement of partnership working and intelligence sharing.

Nevin’s volunteer assistance will help the trust maintain and develop momentum to ensure that angling enforcement – one of the sport’s hottopics and a frequent source of frustration among anglers – remains at the forefront of its work to protect fish and fishing.

He said: “Throughout my time as a police wildlife crime officer I was constantly involved with tackling illegal angling-related offences. Most recently this was part of conceiving and setting up Project Trespass to tackle the scourge of poaching in all of its forms.

“I am keen to bring my skills and experience to support the Angling Trust. Anything I can do to help the organisation bring anglers together and train law enforcers about protecting and conserving fisheries will be time well spent and I am looking forward to working with the trust and my former colleagues in the law enforcement community.”

108 WET WEB / NEWS

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The Wet Web

With the Thames Tideway in the news, Helen Gazeley unearths some data on the river’s water quality.

THAMES River Watch (TRW), the citizen science project involving Londoners in monitoring the health of the tidal Thames from Teddington eastwards, held a reception at the London Aquarium last month to report on results gathered since its inception in February 2014.

Over the year, volunteers took 417 water quality samples at 67 locations. Phil Stride, head of the Thames Tideway Tunnel (TTT), which funds Thames River Watch, described it as “no surprise” that 98% of samples contained coliform bacteria.

What is a surprise, thinks Phil, is how few are aware of the scale of the threat to the river.

The TTT (otherwise known as the controversial super sewer, which will hold excess combined storm water and sewage before sending it for treatment) says that currently an average of 39 million tonnes of sewage is discharged into the Thames every year (www.thameswater.co.uk/about -us/10115.htm).

In warm weather these discharges threaten fish, as bacteria leap into action to digest the organic matter, using oxygen. It’s been known for dissolved oxygen levels to fall from 55% to as little as 10% in a single tide.

The Thames is, of course, much improved since 1957, when it was declared ‘biologically dead’ by

Thames Water says that 39 million tonnes of sewage are discharged into the Thames each year. PHOTO:THAMES WATER

Work on the ‘super sewer’ has been approved to begin in 2016. The Lee Tunnel pictured here will connect with the Thames Tideway Tunnel. PHOTO:THAMES WATER

A volunteer taking samples for Thames River Watch.

PHOTO:THAMES21

researchers from the Natural History Museum. Improved sewage treatment means that 124 species of fish are now found in the Thames and, in 2006, a colony of rare short-snouted seahorses was discovered in the estuary, attesting, said conservationists, to its increased cleanliness. (http://bit.ly/195hCUe) Neil Dunlop of the Environment Agency (EA), however, explained that the river is nothing if not a very complex system. Indeed, he’s on record as querying whether the seahorses’ arrival had more to do with improved monitoring than water cleanliness, which hasn’t changed much since the 1980s (http://bit.ly/195bw6l).

The TRW data shows so far that the tidal Thames is mostly functioning as expected, with natural seasonal temperature variations and healthy pH levels.

It will make a useful baseline for more refined research, which will include sampling at specific times of tide and comparing results with the EA’s own monitoring data. Results may be seen in more detail on interactive maps on the Thames21 website (www.thames21.org.uk/project/t hames-river-watch).

Phil Stride believes that “the Thames Tideway Tunnel will be the catalyst for changes”, instigating increased use of the river and its foreshore.

However, the project is very controversial. Professor Chris Binnie, who originally chaired an assessment team in support of the tunnel, changed tack because of spiralling costs and the availability of methods that might bring about faster improvements.

Lord Berkeley provides commentary and links to Binnie’s various reports on

www.lordsoftheblog.net, rather bitingly summarising Defra’s reason for rejecting Binnie’s January review of Tideway spills as: “We reject your conclusions because they are based on insufficient data and we refused to provide the additional data he asked for.”

In the meantime, Thames River Watch is looking for more volunteers.

Besides water monitoring, litter surveying is a focus this year, to find where it comes from with the aim of dealing with it at source.

If you’d like to get involved or would like to lead activities in your area, Thames21 offers free training to volunteers. Or you can pledge support to the campaign Only Rain in Rivers (www.thames21.org.uk/onlyrain inrivers), which gives advice on keeping drains clear that is applicable around the country, in combination with the Thames Water’s Bin It, Don’t Block It campaign (www.binit.thames water.co.uk) which graphically illustrates what happens to fat poured down the sink.

Low levels of dissolved oxygen can kill fish. However, Professor Binnie’s review of Tideway spills states that the EA reports only three fish kills over the last 10 years, with only one, of one fish, caused by an overflow from combined sewage outlets due to be connected to the ‘super sewer’. PHOTO:THAMES WATER

➔ Formoreinformation Do you have a favourite website?

Email Helen at helengazeley@aol.com

TALKBACK A walk along the towpath

Tarring all continuous cruisers with the same brush

The newly cut and laid hedge alongside the towpath.

PHOTOS: MARIAN BYTHELL

ON SUNDAY, February 22, we had a lovely walk at Bunbury Locks in Cheshire, although the towpath was very muddy and the weather was bitterly cold.

However, I thought I would send you a couple of photos including a new piece of laid hedging which was apparent from a bonfire smouldering in a field close by.

Marian Bythell Tarporley, Cheshire

The Bunbury staircase locks on the Shropshire Union Canal.

RECENTLY the Canal & River Trust sent out over a thousand letters to continuous cruisers like me, threatening excommunication from our chosen lifestyle by refusing to license our boats the following year.

For eight years we have registered as a continuous cruiser and only in emergency have overstayed by a day or two, and I have eight years of very detailed logs to prove it. It appears that persistent offenders are to be targeted; personally I welcome this as the actions of the few miscreants black all continuous cruisers with the same mucky brush.

But... I have to wonder how CRT decided to target some boats and not others, and by picking up on internet chatter, not every continuous cruiser has had a letter.

Obviously, CRT doesn’t have a ‘Bob Cratchit’ scratching away in some cupboard so it must have been done by computer, which seems to have included those boaters who, like us, have had winter moorings at some time in the past.

Winter moorings are a wellestablished part of life on the canals but CRT’s policy to force everyone to have a permanent mooring will be fought by every genuine continuous cruiser in the country.

Bill de Leie By email

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TALKBACK

Your chance to write to us on any Towpath topic:

Towpath Talk, PO Box 43, Horncastle, Lincs LN9 6LZ editorial@towpathtalk.co.uk

Paying twice for the same bit of water?

★ Silky Star Letter ★ TOWPATH TALK has joined forces with Silky Marine Products to celebrate the great letters and pictures we receive from our readers with a star prize each month.

The lucky winner will receive a tub of Silky Cream Cleaner, Silky Deep Cleaner Ready to Use and Silky RX Enzyme Toilet Odour and Waste Reducer, worth a total value of more than £25 from the new range of Silky Marine Care and Maintenance products.

Silky Marine Products are specifically formulated to work in sequence to remove dirt and residue specific to the boating environment, and include the widely regarded classic Silky Cream Cleaner.

When a boat’s surfaces have been cleaned to a high standard using the Silky cleaning range, the valet and polish products bring out the shine, which is then sealed for the season with the unique polymer technology of Silky Protect.

Available to the public through www.silky products.com and selected retail outlets, Silky Products have been manufactured in Slaithwaite near Huddersfield for more than 40 years.

Where are the home moorings?

REFERENCE your lead story on ‘New Rules for boaters without a home mooring’ (News, Issue 113, March).

There are a few types of continuous cruiser; we all know the ones who buy a narrowboat with no mooring and just tie up near their home not knowing the rules because they will not pay the big fees at a marina; in the past they have got away with this.

There are the CCs who move a couple of hundred yards back and forth. And there are the genuine ones who do cruise around the country.

My question to the Canal & River Trust is: If only 50% of all these CCs want a home mooring, where are they? There are not enough home moorings available in my area of the Leeds & Liverpool Canal for a quarter of these.

I have been trying to get a home mooring in my area for over 12 months and there are none available. If I find a CRT mooring with large

numbers of gaps I am told they are taken, but if you question people who moor there they tell you: “Oh, nobody has been on that mooring for two years.”

At the moment I have my winter mooring permit up to April 1, but have been surrounded by boaters who have paid nothing but have moored where they are for over five months.

Recent quotes have included: “I have been moored here for 42 weeks and nobody has bothered me”; “I just tell them I have broken down they never ask for proof”; and “I have moored here for 31 weeks no problem, you should not have paid almost £400 for a winter mooring permit”.

I feel the available moorings must now be increased if CRT is to start waving the big stick.

Increase the moorings available on the existing sites and create new ones.

Arthur Waite By email

Have you seen Rocky?

ROCKY is a border terrier who went missing from the owner’s farm near Oldham on December 11, 2014. His owners are Frank and Jill Elswood who have searched for Rocky in and around the Foxdenton Lane, Chadderton area. Rocky has a love of water and his owners have walked along the Rochdale Canal in the area of Lock 64, the Kay Lane lock.

We are asking if anyone has seen Rocky along the towpaths or if someone travelling along the canal has picked Rocky up. Rocky will be around 10 months old; he is a male border terrier. He is microchipped and registered with Doglost. He was lost when he was out on the farm with the owners, and when they returned to the house and called the dogs in, Rocky did not return.

If you can help with any information please contact Doglost.co.uk on 0844 800 3220.

Michelle Holden By email

Boaters without a home mooring: how far is far enough?

A NUMBER of boaters have asked the Canal & River Trust for clarification of the legal requirement to cruise throughout the period of their licence and, in particular, what is the minimum distance that should be covered in order to comply with the trust’s Guidance for Boaters without a Home Mooring.

CRT has issued the following statement: “We recognise that boaters want clarity over this. However the BW Act 1995 does not stipulate a minimum distance. It does set out

the requirement to use the boat bona fide for navigation, and the trust’s guidance is our interpretation of this requirement.

“While this means that we cannot set a universal minimum distance for compliance, we can advise that it is very unlikely that someone would be able to satisfy us that they have been genuinely cruising if their range of movement is less than 15-20 miles over the period of their licence. In most cases we would expect it to be greater than this.

“We will be advising those boaters without a home mooring whose range of movement falls short of this distance that their movement needs to increase or we may refuse to renew their licence.

“Our statutory right to refuse to renew a licence arises from section 17 of the BW Act 1995 which states that we can refuse to issue a licence if we are not satisfied that a boat either has a home mooring or intends to continuously cruise.”

Moorings letters are a PR disaster – National Association of Boat Owners (NABO) An open letter to Ian Rogers, head of customer services, Canal & River Trust

WE WRITE to express our disappointment at the communications strategy of the Canal & River Trust around enforcement that has occurred in the short term following your appointment. We think this has been a PR disaster alienating many of our members who continuously cruise without a home mooring At the meeting with the associations on January 19 this year we were shown a presentation that indicated that CRT was planning a three-step approach to enforcement; this was broken down as follows: Step 1. Refuse to license the 16% of boaters without a home mooring that move less than 5km.

Step 2. Refuse to grant a full-term licence for the 50% of boaters without a home mooring that move more than 5km but less than 20km until they show a pattern of movement that takes them into the third step.

Step 3. Those that move more than 20km will not generally attract enforcement attention.

It was recognised that these percentages were being verified, but that they were not expected to change materially. The associations were invited to approve this process.

NABO has long stated that it is for CRT to decide what constitutes ‘bona fide’ for navigation and to enforce on this basis and this could be challenged via the courts as appropriate. NABO therefore supported this proposal on the basis there was a comprehensive strategy that CRT intended to follow and that enforcement was seen to be transparent, consistent and clear.

The implication from the presentation given by Denise Yelland, head of enforcement, was that enforcement was to be focused on those boaters on step 1 , thus the ‘towpath telegraph’ would work and many of

the boaters currently in step 2 would move to step 3 without any need for further action.

However what has happened is that every boater without a home mooring has been sent a letter and email detailing two vague definitions of those that ‘hardly move’ and those that move more than ‘hardly move’, but still do not, in CRT’s opinion, move but not far enough.

At the meeting of the associations it is minuted that Richard Parry and Denise Yelland were going to prepare a clear response to the question “how far should I travel to comply”? Regrettably this has not been the case.

This has had the effect of upsetting many of our members who fall within the 34% that do not and will not attract CRT’s enforcement attention; these are boaters who, in general, are supportive of what CRT is trying to achieve.

A typical comment we have received is: “I’m not against the rules for CCing or CRT trying to enforce them but they really do not have the information to make fair and reasonable decisions and there is a lot of assumption where there are gaps in the data.

“I suspect many people who are following the rules will end up with enforcement notices due to the enforcement attitude which appears to be guilty unless proven innocent. Like many boater we are now using the Android Cruising log app as we do not think our blog would be considered as suitable evidence if we did find ourselves with an enforcement notice.

“Seems to me that CRT is losing the support of lots of great boaters who previously donated to them and supported their activities with enthusiasm.”

Instead of focusing initial communications and enforcement activity on those boaters

within step 1 we now have great unrest within the continuous cruiser fraternity. Boaters are asking for their movement records and in many cases discovering many discrepancies in the recording of their movements, which has given rise to doubts, coupled with many boaters emailing CRT to request confirmation of how far they should travel to avoid enforcement attention.

It has appeared that CRT did not have a strategy to respond to these queries. No doubt some will seek to use the inaccuracy of CRT’s records with the lack of clarity from CRT on their movement as a defence.

In the end CRT has been forced to release a statement (we note now in miles as opposed to kilometres) giving a range of movement that boaters should follow as a guide to avoid enforcement activity.

From a PR perspective this does not reflect well on CRT at this blanket approach to communication and enforcement.

We hope that CRT will now pause and ensure that they have a clear strategy in place on their approach to enforcement. Our recommendation would be to focus on those boats within step 1 with a clear, consistent and transparent enforcement approach giving encouragement, guidance and support such that there is a pattern of movement that supports CRT’s interpretation of ‘bona fide’ navigation that they are comfortable in defending when challenged.

In the meantime, from a PR and customer services perspective, we would urge CRT to please treat boaters as customers that they wish to retain and encourage to be more involved in the waterways and not as a problem which is how many perceive that CRT see them.

Mark Tizard NABO vice-chairman and moorings

I HAVE a question that I would like an answer to. It might sound daft to some people, but nevertheless I would like to know what people think.

I am landlord of the Boat Inn situated canalside at bridge 21 Grand Union; I have quite a large frontage and am told that I have only one permanent mooring which I find difficult to believe as this used to be a working wharf, but nevertheless one, where I have allowed a gentleman to moor.

Now, here’s my question. If this man and his boat pay for the right to be on the canal (water) and move up and down it, why does he have to pay again for the right to float on the water attached to my mooring? There is no movement from him so therefore no extra maintenance from his boat. Somehow it seems completely wrong that he has to pay twice.

How do the CRT sleep knowing that they are turning people over like this, not only paying for his private mooring, but also paying them twice for the same bit of water?

Tim Dalglish Bridge 21, Grand Union Canal

POET’S CORNER Chug-Chugging along THE engine chug-chugged in the heat of the day, Carrying the barge past fields of mown hay.

A kingfisher darted ahead of its bow, As it searched for its lunch in the waters below.

The helmsman’s eyes drifted from a high mountain ridge To the moss-covered arch of an old stone bridge, Where the towpath encroaches and narrows the stream Requiring concentration, a brief break from his dream.

Six young ducks emerged from the reed’s cover, Briefly played on his wash, closely watched by their mother.

Her head sweeping round like a stopwatch’s hand, Checking the safety of each of her band.

The canal wound on through locks to their mooring, Past churches and farms and pubs most alluring.

There was always a view, a treat for the eye, A field, spotted with sheep or a sunset filled sky.

His wife appeared with bread, cheese and beer, Made him sit for his lunch, “shh, I can steer” Their holiday was ending, just another two days Then back to ‘reality’ and other folks’ ways He yearned for his dream, of an idyllic life, Spent, on the water, in his boat with his wife.

Crispin Raikes

Water, water everywhere WE RECENTLY called at the Museum of Water exhibition in the upstairs gallery at The Storey, Lancaster, to deliver an exhibit of Lancaster Canal water.

The three-day event was far more interesting than expected and water taken from the Lancaster Canal Killington feeder ranks alongside 125,000-year-old samples taken from over 160m below the Antarctic ice cap.

After a brief chat with the curator we found ourselves giving a recorded talk on the Lancaster Canal history and bringing it up to date, recording the salvaging of the Aldcliffe Road site artefacts, such as a 30cwt scale.

From what the curator said, these recorded facts are likely to be used in a documentary they are making, including the following poem (with apologies to Tennyson):

The Lancaster Canal I come from haunts like ‘coot and her’n’, I bicker down the valley, To feed the Lancaster canal, I make a sudden sally.

It truly is a pleasing sight, Gives such pleasure to behold But I can’t stay so on I go, Tumbling over locks, quite bold.

High above the River Lune, Passing slowly Morecambe Bay, And on through lovely countryside, Flowing south by night and day.

At last to Preston, oh so proud.

Ponder then on this and find, That water bright in this canal Has brought wealth to all mankind.

Frank Sanderson Lancaster Canal Trust

110 THE LAST WORD

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What’s the point of…48 hour moorings?

In a new series, Peter Underwood looks at issues affecting boaters and asks:What’s the point?

ERECT a 48 hour mooring sign and you create fairness, according to many in the Canal & River Trust and others.

But does it?

Trust boss Richard Parry acknowledged in a public meeting that the availability of a mooring spot for a particular boat depended more on other factors than the time restriction; and the National Association of Boat Owners says visitor moorings should be both adequate and fair for the boats wanting to use them. That leads to two simple principles. Firstly, visitor moorings should reflect the needs of visiting boats at the time. Secondly, the mooring restrictions need to be seen to be enforced fairly for all boaters.

The CRT worked hard to provide me with its data over a year on the use of moorings in Central Birmingham, a busy city centre with forty 48 hour spaces on four sites for average sized 50ft boats, twenty-seven 14 day spaces on three sites and three 24 hour spaces.

I had a maths professor lined up to

look at the numbers and establish the probability of a visiting boat being able to get the spot it wanted but the available statistics are just too patchy Although 14 day moorings in Cambrian Wharf were monitored up to three times a week, the remainder were spot-checked every two or three weeks, some only four times in a whole year, with numbers suggesting there was almost always space available.

It’s clear the CRT does not monitor most of Birmingham’s moorings in a way that enables it to find and move on overstaying boats – a problem exacerbated by the fact that one stretch of 48 hour moorings is down as seven day on its records and one 48 hour moorings registers as 24 hour.

So there is little hope of fair enforcement being a reality, and little point to 48 hour moorings that cannot be enforced.

But does the moorings mix meet the needs of the boaters using the city centre?

Intensive monitoring of Cambrian Wharf’s 14 day moorings gives us the only picture of what boaters visit Birmingham.

Half of the 100 boats spotted had a home mooring and half were continuous cruisers, with just a couple of hire boats. The CRT reckons half the CCers were ‘local’ boats and half visitors from further afield; just 12 of the boats with a mooring were local and 37 from further afield.

If we assume that most CCers are interested in longer stays and many of the boats coming from further away may well be on long cruises and also likely to want a longer stay, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to suggest, especially as the other 14 day site on the Birmingham Main Line is also busy, that 75-85% of visiting boats are looking for longer than 48 hours as a stay in the city. Yet 60% of the visitor moorings are short stay.

In reality, the CRT monitoring also fails to show what most locals know – that the 48 hour moorings in Gas Street are often nearly full with passing hire boats in the summer season so the numbers are not quite as they seem, but even allowing for that the balance is clearly wrong.

Seasonal solution

Cambrian Wharf – often busy 14 day moorings and the only site extensively monitored by the CRT. PHOTOS: PETER UNDERWOOD

Spring clean

In this month’s extracts from her online blog,Amy Whitewick dons the Marigolds in a bid to get the bathroom shipshape.

Cleaning materials at the ready. PHOTO:AMY WHITEWICK

I asked Dr David Craven, Royal Society University Research Fellow and Senior Birmingham Fellow at the School of Mathematics at the University of Birmingham, how such a system worked.

He told me: “The first thing that needs to be recognised is that a 48 hour rule will only affect people who would otherwise have stayed for longer than 48 hours.

“The second thing to note is that this rule is only useful if it means that a berth is free that would otherwise be occupied by a long-staying boat. This rule is pointless on stretches that are

SPRINGTIME usually goes hand-in-hand with something traditionally called a ‘spring clean’. With one of those momentous thoughts in mind (the ones that seem a good idea until you try them that is), we decided to get the bathroom shipshape for the oncoming season.

Armed with a bucket, rubber gloves and sponges, dad and I set to work – one of us scrubbing the floor, the other balanced over the bath on one leg in a ridiculous attempt to reach the other end (fixed shower screens aren’t all they’re cracked up to be).

The Royal Ballet will soon be in contact to steal the outstanding choreography for their next show to be performed in a theatre the size of a shoebox.

For a moment, both of us pondered over the bath plughole after considering tipping a bucket of water in it. A plug was left casually on the side (a gift from our girl’s previous owners) and, after a fight to see who could reach it first, we shoved it proudly into the hole.

It popped out again and again like a meerkat on speed dial each time we wedged it in. Confused, we looked around to see if there was some kind of mistake; what happens if we have the curious urge to take a bath?

Just for the sheer frustration of it, we threw the bucket of water in anyway, then stared agog.

Thanks to the mysteries of modern boating, the water refused to budge. Both of us peered over into the black round thing, which defied all possible logic of a conventional hole.

rarely busy, and also to some extent on stretches that are very busy, as there will rarely be a free berth regardless of whether you move people on. Time restrictions don’t really mean there are lots of free spaces.

“It might make sense to have this rule for busy periods, say summer months, but not during winter, as there’s no lack of spaces.”

If the CRT’s monitoring figures are to be taken at face value, there is rarely any overcrowding in central Birmingham, except perhaps on the 14 day moorings.

It would seem possible that if almost every visitor mooring in central Birmingham was unrestricted other than the national 14 day limit, it might make little difference to the passing 25 or 30% of short stay boaters, especially if an eight or 10 boat stretch of 24 hour mooring was created for those passing through. And it would be much fairer to the two-thirds of longer staying boaters. The CRT would also have a reasonable chance of monitoring all boats on the 14 day moorings – and enforcing that rule.

The random sightings revealed in the figures are only useful in monitoring the overall movements of continuous cruisers and these are the only boaters I know to have been given warnings.

The conclusion must be that, in Birmingham and perhaps in many more places, 48 hour moorings fail the test of fairly catering for the needs of all visiting boaters, especially during winter months, and are unable to be fairly enforced. The good news is that the trust has finally decided that from November to March almost all visitor moorings will revert to 14 days’ stay.

If 48 hour moorings are not pointless, they are certainly needed much less than their recent growth implies; and they should all have to be justified, with the relevant statistics on fairness to all types of boater, or be scrapped.

I’ll give CERN a call soon, just to see if we might have discovered that peculiarity called ‘dark matter’ that no one seems to know the answer to.

Explain a plughole that isn’t actually a hole, with zero gravitational pull (until we found the switch around the corner and it became a snorting, sniggering beast that sucked everything away).

Such novelties.

Our girl however had a very different perspective on spring cleaning and naughtily released her shower valves. Instead of the usual trickle from the shower head, a great jet blasted out upwards from the taps like those big posh fountains found outside stately homes and gave dad a soaking.

On Four in a Bed they complain about showers not having their controls on the outside. Ours doesn’t have any control whatsoever.

Feeling flushed

Once we had hung up our rubber gloves for the morning, we stood outside for a while and nattered to our boaty friends, who licked their dry lips when we mentioned we were off to the pub. We let them drool while we wittered on about burgers, cider, a warm fire and toilets.

One of our friends paused at this point, an eyebrow raised. “The pub has a toilet? One of those that you can flush like this…” He raised an arm and did the motion.

“Not like this?” He pointed a finger as if to push a button.

We nodded earnestly in united persuasion. “Cor,

ToWpaTh TiTTer

CONTINUING our light-hearted look at life on the cut with this eye-catching narrowboat stern snapped by John Burke on the South Yorkshire Navigation at Strawberry Island Boat Club, Doncaster.

Boat owner Michael Oakes has fashioned the top of the rudder of his boat Michael O’ and Co into a head and then painted arms and hands on the boat which gives the appearance of someone being pulled along in the water.

A past commodore and currently vicepresident, Michael has been an active member of the club for many years and is one of its characters. An active boater, once the weather warms up he will spend the summer travelling around the system.

If you have a suitable photo or anecdote we can share with our readers, please send it to Towpath Talk, PO Box 43, Horncastle, Lincs LN9 6JR or email: editorial@towpathtalk.co.uk And don’t forget you can also follow us on Twitter @towpath talk and on Facebook

and I bet they have quilted toilet paper too, not that ’ard stuff.”

One of the general rules of consumption on a boat is not to use the type of loo roll that you could double up as a duvet cover unless you want to spend up to a week neck-high in something unmentionable with a box of spanners on your lap.

That’s why lots of boaters spend plenty of time in pubs. It’s not the drink they’re after, but rather, somewhere comfortable to place their behind (and I don’t mean in the bar, either).

Long-term memory

It’s also rather nice to think about where you might be placing the rest of yourself for a good night of sleep. Hence I’ve purchased myself a mattress after discovering the ones left by the previous owners were all right for a hobbit’s sleepover, but rather, shall we say, a little too skinny for someone who does sideways rolls in their sleep (the ones where you get that horrible jumping feeling and end up spread-eagled on the floor). Thankfully now there’s a wall either side.

This mattress is awesome with a topper in memory foam. It means that if anyone else happens to lay down or sleep in it, I shall know, owing to the perfect imprint left of them. Why crime scene investigators haven’t used this technique yet, I’ll never know. ● Read Amy’s blog at http://weboughtafatboat.blogspot.com

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