TowPath Talk November 2017

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CHRISTMAS GIFT GUIDE

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112 PAGES

Issue 145, November 2017

Black Country blinder

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HORSE BOATING ON THE WEY

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HERITAGE BOATS AT HUDDLESFORD P17

Historic boats present a colourful spectacle moored on the Dudley Canal for the recent gathering at the Black Country Living Museum. Full report on page 19. PHOTO: WATERWAY IMAGES

Licence fees to rise by 3% from April BOAT REVIEW: WHAT’S IN A NAME? P62 LOOKING FOR A FRIENDLY MARINA?

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BOATERS using Canal & River Trust waters will have to pay 3% more in licence fees from April 1.

According to the trust, this increase is roughly in line with inflation forecasts for next year and will help to sustain its annual charitable expenditure of more than £150 million.

Conference award

Customer services and operations director Ian Rogers said: “We are committed to keeping boat licences at a fair price and investing the income back into caring for our canals and rivers for the benefit of all our boating customers.

“The money we get from boat licences,

SCOTTISH Canals’ World Canals Conference, which took place in Inverness last year, has been voted the best event in Scotland at an awards ceremony hosted by the Chartered Institute of Public Relations. More than 350 business leaders and professionals from 25 nations celebrated innovative thinking and cuttingedge delivery in a range of disciplines including sustainable tourism development, regeneration, heritage management, climate change and engineering. The CIPR judges commented that Scottish Canals’ event had “raised the bar for future organisers”.

which currently accounts for around 10-15% of our total income, is massively important in keeping the canals and rivers open so boaters can continue to use them, now and in the future.”

Boaters and boating groups are currently being invited to take part in the final stage of a consultation

Chesterfield overhaul

THE Canal & River Trust has begun a major overhaul of the Chesterfield Canal as part of its winter maintenance programme. Work on the £200,000 project has begun with a new set of lock gates being installed at Turnerwood Quarry Lock. The works will also include the restoration of brickwork at Whit Sunday Pie Bridge near Retford after it was damaged by a vehicle and improvements to lock gates at Shireoaks and Forest Bottom Lock, ensuring they form a watertight seal.

on the overall structure and future of boat licensing.

A series of options has been published based on the feedback given by boaters in the first stages of consultation held during the spring and summer.

Continued on page 2

Crofton in action

OPEN days are being held at Crofton Beam Engines on the Kennet & Avon Canal near Marlborough so visitors can see the winter maintenance programme in action and the work behind the scenes. These will take place on Saturdays November 18 and December 2 from 10am-3pm and entry is free with refreshments available in return for a donation. The Kennet & Avon Canal Trust is celebrating a heritage lottery grant securing the future of the engines, see page 14.

2 NEWS/COMMENT

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WELCOME AS WE move into November, the transition from the summer season with its plethora of festivals and gatherings to the winter stoppages and maintenance of boats and buildings will be virtually complete.

This edition reflects both, with a round-up of events including the Black Country Living Museum, Huddlesford and Alvecote reported on pages 17-19 by Harry Arnold, who also went along to Walsall in advance of the first stoppage open day, see page 15.

We also report on some more unusual happenings, including the Coracle World Championships on the River Severn, see Phil Pickin’s report on page 17 and the World Barge Pulling Championships on the Beverley Beck.

I enjoyed my customary end to the summer season at Grantham Discovery Day which was opened by Canal & River Trust chief executive Richard Parry and was again blessed with fine weather; see my report on page 4.

Chatting to Dave Carnell, chairman of the IWA Lincolnshire branch, on the neighbouring stand, he told me about a series of drop-in events hosted by the Environment Agency and the Black Sluice Internal Drainage Board. I managed to pop down to the one at Billingborough just before we went to press and will report on that next month. I visited the National Waterways Museum, Ellesmere Port before the historic boats were lifted out, see page 5, to hear about forthcoming plans from CRT head of museums Graham Boxer; also Drayton Reservoir, Daventry to meet CRT national fisheries and angling manager John Ellis, both reports to feature in forthcoming editions.

November also signals the start of Christmas shopping for those of us who are not so organised that they have it all done by the end of the January sales. Turn to page 64 for the first of our gift guides with ideas for your boating friends and family.

Happy hunting

TOWPATH

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Ivor to lead IWA as new five-year vision is unveiled LONG-term waterways enthusiast and activist Ivor Caplan is the Inland Waterways Association’s new national chairman following a vote by trustees on Saturday, October 7.

He succeeds Les Etheridge, who stepped down after five years in the role, and takes the helm at a crucial time for the charity, as a new vision and five-year objectives are unveiled.

A trustee of IWA since 2010, Ivor has been active in the waterways movement for more than 40 years, holding senior roles within IWA’s Birmingham, Black Country & Worcestershire branch, Navigation Committee, Residential Boat Owners Association and Birmingham Canal Navigations Society.

He lived afloat for 15 years and still spends as much time as possible cruising extensively. Ivor will be stepping down from the positions he currently holds with other waterway organisations (RBOA and BCNS) and his term as a member of CRT’s West Midlands Partnership is due to end shortly.

Commenting on his new role, Ivor said: “IWA is uniquely placed given our independence, our wider perspective, and our strong heritage to champion the cause of the waterways to ensure that they never come under threat again.

“I see the association working with all waterways organisations to ensure our canals and rivers are developed to realise their even greater potential for the benefit of all.”

Neil Edwards, IWA’s chief executive, added: “Over the next five years we are going to focus on four core areas that we believe will make the biggest difference to the waterways – speaking for the waterways, protecting, restoring and inspiring a new generation of volunteers and waterway users. There are busy times ahead and we are delighted Ivor has taken on this role.”

Les Etheridge, IWA trustee and previous chairman said: “It has been a privilege to have been the chairman of IWA over the past five years. I wish Ivor every success as he embarks on the journey to successfully deliver

New IWA national chairman Ivor Caplan.

PHOTO: IWA

against the new five-year objectives and I know our volunteers and members will support him every step of the way.”

A worthy winner who put his team first A legacy of achievements A FUNERAL of thanksgiving for the life of Paul Mills was held recently at Woodchurch following his death which was reported last month.

Earlier this year, despite suffering from advanced cancer, Paul travelled to Alvechurch accompanied by his wife Irene and son David to collect the Towpath Talk Volunteer of the Year Award for 2016 in recognition of his work with the Small Task Team Volunteers in the Canal & River Trust’s North Wales and Borders region.

Born in Birkenhead in 1941, Paul qualified as a State Registered Nurse in 1963 and married Irene the following year.

They opened their funeral business in 1971 and became contractors to the Ministry of Defence, dealing with the repatriation and

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The late Paul Mills. PHOTO SUPPLIED

reburial of casualties on both sides of the Falklands War, for which Paul received the South Atlantic Medal.

In 1983 they bought their first boat – a Dawncraft Dandy which they named Falkland Spirit.

Paul initially retired in 1987 after holding the office of president of the British Institute of Funeral Directors, returning to work after just a month until his eventual retirement in 1994.

He served as fundraising and projects officer for the Shropshire Union Canal Society for 20 years, organising work parties to enhance facilities on the canal and Middlewich Branch and also organising the annual bank holiday lock winds.

He retired from SUCS in 2012 following a diagnosis of advanced prostate cancer and after more than 25 years cruising and attending events with four more boats, let the last one, Exelbee, go in 2013.

Despite his illness, Paul went on to form a new group, the Small Tasks Team Volunteers, to work with the North Wales & Borders waterways within the Canal & River Trust’s new structure.

When collecting his volunteer award, Paul stressed that the recognition was for the whole team and not just himself.

With 40 regular volunteers, STTV has provided essential restoration and improvement of facilities in key parts of the SU, Llangollen and SU Middlewich Branch canals.

• Continued from page 1

Licence fees to rise in April CRT will then put forward a final proposal, including details of when any changes will come into effect. No changes resulting from the consultation will be implemented before April 2019.

Ian added: “We’re asking for the entire boating community to take a look at the proposals we’ve developed as a result of these

conversations and let us know their thoughts.

“Nothing is set in stone and we’re still open to new ideas so we welcome any and all feedback.”

Boaters have until December 18 to respond to the consultation after which a final set of proposals will be drawn up for approval by the charity’s trustees.

Licensing options: • • • • • •

Licence considerations for wider beam vessels on the waterways Consideration of the range of licence discounts offered to different customers Considerations in respect of the Prompt Payment discount Considerations for short-term licences Licence considerations in respect of mooring status Impact of any changes following the consultation

More information about the boat licensing consultation, including reports from stage one and stage two, and the stage three proposals, can be found at www.canalrivertrust.org.uk/national-consultations

and friendships

The funeral has taken place of Rob Davies, a Towpath Talk contributor, whose death at the age of 77 was reported last month. The following tribute has been written by his close friend Harry Arnold.

BORN in North Wales, a career in bank management with NatWest led to Rob Davies and his family moving into a canalside house on the Coventry Canal at Whittington 44 years ago.

The family became waterway enthusiasts and boat owners and Rob was drawn into voluntary work, firstly as treasurer of the Trent & Mersey Canal Society.

He successfully steered the society’s finances and became involved in organising campaigns and events, such as those for the restoration of the Anderton Boat Lift.

As an IWA member he became treasurer of the Midlands Region but on a wider basis he was a director of National Waterways Festivals and a joint vice-chairman of the board. He supervised the organising of IWA national events, with a very much hands-on role with those in the Midlands, such as the massive Black Country ones.

He received a prestigious IWA Richard Bird Medal for his work for the association.

When the idea of preserving and restoring a Shropshire Union Canal fly-boat was mooted he was one of the two jointfounders of the project, which became the Shropshire Union Fly-boat Restoration Society and led to the restoration of Saturn and its current operation as an educational facility. Again, his financial acumen led to HLF and other grants and the full funding.

He was still actively involved as a trustee and was elected as one

The late Rob Davies.

PHOTO: WATERWAY IMAGES

of the two vice-presidents.

Following the reopening of Ireland’s Shannon-Erne Waterway he was again one of the two people who led a major anniversary of the original Ballinamore & Ballyconnell Canal by taking a flotilla of English canal boats (by ferry) across the sea to that country. They spent two weeks in a major celebratory cruise on the canal and the Shannon and Erne systems.

Buying a new boat equipped with a traditional Russell Newbery engine, Rob joined the owners’ Register. He became its administration manager, only retiring recently after dedicating 18 years to the role.

His contribution was enormous, as he also organised the first five RNR boat rallies, handled the production of – and often edited – 61 newsletters, and introduced merchandise.

Locally, close to home, he was a trustee and committee member of the Lichfield & Hatherton Canal Restoration Trust and an active member of the marketing committee.

The village of Alrewas was gridlocked with parked cars and Alrewas Methodist Church and the attached schoolroom packed with Rob’s friends from all over the waterways for his funeral.

Some RN owners came by boat.

He left a legacy of achievements and friendships and will be missed by many.

Our condolences go to Helen, Rachel and Andrew and all of Rob’s family.

NEWS 3

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Question mark over warehouse future

POTTERIC Carr Nature Reserve Visitor Centre will be the venue for the Canal & River Trust’s North East annual public partnership meeting on Thursday, November 23. There will be presentations regarding key themes and development from the partnership followed by an ‘open mic’ session with the opportunities to choose the topics you would like the partnership to discuss. There will also be a buffet provided at the meeting, which runs from 5.30-8.30pm. The centre is in Mallard Way, Doncaster DN4 8DB. Places can be booked through www.eventbrite.co.uk

By Colin Wareing

THE future of a Grade II listed warehouse at Marple Wharf is uncertain following a planning application to convert the building into a four-bedroomed house.

Proposals have been submitted by H20 and the Canal & River Trust to redevelop the wharf by demolishing some buildings and replacing them with seven houses.

However there is a commitment to retain boaters’ facilities including the water point, Elsan and rubbish disposal along with the base for the long established New Horizons community boat.

Rescue drama

Construction materials are loaded on to a work boat at Marple Wharf. PHOTOS: COLIN WAREING OF COLIN AND CAROLE’S CREATIONS

Rebuilding the visitor moorings alongside the Peak Forest canal near its junction with the Macclesfield Canal.

An important stopping point on the Cheshire cruising ring, the wharf lies at the junction of the Macclesfield and Upper and Lower Peak Forest Canals within the area covered by Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council and is in a conservation area.

CRT currently uses part of the site as a maintenance yard.

The warehouse building has been the subject for discussion over many years by local people and community groups who would like to see it sympathetically restored and turned into a community space and resource.

Marple Civic Society and local boaters have submitted their views with consultations set to close at the end of October.

Suffolk member scoops top IWA award THE Inland Waterways Association’s top award – the Cyril Styring Trophy – has gone this year to Chard Wadley of the Ipswich branch.

It is presented at the AGM to the member who has, in the opinion of trustees, made an

IWA and River Gipping Trust members at the AGM.

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outstanding contribution in furthering the association’s campaign.

Branch colleagues had nominated Chard for his more than three-and-a-half decades of active input and support of the IWA. He joined the Ipswich branch in 1980 and then became chairman in 1988, a position he held until 2015. During that period he led the restoration of Bosmere, Creeting and Baylham Locks, as well as the team of fundraisers to every national festival from 1993 to 2007.

In 2006/7 it was decided to set up the River Gipping Trust to further the aims of the restoration of the navigation and Chard became a founder director and continues an active role as the IWA representative and as a volunteer at the regular weekly work parties. Work now continues at Pipps Ford Lock.

Chard, together with his wife Carolyn, have been

Parliamentary groups and pledged his support for IWA’s Waterway Manifesto during the run-up to the general election campaign.

Key issues facing the group over the coming months include waterway funding, provision of affordable moorings and waterway restoration.

Mr Grogan said: “The United

Chimney art

ALMOST 10 years since the demolition of the Tinsley cooling towers, a local landmark beside the M1, plans have been unveiled for four red-brick chimneys alongside the Sheffield & Tinsley Canal. Artist Alex Chinneck’s proposals are his most ambitious to date and will create a sculpture experience linking Sheffield and Rotherham that can be enjoyed by boat, bike or foot. Two of the chimneys will lean, bridging the canal. The project is due for completion in 2019, coinciding with the canal’s bicentenary.

Comic book Trophy winner Chard Wadley, second from left, with nomination supporters David Stevenson, Jan Roden and John Fletcher.

PHOTOS: IWA

the co-ordinators of the biannual UK meetings of the Australian Canal Society for a number of years.

The latest meeting took place on October 8, at the Globe Inn on the Grand Union Canal at Linslade.

Nomination supporters Jan Roden (ACS president), David Stevenson, John Fletcher, and ACS members attended the event.

All Party Parliamentary Group for the Waterways appoints new chairman THE All Party Parliamentary Group for the Waterways has elected John Grogan MP as its new chairman, at its inaugural meeting held recently following the start of the new Parliament.

Mr Grogan, whose Yorkshire constituency of Keighley has the Leeds & Liverpool Canal running through it, is an experienced chair of All Party

THE quick-thinking manager of a pleasure boat company helped save a baby from drowning after a runaway pram ended up in the River Dee at Chester, writes Geoff Wood.

Paul Blessing and other staff from ChesterBoat went to the aid of a father whose baby girl was in a pram near one of the ice cream kiosks when it trundled down the slope. Fortunately it stayed on its wheels before tipping over into the water. Pram and infant were retrieved a couple of seconds later with the baby left crying and soaked but apparently unharmed.

Kingdom boasts over 6500 miles of inland waterways. They are important for tourism, the transport of goods and also as a home for many people. I hope to be a vigorous voice in championing the cause.”

Among the group remains previous chairman and former Waterway Minister, Richard Benyon MP, along with Lord

German, John Cryer MP, Wendy Morton MP, Michael Fabricant MP, Jonathan Lord MP, Conor McGinn MP and Ranil Jayawardena MP. LEFT: New chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group for the Waterways, John Grogan MP. PHOTO SUPPLIED

A COMIC book, inspired by the Lancaster Canal, was launched at the recent Lakes International Comic Arts Festival in Kendal.

Commissioned by the Lancaster Canal Regeneration Partnership (LCRP), the 40-page book The Lanky, by Manchester artist Oliver East, captures people and places along a 27-mile route from Kendal to Lancaster.

Funded by a £15,000 Arts Council England National Lottery grant, the project also hopes to inspire a new generation of artists by hosting comic workshops at three local primary schools.

York forum

A WATER forum is to be created by the City of York Council because of continuing concern over people going into the city's rivers, sometimes with tragic consequences, writes Geoff Wood. The forum will be part of a community safety strategy which will also look at modern slavery, human trafficking and cyber crime.

BCN clean-up

DATES have been announced for the Birmingham Canal Navigations 2018 clean-up.

This will take place from Wednesfield towards the Sneyd direction on March 24 and 25.

4 NEWS

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They’re off in the dirty duck race.

Discovering the difference on the Grantham Canal

Going quackers! The plastic playthings bob about on the water as they round the first turn.

By Janet Richardson

THE Canal & River Trust and Grantham Canal Society can together make a real difference, CRT chief executive Richard Parry told supporters and visitors at the annual Discovery Day on October 8.

Opening the event, held at the society’s Woolsthorpe depot, he said that the Waterway Recovery Group had also been doing some great work on the restoration project at Locks 14 and 15.

“Over the next few years, we are going to see real progress being made to restore the canal to Nottingham. The ultimate dream is to reconnect this canal to River Trent,” he said.

Society treasurer Stan Harbridge, who will be retiring at the next AGM, presented a £20,000 cheque to Richard Parry. This is part of the £100,000 the society has to raise over five years towards match funding of the Heritage Lottery grant for the project.

A cheque for £9410 was also presented to the society by Carol Bamber, PR ambassador for Sainsbury’s Grantham which has supported the ‘buy a brick’ campaign as the store’s local charity of the year.

Visitors could either walk or take the Waterway Recovery Group’s shuttle service to see the ongoing restoration project at Lock 15 where coping stones were being laid before the installation of lock gates and a landing stage. Once complete, work will move on to Lock 14 where access to the site is being negotiated with the landowner.

Selling duck race tickets are ‘aye up me duck’ Tony Jackson with Jacob Brooks.

Radio presenter Suzie Sparkles again made sure the day went with a swing and entertainment was provided by Gary Cadwallader, Trent Navigation Co and the Maids of Clifton, the event culminating in the popular ‘dirty duck race’ along the bywash of lock 16.

Other activities included boat trips on GCS trip boat Three Shires and canoeing with Newark Canoe Club.

Unfortunately the First World War field kitchen could not make it following a breakdown at Great Dorset Steam Fair but the tasty soup was still on sale while the GCS barbecue did a sizzling trade in burgers, hot dogs and ‘bratties’!

The event raised £2360.50.

Canal & River Trust chief executive Richard Parry receives a £20,000 cheque from Grantham Canal Society treasurer Stan Harbridge.

PHOTOS: JANET RICHARDSON

The Maids of Clifton entertain the crowd.

Malcolm Robbins of Raptor Rescue with little owl Nipper.

Alick Burt of woodencanoes.uk. A former cabinet maker, he has been making traditional wooden canoes for about seven years and this is his first one, a Peterborough – after Peterborough, Ontario, but apt as Alick leaves near the English city. He has made around 14 canoes, some of which have finished up on pub walls but all can be used in the water, as well as a range of different paddles.

Volunteer Richard Caunt, right, talks to visitors about the work at Lock 15.

Grantham Canal Society chairman Mike Stone receives a cheque for £9410 from Carol Bamber of Sainsbury’s, Grantham.

Lock 15 takes shape.

Alex Melson of the Waterway Recovery Group shows a young visitor how to lay bricks.

NEWS 5

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Historic boats are moved on to dry land THE lifting of 11 historic narrowboats and barges began in October at the National Waterways Museum, Ellesmere Port.

Ranging from 33 feet to 72 feet in length, the boats date from the late 1800s to the 1950s, with the majority on the National Historic Ships Register, making this the UK’s largest ever movement of historic vessels.

These boats are now old and fragile and have reached the end of their lives as operational and outdoor exhibits.

Their move to a dry store starts a major conservation programme by the Canal & River Trust.

Head of museums Graham Boxer explained: “In the 1980s it was felt that the most appropriate way to conserve them was to keep them in the water, which is why some were sunk intentionally, while others have just leaked water over the years.

“Now we know that the best way to conserve them is to remove them from the water.”

He continued: “Our priority is to

get them into the stable environment of our new dry store. Each one will be treated according to its construction and materials. Some are built from wood, others steel and even concrete, so there is no one-size-fits-all approach.”

Experts will consider several options depending on the condition and historical significance of each boat. These include whole or partial conservation or, where this is not possible, deconstruction. Boats will also have a 3D image created so that, even if the actual vessel has been deconstructed, an accurate record is captured for future study.

“Every one of these vessels has its own story to tell. It’s our aim to ensure that these stories are told in the best, and most appropriate, way so that we can preserve this important history of the waterways,” Graham added.

The project has been made possible thanks to a £300,000 Arts Council England Museum Resilience Fund Grant and is supported by the Boat Museum Society and Canal & River Trust.

Scorpio being lifted out of the basin. Built in 1890 for the Wigan Coal and Iron Company and originally named Helena, Scorpio is a wooden dumb barge known as a Liverpool sider. It was acquired by the museum in 1971.

Mossdale, the only remaining all-timber Mersey flat, is being moved to a position in the boat yard where museum visitors can view the conservation work. PHOTOS: CANAL & RIVER TRUST

Safely in dry store, Ferret began life in the 1920s as a working narrowboat before being converted for leisure use by the Clark family in the 1970s.

6 NEWS

IN BRIEF

Sports grant

THE Canal & River Trust has been given £222,305 National Lottery funding from Sport England to help reduce the number of inactive older adults in Cheshire. The project, in partnership with Active Cheshire, aims to find new ways to encourage people to get active on and alongside water and will include the recruitment and training of 12 active volunteers to develop a programme of activities along Cheshire’s canals and rivers. Pilot projects will start in Macclesfield and Winsford plus an extensive research project.

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Red wheel plaques for heritage sites THE Transport Trust has recognised two more canal sites with the award of its red wheel plaques to Hawkesbury Junction and Dundas Basin.

North of Coventry city centre, Hawkesbury Junction is the link between two of Britain’s oldest canals – the Coventry Canal, built to transport coal from the Warwickshire coalfield and the Oxford which, for many years, was the

Museum awards

THE Lion Salt Works Museum, next to the Trent & Mersey Canal, is one of two Northwich museums to receive Sandford Awards for the excellence of their imaginative teaching and inspirational learning activities with schools. This includes a history detective workshop, where children have to solve the mystery of a missing salt worker and a geography session where children are enrolled into a spy academy.

The Weaver Hall Museum offers sessions on the Vikings, Great Fire of London, a workhouse experience and town trail exploring the history of Northwich.

Macclesfield dredging

WORK has started on a two-year project to dredge sections of the 26-mile Macclesfield Canal. Costing the Canal & River Trust more than £1.3 million, it will focus on areas where boaters are having difficulty mooring, navigating through bridges or getting stuck on the approach to locks. The first phase will see around 17,000 tonnes of silt removed from the canal.

Skipton plans

PLANS are being drawn up to refurbish the Leeds & Liverpool Canal waterfront in Skipton town centre, writes Geoff Wood. Craven District Council, working in partnership with the Canal & River Trust, has hired landscape architects Newground to develop proposals to enhance the canal waterfront.

These include plans to improve the canal pathways in the town centre, upgrade bins and benches and improve signage and lighting.

Slough report

THANKS go to Garry Banthorpe for submitting the report and photo of the Slough Canal Festival which appeared in the Events Round up on page 17 of our October edition. Our apologies for the omission of his credit.

principal route to and from the River Thames and London.

In 1803, the junction was moved but there remained an unintentional 7in discrepancy between the water levels of the two canals, overcome by the construction of an additional lock – which is still in place.

Today the junction is designated as a conservation area with a spectacular iron bridge, pumping station and historic Greyhound Inn, as well as the lock itself.

As part of the unveiling of the ‘red wheel’ – the 94th to date – members of the Coventry Canal Society operated the lock and sold refreshments in aid of Birmingham Children’s Hospital.

Vital connection Sir William McAlpine, president of the Transport Trust, David Viner from the Canal & River Trust and Cherry Beath, chairman of Bath and North East Somerset Council with the red wheel plaque at Dundas Basin.

The award for Dundas Basin means that the ‘big four’ heritage sites on the Kennet & Avon Canal are now all celebrated, with Caen Hill Lock Flight, Claverton and Crofton pumping stations all carrying the accolade.

CRT heritage advisor David Viner said: “Dundas Basin was a vital connection along the Kennet & Avon Canal which

After the unveiling of the plaque at Hawkesbury Junction are, from left: Dr Robert Nash (Coventry Canal Society), Peter Stone (Transport Trust), Stuart Wilkinson (chairman, Transport Trust), Richard Parry (chief executive, Canal & River Trust), Nigel Crowe (national heritage manager, Canal & River Trust) and Alan Boon (chairman, Coventry Canal Society).

PHOTOS: CANAL & RIVER TRUST

opened in 1810 and was used by barges transporting coal, stone and agricultural produce between the Bristol Avon and the River Thames at Reading.

“The junction the basin formed with the Somerset Coal Canal ensured that the Somerset coalfields could supply the city of Bath by boat at a fraction of the cost of transporting the goods by road.”

Transport Trust president, Sir William McAlpine, explained: “The country's

18th century canal network played a crucial role in the transport of raw materials and finished goods and, in turn, to the Industrial Revolution and the development of the British Empire.

“Fortunately, while much of our transport heritage has been lost, much remains and it’s our role to raise the profile of such sites with a younger and wider audience.” www.transporttrust.com

Plaque commemorates rights of way champion

By Elizabeth Rogers

THE Thames Path is much used by long-distance walkers and cyclists who take up the challenge to cover its entire 200-mile-plus length, as well as by those who enjoy it in shorter sections.

That they can cover the full length unimpeded with no breaks is due in large part to the tireless efforts of Wytton d’Arcy Dalton who in the 1950s led the campaign against attempts by farmers and landowners to prevent access to many of the footpaths that should be public rights of way.

Among these were the entire River Thames towpath between Oxford and Henley, and the Pinkhill Farm and Lock Path. He attended day-long hearings over a period of four years, presenting hard-researched evidence on behalf of the Oxford Footpaths, Bridle Paths and Commons Preservation Society, being successful in most of its 135 cases.

In recognition of this and his many other activities, including identifying and mapping all paths within a 144-square-mile area centred on Oxford, an Oxfordshire blue plaque has been placed on his former home in Great Milton, near Thame, then Wyvern and now named The Limes.

Members of the Oxford Footpaths Society, walking groups, local council representatives and representatives of Lincoln College at the unveiling by society chairman Jim Parke of the commemorative blue plaque (inset) at The Limes. PHOTOS SUPPLIED The plaque was unveiled by the recent chairman of Oxford Footpaths Society, Jim Parke, at a ceremony attended by members of this and walking groups, by local council representatives and representatives of Lincoln College, where Mr d’Arcy Dalton had been both a student and a lecturer.

Wytton d’Arcy Dalton was one of the founders of the Footpaths

Society in 1926. It was formed to tackle the decline in public use of footpaths and their consequent usurpation by farmers and landowners.

For the two-inch scale map which they produced, he and two fellow committee members personally checked every path.

Mr d’Arcy Dalton died in 1982 at the age of 88. In 1986 he was honoured by

the naming of the long-distance way from The Ridgeway on the Berkshire Downs through the Cotswolds to Wormleighton in Warwickshire as the d’Arcy Dalton Way. Oxfordshire’s blue plaques scheme promotes recognition and awareness of people, places and events that have been of lasting significance in the life of the county and beyond.

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.

New responsibilities for boat owners Does your boat meet the essential requirements within the RCD? AT THE beginning of 2017 the new Recreational Craft Directive (RCD2), or to give it its proper name Directive 2013/53/EU, became law and introduced a number of new requirements for all recreational craft placed on the market or put into use within the UK, the EU and the EEA. The RCD is what’s known as a ‘New Approach Directive’. This means it sets out Essential (legal) Requirements that a craft must comply with but it lets the boat builder choose how they do that.

This approach permits boat builders to innovate, use state of the art and does not constrain design.

When a boat builder is confident that they have met all the essential requirements within the RCD, the craft can be CE marked to demonstrate that it conforms with the legal requirements of the RCD. There is much talk about International Standards Organisation (ISO) standards within the boat building sector, but ISO standards are not mandatory, they don’t have to be used by a boat builder to meet the legal requirements but the boat builder must be able to prove that their craft complies with them.

However if a boat builder uses an ISO Standard that has been harmonised (adopted by the EU) then it is presumed that a craft is in conformity and is presumed to be safe. If they use another

method, they must explain why they think it is safe and trading standards may disagree.

There are currently 82 different ISO standards that fall within the small craft (<24m) sector, although not all will apply to every craft. Standards evolve quickly and the law slowly. So, how can you tell how your boat has been designed and built? By law with every boat there must be a Declaration of Conformity through which the builder must demonstrate how they have met the Essential Requirements within the law and every boat must be CE marked accordingly.

So what has changed?

There have been a number of small changes, hard to spot by the untrained eye, but that will significantly improve both the safety of your boat as well as its impact on the environment. The main ones are: • The new law now states that a person who falls overboard must be able to re-board from the water unaided.

• As more and more boaters turn to electrical and hybrid propulsion, there are new requirements for safe installation of this type of system.

• Any toilet fitted in a recreational craft now has to be connected solely to a holding tank or water treatment system and is no longer able to be plumbed straight out.

• Engine emission limits have been brought in line with US emission limits (set in 2010).

• Design categories no longer refer to or imply area of operation such as ocean, offshore, inshore and sheltered waters.

New requirements have been introduced for all recreational craft.

PHOTO: RYA

New responsibilities for boat owners

The new RCD changes the rules applicable to craft that undergo what is known as a Major Craft Conversion. This could be the lengthening of a boat, the installation of an LPG system, a new electrical system or a new propulsion system. If it is considered that a craft has undergone a major craft conversion then a procedure known as a Post-Construction Assessment must be applied.

The legal responsibility for this is placed on the person who is placing the vessel back on the market or putting it back into service after the major conversion works have been carried out. This process is covered by Article 23 of the new RCD and is worth a read if you are planning major work on your boat.

There has also been a change to how

trading standards are treating ‘sail-away’ boats due to the new directive. Now partly completed boats can be put on the market but cannot be put into use if further construction work is required to make them usable.

This has effectively put an end to the ‘sail-away’, sold with part completion declaration (Annex III of the RCD). If it can be sailed away it is being used and is as complete as the builder intends it to be and should be CE marked.

If you're looking for a boat builder who is knowledgeable, friendly and works to recognised professional standards, then choose a British Marine Inland Boatbuilding member.

Visit http://www.rya.org.uk/go/RCD to find out more about the scope of the RCD and what to look out for when buying or modifying your boat.

Powerability milestone for disabled boaters THE Wheelyboat Trust has been working alongside the RYA which launched a new disabled boating certification scheme, Powerability, at the Southampton Boat Show.

For more than 30 years the charity has been making boating accessible through its specially adapted Wheelyboats. Now for the first time disabled people will be able to undertake recognised RYA training and acquire specially developed certification in powerboat skippering.

Wheelyboat Trust director Andy Beadsley explained: “For people with a disability, it’s not just about getting on and off the boat that’s important but being able to have full control.

“We’re delighted to be able to support the RYA to roll out this important scheme to a large number of organisations operating Wheelyboats across the UK.” He added that as well as highlighting purpose-built powerboat, the Coulam Wheelyboat V20, to activity centres and Sailability groups across the UK, the scheme will have a positive impact on the involvement of disabled individuals in water-based activities.

RYA Sailability manager Joff McGill said: “The scheme dovetails into the internationally recognised RYA training schemes and is a great stepping stone that increases accessibility.” www.wheelyboats.org

8 NETWORKING

SOCIETY NEWS Malswick project

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Awards for the ‘living waterways’

HEREFORDSHIRE and Gloucestershire Canal Trust is paving the way towards the restoration of three-quarters of a mile of canal visible from the B4215 Newent to Gloucester road at Malswick. The first stage of the project will be to repair two farm bridges across Ell Brook and build a new one before canal restoration starts in a year or two including Road Lock and a new swing bridge.

(The Wharfinger, autumn 2017)

WINNERS of the Canal & River Trust’s Living Waterways Awards for 2017 were named at a recent gala ceremony in Birmingham.

They were announced by chief executive Richard Parry who said: “These annual awards give us the opportunity to celebrate the tireless efforts of those who are helping to transform the

Project award winners:

Fundraising online

THE Inland Waterways Association’s Restoration Hub is holding a fundraising webinar from 8pm on Tuesday, November 14. Terry Cavender of Buckingham Canal Society and IWA’s fundraising officer Sarah Frayne will explore the current fundraising climate and opportunities for canal restoration trusts and societies. (Restoration Hub Newsletter, autumn 2017)

Transfer target

TALKS have resumed with the Canal & River Trust over the possible transfer of ownership of the Basingstoke Canal from the Surrey and Hampshire county councils; it is understood that a five-year target has been proposed.

The canal is currently operated on a day-to-day basis by the Basingstoke Canal Authority from the Canal Centre at Mytchett. (Basingstoke Canal News, autumn 2017)

Prize gift

THE Worcester Birmingham & Droitwich Canals Society recently gave its support to the Edwards family from Alvechurch who held a fun day and hog roast in aid of Birmingham Children’s Hospital.

WBDCS donated the hire of its narrowboat Cecilia as a prize at the event, which raised more than £5000 in memory of Emilia Edwards from the proceeds of a tombola, raffle and silent auction.

New boat

BUCKINGHAM Canal Society recently unveiled its new workboat bought with the help of grants organised through the Tesco ‘Bags of Help’ campaign. The Aquaparx 330 inflatable motorboat will be used for reed clearing and the upkeep of the Grand Union Canal.

All hands

IT WILL be a case of all hands to the pump when steam narrowboat President’s boiler comes back from being re-tubed. It is hoped that it will be reconnected by the end of year, writes Friends of President chairman Nick Haynes.

(195, October 2017)

nation’s rivers, canals, lochs, lakes and reservoirs, making them exciting vibrant places where people want to be.”

Presenting the outstanding achievement award to John Dodwell, who served as a trustee of the Canal & River Trust from 2012-2017, Richard said his contribution had left an indelible mark on the waterway scene.

Chief executive of the Eldonian Housing Association, George Evans and the IWA Chester & Merseyside branch chairman Jim Forkin receive the Community and Volunteering award for their organisation of the 2016 Eldonian Village Canal Festival, which attracted over 80 boats and 20,000 people. Held as part of the Leeds & Liverpool Canal bicentenary celebrations, it aimed to increase the number of boats travelling this last stretch of the Liverpool Link into the docks and raise awareness of the canal locally.

PHOTO: IWA

Art and interpretation – Oxford Canal Murals Project (Waterways Management Company, Oxford) Community and volunteering – Eldonian Village Canal Festival (IWA); runner-up: Taking it Tees’y (CRT); Compasses Bridge (Wey & Arun Canal Trust) Built environment – Elland Road Bridge (Arcadis); runner-up: Marsworth Wharf (Stride Treglown); commended: Merchant’s Quay, Gloucester (Stride Treglown).

Education and learning – Hirst Lock Bicentenary, Shipley (Hirst Wood Regeneration Group); runner-up: Canal Officer for Cultural Heritage, Scotland (Scottish Waterways Trust); commended: Salendine Duke of Edinburgh Adoption, Huddersfield (CRT).

Natural environment – Firs Farm Wetlands, Enfield (London Borough of Enfield); runner-up: Green Park, Reading (Mapletree); commended: Living Heritage of the River Don (Don Catchment Rivers Trust).

Recreation and tourism – Leeds & Liverpool Bicentenary (CRT); runner-up: Audlem Lass Boat Service, Shropshire.

Restoration and historic environment – Window on the World, Ellesmere Port (NWM); runner-up: Mon & Brec Lime Kilns Trail, Brecon to Goytre (CRT); commended: Historic Lake in Baylis Park, Slough (Amey Plc); Stover Canal Graving Dock Lock Restoration, Newton Abbott (Stover Canal Trust).

A trustee with the Canal & River Trust until his retirement at the annual public meeting in September, John Dodwell received an outstanding achievement award.

John became involved in the restoration movement in the 1960s and played a leading role around the Inland Waterways Association’s campaign around the Transport Act in 1968 and went on to become IWA general secretary in the early 1970s.

Alongside his career in accountancy he set up his own water freight advisory firm and became chairman of the Commercial Boat Operators Association. He was also a member of the Government’s Inland Waterways Advisory Council and British Waterways Advisory Forum.

Canal trust to create new nature reserve A NEW nature reserve is to be created at Lichfield’s Fosseway Heath as part of the plan to restore the city’s canal.

An £18,500 grant from the Postcode Local Trust, a grant-giving body funded by players of People’s Postcode Lottery, will enable Lichfield and Hatherton Canals Restoration Trust to develop Fosseway Heath Nature Reserve and Wetlands, at the city’s south-western corner.

Work is expected to start in October and will be completed a year later. Canal trust chairman Christine Bull said: “I am absolutely delighted that this project, planned by the trust several years ago, now has the funding to go ahead.

“It will be a real showcase for the fact that canals, whether in water or not, are

amazing ‘green corridors’ providing benefits to both wildlife and people.”

The reserve will incorporate a Heritage Towpath Trail along the route of the canal by creating a proper surfaced towpath, giving improved access for all, especially those from the existing and proposed further housing developments near the site.

A circuit will provide disabled and pushchair friendly access with boardwalks through a planned wetland area.

The trust will be working closely with conservation and wildlife experts and the reserve will play an important role in enhancing an established plan to recreate Staffordshire’s rare lowland heathland, providing another stepping stone for improving biodiversity.

An artist’s impression by Mark Smith of the restored canal as it passes Fosseway Heath and approaches old Lock 19 at the ‘railway turn’.

PHOTO COURTESY OF CENTRAL UNMANNED AERIAL SERVICES

LHCRT’s development at Fosseway recognises its importance as a site for linnets, migratory birds and small mammals.

Postcode Local Trust, established in 2015, provides opportunities to

community groups and charities with grants up to £20,000 to fund projects of local importance which support wildlife areas, sustainability initiatives, local outdoor spaces and citizenship volunteering programmes.

Grant for feasibility study update

Canine canal capers up for TV award

THE Lapal Canal Trust has received a £5000 grant from the GJW Turner Trust towards the cost of an up-to-date feasibility study.

It is focused on restoring the Dudley No 2 Canal from Selly Oak to California where it is planned to build a marina with new homes. This will be a significant regeneration project

MIDLANDS-based TV company Chugg Productions has been nominated for a second year running for a major industry award from the Royal Television Society in the Midlands.

The team has gained a nomination in the coveted Best Fictional Programme category for Chico Chugg, a programme for pre-school children which follows the adventures of Chico the Jack Russell dog on his canal boat. It’s all filmed in the Midlands and features the region’s beautiful countryside and waterways.

This nomination is for series two of Chico Chugg, which is also broadcast on the Welsh national TV channel S4C and is called Nico Nogg in Welsh. The English version of the show is on Sky

WRG volunteers working on the repair of a further 20m of wall.

PHOTO SUPPLIED

creating employment and becoming a tourist attraction.

A feasibility study for the whole route from Selly Oak to Halesowen was produced by Atkins in 2007 but the Lapal trust now needs a more detailed study of the work planned up to California.

The restoration project was boosted for the second year running with a week-long Waterway Recovery Group camp during the summer. It completed work started last year on repairing and reinstating the brick canal wall in Harborne Wharf and two large tree stumps were also removed from the wall on the west side of the bridge.

During the week, the trust’s Facebook page reached more than 40,000, thanks to everyone who shared, and there was a significant uplift in the number of followers and likes to more than 900; it is hoped that it will reach 1000

by Christmas. ● The GJW Turner Charitable Trust was founded by John Turner, a Birmingham industrialist, in 1969 with an initial trust fund of 50,000 ordinary shares of five shillings (25p) each in Wellington Tube Holdings Limited.

The Chico Chugg team: Mike and Janet Roberts with Anita Ramdharry. PHOTOS SUPPLIED

Filming Chico Chugg on set.

Kids and Now TV. The winners will be announced at the awards ceremony at the National Motorcycle Museum, Solihull on November 30.

It’s been an amazing couple of years for the company. Last year Anita Ramdharry won the Royal Television Society award as Best New Talent for her role as producer of series one.

Chugg Productions also won the Small Business of the Year in the Pride of Rugby Awards 2017.

Mike Roberts composes all the original music for Chugg Productions and his wife Janet wrote the series of ‘Chico’ books which the TV series is based on. www.chicochugg.com

NETWORKING 9

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Characters of the cut Julie Webb meets horsedrawn trip operator Jenny Roberts, for whom boating marked a step change in her career.

JENNY Roberts, owner of the Godalming Packet Boat Company which operates horsedrawn boat trips on the Wey Navigation, knew nothing at all about boats, or the techniques involved in pulling them with horses, when she bought the 72ft Iona 30 years ago.

“The boat was down here with somebody else. My daughter was working on it and persuaded me to buy it,” she told me.

“It’s the only boat I’ve owned; my background is horses. I was born near Manchester, grew up in Hertfordshire, and came to Surrey in 1964 to work with horses in a private yard – brood mares and show horses.

“My first heavy horse, Domino, came with the boat – he taught me how to do it. It was a baptism of fire. I learnt an awful lot.

“You’ve got to have a horse with the right temperament to start with and get them used to your voice; they’re basically voice-controlled. One of our horses, Alizee, is a French Comtois so she has to have her commands in French.”

Helping Jenny, who leads the horse – either Alizee or the three-quarter Clydesdale Buddy – are three other crew: one in the cabin, one on the towpath and one steering.

“You’ve got to have someone really good steering, or you’ll have the horse staggering all over the towpath, or worse, in the water,” said Jenny.

She’s had the same steerer, Kevin (an artist on dry land), for nearly 30 years, so they’ve perfected their teamwork and developed an understanding of the boat’s momentum under varied conditions, ensuring a smooth journey for both passengers and horse.

Driving Buddy along the River Wey towpath.

PHOTO SUPPLIED

Jenny Roberts on board Iona – ‘a good old lady’.

PHOTO: JULIE WEBB

The other crew members are part-timers, mostly friends of Jenny’s (“all brilliant,” she says) whom she’s trained in the skills of rope throwing, ‘strapping’ (stopping) the boat, manoeuvring the 80ft tow-rope over obstacles and disconnecting it from the mast with a flick when Iona approaches Catteshall Lock or a bridge.

She takes 46 passengers on a two-hour trip, from Godalming (the limit of navigation and most southerly point on the waterways system) halfway to Guildford.

“The Wey can be a difficult river. It has a huge catchment area and floods easily. It’s very fast-moving once it gets going.

That’s why we don’t run in the winter,” said Jenny.

There are trips almost every day from Easter to the end of September, unless there’s a very high wind. “If it rains we still run, and the horse and I get wet!

“The horses’ welfare is the priority. If the temperature’s over 30 we do shorter trips because both passengers and horses can get heatstroke. They go under the hosepipe when we get back – the horses, that is!”

Historic vessel

Of four horse-drawn trip boats operating in Britain, Iona is the only historic vessel. A Small Woolwich butty built by Harland and Wolff for the GUCCC in 1935 and named Bellerophon, she was paired with Bootes, carrying coal, lime juice, chocolate crumb and steel.

“She’s a good old lady, a very sound boat. She’s been in commercial use all her life.”

Jenny rents her wharf HQ, and buys her licence, from the National Trust, which owns the navigation. To her passengers it undoubtedly seems an idyllic way to make a living – but behind the peaceful plodding is a lot of hard work. Jenny walks the

horse-of-the-day a mile to and from its paddock to the lorry that takes it to Godalming, as well as walking the four trip miles along the towpath. There’s also year-round care of the horses (including the now retired Ben) and daily cleaning of tack. The harness she uses is very old. “It has LMS – London, Midland and Scottish Railways – stamped in the leather. If you look after it, leather will go on for ever – Buddy wears a collar that was used for ploughing in World War Two.” There’s constant boat maintenance too, and every other year Iona’s taken out for statutory inspection and blacking.

“I do the blacking,” said Jenny.

“I like to see the state of the hull.”

She and one or other of the horses have featured in several TV and film productions, including The Railway Children and the Inspector Morse episode The Wench is Dead.

“That was with Domino. I was lying in the bushes saying ‘Wo!’ to him while the actors ran up and down.”

Twenty years ago, with her horse Ratty, she did two journeys, London to Birmingham and back, raising money for Cancer Research, and in 2012 she and Buddy pulled the newly restored Ilkeston on the last leg of her centenary voyage from Ellesmere to the London Canal Museum (where he spat carrots all over Kate Adie).

The tranquillity, the wildlife and the history (Wey barges transported timber to rebuild London after the Great Fire) are part of the satisfaction Jenny finds in her work, but her relationship with the horses is central to it.

“The horses are just magic. I love it when the horse is pulling the boat really well, and listening to you. And it gives you such a lift when passengers say ‘Oh, I did enjoy that!’ ”

● Contact Godalming Packet Boat Co at 01483 414938 www.horseboat.org.uk

Jenny has to give commands to Alizee in French. PHOTO SUPPLIED

Historic narrowboat Iona at Godalming Wharf. PHOTO: JULIE WEBB

10 COMMUNITY BOATING

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The National Community Boats Association is a national body for community orientated boating organisations.

NCBA director of training to step down Director of training for the National Community Boats Association for the past eight years, Derek Stansfield, will be stepping down from that role at the NCBA AGM in November.

RYA qualifications such as Yachtmaster and setting up his own RYA shore-based school.

DEREK first experienced the outdoors as a potential, and potent, vehicle for educational and social development at the tender age of 11 when taken on a five-day residential visit to the Peak District in 1953.

It was that experience that first sowed the seed; he wanted to become a teacher and, if possible, in the outdoors. His secondary education further nurtured the idea due in no short measure by the influence of his teachers and further residential visits.

Following attendance at one of the original Outward Bound courses he was allowed to lead school trips himself at the age of 16. Following three years at St John’s College he qualified as a teacher, mainly for physical education but soon introduced outdoor education into the programme. A stint in the West Riding of Yorkshire (as it was then) was followed by an eye-opening post in the East End of London in the mid-60s.

A natural progression followed to him becoming third in charge of the Inner London Education Authority’s

However, the lure of a new challenge followed with the establishment of the Adventure Activities Licensing Authority and Derek became one of the eight senior inspectors. Thus began a new chapter in trying to ensure that adventure was not totally eliminated from activities and that young people were still able to manage risks for themselves.

It was as the new millennium dawned that Derek first became involved with canal boats when he volunteered for SCAD, a local charity. He looked at the qualifications recommended by the MCA Small Passenger Boat Code and while the ones he held were acceptable he felt that the NCBA Certificate in Community Boat Management was the most appropriate.

As always, he decided not only to obtain this but also to work his way through the NCBA qualifications structure, eventually joining the NCBA National Training Committee and becoming the director of training.

During this time, he has overseen

residential centre at Marchants Hill, based at Hindhead. It was during this transition that he became mindful of the required qualifications for leading groups and was supported in obtaining qualifications in mountaineering, canoeing and sailing.

The next rung on the ladder was to become head (called ‘warden’ in those days) of the City of Leicester’s Outdoor Pursuits Centre on the River Soar. A one-year course at Moray House College in Edinburgh, under the tutelage of Eric Langmuir, saw him obtain the Diploma in Outdoor Education and a move to be head of Fellside Outdoor Centre, later to become Fellside Outdoor Education Centre, one of Cumbria County Council’s residential centres. There followed a long period of consolidation at the centre before reorganisation of the whole of Cumbria’s provision made him manager of it all.

Early retirement was taken in 1992 when he set up his own management and development training business as well as concentrating on obtaining

New challenge

Derek Stansfield, who is standing down as NCBA director of training at the AGM. PHOTOS SUPPLIED the review and reorganisation of the trainers’ course, re-established refresher training for trainers and more recently the producing of a training manual that covers all the NCBA courses.

Now he feels it is time to hand over the tiller to someone new to take the NCBA to the next stage.

Derek says: “I have been fortunate throughout my career: fortunate to have had visionary teachers at both primary and secondary school who introduced me to the outdoors and gave both help and encouragement; fortunate to have had parents who allowed me at the age of 11 onwards to spend weekends away wandering the hills alone and unaccompanied: fortunate to have been in on the early days of NGB qualifications in outdoor activities: fortunate to have worked with dedicated, enthusiastic and vastly talented colleagues throughout

● The NCBA annual conference and AGM will be on Saturday, November 18 at Pirate Castle in London. Derek will be giving the keynote talk entitled How Things Have Changed – a personal journey through adventure activity regulations.

Other items on the agenda will be presentations from Pirate Castle, CanalAbility and Ethel Trust as well as workshops on the new website. Details are available from Bob Ratcliffe at bob@national-cba.co.uk my career and fortunate to have been able to provide the opportunity for young people to experience the benefits that activities in the outdoors can give.”

The NCBA has a progressive training and qualification structure for inland waterways at all levels.

Boat service celebrates award success

Community patrol boat Ripple on the Grand Western Canal.

PHOTO SUPPLIED

New community patrol boat for Tiverton

By Phil Pickin

LOCAL people in and around the Tiverton area of Devon have helped raise sufficient funds to establish what could be the country's first community patrol boat.

The new service began earlier this year to patrol the Grand Western Canal and is manned by a volunteer skipper, Dion Howells, who came up with the idea some years ago.

He was instrumental in raising the funds to equip the boat Ripple to patrol the waterway. The service runs on one day per week and during the evenings looks out for both antisocial and unsafe behaviour along the canal and its towpath.

The patrols work with Devon County Council’s rangers and the Environment Agency to keep an eye on wildlife including fish stocks and Dion has recently been made a water bailiff so that he can check licences.

In total local businesses and residents raised around £5000 to get the service up and running and they

expect the running costs to be around £3 per day. The boat itself, a Fisher 16, was donated by the Brind family who run the Tiverton Canal Company and who have been involved in local canal activities for many years.

The launch of the newly refurbished boat carried out by the mayor of Tiverton, Coun Wallace Burke, gained good coverage in the local media and since beginning its patrols the service has proved to be very popular with locals.

Dion, a local police community support officer, said within two hours of launch they were called out to help the local police with a search for a missing person.

He was keen to point out that while out on the canal he’s not on duty as a PCSO but that they work closely with the police and other services to support them in their work.

He feels that one of the service’s main roles is to engage with the local community who use the waterway, something that it would seem they are proving to be very successful in doing.

FOR the Audlem Lass boat service, based at Overwater Marina on the Shropshire Union, it was a case of David and Goliath at the recent Canal & River Trust 2017 Living Waterways Awards.

The little community-run boat, which raises funds for the RNLI, was named runner-up in the prestigious Recreation and Tourism category, which saw CRT’s Leeds & Liverpool Bicentenary Celebrations crowned winner.

The service provides passenger trips from Overwater Marina to the picturesque canal village of Audlem and back every weekend from Easter to the end of October. Over the last five years Audlem Lass has transported more than 20,000 passengers and has become one of south Cheshire’s most popular mini tourist attractions.

Rodney Cottrell, founder of the Audlem Lass boat service said: “Being runner-up for such a prestigious award

means a lot to the crew who give up their spare time to run the boat, whatever the weather.”

The boat service plays a valuable role in connecting Overwater Marina to Audlem and its fabulous range of shops and services as well as providing a great little day out in the beautiful Cheshire countryside.

The Audlem Lass team also plays a key role in organising the annual RNLI Festival and Boat Share Show at Overwater as well as supporting other events in the village such as the big switch-on which takes place this year on Friday, November 24.

The group of volunteers are always on the lookout for prospective new crew, so if you fancy giving a few hours a month and love nothing more than messing about on the water please call Joe Hoyles on 07880 727870 or email joehoyles@ vodafoneemail.co.uk

The Audlem Lass crew at Overwater Marina. PHOTOS SUPPLIED

Audlem Lass lit up ready for the festive season. This year’s big switch-on will take place on Friday, November 24.

COMMUNITY BOATING 11

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Guests enjoy a slow and scenic trip after the new boat The Mary Archard was officially named and launched at the restored Pewsham Wharf. PHOTO: JUSTIN GUY/WBCT

Tripboat demonstrates potential of restored canal

A NEW tripboat is demonstrating the potential of a restored water way through the Wiltshire countryside.

The Wilts & Berks Canal Trust has made great progress in breathing new life into the once-derelict route between Chippenham and Lacock.

Earlier this year the charity completed the restoration of a continuous stretch from the former flight of locks near Pewsham to Double Bridge near Reybridge, a distance of almost 1.2km.

This allows a specially adapted workboat to transport volunteers and their equipment back and forth along the route and to make improvements to the opposite side of the bank.

Now the trust has used a legacy donation to purchase a tripboat as well, which will be used on restored sections of the canal and other waterways across the area.

The boat was officially named and launched at the restored Pewsham Wharf on Saturday, October 14 before taking invited guests on a slow and scenic trip along the waterway.

It was the first time in more than a century that people could view the canal from the same perspective as the original narrowboats.

Wheelchair access

More than 5m long and 2m wide, The Mary Archard features a bow which can be lowered to

provide wheelchair access from a slipway.

The £14,000 cost was funded by a £9400 legacy from local resident Mary Archard with the balance paid for with funds raised by the Melksham, Chippenham & Calne branch of the Wilts & Berks Canal Trust.

Branch chairman Dave Maloney said: “Mary was a member of the trust and enjoyed walking along the canal at Pewsham and chatting to our volunteers, watching the progress of our work and sending a donation with every Christmas card.

“We were very sorry to learn of her passing away, but will be forever grateful for her generous legacy which will provide so much enjoyment to so many people.

“The tripboat has already been used at local river festivals and other events where it has been a big success, but our ultimate aim is to arrange regular days at Pewsham where it can take visitors along the original route of the canal.

“This stretch is already hugely popular with people of all ages but they could only see the water from the towpath and wheelchair users sometimes found it difficult to travel to the other end.

“Soon everyone will have an opportunity to glide peacefully through the beautiful Wiltshire countryside, enjoying a glimpse of how the canal may have looked from the bow of a

narrowboat more than a hundred years earlier.

“And, hopefully in the not too distant future, this same view will be enjoyed by narrowboats once again – but this time for tourism rather than trade.”

Coal and corn

The Wilts & Berks Canal once carried goods from the Kennet & Avon Canal near Melksham to the Thames & Severn Canal near Cricklade and the River Thames near Abingdon, connecting Chippenham, Calne, Royal Wootton Bassett and Swindon.

Cargoes included coal and corn.

It opened in 1810 but was formally abandoned in 1914 due to competition from the railways and soon fell into disrepair. The Pewsham stretch was overgrown and largely forgotten.

However, today the Wilts & Berks Canal Trust is steadily restoring several sections around the county. The stretch between Chippenham and Lacock includes a restored bridge, spillweir and mooring points, as well as benches, birdboxes and information boards.

Longer term, the aim is to extend the line to Melksham where a planning application has already been submitted to create a new junction with the K&A at Semington and then bring the canal along the River Avon through the town centre before reconnecting with the historic route south of Lacock.

Visit www.wbct.org.uk

Snap! Another meeting at Bridge 99 EAGLE-eyed readers may have spotted that the boat pictured on the new interpretation board at Bridge 99 on the Kennet & Avon Canal (News, Issue 144, October) was Hannah, operated by the Bruce Trust which provides canal holidays for disabled, disadvantaged or elderly people.

Railway photographer Tony Bartlett was again at Bridge 99 recently and was interested to find that another Bruce Trust boat was approaching as he was expecting a train.

He said: “A thought crossed my mind – would it be possible to recreate that original shot, albeit with a lowly goods train rather than the esteemed British Pullman.

“Fortunately the gods were smiling on me again as I could hear the goods train approaching just as Rebecca passed under me on the bridge, and the timing worked out pretty well again without me having to wait until the very last minute to take the shot.”

Bruce Trust widebeam Rebecca passes the goods train near Bridge 99.

PHOTO: TONY BARTLETT

12 IWA ROUND-UP

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AROUND THE BRANCHES WITH IWA’S MARION BIRCH

Lichfield AS PART of IWA’s work to encourage and support as many people as possible to enjoy our beautiful inland waterway network, IWA Lichfield branch organised five boat trips in September to take around 50 elderly and disabled people out on the water. There were four circular trips in Rugeley with the last one cruising to Great Haywood.

A grant from Rugeley Town Council

London region allowed the branch to hire the Walsall Enterprise, a narrowboat with disabled access from the Truman Enterprise Narrowboat Trust.

Groups from Wilson Keys Sheltered Housing, the LDD group (a charity for young people with learning and other disabilities), and Rugeley Community Church enjoyed what was for many their first boat trip.

NEARLY 1000 guided canal walks have been enjoyed by nearly 16,000 customers over the past 40 years. All the walks are led by IWA volunteers and have raised more than £43,000 for the association.

Customers can choose from more than 20 routes between Denham, the Olympic Stadium and Docklands and hear about topics as diverse as the history and operation of the canals, the people who built them, the interesting buildings alongside them as well as some of the people who lived beside them.

If you would like to come on one of the walks, just turn up – no booking required. Visit IWA’s website or see our What’s on listings for details.

Celebrating the 40th anniversary of the London Walks led by IWA volunteers. A group led by guide Roger Wilkinson is photographed by the Meridian line. PHOTO: ROGER WILKINSON

IWA WORK PARTIES IN NOVEMBER Smiling and afloat thanks to a grant secured by IWA Lichfield branch.

PHOTO: IWA

West Country

Manchester

THE West Country branch received this year’s IWA’s Branch Achievement Award, for making the greatest progress and achievement in promoting the association’s aims and objectives during the past year.

The branch has held over 100 work parties across Bridgwater and Taunton in 2017 and has made a real difference by engaging businesses, securing grant funding and getting people from the local community involved.

Led by volunteer co-ordinator Mike Slade, much has been achieved in maintaining and significantly improving the areas in and around the canal for waterway users and visitors to enjoy.

Most notably, the branch is running a high-level campaign to enhance navigation on the River Parrett by promoting aspects of the proposed Bridgwater Barrier, which would allow penning of water. The whole project would reconnect waterways and access to Bridgwater Basin at the seaward end of the Bridgwater & Taunton Canal.

SEPTEMBER saw 10 volunteers from IWA Manchester branch transform the area around Lock 7 on the Ashton Canal.

Metalwork was scraped down and painted, unsightly graffiti was painted over, and the ironwork, the bridge and the lock bridge were returned to newly coated black and white.

Volunteers also cut a trench for a First you see it, future path to the then you don’t. recently installed PHOTOS: DARREN Incredible Edible SHEPHERD garden. Clearing the debris around the top of the short access steps further improved the look of the offside lock landing and the garden was given a good weeding. The day was capped off with a litter pick in both directions from the lock.

East Wednesdays November 1, 8, 15, 22, 29 and Saturday November 11

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

Sunday November 12

IWA Lincolnshire Branch supporting Sleaford Navigation Trust: Volunteers meet on the second Sunday of the month to carry out a variety of tasks to maintain the navigable section of the Sleaford Navigation. 10am3pm. To confirm date and location contact Chris or Steve Hayes 01522 689460, workparties@sleafordnavigation. co.uk

Midlands Sunday November 5 and Tuesday November 21

IWA Northampton Branch: Northampton Arm adoption, fortnightly work party 10am-2pm. Work includes a variety of tasks such as painting, vegetation clearance and litter picking. Location dependent on work completed at the previous work party. Contact Geoff Wood at geoff. wood@waterways.org.uk

North Saturday November 4 and Tuesday November 28

Oxfordshire THIRTY volunteers from IWA Oxfordshire branch were out in force to support another enjoyable Banbury Canal Day on October 1.

With only six weeks’ notice the branch, headed up by chairman Steve Good, strived to get the usual boat trips running on the canal for the day – complete with volunteers to safely run

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

them. Throughout the day the branch hosted nearly 1000 people on board the four boats.

The canalside was alive with juggling stilt walkers mingling with thousands of visitors. There was live music, fairground rides and falconry. Tooley’s Boat Yard, known for its role in Tom Rolt’s adventure in Narrow Boat, was also open to visitors.

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

Thursday November 9

IWA North Staffordshire & South Cheshire Branch and the Caldon & Uttoxeter Canals Trust: Monthly work party on the Uttoxeter Canal at Bridge 70, Crumpwood.

10am-3pm. No parking at site so please meet at 9.30am at Denstone Village Hall, College Road, Denstone, Uttoxeter, Staffordshire ST14 5HR for a lift or, if on foot, meet on site at Bridge 70 at 10am. Contact Steve Wood 07976 805858, steve.wood@team.waterways.org.uk

Thursday November 16

IWA North Staffordshire & South Cheshire Branch and Trent & Mersey Canal Society: Monthly work party on the Cheshire Locks, Trent & Mersey Canal, 10am-3pm.

Meet at Church Locks 47 and 48 adjacent to All Saints Church, Lawton ST7 3DD. Contact John Brighouse 0780 887317, john.brighouse@waterways.org.uk

Saturday November 18

IWA Manchester Branch: Monthly work party at a venue to be confirmed in Greater Manchester, 10am-4pm.

Tasks will include vegetation clearance, litter picking, painting and pulling rubbish out of the canal. Contact 07710 554602, secretary@manchester-iwa.co.uk

Saturday November 25

IWA Chester & Merseyside Branch: Monthly work party in the Chester area working at various locations alongside the Shropshire Union Canal, 10am-4pm. Work will include painting and vegetation clearance. Contact Jason Watts, jason.watts@canalrivertrust.org.uk

South Tuesdays November 21 and 28

IWA Oxfordshire supporting Banbury Canal Partnership: Meet at 9am, work until around 1pm.

Contact Colin Garnham-Edge, bcpontheoxford@ gmail.com

For further information on any of these events please contact Katie Thomas, IWA’s branch support officer on 01494 783453 or email katie.thomas@waterways.org.uk Details can also be found on IWA’s website at www.waterways.org.uk