Endeavour - November 2018

Endeavour Northampton Branch Newsletter — November 2018 Hat-trick of Achievement successes

TOP IWA AWARD FOR BRANCH Northampton Branch has been named as the recipient of the Association’s 2018 national Branch Achievement Award for a third time since the Award’s inception in 1999.We are the first Branch to receive the Award three times, our previous successes coming in 2005 and 2010. Chairman Bernard Morton told Endeavour: “It is truly a proud moment for the Branch. The Achievement Award reflects hugely upon the outstanding work our volunteers are continuing to carry out on the Northampton Arm – the Branch’s adoption project in partnership with the Canal & River Trust which has been running since 2013. Hearty congratulations everyone.” Bernard writes further on the Award in his Jottings on page 7.

Task party volunteers with the Achievement Award

waterways.org.uk/northampton

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EDITORIAL MUSINGS This picture shows the forlorn state of affairs at Lock 13 on the Northampton Arm where a structural failure in May triggered the collapse of the lift bridge just below the lock a few days before the mosaic trail inauguration ceremony at nearby Lock 10.

Immediate action by CRT focused on getting a crane to the site to clear the channel – the Arm was closed for 48 hours – has now resulted, however, in the bridge platform being left lying in the undergrowth lockside, as seen on the left in the picture.

The bridge, re-instated in 2002 after many years of campaigning by the Branch and the former Grand Union Canal Society (GUCS) to enhance the overall appearance and integrity of the Arm, was only ever an accommodation bridge. Voluntary funding aided its re-instatement. But in today’s austerity climate can one realistically expect the Trust, even with volunteer support, to allocate any of its precious and limited funds to finance the repair to a structure which does not go anywhere? At the time of writing – hardly likely.

Endeavour’s spring issue in 2002 reports that funding for the re-instatement came from IWA, GUCS, British Waterways and Northampton Borough Council. Appropriately, the bridge was formally opened by Northampton’s Mayor, Cllr Trevor Hadland, always a supporter of the Branch’s activities, to the delight of members on their way to our Boat Gathering at Becket’s Park. The GUCS contributed £1,500 and, with a top-up from the Branch, enabled a £2,000 cheque to be handed over to Matthew Routledge (BW’s Operations Manager SE) – money which also assisted with the re-instatement of the lift bridge at Lock 10 in 2004.

Endeavour commented at the time that an important part of Northampton’s heritage had been rescued for the benefit of future generations. It is now so unfortunate that this collapse has occurred at time when the Arm, and those involved with it on a voluntary basis, have achieved such a high profile.

Something should be done and I would like to think those in high and influential places will be approaching the situation positively; indeed, are these early days already the time to start considering a bid for Heritage Lottery Funding, for example? Surely the necessary boxes can be ticked. (photo: Peter W Jones)

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DIARY DATES December 11th 8pm IWA Northampton Branch Christmas Quiz with John Pomfret at The Walnut Tree Inn, Blisworth

January 8th 8pm IWA Northampton Branch Meeting at The Walnut Tree Inn, Blisworth. Speaker: Roger Butler — Canal Holidays in the 50s

February 12th 8pm IWA Northampton Branch Meeting at The Walnut Tree Inn, Blisworth. Speaker: Mike Partridge — Overnight Mooring ...21 years on!

March 12th 8pm IWA Northampton Branch Meeting at The Walnut Tree Inn, Blisworth. AGM followed by Keith Adams — Restoration of the Stoke Bruerne Brick Wagon

NORTHAMPTON ARM TASK PARTY DATES December 2nd, 18th.January 6th, 15th.

February 3rd, 19th. March 3rd, 19th. April 7th, 16th.

Contact: geoff.wood@waterways.org.uk or phone 01604 453932 BUCKINGHAM CANAL SOCIETY WORK PARTY DATES December 9th, 13th, 27th. January 10th, 13th, 24th.

February 7th, 10th, 21st. March 7th, 10th, 21st.

Contact athinabec@aol.com or phone 01908 661217/07721 319404 STOKE BRUERNE CANAL PARTNERSHIP WORK PARTY DATES December 12th.January 9th. February 13th. March 13th.

Contact: stokebruernecanalpartnership.org.uk

IWA Northampton Branch web site www.waterways.org.uk/northampton Please visit it regularly to see any updates

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Branch Chairman’s Jottings

by Bernard Morton Since my last Chairman’s Jottings, I have celebrated my 70 th birthday (I know … hard to believe, isn’t it?) with a party attended by around 90 family and friends, some of whom I hadn’t seen for over 40 years. Of course, I am not alone in celebrating the reaching of this milestone in 2018 – HRH Prince Charles is just over a month younger than me.

So, you can imagine my surprise when I answered the phone early in November to hear someone from The Sun newspaper telling me that I had been selected to attend their Afternoon Tea Party for Prince Charles to celebrate his 70 th birthday on 14th November. My immediate thought was that this was some sort of scam/bogus call, but I listened politely and was told I would receive my invitation in the post. On recounting the details of the call to Sandie, she told me it wasn’t a scam and that she’d known about my nomination for some time. To cut a long story short, some family friends who had attended my party came up with the idea of putting my name forward and had turned to Sandie for details of my involvement with IWA to support the nomination.

So, on 14th November Sandie and I headed down to London, to Spencer House in St James’s, for afternoon tea with Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall. I was proud to be there representing IWA, and Northampton Branch especially. In our brief chat with Prince Charles, I was able to tell him a little of what we, as volunteers in the Branch, have achieved on the waterways in Northamptonshire.

BRANCH ACHIEVEMENT AWARD. Another surprise phone call came during a family holiday in Cape Verde. This one was from IWA Head Office asking if I would be attending the national AGM as Northampton Branch had won the Branch Achievement Award for 2018 – the third time we have been chosen. The Award, a silver plate, was presented by National Chairman Ivor Caplan who praised the hard work and commitment of our volunteers and the art installations along the Northampton Arm which are encouraging more people to visit and enjoy the waterway. Well done and thank you to everyone involved … you know who you are!

DAVENTRY CANAL ASSOCIATION AGM. In October, Sandie and I attended the Daventry Canal Association AGM which, sadly, was to consider the winding up of the Association following the decision of Daventry District Council to abandon its planning application for the canal waterspace development. Dean Hawkey, the Chairman and prime mover, believes that there is no prospect of the canal being built without the support of the council.

The change of heart from the District Council is in response to the financial crisis at Northamptonshire County Council and the likelihood that there will be two new unitary authorities to replace the existing District and County Councils. So, for now, all hope of a new canal arm leading to Daventry is lost.

8 BRANCH DINNER. The Annual Dinner, held again at the Boat Inn, Stoke Bruerne, was well attended with good food and great service. However, apologies are due to anyone who ordered the pork and missed their crackling!

Mike Partridge, operator of trip boat Charlie at Stoke Bruerne, entertained us with tales from his early years of boating accompanied by some great photos. If you feel you have missed out, please note that Mike will be giving our monthly talk on 12th February 2019 which he has entitled “Overnight mooring … 21 years on!”

JOHN FAULKNER AWARD. During the dinner, I was honoured to once again present the John Faulkner Award which, you will remember, recognises someone who has made an outstanding contribution to the Branch. The Committee was unanimous in selecting Roger Hasdell to receive the award for 2018 – a very worthwhile recipient I’m sure you will agree. Not only was Roger one of the founding members of Northampton Branch, but over the years he has also served on the main Committee, the Boat Gathering Committee, edited Endeavour and now acts as adviser and chief proof-reader, meticulously checking our grammar and spelling! Congratulations Roger – and thank you for all your “endeavours” for the Branch.

100 CLUB. The dinner also saw the first Prize Draw for our Branch 100 Club. Tony Clarke, one of the two administrators of the Club (who are not allowed to be members), oversaw the selection of numbers and announced the winners. First prize went to Geoff Wood, second prize to Bernard Wilson and third prize to Ann Currell.

If you feel you are missing out on being part of the 100 Club, it is not too late to enrol for 2019. From 2019 onwards, we aim to have two Draws – one at the AGM in March and one at the Annual Dinner in November. Each member can have up to four shares which cost £15 each per annum. Applications and payments must be made before 28th February 2019 — so don’t delay. If you require further information, please contact Paul Lynam (Branch Treasurer) via email paul.lynam@waterways.org.uk or visit our website page https:// www.waterways.org.uk/northampton/northampton Remember, the 100 Club is an alternative Branch fund-raiser to the Boat Gathering which had seen interest, and therefore income, decline in recent years. The funds we raise will go towards supporting local waterway charities and initiatives.

RICHARD WADDY. I end my Jottings on a very sad note as news has just come through of the passing of Richard Waddy, a loyal and dedicated member of our Branch for some 25 years. He served on both the Branch Committee and the Boat Gathering Committee and enjoyed attending many boat gatherings on his boat nb Adriona. His health had declined in recent weeks and he died peacefully at home at Long Buckby with his family around him.

Sandie and I attended his memorial service to represent the Branch and to express our condolences to his family. Several other Branch members who had known Richard well, particularly during the boat gathering years, were also there.

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The David Blagrove Charity Trust When reflecting on the Trust’s first full year, it has made me realise what an immense effort has been achieved by all the members and supporters to make it the success story it now is.

This incredible input has been made all the more remarkable as the Trust’s members have had to deal with pressing personal and family commitments. Recent months have been especially difficult due to the sudden death of Roy Sears, our Joint Chair and great friend, who was tragically taken from us in a car accident in June. Our thoughts continue to remain with Roy`s wife, Christine, the Trust’s secretary, and also their family through this very trying time.

David’s legacy and the Trust’s main aims are the two things that he was passionate about: enriching our local community and improving the lives of disadvantaged youth through experiences on the UK canals. Over the last year the Trust raised funds that have nb Progress moored at Stoke Bruerne been used to assist the village hall, with £500 being donated towards a new fire door, and £500 to the church. Volunteering plays a huge part for the Trust and as the bus service in Stoke has been affected by local government cuts, the Trust has started a free transport service to and from Towcester every Friday morning.

The Trust also gave 18 girls from the Active Communities Network charity in London an opportunity to experience a rural weekend in Stoke Bruerne. This involved them camping in a paddock, kindly supplied by local landowner Alison Jones, cooking and singing round the camp fire. The girls had a trip through the Blisworth Tunnel and spent a morning on nb Progress being shown the art of narrow boating which included operating several locks. The girls thoroughly enjoyed their weekend spent in the village and are looking forward to a repeat visit next year.

A rover trader’s licence has been purchased for our dedicated boat Progress, which enables us to travel the canal network promoting the Trust and also sell merchandise to aid fund raising.

Progress is also available for special occasions, which give members and the wider public a chance to experience the canal and all it has to offer.

This is just a small beginning but we hope in the early part of 2019 to have our full charity status and all our infrastructure together so we can carry forward not only David’s legacy but also Roy’s.

The girls at the camp site in Stoke Bruerne

To find out more about the David Blagrove Charity Trust visit our http://dbct.org.uk/ or visit our Facebook page https://en-gb.facebook.com/ TDBCT/ Bill Mann (Joint Chairman)

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ANNUAL BRANCH DINNER WITH 100 CLUB’S FIRST DRAW With great merriment and obviously enjoyed by all, the Branch’s annual dinner was held at the Boat Inn, Stoke Bruerne, in mid November. Genial trip boat operator Mike Partridge was our popular guest speaker, giving a very light-hearted talk on how he started boating and also presenting many interesting photographs taken back in the 70s.

During the evening, Roger Hasdell was presented with the John Faulkner Award — an award now in its second year acknowledging the member who has made an outstanding contribution to Northampton Branch. The first winner in 2017 was volunteer Clive Joynson.

Roger joined the Association in 1970, just prior of the 1971 IWA National Rally of Boats at Becket’s Park in Northampton, sitting on the organising committee and handling the publicity and the editing the Rally brochure – at 78 pages, the biggest brochure for this event ever produced.

He then became Branch vice- chairman for a short while to David Blagrove’s chairmanship but, very soon, in 1973, he was invited to become editor of Bulletin, the Association’s national publication. Realising he would not be able to operate at Branch level alongside editing responsibilities, he relinquished active local branch inRoger Hasdell with the John Faulkner Shield volvement.

He

11 remained editor for 17 years, during this time overseeing the change from the smaller Bulletin format to the larger Waterways style we know today – but not so colourful!

Because of his wife’s illness during the 1990s, he remained in the background until 2000 when he re-joined the Branch committee, in due course serving as publicity officer, Endeavour editor and helping to organise the annual Boat Gatherings. Since resigning from the committee, he has always been “in the picture” in various ways, not least in assisting Endeavour’s present editor. Roger was also closely involved in the mid-2000s in the formation (as its initial secretary) of the Friends of Stoke Bruerne’s Canal Museum and in more recent years as a Council member and minutes secretary.

The first draw for the 100 Club took place with Mike Partridge doing the honours.

The 1st prize went to Geoff Wood, 2nd to Bernard Wilson and 3rd to Ann Currell.

If you would like to enter the next draw for the 100 Club, entry forms and rules are on the website www.waterways.org.uk or email paul.lynam@waterways.org.uk or phone 07817 461842 for an application form. Payments must be made by 28th February 2019 for the draws in March and November.

Ann Currell and Geoff Wood receiving their 100 Club cheques (on different occasions!) from Chairman Bernard Morton

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SUNNY SUNDAY CROWDS FLOCK TO VILLAGE AT WAR EVENT

IWA Northampton Branch members were, as usual, heavily involved with the organisation and running of the highly successful and now internationally recognised Village at War weekend, held for the 11 th successive year at Stoke Bruerne in early September. After a slow start on the Saturday, largely through indifferent weather, the sun came out all day on Sunday – and so did the crowds in their thousands. Re-enactors from all parts of the country supported the event with enthusiasm. This picture illustrates the event in full swing on the Sunday afternoon. Among Saturday’s visitors were South Northants MP Andrea Leadsom and CRT Chief Executive Richard Parry. A handsome profit was announced by the organisers, The Friends of the Canal Museum at Stoke Bruerne, to be shared between the Museum to help with its general maintenance and upkeep and village organisations. Further details from www.friendsofthecanalmuseum.org.uk (photo: Peter W Jones) IWA Northampton Branch now has a Facebook page. It’s at https://www.facebook.com/IWANorthamptonBranch Members will find posts there about our talks, Task Party dates and much more, as well as being able to use it for discussion purposes. We’d like to hear your views. We also have a Twitter account @northamptoniwa where you can leave us a message or engage in discussion on what’s happening.

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RINGING THE SWAN’S NECK! Tim Coghlan, Patron of the Friends of Raymond, reports: Few narrowboats, ancient or modern, receive the same loving care and attention as the former Blue Line pair of historic narrowboats, Nutfield and Raymond, owned and hands-on maintained by the Friends of Raymond (FoR). The head-turning pair is to be seen in the summer months attending rallies and events from Rickmansworth in the south to Alvecote, near Tamworth, in the north, always immaculately turned out and stealing the show.

This is because, in addition to running repairs and maintenance, at the end of each busy season, the boats return to their base at Braunston Marina for a major overhaul in the large Victorian dry dock. Here a team of up to ten volunteers gets stuck into the many things that require attention during a period of up to six days for each boat.

The docks and moorings are provided free by Braunston Marina.

What may be considered very much the icing on the cake, and to be completed last, is the skilled task of repainting, where needed, the cabins and counters in the traditional Blue Line livery, so the boats look exactly as they did in their working days in that fleet, which finished in October 1970.

For the last four years, FoR have been fortunate to have as a relatively new member Will Hewitt (45) who, though now a professional gardener by trade, began his working life aged 16 painting boats for his parents’ Braunston-based Union Canal Carriers (UCC) hire fleet, and also skippering their fleet of camping and canal maintenance boats. (Founded in 1968, UCC has recently completed 50 years as a canal business.)

As a young man, Will was anxious to improve his skills as a sign-writer and decorator. He made a point of observing and working closely with the legendary Ron Hough (1934 - 2015), who would come to UCC’s dry dock, above Braunston’s Bottom Lock, as an outside contractor to carry out those tasks. Will recalls: “At first Ron was reticent about giving his secrets away. I think he thought that narrowboat painting was not as difficult as it looked, and he didn’t want others to discover this!

His own mentor Frank Nurser was much the same, and Ron could never paint in his way either. But Ron warmed to me, allowing me to fill-in sign writing, and painting roses and castles and the like, having set them up for me in outline. Ron used to say, ‘Remember there is always someone better than you’. Then he would tell me that my letters needed more shading.”

One trick Ron did teach Will was how to paint what is termed a ‘barber’s pole twist’ to the swan’s neck – the traditional tiller on the motor-narrowboat. Once the tiller has been rubbed down and prepared in primer, and then gloss-painted overall in the lightest colour selected – here white - a piece of string is carefully wound around it, tensioned, and fixed at each end. Then the next colour – the second lightest – which in this case was yellow, is painted using the string as the outer marker. Then the string is removed and the other colours, in order of darkness, are painted by eye – red then blue. Nick Lake, membership secretary of FoR commented: “Will has a steady hand and the eye to work freehand. And he has the right brushes. We are very lucky

15 to have him on board.”

Will later went on to take a year’s course at the Walsall College of Commercial Arts.

But his career as a narrowboat painter ended after he became asthmatic, probably because of both working in the damp conditions in the Bottom Lock dry dock in the middle of winter, and the high level of lead in the paints that were then still used. He has now been away from full time painting for 15 years, but is enjoying getting back into it on a part-time basis. With lead banned from paints for some years now, his asthma has not come back.

He now does the signwriting for the Oxfordbased College Cruisers, as well as working elsewhere, including helping the canal painter Dave Bishop who works out of Braunston Marina’s small dock, built around 1792 and still used for the same purposes. “I really love working in that dock. You can feel the history. That’s where Frank Nurser and the other greats worked.

It’s where it all happened.”

Will also puts to good use the skills he learned as a helmsman with the UCC camping boats, which used pairs of former working narrowboats in the old Painting the barber’s pole way. He is a regular steertwist on the swan’s neck er for the FoR as the boats move round the system during the summer months. This year he was chosen to help Sheila Suchet steer Nutfield with Raymond steered by David Suchet in tow, for the opening of this year’s Braunston Historic Narrowboat Rally. His combined skills as a painter and steerer were there for all to see.

The Friends of Raymond is a group of enthusiasts, formed in 1996, initially to save and restore Raymond, the last wooden butty built for the English canals. Then in 2004 they acquired its last motor, Nutfield, with which it was paired until canal carrying ceased in 1970. The FoR welcomes new members. If you are interested, please contact the Membership Secretary Nick Lake: membership@friendsofraymond.org.uk

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NORTH-WEST WANDERINGS, by John Pomfret Over the last few years we have got into the habit of doing our longer boating trips in the autumn, winter and spring months, summers being busy with weekends away at folk events attended by Mortimer’s Morris, with whom Liz dances in the northwest style. This has meant that we have spent much of the last few Christmas holidays away on the Black Pig - for example in the London area in 2015 and in Bristol in 2016. Our working pattern (we both work three days a week, Tuesday to Thursday) means we can get a long way just by boating during our four-day weekends, although we do take the odd full week (well 10 days between working ‘weeks’).

This year we thought it was time we went north and decided on the north-west, partly because there were a few canals in that neck of the woods that I had never navigated, including the Lancaster Canal (the last time I went down the L&L Rufford Branch, I went to Preston but the Ribble Link hadn’t yet been built). I had also never made it to Liverpool on that trip because the top lock on the Rufford Brach at Lathom sprung a leak through the embankment and I was stuck at Tarleton for a month!

However, when we started checking the details, we found that neither the new Liverpool Link nor the Ribble Link was open until the beginning of April, so we delayed departure until after Christmas. Having done our online bookings for Anderton Lift, Liverpool and the Ribble Link, undertaken the usual juggling of plans around winter stoppages and familiarised ourselves with the local train and bus services we would be using to get to and from the boat, we set off (in fair weather I seem to remember) on Boxing Day 2017.

The first bit of the journey was along very familiar territory, down Stockton Locks towards the aqueducts at Warwick, up Hatton and into Birmingham via the northern part of the Stratford Canal. We had a spectacularly snowy (but very pretty) day from Lapworth top to Birmingham but pressed on to beat the planned stoppage at Edgbaston Tunnel (which in the end was delayed!) and planted ourselves on the secure visitor moorings at the Black Country Living Museum. I thought is best just to let the people in the Dudley Tunnel visitor centre nearby know we would be leaving the boat there for two weeks and found I had to explain about 48 hour moorings reverting to 14 days in winter; surprisingly they didn’t know about this at all. Perhaps they don’t get many passing boats in late January! Returning a couple of weeks later by train to Tipton station, we saw off Wolverhampton 21 comfortably in 2½ hours and struck off up the Shroppie. Fortunately we encountered no major problems with rubbish through the BCN, the only slight delay being to refill a pound at Smethwick Locks.

Taking time out to visit Brewood (Brood as they call it locally) and Audlem, both pretty villages, the trip up the Shroppie main line and across the Middlewich Branch was uneventful and we got through to Middlewich and moored next to some friends’ boat on their garden mooring well before the breach drained that very

17 stretch of canal. This proved to be the first of a number of disasters over the year that happened after we had passed through – all coincidences, honestly! Soon we were on the first of the ‘new to me’ bits of waterway, as we dropped down Anderton Lift and explored the upper Weaver. I had been from Weston Point to Anderton in 1981 on the tug France Hayhurst (which we saw later in Liverpool) but never on the upper end of the river. As we went down the lift for a two-day visit to the Weaver, the CRT staff did warn us that, if the forecast was correct, we might not get back up two days later as it might all be frozen up. And so it was! Very! So our short visit to the Weaver and plan to get over Barton Aqueduct before its annual stoppage had to be quickly rethought.

Two days on the river turned into two weeks, during which time CRT were brilThe hydraulic ram lifting the liant at keeping us informed about how trip boat in Anderton Lift solidly the water in the caissons was frozen and, having poked as far into the lower flash as we dared, we learnt all about why Northwich has so many timber-framed houses (so they were easy(ish) to jack up to compensate for subsidence due to brine pumping) and had a day trip to Chester on the bus. Eventually we were finally up the lift and on the way again.

Heading to the northern end of the Trent & Mersey, through the rather odd Dutton Stop Lock (are there any other locks with different width top and bottom gate openings I wonder?), we then fairly cracked on along the Bridgewater Canal, passing over Barton Aqueduct the evening before it was officially due to re-open, and stopped for the evening in scenic surroundings at Worsley. Here we found George’s Dining Room didn’t disappoint - so good in fact that we called there again on the way back!

(I should perhaps mention that, along with advance research into stoppages and public transport, a not inconsiderable amount of research goes into sussing out the best places to eat along the route - although you may have guessed that from my sylphlike figure!)

Having worked our way past Astley Mining Museum and through Wigan we were soon passing down the very scenic valley of the River Douglas, the first navigation to reach Wigan, and left the boat at Appley Bridge (which has a convenient station we used a few times). This landed us in good time for our booked passage to Liverpool over Easter weekend.

Returning a couple of weeks later we motored on down to

Continued on page 20

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20 Hancocks Bridge at Aintree, which was being converted to user operation at the time we passed, necessitating opening of a temporary floating footbridge which took the contractors quite some time to move out of the way. It was easy to understand why they only had it open for an hour each day. Work has finished and this and the next bridge are now user operated but note the restricted hours at Hancocks, designed to avoid causing traffic chaos. Progress that day was also interrupted by failure of one of the electrically operated swing bridges at Maghull but the CRT guys were there in less than an hour and sorted it – the first of three times we had to call them for bridges refusing to open. The cheerful crew who came to our rescue explained that they have problems with lorries ignoring the weight limits, which forces the wedges out and this trips the system.

Before our booked passage we stopped overnight at Litherland, where there are secure moorings in the CRT depot (as well as a huge Tesco if you are into that sort of thing) and, with a free afternoon, we took the Merseyrail electric train from Seaforth and Litherland station to Southport and walked along the pier (it was cold but they did have some nice beer at the Pavilion at the end!!). Anthony Gormley’s ‘Another Place’ sculpture, comprising 100 men in the sea, is easily accessible here between Blundellsands and Crosby and Hall Road stations and well worth a visit but we had both been before so gave it a miss this time.

The next day, having completed the obligatory visit to the current end of the canal at Eldonian Village, we reversed out and met our CRT helpers to work down Stanley locks. Released from the bottom lock, we passed quickly through Sid’s Ditch and worked the Princes Dock and Mann Island locks ourselves before making for our allocated mooring through the spectacular surroundings of Albert Dock. A few days in Liverpool was by no means enough to see everything but we had a good go at it, including the Tate Gallery, a ferry trip (complete with appropriate ‘Gerry and the Pacemakers’ music), the top of the Anglican Cathedral tower and a fire festival among other things. It really is a brilliant canal destination.

Worm drive paddle gear on the Rufford Branch – right on the edge of the lock!

Retracing our steps (well before the Melling culvert collapse) and after leaving the boat for a couple of weeks at the Scarisbrick Arms, we then set off via the Rufford Branch with its interesting selection of paddle gear to seek our next new experience, the Ribble Link and the Lancaster Canal. We were released from Tarleton Lock at the appropriate time and settled down for a couple of hours with the engine at nearly full chat down the

21 tidal river Douglas, round Astland Lamp and up the Ribble to Savick Brook. This is a great trip on wide open waters and is a real contrast with the very narrow tidal creek that is the Ribble Link between the sea gate and the first lock. We waited with the other boats on the pontoon above the sea gate for about an hour while the tide dropped enough to give headroom under the road bridge (part way through which we cast off to help pull round a boat behind us who had got wedged across the channel for some inexplicable reason - not a good place to be with the tide falling!). Once away we pushed on with the CRT staff assisting, into the small basin through the railway bridge, before heading stern first up the final three lock staircase and onto the Lancaster Canal main line.

After a brief foray to the southern terminus at Preston, we set off towards the most northerly point on the current connected system at Tewitfield. This proved to be a very scenic canal, especially the views across Morecambe Bay from Hest Bank, but Liz would have preferred a few more locks to add a bit of variety. Nevertheless there were interesting places to visit (Garstang, Lancaster Castle, the Lune Aqueduct and the set of Brief Encounter at Carnforth Station, as well as Glasson Dock with its Smokehouse). With stations at Preston and Lancaster and buses 41 and 555, pretty well the whole of the main line is readily accessible by public transport - senior railcards and bus passes certainly proved their worth!

On the return across the Ribble we somehow beat all the other boats by about ten minutes, which was a surprise as I’d not been on full speed. We then needed to leave the boat for three weeks, so had booked into St Mary’s Marina at Rufford and found them very helpful and reasonably priced. The Boathouse Brasserie there is excellent too - with an imaginative wholefood-oriented menu which it would have been rude not to try out.

On the way again (via a second evening meal at George’s at Worsley), we soon reached Manchester and tackled the Rochdale nine for the first time. No problems and we moored soon after lunch on the Ashton Canal near Store Street Aqueduct (lots of smart new development around there) and spent the afternoon getting the tram and visiting The Lowry at Salford Quays. Lowry is one of my favourite artists and the topics of his paintings seem very familiar, having made frequent visits in my younger days to grandparents and other relatives living not far from there. The Ashton was quite a revelation – I was expecting lots of dereliction and vandalism but it was really very tidy with a well-used towThe Ribble Link semi-tidal section – path. Definitely ignore the horror stories! Our only problem they do operate a one-way system!

22 was running onto a tractor tyre in a bridge narrows, which tilted us over so a few things slid off shelves – including the flour jar, whose lid came off and emptied the contents into my computer case. Hey-ho, we boaters just get on and cope with these things, don’t we?

Leeds & Liverpool long boat (Ambush) and short boat (George) at Crooke

It was my first time on the Peak Forest and Macclesfield canals too – both spectacularly beautiful. We had a bit of a worry going up Marple Locks, newly re-opened after the Lock 16 rebuild, when we saw several people in high-vis jackets looking worried at Lock 11 and a hire boat moored below it in an odd place. The copings had moved inwards during the closure and the hire boat had got jammed. We were allowed through under supervision and afterwards we understand they managed to jack the copings back but they came in again and the lock was closed for much of the season. We had got through just in time! Then it was up the Peak Forest to the amazing Bugsworth Basin (before it was closed for lack of water) and back down the Macclesfield before the various periods of closure at Bosley for a leak and then lack of water.

Canal on foot. On the way back through Stockton Brook the engine, having occasionally misfired all the way, decided obstinately that it was not going to run on more than three cylinders (OK, we still got along but made a bit of smoke) but then it started making a risky sounding noise. I recorded it on my phone and we left the boat at Stockton (not really wanting to break down and have to leave it in some dodgy part of Stoke). However, having played the video back to friends in Braunston more knowledgeable about engines than I am, we decided that whichever of the various possible causes was correct, I wouldn’t damage anything by carrying on.

Back on board for the final stretch, it smoked and coughed horribly for two hours then suddenly picked up and ran fine all the way back to Braunston (probably confirming dirt in an injector as the cause).

All in all it was a very enjoyable trip covering 605½ miles and 335 locks and, despite delays due to ice at Anderton Lift, we managed to keep one step ahead of all the closures later in the year (for engineering failures or water shortages) at Middlewich, Melling, the Glasson Branch, Marple, Bugsworth and Bosley and got everywhere we planned to, except the Uttoxeter Canal at Froghall.

23 Latest: The Inland Waterways Association issued the following press release on 22nd November:

JOINT STATEMENT ON UK’S USE OF RED DIESEL BY PRIVATE PLEASURE CRAFT Following the ruling by the European Union Court of Justice against the UK’s use of red diesel by private pleasure craft, representatives from the boating community and boating industry - British Marine, the Cruising Association, the Inland Waterways Association and the Royal Yachting Association - met with HMRC officials on Tuesday 20 November to discuss the implications of the Court’s decision and evaluate the UK’s response. The meeting was extremely informative and productive, and the continued support of the UK Government is welcomed.

In effect, following the Court’s ruling, the expectation of the European Commission is that the UK must stop allowing the use of red diesel for the purposes of propulsion of a private pleasure craft and must therefore switch to white diesel. The UK is required to provide a response to the Commission by 22 December 2018, setting out how it intends to bring the UK into line with the European Directive on fiscal marking of gas oils and kerosene, as well as a timeframe for achieving this.

It remains the position of all the boating representative bodies that a change to using white diesel would create insurmountable problems for boat users and the industry. All the boating representative bodies will therefore be providing evidence of the practical implications to HMRC officials to inform the UK’s response to the Commission in the hope that we can jointly develop a practical and affordable solution in a realistic timeframe.

100 CLUB —Join Now Now is the time to enter for the next two 100 Club Draws in 2019.

These will take place at the AGM in March and the Annual Dinner in November.

Payments must be made by 28th February.

Queries and application forms available from paul.lynam@waterways.org.uk or phone 07817 461842. Application forms are also on our web page www.waterways.org.uk/northampton Please support this new Branch fund-raising effort, now in its second year.

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Underneath the M1 arches Following our full report in the last issue of Endeavour on the creation of colourful murals under the M1 Motorway bridge on the Northampton Arm, we now feature pictures of the murals in more detail, illustrating how they present an historic time line of Northampton through the ages. The project formed part of the on going adoption work on the Arm by the Branch, which has just been acknowledged by the presentation to us of the 2018 IWA Branch Achievement Award. We had some professional help but significantly we were able to turn the project into a genuine community exercise through the involvement of local schoolchildren.

We are indebted to local photographer Peter W Jones who, with the aid of the latest technical equipment, was able to secure the accompanying images in the depths of the relative gloom of the motorway canal tunnel. When you visit the murals at first hand, you will find them presented in a long continuous strip, as seen at the top of the facing page. The other pictures show them in more individual detail.

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From the Battle of Northampton in 1460 and the rise of boot and shoe-making in the 1500s ...

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...to the building of The Guildhall in1864 to the devastating floods of 1998

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RICHARD GILL BOAT SAFETY TESTING

BSc, MABSE

C&RT AND EA APPROVED

EXPERIENCED EXAMINER WITH 30 YEARS WORKING ON THE WATERWAYS

Grand Union, Oxford & Leics Canals Rivers Nene and Thames RING: 07889 10 99 39 rgbarcos70@btinternet.com

NEW BRANCH MEMBERS ARE WELCOMED We extend a warm welcome to the following who have joined Northampton Branch since the last issue of Endeavour

NEW MEMBERS Mr D Long, Northampton Mrs S Guilford, Thrapston Mr B & Mrs P Nix, Conquille, Oregon, USA Mr C Waterton, Kettering Mr K Phillips & Mrs J Chipchase, Kettering

MEMBERS MOVED TO THE BRANCH Mr & Mrs J C Dean, Burton Latimer

We look forward to meeting you all at our Branch events The IWA may not agree with opinions expressed in this magazine, but encourages publication as a matter of interest. Nothing printed may be construed as policy or an official announcement unless so stated, otherwise the Association accepts no liability for any matter in the magazine.

Neither the editor nor IWA can accept responsibility for any errors or omissions in the magazine, and opinions stated are those of individual contributors. We will, however, gladly publish corrections if notified. The editor reserves the right to shorten or modify articles published in the interests of clarity or space. R The Inland Waterways Association is registered as a charity (No. 212342)

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Now fully open

WHILTON MARINA CHANDLERY 

Diesel



Pump out

Well stocked chandlery  Groceries Pay us a visit, just browse and see what we have to offer 

Open daily 9am –6pm ALL YEAR ROUND Tel 01327 844639 E-mail: marinachandlery@gmail.com

Taverners Boat Club Mooring Vacancy for a 38ft boat at Castlethorpe on Grand Union For details contact Dave on 01234 750895

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BUCKINGHAM CANAL SOCIETY Work continues on Bridge One at Cosgrove where Gerry, our builder working with Milton Keynes College students, is continuing the work of lime mortaring the original stonework on the bridge.

The steel girders for the bridge arrived a few weeks ago and over the weekend of 10th – 11th November, with the assistance of a 30 tonne excavator hired in for the occasion, the girders were lifted into place on the bridge. On Thursday 15 th November concrete girders and concrete blocks were moved next to the bridge and work has started to install them on top of the steel girders and this will be the task for the next few weeks.

For those who don’t know much about our Cosgrove bridge work, the grant money will cover the costs of the materials to rebuild Bridge One, but all the practical work is carried out by our volunteers.

Having the large excavator on site allowed us to use it to continue the work of dredging the next section of the canal bed up to the next farm crossing ready for us to rewater this section in the near future.

Excavator lifting the girders for the bridge

Whilst the work at Cosgrove is the most important at present, we also need to keep our other two sites open to the public looking good, so a couple of work parties are scheduled over November and December at Bourton Meadow and Hyde Lane Nature Reserve to strim and tidy up and at Hyde Lane to install solar panels which should allow us to top up the water in the canal bed.

Once again I would like to thank the IWA for their very generous donation which helped us obtain the LEADER Grant. All IWA members would be very welcome to come and see the progress being made at Bridge One and of course join our bridge building gang DATE FOR YOUR DIARY BCS AGM Saturday 23th March 7.30 at Buckingham Community Centre, with a talk by the Lichfield and Hatherton Canal Society Athina Beckett, Buckingham Canal Society

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ADVERTISING All advertisements must comply with the requirements of the Trades Descriptions Act and avoid misrepresentation of goods offered for sale. The Business Advertisements (Disclosure) Order 1977 requires that businesses seeking to sell goods must clearly indicate this in an advertisement.

COMMERCIAL RATES 1/4 Page (box) £12.00 +VAT 1/2 Page (box) £25.00 +VAT Full Page £40.00 +VAT Other sizes by arrangement 10% discount for 4 issues paid yearly in advance 5% discount for 4 issues paid quarterly

CLASSIFIEDS (suggested donations) £1.50 for 22 words, 15p each additional word £3.50 for box around classified advertisement (nb. telephone numbers count as one word) £3.50 for photographs

BRANCH SOCIAL MEETINGS Regular Branch Social Meetings are held on the second Tuesday of each month from October to May inclusive at

THE WALNUT TREE INN, BLISWORTH, at 8pm All members and non-members welcome Food and drink available

NEXT MEETINGS 11th December “Christmas Quiz” with John Pomfret 8th January Speaker: Roger Butler — Canal Holidays in the 50s 12th February Speaker: Mike Partridge — Overnight Mooring … 21 Years On! 12th March AGM followed by Keith Adams — Restoration of Stoke Bruerne Brick Wagon The next edition of Endeavour will be published in February 2019

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WHO’S WHO IN NORTHAMPTON BRANCH 2018/2019 Branch Chairman Bernard Morton 07785 375787/ 01604 858294 E-mail: bernard.morton @waterways.org.uk

Vice Chairman, Joint Task Party Organiser & Membership Secretary Geoff Wood E-mail: geoff.wood @waterways.org.uk

Branch Secretary Sandie Morton 01604 858294 E-mail: sandie.morton @waterways.org.uk

Joint Task Party Organiser Michael Butler E-mail: michael.butler @waterways.org.uk

Planning Officer Helen Westlake E-mail: helen.westlake @waterways.org.uk

Branch Meetings Catriona Butler E-mail: catriona.butler @waterways.org.uk

Treasurer Paul Lynam E-mail: paul.lynam @waterways.org.uk

Newsletter Tony Clarke 07305 893924 E-mail: tony.clarke @waterways.org.uk

Committee Member

Vacancies Publicity and Grants Officer Website and Social Media Officer Committee Member

John Pomfret E-mail: john.pomfret @waterways.org.uk

Non-Committee post Endeavour Assistant Editor, Advertising & Distribution, Archivist Roger Hasdell 01604 248582

The Inland Waterways Association is a membership charity that works to protect and restore the country's 6,500 miles of canals and rivers.

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