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Issue 100 February 2014

100 issue Jewel in the town will become th

A NEW YEAR MESSAGE FROM RICHARD PARRY BRINGING YOU THE HEADLINES

central feature

P2 P4

WEY & ARUN TRUST REFLOATS ITS BOAT

P11

ARE YOU GETTING THE STATE BENEFITS YOU’RE ENTITLED TO

New plans will open up a panoramic view of Stourport Basin. PHOTO:WATERWAY IMAGES

P96

By Bob Clarke

WATERPOINTS FRENCH STYLE

THE historic canal basin complex at Stourport-on-Severn is set to become a central feature in the town after over 200 years of being tucked away out of sight.

A planning application has now been made to Wyre Forest District Council to tear down what have been described as ‘poor quality buildings’ – including a

P101

Boaters’ meeting dates

481 BOATS FOR SALE Starts on

semi-derelict garage – in Bridge Street, the town’s main shopping street and open up a panoramic view of the basins, moorings and historic warehouses and other canal-related buildings.

Council Leader John Campion described the basin area as being ‘the town’s jewel’ and added: “Opening up the area and giving access through to the basins has always been the council’s primary objective. The basins are the

THE first boaters’ meeting hosted by Canal & River Trust chief executive Richard Parry was due to take place on Thursday, January 23 at The Bond in Birmingham. Dates have also been announced for meetings in Nottingham on Saturday, February 8 and Banbury on Wednesday, February 26. More details on P3.

P15

Shock at New Year death

BOATERS in the Banbury area were shocked by the death of Ian Mason, 63, known to many as Spike, and his Staffordshire bull terrier, Milly, found by neighbours on board nb Samara on the Oxford Canal. Investigations were continuing into the cause but Oxfordshire Fire & Rescue issued a warning about toxic fumes in the wake of the tragedy.

More locations, more choice Stourport Marina Tel 01299 827 082

Racecourse Marina, Windsor

Stourport on Severn

Tel 01753 851 717

River Thames, Windsor

Thames & Kennet Marina

Walton Marina

Tel 01932 221 689

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

jewel in Stourport but many people don’t know they are there.

“Demolishing the existing poor quality building is the first step in redeveloping the site which is part of a key regeneration opportunity in the town.”

The project will be the first phase of the multi-million pound wide ranging Bridge Street Basins Link Scheme with the second phase seeing houses, shops and restaurants being built.

Since canal trade stopped in the late 1940s and 50s, the area steadily fell into disrepair. Local canal enthusiasts, the Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal Society and the Inland Waterways Association regularly campaigned for something to be done but their appeals were studiously ignored by first the British Transport Commission and then British Waterways.

Continued on page 3

Show gives loyalty award THE Inland Waterways Association (IWA) received a special award from the organisers of the London Boat Show for its loyal attendance. IWA was a founder exhibitor when the event was first launched 60 years ago, and hasn’t missed a year since. Its stand has provided the principal focus for information on inland boating. Show report, P58.

2 NEWS

www.towpathtalk.co.uk

WELCOME ARE you sticking to your New Year’s resolutions?

Mine was to declutter but when you start looking back through the archives as I did for our look back at the headlines over 100 issues, (see P4) you realise the value of hoarding!

Although this only represents around eight years, a mere drop in the ocean compared to the history of our inland waterways, it has been a time of great change with the birth of the Canal & River Trust and canal developments such as the Liverpool Link and the Droitwich Ring.

What will the next 100 issues bring? With the spectre of the HS2 hanging over restoration schemes and the proposed transfer of Environment Agency waters to the Canal & River Trust on the back burner, will we be able to look back at a similar rate of progress as we move into the 2020s?

One man who is starting the New Year on a positive note is CRT chief executive, Richard Parry, who in his exclusive message to you on this page, forecasts an exciting future.

He is starting the ball rolling with a new series of open meetings, the first of which was due to take place at Birmingham as our papers went out on Thursday, January 23. If you missed this one, further meetings are scheduled in Nottingham and Banbury in February.

Harry Arnold reports from the first major event of the year, the London Boat Show on P58, I was also in the capital recently for a visit to the London Canal Museum, P12, while Les Heath has ‘tunnel vision’ on P14.

TOWPATH

TALK

Janet

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A New Year’s message from Canal & River Trust chief executive Richard Parry AS WE all look forward to what the new year will bring, I approach 2014 with particular anticipation as I complete my first six months as the Canal & River Trust’s chief executive. It has been a great experience for me so far, and I see an exciting future for our waterways.

Our mission, as the trust, is now unambiguously to protect, manage and enhance the 2000 miles of canals and river navigations in our care, making them widely available to use and enjoy – free from day-to-day Government control. Use for navigation is central of course. Beyond that, the network is also used and enjoyed by millions of people for a wide range of activities or simply for escape and tranquility.

While our mission is about looking after the ‘assets’ – both the physical infrastructure, the natural environment we protect, and the heritage of our great canal system – it is people who are central to our vision for the waterways. We understand that it is through the connections that people make, engaging with history, wildlife, and the many opportunities for leisure, that the waterways’ long term future health will be secured.

Active involvement from all those based on and around our waterways is core to our new approach.

We have a range of partners, old and new; Towpath Talk readers – whatever your interest in or use of our waterways – all have a role to play, as those who support our canals and river navigations most actively.

Open meetings

I spent much of my first three months in my new role at the trust travelling around, meeting with a wide range of people and learning from your knowledge and experience. Looking ahead, I want to develop more ways for us to communicate and am hosting ‘open’ meetings to listen to your views. The first meeting is on January 23 in Birmingham followed by meetings in February in Nottingham and Banbury.

Details are available on the trust’s website or here within the news pages of Towpath Talk.

Getting local people involved is vital because, for many, the canals and rivers are viewed largely as a local amenity that brings character and enjoyment to the local area, and with half of the population living within five miles of one of our waterways we have the potential to connect with communities right across England and Wales. As a new charity it is also vital that we raise awareness and engage new audiences – that is why, for example, the interest and media coverage we get for our winter Restoration and Repair open days is so important in engaging with the general public. We have eight more such open days across the country during January and February. Again, details of all of them are on our website.

Looking to the future, we face many challenges. We won’t ever have as much money to spend on the waterways as we would like, and still have difficult choices to make as we prioritise our spending. Our commitment to greater dredging and, this winter,

Richard Parry: “I am taking your priorities into account.” more off-side vegetation removal shows, I hope, that I am taking your priorities into account.

Eighteen months into the life of the Canal & River Trust, the scale of the opportunity we have is inspiring. We had record numbers of people visiting our waterways last summer, and both volunteer numbers and Friends are growing. There are more and more opportunities to help us look after our waterways, and all who love and enjoy them can, I believe, look forward to the future with confidence.

A happy new year to all.

Richard

Finding the right formula for its festivals The New Year could be the start of a new chapter in the history of the Inland Waterways Association suggests Bob Clarke ThIS year 2014 could well be a defining year in the future development of the Inland Waterways Association following its widely praised decision to abandon the now dated, tired and loss making National Waterways Festivals and concentrate instead on supporting localised waterway festivals and associated events.

Last year’s (2013) national at Watford was a financial disaster with a loss of £40,000 and appalling attendances and the IWA leadership quickly decided enough was enough and in view of the financial risks, no future festival of that type would be held.

Although the events team is faced with an ambitious range of events to support, the biggest event of all will be the Stratford River Festival as it marks the 50th anniversary of the reopening of the Southern Stratford Canal and at which the IWA with arguably its finest ever boat gathering – grandly titled Festival of Boats & Arts – attracted thousands of visitors every day over a five-day period. The year also marks the 40th anniversary of the reopening of the Avon navigation between Evesham and Stratford and also the centenary of the birth of the IWA’s founder, Robert Aickman.

Will the IWA have cause for celebration again at Stratford? PHOTO:WATERWAY IMAGES

Enhanced presence

The association also says it will be having an ‘enhanced presence’ at Stratford and at the annual Crick Boat Show.

And it will be closely examining the feasibility study on the proposed extension of the Avon navigation northwards to Warwick which is due to be published early in the year. The plan is to create a junction with the Grand Union Canal near Warwick which would create a wide (barge) navigation ‘ring’ which would encompass the

Kennet & Avon Canal, the Bristol Avon and the River Severn to meet the Warwickshire Avon at Tewkesbury. With the eventual reopening of the Cotswold Canals between the Thames and Severn at Saul Junction that ring would be substantially shorter and not involve the tidal stretch of the Severn to Sharpness.

Other events in 2014 will be the Campaign Rally at Chester to improve waterway connection with the River Dee as well as the northern reaches of the Shropshire Union Canal.

Announcing what some members are

already calling ‘the new look IWA’, the association’s national chairman Les Etheridge says: “Festivals are important to us for the promotion of waterways where they are held and the engagement with a wide range of boaters and other waterway users as well as the opportunity to draw in new waterway supporters.

“The old formula for the IWA National Festival clearly no longer works and a new style is needed so we need to support a wider range of events across the country.”

NEWS 3

www.towpathtalk.co.uk Continued from page 1

Jewel in the town will become central feature Inland port

It was only in recent years that BW seemed to ‘rediscover’ Stourport and decided regeneration should take place – even though Stourport was the first inland port to be built.

Prior to that the area only had a hamlet. But when the canal arrived a new town was built with a large number of imposing Georgian houses being built by merchants and was given the name Stourport.

The imposing Tontine Hotel overlooking the river, which was the centre of merchant trading, was sold off by the Transport Commission to a brewery which basically ran it into the ground and then closed it down.

Fortunately the dire state of the Stourport complex had come to the attention of the then BW chief executive David Fletcher who

bought back the by now almost derelict Tontine Hotel. In its heyday the building was a 100 bedroom hotel catering for merchants and was also the major social centre for the booming Georgian town.

The exterior has now been totally restored and converted into classic Georgian style apartments. Close by a former basin has been partially re-excavated and is now surrounded by modern apartments with their own private moorings.

A decision on the planning application is due some time this month (February). But councillors say they are determined to put Stourport back to its canal heritage roots – after all it was the first town to be created by the arrival of a canal.

First dates set for open boater meetings THE Canal & River Trust’s chief executive, Richard Parry, will be hosting a series of open meetings for boaters and other waterway users across the country throughout 2014.

These will offer a chance for people to informally air views on any local or national issues and open up channels of communication for any future consultations.

Richard will host these open meetings regularly, seeking to hold them in each waterway over the year. Boaters with home moorings in the local area, and continuous cruisers who have been sighted nearby, will be contacted with email invitations. Anyone else who is interested is welcome to attend and the

meeting details will be available on the CRT website.

“As I announced in November, I want to make sure we listen carefully to views from the cut and openly share our ideas and plans for the future so that we get input from those whose commitment to our waterways is greatest to make sure our plans align with what our customers want,” Richard said.

“These informal open meetings are another opportunity for boaters and other users to speak directly to the trust and I hope they encourage people to share their views and ideas. If you know someone who may be interested in coming along please help spread the word and pass the details on to them.”

Open meetings

Thursday, January 23, 6pm – Birmingham. The Bond, 180-182 Fazeley Street, Digbeth, Birmingham B5 5SE. Saturday, February 8, 3pm – Nottingham. Waterfront, Castle Wharf, Canal Street, Nottingham NG1 7EH. Wednesday, February 26, 6pm – Banbury. The Old Auctioneer, 44 Parson’s Street, Banbury, Oxfordshire OX16 5NA. If you would like to attend, please RSVP to fran.read@canalrivertrust.org.uk.

London boaters launch ‘Operation Whistleblower’ in bid to beat crime

By Polly Player

CRIME against boaters in London reached unprecedentedly high levels during 2013, with several areas of the London waterways network becoming the target of multiple attacks against boaters moored in the locality.

Rising numbers of burglaries, breakins and theft of items from the outside of boats all became common areas of concern among boaters across the capital. Disturbingly, home invasionstyle robberies have been reported by several boaters in areas including Victoria Park, Hackney Wick and Stonebridge, consisting of deliberate break-ins of occupied boats involving violence and threats with weapons.

The Metropolitan Police are working closely with London boaters in an attempt to establish a complete picture of criminal activity perpetrated against boaters in the area and tackle particular hotspots of crime. Project Kraken, the Metropolitan Police’s Marine Watch scheme, is tasked with tackling crime and antisocial behaviour around London’s rivers and waterways, and liaising with boaters in the area about incidents involving criminal activity.

After members of the London boating community raised concerns about calling for help or assistance in a

timely manner if they felt endangered or threatened, a discussion ensued regarding how liveaboard boaters might be able to alert the residents of other boats moored nearby if they found themselves faced with an immediate threat.

Out of these discussions, Operation Whistleblower was launched by members of the London boating community, with the later support of both Project Kraken and the Canal & River Trust. Operation Whistleblower’s genius lies in its simplicity: boaters are urged to keep a whistle with them at all times and simply blow their whistle if they witness a crime taking place or feel in physical danger. This will alert other boaters in the area who are aware of the scheme and who will be able to phone for help and assist the boater in question.

Safety day

London boaters Naseem Regragui and Cecilia Bonilla purchased the first set of whistles and distributed them to boaters around the Victoria Park area with the help of other volunteers.

Flyers explaining the scheme and encouraging boaters to take part accompanied the distribution of the whistles, and donations towards the ongoing project were invited from

IN BRIEF Wappenshall Wharf

PLANS to restore the canalside warehouses at Wappenshall in north Telford and create Thomas Telford’s Wappenshall Wharf received a boost with the news that the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) will support a full award of almost £1 million with a phase one award of £72,000. The Shrewsbury Canal was Telford’s first canal and the Newport Canal his last. Work is planned to start in autumn of 2014 and will be completed within two years The first round grant will enable the Shrewsbury & Newport Canal Trust to fund the development of the plans for the £1.45 million project.

Historic flagship

NATIONAL Historic Ships UK is seeking the 2014 Flagship of the Year aimed at vessels on the register which are in operational condition and which raise its profile by attending public events and festivals. The successful applicant will be given a broad pennant to fly, marking its Flagship status and the year of the award as well as a grant of up to £1000 towards the costs of running the vessel and appearing at major national or international events.

Applications should be made online at www.nationalhistoricships.org.uk and close on March 31.

Epic challenges

WATERWAY enthusiasts can compete in two epic challenges in 2014. The Canal & River Trust is hosting the events with the aim of raising thousands of pounds to improve local waterways. The Grand Union Challenge will take place from June 28-30 along the towpath from Little Venice to Bletchley in Buckinghamshire with three distance options – 25km, 50km or 100km – and a variety of start/finish points. The Great British Bike Off will see teams of cyclists journey from London to Leeds from September 10-12 calling at some famous waterway locations and following a section of a 2014 Tour De France stage.

Ticking time bomb BUYER pressure to find the ‘best deal

Boaters Naseem Regragui and Cecilia Bonilla with other whistle scheme volunteers after the first whistle distribution. boaters who received a whistle. Since then, the project has expanded to other areas of the capital, with additional boaters volunteering to distribute whistles and spread awareness of the scheme.

The Canal & River Trust itself later purchased whistles for distribution to boaters and held a Community Safety Day for boaters and local residents in Victoria Park on December 7, 2013, in partnership with the Metropolitan Police Marine Policing Unit.

Since the inception of Operation Whistleblower, over 800 whistles and flyers have been distributed to London boaters across areas including Stonebridge, Mile End, Bow, Victoria Park, The Angel, King’s Cross and Paddington.

Any boater who would like to know more about Operation Whistleblower or would like to receive a whistle of their own can contact the organisers by emailing operationwhistleblower@gmail.com

out there’ has turned the UK’s used boat market into a ticking time bomb according to Jane Gentry, chief executive of the Yacht Brokers, Designers & Surveyors Association.

With less money and more choice, buyers are doing all they can to grab a bargain, but this can mean they are taking more risks. “There’s a general lack of understanding about the legal process involved,” Jane explained.

“The recreational boating market is already awash with vessels that don’t have a proper paper trail, making the whole sector a legal minefield for future buyers and sellers.”

100

4 NEWS

(No 1March 06)

Plans for a Fred Dibnah Experience Centre were among a raft of proposals linked to the restoration of the Manchester, Bolton & Bury Canal.

(No 43, April 09) The opening of the £22 million Liverpool Link connecting the Albert Dock to the inland waterway network.

(No 69, July 2011)

A crime-fighting scheme likened to a neighbourhood watch for boats could be rolled out across the country.

www.towpathtalk.co.uk

ISSUES OF TOWPATH TALK: We take a look back at just some of the stories making the headlines since No1 appeared in March 2006.Although Towpath Talk was established a few years previously, this marked the newspaper’s launch to the news trade as the only specialist newspaper covering Britain’s inland waterway network.

(No 12 October 06)

(No 18 March 07)

(No 31 April 08)

The campaign against Government cuts gathered momentum with a weekend of protests around the country.

Considering the condition of the waterways with a four-page special looking at the challenges ahead for British Waterways.

(No 46, July 09)

(No 52, January 2010)

(No 74, December 2011)

(No 82, July 2012)

A sign of things to come? British Waterways instituted survival plans as Defra funding cuts began to bite.

The wider vision for the Chesterfield Canal before HS2 threatened to scupper restoration plans.

The end of the line for the Birmingham Boat & Caravan Show following the announcement that it would not take place in 2012.

Setting a new course: British Waterways outlined proposals for the move to the third sector.

A new chapter in the history of the inland waterways as the Canal & River Trust is launched across the country.

(No 60, September 2010)

The first canal boat for eight decades travelled along the Droitwich Barge Canal.

(No 89, March 2013)

The next big challenge as the HS2 route threatens canal restoration plans.

NEWS 5

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Positive response to ‘quiet zone’

By Polly Player

THE Canal & River Trust’s four-month quiet zone trial for London Islington’s visitor moorings (at the rear of Noel Road) on the Regent’s Canal began at the end of November, as reported in the Towpath Talk January edition.

So far, the following local measures have been implemented: Mooring provision during the winter months reduced to a single line of boats with breasting up forbidden, in an attempt to reduce the amount of smoke and noise generated by boaters as a whole.

Boaters are required to burn only approved smokeless fuels while moored in the Noel Road area.

Designation of the area as a quiet zone, including signage to this effect, requesting boaters to keep engine and generator noise to background levels and essential use only.

Rotation of a volunteer caretaker boat on a monthly basis, in order to monitor boater behaviour and act as a point of liaison between boaters and local residents along the canal.

Deployment of two part-time mooring rangers to maintain a regular presence

in the area and provide information and support to both boaters and local residents, while also enforcing the agreed restrictions.

During the time the trial has been under way, the interim results are being cautiously hailed as positive so far.

Feedback from the Canal & River Trust indicates a dramatic decrease in the number of complaints received from local residents over the Christmas period, with just one isolated report of antisocial behaviour involving an engine being started up after the 8pm curfew.

The response of boaters to both the presence of the caretaker boat and the increased mooring ranger patrol coverage has also been largely positive.

Ron Gooding, caretaker boater over the Christmas period, told Towpath Talk: “It has been great to be involved in a project that tries to find common ground between boaters, towpath users and local residents.

“For CRT London to entrust the trial at such an early stage to a continuously cruising boater is a good sign for future projects. The scheme has been well received so far by all of the visiting moorers that I have spoken to.”

See page 13 or call 01507

Car in canal prompts police hunt

By Bob Clarke

A DRAMATIC rescue operation was mounted just before Christmas when a car was discovered partially submerged in the Wyrley & Essington Canal at Sneyd Wharf near Walsall.

A passer-by raised the alarm at 10.20am when he spotted the Chevrolet hatchback slowly sinking and thought someone may be trapped inside.

Fire and rescue crews raced to the scene but because of the murky

water a water rescue team was also sent. They broke a window in the car and established it was empty. The car was then partially winched out of the canal and the canal bed was then searched in case anyone had fallen out. But after an hour the search was called off.

The car had apparently been driven about 100 yards down a track to the canalside. Police then searched the area and shortly afterwards a man was arrested and taken into custody on suspicion of drink driving.

Body recovered from River Soar

By Polly Player

LEICESTERSHIRE police received a phone call from a concerned member of the public on December 27, 2013, advising them that he had seen what he believed to be a body floating in the area of Belgrave Lock (Lock 44) on the Leicester section of the Grand Union Canal (River Soar navigation).

Police officers and a forensic team searched a stretch of the canal between Corporation Road and Ross Walk as part of their investigation of the report and

located a body just below Belgrave Lock at 9.21am on December 28, 2013.

The navigation at this location was subsequently closed for several hours while police officers recovered the body and searched for further evidence, and the body was eventually recovered from the water at around midday, at which time the navigation reopened.

While Leicestershire Police have yet to name the deceased or release any further information on the incident, the death is not currently being treated as suspicious.

Ladybird boat spreading its wings on River Ouse THE Ladybird Boat Trust has been set up to ensure that the services successfully developed over the last five years by Waterwing, part of St John Ambulance, can continue to provide river trips to the disadvantaged in the community.

Based at Hartford Marina, near Huntingdon, the vessel Ladybird is wheelchair accessible and accommodates up to 20 passengers in a large heated cabin complete with kitchen and wheelchair accessible toilet facilities. The service operates from April to September and is crewed by a group of 26 volunteers who give of their time and skills to run about 100 trips each year.

Trips are open to groups of disadvantaged or disabled people, young or elderly, and their carers, based within a reasonable travel distance from the marina on the River Ouse. A great variety of local medical support charities use the facilities together with numerous care homes, day centres etc. Many groups bring a buffet style lunch on board but others prefer to stop at one of the pubs or restaurants along the riverbank.

With St John Ambulance deciding to focus on its core activities, the boat Ladybird has generously been transferred to the Ladybird Boat Trust so that the service can continue under independent trust status. Trust chairman Alan Worth said: “We are delighted that Ladybird can continue to deliver this valued service to groups in the local community. In 2014 we expect to welcome over 1500 passengers on board and give them all an enjoyable day experiencing the river trip.”

The crew has backed up their enthusiasm for the new venture by digging deep and making donations totalling £7800 to get the new venture on to a secure financial footing. Treasurer Bob Miller commented: “While we have got the trust finances off to a good start, we will need to fund raise for Ladybird if we are to maintain and expand the services we offer.”

During the winter months the crew will be busy painting the distinctive new livery and preparing Ladybird for the new season. Bookings for 2014 will start on February 1 and groups interested in a river trip should visit the website www.ladybirdboat.org.uk or contact 07902 981632; enquiries@ladybird.org.uk

529529 for details

The Barley Mow gets a makeover

CANALSIDE hostelry, the Barley Mow at Newbold-on-Avon, will reopen its doors in early February with a new look for the boating season.

The public house, restaurant and hotel situated on the picturesque North Oxford Canal by Bridge 50 closed on January 6 for a huge refurbishment both internally and externally.

Owners Kelly Bailey and Simon Parkes, who bought the pub last July having seen its potential to attract visitors all year round, are putting back original features such as a log burning stove, flagstone and oak flooring, plus new features such as outdoor picnic benches along the towpath.

A Towpath Talk stockist, the Barley Mow welcomes all boaters and will continue the bespoke services that Kelly and Simon introduced like the laundry, bathroom hire, takeaway food and traditional beers and breakfast orders, and even refuse facilities.

It is dog friendly and also has an adventure playground, ample parking and a water point.

Former waterways magazine editor dies WELL known waterways enthusiast and former news editor of Waterways World, Chris Daniels, died early last month (January) after a short illness, writes Bob Clarke.

He became involved with the canals in the late 1960s when he skippered the last pair of the Blue Line working narrowboats Nutfield and Stanton. He was also involved in the children’s TV series The Canal Children using the butty Bingley, which he leased for the programmes.

After working in graphics, print and journalism, he became manager of the Heritage Narrow Boat Hire Fleet at Scholars Green on the Macclesfield Canal. From there he joined Waterways World as news editor in September 1999 which he left because of ill health nearly three years ago.

Cheese and wine

Ladybird’s trips will be operated by a new independent boat trust this year.

PHOTO SUPPLIED

BEAT the January blues and join Buckingham Canal Society for a cheese and wine evening in Buckingham on Saturday, February 1. There will be displays and presentations about the society’s achievements this year and their plans for the future as well as the AGM. The meeting takes place at 7.15pm in the Buckingham Community Centre, Cornwall’s Meadow.

6 NEWS

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Plan to resolve Llangollen Canal pinch point

IN BRIEF

Get boating PROJECT organisers have

until January 31 to enter the Haven Academy’s 2014 award scheme aimed to ‘Get Britain Boating’. The Haven Academy is open to any organisation, charity, club or individual – the winning project being supported up to a value of £5000 during the 2014 season. To apply or nominate a project visit www.boatzone.com/academy

by Harry Arnold

Open day

MORE than £50,000 is being spent on repairing Lock 74 at Middlewich on the Trent & Mersey Canal, writes Geoff Wood. And on Sunday, February 23, there will be an open day so the public can see how canal craftsmen have been getting on.

Inspire children RESIDENTS with an interest in canals are being asked to inspire children with their knowledge, writes Geoff Wood. They are wanted on Merseyside to help tell the story of the Leeds & LiverpoolCanal. Katie Jackson, education coordinator at the Canal & River Trust said: “We are looking for volunteer teachers who can inspire young people about their local canal and can tell stories about the history and wildlife involved.”

Volunteers can contact Katie on 07500 823753 or email katie.jackson@canalriver trust.org.uk

Entering Hurleston Bottom Lock and the Llangollen Canal.

PHOTO:WATERWAY IMAGES

Waterside development to bring new life to Kidderminster town centre

By Bob Clarke

A £25 MILLION redevelopment scheme for Kidderminster Town Centre involving extensive work on the town’s frontages to the Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal and the nearby River Stour is to go before town planners within the next two months.

And if the plans are approved work is likely to start in the summer with completion about 12 months later.

The proposal – following several weeks of consultations with local organisations, residents and businesses – will include a new store, canal and riverside restaurants, cafes and shops together with a new bridge over the canal.

In addition a multi-storey office block, the 1960s-era Crown Building regarded by many as a ‘blot’ on the townscape will be demolished and a town square created which will include space for markets, fetes and other public events.

Existing shop owners and businesses will be relocated by the developers.

REPRESENTATIVES from the Historic Narrow Boat Club and IWA Shrewsbury District & North Wales Branch have met with the Canal & River Trust (CRT) engineering manager for the Midlands, Sally Boddy.

They discussed progress on the problems of the ‘pinch point’ at Hurleston Bottom Lock; the entrance lock to the Llangollen Canal from the Shropshire Union Canal.

Although all the narrow locks on this canal were – according to the design drawings – built to an ample over 7ft beam dimension, there has always been problems

of width in modern times, particularly at Hurleston and with historic working narrowboats.

In fact, as most early major pleasure cruising developed in this north-west area, boatbuilders adopted what has become the standard beam dimension of 6ft 10in to combat this Llangollen Canal lock problem.

Bulging brickwork

Part of Hurleston Bottom Lock’s upper course of brickwork is now bulging on the towpath side – in modern engineering dimensions – up to 55mm into the lock. The bulge extends for

about 15m along the lock wall and to a depth of around 1.2m.

CRT plans to carry out a coring survey on the brickwork in order to ascertain whether it would be safe to remove the bulge. If the survey gives satisfactory results it plans to shave the highest part of the bulge during a planned stoppage, for works to the lock gates, from February 10 to March 7, 2014.

Before the work can be undertaken, listed building consent is needed. No problems have been foreseen with the application, but time taken for the permission to be granted could hinder work.

HS2 consultation deadline just days away THE Chesterfield Canal Trust is appealing to supporters to respond to the High Speed Rail HS2 consultation by the January 31 deadline demanding that a route be found for the canal to be restored.

A trust spokesman stressed: “It is vital that the Government understands the depth of feeling among the general public that the restoration of the canal must not be blocked by HS2.”

The proposed rail route lies directly on top of the restoration route of the Chesterfield Canal for 800 metres at Renishaw and for 1200 metres, in a cutting, at Killamarsh.

In addition, the links to the proposed HS2 Infrastructure Maintenance Depot at Staveley would cut through the canal’s route at three further points.

The Chesterfield Canal Partnership and Derbyshire County Council have submitted detailed engineering information and alternatives and the Chesterfield Canal Trust has put in a formal statement of objection to the HS2 route where it interferes with the canal’s restoration.

However individual responses are also vital – the more the better.

● You can register your views online (just Google HS2 Consultation), by emailing HS2PhaseTwoRoute@Ipsos.com or by sending a letter (no stamp required) to: Freepost RTEL-YAZX-HAZT, Phase Two Route Consultation, PO Box 1152, Harrow HA1 9LH.

Canal square plans for West Yorkshire town UP AND coming Sowerby Bridge, where the Rochdale Canal and the Calder & Hebble Navigation join, has plans for a canalside town square, writes Geoff Wood.

The West Yorkshire town has been voted one of the top towns to live in, in the county, and has seen its fortunes grew in recent times attracting more visitors and businesses to the centre.

Ward councillor David Draycott said the square would be sited next to the canals and would have parking provided. It would be particularly useful for weekend events.

He added: “The proposal for a square would give the town a bit of a focus. We have good restaurants already and we would like to build on that.”

Right: A canal sculpture at Sowerby Bridge.

PHOTO: GEOFF WOOD

BIRMINGHAM’S CANALS ARE THE PLACE TO BE PRESTIGIOUS USA magazine The New Yorker has recommended that American tourists in Britain forsake London and visit Birmingham, which it says is a much more exciting city, writes Harry Arnold.

One of the five reasons given for this is the attraction of the city’s canals.

The magazine says: “The waterways are one of the city’s best features – providing a picturesque backdrop to Birmingham’s trendy Mailbox

Birmingham’s city centre canal boat restaurant. PHOTO:WATERWAY IMAGES

food and shopping complex, as well as a photogenic diversion extending 35 miles around the city.”

It continues: “The water around the Gas Street Basin is a delightful way to spend an afternoon almost all year round, and there’s even a canal boat restaurant.”

The New Yorker uses what has become a famous quote that – ‘Birmingham has more canals than Venice’. Actually a misquote, as the original was, I believe, coined by now retired British Waterways architect Peter White as ‘there are more canals in the Black Country than Venice’.

But a quote which has been skilfully – and rightly – exploited by Birmingham’s tourism promotion people ever since. If a network of 35 miles is being quoted, Black Country canals would have to be included anyway.

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.

Blowing off the winter cobwebs

Preparing the engine

It’s amazing how many people never actually look at their engine until something goes wrong, so lift up the engine cover and actually look at it.

Unlike a car on a driveway where things like oil leaks are easy to see, problems with engines aren’t always so obvious.

Check your fluid levels – oil and water and gearbox oil – and look for any signs of corrosion, especially hose clips, or loose parts. Stick a white oil absorbent cloth or newspaper in the bilges to see if there is oil leaking from anywhere, while cleaning the bilges will help you spot any leaks that may be apparent once you fire up.

Check and grease the back of the throttle control mechanism and the stern gland if applicable, and check the exhaust is unblocked too. Retighten all belts and check the sea cocks are open and not frost damaged if you have raw water cooling systems.

Check fuel tanks and filter for water

During the winter air gets trapped in fuel tanks, but when hot sun shines directly on to the skin of the tank or you run your engine, condensation builds up inside.

Fuel tanks should be kept full to avoid this, but it remains a common problem.

Rain or melted snow/ice can also seep through deck fillers into tanks.

Drain the primary fuel filter after checking the fuel tanks or if there is no drain on the fuel tanks, and change the filter if necessary.

Make sure the fuel line is attached and not cracked; in the winter hoses can get dry and brittle. Also ensure the fuel supply and return valves are open.

Battery charging

Common sense suggests the more a boat is run during the winter, the less maintenance it will need come spring and this includes keeping the battery charged. However, if you don’t use the

Watersports month

THE British Canoe Union (BCU), British Marine Federation (BMF), British Rowing and the Royal Yachting Association (RYA) have come together to announce that May 2014 will be National Watersports Month. Activities across the country will include open days, taster events and havea-go sessions on offer from clubs, centres and marinas.

WINTER is beginning to break, so how do you get your boat fit and ready for spring? Here are some top tips from the RYA.

A SIGNIFICANT percentage of the narrowboat community use their boats all year.

But even if you do get out on the water during the winter you should still follow basic winterisation advice to ensure there are no costly surprises once you start to use your boat more frequently.

Although you’re rarely more than 30ft from the bank, and in little danger of getting stranded, that won’t save you money if something that could be so easily avoided breaks down. So what should you do to de-winterise your boat correctly?

IN BRIEF

Online vote

Even if you get out on your boat in the winter you should still follow basic winterisation advice to ensure there are no costly surprises. PHOTO SUPPLIED boat much over the winter, fitting a battery charger or a solar panel during the winterisation process will have helped. Make sure the alternator is working properly. Battery voltage should remain at between 13.5 and 14v on a 12v system. Batteries should be replaced every four or five years.

Domestic water supplies

For winter, water systems should be drained to stop pockets of water building up and, in really cold weather, freezing and cracking the pipes and/or fittings. Taps should be left ‘on’. A common mistake is replacing the plug in the water heater, turning the water pump on and then the engine, making it impossible to hear if the water pump is trying to work. Instead turn the taps on when the engine is off. Starting with the tap nearest the pump to remove any air locks, run the water; then turn them off. If you can still hear the water pump trying to work there could be a leak. Check the skin fittings on all sink outlets for frost damage; your washing up water could finish up in the bilge!

Cooling system

Check the efficiency of your coolant and that there is a right mix of antifreeze as this does deteriorate. This should be checked monthly as the minimum and a simple hydrometer, costing as little as £3 to £4 will do the job. After you have done all your checks, give your engine a ‘trial run’ for around half an hour on the mooring and check everything again, obviously being careful to avoid moving parts. Also look for leaks escaping around the cooling system.

Safety first

Remember for your Boat Safety Scheme certificate, the engine, LPG and electrical systems, plus fire extinguishers and escape hatches, must be serviced. ● To find out more about winterising, de-wintering and RYA courses visit www.rya.org.uk

IN OUR latest online poll at www.towpathtalk.co.uk we asked readers what they thought about the proposed private boat licence fee increases. Of those who responded not surprisingly almost three quarters felt it was too much; 24% thought it was about right and just one voter didn’t think it was enough. This month we are asking readers whether they have been affected by the recent flooding.

Waste water

RESIDENTS in Oldham, Greater Manchester, are being shown details of a planned £114 million waste water scheme, writes Geoff Wood. It is designed to bring a major clean up and return fish and wildlife to the local River Irk which was infamous for its pollution in Victorian times.

Community park

VOLUNTEERS are needed to create a community nature park near the Lune Aqueduct, Lancaster, until the end of March.

Contact David Hennessey on 07500 606030 or david.hennessey @canalrivertrust.org.uk

8 NETWORKING

SOCIETY NEWS

Another centenary celebration

AS WE began to prepare copy for Issue No 100, another waterways’ publication celebrated its 100th edition. The Manchester Bolton & Bury Canal Society magazine looked back to its formation in 1987 with a potted history of the years in between, and illustrated with front covers of its MB&BCS newsletter and selected pages.

Over that time there have been only two editors – Liz Donlan, now webmaster, and Paul Hindle, who is also society chairman.

Congratulations to them both.

Society plans for canal bicentenary

THE Pocklington Canal Amenity Society has formed a subcommittee to plan a programme of events in 2015 to mark the bicentenary of the passing of the Act of Parliament that enabled the building of the canal. Ideas include a boat rally and exhibition. (Double Nine, Autumn 2013)

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Support for Ferret repairs from local IWA branch MEMBERS of the Inland Waterways Association’s Chester & Merseyside branch members have donated £800 towards vital repair work on historic working boat Ferret.

The work will be carried out at the Heritage Boatyard (at the National Waterways Museum, Ellesmere Port) by Boat Museum Society volunteers and trainees on a Heritage Lottery Fund scheme Keeping History Afloat.

Branch chairman Brian Phillips said: “We are delighted to provide funding towards Ferret’s refurbishment, especially as it will also support young people learning valuable boat repair skills for the future.”

Built in 1926 by Yarwoods of Northwich for carriers Fellows, Morton & Clayton, Ferret regularly carried cargoes to Runcorn and Ellesmere Port before it was sold in 1964 to the Clark family (IWA members), who based the boat at Preston Brook and then Barbridge.

During the mid-60s, they fitted a cabin and installed the vintage Bolinder engine, a single-cylinder 15hp semidiesel, with its highly prized ‘hit and miss’ exhaust note.

The mid-70s saw the boatman’s cabin professionally restored by Taylor’s Boatyard in Chester and Ferret served the Clarks well for many years , winning several awards at national festivals.

In 1983, Ferret was sold to Nottingham Industrial Museum, paired with the butty Ilkeston, then when this museum closed in 1998, she was again rescued and brought, along with Ilkeston, to the boat museum at Ellesmere Port.

Considerable ongoing maintenance work has been undertaken by staff and Boat Museum Society volunteers, working with the London Canal Museum, which has been sponsoring both Ferret and Ilkeston.

Ferret has now been taken out of the water for full inspection and repair.

Canal holidays inspire young artist

Busy year

THE Leeds & Liverpool Canal Society’s historic working boat Kennet received around 6000 visitors during 2013, and has taken 2270 hours of work by society volunteers. Kennet has attended events at Leeds, Saltaire, Bingley, Bradley, and Skipton, as well as hosting 11 school visits.

More volunteers are sought for 2014 when events will include Skipton (May 3-5), Hyndburn (June 5-7) and Burscough (June 16-22). (Clogs & Gansey, Autumn 2013)

Strategic plan

JACK Telling has stepped in as chairman of the Cotswold Canals Trust after Mike Guest did not seek re-election due to forthcoming work commitments. During his leadership, Mike had helped the trust to develop a strategic plan for the next five years. Although Jack will take the plan forward, he has indicated that his tenure is a temporary arrangement while a younger successor can be identified. (The Trow, Winter 2013)

Titford anniversary

THE Birmingham Canal Navigations Society is planning to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the re-opening of the Titford Canal on Saturday, March 22 for those that were there in 1974. If you were either there or know anyone who was, contact BCNS chairman Brenda Ward (boundarypost@ gmail.com or ring 0121 355 6351 for an invitation.

(Boundary Post, December)

With Ferret at the National Waterways Museum are: Mike Turpin of the Boat Museum Society; Dave Linney, Heritage Boatyard manager; John Inch, NWM manager; and Mike Carter of the IWA Chester & Merseyside branch. PHOTO SUPPLIED

Student Gregory Beckett receives the £600 first prize from Lord Mayor of Birmingham Coun Mike Leddy. Also pictured are lecturer Dr Sarah Montano and Lapal Canal Trust chairman Dr Peter Best. PHOTO: DAVID SCOWCROFT

Lapal Canal Trust rewards students for fundraising ideas AS PART of an initiative to encourage young people to become involved in the inland waterways, the Lapal Canal Trust has been running a competition inviting business students to create innovative ways of fundraising, writes David Scowcroft.

Th Lapal Canal Trust is aiming to restore the five-and-a-half-mile waterway which runs from Selly Oak to Halesowen. There was £1000 in prize money available, with the the University of Birmingham taking the £600 first prize for best student project .

NORFOLK teenager Madeleine Young has been inspired by the colourful boat decorations seen on canal holidays to learn traditional canal art.

Taught to paint roses and castles by a local signwriter and wagon painter, she took to it like a proverbial duck to water and is now selling her pieces through Etsy (a crafters’ selling website) and as part of her craft stall at local fairs. Her canalware business is called Stormy Blue Sky. Since the age of seven, Madeleine has taken part in craft fairs as a way to raise money. When she was 12 she was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, and now she uses the forum of her craft sales to promote the charity JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation), which raises funds to research the condition in the hope of finding a cure to help children like herself. She also gives

The Lord Mayor of Birmingham, Coun Mike Leddy, presented the prize to Gregory Beckett, a student on the Consulting Skills and Practice Module, part of the MSc Strategic Marketing and Consulting Programme at the University of Birmingham, along with Dr Sarah Montano, module lecturer.

Representing the Lapal Canal Trust was the chairman Dr Peter Best.

Other Lapal Canal Trust members attending the meeting on December 17 in the Lord Mayor’s Parlour were Terry Stanton and Hugh Humphreys.

End of the line for moorers’ association AFTER nearly 30 years, the Preston Brook Boat Owners’ Association, based on the Preston Brook Marina, was dissolved late last year following an extraordinary general meeting at Runcorn Motor Boat Club.

Chairman Margaret Riley told the well-attended meeting that since the appointment of a new management team at the marina it became apparent that the association ‘did not sit well’ with it. Subsequent disputes over several months led to none of the committee members holding moorings at the marina, making the continuation of the committee untenable.

The committee stood down at the meeting and nominations were invited to form a new committee to take the association forward. No nominations were put forward and instead a motion to dissolve the PBBOA was put forward and unanimously agreed.

Discussions took place as how to disperse the association’s assets and it was agreed that the contents of the former clubhouse should be left for the benefit of all the moorers who remain on the marina.

It was also agreed that Rachael Ferguson should receive £250 to make the total funds received £500. This was a promise from the previous committee that a trust fund be put in place for Rachael’s further education in memory of her late mother, who was well respected among the moorers at the marina.

The remaining balance was divided between three charities: the British Heart Foundation, the Army Benevolent Fund and Halton Haven Cancer Care, which each received donations of £632.84.

Young canal artist Madeleine Young.

PHOTOS SUPPLIED

Some of the Stormy Blue Sky range. some of her proceeds to the foundation and has organised a jumble sale to raise funds.

She is now 15 and studying for her GCSEs, prior to going to college next year to study A levels. She then hopes to go to art school and pursue a career in the theatre as a set designer.

In her spare time, Madeleine loves to paint, and she also enjoys looking for the vintage pieces she finds to decorate. Recently, on a journey through the Hatton Locks on the Grand Union canal, she was thrilled to meet the owners of Lyons Boatyard (Stratford and Avon Canal, near Birmingham) – who bought most of her stock to sell in their chandlery. ● Lyons Boatyard, Stratford Canal, Birmingham, West Midlands B14 4SP; 0121 474 4977 If you would like to commission a piece directly from Madeleine she can be contacted on stormybluesky @btopenworld.com or through her Etsy shop at etsy.com/shop/StormyBlueSky JDRF: http://www.justgiving. com/stormybluesky

Hunger march for hospice appeal SUPPORT for Lockgate Cafe proprietor Sandie Coleman’s Himalayan Hunger March is gathering momentum.

By Christmas, her appeal for the Rainbow Hospice for Children and Young People at Leicester had reached £4000, and as the date of the trek draws nearer she is hoping that further fundraising activities can be organised.

“If anyone can offer any help in any way they can, such as holding a quiz night or other event, please give me a call on 07531 490486.” To donate visit http://www.justgiving.com/SandraColeman1

Sandie will be heading for the Himalayas to take part in the second Britain vs Cancer challenge, Hike The Himalayas, from April 24 to May 5. She has also set herself the challenge of losing four stone in weight despite being surrounded by tempting treats at the cafe which she runs with sister-in-law Annette at Whilton Marina.

She has been attending her local Slimming World meetings and had lost more than a stone and a half by the end of December. Sandie is on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/rainbowstr ail and on Twitter @rainbowstrail

NETWORKING 9

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Society is formed to preserve Leeds & Liverpool long boats

by Colin Wareing

THE H & R Ainscough Barge Preservation Society has been established with the aims of helping to preserve, restore and ultimately own two boats that were built to carry grain on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal.

Still based on the canal, motor boat Ambush built in 1933 and Viktoria, a dumb boat built a year later, are currently in the ownership of Mr Derek Bent who uses Ambush to supply solid fuel and diesel supplies to local and passing boaters.

Derek makes a fuel delivery run from Crooke near Wigan, where the boats are based towards Liverpool roughly every three weeks.

Unless you are a regular on the River Trent or the Manchester Ship Canal these boats, due to their size, 70ft long and 14ft wide, are probably the biggest craft in regular use on the inland waterways that you’ll come across.

It is hoped a permanent base can be established for the two barges in Burscough, where the former corn mill is now being redeveloped into apartments. Plans also include the conversion of Viktoria into a floating resource for meetings, with an exhibition space.

The whole project is being dedicated to the working boatmen of the Ainscough Fleet and K Callander, the last manager of the Burscough mill before it closed in 1988.

The society is open to anyone who is just interested in the boats or can offer practical help in the preservation and meets on the third Friday of the month at The Ring O’ Bells pub near

Burscough to organise volunteers and working parties around the boats.

The next meeting will take place on Friday, February 21, at 7.30pm.

Grain fleet

In the 1850s two steam-powered corn mills were built by the Ainscough family of millers alongside the Leeds & Liverpool Canal in West Lancashire to mill locally grown wheat for the bread and animal feed markets. The coal to power them came from pits in the Wigan area.

As demand for the bread flour grew the company started to mill imported American grain, which came into the country through the Birkenhead and Liverpool docks.

In the 1930s the firm commissioned Yarwoods of Northwich to build a fleet of barges and dumb boats to replace the wooden boats that it used to transport the grain from the docks to the canalside mills and the coal from the pits.

This fleet of boats had to be capable of crossing the River Mersey while being able to carry freight as economically as possible.

They used the fact that the broad locks on the western end of the Leeds & Liverpool had been built to take 70ft long boats and built some big boats.

The fleet eventually grew to number four pairs of a motor boat and a dumb boat – the local name for a butty. Because of their size the barges were known as Leeds & Liverpool long boats, to distinguish them from the more numerous short boats.

Eventually the mills ceased milling and the fleet of boats were disposed of.

The H & R Ainscough barge Ambush, currently owned by Derek Bent, passes through Appley Bridge in October 2013 on one of its regular coal and diesel delivery runs. PHOTO: COLIN WAREING ● For any other enquires contact Derek Bent on 07837 428588, Mike Allen on 07502 120453 or email ainscbarge@live.co.uk The project is also being supported by the Burscough Heritage Group, which will once again be organising Burscough Heritage Week in June this year.

Another good year for Seagull Trust cruises

Apprentices Theo Nixon and Graham Scott and Seagull Trust Cruises officers Jim McKellar, Falkirk Branch chairman; Archie Cunningham, skipper and engineer and Ken MacKinnon, lead skipper and engineer consultant with Govan Seagull in the workshop at Alexander Dennis.

PHOTO COURTESY THE FALKIRK HERALD.

DURING the summer of 2013 Seagull Trust Cruises carried 24,192 passengers with special needs, including 3146 in wheelchairs, on 2649 free cruises on eight of its fleet of 10 purposebuilt widebeam boats operating on the canals of Scotland.

This is an increase of 6% over 2012, and the increase would no doubt have been greater if the Falkirk-based Govan Seagull had been in service for the whole season. It lost the first two months while being given a full refit, at no charge to the trust, by the apprentices of world renowned bus builder Alexander Dennis.

Seagull Trust Cruises vessels are manned, maintained and managed entirely by volunteers who receive no monetary reward of any kind. The organisation relies entirely on donations to cover running expences and all skippers hold appropriate RYA or MCA qualifications. The Princess Royal is patron of the charity.

10 VOLUNTEERING

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WORK PARTY ROUNDUP WITH IWA’S ALISON SMEDLEY

Adopting the Northampton Arm CHAIRMAN of IWA Northampton Branch, Bernard Morton, has been officially presented with the Certificate of Adoption from the Canal & River Trust confirming the branch’s adoption of the Northampton Arm. Two CRT South East representatives – Jeff Whyatt (waterways manager) and John Highmore (volunteer coordinator) – were in attendance and Jeff confirmed that the Northampton Arm adoption is to date the largest and, arguably, the most ambitious canal adoption venture in the country.

Monthly work parties have been taking place on the Arm under the enthusiastic leadership of David

Higgins, the branch’s canal adoption officer. Several work parties have concentrated on the area around Towcester Road Bridge and Lock 17 (bottom lock) at Far Cotton where much unsightly rubbish and litter has been collected.

Vegetation has also been cleared, especially at the river approach to the lock where a third mooring bollard has emerged from the weeds and grass which means a 70ft boat can now lay alongside rather than stick out across the channel creating better access for all concerned.

IWA Chelmsford Branch and Essex WRG held a joint work party at Heybridge on the Chelmer & Blackwater Navigation over the weekend of December 7-8.

Volunteers cleared and levelled an area alongside the towpath downstream of Wave Bridge to enable vegetation to be more easily managed in the future. This was a task that took all weekend and was aided by the use of a digger and a trained operator.

On the Saturday afternoon some of

the volunteers moved on to lay a woodchip path on the opposite bank.

All the woodchip had been locally sourced, from trees that had fallen on the Chelmer & Blackwater during bad weather in previous months.

On the Sunday the volunteers finished clearing and levelling the area of bank before locating and clearing a new spot for bonfires, to allow staff and volunteers to responsibly burn vegetation without negatively affecting nearby residents or the environment.

Hedge planting on the Caldon Canal.

PHOTO: BOB LUSCOMBE

IWA Chester & Merseyside Branch: Monthly work party on the Dee Branch in Chester. 10am to 4pm. Meet at Telfords Warehouse car park, Chester CH1 4EZ. Work will include painting, weeding, litter-picking. Contact Mike Carter on 07795 617803, mike.carter@waterways.org.uk

Brilliant Saturday in Chester VOLUNTEERS from IWA Chester & Merseyside Branch met on a Saturday at the beginning of December with bright sunshine and blue skies. They split into two groups, litter pickers and gardeners.

Litter pickers skipped merrily along the Dee branch and later back along the main line while the gardeners tackled overgrown flower beds clearing brambles and cheerfully planting bulbs ready for a good show in the spring.

There were nine volunteers for the morning session and five for the afternoon.

hedge along a significant stretch of the canal. The planting carried out during this session means that the entire stretch from Basford Bridge to the Oakmeadowford Lift Bridge is now complete.

This part of the canal is very popular with walkers and cyclists and a number stopped to chat with the volunteers and all expressed congratulations to the volunteers for the work which contributes to the overall Churnet Valley Living Landscape Partnership (CVLLP).

Vegetation clearing at Hatton flight IN EARLY December, 15 volunteers from IWA Warwickshire held a work party to clear vegetation on the offside of the Hatton flight, continuing the work started in October.

The remaining trees between locks 31 and 30 were cut back to allow access to the offside, and lower vegetation was cut down so that it can be strimmed at a later date.

Warwickshire Branch members also continue to support the twice-monthly Canal & River Trust Towpath Taskforce work parties at Hatton, where recent work included moving a work boat and tug back to Hatton Yard. The hold was filled with a vast pile of scrap iron and general debris including a good part of a wrecked wooden cruiser.

This was just part of the haul that had been collected on a recent IWA Warwickshire Branch canal clean up from Warwick Tesco to the Avon

Aqueduct, helmsman for the day was IWA member Brian Bayston.

During the climb from the bottom of the flight to the yard the group cleared all the lock gates of vegetation, mud and debris to complete the work started by CRT staff earlier in the month. The opportunity was also taken to prune a large number of overhanging branches.

The next Towpath Taskforce work party saw about a ton of scrap iron unloaded from the work boat into a truck for its journey to the scrap dealers, while other volunteers worked hard all day to complete the carpark fence which had been started a couple of months previously. These work parties are held on the first Monday and the first Wednesday of each month.

Meanwhile Warwickshire Branch members also continue to support the twice monthly CRT Towpath

Saturday/Sunday February 1-2

IWA Chelmsford Branch: Work party on the Chelmer & Blackwater Navigation in conjunction with Essex WRG. Roy Chandler, roy.chandler@waterways.org.uk

Monday February 3 and Wednesday February 5

IWA Warwickshire Branch supporting Canal & River Trust Towpath Taskforce: Hatton, Grand Union Canal. 10am to approx 3pm. Tasks include lock painting, litter picking, veg clearance and path work. Meet at CRT maintenance yard, Hatton Locks, Birmingham Road, Warwick CV35 7JL; info.warwickshire@waterways.org.uk

Saturday/Sunday February 8-9

Worcester Birmingham & Droitwich Canals Society supported by IWA Birmingham, Black Country & Worcestershire Branch: Monthly work party weekend at Tardebigge Lime Kilns, 10am to 3pm each day. Meet at Canal & River Trust depot at Tardebigge, Worcester & Birmingham Canal (New Wharf, Alcester Road, Tardebigge, Bromsgrove B60 1NF). Bill Lambert, w.lambert@ntlworld.com

Sunday February 9

IWA North Staffordshire & South Cheshire Branch, Caldon & Uttoxeter Canals Trust, Trent & Mersey Canal Society and Canal & River Trust: Canal Clean up in Stoke-on-Trent, 10am to 3pm. Meet at Etruria Junction (accessed via Etruria Vale Road, Stoke-on-Trent ST1 4RB) to pull rubbish out of the Caldon and Trent & Mersey canals. Please wear appropriate clothing and bring packed lunch if staying all day.

Contact Bob Luscombe on 07710 054848, bob.luscombe@waterways.org.uk

Wednesday February 12

IWA Birmingham, Black Country & Worcestershire Branch: First of a series of monthly work parties on the Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal, 10am to 3pm.

Tasks to include painting, tidying and vegetation clearance. Meet at Falling Sands Lock, accessed via Lisle Avenue, off Stourport Road, Kidderminster. Please wear appropriate clothing and bring packed lunch if staying all day. Contact David Struckett 07976 746225, david.struckett@waterways.org.uk

Friday February 14

IWA Lichfield Branch: Regular work party in Rugeley, this time meeting at St Augustine’s Field to clear vegetation and work on improvements to the decking, 9.30am to 3pm. Meet at the Rugby Club, St Augustine’s Field, Rugeley WS15 2HE. Volunteers are welcome to stay for the whole day, until 1.30pm or to join the group at 1.30pm. Lunch, hot drinks and equipment provided, just come with appropriate clothing. Subject to weather conditions. Contact Margaret Beardsmore 07581 794111, margaretbeardsmore@gmail.com

Saturday February 15 and Thursday February 20

IWA Warwickshire Branch supporting Canal & River Trust Towpath Taskforce: Kingswood Junction, Lapworth, 10am to approx 3pm. Tasks include lock painting, litter picking, veg clearance and path work. Meet at Canal & River Trust maintenance yard, Brome Hall Lane, Lapworth, Solihull B94 5RB; info.warwickshire@waterways.org.uk

Tuesday February 18

IWA North Staffordshire & South Cheshire Branch and Trent & Mersey Canal Society: Monthly work party at Malkins Bank on the Cheshire Locks, Trent & Mersey Canal, 10am to 4pm. Painting and vegetation clearance. Meet at Lock 63, off Betchton Road, Malkins Bank, near Sandbach, Cheshire, CW11. Please wear appropriate clothing and bring packed lunch if staying all day. Contact Bob Luscombe on 07710 054848, bob.luscombe@waterways.org.uk

Some of the scrap found during vegetation clearance on the offside of Hatton locks. PHOTO:GRETA RUSSELL Taskforce work parties at Lapworth on the third Thursday and third Saturday of each month. Whatever the weather they always have something interesting to do and have a great time, so why not join in?

Tardebigge Lime Kilns’ project update PROGRESS continues to be made at Tardebigge by the Worcester, Birmingham & Droitwich Canals Society supported by IWA Birmingham, Black Country & Worcestershire Branch, with their project to uncover and interpret the historic lime kilns.

Work parties are held on the first weekend of every month, and recent work has included installing a post and rail fence along the top of the kilns. While digging the hole for one of the posts, volunteers came across brickwork that appeared to be part of a structure rather than rubble infill.

Woodland Trust donated 400 saplings to be planted alongside the canal bordering the Coneygre Arts Centre.

Coun Simon Hackett, the council’s cabinet member for children’s services commented: “This is a great scheme to improve the environment and encourage wildlife to an area already well used by local people.”

Future similar schemes are now being planned.

Saturday February 1

More hedge planting along the Caldon Canal A GROUP of volunteers returned to the Caldon Canal near Cheddleton on December 8 to continue the hedge planting started last winter.

Mild weather meant good progress was made and more than 250 hedging plants were planted alongside the towpath. The sight and sound of steam trains running alongside the canal added a further dimension to the day.

Different species of hedging plants, supplied by CRT, were planted to blend in with existing hedge and in time this should produce a good-quality

PRIMARY school pupils have helped spruce up a Black Country canal by planting hedgerow saplings to improve the local environment and encourage wildlife, writes Bob Clarke.

Pupils from the Sacred Heart primary school in Tipton took part in a session organised by Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council and Litterwatch.

The scheme was launched after the

FORTHCOMINGWORK PARTY EVENTS

Right: Working on the Northampton Arm. PHOTO: IWA NORTHAMPTON BRANCH

Joint work party on the Chelmer & Blackwater Navigation

School children help to plant a new hedge

More soil was carefully removed and they found what started to look like a wall. It clearly had a curve in it and as they dug deeper it turned out to be a further kiln. Enough soil was removed to expose a few courses of brickwork.

As the group does not have the authority to excavate the site some photos were taken before putting paving slabs over the trench to protect it. Hopefully these small discoveries indicate that there is a significant amount of structure still underground that will hopefully one day be on display to the public.

Saturday February 22

IWA Manchester Branch supporting Canal & River Trust Towpath Taskforce: Monthly work party at Bridge 6, Lower Peak Forest Canal, Hyde, 10am to 4pm. Tasks include painting, vegetation clearance, pulling rubbish out of the canal and litter picking. Parking off Alfred Street, Hyde SK14 2BJ. Contact 07971 444258, chairman@manchester-iwa.co.uk IWA Lichfield Branch: Regular work party in Rugeley, this time meeting at Leathermill Lane to paint and re-badge CRT signs as well as carrying out general clearing work, 9.30am to 1pm. Meet at Leathermill Lane, Rugeley, WS15 2HN by the canal noticeboards on the towpath. Volunteers are welcome to stay for the whole day, until 1.30pm or to join the group at 1.30pm. Hot drinks, cake and equipment provided, just come with appropriate clothing. Subject to weather conditions.

Contact Margaret Beardsmore 07581 794111, margaretbeardsmore@gmail.com

Sunday February 23

IWA Northampton Branch: Monthly work party on the Northampton Arm. Meet at Lock 17, Far Cotton, Northampton. Please wear appropriate clothing and bring packed lunch if staying all day. Contact David Higgins 01480 896689, david.higgins@waterways.org.uk For further information on any of these events, please contact Alison Smedley, IWA Branch Campaign Officer, Telephone: 01538 385388/07779 090915 or email alison.smedley@waterways.org.uk or Stefanie Preston, IWA Branch Campaign Assistant, Telephone 01494 783453 or email stefanie.preston@waterways.org.uk Information can also be found on IWA’s website: www.waterways.org.uk

VOLUNTEERING / NEWS 11

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All hands to the pump THE Claverton Pumping Station group has seized an opportunity to improve Bath’s waterways by signing up to the ‘adopt a canal’ initiative launched last year by the Canal & River Trust.

It has adopted the pumping house and grounds which are on the River Avon that runs close to the Kennet & Avon Canal at Claverton.

While the trust still owns the canal and carries out essential year-round maintenance, adoption groups are helping bring important added benefits to the waterways.

The group are currently refurbishing the timber components of the historic 200-year-old waterwheel and gear teeth at the pumping station. When it is completed it will be used to pump water from the River Avon to the Kennet & Avon Canal near Bath. This will help save electricity as the electric pumps will have to run less often helping the trust reduce its carbon footprint.

Rob Labus, volunteer co-ordinator for CRT said: “Our time and money is spent on major priority

repairs and keeping the waterways in good condition, but the work of our volunteer groups brings those added benefits which we’re not able to do.”

Peter Dunn, volunteer leader for the group added: “Over the next 12 months we’re going to focus on completion of the restoration that was started in January. After that we will be opening the pumping station to the public again. It will be very satisfying to see the machinery pumping water into the canal again, performing its original function.

The aim is to pass it on to the next generation in full working condition and help protect this important part of our history.” ● Full details about Waterway Adoptions can be found at www.canalrivertrust.org.uk/volunteer or by contacting volunteer@canalrivertrust.org.uk / 03030 404040.

Bridgwater Docks yields 50 bags of rubbish IWA West Country Branch’s Bridgwater Docks work party in November, supported by CRT, was successful with 14 volunteers collecting more than 50 bags of rubbish from the dock area on the Bridgwater & Taunton Canal.

The group also dragged, fished and grabbed one motorbike, tyres, cones, and other items from the water over an enjoyable four-and-a-half hours. At least four Bridgwater & Taunton boating organisations and local businesses were represented including IWA West Country Branch, the Bridgwater & Taunton Canal Association, CRT and the Environment Agency, many thanks to them all.

IWA West Country Branch will be holding a second work party, supported

by CRT, on Saturday, March 1, 2014 at Firepool Lock in Taunton where volunteers will be concentrating on clearing and cutting back trees, brambles, and general debris. Time and weather permitting, the group may also start work on the lock and adjacent area.

More information will be available from the branch web pages nearer the date.

IWA West Country Branch clearing Bridgwater Dock.

PHOTO: STEFANIE PRESTON

Independent survey provides snapshot of opinions

by Polly Player

Waterways manager Mark Stephens, hands the adoption certificate to Peter Dunn, Claverton Group leader, in the presence of many of the volunteers and the volunteer co-ordinator Rob Lebus. PHOTO: ROB COLES

NARROWBOAT REFLOATEDAFTER FLOOD LEAVES IT HIGHAND DRY ON THE night of December 2324 Loxwood was hit by the storm deluge which devastated so many parts of southern England, writes Ann Smith.

The River Lox flooded and joined up with the Wey & Arun Canal, cutting the village in half for a while when the B2133 became impassable. The Onslow Arms pub, the Canal Trust shop and several homes in the village were flooded.

As the waters receded one of the canal boats belonging to the Wey & Arun Canal Trust was left stranded on a bank downstream of Brewhurst Lock beside the winding hole.

On the morning of December 29, a party of Trust members including experienced recovery personnel began the difficult task of refloating the Zachariah Keppel. This took several hours of heavy toil and the use of a large Claas tractor, various winches and the May Upton maintenance

BOATERS’ views have been compiled on a range of topical issues pertaining to canal usage patterns and their concerns as a whole.

Commissioned by continuous cruiser and independent boaters’ advocate John Sloan, the survey was designed and formulated by Lucy Holmes, herself a liveaboard boater, currently employed as a researcher for a national charity.

Conducted between August 20 and September 17, 2013, it took the format of an online questionnaire, with boaters from all walks of life invited to take part. Respondents were recruited via a variety of channels, including Towpath Talk, Canal World Discussion Forum, The Canal & River Trust, and Facebook; 1285 completed questionnaires were ultimately analysed, with the initial findings published in December 2013.

Demographics

Figures showed that 82% of respondents were the full owners of their own boats, with 6.7% of respondents in a shared ownership arrangement and 11.3% of respondents being non boat owners, in the main part hire boaters or friends and guests of other boat owners.

Of the boaters who responded, 63% had a home mooring while 25.6% of respondents were continuous cruisers.

Trust manpower and a tractor manoeuvre the Zachariah Keppel back into the water. PHOTOS SUPPLIED canal boat, watched by a variety of spectators along the towpath.

Ever so slowly, progress was made. Firstly the stern was freed, great care being taken so that the rudder remained undamaged. Then attention was turned to the bow section and very gradually the pressure

from the winch resulted in the boat sliding off the bank and into the canal, to a round of applause, following which she was taken back to her normal mooring opposite the Canal Centre.

The boat will be checked before being allowed back into public service.

Visitor moorings

Over half of the respondents had used an official visitor mooring during the summer of 2013. Of this number, 70.5% of respondents said that they were able to find a bankside mooring space at the location of their choice, with a further 3.5% able to find space breasted up and 18.7% unable to find a space at their first choice of mooring.

Mooring priorities

Respondents were invited to rate the importance of a range of factors when it came to choosing a mooring location, including depth of water at the bank, proximity to public transport, and proximity to other boats. Overall, the three most important factors mentioned by boaters when choosing a mooring site were cited as being the perceived safety of the local area, depth of water at the bank, and the attractiveness of the mooring site.

The least important factors over all were considered to be access for persons with impaired mobility, and proximity to other boats, with just 5.5% of respondents classing other boats nearby as being very important to them, and 3% of respondents classing other boats being far away as a core consideration.

Hypothetical opinions

Safely afloat with maintenance boat May Upton.

Boaters were also asked to comment on four different hypothetical scenarios, and express their feelings about several theoretical suggestions posted by the survey.

Of those who responded, 70.3% were supportive of the suggestion that the Canal & River Trust could create new, basic visitor moorings by

ensuring adequate depth at the bank, providing mooring rings, erecting signage and keeping bankside vegetation under control.

The survey also showed 28.2% of respondents supported the idea that all Canal & River Trust visitor moorings could be designated as 24 hour moorings during July and August, while 40.5% were opposed to the idea and 17.9% did not have strong feelings either way.

Regarding the suggestion of imposing a £25 per day charge for stays of over two days on popular visitor moorings, 22.3% of respondents felt that this was fair, 22% felt that a charge was fair but that £25 was too high, and 2.6% felt that £25 was too low. 27.5% of respondents were opposed to the idea in its entirety, while 19.1% said that they would support this idea during the peak months of April to October only.

In response to the suggestion, “Mooring enforcement wardens could be given the discretionary power to allow boats to remain on official CRT visitor moorings free of charge when the mooring site is quiet”, 19.2% of respondents were opposed to this idea, and 57.7% were supportive of this idea. 23.2% of respondents either did not have strong feelings either way, or did not answer the question.

Key themes

Various key themes emerged as the result of invited comments and text-based responses within the survey. Some of the core issues mentioned were differing mooring requirements depending on personal circumstances and boat usage, and concern over the complexity and necessity of various new mooring restrictions in various location.

One commonly cited theme was that if larger stretches of the canals were sufficiently deep and well maintained to allow easy mooring, pressure and competition for designated visitor mooring spaces would naturally fall.

A complex analysis of the findings of the questionnaire and the establishment of viable areas for further exploration is still currently under way, with the full results to be published later on in 2014. Anyone who would like to review a full copy of the survey results or find out more about the project can contact John Sloan at visitormooring@gmail.com

12 MUSEUM FOCUS

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The towpath tractor is currently on loan to the Walthamstow Pump House Museum.

PHOTO: LONDON CANAL MUSEUM

A working model of a lock.

Keeping the past on ice

Janet Richardson visits London Canal Museum Museum.

Viewed from the Battlebridge Basin, which was first used in 1822 when it was known as Horsfall Basin, the museum sits between modern buildings.

Museum chairman Martin Sach on board the tug Bantam IV.

A SHORT walk from the busy transport hubs of King’s Cross and St Pancras International takes you back to the days when the pace of life was slower and cargoes were moved by water rather than rail.

By following the brown ‘tourism’ signs, the entrance to London Canal Museum can be found on New Wharf Road, the street name suggesting the former use of buildings many of which have been replaced by modern offices and apartments.

Nowadays the footfall is that of visitors to the capital’s only museum dedicated to the inland waterways; it was originally Carlo Gatti’s ice house when frozen freight arrived by barge at its Battlebridge Basin frontage via the Regent’s Canal.

And it was the horses which drew the delivery carts that entered from the street and walked up a specially constructed ramp to their stalls on the first floor.

Museum chairman Martin Sach told me: “The museum was opened in 1992 by Princess Anne (the Princess Royal) who remains our patron and has visited several times since, usually to cut the ribbon of our latest exhibition.

“But 21 years ago it was very different. You would still have been able to look down into the ice wells but it was not as well lit or as well excavated as it is now. Things have developed a lot, particularly since 2000.”

Martin likened it to a Forth Bridge type operation with work having been completed in phases. “We can’t close for six months for refurbishment like some museums as we need the income; it is an

“We bought a tractor earlier in the year for £2500 but have nowhere to put it so it is on loan to the Walthamstow Pump House Museum for five years to give us time to consider what to do with it. We want to maintain it in working order as it is only one of a handful made specifically for towpath use to be still working.”

PHOTO: LONDON CANAL MUSEUM

It was a major operation involving specialist movers bringing the Bolinder engine from Shropshire to the museum’s first floor.

The horse ramp up to the first floor. The stable keeper’s accommodation on the second floor now houses the archive and stores.

ongoing development programme. Every couple of years we replace one of our exhibitions.”

Education and enthusiasm

The London Canal Museum is a completely independent charity and member organisation which is managed directly by the members of the Council of Management who are elected by the membership. As chairman, Martin is its de facto manager and the trustees are also active members of the management team such as treasurer Mike Gee who is the finance manager.

Two permanent part-time members of staff are employed: volunteering manager Celia Halsey and education officer Catherine Simpson.

Celia’s role is to recruit and manage volunteers and she is also responsible for training, while Catherine provides an education service for schools, the museum offering a comprehensive range of workshops and activities.

“These are not just about canal history,” Martin stressed. “They are quite strong on subjects such as science and maths using the canal and museum’s resources, for instance tackling topics such as how long it takes a boat to get here from Limehouse (the interchange between shipping and canal transport in East London where Regent’s Canal meets the Thames) and what cargo it can carry.” And engineering workshops tackle bridge building and other practical topics.

“Education is bringing in a lot of young visitors and it is part of our philosophy that it is a really important part of our work,” Martin explained. “We are here to engender enthusiasm for the canal network. We want people to be enthused by canals and have an interest in them. Get them interested at a young age so they may be less likely to throw things in the water and treat it as a ditch.”

Although numbers fluctuate, a team of around 50 volunteers – mostly from Greater London and with a few from the Home Counties – is engaged mainly in front-of-house work looking after visitors on a day-to-day basis.

Some do more specialist tasks such as operating the tug Bantam IV, DIY repairs and recording oral history. The museum also provides project work for students working as interns, some from overseas.

Talks and trips

Regular events and exhibitions form an important part of the museum’s activities. One of its traditions going back to the 1990s is an illustrated talk on a canal or ice-related topic on the first Thursday of every month.

Guided tunnel boat trips through Islington Tunnel once a fortnight in the summer are very successful and the team of guides also lead towpath walks for members of the public and organised groups.

The Mikron Theatre visits each year and there are also one-off events and special opening days.

Between August and October 2013, nearly 2000 people descended the ice well to see Superposition – an installation commissioned by the Institute of Physics and inspired by the work of particle physicists.

In November and December local artist Irma Irsara created ice-related work live for the Zero Celsius exhibition and currently Eric Gaskell is showing his linocut views of the canal until the end of February.

For its boat trips, the museum charters boats from community boat charities – there are four in central London. It also has its own boat, the pusher tug Bantam IV which does not carry passengers but is a regular sight at the Canalway Cavalcade and Angel Canal Festival each year.

It also sponsors a pair of boats in the national collection – Ferret and Ilkeston which belong to the National Waterways Museum. Martin explained: “We wanted to do something to try and preserve the national fleet because there was a serious situation with boats deteriorating and the then Waterways Trust was looking for sponsorship. We give £2400 a year to buy materials towards the maintenance of these boats, we have no boat building or maintenance facilities here so can’t contribute practically but can through cash sponsorship.

“We are very pleased we have been able to help with the upkeep of these two boats and help to ensure they are not sinking into the water.”

The next priority is to replace the canal boats and cargo exhibit on the first floor. “Everything on the ground floor is pretty modern but some of the upstairs exhibits date back to 1992 and are due for replacement. We can largely do these ourselves but it is the sort of project that requires time – our most limiting factor,” Martin continued.

Ice wells

The ice trade is the second theme of the museum and the creation of a model of the building as it was in the 1890s will complete a major project started in 2013 involving public understanding and access to the ice wells.

There are two wells to which ice was delivered by boat having been shipped from Norway into the dock at Limehouse and brought up the Regent’s Canal. It was harvested mainly in the spring and stored in the wells for use during the summer for food preservation.

Martin explained: “Last year (2013) has been totally focussed on underground with some very good results. This year it is back to the core matter of our canal exhibitions and looking at ways to improve them.

“One of the ways which we hope to add value is to use a smartphone guide and we will be working on additional content for that including a guided towpath walk to extend the museum on to the canal. We can’t make the building bigger but we can make it better.”

Martin continued: “We do have some things not on display and a small archive. We are gradually digitising our photographic collection and last year we were given a collection of glass slides of the Regent’s Canal taken in approximately 1905 – a valuable addition to our collection.”

In recent years the museum has bought a Bolinder engine and a Mrs Marshall’s ice-cream maker and regularly acquires archival items such as prints, documents and small-scale memorabilia.

Green museum

Martin has been involved with the museum since 1996 and it has been a constant programme with projects ranging from replacing the heating and windows overlooking the wharf to disability access and roof insulation.

“There has been far more time devoted to boring stuff but this is a Victorian heritage building and we are very proud of the fact that we look after it very well. It is not listed but we treat it as if it was and go to a lot of trouble to maintain and keep it to a high standard.”

Officially accredited by the Green Tourism Business Scheme, lots of measures including LED lights have been installed to save energy and to reduce the museum’s environmental footprint.

Not part of the Canal & River Trust, the museum has to be entirely self-supporting with no subsidy from the tax payer although grants have been received from the Heritage Lottery Fund and other sources for specific projects. Its four main sources of income are admission charges, venue hire, sale of merchandise and mooring fees.

Of these the largest is venue hire which is very important to the museum and represents about 40% of its income. It hosts about 20 weddings a year and a large number of other business and private functions. A small conference room is in use two or three times a week for meetings and training sessions.

Admission charges are also important with about 16,000 visitors a year, although there were more in 2013 because of the Superposition event.

Historic mooring rights came with the building meaning the museum is able to let four valuable moorings in central London. The visitor moorings are also used for the trip boats. The education team often works with other charities to provide school trips combining a museum visit with a boat trip on the canal.

Martin added: “Visitors can come by boat and do.

People cruising through London can moor up and visit the museum; there is no charge for stopping and a small charge for staying overnight if space is available.” ● London Canal Museum opens from 10am-4.30pm (later on the first Thursday of the month) and is closed on Mondays except for bank holidays.

Signposted from King’s Cross Station, it is situated in 12-13 New Wharf Road, London N1 9RT and can also be reached by boat from the Regent’s Canal.

Contact 0207 713 0836 www.canalmuseum.org.uk www.canalmuseum.mobi

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13

14 HERITAGE

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Tunnel vision: echoes of the past

Les Heath explores these marvellous feats of engineering.

TRAVELLING through a canal tunnel for the first time is always an exciting experience, especially if it is one of the longer ones on the system – with no sign of light at the far end.

Taking your boat into the depths of the earth can also be somewhat daunting.

Guided only by the light from a tunnel lamp you enter a dark, dank, narrow world where strange echoes are a constant reminder that many of these places are said to be haunted.

Considering that a good number were built in the 1700s they are remarkable feats of engineering. Many men died cutting their way through hillsides with only the most primitive of tools.

Some of the difficulties they met were immense, from hard rock to wet quicksand, and almost all tunnels cost more and took longer than expected.

More than 60 tunnels were built during the canal era and, surprisingly, most were created by digging vertical shafts and then working sideways.

Soil and rock were hauled to the surface, often using horses, and when the tunnel was completed some shafts would be filled in while others were left open for ventilation.

Using such primitive methods it is surprising that the tunnels ended up so straight although one or two do have kinks in the middle when the calculations were not 100% successful.

All tunnels are different. The surface may be of brick, stone or rock, smooth or ragged, straight or bulging. It may be wet or dry, it may be decorated with colourful chemical deposits or it may be black soot-covered brick. Some even have lights installed.

Few tunnels are ‘dry’. The majority have water leaking from the roof or even substantial waterfalls from the sides.

Although the ventilation shafts usually have water pouring down them many boaters cannot resist looking upwards for a glimpse of the sky – and regret it afterwards.

Dangerous occupation

Imagine what it must have been like at the height of the industrial revolution when boats were taken through the tunnels by ‘leggers’ – men who lay on their backs (and on planks in wide tunnels) and literally walked the boat through. This was an extremely dangerous occupation and accidents were common.

Huts near the tunnel portals, where leggers used to wait for narrowboats, can still be seen in places. Spending their working lives walking on their backs in almost complete darkness for just a few pence a day is food for thought next time you go through a tunnel.

While the boats were being legged through the horses were taken over the hill, usually by boat children, to be reunited at the other side. In the case of long tunnels such as Standedge this could take more than three hours.

Tunnel tugs were often used before diesel engines replaced the horse while more recent tunnels had their own towpaths.

When the 3154 yard narrow Dudley Tunnel became too much of a bottleneck engineers built Netherton Tunnel to ease the congestion – a large, wide tunnel which not only had towpaths on both sides but was lit day and night, first by gas and later by electricity. Completed in 1858, it was the last long tunnel to be built on the canal system.

Traffic lights

Passage instructions are usually displayed at the entrances to narrow tunnels where it is impossible for boats to pass. With short tunnels it is a case of waiting for oncoming boats to emerge whereas with longer ones there is usually a timing system or traffic lights in operation. Ignoring these instructions could mean having to

Netherton Tunnel, built to relieve pressure on Dudley Tunnel, had two towpaths and was lit by gas and later by electricity. Nine men died during its construction. PHOTOS: LES HEATH reverse out of a tunnel – not the most simple of manoeuvres.

In wide tunnels, where booking is essential for widebeams, there is just enough room for two narrowboats to pass. Great care is needed, however, and one can only hope that the approaching boat is being as careful as you.

The light from an approaching boat is usually seen as soon as you enter a tunnel. However, even for the most experienced boaters it is difficult to guess how far away it is and at which point you slow down fully to pass.

Tunnel lights do not have the luxury of a dipping system, as on car headlights, and being dazzled by an oncoming craft can be quite a problem.

Another problem on busy canals can occur when boaters, often in a holiday mood, come up too close behind in a tunnel. A flashing red light, as used by cyclists, has been suggested as a solution to this problem.

Several tunnels, like Blisworth, have been closed for long periods of time for costly repairs – hardly surprising considering how long ago they were built. Others have collapsed and been lost forever, ironically often as a result of coal mining which made canals profitable in the first place.

Of these, four were more than 3000 yards long.

The longest, the Standedge under the Pennines on the Huddersfield Narrow Canal, is one that has actually reopened, giving encouragement to restoration groups to bring others back to life. As yet, those goals are still a long way off.

A few tunnels, like the disused Sapperton on the Thames & Severn Canal, had ornate portals. This example, a bust of Shakespeare, can be found above the entrance to Brandwood Tunnel on the Stratford Canal, completed in 1796.

So next time you pass through a tunnel just spare a thought for the men who lived and died building it, for the leggers who similarly had such a hard life, for the modern engineers who stabilised the ageing structures and, of course, for the ghosts who are still trapped in that subterranean world.

Some shorter tunnels with towpaths have electric lighting. Newbold Tunnel on the Oxford Canal has effective blue and green lights from the sides whereas this example, pictured, shows lighting in Edgbaston Tunnel on the Worcester & Birmingham Canal.

This unusual tunnel, under Shrewley village on the Grand Union Canal, is only 433yd long but in 1799 its builders decided to run the towpath up to a higher level for the horses to go through their own tunnel.

Emerging from the short Galton Tunnel on the Birmingham Main Line. It is not really a tunnel but a concrete tube laid in the water with earth piled on top to take a road across. Similarly the Summit Tunnel was created by the same method only a few yards away on the Wolverhampton level. The result – two new ‘tunnels’ created as recently as 1974.

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MIRACLE WATER BOTTLES TO BE WON FROM Water-to-Go! Over £249 worth of prizes to be won!

Pocket water purification – have you got the bottle?

Water-To-Go is an easy-to-use, pocket water purification bottle you can use anywhere to turn one litre of tap, stream, river or rainwater into drinking water – it will purify and remove over 99.9% of all contaminants including bacteria and chlorine.

No longer do river or sea boat owners have to rely on drinking water that has been in a tank for days – they can have clean fresh water by simply taking the water from the boat tank and filtering it through a Water-To-Go bottle.

The filter system is in a 75cl reusable plastic bottle costing £24.95 that can be dishwasher cleaned. The filter (packs of two for £14.95) will each last around three months and individually purify a total of 200 litres water. The same amount of mineral water bought in 50cl bottles would cost £400 – with Water-to-Go it costs only 1.5p per 50cl compared with £1. *

Full information is available from: info@watertogo.eu, or call 01582 841412

Water-To-Go is offering 10 lucky TowpathTalk readers the chance to win one of these fantastic water bottles!

How To Enter:

Simply fill in your details below and return it to: Towpath Talk January 2014 Water-To-Go competition, Mortons Media Group Ltd, PO Box 99, Horncastle, Lincs LN9 6LZ. Or enter online at: www.towpathtalk.co.uk First name .............................................................................................Surname ....................................................................

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

Entries close Wednesday, February 26, 2014. The winners will be the first 10 names drawn at random. There are no cash alternatives available. Terms and conditions apply.

Please see www.towpathtalk.co.uk for full terms and conditions.

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BOATYARD & MARINA NEWS 51

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insider

Getting Afloat P56 Bits & Bobs/Reviews P57

What’s on London Boat Show

P55 P58

Mercia Marina signs up new pub operator AN independent pub company will operate the bar-restaurant at The Boardwalk – Mercia Marina’s forthcoming retail, office and leisure development.

Hillary & Scott Limited will be opening what it describes as a ‘high quality, cosmopolitan’ bar and restaurant at the 74-acre South Derbyshire marina.

The construction project for The Boardwalk at Mercia Marina began last month and is scheduled to open to the public in late summer 2014.

It will comprise the central bar and restaurant, built over two floors with additional outdoor seating overlooking the 24-acre lake. The restaurant will be flanked by three retail units on each side and the remaining upper floor space will include four office units, all with views over the water.

Mercia Marina has already attracted two flagship retailers; The Butcher, The Baker, The Ice Cream Maker to operate a farm shop and the clothing retailer Bluewater.

Daryl Cockerill, who founded Hillary & Scott two years ago with business partner Shane Holland,

said he was excited about the new venture. “It’s our first new-build operation, which gives us the advantage of creating a venue with exactly the look and feel we are after. We’re definitely looking forward to offering visitors something very stylish, with quite a cosmopolitan feel and maybe different to what they are currently used to.”

Hillary & Scott currently operates four other pub and restaurant establishments across the Midlands: The Star Inn in West Leake near Kegworth; The Nag’s Head in Market Harborough; The Punch Bowl in Stamford, Lincolnshire; and The Horseshoe Inn in Shrewsbury.

Mr Cockerill has extensive experience in the brewery and pub industry, having worked in Burton-upon-Trent for Marston’s and Bass, as well as roles for Leicestershire-based Everards Brewery and Greene King in Suffolk. He has recently left his previous post at Charnwood Pub Company to concentrate on Hillary & Scott.

The bar-restaurant will have seating for approximately 150 people in addition to the large

Training and waterway services all set for development during 2014 LOOKING ahead in 2014, Birmingham & Midland Marine Services will be building on its training facilities over the past year, developing further courses to complement the current crop of RYA, NCBA, IWA and HSE ones on offer.

B&MMS is working towards becoming a Maritime & CoastGuard Agency (MCA) training centre in its own right, and hopes to become a recognised ‘Rescue 3 Europe’ training provider of water rescue courses by the spring.

Recently approved as assessors and as a training provider to the Canal & River Trust, B&MMS is concentrating on training commercial skippers, crew, contractors and bankside personnel, not solely in boat handling skills but also in other aspects of inland marine activities.

These include marine VHF, three-day first aid and health & safety at work, life jacket users courses and a wide range of others aimed at people working in both the ‘hot’ and ‘warm’ zones; on the water, in the water and on the bank.

This arm of the business is based near Cannock, on the Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal, also offering private customers specialist skipper training including single-handed boating techniques, nervous trainee courses as well as teaching the basic skills required for safely managing a narrowboat either alone or with crew.

But this is only part of the story.

Operations manager Richard Gray told us: “Working with several established national waterway concerns such as Wood, Hall & Heward, as agents for the Midlands region, our commercial services include the supply of tugs, work boats, hoppers, pans, safety and rescue boats and even supplying commercial divers for the inland waterways; and we are available for both television and film work with access to over 20 specialist vessels for varying roles.

“We’re also now an approved supplier of inland waterways services to Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council.”

Operations manager Richard Gray with Mutley on one of the camping boats.

PHOTO SUPPLIED

Qualified advanced powerboat coxswains and MCA BoatMaster skippers can be hired on a commercial or private basis for safety and rescue, support craft, workboats, towing and pushing, trip boats, boat deliveries and dredging.

On a leisure basis, Birmingham & Midland Marine Services work as booking agents for five MCA coded restaurant, party boats and trip boats based across the Midlands region, and offer both a ‘shore agent’ capacity and a bookings service to Midlands-based trip boat operators.

Youth and corporate work is also a speciality including NCBA courses and school trips afloat. B&MMS also promotes the famous Old School camping boats in Gas Street Basin, Birmingham; the Adventure fleet of three 12-berth historic former working boats (two motors and a butty) for ‘back to basics’ weekend and week-long charters for the hardy! ● For further information contact 07527 727169 www.midlandmarine.co.uk midsmarine@gmail.com

bar area for drinkers. Mr Cockerill will be appointing a manager and chef in the near future, though will remain closely involved in the running of the new venture.

The appointed main contractor for The Boardwalk construction is Davlyn Construction of Derby.

The new development has been designed to complement the marina environment, with the use of locally sourced stone, timber cladding and large amount of glazing.

The Boardwalk represents the first phase of a larger development, which could include more shops and eating and drinking establishments. ● Enquiries about available retail and office space within The Boardwalk should be directed to Paul Rushton, of Rushton Hickman Ltd, on 01283 528002, or Matthew Phillips on 0121 3532757.

Marina raises money for canal maintenance CHURCH Minshull Aqueduct Marina raised over £1400 at charity events in 2013 plus another £400 for the Shropshire Union Canal Society through its ongoing book club. The marina looks forward to another bumper fundraising year in 2014.

Final event of the year was the Aqueduct Marina Christmas Fair which raised £200 for the Small Tasks Team Volunteers (STTV). The team holds regular work parties across the region in conjunction with the Canal & River Trust, completing various maintenance tasks along the canals.

The weather was kind and a record number of stalls and visitors attended on the day, buying and selling everything from knitted jumpers to ceramic model boats.

Maurice Ward, one of the STTV coordinators, thanked marina directors Robert and Andrea Parton, the staff, Christmas fair stallholders, moorers and the many marina friends for their generous support.

He said: “STTV has no membership fees so what little money we have comes from selling donated goods at fairs and similar events. When undertaking our enhancement activities within the North Wales & Borders Waterway area, the Canal & River Trust provides the materials and some of the tools. Most of our growing collection of tools we have provided ourselves.”

With the money donated by the marina, the team plans to buy a good quality rechargeable drill (with two batteries) and add to its collection of smaller hand tools.

During 2013 the STTV refurbished and replaced many picnic benches and canalside seats as well as improving access to the canal at several locations, improving steps, fitting railings and fences, repairing and repainting damaged infrastructure. It was also closely involved in the refurbishment of the Tilstone Lock Hut and operated the water taxi at the Ellesmere Festival.

The new pub-restaurant operator Daryl Cockerill, of Hillary & Scott celebrating the future venture with John Thornton, part-owner of Mercia Marina, on the construction site of The Boardwalk development.

PHOTO SUPPLIED

The Thames & Kennet Marina is awarded five gold anchors again

By Harry Arnold

TINGDENE Marinas’ Thames & Kennet Marina has once again been awarded the highest five gold anchor rating in the Yacht Harbour Association (TYHA) Gold Anchor award scheme, which the company says recognises it as the premier marina on the River Thames for facilities and customer service.

In addition the marina achieved the international ICOMIA clean marina standard award.

Thames & Kennet Marina manager Lee Gibbons said: “We are pleased to have achieved the highest standard of the gold anchor awards scheme for a second time. With its increased focus on customer service in recent years this award is even more important than ever to us.”

A berth-holder at the marina, Christopher Penrose-Ransley, said: “The whole environment is clean and

Five Gold Anchor service at Tingdene’s Thames & Kennet Marina. PHOTO:

WATERWAY IMAGES

well organised and all the marina staff exceptionally helpful and good humoured. These issues alone would earn a 10/10 for customer satisfaction.”

The THYA Gold Anchor award was presented on the Tingdene Marinas stand at the London Boat Show on Thursday, January 9.

Scottish hire fleet scoops business award OPERATORS of Scotland’s only narrowboat hire fleet Capercaillie Cruisers Ltd won the Best Tourism Business category at the recent Falkirk Herald Business Awards.

Based at the Falkirk Wheel, the business helped to bring more than 2000 visitors to the area, many from overseas, and provides the only floating dry dock in Scotland. Boaters can cruise to the newly opened Helix Park and the Kelpies which are due to open in April 2014.

Speaking afterwards, MD Tim Ford said: “It’s a fantastic way to end the season on a high.”

Capercaillie operates its own narrowboats on the Forth & Clyde and Union canals. It also handles the hire fleets of ABC Leisure and Black Prince Holidays, as well as Marine Cruises.

The Capercaillie team celebrate their award, from left: Ron Rusack, operations manager; Gail Jones, front of house manager; Tim Ford, managing director; Rachel Sarre, marketing assistant; Pat Bowie, director. PHOTO SUPPLIED

NEW MOORING BASIN NEAR EDINBURGH A STEP CLOSER...

RAYNESWAY, a Balfour Beatty brand, has brought the mooring of boats at The Mooring, a new development by CALA Homes at Ratho, west of Edinburgh, a step closer.

The project reached an exciting milestone recently when three million litres of water were pumped, during a 10-hour period, into the £700,000 mooring basin which the Raynesway team of 17 has been creating since the summer.

Left: Three million litres of water being pumped into the new Ratho basin. PHOTO SUPPLIED

The new basin, which will connect to the Union Canal, has been built within a sheet piled wall and has a bentonite liner and reinforced concrete base.

Measuring 65m by 31m and 1.5m deep, the marina area will provide 15 canal berths when it opens in early 2014.

Raynesway MD Stephen Scott said: “We are delighted to have reached this major project milestone. The canal is a great asset for the area and the mooring facilities in the heart of the new development will help to integrate it with the surrounding community.”

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WHAT’S ON WHAT’S ON IN FEBRUARY

Compiled by Janet Richardson

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.

February 1

Buckingham Canal Society: Cheese and wine social evening/AGM slideshow and talk: Building Tomorrow’s Heritage. Buckingham Community Centre, Cornwall’s Meadow, Buckingham, 7.15pm.

Contact 01908 661217, athinabec@aol.com

February 2

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 02084 589476.

February 3

Wiltshire & Berkshire Canal Trust: An update of what is happening on the Wilts & Berks Canal by Chris Coyle. Church Hall at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, High Street, Royal Wootton Bassett SN4 7AH, 7.30pm. Admission £2 incl. refreshments. If you wish to attend please contact Cheryl Yeowell on 01793 812708, cheryll.yeowell@wbct.org.uk

February 6

Birmingham Canals Navigations Society: Working with working boats by Malcolm Braine. Titford Pumphouse, Engine Street, Oldbury B69 4NL, 7.30pm. Contact Phil Clayton 01902 780920.

Southampton Canal Society: Titanic Society member Geoffrey Watts will speak about the tragedy also showing various memorials. Chilworth Parish Hall, Chilworth, Southampton SO16 7JS, 7.45pm. Contact Angela Rose 02380 675312, alanjrose@btinternet.com

February 9

Notts & Lincs Boat Jumble and Small Boat Sale: Newark & Notts Showground, Newark-on-Trent NG24 2NY (Jct of A1/A17/A46). Open to buyers 10am. All weather indoor/outdoor event. Adults £4, children/parking free. Chaddock & Fox Promotions boatjumbles@yahoo.com 02392 381405/07887 771451, www.boat-jumbles.co.uk

February 11

IWA Middlesex Branch: Ray Orth of the Wendover Arm Trust. Hillingdon Canal Club, Waterloo Road, Uxbridge, Middlesex UB8 2QX. Doors open 7.30pm for 8pm start.

Contact Lucy at middlesex.socials@waterways.org.uk IWA Chester and Merseyside: Historic canalside industry in and around Chester with Ray Buss of the Chester Canal Heritage Trust. Tom Rolt Conference Centre, National Waterways Museum, Ellesmere Port CH65 4FW. 7.45pm. Bar and coffee-making facilities available.

Cotswold Canals Trust: Speaker: Clive Matthews, operations manager of Avon Navigation Trust.

Fromebridge Mill, Fromebridge Lane, Whitminster GL2 7PD, 7.30pm. Contact Alan Watts 07976 617983, a.f.watts@btinternet.com

February 12

IWA Warwickshire: Trailboat exploration of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales by Jeanne and Derek Smith. The Sports Connexion Leisure Centre, Ryton-on-Dunsmore CV8 3FL. 7.30pm.

South London IWA: The Bedford & Milton Keynes Waterway by Paul Leech. The Primary Room, The United Reformed Church Hall, Addiscombe Grove, Croydon CR0 5LP. 7.30 for 8pm, all welcome.

Contact Alan Smith 0208 255 1581, 07774 890750 or email alan.smith@waterways.org.uk

February 14

IWA West Riding: Seesaws, slopes, slides and structures – the principles behind canal science and engineering by Geoff Auty. South Pennine Boat Club, Wood Lane, Mirfield WF14 0ED. 8pm. Contact 0113 393 4517, kandal@btinternet.com

park unless you are a patron). Contact Mike Chapman 01225 426948, mike@chapman76.fsnet.co.uk IWA Towpath Walks Society, London: Regent’s Canal, King’s Cross-Granary Building-Camden.

Starts King’s Cross taxi rank at 2.30pm. Costs £9, £7 student/concs. Contact Roger Wilkinson 02084 589476.

February 17

IWA Birmingham, Black Country & Worcester: The Grand Canal of China with author Liam D’Arcy Brown. Coombeswood Canal Trust, Hawne Basin, Hereward Rise, Halesowen, West Midlands B62 8AW, 7.15 for 7.30pm. Contact Chris Osborn 01299 832593, jcosborn@btinternet.com Friends of Cromford Canal: The Great Wall of Butterley by Tim Castledine. Ironville Church Hall, 7.30pm. Admission £2, bar and raffle available.

February 18

Herefordshire & Gloucestershire Canal Trust: Sharpness Scuppered Ships by Paul Barnett. The Royal Oak, Much Marcle, 7.30 for 8pm start.

Everyone welcome.

February 19

IWA Lichfield: Wrecks and ruins, illustrated talk by Mike Beech of Foxton Canal Museum. Martin Heath Hall, Christchurch Lane (off Walsall Road), Lichfield WS13 8AY. 7.30 for 7.45pm.

February 20

Somersetshire Coal Canal Society: The planning and construction of the SCC, Part 2 with Patrick Moss. Radstock Working Mens’ Club, The Street, Radstock BA3 3PR, 7.30pm. Contact Derrick Hunt 01225 863066, derrickjohnhunt@btinternet.com

February 21

IWA East Yorkshire: Hireboating on the canals and rivers of Britain by Iain Campbell. Methodist Church Hall, Cottingham, East Yorkshire HU16 4BD, 810pm. £2 inc. refreshments.

Contact roger.bromley@waterways.org.uk 01482 845099.

February 22

Waterways Craft Guild: Fender making and ropework with Dave Walker at Black Country Living Museum, Dudley. Members £45, non-members £52.50. Contact training co-ordinator Julie Tonkin on 01384 569198, julie@canal-art-by-julie.co.uk

February 23

Essex Boat Jumble: Ardleigh Showground, Old Ipswich Road, Essex CO7 7QR (off A12). Open to buyers 10am. Adults £4, children/parking free.

Chaddock & Fox Promotions boatjumbles@yahoo.com 02392 381405/07887 771451, www.boat-jumbles.co.uk

February 24

IWA Milton Keynes: AGM plus quiz. The Milton Keynes Pavilion, Worrell Avenue, Middleton, Milton Keynes Village MK10 9AD (accessed off Tongwell Street V11). Free admission. Contact Rodney Evans 01908 376449 rodneyevans48@gmail.com

February 26

IWA Chiltern: Devizes-Westminster: The story of a canoe race, racing kayak designer Paul Ralph talks about a race along the Kennet & Avon and down the Thames that has been run since 1948.

Little Chalfont Village Hall, Cokes Lane, Little Chalfont, Bucks HP8 4UD. 8pm. All welcome to attend. Contact 01932 248178.

February 27

February 15

St Pancras Cruising Club: Valentine Cruise.

Contact cruise co-ordinator Andrew Phasey on 07850 753633 email: theoldmainline@fastmail.fm

IWA Chester & Merseyside walk: Higher Walton, from the Walton Arms Hotel (WA4 6TG) on the A56.

Approx 3.7 miles following Bridgewater Canal towpath before turning on to higher ground on the Delamere Way passing Appleton Reservoir before returning to the canal. OS Explorer 276. Map Reference 597851. Starts 10.15am, open to nonmembers. Lunch can be booked on morning.

February 15-16

February 28

River Canal Rescue: Boat and engine maintenance course. Alvechurch Marina near Birmingham. For bookings and information visit www.rivercanalrescue.co.uk call 01785 785680 or email enquiries@rivercanalrescue.co.uk

February 16

IWA Warwickshire Branch: A walk from Napton Bridge, meet 10.30am in the car park A425. Contact 01926 403179.

Somersetshire Coal Canal Society: Walk led by Mike Chapman. Meet Twinhoe Lane, Midford BA2 7DD, 10am. (Please do not use Hope & Anchor car

Linlithgow Union Canal Society: Steven Cole talks on the work of Scottish Waterways Trust’s Canal Greenspace Development Team. Mel Gray Centre, Linlithgow Canal Centre, Manse Road, Linlithgow EH49 6AJ, 7.30pm. All welcome, no charge, but donations may be made to the Boat Fund.

IWA North Staffordshire & South Cheshire: AGM followed by informal photo history of the branch to celebrate its 40th anniversary. Stoke-on-Trent Boat Club, Endon Wharf, Post Lane, Endon, Stoke-onTrent ST6 9DT, 7.45 for 8pm. Contact Barbara Wells 01782 533856 or Sarah Honeysett 01782 772295.

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 6JR

See the lock gate work at Sprotbrough AN OPEN day will take place on Sunday, February 16 at Sprotbrough on the Sheffield & South Yorkshire Navigation near Doncaster where the gates, which have been in place since the early 1980s, are being replaced.

The new gates, each weighing around 7.5 tonnes, have been made at the Canal & River Trust’s Stanley Ferry workshop in Wakefield.

There will be the chance to explore the drained lock chamber and CRT ecologists and engineers will be on hand to answer any questions you have.

No pre-booking is required, just turn up wearing suitable footwear for walking along a muddy canal bed. The event starts at 10am and

the last entry is at 3.15pm.

Parking on the grassed field is weather dependent. Those driving can either park at the Boat Inn pub or find street parking in Sprotbrough village.

There will also be a chance to join CRT environment and heritage experts, Jonny HartWoods and Judy Jones, for a guided tour at Sprotbrough Lock and the surrounding waterside area.

Tours will run at 12pm and 2pm and a first come, first served booking system will be operated on the day . These are limited to 20 places per guided tour and are expected to last about an hour.

Not just monkey business at the Puppet Barge FAMILY entertainment continues at the Puppet Theatre Barge with two contrasting musical shows suitable for everyone down to three years of age.

Staged with beautiful lighting and specially composed music, The Birdman is a poetic story about an old man who rescues a small bird that has fallen out of the nest.

Monkey Biz shows a set of exciting and hilarious tricks and turns performed by monkey marionettes to music, with all the skill of the circus.

Running at the Puppet Theatre Barge at Little Venice, Blomfield

Road, London W9 2PF until Sunday, March 16.

Shows take place on Saturdays at 11am and 3pm and on Sundays at 3pm. There are also daily 3pm performances over half term from Friday, February 17-21.

Tickets adults £12, concessions £10 and children £8.50 can be booked from the box office on 0207 249 6876 or online at www.puppetbarge.com Described as ‘one of London’s more elusive treasures’, the Puppet Theatre Barge opened in 1982 and presents shows throughout the year in its 55-seat theatre with all modern facilities.

Monkey marionettes perform their tricks. PHOTO SUPPLIED Rich in atmosphere, it provides the ideal setting for the magical and imaginative shows produced by this famous company.

New date for canal, beer, cider and perry festival FOLLOWING previous successes, the 2014 Herefordshire & Gloucestershire Canal Festival – coupled with the Beer, Cider & Perry Festival and Tapas on the Terrace – is expected to bigger and better over the weekend of August 30-31.

The 2013 event saw thousands of visitors make their way to The Wharf House, Over Basin and Vineyard Hill stretch of restored canal, with a whole host of family fun on offer to keep them entertained.

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Getting the most out of being a boater In the final article of his series looking at what turns ordinary people into boaters, Peter Underwood looks at the various waterways organisations... and what you get in return for your money, your time and your loyalty.

WHEN you finally become the proud owner of a vessel you are already part of something, and it is not exactly voluntary. If your boat is on the Canal & River Trust’s waterways you are contributing several hundred pounds a year to its coffers, while if on the Environment Agency’s waters the same sort of figure goes to them.

The fee in question is the licence which allows you to use the waterways but, in the case of the trust, it is something more than a simple fee.

As a boat owner you get to vote for a handful of members of the trust’s council – four out of more than 30 who ‘advise’ the governmentappointed trustees.

Unlike the National Trust, however, where all members can vote to elect the board and change policy, the trust is not really a membership organisation and will still be run by appointees.

However, there are proposals to elect a couple more council members in 2014 and 2016, one from among volunteers and one from the Friends of the Trust.

And that brings us to the other form of membership you can opt for, in addition to the one you pay for with your licence.

Becoming a Friend of the Trust is a matter of committing to regular donations, suggested at between £36 and £120 a year for individuals and £60 to £180 a year for families. Current estimates suggest around 5000 have signed up.

In addition to your membership card and badge you currently get a free book of canal walks, a sticker, booklet and copies of a CRT magazine called Waterfront. Family members get a towpath activity book for children and a water safety guide aimed at kids.

The trust also runs an ever-growing volunteer programme which offers a wide range of opportunities to do something for the system, from litter picking and lock painting to office-based roles.

The original waterways protesters

The Inland Waterways Association has a glorious history of defending the canals, fighting against closures with dramatic rallies in threatened spots and vociferous and effective lobbying.

The charity, founded in 1946, can claim to be key in saving the waterways we now have and it advocates the conservation, use, maintenance, restoration and development of the inland waterways for public benefit.

A single membership costs £31.50 a year and a family membership £39 with discounts for age and doing it all electronically.

With more than 17,000 members – including 350 corporate members – it is by far the biggest waterways charity, even though total membership is only around half the number of boats registered by the CRT. Yet the creation of the Canal & River Trust – something the IWA has fought for over the decades – has left it looking for a new role in the future.

Its days of public protests are long gone and it has just discontinued its national rallies, the last vestiges of those campaigning rallies of the past.

It is well funded and professionally staffed but these days the trust has similar aims and an even bigger staff and budget.

The IWA also has an ageing membership and is seen by some boaters as the preserve of the betteroff leisure boater, as well as having many nonboating members. There are 33 local IWA branches covering the country, some more active than others.

So far the IWA’s response has been to align itself firmly with the Canal & River Trust and that may be where it has a key role to play, at least in the realm of volunteers.

The trust is enthusiastically recruiting volunteers for a range of duties but the IWA has a body of people who have been out on the ground actually digging out the mud and restoring lost canals for the past 50 years.

The Waterways Recovery Group, or ‘Wergies’ as they are known, are certainly fitter and probably younger than the average IWA member and the group has a wealth of real expertise and enthusiasm, organising more than 20, week-long waterway restoration working holiday schemes for volunteers of all ages throughout the UK each year (volunteers pay £56 each for food and accommodation), as well as many work parties around the country on most weekends.

Thanks to the hard work of the volunteers, many canals have been reopened, and the trust now insists it wants to see more reopening, so there is clearly a role for WRG volunteers training CRT volunteers in their muddy ways.

Militant boat owners

The National Association of Boat Owners (NABO) was formed more than 20 years ago by a group of boaters who felt the boat owners’ point of view was not getting heard at a national level.

Pay the £25 a year membership and you will be part of an organisation that, in its own words, ‘will always challenge injustice, where necessary at the highest level’.

NABO is solely boater-focused and says this enables it to take ‘a strong stand on boating issues’, such as unnecessary boat safety requirements, excessive licence and mooring fees, poor dredging, any loss of freedom to navigate or moor on waterways.

It is run by a council of 12, elected each November, which meets in Birmingham every six weeks.

Members are kept in touch through the newsletter and the website. There are now 3000 boater members and NABO claims to be the largest organisation to represent solely boat owners on inland waterways in the UK. The current council has members drawn from boating sectors such as shared ownerships, continuous cruising, bankside permanent moorings, liveaboard moorings, marina moorings, and river cruisers for example.

A link to wider waters?

The Boating Association is a slightly strange national organisation originally established 60 years ago to ‘promote co-operation and comradeship between all river users and all associated waterways’.

Membership appears to be small and it has specialist interests in the northern and eastern waterways.

Now largely web-based and offering free membership, the association has very similar objectives to NABO and is recognised by the ‘powers that be’ with representation on many national bodies.

One for those living afloat

‘Wergies’ working on the Cotswold Canals.

If you plan to live on the boat you have just bought, membership of the Residential Boat Owners’ Association is a sensible step.

The organisation has just celebrated 50 years and claims to be the only national organisation which exclusively represents and promotes the interests of people living on boats in the British Isles.

The Historic Narrow Boat Club brings the Black Country Living Museum to realistic life.

If your plan is that you will eventually live on your boat the RBOA will welcome you as an associate member. It promotes the benefits of people living on boats to planners, navigation authorities and government and is represented on many national bodies. It also produces six magazines a year and gives legal and specialist advice.

At an annual subscription of £21 it is good value but it is currently being challenged on the representation of continuous cruisers with a new organisation claiming to fill the vacuum.

New boy on the block

The Association of Continuous Cruisers was launched in Birmingham last autumn and is dedicated to fighting for Britain’s 5000 continuous cruisers to ‘enjoy a lifestyle that is distinctive due to both the benefits and restrictions that accompany boating without a designated home mooring’.

The new group feels that many of the issues that continuous cruisers face (such as access to medical treatment, and the provision of winter moorings) are unique to continuous cruisers, and says it intends to provide advocacy and support to its members in tackling these and other day-to-day issues.

It also aims to ensure that the Canal & River Trust hears its members’ voices ‘by building a positive working relationship with the trust in perpetuity’ And Richard Parry, chief executive of the Canal & River Trust, has given it the stamp of approval, saying: “Continuous cruisers make an important contribution to the life and vibrancy of our waterways and so the creation of the Association of Continuous Cruisers is a positive step forward which we very much welcome.”

Annual individual or joint membership is £10.

All about history – or is it?

You will find there are all sorts of interests on the waterways but the history of this unique national asset is something most boat owners care about, and none so much as members of the Historic Narrow Boat Club.

Formed in 1966, it is dedicated to preserving the working heritage of UK canals, from the boats themselves to details of the waterways on which they travel.

The club declares: “We are passionate about working boats, traditional skills, the built heritage, and the practices and courtesies of the working boat people.”

At the same time the group acts as a pressure group for navigational and waterway heritage interests and welcomes all who support those aims.

Central to the club’s effort is the campaign to ensure that the waterways system is navigable for full length, deep-drafted narrowboats... because where they can go, anyone can go!

The HNBC is a national boat club, dedicated to preserving the working heritage of our canal system, from the boats themselves to details of the waterways on which they travel.

The club organises its own events and often holds its rallies in conjunction with other organisations. The presence of a substantial number of historic boats at venues like the National Waterways museum at Ellesmere Port or the old boat docks at the Black Country Living Museum creates an understanding of canal history difficult to beat.

The HNBC publishes an award-winning quarterly newsletter and individual membership costs £12.

Special interests thrive

Sometimes people like to focus on a specific aspect of waterways tradition and the Horseboating Society recalls the 200 years, from around 1740, when horse-drawn boats were one of the main forms of transporting goods.

The society exists to promote horseboating and to preserve the heritage and skills of this once common form of transport.

Some members are involved in carrying passengers for pleasure trips others take part in projects making horse-drawn journeys, often to rallies and festivals.

Membership is £10 a year.

Most of the earlier boats were wood and the Wooden Canal Boat Society, based at the Portland Basin Museum in Tameside, has taken a unique approach to keeping that tradition alive. It helps people experiencing loneliness and social exclusion by providing volunteering and employment opportunities through the preservation of historic wooden canal boats, boat recycling trips and running a charity shop. The society offers its restored boats for respite holidays for disadvantaged people and those suffering from mental illness and has the second largest collection of former working wooden canal boats in UK.

Electronic boating

Although there are lots of boat clubs around the waterways, there is only one that welcomes members from all over the country but which has no premises.

The Cutweb Internet Boating Club was born out of a discussion at the 1998 Normanton-on-Soar Great Internet Get-together (GiG) – an event organised by subscribers to the various waterways related mailing lists and newsgroups. Members of boat clubs are normally also part of the Association of Waterways Cruising Clubs (AWCC), which entitles them to moor at other clubs while travelling.

Cutweb was set up after agreement with the AWCC, that a ‘virtual’ boating club, with no moorings, club house, etc, could still become affiliated.

The only requirement for membership is an internet account and a subscription to the Cutweb InternetBoating Club.

First time membership of Cutweb costs £10 and the club communicates by means of a closed mailing list, to which you are automatically subscribed upon joining. This list acts as the club’s newsletter and also allows you to ‘chat’ with other club members in a private forum.

Put-put-ing it together

Depending on the boat you have bought or the engine powering it you may like to join one of the societies dedicated to a particular engine or boat builder.

Gardner engine owners get together at an annual rally and Russell Newbury owners like to gather regularly for prolonged discussions of the virtues of their particular means of motive power.

Some boat builders followed the example of car manufacturers and helped promote clubs dedicated to a particular brand, some still exist.

Go local

Across the waterways there are lots of local canal societies, some dedicated to keeping their local canal in tip-top condition, others to restoring a lost waterway. Join one and you may find yourself fundraising at special events as your society fights its way towards putting another mile or two of its canal in water, or you could be working with Canal and River Trust volunteers – now increasing in number – in keeping your canal looking spic and span.

Joining will cost from around £10 to £30 a year and a chunk of your time if you are going to take it seriously.

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BITS & BOBS GREETINGS! Valentine’s Day is notable as a time to ‘share the love’. Here are two recipes that we want to share with you because they are plain and simple and they are near and dear to our hearts (and stomachs). When prepared with care and served with love, this funky food is raised from the simple to the sublime.

We fry up a whole package of bacon and saute a pan full of onions; use half of each for our decadent sandwiches and a couple of days later use the remaining half for a selfindulgent mac and cheese. (I really enjoy repeated decadence.)

by Rexx & Phill

February top tip

Many years ago an estate agent friend of ours gave us a bit of advice: “Whatever space you wind up in, make sure that each of you has a bit that is completely your own.” We took this advice to heart and even on Jenny Wren where space is at a premium, we both have bits of space that we claim. I have an ‘ammo’ can that acts as a step box and also as a place where I stash my collectables; Phill has a step box at the stern where he can stash his bits. We each have a drawer of our own under the bed and we each have one of the bow boxes outside where we store all kinds of our things that are ‘important’. These spaces must not be questioned or investigated especially around Valentine’s when cards or the odd box of chocolates might be stashed away from a partner’s prying eyes.

Phill’s Decadent Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Prep time 15 minutes, cook time 10 minutes, serves two.

Rexx says: “I’m passionate about cheese. If it is melted on slices of Phill’s home-made bread, I can get really excited. That along with caramelised onions transports the ordinary to the extraordinary. When I’m ‘in the mood’ the conversation is something like this: “Honey, I’ve got such a hankering for one of your grilled cheese numbers. Any chance of luring you to the galley with a skillet of bacon and some steaming onions?” ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

One pack of streaky bacon rashers Two tbsp oil Two tbsp butter Four red onions, peeled/sliced into circles Two pinches brown sugar One dash apple cider vinegar Four pieces wholewheat bread (See Phill’s recipe below) ● Two eggs ● ½ cup milk ● Butter for bread Preheat a large cast-iron skillet or griddle. Fry all of the bacon and remove to a kitchen towel.

To the warm, greasy skillet, add the oil and butter, drop in the onion rings and saute until soft; sprinkle with brown sugar and drizzle with vinegar. Stir to blend; remove to a bowl.

Whisk the eggs and milk together and pour into a flat dipping dish. Wipe out the skillet, reheat with just a light brush of oil. Butter the bread slices on one side only. For assembly, place the bread on the counter buttered side up; layer with the cheese, then with the bacon, then onions, then another slice of cheese, and top with the second slice of bread, buttered side down. You wind up with two sandwiches unbuttered on the outsides. Pick up a whole sandwich, dip it in the egg/milk mixture, lift it

A canal art masterclass on DVD

Reviewer: Janet Richardson

ANYONE who has watched boat painter and tutor Phil Speight at work will already be familiar with his inimitable style.

And you can now enjoy your own individual masterclass in the comfort of your own home thanks to the first two instructional DVDs. A further three will follow during 2014.

You literally get what it says on the, in this case, label – Phil coming straight To the point, the first DVD covering Roses and the second, Castles.

Each process is split into stages, with instructions on which brushes and paints to use, for instance to start the Roses, Phil uses a half-inch one-stroke and No 6 pointed artists brushes and brown, orange, pink and black paints from the Craftmaster range.

Produced and filmed by David Orme on location in Argyll, the DVDs each run for approximately 90 minutes by which time Phil has completed his demonstrations as well as taking breaks for the paint to dry and sharing anecdotes along the way.

The end credits also reflect his humour.

Phil Speight demonstrates the art of boat painting.

Roses and Castles are priced £13.50 each or £25 the pair; call 01838 400269 or email richardspeight@ntlworld.com Trade enquiries are welcome.

The DVDs are also available through chandleries, the National Waterways Museum and other canal outlets.

Reviewer: Gay Armstrong

Allow 1½ hours to rise, 15 minutes to knead, 30 minutes to bake a 2lb loaf

WHETHER you are adventurous enough to take your narrowboat off to Europe’s waterways – or prefer to stay in the comfort zone of home waters, a tale of the journeys of a narrowboat in Belgium will make fascinating reading for anyone interested in boating and travel.

Based on the diaries of Anne Husar, who with her partner took their narrowboat Wandering Snail to start exploring mainland Europe, this is the story of their steep learning curve which is informative, fascinating and entertaining.

Their growing affection for Belgium and its people shines through and the book is illustrated throughout with maps and photos taken from their voyage.

A second part to this tale is due to be published at a later date.

A Cigar in Belgium is published by Troubador in softback and priced £9.95.

● One pack of multi-grain bread mix (available in most markets), water, flour, oil, margarine as needed.

New Lancaster Canal DVDs

out, flip it over, coat the other side and fry it on both sides until the cheese just starts to ooze out; remove the sandwwich to a cutting board, slice in quarters and plate. Re-season the skillet and repeat the process with the second sandwich. We use a cast iron stove-top griddle but a cast-iron skillet works well, too.

Phill’s (pre-mixed package) Bread

Method: Follow the instructions on the package, the gist of which are: add water, knead dough (10min) on a floured surface, let rise (1hr) in a bowl covered with oiled clingfilm.

Coat a loaf tin with margarine and set aside.

Punch down dough, knead four or five times, form into a loaf and let rise in tin (30min). Preheat oven to 220°C (450°F) Mark 7. Place the loaf tin in the centre of the oven, bake (20min).

Cover with foil; continue to bake (10min). Cool on a rack. Slice in nice thick slices.

Prep time 10 minutes, cook time 20 minutes, serves 4 Note: for a casserole, double the recipe and bake at 200ºC (400ºF) Mark 4 (20min).

For more instant gratification, follow the recipe below.

Phill says: “I’m emotional about a good mac and cheese. The smell of it cooking brings a tear to my eye – especially if Rexx overdoes it with the onions. Actually, Rexx’s caramelised onions never fail to remind me that the way to a man’s heart really is through his stomach.

Quick method: Put a large saucepan of water on to boil. Salt the water, add the macaroni and stir gently, cover and let simmer (20min). Bring

Books, DVDs and other items for possible review should be sent to:

Towpath Talk, PO Box 43, Horncastle, Lincs LN9 6LZ editorial@towpathtalk.co.uk

A narrowboat ride in Belgium

Rexx’s Mac and Cheese

● Two cups dried macaroni ● Two tsp salt (1+1 for pasta water and cheese sauce) ● Three tbsp oil (1+2) ● Three tbsp butter (1+2) ● ½ cup caramelised onions ● ½ pkg cooked streaky bacon, crumbled ● Two tbsp flour ● 1½ cups milk ● ½ cup grated mozzarella cheese ● ½ cup grated cheddar cheese ● One tbsp Dijon mustard ● ½ cup grated parmesan cheese ● Eight cranks freshly ground black pepper

REVIEWS

Reviewer: Gay Armstrong

THE Lancaster Canal stars in the latest DVD release from Waterway Routes.

The journey starts with the Ribble Link from Tarleton on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal along the tidal River Douglas and River Ribble to reach the Savick Brook and the main line of the Lancaster Canal.

There are two DVDs: Popular (running time 1 hour, £12.95) which is like a TV programme showing highlights of the cruise with advice about navigating the Ribble Link and the facilities along the route.

Bowcam (running time 1 hour, £7.95) in which a forward facing camera, running all the time and speeded up during editing for a little fun, shows the whole route in one hour.

Combined (£19.90) is both Popular and Bowcam DVDs in one box, saving money and postage.

These DVDs are matched by the already published Cruising Maps covering the Lancaster Canal which are available on CD and by download from the Waterway Routes website. These are the most up-to-date canal maps available and come with a year of free updates.

They are available in two formats: Acrobat (pdf ) (£4.50) which are great for printing as A4 or A5 pages and viewing on screen; and Memory-Map (qct) (£7.20) which join these into one seamless map which can be scrolled along the route. Runs on computers, laptops, Androids and iPhones/iPads with realtime tracking (like sat nav) on GPS enabled devices.

Free maps are available covering the Northern Reaches to support the restoration – with all the other mapped restoration projects free to download too.

Towpath Talk readers can use the exclusive Discount Code TT582 to obtain a 10% discount on all items from the Waterway Routes website at www.waterwayroutes.co.uk until March 31, 2014.

A treasure trove of information

1 tbsp each of the oil and butter up to sizzle temperature in a deep dish frying pan. Add the bacon bits and fry until really crispy. Remove to a kitchen towel. Add the remaining oil and butter to the frying pan. Add the caramelised onion and heat through. Sprinkle in the flour and stir to coat the onions. Pour in the milk. Stir the mixture until thickened. Fold in the mozzarella and cheddar cheese; stir to blend.

Stir in the mustard, taste, add salt and pepper to your liking. Drain the macaroni and fold into the cheese sauce. Plate in bowls and top with the parmesan, and bacon bits. To brown, place under the grill (2min.) Fare well!

THE Historic Narrow Boat Club has republished Ken Keay’s famous Boat Builders Sketchbook, making this part of canal history available once again.

First published in 1983, in a limited edition of only 180 copies, the book contains sketches and drawings made by the legendary Ken Keay of work on wooden narrowboats at his Walsall yard. It is a treasure trove of information about the construction of such craft, presented in an accessible way through beautifully annotated large scale drawings.

The new HNBC edition, launched recently by Tony Lewery at Napton, features high quality printing and binding, and a brand new introduction with previously unseen photos and information from the collection held by Ken’s daughter, Judith Ann Cooper, who has given the project her blessing.

HNBC’s Paul Hunter, who co-ordinated the new edition, said: “The Historic Narrow Boat Club is proud to be able to bring this fantastic record of skills and knowledge that have almost been lost to a wider audience.”

Copies of the new edition, priced at £15, may be purchased from the HNBC shop (http://hnbc.org.uk/club-shop) either by post or at the many events the club attends.

ISBN No 978-0-9927321-0-3

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Volunteers Mike Dyer and Norman Halford accept the IWA’s award for 60 years’ attendance from National Boat Shows chairman Peter Gordon.

Historic craft on display in the dock: Thames sailing Barge Melissa, London firefighting boat Massey Shaw and tugs Touchstone and Kent.

PHOTOS:WATERWAY IMAGES

Anniversary award marks IWA’s 60 years at the London International Boat Show Harry Arnold reports on the inland waterways’ interest at the first major show of the year.

ONCE again the London International Boat Show – held at the ExCeL exhibition centre from January 4-12 – was reduced in size.

Perhaps the most noticeable visual aspect was the lack of boats on the water in the adjacent dock. Where once there was a line-up of large cruisers – and even in the past narrow and wide beam canal boats – there was a display of ‘feature’ boats.

For the historic boat enthusiast these were interesting enough: the masts of the Thames sailing barge Melissa towering above the preserved tugs Touchstone and Kent and the ex-London firefighting boat Massey Shaw

with its Second World War record of service on the Thames and participation in the Dunkirk rescue operation For the third year running narrowboat interest was solely maintained by Tingdene Marinas which again displayed the latest version of the excellent aluminium alloy Sea Otter with an updated equipment specification. It again created considerable visitor interest, with an order taken over the first weekend.

Viewing this latest model and singing the praises of her own Sea Otter, bought in October 2009, was veteran (she said I could call her that!) canal boater

81-year old Anne Walton who single-handedly cruised 533 miles and negotiated 318 locks in 2013.

Economically priced glass fibre inland waterway cruisers, including narrow-beam models, were again represented by those offered by Shetland Boats and Viking Mouldings, Seamaster.

Among the bigger and more expensive sea-going motor cruisers there were those which could be considered suitable for cruising the larger rivers and Broads. We particularly like the both stylish and practical lines of the Haines 32.

Marina award

There was again plenty of inland mooring information on the Which Marina stand of The Yacht Harbours Association. The inland section of the marina of the year competition – sponsored by GJW Insurance – was won by Geomac’s Caen Hill

Winning painting presented to boat owner BOAT owner William Cave is the happy winner of a painting of his 41ft narrowboat Cristina IV by one of Britain’s leading marine artists, Michael Richardson.

William was presented with the original oil painting by the artist on the Tingdene Marinas Stand at the 2014 London Boat Show on Wednesday, January 8.

Commissioned by boat insurance

Artist Michael Richardson (left) presents the painting to winner William Cave. PHOTO SUPPLIED

specialists Haven Knox-Johnston, this framed original was the prize in a competition for owners to have their boat immortalised in a unique work of art.

Artist Michael Richardson, whose work is in public and private collections around the world, said: “It was a misty autumn day at Pyrford Marina when I painted William’s boat – but hopefully the result is something more than just a portrait... and captures an atmospheric scene with William’s boat in it.”

William was delighted to win the painting depicting his Sea Otter narrowboat on the River Mole. He added: ”I’m particularly lucky too as I wasn’t even insured with Haven Knox-Johnston – but still won!”

Haven Knox-Johnston MD John Macaulay said: “This idea has been a great success and so we plan to run two different competitions for boat owners this year to win one of two prizes by top artists – one for coastal boat owners and one for inland owners. Everyone who asks us for a quote on their boat insurance will automatically be entered into the competition.” ● More details available at www.boatzone.com/portrait

Marina on the Kennet & Avon Canal, with Tingdene as runners-up; four of its marinas being in the last five shortlist.

Caen Hill Marina’s joint manager Cara Hodgson-Reed also won the employee of the year award.

In the brochure classification of Charter, Hire & Holidays, not one of the 27 companies listed offered inland waterway hire boats. Even Sail Scotland – not listed in the latter but usually a source of updated information on waterways north of the border – only had leaflets on the Caledonian and Crinan canals but nothing on the Forth & Clyde and Union.

The Thames-based Bisham Abbey Sailing & Navigation School announced a new joint venture called Boatability with The Rivertime Boat Trust to offer boating opportunities to special needs schools and charities for the disabled. Bisham does a full range of courses including the

Sea Otter owner and veteran single-handed canal boater 81-year old Anne Walton enjoys a drink while being shown over the latest model by Paul Hobson of Sea Otter Boats.

Sea Otter, exterior.

Two practical inland cruisers from the Shetland range.

RYA inland International Certificate of Competence.

It was again left to the Inland Waterways Association (IWA) to offer the main source of waterway information and books. IWA was one of only five exhibitors to be presented with a special 60th anniversary award by organisers National Boat Shows for continuously attending the London show since it started at Olympia in 1954.

A limited number of good books on inland waterways could also be found among the many and varied boating publications offered by publishers Adlard Coles Nautical and Imray, Laurie, Norie & Wilson. Imray was marketing the latest 4th edition of David

Edwards-May’s Map & Concise Directory of European Waterways.

London remains a good venue for a national boat show and – particularly as Excel is based on the River Thames – waterways, including holidays, should play a relevant part. Costs are high and funding a problem, but surely there must be way that the industry, navigation authorities, tourist boards and voluntary bodies can combine forces to produce some sort of joint promotional package for Britain’s canals and rivers.

National Boat Shows’ official figures say that attendance was down to 88,593 from last year’s 93,327 – which was in itself down from the previous year.

Boaters to receive annual notice on critical safety issues TV PERSONALITY and sailor Nick Knowles and Shipping Minister Stephen Hammond MP endorsed a new safety initiative from the RYA, the national body for leisure boating, at the London International Boat Show.

A key element of the initiative is the issue of an annual Safety Advisory Notice – a clear, easily accessible digest of current, critical safety issues. This is the first safety awareness publication of its kind for the leisure boating community and will build on the RYA’s existing structure for offering advice on safety. The notice will be circulated to a broad range of water users.

Other elements of the initiative include the promotion of four key safety messages – look after yourself,

RYA chief executive Sarah Treseder, Shipping Minister Stephen Hammond MP and TV personality Nick Knowles launch the new safety initiative. PHOTO: RYA have a plan, keep in touch, know your limits. These will feature on an updated safety page on the RYA’s website and will form part of an ongoing safety education campaign to its 100,000 plus members and the wider boating public.

An RYA Safety Advisory Group, which includes the head of legal and government affairs, the training manager and the cruising manager, will examine safety concerns and incidents throughout the year,

consolidate lessons learnt and issue further advice. The notice will be reviewed annually but where safety concerns are more immediate the RYA will issue periodic safety update alerts. ● To read the RYA Safety Advisory Notice 01/2014 and get information on safety related topics go to www.rya.org.uk/go/safety.

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Boats for sale

35FT NARROWBOAT 1980, 2berth, renovated inside, 6ft 2” headroom, fridge, cooker, wood/coal burning stove, 1500cc diesel engine, BMC renovated in 2000, BSC 2015, mooring Ringstead, £15,000. Tel. 01933 358419. Northants.

50FT NARROW BOAT 6ft 10” wide, built 2004 by Grovner & Marsh of Brierly Hill, Perkins diesel engine 45hp, C of E till 2016, ideal live aboard, layout, good d/bed, lounge, kit, bath. £29,000. Tel. 07759 789719.

60FT BOAT Has a very high technical spec inc, HD satellite TV, full c/h, 2kw Pure Sine wave inverter, 5kva 230v engine driven alternator and battery management system, £50,000. Tel. 07903 418840.

BIRCHWOOD 25 1986, 4 berth, full cooker, toilet compartment and 1800cc inboard diesel. Great first boat. £5500 ono. Tel. 07947 563889. Lancs.

BIRCHWOOD 33FT CENTER COCK PIT 1978, twin Perkins diesel engines, aft cabin sleeps two, ensuite with portal, wheelhouse with VHF radio echo sounder, forward cabin with small galley, sleeps 3. Tel. 07920 232833. Notts.

CAVALIER CRUISER steel, 28ft long, sink unit, double burner grill, sea toilet, wood burner, accommodation wheel steerage batteries, pumps etc, £4000. Tel. 07795 385775. Lancs.

32FT STEEL NARROWBOAT cruiser style, BMC 1.5, 12v fridge, inverter, s/f stove, £6000. Tel. 01745 855492. Lying N Shroppie, N Wales.

HANCOCK & LANE 40ft, 4 years BSS, year's licence, currently on Llangollen Canal at Wrenbury, needs some tlc. £10,000 ono. Tel. 07857 177053. Norfolk.

CRUISER STERN 60ft, 8 berth, steel, by Hancock and Lane, rear double cabin, 4 bunks mid-ship, kitchen and salon fore, 2 toilets and shower, sea door, £30,000 ono. Tel. 07943 369726. Staffs.

CRUISER STERN 48ft 1990. Full survey and blacked with new anodes Mar13. BSCoct14. Solar panel, inverter, charge controller, BMC 1.8, 4 berth, well appointed throughout, viewings welcome, first to see will buy, £28,995 ono.

Tel. 07891 201111. Glos.

CRUISER STERN NARROWBOAT 57ft, 2007, 4 berth, built for long term cruising or live aboard, rev layout, last blacked, new anodes fitted Jan 13, Beta 43 engine, f&r covers, Mercia marina, £49,950. Tel. Phil 0778 6004540.

Derbys.

CRUISER STERN NARROWBOAT 57ft, 1985, 6 berth, partly refitted in white ash boarding and LED lighting, partly original fitting, also nice, many new parts inc sterling battery charger, Morso Squirrel wood burner, Italian cooker, memory foam mattress etc, spent £110,000, all licences up to date.

Tel. 07970 697023. Warks.

CRUISER STERN NARROWBOAT 52ft single width canal boat, built by JJC in 1979, unfinished project, requires little work to become a lovely live aboard or a leisure boat, £25,000. Tel. 0778 9007364.

DAWNCRAFT 25ft, total refurb, 1.8 inboard/zdrive, diesel 4-ring hob, 12/240 power, BSS 05/17,.

Tel. 01928 589211; 07706170531.

Cheshire.

26FT NARROWBOAT built circa 1977, builder unknown, steel hull refitted 2010, double layer epoxy coating applied, safety certificate valid until Dec 13, 4 berth, requires internal refit, outboard motor petrol.

Tel. 07522 956332.

ELISA SPRINGER Semi-trad narrowboat, 1978, 38ft, engine BMC 1500, 2-berth, Webasto diesel heating systems, PRM gearbox, shower room, cassette w/c, £23,500 ovno Tel. 01707 880786; 07867 664890. Herts.

LIVERPOOL BUILT NARROWBOAT, beautifully presented, rev layout, new kitchen, s/s oven and hob, instant hot water from Morco boiler, deep bath and shower, small d/bed with wardrobe and desk, £42,000. Tel. 0744 6042878.

FAT BOTTOMED GIRL 2008 widebeam, 57ft x 10ft liveaboard, Vetus 65hp engine, bow thruster, BSC till May 2015, blacked Oct 12, stainless steel water tank, Villager multi-fuel fire, £68,950. Tel. 07958 677665. Cambs.

LIVERPOOL BUILT NARROWBOAT ‘Ruby’, 58ft, a great cruising narrowboat, nice clean example, very secure fitted only with port holes, fitted with solar panel, Heritage Range kitchen fitted out with granite worktop, shower and toilet, loads of hot water, nice warm fire in winter, £50,000. Tel. 07956 146404.

GUCCC NARROWBOAT BARGUS Group owning orig GUCCC 70ft narrowboat, seeks new members, sleeps up to 7, based Milton Keynes, Lister HA3 engine, low cost,. Tel. Stuart 0208 5182663 or John 07935 994025. Bucks.

HIGHBRIDGE CRUSADER 32ft cruiser, full BSC 2017, licensed til Dec, two 13kg gas bottles, two batteries, solar panel, Paloma w/heater and multi stove, 12v and 240v fridge, sleeps 6,. Tel. 07854 781335. Glos.

NARROWBOAT 1984, 32ft beam, 6ft 10 steel hull, diesel, new shower room, nice kitchen with boiler, pot bellied stove,up and running and a very good sailor, must be seen, £9500. Tel. 01509 646479. Leics.

SEALINE 360 STATESMAN 1993 twin 220hp Mercruisers, 1000 hrs each, exc cond, many extras, tel for photos and specification sheet, may consider caravan, motorhome or smaller cruiser p/x, £79,950. Tel. 01623 871012.

Notts.

TWIN THORNYCROFT 38ft liveaboard or seagoing. 6 cyl diesel, 5 berth, BSC 2016, 3 KVA genny, flybridge, large wheelhouse, sunroof, calorifier, batt charger, inv, Osmosis warranty, £29,000. Tel. 0113 2827449. W Yorks.

VOYAGER 60ft cruiser style narrowboat, built circa 1989, excellent live aboard accomm, large forward lounge with solid fuel stove, laminate flooring, fitted galley c/w full size gas cooker and 12v Shoreline fridge, bed with fixed d/bed, wardrobe and under bed storage, £28,950. Tel. 07816 204587.

WIDE BEAM BOAT Beautiful, 60 x 10, fully fitted out c/h, log burner BSC 10/2014, newly painted inside and out, Barrusshire Vetus diesel engine, as new, £76,000.

Tel. 07746 120759. Berks.

WOODEN HULL AND TOP BOAT with full Safety Certificate, includes fitted kitchen seats table really well maintained inside, under seat storage, toilet cubicle, seating at the rear of the boat, £9000. Tel. 01283 735489.

HARBOROUGH MARINE 30ft cruiser stern, all steel narrowboat, 1984, Bukh engine, BSC 2015, complete prof fit-out, two single beds/ sofas, Boatman's stove, Paloma water heater, galvanic isolator, LED spotlights, new Waeco fridge, hob, sink etc, shower room, wash basin, Thetford cassette toilet, laminate flooring, immac inside, back £15,800. Tel. 01773 744538.

Derbys.

NAUTILUS 27 Sea Wolf engine, serviced, new petrol tank, curtains, washroom, toilet/fridge re-upholstered, cooker/fridge heater, BSC 2018, mooring available, £7950 ono. Tel. 01564 793818. Warks.

PINDER & SON 2001, cruiser 55ft, used as live aboard, solar power Sat TV, marine charger, travel power shower over bath, fixed bedroom, utility room, cooker, fridge, BSC 2015, Barras shire, 3 cyl engine, regularly serviced, £29,500.

Tel. 07803 304690. Cheshire.

REEVES HULL 56ft trad, professionally fitted out in oak with solid timber throughout, double bed, cassette toilet, shower, galley, ready for someone to put their own finishing touches to it. Selling due to change in circumstances. Tel. Tom 07946 497420. Warks.

SPA & REEVES 60ft narrowboat, boat is self contained with 240v on board power, it has a fixed double, bathroom with shower/wc, vanity unit all in white, washer, drier, fridge, gas full cooker, diesel central heating, solid fuel wood burner, Beta 50hp engine, interior is cream/white, exterior is traditionally painted, all as new condition.Viewing a must. £68,000. Tel. Mick or Gena 01638 717276 or 07881 554751. Suffolk.

SPRINGER CRUISER STERN 1989, 42ft, my live aboard home for 22 yrs, well maintained throughout, BSC 2015, hull replated 2009, repainted 2013, sale due to health reasons only, £19,950. Tel. 07779 602838. Cheshire.

SPRINGER NARROWBOAT 36ft, 1982, BMC 1500 engine, fixed double, toilet, multi-fuel Squirrel stove, pumped water, sink unit, 3 burner cooker, licensed till 2014, BSC 2017, good little runner, Tel. 07984 165788. S Yorks.

TEDDESLEY NARROWBOAT 37ft, steel, cruiser stern, BMC 1.5, recon gearbox overplated throughout, hull survey 2 years ago, canal licensed, unfinished, easy project, £10,500 ono. Tel. 07570 149019.

Warks.

VIKING 20ft, new mariner 10hp outboard, cooker, hob, grill, portal, ready to go, £4200 ono. Tel. 07775 827755. Huddersfield.

Parts For Sale JOHN WHITE 50ft, 2012, 4 berth, Shires 40hp, BS 05/17, RCD, rev layout, cruiser, inverter, fridge, cooker TV, fixed double, s/s water tank, cassette toilet, wood burner, £39,999. Tel. 07835 643894. W Mids.

KINGSGROUND BOATS 70ft, child-friendly fit-out narrowboat, no expense spared, will p/x for wide beam/Dutch barge, £68,000.

Tel. 07973 399308. mjbmaritime@ aol.com or for more details & pics Worcs.

ATLANTA 24 with Yamaha 20 BEP electric tilt and trim engine, 4 berth with toilet, shower, fridge.

Moored at Torksey lock. Reduced to £9500. Tel. 01427 612453.

Lincs.

BIG NORTHWICH MOTOR 178 Tadworth, unconverted and with rare original riveted back cabin, requires re-bottoming (steel), £26,000. Tel. 07890 604121. Herts.

SHETLAND 2+2 GRP CRUISER on twin axle trailer, 1.5 BMC diesel with full recon engine, pump, injectors, starter, new prop etc, 2 ring burner/grill, one fixed double, BSC 2016, £3250. Tel. 07848 9866071. W Yorks.

CRUISER STERN 57ft, 2000, five adult berths, complete, ready to cruise, nearly full tank of fuel, BSC till 2016, £35,000 ono. Tel. Liz Norris 07977 374116.

ALLAN AUTO SYTHE Villiers 4 st engine, 36” blade, with snow plough attachment, good condition, working, ideal long grass, moorings, towpath, some spares, £235. Tel. 01844 339558. Bucks.

SOMETHING DIFFERENT Full metal jacket is a rare 28ft narrow beam 6 ton metal cruiser, powered

by Perkins 4108 engine, 55bhp, shot blasted back to metal 4 yrs ago, painted with 2 pack. Tel. 07833 767161. Staffs.

4 BERTH 4 berth, cooker, cubicle for shower, engine just been serviced. 11" draft. 9.9 Honda outboard, c/w heavy duty trailer. Tel. Derek Lewis on 01278 451641.

CLASSIC OTTER 26 electric trip boat with trailer, seats 12, diesel generator, bow thruster, new batteries, hydraulic lift for wheelchair, lying Taunton, £26,000. Tel. 01823 413439. Somerset.

DUTCH BARGE 2009, 58ft, well designed, spacious, fitted out in white oak and trimmed in ash, Barrus Shire 65 engine, bow thruster, £170,000.

Tel. 07974 808277.

40FT NARROWBOAT all steel Perkins 4108 engine, needs starter motor, otherwise OK, £6000 ono.

Tel. 0777 3502529.

CARA CRUISER 4 berth, 9.9 Honda outboard, cooker, cubicle for shower, just been serviced, 11 inch draft, heavy duty trailer, £2500 ono. Tel. Derek 01278 451641.

Bridgewater.

HISTORIC BOAT fully restored, full length, in working trim but suitable for conversion for a no-nonsense sale, £30,000. Tel. 07913 761871.

Oxfordshire.

STERLING AB12160 160 amp pro digital alternator to battery charger, unused, price new, £350 + £150 + £15 post. Tel. 01892 834139. Kent. Email: derekgoodsell@talktalk. net .

14" WHEEL from Hyundai Lantra with new never used tyre 175 65 R14 Nexen CP661, £20. Tel. 07724 840003. S Yorks.

FREEMAN WINDOWS small & large, from £20-£40. Tel. 01932 707165. Surrey.

TRAILER BRAKE LININGS Surrey flange, chrome taps, all good new condition, £4 each. Tel. 01932 707165. Surrey.

TWO WHEELED TRAILER. 16ft long, new suspension, new wheel, new mud guards, £350. Tel. 01509 646479. Leics.

USED RH 3 BLADE PROPELLER 19x15 manganese bronze, 1.5” taper fitting, new brass key stock included, good condition, (£550 new), £295 ono.

Tel. 07779 229923. Notts.

VARIOUS PARTS s/s sink, mooring pins, windlass, buoyancy aid, fenders from £1-£7. Tel. 01932 707165.

Surrey.

BETA MARINE 35hp Redline engine & gearbox, may be seen running, Offers Tel. 01793 852607.

Wilts.

BRASS MUSHROOM VENTS five, used, £50 ono the lot; buyer collects. Tel. 07748 453496. Lapworth, S B'ham.

BUCKBY CAN 3 gallon, fully decorated, £80; Thetford cassette C200, £30; jerry cans, 3 for £20; top box, £50; dump through toilet ceramic bowl, £20. Tel. 07795 964375. N Notts.

CASAPPA GEAR PUMP for hydraulic drive boat, £95; Shurflo diaphragm pump 2.8 GPM, £20; Square D pressure switch, £10; three solar powered 12v 1.5w battery trickle chargers, £10. Tel. 01270 811702. Cheshire.

CHROME FITTINGS deck grab rail rings, bow anchor guide, vent, rings, £1; anchor guide, £5; vent, £7. Tel. 01932 707165. Surrey.

HONDA 2000 GENERATOR 240v-110v-12v, approx 3 years old, buyer collects, £225 ono; electric folding bicycle inc front basket, rear panniers, £260 ono; buyer collects.

Tel. 07873 269671. Shrops.

HURTH 100 GEARBOX 2:1 reduction, reconditioned but unused, bought as a spare but never needed. Sent from my iPad, £425.

Tel. 01942 741432. Warrington Cheshire.

HYUNDAI INVERTER suitcase generator, used twice, offers over £350. collect only. Tel. 07775 586313. Worcs.

JABSCO CIRCULATING PUMP 12v, used only once, Jabs I part no 59510-0012, £45. ono Tel. 01283 740389. W Mids.

JABSCO COVENTRY Victor, 9900 Volvo Penty 200C, £60; engine and gearbox plus exhaust, offers around £400. Tel. 07789 483241. Derbys.

PROP SHAFT 1" dia, 303 s/steel, 36" long, 1:12 taper, brand new, c/w key and lock nuts, £60. Tel. 07854 448327. Warks.

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NationalNarrow boats W anted For C ash

0800 3895325 LPG VANETTE 40002 hob and LPG Vanette GG7000, oven grill with flame failure, in good condition, green with gold colored handles handbooks, £100. Tel. 01782 785695. Staffs.

MORSO SQUIRREL used parts, front door glass, £20; ash pan door, £15; round grate, £8; outer grate, £15; 4 legs, £8; buyer collects. Tel. 07745 479294. Surrey.

OUTBOARD MOTOR 5hp, 4 stroke, short shaft, never used new baby forces sale! Can organise courier delivery at cost, £550.

Tel. 01252 622354. Hants.

PAIR OF BRASS boat pole/gang plank rests, £20. Tel. 07887 512912. Oxfordshire.

POLAR HEAT EXCHANGER MANIFOLD for BMC 1.5/1.8 with core and rubber caps, used good condition, £60; also another without core, £50. Milton Keynes or Ican courier. Tel. 07890 604121.

Bucks.

POWERFIELD DIGITAL GENERATOR Trademaster PFG 2000 inverter, just serviced, vgc, £250 ono; anchor weight 15kg. £45; XM Quickfit 150 Newton life jacket, automatic or manual, still in bag, not used, weight up to 35kg, £40. all items vgc Tel. 01909 530634. Notts.

PRO COMBI INVERTER CHARGER 3000w, new in original packaging, purchased for project, £900 never used sell for £600. Tel. 07894 856275. Derbys.

SHURFLO DIAPHRAGM PUMP plus parts including spare motor, £20; square D pressure switch, £10. Tel. 01270 811702. Cheshire.

SUPER CHARGER 50 amp, little used, bought at Crick show for £464, bargain at £250. Tel. 0789 5065648. W Yorks.

WHALE PUMP shower/drain, new, still boxed, 12v or 24v, £40.

Tel. 01932 707165. Surrey.

YAMAHA 4HP 4-stroke, longshaft outboard motor, used as tender/auxiliary, can be seen running, £375. Tel. 01902 743828. W Mids.

Equipment

OMNISAT VUQUBE remote controlled portable satellite system with Grundig freesat box if required, £350. Tel. 07766 590383.

Gtr Man.

w w w .nationalnarrow boatsforcash.co.uk MORSO SQUIRREL 1410 multifuel stove, brand new, still boxed with full warranty. Free local delivery. £525. Tel. 01332 865506. S Derbys.

Engines AIR HEAD COMPOST TOILET New July 2013, used 3 weeks only, immaculate, cost £800, will accept £350 buyer collects. 07884 197408. Derbys.

COMPLETE VACUFLUSH 5000 series cassette toilet system with spare cassette and lots of other spares, can be installed complete or used for spares. £200. Tel. 07908 722230.

HAND START KIT believed to be for Lister SR2 or ST2, includes handle, chain and shaft cog with clutch and pulley, needs clean but sound, £75. Tel. 07811 314112.

Warks.

KABOLA STOVE Old English diesel fired stove, with back boiler and flue, perfect working order, good condition, very powerful whilst also being very economical, cash on collection only. Tel. 07977 539720. Staffs.

PERKINS 4108 DIESEL ENGINE fully marinised, PRM Delta 2:1 ratio hydraulic gearbox with oil cooler, c/w workshop manuals.

Also wiring loom and control panel. Engine was stood for a long period of time, oil pressure was low so new oil pump and oil filter fitted, sump modified to suit new pump, engine has run for only 2 hours since work completed, gearbox had only done 10 hrs since orig refurb, gearbox alone worth around £1000; no sensible offer refused, can deliver in N West. Tel. 01706 852212. Lancs.

BMC 1800 engine and gearbox, £60 ono Tel. 07542 282364. Kent.

YANMAR DIESEL ENGINE YSM 12G, 3-1 reduction gear box, £450.

Tel. 07861 394538. Beds.

CRATCH COVER Brand new, 5ft, blue, never fitted, cost £500, looking for £250 ovno; also 5ltr expansion tank, £30. Tel. 07973 630066.

Notts.

Canalia NORDIKA 3200 as new, used twice, 230v - 400v welder, vgc, c/w headshield, hammer, steel brush, £150; no time wasters please. 07974 808277. W Mids.

CANAL BRASS PLAQUES Mint condition and horse brasses for sale, £120 buyer will have to collect due to the weight. Tel. 07950 832060. Leics.

VANETTE LPG MODEL 4021/2 HOB GG7000 oven & grill, good condition, flame failure protection and 12v ign unit, installation/user manuals, £120 ono. Tel. 07779 229923. Notts.

ADULT QUICKFIT 150N manual life jacket, worn once, child's Seago 150N automatic life jacket, worn once, both as new, can post, £15 each. Tel. 075800 96651; 01594 541320. Glos.

VILLAGER PUFFIN 4kw solid fuel stove, with 1.5kw s/s back boiler, stove recently removed from narrowboat, good cond, c/w fixing brackets, and owner/ installation manuals, £250 ono. Tel. 07779 229923. Notts.

MORSO SQUIRREL 1430 multifuel stove, brand new, still boxed with full warranty, free local delivery, £625. Tel. 01332 865506.

Derbys.

BRASS TILLER PIN Kingfisher, £12; brass fire trivet, wood handle, £5; dark green enamel coffee pot, £4; old brass heavy saucepan, (small), £5; fire guard, black mesh, (new), £5; large terracotta bread/ veg pot, £4; 3 canal related books on walks etc, £2 each; 4 place mats canal boat pics on, £4 the set. Tel. 01773 744538. Derbys.

BRASS FIRE TRIVET wood handle, £5; green lace effect jug, £4; green enamel casserole pot, ideal on top of fire, £3. Tel. 01773 744538. Derbys.

WATERWAYS WORLD MAGS years 2011-2012, complete, free for collection. Tel. 07745 479294.

Surrey.

CANAL RELATED BOOKS four, £2 each; four narrowboat framed prints, 6 x 4, £2 each; small brass old saucepan, £5; roses painted enamel coffee pot, £5; dark green enamel coffee pot, £4; old pine wall cupboard, small, £8; terracotta bread/veg crock, £4. Tel. 01773 744538. Derbys.

CANAL SCENE PLATES 8 Queensware Wedgwood decorative Danbury mint canal scenes plates, (Rural Waters) by Michael Herring, (one slight chip), £25 for the lot. Tel. 07771 804826. Wilts.

Miscellaneous

FOLDING BIKE £80; Cannon 4in-1 printer, £25 both like new. Tel. 07976 485623. Notts.

Wanted EXCHANGE WANTED 1999 trad stern for cruiser stern, 50ft-55ft, mine has BSC 2017, river licence December 2014, good condition.

Tel. 07944 815322 for more details. Notts.

LOOKING FOR an old forecourt petrol pump to restore, anything considered - cash waiting; also petrol pump globes in glass or plastic. Tel. Carl 07980 360216 eves. W Mids.

MIDDLE-AGED BOATING COUPLE relocating to the UK are seeking a furnished flat/house to rent from private from October 2013 until we have found our dreamboat to move onto.All areas considered. Please email us at: mcummins@web.de PRIVATE BOAT MOORING 4550ft or less on Llangollen Canal.

Tel. 01270 524579. Cheshire.

PROPERTY WANTED Towpath side of canal, anything considered, cash waiting, god project.

Tel. 0790 3010642. Lincs.

SMALL DINGHY WANTED unsinkable with small outboard, 2/3 man, not inflatable, price up to £200. Tel. 07929 320843. Oxon.

TRAVEL POWER 3.5KW alternator and support brackets wanted for Beta Marine 43, any condition considered. Tel. 07545 299729. Leics.

WANTED NARROWBOAT 4050ft in length don't mind a boat needing work or finishing off etc willing to travel most areas to view, I do have funds in place ready.Tel. 0790 6019299. Norfolk.

WIDEBEAM CANAL BOAT wanted, in need of restoration/repair/modernising, anything considered. Tel. Ian on 0034 617 904 774. Algeria, Spain.

HONDA OUTBOARD owner’s manual for 9.9hp & 15hp, in as new condition. Tel. 01932 707165.

Surrey.

SOFA Bought to go on narrowboat a year ago but changed seating arrangement on the boat so only used for 6 months, measures: length 5ft 5” depth, 2ft 8” height (without extended headrest), 2ft 10” (approx overall size), £500. Tel. 01986 895544.

SWIVEL/RECLINER CHAIR Black faux leather and footstool, very good condition, very comfortable, similar to Birlea Orlando, two available at £50 each set. Tel. Clare on 01329 221412. Hants.

ECO FAN 3 bladed gold, superb condition, little occasional use on oil stove, makes for a cosy cabin, £80. Tel. 07582 688469. Derbys.

ECO FAN new style, cost £110, now £50; Sterling Universal digital alternator, regulator, cost £95, unused £40; double skin chimney, 28" tall, £20. Tel. 07803 304690.

Cheshire.

THORNYCROFT SERVICE MANUAL Vgc, £10. Tel. 01932 707165. Surrey.

KABOLA old dutch diesel stove, chimney and flue and new spare Mica window inc, £125. ono Tel. 07726 941191. Merseyside.

LEE SANITATION manual self pump-out kit for boat owners, good condition, £95; collect or cost of postage extra. Tel. 07989 350085.

Staffs.

LPG VANETTE 40002 hob & LPG vanette GG7000 oven/grill with flame failure, in good condition, green with gold coloured handles, handbooks, £100. Tel. 01782 785695. Staffs.

MODEL MISSISSIPPI PADDLE STEAMER with Matthew Spress written on it, needs a little bit of attention, £300. Tel. 01283 735489.

MULTICEL 3000W inverter with remote plus battery cable, good working order, £100 ono. Tel. 07575 308672. near Droitwich, Worcs.

SHORELINE MARINE FRIDGE Model RT92 Acc 12/24v DC, 3 years old, good condition, freezer and fridge compartment, only used in our log cabin, 4 years old, £200 ovno. Tel. 07834 819491.

Wilts.

STOLEN: SEAGULL SILVER CENTURY 100 have you been offered a short shaft with clutch, engine no WSPC 350BB3. Police are aware. Tel. David 07762 073100 . N Notts.

TWO CROSS-OVER MATTRESSES new, single, firm foam cross-over mattresses, 72" x 30", make 5ft double £50 each or will exchange for double medium/spft sprung crossover mattress, Grimsby or Fradley jct area, possible delivery/collection. Tel. 01472 234013 or 07948 270887. N Lincs.

TWO FOLDING BICYCLES good running order, £15 each.Tel. 07553 346469. Burton-on-Trent, E Staffs.

Moorings MOORING FOR RENT 70ft mooring for rent, £140 pcm or sale POA, South Oxford canal bridge 142 ,2 car parking space, water supply on land. Tel. 0792 5048923 (T). Oxon.

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BOAT PAINTERS

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CANALIA

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Rare barge craned out of canal ONE of the largest cranes in the country, together with a giant purpose-built cradle, have been used to raise a rare surviving boat out of the water for what is thought to be for the first time, ahead of its planned conservation.

Mossdale is thought to be the last surviving all-wooden wide Mersey ‘flat’, a type of barge which was once a common sight across the North West with

history dating back 150 years.

Volunteers and staff from the Canal & River Trust’s National Waterways Museum have stepped in, with the help of the Heritage Lottery Fund, to save the historic vessel, one of the most important in the museum’s collection.

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Mossdale in her working days. THE WATERWAYS ARCHIVE

Thames museum supporters have until January 31 to back appeal

UPHOLSTERY

AN URGENT plea for public support for the creation of a new Thames Heritage Museum has been made in advance of a planning hearing in April.

The museum at Beale Park would help provide facilities for the public to enjoy three historic launches of national importance.

“We have support from some 50 or so organisations and groups, many of them local to the site, and we need as many people as possible to register their support before the January 31 deadline,” said Brian Smith, chairman of The Consuta Trust, who with trustee David Eager is managing the appeal.

The Child Beale Trust, sponsored by The Consuta Trust, has been granted an appeal hearing for planning permission to create the new museum, close to The Thames at Basildon, to house the three important historic steam boats.

The museum project has been designed to house Consuta, the first ever steam umpire’s launch, built by local builder Sam Saunders in 1898; steam launch Cygnet, built by Thorneycroft and Co in 1870 (the oldest surviving steam launch in the country); and Danola, built for Mr Palmer of Huntley and Palmer biscuits in 1894.

It will also provide exhibits and information on the heritage and development of

powered boatbuilding on The Thames.

The museum has been planned to open on to a pond linked to the lake at Beale Park and will be screened from all directions by existing trees to ensure minimum impact on the landscape and environment.

The building will allow Consuta to be kept afloat, as it has a busy schedule of public appearances and events, but still keep it protected from the elements.

The Consuta Trust and its partner Thames Boats Trust have been campaigning for some time to develop a facility which allows the public to enjoy these magnificent craft and learn about the development of boatbuilding on the river.

An outline planning application to West Berkshire District Council last year was blocked by the planning officials and not allowed to go to the planning committee, despite wholehearted support from the local Basildon Parish Council, local MP Richard Benyon and nationally important organisations such as National Historic Ships.

The planners did not inspect the site and asked for certain extra information at a stage when it was impossible to provide it within their laid down time schedule.

The appeal hearing is scheduled to take place on April 15 at the council offices in Newbury.

Bridgewater Canal as far as Manchester and across the Mersey between Ellesmere Port and Liverpool.

The vessel was donated to the National Waterways Museum by Peter Froud in the 1970s and has been cared for by staff and volunteers, but it was not until June 2012 that a successful Heritage Lottery Fund bid for £147,300 gave hope that the boat might be fully conserved. Lifting Mossdale from the water is an important step towards securing further funding for the work early in 2014.

John Inch, general manager at the National Waterways Museum, said: “Old wooden boats – even those as sturdy looking as Mossdale – are incredibly fragile, so everyone was holding their breath when she was first lifted out. We’re all incredibly excited to see her out of the water for the first time and delighted with how well the operation has gone. Boats like this would have been a common sight to our ancestors and she is the last of her kind to survive.

She is part of the story of Merseyside, its waterways and people and we want to keep that story alive.”

The huge crane lifts Mossdale out of the water.

PHOTOS COURTESY BILL LEATHERWOOD

Aeronautical engineer’s boat-building heritage

by Elizabeth Rogers

THE name of Samuel Saunders is famous for his being one of the founders of Saunders-Roe (Saro) Limited; but before it became associated with aero-nautical engineering he had been renowned as a boat builder on the River Thames at Goring and Streatley.

It was there that he developed the ‘consuta’ process of the construction of light watertight hulls for boats and later for early marine aircraft. The ‘consuta’ process involved the sewing of panels together with copper and brass wire and took its name from the Latin word for ‘sewn together’ – consuta.

It was fitting that one of the first boats so designed, Consuta, an 1898 steam launch built for and still used as an umpire’s boat at the Henley Royal Regatta, was one of three which took guests along the river at the ceremony of the unveiling of an Oxfordshire Blue Plaque on the Saunders former showroom in Goring, now a Royal Mail sorting office.

The suggestion for this blue plaque was put forward to the Oxfordshire Blue Plaques Board by Goring and Streatley Local History Society secretary Janet Hurst and her husband Michael, who is chairman of its transport study group.

The plaque was unveiled by Ray Wheeler, a former managing director of Saro Hovercraft and Samuel Saunders’ biographer.

Exhibition

Other boats on the river that day were the Mythical Maid built in 1901 and the Enchantress built by former Saunders’ staff at his workshops after they had been taken over by Hobbs of Henley. The local history society mounted an exhibition in the

village hall on the life and achievements of Samuel Saunders.

He was born in 1857. His father, landlord of The Swan at Streatley, was also a boat builder and ran various river-related activities. Samuel and his two brothers soon became involved and by his teenage years he was showing the signs of his exceptional ability. He continued after his father died and with this stretch of the river becoming a busy and popular one for recreational boating he soon needed larger premises.

These he found on the other side of the river at Goring in 1886 at Willowside, now Bridge House, and then at the purposebuilt workshop and showroom eight years later where the plaque has been erected.

With further expansion, construction was transferred farther upstream, about a mile away at Withymead. It was to these Springfield works that Consuta made her trip during the celebration afternoon.

With his widening interests, Samuel Saunders started up an operation in France, with a workshop in Paris on the River Seine where his first speedboats were built.

This was in 1906 at a similar time as the Columbine Works were established on the Isle of Wight at the popular sailing venue of East Cowes. Following various marine craft and airships, he began work on his first aircraft and the partnership with Sir Edwin Alliott Verdon Roe, another aircraft designer, was launched.

This company went on to many new developments, including the hovercraft, but boat building continued at the Springfield Works on the Thames until the sale in 1911 to Hobbs of Henley.

Samuel Saunders died in 1933 at the age of 76.

How to register your support

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The appeal reference is 2208764 and the case officer is Nicholas Patch at 3/06 Wing, Temple Quay House, 2 The Square, Bristol BS1 6PN. You can email TeamP7@pins.gsi.gov.uk Full information on how to support the appeal and a detailed summary of the issues involved is available on The Consuta Trust website: www.consuta.org.uk

Former Saro MD Ray Wheeler, centre, with, left, Tony and Jackie Hobbs and, right, Janet and Mike Hurst at the unveiling of the blue plaque (inset). PHOTO:GORING & STREATLEY LOCAL HISTORY SOCIETY.

WATER AND WILDLIFE 95

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Meadow project wins environment award

By Elizabeth Rogers

THE Oxford Preservation Trust recently won the Natural Environment category of the Canal & River Trust’s Renaissance Awards for its creation of a riverside nature park from a former scrapyard site.

Eleven acres of flood meadow were bequeathed to the Oxford trust in 2006. The site was behind a housing estate and separating the community from the nearby River Thames.

First steps towards restoration included the removal of 250 tonnes of rubbish including six boats, old rail wagons and tractors.

Plans to develop a nature reserve and maximise the benefit of the meadow for the local community were drawn up in partnership with the BBOW (Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust) with contributions from local people. Also involved was the Pond Conservation Million Pound Project, which contributed funding, as did the Waste Recycling Group.

The neighbouring Four Pillars Hotel Group provided volunteer support from its staff and they will continue to be involved in maintaining the area.

Now promoted by the trust as a place for the public to enjoy wildlife, Heyford Meadow has benefited from improved biodiversity with its new ponds, trees and hedges and a programme of vegetation management.

Oxford Preservation Trust director Debbie Dance and administrator Eluned Hallas from OPT collecting the award from judging panel member Eileen O’Hara of the Canal & River Trust. PHOTOS: CANAL & RIVER TRUST It has been designated a Thames and Cherwell Conservation Target Area (CTA). To help walkers and others gain the most from their visits, there are interpretation boards, viewing platforms, seating, new footpaths and boardwalks to allow year-round access.

“The restoration of Heyford Meadow is important for Oxford because it creates more space for wildlife and links with the nearby Iffley Meadows

Heyford Meadow before restoration work.

nature reserve and wild places beside the River Thames towards the city centre,” said BBOWT’s community wildlife officer for Oxford, Andy Gunn.

New populations of toads, grass snakes and newts have been attracted and surveys will be made this summer of the mammals and bird and insect life so that their habitats can be managed appropriately.

The winners of the Renaissance Award for volunteering were the Thames Valley Volunteers. They contribute to the volunteer programme set up by the Environment Agency in 2011 to help in managing recreation on the River Thames.

Previously the only volunteer involvement had been by those acting as flood wardens in a limited number of locations. The initial focus was to recruit volunteer assistants at locks, and last year this was extended to introduce volunteer boatmen.

More than 150 people have been involved along the length of the nontidal River Thames with its 45 locks, working with the Environment Agency’s own staff.

The Environment Agency’s SouthEast Waterways Team also won a commendation for its work with others on the river during the Olympic Games.

Droughts, mink and habitat loss blamed for drop in water vole numbers ENGLAND’S population of water voles could have declined by a fifth since 2011, the Environment Agency and the Wildlife Trusts have revealed.

New maps suggest that while there are some strongholds where water voles continue to thrive, the overall population in England is struggling and could have reduced by up to 22%. Populations in the South West, the South East, the Lake District and parts of the Midlands are especially vulnerable.

Populations continue to disappear due to long-term habitat loss, mink predation and extreme weather events, including last year’s spring drought.

Creating and maintaining large-scale good quality habitat is key to ensuring the species’ survival. Reintroduction schemes, combined with mink control programmes and habitat management, are providing a lifeline for this much-loved species.

Alastair Driver, the Environment Agency’s national conservation manager and chairman of the UK Water Vole Steering Group, said: “The Environment Agency has created nearly 5000 hectares of wetland and river habitats in the last 10 years and we hope to double this in the next 10. Added to this, our rivers are at their healthiest for over 20 years, but control of the American mink is essential if water voles are to benefit from these healthier rivers and new habitats.”

The Environment Agency, Wildlife Trusts and others are working hard to save the water vole, with projects that establish where populations remain and what needs to be done to help them reconnect and expand across larger areas. Surveyors look for the occurrence of characteristic field signs such as droppings, feeding stations and burrows in order to detect their presence along watercourses.

Bat cave built on Welsh canal A RECENTLY restored limekiln on the side of the Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal has been adapted to a bat cave to attract rare lesser horseshoe bats.

It is hoped that the cave will provide a useful roost site for the bats, which use the canal to forage for food and make their home in the surrounding countryside.

Dr Mark Robinson inspecting the inside of the kiln. PHOTO: GLANDWR CYMRU

Local volunteers have been repairing a number of early 19th century limekilns at the site after the structures had become overgrown and their stonework began to crumble.

A temporary wooden door has been built in one of the side-chambers of the kiln to provide insulation, and a heat monitor will be installed so that the team can monitor the temperature level and ensure it is suitable for hibernating and night roosting bats.

The project has been led by Glandwr Cymru and The Vincent Wildlife Trust’s Y Bannau – Bro’r Ystlum/Our Beacon for Bats Project, which is funded by the Brecon Beacons Trust and Heritage Lottery Fund.

The work has approval from the conservation team at Brecon Beacons National Park Authority and has been done sympathetically to reflect the status of the kilns.

Dr Mark Robinson, Glandwr Cymru ecologist, said: “We know lesser horseshoe bats use the Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal as an important commuting route and find plenty of food along the way.

“The shape of the kiln is ideal for bat habitat. It has grills which are perfect for bats to fly in and out of, while the stone walling retains enough heat.”

Rescued seal pups come to Cheshire

The meadow in summer.

BOATERS cruising through Nantwich, Cheshire, on the Shropshire Union Canal will be used to wildlife, and particularly hares, Canada geese and kingfishers, writes Geoff Wood.

But now there are new creatures in town – six sick and injured seals – which just about survived the storms and floods on the East Coast.

A wildlife centre in East Anglia is now full, so Cheshire and Nantwich’s Stapeley Grange Wildlife Centre near the waterway is taking up the overspill.

Volunteers in action planting trees.

Weevils win AN experiment which involved the release of 1000 weed-eating weevils into the Bridgwater & Taunton Canal to tackle the invasive aquatic plant azolla has been judged a success. The Canal and River Trust described it as an “effective and cheap way” of eradicating the weed which reduces light and oxygen levels in the water, killing fish and other wildlife. The species of weevil (stenopelmus rufinasus) which they put into the canal at Kings Lock only eat this particular water weed, which is native to North America.

Wildlife haven planat luneaqueduct THERE will soon be an extra reason to stop and stare around the famous Lune Aqueduct which carries the Lancaster Canal over the River Lune south of Lancaster, writes Geoff Wood.

Work is now under way to create a wildlife haven there.

And local schools are set to lend a hand with the project.

There will be ponds with

platforms and a wide range of aquatic plants as well as new trees, a wildlife meadow, an outdoor classroom and a water path and sculpture trail.

David Hennessey, Canal & River Trust project officer, said: “We are really excited that the work is under way. We have done considerable work with the Lune Aqueduct and this project will add further interest.”

The seals are expected to stay for five months.

Centre manager Lee Stewart said: “We wanted to help in any way we could so agreed to take half a dozen sick pups with the hope we can also take some more in the future. We hope to be able to help some more as and when we have the available staff.

“The flooding resulted in one of the biggest seal rescue projects the RSPCA has ever seen and everyone is working round the clock to help these little fellas.”

Canal could become nature reserve

By Bob Clarke

THE campaign to make the whole of the Wyrley & Essington Canal from Wolverhampton into a nature reserve has moved a stage nearer to fruition.

Wolverhampton City Council has already declared the canal as a Site of Importance for Nature Conservation which means it is now permanently protected from development.

Its new status also means the way is

now clear for the canal to be registered as a nature reserve by Natural England with talks already having taken place with the council.

This follows talks that have been held between city councillor Phil Bateman, who has headed the campaign, and city planners with the Canal & River Trust and West Midlands Wildlife Trust.

A comprehensive wildlife survey will take place along the whole length of the canal.

96 ADVICE/ON SCOTTISH WATERS with Hugh Dougherty

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Steamer appeal tops £100,000

Boaters are advised to document their ties to a local area and keep a log of their mooring locations. PHOTO:WATERWAY IMAGES

Claiming benefits from your boat At a time of the year when many people are feeling the pinch, Elizabeth Abbott advises boaters how to claim any benefits they are entitled to.

WITH the International Monetary Fund admitting it underestimated the impact of austerity programmes on growth and jobs, and life in the UK becoming harsher for many, it’s vital to know our rights regarding accessing benefits.

If it’s something you’re feeling uncomfortable about having to resort to, it may help to know that political scientist Susan George once wrote that poverty is not a terrible but unavoidable phenomenon, but rather a logical part of the way capitalism is designed. The UK’s economic system does not deliver jobs or decent wages, agreed Guardian journalist Seumas Milne recently – to sum up, it’s not that the system isn’t working, this is in fact how it works! It may also help to consider that, despite the impression we are given by tabloid newspapers, many of the UK’s taxpayers are far happier for their taxes to go on feeding and housing their less well-off neighbours than on weapons, or politicians’ expenses.

A society can be judged by how it treats its vulnerable members, so it is a good contribution to understand, engage with, protect and promote the benefits still in place to help our society do this well. If it’s your turn to be on the receiving end, here are the basics you need to know.

You can claim housing benefit to cover the expense of renting your boat, if you don’t own it, and also your mooring rent, if you have a permanent mooring.

This is quite common and should not involve a battle. Your landlord/lady (bit of a misnomer there!) does not need to

know that you are claiming benefit.

Whether your housing benefit will cover all, or only part, of what you pay out may be decided by a rent officer coming to visit you; the rent officer will inspect your premises and decide if the rent you are paying is reasonable and if therefore all of it will be covered.

Many residential moorings require council tax (it depends on the definition of the mooring use) so you may also be eligible for council tax benefit. If you have a boat but can’t obtain a residential mooring for it, you may be able to register with the council as homeless and access emergency accommodation, although since such moorings can be hard to find, there seems to be a ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ approach on the part of many authorities to how many nights boaters stay on boats that are moored on nonresidential moorings.

Court precedents

It is less well-known that you can also claim housing benefit for your boat licence (as housing charity Shelter affirm) and apparently even for your boat safety certificate and third party insurance, since your boat home would not be legal unless all these were paid for.

This was clarified during several precedent-setting court cases, during which the Social Security and Child Support Commissioners (SSCSA) made their decisions using a specific legal definition of ‘rent’ which includes ‘payments in respect of, or in consequence of, use and occupation of the dwelling....’ It is based on this definition that the Kennet & Avon Boating Community website records that at least one boater has succeeded in claiming for

the boat safety certificate and insurance, paid as a small sum each month.

In case CH 0318 2005, the boater successfully claimed housing benefit to cover their licence fee despite continuous cruising, and on appeal, another similar case decision agreed with this. In both cases the important fact was that the boaters were cruising mainly in the relevant local authority’s area. The K&A Community site comments this is often possible while still complying with the 1995 British Waterways Act requirement of moving the boat to a different place every 14 days, which is enshrined in law, and opines that by contrast, more recent additional waterways authority requirements are similar to a tenancy agreement, compliance with which is not relevant to housing benefit decisions.

Experienced boaters suggest that it may help your case to confirm and document your ties to a local area, such as with electoral roll registration, registering with a doctor or dentist, and establishing of an address to which post such as bank statements arrives – which of course can be your boat mooring if you have one. It is possible to use the housing benefit office as a care-of address. It has also been suggested that you keep a log of your mooring locations over a period of time, which may help if you need to prove you regularly live within a particular local authority area.

The Pension, Housing Benefit, Jobseekers Allowance, Income Support, Employment and Support Allowance, and Disability Allowance, can all be claimed while living aboard by those who are otherwise eligible. However, having read this article and had a look at the below links, you may find that you are now more informed than the staff who arrange your benefits, especially if they have dealt with few boaters. Stick to your guns, use the below organisations to find support, and appeal if necessary.

THE appeal to get PS Maid of the Loch sailing again has topped £100,000, just nine months after being launched by the Loch Lomond Steamship Company. It now stands at £102,442.

More than 300 donations have come from individuals all over the UK with several received from Canada, America, and Switzerland.

Phil Preston, Loch Lomond Steamship Company chairman said: “This is a magnificent total and shows the support there is to get the Maid sailing again. We’ve enjoyed a great year and to have achieved over £100,000 in less than nine months is quite remarkable.”

The chairman also announced progress on the planned visitor centre at Balloch. He said: “The architect, studioKAP in Glasgow, has produced a set of proposals for a new, year-round, £0.9 million visitor welcoming facility on Balloch Pier which we are currently discussing. On top of that, we have met with the Heritage Lottery Fund, and are preparing an application to the fund.

Scotland’s largest inland waterway steamer waits for the cash to roll in to get her sailing again. PHOTO: HUGH DOUGHERTY “The Maid needs £3.3 million to get her sailing again. I would like to thank everyone who has contributed so far for their generosity and would appeal to readers who would like to see steam and paddles in action once again on Loch Lomond, to consider contributing.”

The appeal is open online at www.maid oftheloch.com or by post PO Box 9401, Gourock PA19 1NB.

Raceto Revive navigable nith A BOAT race held on the River Nith at Dumfries was the first step in a drive to open the river up to small craft once again.

Fifteen boats sailed up to Whitesands in the heart of the Galloway capital thanks to event organisers, the Port of Dumfries Development Group, which wants to see the river brought back to life again. The Nith was the town’s main traffic artery from medieval times through to the early 20th century when it fell into disuse.

The group’s Roy Kerr said: “In its heyday, the port handled commercial traffic such as grain, livestock and ironmongery. Ships would take ironwork to Africa and America and bring back tobacco, so Dumfries saw a great deal of trade. That’s why Scotland’s Bard, Rabbie Burns worked here as an excise man. We want to bring back life to the river and to remind people that it is navigable so we can develop the port again, especially for pleasure and leisure sailors.”

Boats taking part in the event had to lower their masts to navigate bridges to make the upper reaches of the Nith, and one was even capsized to clear one of the spans at the Kirkpatrick Fleming Bridge, which, campaigners say, would have to be raised to allow navigation to be fully restored.

The Port of Dumfries Development Group is planning further events and developments to help re-establish leisure traffic on the river to boost the local tourist trade and economy.

Canal College youngsters ‘unlock’ the past THE story of a 200-year-old lock flight beside the Falkirk Wheel will be literally ‘unlocked’ thanks to young people working with the Scottish Waterways Trust’s Canal College project. The trainees, aged between 16 and 25, will excavate and record 11 locks which once linked the Forth & Clyde and Union Canals, with canal boats taking a day to traverse the staircase. They will also locate two other locks which lie buried under this abandoned, original stretch of the canals now linked again by the Falkirk Wheel.

The two-year dig into the waterways’ past is supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund, the European Union’s Interreg IVB North West Europe Green and Blue Futures, Scottish Natural Heritage and Scottish Canals. It aims to teach the young people involved new skills and will result in the excavated locks being put on display with interpretation boards, as well as being available for guided tours of what is regarded as one of the most significant and ambitious pieces of Scottish industrial heritage archaeological excavation in recent years.

Karen Moore, Scottish Waterways Trust chief executive, said: “The students will gain invaluable experience in helping preserve an important part of the rich heritage of the Scottish canal network.”

The excavations were started off by Falkirk Provost Pat Reid, along with trainees, as well as Karen Moore and representatives of the various bodies involved. The area being excavated was an important industrial focal point, with metal and chemical works, a distillery and inns built around the locks in the 18th and 19th centuries.

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‘Unlocking’ the past as Provost Pat Reid of Falkirk Council, joins trainees and SWT’s chief executive, Karen Moore, (centre) to launch the dig at the historic locks.

PHOTO: SCOTTISH WATERWAYS TRUST

ON SCOTTISH WATERS with Hugh Dougherty 97

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Russell’s the man for Caley canal!

Events reveal historic secrets of canals AROUND 450 people flocked to events giving a rare glimpse into some of the many secrets of the Forth & Clyde and Monkland Canals.

Scottish Canals offered visitors indepth insights into the vital roles the waterways and their structures have played in the history of Glasgow via a range of guided tours and exhibitions, many of which sold out within days of being advertised.

Featuring everything from water taxi tours to a sneak peek around the Applecross Street Workshops, the events were part of Glasgow Doors Open Day – an annual festival that celebrates the city’s architecture and history.

The Forth & Clyde Canal Society’s Glasgow water taxi, which offered a fascinating boat ride along the Forth & Clyde Canal, proved very popular, with the 120 places available on the craft’s trips selling out within days.

The festival also offered a one-off opportunity to see inside the oldest canal-related building in Scotland – Applecross Street Workshops – on the Forth & Clyde Canal. Built in the 1780s, more than 130 visitors to the workshops were able to view an

Hugh Dougherty meets the manager of one of Scotland’s most famous waterways

IF EVER a man loved his job it’s Russell Thomson, the Caledonian Canal’s 52year-old waterway manager. If you ask him what he likes best, the canal chief, who’s been 10 years in the job, says that it’s the sheer variety. “No two days are ever the same,” he says, looking out across Muirtown Basin from his office window.

Russell, who started life as a deep-sea officer, moved to CalMac ferries, worked on the Skye Bridge until it became tollfree, and then joined the canals, says that the popularity of the Caley, with some 1300 through vessels every year, thousands of internal vessel movements on the canal itself, and up to 4000 paddle sports enthusiasts per year, is down to stunning scenery.

“But,” he says,” it’s as much down to our superb staff, 39 full-time and 22 seasonal, who work as a team to make a user’s canal experience memorable.

We’re as big on customer relations as we are on technical and safety expertise, and we want people who sail the waterway, or who enjoy the towpath and surroundings to come back again and again.”

Russell estimates that the canal pumps some £4 million annually into the local economy, and he’s committed

to driving that upwards, with plans for increased leisure traffic. “We’re already twinned with a Dutch canal and I see enormous potential in attracting more Scandinavian boat owners, who think nothing of crossing the North Sea to use the canal both alone and in flotillas,” Russell said.

Freight trial

A recent trial has also proven the viability of freight, while Russell works with a variety of agencies, including Network Rail – both ends of the canal have opening rail bridges – Transport Scotland, which has opening truck roads over the canal, The Highland Council, Scottish Natural Heritage and Visit Scotland, to name a few.

There’s also a users’ group to keep in touch with and Russell places great value on communication as well as a realisation that the 200-year-old Caledonian Canal has to be treated as such, for, not only is it a listed monument, but ‘she’, as he calls the waterway, has to be looked after delicately.

“We’re all very proud of the Caley’s heritage,” said Russell. “I’m the keeper of that heritage and the work of Thomas Telford who designed the

Funds sought by campaigners to restore Scotland’s last ‘little ship’

A PLEA has gone out from a recently launched campaign group to raise funds to restore Skylark IX, Scotland’s last-known surviving Dunkirk ‘little ship’ following the craft’s rescue from the bed of the River Leven at Balloch in October 2012 by Royal Navy divers.

The Skylark IX Recovery Trust has been formed to push for the boat, currently parked at the side of the Leven, to be restored as a floating museum, with the possibility of her becoming part of a flotilla to mark the 75th anniversary of Dunkirk in 2015 if funds become available.

Leven Cruising Club, the Vale of Leven Remembrance Day Association and Dumbarton-based Alternatives Community Drug Service, have combined forces under the new trust’s flag to ensure that the historic boat has a future.

Trustee Anne Dyer said: “The story

behind this boat has touched so many people. We’re trying to raise £3000 initially to pay for secure premises where we can start conservation work.

Local people who have been affected by drug addiction will work on her, learn new skills and be helped in their return to work, so that she will, once again, be rescuing people who are under threat, just as she did at Dunkirk in 1940.”

Skylark IX was built in 1927 by Bolson’s of Poole and was powered by an Ulster HRWG engine. The Vale of Leven Cruising Club bought her after World War II and she cruised on Loch Lomond and on the Leven until 2010, when she sank at her moorings before being refloated in 2012.

Anyone who can help with donations, offers of premises for the boat to be restored in, or who can offer hands-on, practical restoration skills, should contact the trust at www.skylarkix.com

The ‘little ship’ is raised from the bed of the Leven in October 2012. Now accommodation is needed to allow her to be fully restored. PHOTO HUGH DOUGHERTY

Russell ready for action with Muirtown Basin and marina behind him.

PHOTO: HUGH DOUGHERTY

canal. It’s my job to keep the canal open, safe and developing, so that she’ll be there for generations to come. The more we can move towards financial selfsufficiency by generating more traffic, the better, with sustainability very much part of the Scottish Canals’ agenda, both here on the Caley and on all of Scotland’s canals.”

But there’s one question that Russell knows is inevitable. Has he ever seen Nessie, the Loch Ness Monster, whose home is on Russell’s patch and used by canal traffic? “I haven’t seen her personally,” he smiles, “but I do regard myself as her manager and I have a duty to keep her safe and sound for generations to come.”

Louise Gamble, Scottish Canals’ community engagement officer, and a safety-conscious history fan look at the exhibition at Applecross Street Workshops. PHOTO: SCOTTISH CANALS exhibition – set in the last remaining section of the once-vast Victoria Foundry – detailing the building’s vital role in the history of both the canal and Glasgow.

Canals chief’s plea to stay safe this winter SCOTTISH Canals’ chief Russell Thomson is calling on all canal and towpath users to stay SAFE that’s – Stay Away From the Edge – this winter.

The senior waterway manager said while frost, ice and snow make it a particularly beautiful time to visit the waterways, it’s vital that people recognise the need to take extra care.

And Russell is urging children always to be accompanied by an adult when visiting a canal. He’s also reminding visitors and users of all ages that they’ll be literally skating on thin ice and risking their own life and the lives of others if they don’t stay away from the edge.

“Remember the SAFE code for canals. Stay Away From the Edge,” stressed Russell. “And you’ll enjoy canals safely this winter.”

Booklet unlocks Glasgow canals’ story A NEW booklet has unlocked the story of Glasgow canals by making them accessible to everyone. Glasgow’s Canals Unlocked is published by the Scottish Waterways Trust thanks to funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund and covers Forth & Clyde and Monklands Canals, leading the reader along six sections of the waterways.

The guide points out places of interest and tells the story of the life and times of the canals and the contribution they made to industrial Glasgow as well as their present-day renaissance. The routes suggested can be done on foot, by bike or on horseback, and, of course the guide would be an excellent

companion to boaters, too.

Available, free, at tourist information offices, libraries and at Scottish Canals’ Glasgow office, the booklet also links to a tablet and mobile phone app, ‘Unlocking the Story’, which gives more information on locations. It is downloadable at www.scottishwaterwaystrust.org.uk/unloc king-the-story and is free to users.

The booklet is also supported by Glasgow City Council, Glasgow City Heritage Trust, Scottish Canals, Glasgow Life, Maryhill Burgh Halls, Lambhill Stables, Glasgow Sculpture Studios and the National Theatre of Scotland, the last four bodies having director canalside connections with the Forth & Clyde Canal.

Canal stakeholders discuss equal access A WIDE range of canal users and interested groups got together for the first time at the end of November as the Lowland Canals Key Stakeholder Group, to discuss ways of managing competing demands on, and along, the Union, Forth & Clyde and Monkland Canals.

Fresh and saltwater boaters, paddling fans and representatives of angling, walking and cycling groups met with Scottish Canals’ board members Geoff Aitkenhead and Martin Latimer, who chaired the meeting, to thrash out a way forward for equal access and harmonious waterway and towpath use.

The group heard that Scottish canals welcome 22 million visitors every year, with 47% walkers and 21% cyclists – a three-fold increase compared with eight years ago – using the canals. Discussions centre on how to reconcile the different needs of all users, with an existing Towpath Code of Conduct, adopted by Scottish Canals and Edinburgh Council, being highlighted as good practice.

Martin Latimer said: “Scotland’s canals are busier than ever and play host to a variety of users. While it’s fantastic that so many people are enjoying the waterways and towpaths, we recognise that this does create the potential for conflict. The Lowland Canals Key Stakeholder Group is a means of working with the diverse user groups of the waterways in order to manage the competing demands of

Busy times on Lowland canals: Cyclists and walkers on the towpath as others take to the water on the Forth & Clyde Canal. PHOTO: HUGH DOUGHERTY everyone who wants to enjoy the canals and their towpaths.”

Two meetings of the group are planned for 2014 to further develop better relationships between canal users across the board.

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Llanfoist Wharf and Blaenavon

Local people, iron and a World Heritage site that changed the world

Words: PHILLIPPA GREENWOOD Photography: MARTINE O’CALLAGHAN

HERITAGE in South Wales comes with lungs full of pride, as honey-sweet voices of male choirs sing from the same hilltops and valleys that once choked children with coal dust from the mines.

The story of Blaenavon is a blockbuster on the emotions, with a sweeping landscape that was shaped by the pick and shovel of coal miners, and a town sculpted by its inhabitants, and trade unionists, industrialists, capitalists and eager migrant workers.

Big beautiful Wales is a small country with wide-open panoramas coloured in green and dotted with sheep. But for a time in history, Wales was an industrial nation. Day and night, iron furnaces spat the flames of hell into the sky, in the race to feed the Industrial Revolution.

Blaenavon’s blessing, and curse, was that it was an area irresistibly rich with limestone, coal and iron ore – all the ingredients needed for successful iron smelting. The Blaenavon works became one of the largest iron smelting works in Britain, and a world leader in the 19th

The Mon & Brec is very lush and green near Llanfoist.

century. The works are now one of Europe’s best preserved from the 18th century. The furnaces that were once pioneering in their use of a steam engine instead of water wheels, are now amazing remains that can be seen at the site today.

Transport was the vital key to the success of the area. A tram road built by Thomas Hill, with its tunnel and several inclined planes cascaded down the slopes away from the iron works towards Llanfoist Wharf. The tram road carried bulk from Blaenavon iron works down to the canal at Llanfoist, and here, one single canal boat could carry as much cargo as 200 packhorses, making the canals instrumental in the early achievements of Blaenavon. The canal was originally built as two canals, with the first opening in the late 1700s. After both canals were completed they remained busy until the mid-1800s when the new railways dominated.

Arriving at Llanfoist Wharf today is like discovering an oasis in the middle of the

The former warehouse at Govilon, near Llanfoist.

woods. It is a leafy cocoon humming with peace, with only the flight of a dragonfly or the elusive squeak of a resident dormouse to disturb the silence. People come on holiday here now – some hire a narrowboat from Beacon Park boats which is based in the historic wharf, others walk or cycle, or arrive by road just to explore for the day. It’s hard, at first glance, to imagine the wharf was once a flurry of less leisurely activity, and to see this canal as a busy export route to Newport. But a walk from Llanfoist, following the old tram roads hidden in the woods up into the mountains is a fascinating trail into Welsh history with a host of heritage clues to be discovered.

The entire length of the Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal today is one of the most scenic in Britain, breathtaking in parts, with views over Pen y Fan and Sugar Loaf Mountain. Its towpath is addictive for walking boots, but the canal around Llanfoist echoes with the excitement of Blaenavon World Heritage Site.

TOWPATH TREASURES/ANGLING 99

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The Towpath Angler

David Kent

Our monthly look at the angling scene

NOT surprisingly things were fairly quiet in the weeks before the Christmas holidays. That said, there has been considerable further progress with the Angling Strategy, particularly involving new, local initiatives, and more discussion about the proposed canal championship which, so far, looks to have been universally well received. As I suggested last month this event will, hopefully, create a number of opportunities to better engage with young, aspiring anglers and canalside communities as well as many more established competition anglers.

As a result of my mentioning the additional funding for cycling, I have received several contacts from people who are really upset that their favourite towpath walks could become no-go areas. Sadly, I guess most people, having become accustomed to the total lack of action by the police and local authorities with regard to cycling on pavements, assume it is inevitable. What I do also hear is that cyclists should be legally obliged to display some form of ID and, most definitely, have insurance. This latter issue I fully support especially since boaters and angling clubs are legally obliged to be insured so why should cyclists be any different?

As we move into 2014, work on all national competitions will intensify.

Angling Trust’s Division 1 National Championship is scheduled for midAugust on the Trent covering a match length from Nottingham down to Laughterton on the tidal river.

Division 2 will take place on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal around Wigan in September. With the Riverfest event and the AT/CRT Stillwater Championship all set to run again and, of course, the pilot for the Canal Championship, you can see just how busy all the organising teams will be.

Over the past year I have tried to keep you updated on the situation with my local Erewash Canal following the pollution 15 months ago. I said that disillusionment is rife particularly with regard to the apparent lack of any sort of recovery plan. However, since writing last month, there has been a major development. It would be wrong of me to disclose details just in case future action may be jeopardised, but there is no doubt that this could impact greatly on the recovery of the affected lower sections of the canal. It would be really satisfying to bring you some good news on this long saga very soon.

Views from the canal.

Part of the display at Talybont about the Brinore Tramroad.

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.

www.coolcanals.com

The Brecon Beacons National Park sign.

FACT FILE Llanfoist Wharf Llanfoist Wharf is where the Blaenavon Industrial Landscape UNESCO World Heritage Site meets the canal. The canal is open all day every day. If you cross beneath the canal at the Wharf, it is possible to follow tracks of the former tram roads up into the hills and join the circular Iron Mountain Trail around major industrial sites of the World Heritage Site. The bridge and Boathouse at Llanfoist Wharf are both Grade II-listed.

Blaenavon Industrial Landscape UNESCO World Heritage Site The entire Blaenavon Industrial Landscape is open all day every day, and spreads over approximately 13 square miles. Blaenavon World Heritage Centre is at the heart of the World Heritage Site and gives an overview of its industrial heritage.

Free admission. Tour guides can be booked to take you round the main industrial heritage of the town of Blaenavon. Gift shop and cafe.

Canal matches

Our weather so far this winter has been dominated by the Atlantic with an almost continuous procession of storms bringing gale force winds and loads of rain. It certainly has not done much for the river anglers but the relatively mild temperatures have led to some brilliant fishing on many of our canals. A pre-Christmas match on the lower end of the Trent & Mersey threw up a 14lb top weight mainly comprising decent bream. The backing weights were pretty good too.

Most anglers went home with a bottle or two of Christmas cheer.

I have spoken to a colleague in Wiltshire within the last week and he was really excited about a match on the Kennet & Avon where the top weight was around 20lb and 10lb was quite ‘ordinary’. So far I have only heard of ice breakers being used following a frost in one of the quiet interludes in the stormy weather. With regard to baits, worms have taken their fair share of the bream but punched bread seems to be doing well as water clarity increases.

My own better run has seen further successes recently. However, I know only too well that these purple patches are all too often short-lived so I intend trying to make the most of this one while it lasts. Unfortunately I have not fished a canal match recently nor do I have one scheduled in the coming weeks. Let us hope my current decent run continues long enough until I do get on to a canal.

Last month I talked about thermal clothing in readiness for the real winter coming although of late I have just been glad to have a couple of sets of waterproof clothing hanging in my garage so one can dry out while I wear the other. I feel sure though that, based on recent years, we will have need of the thermals come late January and into February.

My very best wishes for a happy, prosperous and keepnet filling 2014.

Giant eel discovered as lock drained Blaenavon Industrial Landscape UNESCO World Heritage Site includes Big Pit, the National Coal Museum. www.visitblaenavon.co.uk whc.unesco.org/en/list Location Llanfoist.

OS Grid ref: OS SO284130 Canal: Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal How to get there By train Nearest train station is Abergavenny National Rail Enquiries 08457 484950 By bus Traveline Cymru 08712 002233 By car Several car parks to choose from in nearby Abergavenny, or roadside near the canal.

On foot The Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal’s towpath is deservedly popular with both walkers and cyclists.

By boat Nearest boat hire: Beacon Park Boats, Llanfoist Wharf.

Holiday & day boat hire. 01873 858277 www.beaconparkboats.com Moorings There are plenty of visitor moorings available along the Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal.

Local Tourist info Tourist Information Centre Abergavenny. www.breconbeaconstourism.co.uk Brecon Beacons National Park www.breconbeacons.org Monmouthshire, Brecon & Abergavenny Canals Trust Established in 1984, the Trust works in partnership with Glandwr Cymru to promote and restore the entire length of the canal. www.mon-brec-canal-trust.org.uk Canal & River Trust/Glandwr Cymru Use the Canal & River Trust website to find specific local information. www.canalrivertrust.org.uk

A RARE 8lb 2oz female eel thought to be around 50 years old was found by a team working on major repairs of a canal lock in Northamptonshire.

Dealing with water and wildlife is just part of the job for the Canal & River Trust; however, finding a large slippery creature lurking at the bottom of the Grand Union Canal

The giant eel found in the Watford Lock Flight. PHOTO SUPPLIED

was quite a surprise for those carrying out the restoration of the Watford Lock Flight.

Specialists from MEM Fisheries were called in to catch and relocate fish from the canal so the trust’s maintenance teams could drain the canal and repair leaking lock gates.

Becca Dent, national angling development manager for the Canal & River Trust, said: “We have lots of eels living in the canal system but to find something as big as this one is a brilliant discovery. The biggest European eel caught with a rod and line in the UK was just 3lb heavier than the one we found. We have safely put the eel back in the canal.”

Eels, which are protected by law, are able to survive for periods of time out of water and capable of crossing land and damp meadows in their search for water systems.

Once eels have left the rivers to return to the sea to spawn, they stop feeding and so have to rely on stored energy alone.

100 WET WEB

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The Wet Web With water, water everywhere in the wake of the January floods, Helen Gazeley seeks products to protect our gadgets

BEING surrounded by water has its hazards. There can’t be many of us who haven’t watched something, prized or otherwise, plunge overboard into the grubby depths. And the almost biblical deluges recently have made it hard to keep dry even out of the water. There are a few items, out there, though, which might make life a tad easier.

Barring loved ones, of all the items that might plunge over the side, your phone or tablet is probably the one that’s going to cause most anguish. Lifeproof (www.lifeproof.com) makes protective cases for iPhones, iPads and Samsung smartphones which seal them into a waterproof, dirt-proof environment that allows access to the phone’s functions (and the actual touchscreen), and is surprisingly compact. As well as protecting your phone from damp environments, it’s even suggested that the case will allow you to take underwater pictures (perhaps when you’ve dived in to fish it out), though personally I think I’d give that a miss.

For those who are particularly prone to losing a phone overboard, however, they also make the Lifejacket. It’s a bit chunky to carry in your pocket but fits tightly around the phone and will keep it bobbing on the surface until you fish it out.

If you like to jot thoughts down while at the helm, it’s been pretty hard to keep pages dry in the recent driving rain. Snugpak Water Resistant Notebook (10 x 15cm – 4 x 6in) offers a remedy and lets you use any pen or pencil on its pages (www.snugpak.com).

Mugs tend to find themselves perched perilously at times. The Mighty Mug is buoyant, but also uses ‘Smartgrip technology’ to prevent it being sent flying in the first place. It works by trapping a small amount of air beneath it when placed on a smooth surface. The vacuum releases immediately the mug’s picked up, but in the meantime holds it firm, keeping your drink warm with its insulated sides and leakproof lid. A video at www.themightymug. com shows it in action.

Of course, we all have to venture on to the

towpath in the end. Mocks are waterproof shoes and boots with a strong grip. They have a good range of colours in their Mocklite (a rubber-based) material and can be put straight into the washing machine, which is appealing, given the amount of mud out there at the moment. See the range at www.mocksonline.com.

Finally, if there’s one person who understands how damp it can get by the canal it’s Julie Dodsworth, who bought nb Calamity Jane with her husband in 2007. The boat needed decorating.

“I researched the heritage of the waterways,” says Julie, “learnt about the distinctive paintwork associated with traditional canal boats, and bought a book on 18th century fairground art.”

Using just three primary colours, she began to create modern designs with a traditional edge. It was her daughter who suggested the patterns would look good on home accessories.

She now produces work for all manner of companies and products, including stationery, fragrances and ceramics and, particularly useful this weather, umbrellas by Fulton (www.fultonumbrellas.com).

The range of products can be found on her website: www.juliedodsworth.co.uk

The Lifeproof case for iPhones, iPads and Samsung smartphones maintains a slim profile.

Canal heritage can be seen in the designs for Fulton Umbrellas by narrowboater Julie Dodsworth.

Above: The Snugpak Water Resistant Notebook for making notes in the wet.

Left: The Lifeproof Lifejacket keeps your phone buoyant so you can fish it out of the drink.

Mocks offer a firm grip, a wide choice of colours, and easy cleaning.

The Mighty Mug doesn’t slip on smooth surfaces.

Julie Dodsworth with some of her designs outside her narrowboat Calamity Jane.

more information ➔ For Do you have a favourite website?

Email Helen at helengazeley@aol.com

‘New improved’ water taps do not look Buckby Can friendly...

I LOOKED with horror at the pic of the ‘new improved’ water taps in the January issue (Last Word, Issue 99). What awful things.

They also do not look Buckby Can friendly – how are we supposed to fill our can? Where was the canal heritage panel in these decisions?

Who are they trying to blame for the necessity of ‘upgrading’?

Because if it’s the EU – just look at these ornate (but unfortunately not cared for) functional taps at Pouilly on the Canal du Bourgogne that I was delighted to find in October 2012.

Mrs Isobel Turner Coddington, Notts

Mrs Turner has also received the following information from Navigation Advisory Group chairman Mike Carter: The Canal & River Trust has been forced to comply with an EU regulation on water supply; in doing so it has discovered previously unregistered water points that have in some cases been just taps on bits of wood at CRT moorings. In order to

comply with the regs almost all of the cast iron water taps have been modified (in some cases at a cost of £1-3000 each unit but generally at £300-£500/unit); recently discovered taps have been replaced with the SS type of standpipe housing (off the shelf at less than £300 installed) and some (our figures were 167) cast iron units have been replaced with the SS type where the original cast iron one was damaged/too costly or complicated an installation to modify/where its setting was not one of any historical significance.

The rest have and will continue to remain as cast iron units.

At Navigation Advisory Group we looked at the issue after the project had begun (which was before NAG was set up). Almost without exception we didn’t like the SS type at all but on reviewing the programme in detail we felt that CRT had got the balance about right with retaining as many of the cast units as possible (over 1000 units) without diverting funds from elsewhere (such as dredging) into having all cast iron units everywhere as a

matter of course. As a point of interest – at maximum cost per unit, if the 167 units that were changed for SS were changed for new cast iron ones then that would have been the equivalent cost as 4-5km of dredging at average dredging cost per km.

Ornate taps on the Canal du Bourgogne. PHOTO SUPPLIED

101

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Great improvements seen at the Erewash Canal

★ 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 launched earlier this year.

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.silkyproducts.com and selected retail outlets, Silky Products have been manufactured in Slaithwaite near Huddersfield for more than 40 years.

Taking no chances on the Ashton Canal

THE piece about the Ashton Canal (News, Issue 99, January) amused me a bit. On the one hand the report reassured us that this notorious canal now had a clean bill of health, safety wise, but then proceeded to issue the familiar warnings about locking our doors and looking out for valuables etc.

I cruised this canal two years ago as part of the Cheshire Ring. Due to the canal’s reputation, the passage through it was approached with some trepidation, but also with somewhat of a frisson of excitement. Would we be attacked, robbed or worse? To say we were nervous would probably be an understatement.

We had intended to complete the whole flight in one go, but due to tiredness and impending darkness we decided reluctantly to tie up for the night just below a lock. I took a walk around the neighbourhood, trying to clock a few examples of the local yobbery and assess,

if I could, the likelihood or extent of their legendary criminality. The place seemed deserted, but I was not reassured by the sight of the local pub with perimeter completely festooned with razor wire and windows stoutly barred against intruders. They were taking no chances, that was for sure.

In the event, we spent a quiet though restless night, apart from a few bumps and muttering voices. In the morning we found a couple of brass cabin hooks wrenched off and the wife’s clothes horse missing. We had got away lightly, thank goodness.

At the top of the flight, two stout security guards stood, trying to impress us with their walkie-talkies. I wondered if they ever ventured down the flight and faced the nitty gritty or were they there just for moral support? Whatever, but this was the only place I have ever seen this.

Brian Walklet nb Thalia

Looking forward to seeing a Stirling engine powered boat I WAS fascinated by the article by Malcolm Ranieri about the use of Stirling engines to power small boats (Projects, Issue 99, January).

The engine shown has a very compact form for a Stirling engine (as have the other boats shown on the website). May I recommend that anyone interested in such an application reads up on the subject: The Stirling Engine Manual by James G. Rizzo (ISBN No. 09519367-3-5), published by Camden Miniature Steam Services, Barrow Farm, Rode, near Bath, Somerset BA3 6PS. (Like many books on Stirling engines, it is out of print; find a good library).

The first five chapters cover the working of the Stirling engine and various aspects and variation of designs: Philips developed the engine and in 1970 made a four-cylinder inline engine, one of which was fitted in a DAF coach and used on the road.

Subsequent chapters cover the construction of various model engines and thus give a very good understanding of the engines.

The Stirling engine (being externally heated), should enjoy a revival as fossil fuels

run out and become really expensive. While it would need development (I think), the engine can use renewable energy like a spirit lamp (using fuel distilled from fermented vegetable matter) or wood. (Diesel’s original engine used coal dust for fuel; the development of petroleum must have been wonderful).

This leads to thought for consideration with regard to boats. The Stirling engine lacks the response of an engine with a throttle being externally heated; it will only slow down as the heat (already in the heated surfaces of the engine) is dissipated (Philips’ four-cylinder engine must have been very refined to drive a coach on the road). A definite consideration if locks are considered; it would put the old Bolinder engine with the hand wheel running on a screw to control the throttle in perspective (I’m not saying how long ago I last saw that).

When walking the canals and rivers, I eagerly look forward to seeing a Stirling Engine powered boat.

Alan Rance By email

IN RESPONSE to Mr Webber’s letter concerning the condition of the Erewash Canal (Talkback, Issue 98, December 2013) I am very sorry he had a bad experience while cruising the canal; we acknowledge it is not a canal for the faint hearted with its 15 heavy locks and it is a typical urban waterway with all its associated problems.

But if Mr Webber had continued with his journey to the upper reaches he would have reached a pleasant rural section leading to the present terminus at Langley Mill with temporary and secure moorings and all facilities available. This section of the Cromford Canal and the Great Northern Basin is home to some 60-odd boats, some of which cruise the canal frequently.

Members of the Erewash Canal Preservation & Development Association restored this section from 1971 and still continue to maintain and look after it. We lease and maintain the two cottages at Sandiacre which we saved from demolition and is now our headquarters and was recently honoured with an award along with the recent refurbishment of the swing bridge at Langley Mill; we also work along the canal clearing rubbish and litter with assistance from the Canal & River Trust.

With regards to graffiti, the bridge in the photo is the M1 bridge and as far as I know this is the only one in this condition. The graffiti situation is no worse or better than most urban waterways; Mr Webber obviously has not cruised round the BCN.

Regarding ill-informed advice from certain boaters who should know better, these have probably not cruised the canal for a long period of time.

Myself and my wife Carole in narrowboat Electra have cruised up and down the canal for 43 years and have seen great improvements in its condition. The weed problem in the early 1960s and 70s was extremely bad due to the condition of the water feed containing phosphates; for the last 20 years it has been free, but has recently recurred particularly during the summer months along with other waterways. With regard to the clearness of the water, I don’t know what to say; not many people complain about clear water, it could be grossly polluted and fishless as it was in the 1970s.

Don’t forget the Erewash Canal hopefully will connect to the restored Derby and Cromford Canal. We all need to use it and I suggest any future complaints should be made to the CRT. Michael Golds Work party organiser, ECP&DA

Editor’s note: We have also received a copy of a letter from John Baylis to East Midlands Waterways manager Sean McGinley expressing concern about the delay in fitting spring paddle locks on the Erewash Canal.

Bone of contention

The anti-vandal devices on the paddle gear are a bone of contention between the ECP&DA and CRT over the replacement. In fact a spring loaded type devised by John Baylis has been fitted to three locks on the upper section and until we get them fitted to the rest of the canal you simply have to use a little common sense; the spindle when trapped needs to be turned back a little with the windlass to square them up.

I have to say that letters such as this do nothing for our cause and turn the clock back for a dedicated group of volunteers who worked to improve the canal that 40 years ago was in a bad state and was mooted for closure.

The weed-infested Erewash Canal of the 1960s and 70s.

PHOTO SUPPLIED

In praise of the peaceful old-world charm on the Erewash Canal I AM at present at Langley Basin at the top of the Erewash Canal and have to counter Mr Webber’s article.

Having time to spare I have travelled here in superb weather and constant delight at the scenery, the quietness, the quaintness of the canal. I am 72 and single-handed.

Vandalism is a sad fact in any urban vicinity, but I saw very little

on the Erewash. Mr Webber should try the Leeds area. The anti-vandal locks were all working but, like the paddles, required some muscle and common sense to operate them. I can understand that his wife found them difficult, but is it unacceptable for him to work them?

I have stopped overnight at many points and had no trouble at all.

With regard to the weed, there is a certain amount around and I have had to open the weed hatch once to clear the prop. But Mr Webber misses the point and does the Erewash a disservice. In my opinion it is its peaceful old-world charm that makes it such a gem.

Brian Ritchie By email

Hard work means that canal is enjoyed by many boaters every year AS A resident and boater of the Erewash Canal I take exception to the totally negative tone of Mr Webber’s letter (Talkback, Issue 98, December 2013). This type of reporting is extremely detrimental and unless substantiated by others should be taken purely as one person’s observations rather than a definitive statement.

The Erewash Canal Preservation & Development Association (ECP&DA), with the assistance of the waterways authority and backing from the local councils, has toiled long and hard to maintain this waterway as a navigable canal which is enjoyed by many boaters every year. Mr Webber’s letter with its ‘doom and gloom’ attitude will probably do more to discourage boaters from venturing on to the Erewash than all the old tales from boaters who may not have been here for 10 years or more.

If this was Mr Webber’s first visit to the Erewash I am sorry that he thought the journey too difficult and did not enjoy his trip. However, if he really wishes to assist the lesser used canals, I would ask him to consider the implications of what he writes in future before he commits his thoughts to paper. Please remember, a bad name, even if not warranted, once gained can take decades to reverse, but constructive criticism is always welcome.

I Jamieson Sandiacre

Editor’s note: We didn’t have room to print Mr Jamieson’s comments on each issue raised by Mr Webber but they can be viewed online at www.towpathtalk.co.uk

Snobbery afloat of the highest order

Ode to the continuous cruiser

Come back to Burton-on-Trent

I BOUGHT a canal boat two years ago and have learnt much since then. One of the recent trends in your newspaper has been to include letters from people who use phrases and words such as ‘rust buckets’, ‘hobo’, ‘if they can’t afford mooring fees then they should not have a canal boat’ etc. This is snobbery of the highest order. You mean I have actually got to slow my boat down when I pass one of these things!

It has been my misfortune to have had to communicate with many boat owners who stick their noses in the air with the attitude – look at my big shiny, rust-free boat, I’ve made it in life and who are you?

I am one of the fortunate, ‘privileged’ ones who can actually afford a mooring, have a rust-free boat and earn enough to pay taxes. The reason I don’t live in a marina is to escape from these smug, selfimportant and rather nasty human beings. They probably go to church every Sunday but yet look down on these ‘poorer’ people and generally feel superior. Do I want these people as my neighbours?

And yes, I think if you don’t pay your licence fee then you should be punished. Finally an apology to all those lovely, gentle, caring human beings I’ve met in this time who have given me some hope in humanity.

IN RESPONSE to Robin Adair’s excellent comments (Talkback, Issue 95, September 2013), he inspired me to write this poem:

I AM sorry to read that this year’s (IWA National) festival has been cancelled due to losses at last year’s rally at Watford (Talkback, Issue 98, December). Please why don’t you come back to Burton-on-Trent? We had a great day out. I haven’t got a boat but truly enjoyed the day and I always look out to see where it is.

Kenneth Houghton by email

I’m a CC, I live on my boat, But there’s something that really gets my goat.

There’s a lot of us around it has to be said, Some of us work to bring home the bread.

Some of us moor in one place, days on end, Driving the shiny marina boats right round the bend!

Some of us move and explore the old cut, It’s us that keeps the canal going, open not shut.

Some of us look scruffy, a bit battered and bruised,

Most of us do like to continuously cruise.

We don’t like to moor in a permanent boat park, And can’t understand why so many, what a lark!

We are not all the same, But still get the blame, Don’t tar us all with the same brush, Some of us have brains not turned to mush!

Respect the CC and give us a smile, Even if our continuous journey does take a while.

Anon (Name and address supplied)

Ian Roach By email

● Due to a high volume of letters in the postbag this month, some have been held and will appear in the next available issue

102 THE LAST WORD

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Those with historic glass houses shouldn’t throw stones

Old Bilge Pump Just take your own advice when dealing with customers THE Canal & River Trust has announced £1.5 million of funding to refurbish a number of its most historic canalside cottages. The announcement also gives the trust’s top 10 ‘do’s and don’ts when restoring properties.

I thought this advice could be extended to include 10 top points concerning the trust’s dealings with its customers, that is you and I, in this way perhaps the trust could take its own advice. It always appears very reluctant to take mine.

1. Don’t remove suspended timber floors and replace them with solid concrete. Don’t strip everything away from the past. British Waterways was pretty lamentable in dealing with its customers but the bankside workers were held in high esteem. Sacking bankside workers and replacing them with contract workers is detrimental. The old bankside worker always carried a windless and was prepared to help

boaters through locks. Those requiring help through locks because of age or infirmity could always apply for help at long flights of locks. When the old green uniforms were replaced there appears to have been an order sent out that bankside workers were not to help at locks. This order broke the bond between the worker and boaters, at the same time the service to help the needy (and I’m heading that way) appears to have been discontinued. The concrete order to make bankside workers get on with the job in-hand instead of helping boaters has caused the whole relationship to rot.

2. Don’t cover historic walls with modern impermeable cementbased renders, plasters or masonry paint. Accept the past don’t try to obscure, cover or change what has happened in the past. The predecessors of British

Waterways attempted to close many of the canals. They also poured reinforced concrete into the locks on the Huddersfield Narrow Canal in an attempt to make sure it was never restored. Courageous and dedicated volunteers spent their lives making sure it was restored, perhaps in return CRT could create a reliable water supply for the canal.

British Waterways tried any method to prevent the restoration and use of many canals; but then, once canals were restored claimed they led the restoration. Accept the truth of the past and do not allow any cover-up for it is only by accepting the true past can we learn its lessons.

3. Don’t repoint old walls with modern cement-based mortars.

Don’t feel that all is wonderful because you have a new name and charity status, British Waterways was disliked, distrusted and considered a disgrace by its

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How to attract young men to the cut. PHOTO: DAVID SCOWCROFT

‘Long service’ award to IWA

IT WAS good to hear that the organisers of the National Boat Show have presented the Inland Waterways Association with an award to mark 60 years of attendance at the show. When the boat show was founded there was nothing else quite like it for the IWA to tell the public of its aims and objectives.

Yet although the national show has always been primarily a showcase for the marine industry, the IWA presence has always attracted attention and over the years has been responsible for introducing many to the nations’ canals and rivers.

And the presence of its stand at the shows for the past 60 years has proved to be something of useful income stream for the association.

This brings me to the question of the Canal & River Trust’s commitment to waterway events. The new chief executive Richard Parry has already commented on the absence of the CRT from at least one major waterway event – something that has prompted some

pretty scathing comments from boaters.

I hope the new season will see the CRT showing more interest in waterway events with some of the gaffers getting off their backsides and meeting the sort of folk that pay their wages.

Mr Parry continues to make waves…

Whatever else you may think about the CRT (or as a growing number of people are describing it, BW Mark 4), no-one can knock the efforts of chief executive Richard Parry in putting himself around.

That is far more than his predecessor Robin Evans ever did. Incidentally I wonder what has happened to him.

After all his pontificating about the value of volunteers, I haven’t heard a single squeak from him or of him becoming a waterways volunteer.

That is unlike ex-chief executive David Fletcher who did so much to pull BW away from the brink of ruin. He is now happily engaged in volunteer work with the Cotswold Canals Trust.

I also wish Richard well in his forthcoming programme of open meetings with boaters at various locations in the coming months.

That can only augur well for the future and he may well become a more waterway knowledgeable person than some of the old BW dinosaurs that still infest parts of the CRT. But knowing some of the dinosaurs that shouldn’t be too difficult!

Has Birmingham (and the Midlands) dropped off the map?

I do wish someone ‘down south’ such as in the ‘ivory towers’ of Milton Keynes would realise that the world does not begin and end with London and the South East.

I raise this point because I’ve been told of a sponsored walk/jog/run between Bletchley and London. Also there’s a great fuss being made of a sponsored cycle ride between London and Leeds.

Many moons ago I took an eight-berth

customers. The old structure remains, mainly with the same personnel, don’t attempt to paint over the cracks with a modern covering of charity status. There is still a large gap between boaters’ perceptions of your organisation and your own view of the state of things. Some of us remain very worried about the future.

Don’t replace historic features unless you have to, and then use matching materials. Don’t replace lovely old Victorian relics such as the cast iron water standpipes with brash, ugly contemporary steel monsters.

Do consider removing the polystyrene tiles and hard textured surfacing such as Artex applied to internal walls and ceilings in the 70s. Remove all graffiti from canal structures not just the swear words. Consider putting on the walls and surfaces an anti-graffiti surface and lobby the Government to put a surcharge on all spray paint – a hundred pounds a tin should make a difference.

Do allow the odd draught. Don’t just sit in your Milton Keynes ivory office and ignore the comments from canal users particularly boaters. Also take to heart written journalistic critics, don’t just have a knee-jerk reaction of revulsion just because comments are negative.

Writers such as Harry Arnold and Bob Clarke have years of experience they are worth listening to. o give your historic house the care and attention it deserves. Give canal fixtures and fittings the care and attention they deserve; if you get the locks, weirs and swing bridges working properly consistently you will receive plaudits from the boaters and then everything will be fine. Stop pandering to pressure groups: boating and navigation is what canals must be about everything else which is close to the trust’s heart, such as jogging, canoeing and cycling, are periphery and not as important.

Do use natural insulation materials such as sheep’s wool or

boat down from Birmingham to Little Venice for it to be used as a sleepover base for charity walkers back to Birmingham. And there was a tidy sum of money raised.

So, why is it that such a historic canal route between the capital and the second city is so ignored?

Apart from the fact that the canal offers a journey through our industrial heritage and superb countryside, arguably the Grand Union between Birmingham and London was one of the most important routes in the heyday of canal carrying.

Its towpath has been used for a number of sponsored events – but the CRT (and BW before it) seems to have ignored that potential. I would suggest that a sponsored boat cruise would attract a fair few entrants. ● Do you agree or disagree with Stillwater’s comments? Send your views to Talkback (see previous page).

wood fibre. While you can use wool for insulation please don’t use it to pull over our eyes. Boaters know what is going on throughout the system by cruising widely they experience all the joys and problems. Stop the old British Waterways use of trumpet blowing.

Be honest, tell boaters the truth. The chairman has stated that many mistakes were made in the past and that mistakes will be made in the future. Which is fine but you have to own up to the mistakes and attempt to minimalise the damage.

9. Don’t worry if your house isn’t a Georgian masterpiece. Do not worry if parts of the system are not gorgeous or areas of outstanding beauty; we love the canals whether it is farmland or industrial stagnation land. Stop putting up so called ‘art’; it is vandalism to deface the original look and structure of the canals. If you want something arty and contemporary build a new canal, then we would allow you to put as many ‘art’ installations as you wish.

10. Do employ specialist advice. You now have the trustees. The number and background of them will need tweaking in the future. They should be there to give guidance and advice and to work for the canals. Don’t let them merely be letterhead figures but make them work for their positions. You have consulted with the world and their partners now let us see some action.

Let 2014 be the year when we can cruise the system without seeing boat after boat without licence displayed or have to pass slowly groups of boats ‘swamping’ beside the bank.

ToWPATH TITTer

CONTINUING our light-hearted look at life on the cut with another contribution from Eddie Barford of Mersey Motor Boat Club.

Matching cottage gates at this Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal lock.

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 @towpathtalk and on Facebook

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