MONEY

Used To Fund Buckingham Canal Society Mosaic

In October 2022, around 50 people attended the unveiling of a kingfisher mosaic on the restored bridge over the Buckingham Canal at Cosgrove. The mosaic was created by local artist Melanie Watts and funded by the Christopher Power Prize money awarded by IWA to Athina Beckett in 2020. The Christopher Power Prize is awarded to a person, society or trust who has made the most significant contribution to the restoration of an inland waterway.

Athina Beckett was nominated for her dedicated and enthusiastic contribution to the Buckingham Canal Society’s ongoing restoration of the Grand Union’s Buckingham Branch.

She joined Buckingham Canal Society in 1993 as a volunteer. Further roles soon followed and in 1997 she took on the job of work party leader, a role she continues to hold today. She has been particularly successful at encouraging involvement with the Buckingham Canal Society from a number of corporate organisations.

Pete Winkleman of MKDons, and landowner of the farmland adjacent to the canal, kindly attended and unveiled the mosaic. Canal & River Trust CEO Richard Parry also attended the event and was impressed by the work the Buckingham Canal Society volunteers have done and continue to undertake.

West Country Branch Hosts Waterways Forum

The West Country Branch hosted a Waterways Forum for waterway groups in the South West peninsula on Saturday 8th October 2022 and, as previously, this took place in the Canal Room of the Globe Inn, Sampford Peverell, Devon, which is adjacent to the Grand Western Canal.

The forum provided an opportunity for the local waterway groups to meet up, exchange information and ideas, and to hear about current and proposed developments – of which there are many – on some of the local waterways.

The event was attended by over 30 waterway enthusiasts, representing the Bude Canal Trust, Bude Canal & Harbour Society, Rolle Canal Society, Stover Canal Trust, Friends of Exeter Ship Canal, Friends of Grand Western Canal, Somerset Navigators Boat Club, Cocklemoor Community Trust and IWA. Special guests were Nicola Dyer of Greenwood Projects and Brian Smedley of Bridgwater Town Council.

The waterways represented covered operational waterways, restored waterways, those undergoing restoration and others in need of regeneration. The presentations made it clear that they all face issues and problems and that, while good progress is being made in dealing with these, there is always more to do. Our guest speaker, Nicola Dyer, spoke about her project at Underhill Yard in Bristol and it was well received.

Overall feedback was that the forum went well. It was particularly pleasing to see the local waterway groups networking with each other and having an opportunity to see the progress made by the groups that made presentations.