Endeavour - 2010 February Issue

Endeavour 1 to attempt (eg the fulfilment of an obligation) by exertion of effort; 2 archaic to strive to achieve or reach ~ vi to make an effort to do something n a serious determined effort

Northampton Branch Newsletter - February 2010

ROLL UP, ROLL UP, IT’S BOAT GATHERING TIME AGAIN POPULAR tried and tested attractions plus a few new ones are features of the Branch’s annual 2010 Boat Gathering at Becket’s Park, Northampton, over the early May Bank Holiday from Friday 30th April through to Monday 3rd May. A vintage bus mystery tour to view Northampton old and new is promised and a beefed-up Friday evening welcoming get-together should get the occasion off with a swing.

Bernard Morton, Chairman of the organising committee, says: “We have tweaked the programme here and there to give the Gathering fresh appeal. I am particularly looking forward to the welcoming party, which will include a barbecue, games and music. The vintage bus mystery tour on Sunday morning is likely to take in a visit to an historic museum but that’s as far as I will go otherwise it wouldn’t be a mystery! Led by a true Northamptonian, providing a commentary in the local vernacular — have you ever heard of the ‘Merrold’ in Northampton? I certainly haven’t — this trip replaces the town centre walking tours which are ‘walked out’ and which some people were not able to cope with.”

The organisers are also pleased to confirm that the Northampton Sea Cadets, who are based just downstream of the Gathering site at Town Lock, will play a more conspicuous role this year. They are among the top units in the UK and are expected to treat us to a display of their boat handling skills. The Cadets are also planning to man the locks on the Arm, which will prove a great help to many.

In fact the week-end’s programme appears to be busier than ever. Among other attractions are the Boat Handling competition and the always challenging trip up the Westbridge Arm to collect hidden tokens; live entertainment on the Saturday evening (we’ll tell ‘em not to make it too loud!); fish/chicken supper followed by “Quiz Time with Sam” on Sunday; Bernie and Eric’s auction of not-necessarily boat gear; a café each day; and last, but by no means least, a bar serving real ale alongside vintage cider and other beverages. On the Saturday afternoon our guests will include the Mayor and Mayoress of Northampton.

Importantly, make sure you arrive with a good selection of pictures for entry into the Photographic Competition carrying a top prize of a £50 voucher donated, as in the previous two years, by Skears Photographic, of Wellingborough Road, Northampton, who have proved to be good friends of the waterways. Your pictures can be taken at any time, so there is no excuse to miss out.

An entry form and poster (which please display) are included with this Endeavour. And, remember, you do not have attend by boat. There is plenty of car parking in the Becket’s Park area — or come by bus or on your bike.

Latest: The main beneficiary of surplus Gathering funds this year will go to the new Blisworth Canal Partnership to support their project to create a “walk in the woods” experience on the embankment from the tunnel’s North Portal towards the village. Donations will also be made to the Warwickshire and Northamptonshire Air Ambulance and the Sea Cadets. See you there...

MEMBERSHIP SURVEY REVEALS A WESTWARDS BIAS CURIOSITY got the better of me when I checked through the address labels prior to the distribution of the last Endeavour, writes Branch membership secretary Alan Andrews. So, armed with a marker pen and a map of Northamptonshire, I set about logging each address with a dot on a map, thus creating a record of the membership spread across the county. An interesting picture emerged of where the Branch’s 311 members, a figure rising to 503 when family memberships are added, live.

It was revealed that approximately 15% of Branch members are based out of the county, the furthest away being the Channel Islands. I then drew an arc which included The Walnut Tree Inn at Blisworth, where our monthly social meetings are held, stretching out to take in members living in districts in the south of the county. This arc embraced Brackley, the far side of Weedon and Northampton itself. I found that some 25% of Branch members live within this arc, with many domiciled in and around the county town, but Stoke Bruerne, Blisworth and other canal villages to Weedon have unexpectedly low representation.

However, one unsurprising “hot spot” for membership centred

on the Braunston, Daventry and Long Buckby area, with 25%, I estimated, living within a 20-minute drive from Braunston. Elsewhere, a further 25% live “down the river”, taking in Wellingborough, Rushden and Thrapston. Interestingly, there is a notable cluster around Kettering. The final 10% of members were to be found scattered in villages towards the Leicestershire border.

Both the far north-east and south-west corners of the county were shown to be noticeably bare of members. One can only surmise that people in these districts so inclined to join the IWA feel more geographically akin to neighbouring Branches or don’t use the waterways on our patch.

Northampton Branch needs to do all it can to maintain its existing membership, encourage newcomers and promote involvement. For example, bearing in mind the strong representation in the west, would it be appropriate to hold Branch meetings in this area from time to time, say at Braunston or Daventry? It’s all up for discussion. Please share your views with me or any other member of the Branch committee.

Contact details are on the back page.

The IWA was founded in 1946 to campaign for the retention, restoration and development of Britain’s navigable waterways and for their fullest commercial and recreational use.

The IWA is a registered Charity (no. 212342) , whose work is supported by members’ subscriptions.

This is the final edition of ENDEAVOUR unless a new editor comes forward!

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A unique opportunity to experience the delicate flavours of Indian cuisine at its best!

WE ARE TAKING EASTER BOOKINGS - NOW!

BANQUETING NIGHT EVERY WEDNESDAY

BOOKINGS ONLY

EDITORIAL MUSINGS THIS could well be the last issue of Endeavour in its present format. Some while ago I made the Branch committee aware that I would be retiring as editor with effect from this edition and since then a replacement editor has been sought. At the time of writing, no-one definite has come forward although there have been tentative approaches. Between now and the next issue, due at the end of May, hopefully he or she will have agreed to take over, but it’s not looking good.

However, it is doubtful if the “new” Endeavour will be in its familiar A4 format. Although, solely through the magnificent support of advertisers, the newsletter has been self-funding for several years — and even producing a surplus — it is now increasingly uncertain whether this situation can be maintained indefinitely, with inevitable production cost increases (kept thankfully in check by our printers, Norton-based Design to Print, to the very minimum) plus, most significantly, inexorably higher postal charges. A smaller format will unquestionably help on this latter front, and therefore a change in size must be expected, and of course it follows there will be a fresh style.

The editing of Endeavour has been anything but a one-man band exercise. Various people have a hand in the production process, not least distributor Penny Spencer along with contributors whom I have constantly chivvied — some might prefer to call it bullied — into supplying articles. Then there are the advertisers, whose loyal support I have mentioned earlier, but no-one has helped me more to make the newsletter into the successful publication I believe it has become than Lynda Payton, my immediate, award-winning predecessor in the editorial chair who undoubtedly set the tone for the Endeavour you know today. It has been her design skills which have rounded things off as she has reacted with good humour to my relentless instructions to do this, do that — no, we’ll do it the other way! Lynda — my sincere thanks. Meanwhile, good luck to the new editor — if there is one. It’s up to you now.

Conservancy-minded?

FIRST, the good news. In early December came the very welcome announcement indicating that the Government had lifted the immediate threat of an HM Treasury inspired canalside property sell-off. The bad news: there is still the ever-present possibility of even further Government cuts in its grant to BW. But at least a measure of heat has been taken out of the situation. There is no doubt the disposal of BW’s investment property, income from which contributes largely towards the cost of maintaining the system, would have had disastrous consequences.

Clearly the Association has played a key role in this about face, engaging in intensive lobbying. I read that a petition on the 10, Downing Street website rocketed to over 20,000 signatures, making it the fifth most popular of all. So, it seems, signing or supporting petitions in this electronic age are well worth the effort. Recent developments now indicate moves towards turning the BW organisation into a trust or community company — the so-called “third sector”. Or even a National Waterways Conservancy, which Robert Aickman originally envisaged, meaning that the wheel could well complete its full circle. He knew he was right! Ironic, isn’t it?

DIARY DATES

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February 26th 7.30pm

OUCS meets at Great Bowden Village Hall, Great Bowden — “The Growth of Shardlow Port” by Pat Crecraft 28th 10.45am OUCS walk Debdale Wharf/Foxton area (meet Shoulder of Mutton, Foxton)

March

1st-5th 10-3.30 8th 10-3.30 9th 10-3.30 9th 8pm

BW Towpath Tidy at Watford Locks (see below) BW Towpath Tidy at Bugbrooke (see below) BW Towpath Tidy at Weedon, Heart of England PH IWA Northampton Branch Meeting at The Walnut Tree, Blisworth - Branch AGM plus Buckingham Canal Update by Athina Beckett 13th 10-3.30 BW Towpath Tidy and canal clearance at Far Cotton, Northampton Arm, lock 17 (see below) 14th 10am Buckingham Canal Society community hedge-laying ` day plus 100 saplings to be planted at BBOWT Nature Reserve off A442—details Athina Beckett on 01908 661217 14th 10-3.30 BW Towpath Tidy at Stoke Bruerne (see below) 22nd 7.45pm IWA Milton Keynes Branch meets at MK Village Pavilion, Worrelle Ave, MK village — “The Stort Story” by Richard Thomas 18th 8pm Friends of Canal Museum talk at the Canal Museum Dr Derek Bull, former Blisworth GP, describes “A Canalside Practice” 26th 7.30pm OUCS meets at Great Bowden Village Hall, Great Bowden — “The River Soar, Past, Present and Future” by Beryl McDowell 27th 7.30-11.30 Friends of The Canal Museum Swing Dance with Miss Lola Lamour at Roade Village Hall. Tickets £10 to include light supper (£12 after 20th February) from 01327 340492 or from Canal Museum 28th 10.45am OUCS walk in Thrapston area (meet at St Nicholas Church, Islip)

April

13th 8pm

15th 8pm 25th 10am 30th 7.30pm 30th April to 3rd May

May

IWA Northampton Branch Meeting at The Walnut Tree, Blisworth - “The Recovery of Raymond” by Steve Miles Friends of The Canal Museum AGM & talk by James Clifton, British Waterways, at Stoke Bruerne Village Hall Branch Westbridge Arm Clean-Up (see page 13) OUCS meets at Gt Bowden Village Hall, Gt Bowden “Britain’s Transport Heritage” by John Lessells Annual Northampton Branch Boat Gathering at Becket’s Park, Northampton (full details and booking form in this Endeavour)

2nd 10.45am OUCS walk in the Nether Heyford area (meet near the Foresters Arms, Nether Heyford) 11th 8pm IWA Northampton Branch Meeting at The Walnut Tree, Blisworth — “George Smith, Children’s Friend” by Pat Crecraft Buckingham Canal Society Work Parties are being held on February 25; March 11,14,25; April 8,11,22; and May 6, 9,20.

Hedge-laying & towpath clearance. Further site details from Athina Beckett on 01908 661217

BW TOWPATH TIDY DATES BW is organising several Towpath Tidies in our Branch area in March (see above for details). The Branch hopes you will do your best to support this BW initiative as it will include members of the public and local community groups, thus encouraging “local pride” and is likely to embrace people who would not normally get involved in the canal scene. As we go to press, details are still being finalised, so please check with BW’s Steve Morgan on 07711 796 384 for full information. The Northampton Arm Towpath Tidy (Saturday, 13th March) will include clearance of shopping trolleys and other debris from the canal, so our 25th April clean-up can concentrate on the Westbridge Arm

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THOUGHTS PAST AND PRESENT

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David Blagrove is in a reflective mood A NEW YEAR is, I suppose, as good a time as any to reflect upon things. The newspapers and popular magazines seem to be filled with nothing else at such times, usually a compilation of news stories or features from their own pages that have entertained or otherwise during the last year. At a time such as the present, this is augmented by considerations of a similar nature affecting the previous decade, whilst once a century we get even more. For most of us, though, it is only given to experience one centennial and, of course, none of us will experience another millennium — unless, that is, we experience some form of re-incarnation or are put into some form of H.G. Wellsian trance.

For myself, I prefer to reflect over the last 60 years because this month, February, is exactly 60 years since I first became involved with narrow boats. I was at that time a mere stripling lad of 12. I already David Blagrove knew that the canals had such boats on them but apart from seeing them occasionally at Oxford or from train windows I had no direct connection with these craft. Then it was in that February of 1950 that my parents moved to Reading and I came home from boarding school at half-term to enter our new house for the first time.

Now Reading in those days had a form of public transport of great interest to boys of my generation, and that was a trolley-bus system.

It also had a good service of Corporation motor buses, one route of which passed within a few yards of our house. However, about half-amile away there ran a trolley-bus route that ended in a turning circle by the Thames at Caversham Bridge, so on the half-term Saturday I decided to explore my new home town by boarding one of the whining double-deckers and, furthermore, to ride into town on the top deck. As we approached Simonds Brewery in Bridge Street, the trolley-bus lurched over a bridge across the River Kennet. I glanced to the left and there caught a quick glimpse of a weir with a lock beside it and, lying above it, two narrow boats. Well! This was far too interesting a matter to be ignored so, risking the conductor’s wrath, I jumped off the rear platform at the traffic lights at St Mary’s Butts and tore back along Bridge Street to where a road entered that led me in the direction of these boats. This brought me to an intriguing part of the town with railway lines embedded in the road and level-crossing gates and sidings leading into the brewery and a timber yard.

Alongside the yard was a wharf and tied up there were the two boats and two men and a lad a bit older than me busy lifting sacks of something from one boat to another. I was a shy youth and merely sat on a strapping stump and watched as the bags were exchanged, being far too much in awe of my elders to engage them in conversation.

Many years later I met all three of them and indeed came to know them well. They were John (later Sir John) Knill, John Gould and the lad was Tom Foxon. All of these were destined to play a part in the story of the canals over the next six decades, and I was to attend the funerals of both the men. Tom though is happily still with us.

“Great cause of saving our inland waterways” Looking back in time is a great thing, but peering into the future is quite another story. It never occurred to me then that my path would cross any of these three, nor that the greater part of my life would be bound up with the great cause of saving our inland waterways. On the other hand, I can truthfully say that this brief experience inspired me to become involved with the campaign to save the Kennet and Avon Canal and, eventually, to become an operator of boats on that waterway. This in turn was to lead me to the Grand Union and other Midland waterways and eventually to marriage and a house in Stoke Bruerne.

So, what then do I feel about the waterways 60 years on? Oddly enough I cannot get too worked up over their fate these days, not because of advancing years or the onset of senility, but simply because what we have today is frankly unbelievable in the context of 1950.

The boats that I saw at Bear Wharf that February day were carrying salt from Middlewich to Newbury (at least Knill’s Columba was; Gould’s Colin had come down from Newbury to lighten the load, which was 30 tons).

It was destined to be the last commercial load to travel to Newbury for 40 years. Canals were seen merely as industrial routes, and the K&A was deemed to be an obsolete transport route and nothing else. On the other hand, the Grand Union and the canals round Birmingham and the industrial Midlands, like most of those of Lancashire and Yorkshire, were still busy and thronged with traffic. However, in 1950 we were beginning to emerge from five years of peacetime austerity which followed six years of total warfare and, for those with the nous to see it, such as Robert Aickman and other IWA pioneers, we were on the verge of an incredible half-century that would result in the end of the British Empire and Britain’s status as a major military power; an enormous growth of prosperity; a complementary shift in demography; a revolution in communications and a myriad other basic changes in the way in which we live. By 1960 the writing was on the wall for freight carrying on all but the largest waterways, but there was the faintest glimmer of hope in the growth of leisure boating — in fact by 1970 large scale narrow boat carrying was dead but leisure boating was becoming big business.

“Huge public following” We founded the Northampton Branch in September 1968 and the last commercial load came down the Arm to Wellingborough Mills the following April. Then in August 1971 we held the biggest-ever IWA National Rally at Becket’s Park. By 1980 the growth of leisure usage of the waterways threatened to overwhelm the resources available for the maintenance of such a system and a decade of semistagnation followed. Move forward to 1990, however, when the Queen officially reopened the K&A at Devizes locks and, 40 years after I watched the last commercial load go to Newbury, I was able to bring in another load and, moreover, to deliver some of the cargo to John Gould. By the time of the millennium, the K&A had become a major tourist waterway and attraction and we were beginning to see even more restoration — at Rochdale, Huddersfield and elsewhere — while even such apparently hopeless cases as the Wey and Arun and the Wilts and Berks were showing signs of movement. Today the situation looks dire to some people, but at least there is a huge public following and I am sufficiently optimistic to believe that, provided public pressure is maintained upon Government and its agencies, all will ultimately be well.

Of course the waterways have changed, and not always for the better. The enthusiasts of 1950 often appeared starry-eyed, but there was a great camaraderie among them. The people of the canals have, sadly, gone to a large extent and with them the day-to-day honest-togoodness ethos of the system. Often this has been replaced by a sort of aquatic Keeping-up-with-the-Jones attitude from some boaters.

Alternatively there are those who apparently regard the system as a form of social housing requiring no input from themselves beyond occupying water space. Then one sometimes despairs of the abilities of some of those set in charge of the system’s ■ Continued page 7

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Branch Chairman’s Jottings by Bill J oyce

THIS will be my last column as your Branch Chairman.

When I took over the post from Lynda Payton last March, it was on condition that I would serve for only 12 months. Now that period is nearly ended, I am standing down as agreed and it will be necessary to find a new Chairman. One of the reasons that I am retiring as Chairman, although I shall be remaining on the Branch committee, is that of age — I have now passed my 70th birthday — coupled with the fact that I live in the east of Northamptonshire and it is quite a hike, especially in the winter, to attend meetings and other events.

I am well aware that I am standing down at a time when the future of the country’s inland waterways is most precarious — almost certainly, in my view, heading for a decline following well documented cuts in grant support from the Government. I worry that if there are any major faults occurring in the system, there will not be the necessary funds or the inclination to carry out the required repairs and we may see some long-term closures, possibly some of them permanent. Blisworth Tunnel, of course, is a prime concern because if anything major happened there, we could well see a return to the four-year closure, or even worse, experienced in the early 1980s.

I have certainly enjoyed my year as your Chairman, which followed on from my three years as Region Chairman. Although as I write this column it is snowing, I am looking forward to our activities in 2010. For example, members of the Boat Gathering committee organising the early May Bank Holiday event at Becket’s Park, are now well on the way in executing their plans. You have probably already read the item about the Gathering on the front page and also enclosed with this Endeavour is an entry form for the event.

Please make every effort to be there and encourage other

boaters to come along, too. Of course, you do not necessarily have to attend by boat. In past years some of you have joined in the fun as day visitors.

I pleased to report that members of the Branch are actively involved in a variety of other activities, most notably the canal partnerships at Stoke Bruerne and Blisworth. The Blisworth Canal Partnership came officially into being in 2009 and those involved in this enterprise are to be heartily congratulated on their efforts, which are already bearing fruit. I am also pleased to note that our links with the nearby Buckingham Canal Society have been strengthened and the proceeds of the raffle at our Annual Dinner went towards the Society’s efforts.

A firm date in my diary every year is the IWA National Festival, where I am a member of the “BODS” team, in other words, builders, operators and dismantlers, all on a volunteer basis. This year the Festival is at Beale Park on the Thames upstream from Reading, where Valerie and I will be on site for three weeks with our boat.

I would like to thank everyone, especially committee colleagues, for their help and support over this last year. I don’t really think the bulk of Association members really realise the volume of work carried out Finally, we are still looking for an editor for Endeavour, which I would be sorry to see end, and this is probably what will happen if we can’t find a replacement for Roger. Although he is also not seeking re-election for the Branch committee, he will still be around to help any future editor, particularly in the field of advertising, which we largely rely upon to keep the newsletter viable.

A happy 2010 to you all.

John Pomfret, your new IWA East Midlands Region Chairman, writes...

“WE MUST ATTRACT MORE RIVER-BASED MEMBERS”

LAST year I become Region Chairman for the realigned East Midlands Region, which includes Northampton Branch, bringing the Region into line with regional government boundaries. I also sit on the Association’s Navigation Committee and the Inland Waterways Freight Group. First, and most importantly, I would like to pay tribute to the sterling work put in by John Baylis and Bill Joyce as previous Region Chairmen in this area.

Some of you may have read the piece I wrote for the last Region magazine, Aegre, which is available to all members on the IWA website but is not posted to Northampton Branch members as they receive Endeavour. So I apologise if I am repeating myself but I suspect many of you may not yet have got into the habit of reading Aegre.

John Pomfret I have been involved in IWA since the late 1960s, as a working party participant and as a member of various committees over many years. I have had a long association with Braunston (through operating a boat in the UCC hire fleet there) and now live on my boats (a narrow boat and a 105 year-old Dutch barge) at Braunston and work as an environmental consultant.

I believe strongly that the Branches should be the principal centres of activity for local members and campaigning on local issues, with the main roles of the Region being coordination of views from Branches, dealing with external bodies at regional level and passing up to the IWA Board and national committees strategic matters that need consideration.

One issue concerning me greatly is the fact that IWA consistently fails to attract significant membership from the river cruising fraternity, which comprises at least half of the inland waterway boaters in the UK. In our Region well over half of our navigable waterways are rivers dominated by cruisers, and in the Northampton Branch area itself, over a third of our waterway mileage is river. I hope we can address this so we can genuinely claim to be an association concerned with all inland waterways and their users. Similarly, as a member of the Great Ouse Boating Association (GOBA), I see the major benefits of such an organisation on the Great Ouse system and wonder whether we as a Branch, working with Peterborough Branch and the cruising clubs, could encourage the same sort of activity and ownership of our river?

I am happy to contribute to Branch activity, as time allows, particularly where my professional knowledge of environmental and planning matters could help. My preferred method of communication is by email via pomfret@btinternet.com

NOTICE OF AGM IWA Northampton Branch

NOTICE is hereby given that the Annual General Meeting of the Northampton Branch of the Inland Waterways Association will be held on Tuesday, 9th March, 2010, at The Walnut Tree Inn, Blisworth, commencing at 8pm.

AGENDA: (please bring this agenda to the meeting) 1: Apologies for absence 2: Minutes of previous AGM held on 10th March,2009 3: Matters arising 4: Chairman’s Report 5: Treasurer’s Report 6: Statement of Committee size 7: Election of Committee members At the time of publication, there are five elected vacancies on the Branch Committee. The ex-officio seat is currently occupied by John Pomfret, the East Midlands Region Chairman. Lynda Payton, Roger Hasdell, Jan Andrews and Alan Andrews retire by rotation. Roger Hasdell, Jan Andrews and Alan Andrews are not seeking re-election. Details of the foregoing will be given at the meeting before Item 7 above.

Nominations for election must be in writing, signed by the proposer and seconder, and contain the signed consent of the nominee (all of whom must be paid up members of the Association) and should be deposited with the Chairman, Bill Joyce, 20 Shakespeare Drive, Burton Latimer, Northants, NN15 5QT, not less than 21 days before the date of the meting. {signed) Bill Joyce, IWA Northampton Branch

Buckingham Canal restoration update Following the AGM, which should not last very long, there will be an illustrated talk by Athina Beckett, Chairman of the Buckingham Canal Society, updating the restoration situation on the canal. This is the only active restoration project in our Branch area, so please do not be put off by thoughts of the AGM and make every effort to attend.

CLARIFICATION: In November’s Endeavour, on page 9, Sheena Bourne is pictured on the butty boat Angel and not on Nick Wolf’s motorboat Aldgate, as stated. Our apologies for this confusion.

7 ■ From page 5

Thoughts Past and Present maintenance and operation. Yet on the other hand the essential fabric of the waterways and their unique atmosphere is jealously guarded; more and ever more people become aware of the value of the heritage aspects of the system; the working narrow boat has yet to completely disappear and so long as it keeps going something of the waterways’ authenticity will remain. At the moment we have a better than ever chance of seeing Robert Aickman’s vision of a Waterways Conservancy take shape, though it will still need fighting for. Complacency will be the kiss of death.

Of what the situation may be in another 60 years, only one thing is certain. I shall not be around to see it.

That apart, I see no reason for gloom and all I can say of the past 60 years is that if I were given my time over again, I would not wish anything different.

“WILL IT BE RED OR WHITE, SIR...?”

No, I’m not talking about wine, but diesel, writes Rodney Hardwick.

As the price of red is now about the same or more as road (white) diesel, I have been occasionally topping up with white, carried to my boat by can (yes, that is still legal).

But now, according to an article

by Sidney Fisher in the latest Great Ouse Boating Association magazine, this is not the thing to do. He tells us that white diesel has up to 5% bio fuel added to it which, when left in a tank for a long time, separates and the lower, bio layer, turns to a thick jelly-like mass difficult to pump through the type of fuel lines likely to be used on boats.

He notes the problem could get worse, as from next January, fuel companies will have the option of adding up to 20% bio into road fuel and up to 5% into red diesel.

BRANCH MEMBERS WELCOMED We extend a warm welcome to the following IWA members who have joined Northampton Branch since the last issue of Endeavour Mr J. Butler, Woodford Halse, Northants Mr M. Jay, Kettering Mr D.J. Parsons & Family, Whittlebury, Northants

We look forward to meeting you all at Branch events

8 ENDEAVOUR SPOTLIGHT

UNITING FIRMS, BOATERS AND RE SI DE NT S The story of the Whilton and Buckby Locks Association

WHILTON and Buckby Locks Association was originally launched in April 1993, partly as a bid to promote small businesses operating along or near the mile-long seven-lock flight. Tourism is still among the Association’s aims but its objectives are now much broader with strong environmental, educational and social strands. Its 45-strong membership still includes local businesses along with numerous residents from the area surrounding the flight plus boaters and other canal-lovers from many parts of Britain.

The idea of forming the grandly–named original group — Whilton and Buckby Locks Tourism and Commerce Association — came from Tom Price, a journalist and public relations consultant who lives near the bottom lock.

He dubbed it “Britain’s biggest little tourism board”. It was an instant hit. To everyone’s amazement, some 30 businesses were represented at the inaugural meetings. The founder-chairman was Simon Ainley who was, at that time, British Waterways’ regional waterway manager based at Braunston. Three years later he played a leading role in moves to transform the Association, and at an extraordinary meeting in March 1996, members voted unanimously to include local residents and canal enthusiasts in general. The first secretary was Brenda Walker, proprietor of Anchor Cottage Crafts at Buckby Wharf, who held the post from the inaugural meeting in April 1993 until her retirement in 1999.

Leisure and heritage site From the outset the “tourist board” not only aimed to help struggling businesses but also strove to increase the attractiveness of the locks area and to publicise it as an important leisure and heritage site in the county — aims that are still central to the Association’s operation. One of its first events was a “Grand Union Walkabout” in August 1993, marking the canal’s 200th anniversary. This event attracted more than 1,000 walkers from the Daventry district and farther afield. In succeeding years, members have undertaken many projects to improve and popularise the flight. One of the biggest was the creation of a haven for visitors at the side pond of the roadside lock at Whilton Locks. This work, by teams led by Association treasurer Ted Bavister (also a former IWA Northampton Branch treasurer) and parish council chairman Mike Lewis, turned the derelict area into a peaceful and beautiful memorial to the flight’s legendary lock-keeper, Henry Grantham. Henry is also commemorated by the unique decorated bench created from old boat timbers by an Association member, Tony Forward, and sited alongside the bottom lock. Another unique bench, designed and made from lock beam timber by college pupils from Leighton Buzzard responding to a National Schools Challenge, is sited at Buckby Wharf.

The flight has magnets for visitors and boaters at its top and bottom. Whilton Marina, at the southern end, was created by local builder David Steele some 40 years ago. On the lockside is a chandlery packed with hundreds of boating items as well as groceries, books and canal guides, and a small café noted for its all-day breakfasts.

Nearby, on the Nobottle Road, is Whilton Mill, a corporate leisure and go-karting centre. On the A5 Watling Street at the top of the flight is the New Inn, the Association’s unofficial headquarters. Included in the hamlet of Buckby Wharf is a small industrial complex and a community hall where Association meetings (almost always featuring an outside speaker) and social functions are held.

Strong social side There has always been a strong social side, with members working together on canalside events such as the annual summer Lockwheeling Day when boaters are treated to musical entertainment and various stalls as well as being offered a helping hand with the windlass. In recent years members have enjoyed outings to plays, concerts and other cultural events.

Under the present secretary, Alan Cornford, the Association has produced two leaflets — one about its work and the other featuring interesting walks in the locks area — which have been circulated throughout the county.

Alan has also driven a debate about future projects, including the installation of appropriate sculpture to form an “art trail” along the flight.

The future of WBLA is seen as a community group of volunteers with the mission of promoting the facilities of the Buckby flight of locks, attracting visitors, enhancing the environment and protecting the amenities. To learn more about the Association, visit its website www.wbla.org.uk The site includes minutes of meetings together with stories about the creation of the marina, the Bannaventa pub (now a carpet centre) and the fascinating life of Henry Grantham. Alan Cornford may be contacted on 01788 890291.

Tom Price

9

BRAUNSTON HISTORIC RALLY CELEBRATES JAM ‘OLE RUN HIGHLIGHT of the annual Braunston Historic Narrow Boat Rally and Canal Festival will be the 40th anniversary of the last long-distance working run under regular contract on the canals, writes event organiser Tim Coghlan of Braunston Marina. This was the so-called Jam ‘Ole Run, which ended in October 1970, from what is today Braunston Marina up to Atherstone to load coal, and then south to Southall in west London to unload at the Kearley and Tonge jam factory. Of the Blue Line fleet of five boats making that last journey, four survive in working order — Raymond with enthusiastic supporters aboard at the 2004 Rally Raymond and Nutfield and Renfrew and Stanton — and all plan to attend the Rally over the weekend of 26th-27th June. The fifth boat, Lucy, is currently undergoing restoration on the bankside at Braunston Turn, on the route of the Rally’s daily parade, so briefly the whole of that last Blue Line fleet will be reunited.

A special theme for 2010 will be “a rally within a rally” of the GUCCC Star Class fleet of boats. Sixty-six of the 88 built were constructed between 1934 and 1936, including Cassiopeia, a regular attendee at the Braunston rallies, delivered on 29 June 1935, so she’ll be 75 just two days after the this year’s event. Representatives of the Hambridge family who ran Cassiopeia between the early 1940s until 1963 will be on the boat, including Jim who captained the boat 50 years ago this year. Since the Braunston rallies were started in 2003, an astonishing 55 surviving GUCCC boats of its various classes have attended.

Historic narrow boats with Braunston connections will be moored in the old Oxford Arm in the marina. Other historic narrow boats will moor on the main line, thanks to BW support, and all will participate in the famous daily parades.

A record-breaking 84 historic narrow boats from all parts of the system — as officially certified by the Historic Narrow Boat Owners Club — attended the 2009 Rally, making it the largest attendance of such narrow boats at any rally since the end of the working days on the canals. Over 7,000 visitors came along, too, many from overseas. Other attractions this year will include the popular Braunston beer tent, plus fast food and fun. Music will be provided by Braunston Pickle and folk and R&B groups. There will also be trade exhibitors and canal society stands. Admission to the event — sponsored by Braunston Marina and Canals and Rivers magazine with support from British Waterways — is £10 per car with all profits, as usual, going to canal and local causes, the main recipient being the Friends of Raymond.

10

HOW ACCURATE ARE OUR MILE POSTS? Rod ney Har d wi ck r eca ll s a su ccessf ul Bra nch ca mpa ig n t o g et t h em r epla ced

TWENTY years after the Public Inquiry which resulted in Northampton Branch failing to persuade the authorities to raise the planned new A5 over the line of the Old Stratford Branch (Buckingham Canal), a more successful campaign proved to be the project to replace all the missing cast iron mile posts (or mile plates) on the Grand Union main line in the Branch’s area. We found there were 14 missing posts on our patch, some of which, we suspected, had been removed during the war and then lost. Also, many had been damaged by towpath mowing equipment, but all differed from their counterparts on the GU branches (eg, Northampton Arm) which comprised a plain cast iron post with just the number on.

The project began in April 1987 when I wrote, as Branch secretary, to BW requesting permission to install replacements, but it was not until 1993-94 that the posts were cast and installed as part of the Canals 200 celebrations. Meanwhile, the posts through Milton Keynes were being replaced by Maurice Howell, MK’s Urban Aid Officer. These were new aluminium plates on angle iron posts, but we decided we would have one-piece cast iron replicas, although with some modification. The original posts had a large square base below the ground. However, this was too costly to produce, so we opted for a longer tee section upright with a hole towards the bottom through which a steel bar could be passed when concreting into the ground.

Just to put things into context, the first distance markers on the GU were mile stones marked with the distance from the Thames. There is still one just below Grove Lock, south of Linslade. The cast iron posts date from 1893.

The Northampton Branch project was funded by asking people, businesses and organisations to sponsor a post for £75. Sponsors were acknowledged by a cast iron plaque set on brickwork at the base of the post. Simon Ainley, then Waterways Manager at the Stop House, Braunston, was not in a position to install the replacement posts with BW labour in his area, so we were “allowed” to do it. However, south of Stowe Hill, a different manager, Caroline Clarke, was able to utilise BW labour for the task.

Three visits needed to install each post Installing each post entailed at least three visits. First, dig the hole and concrete the post in. Next, position shuttering and concrete the base.

Finally, lay the brickwork and affix the plaque. The correct position for each post was measured from the centre of the nearest bridge using the survey undertaken by Mr T.W. Milner, BW’s Northern District Engineer, who lived Arm End, Blisworth. The posts were cast by the Crown Foundry at Brackmills, Northampton. Bruce Harding arranged for BW to pay for the pattern, which was taken from an original.

However, the posts over the two tunnels were never installed, so number 19, which would have been Blisworth Tunnel, was spare and is now on display in the museum at Stoke Bruerne. Similarly, number 2, the rightful place for which was above Braunston Tunnel, is on display in the Stop House.

At the same time, the Grand Union Society and IWA Hertfordshire Branch, decided to replace the missing posts south of Milton Keynes.

These were also cast at the Crown Foundry, Jennifer Thomas being the leading fund-raiser for this project.

All the replacement posts are in their correct positions, but some of the originals are not. We have discovered it would be difficult to move the offending ones to their proper places as some are listed and the whole of the canal in Daventry District Council’s domain is a Conservation Area. So be aware of this discrepancy if you are timing your progress along the Mile post number 7 canal by the mile posts. However, all the posts on the Leicester line are accurate.

Photo: John Russell

Here is a listing of the mile posts on the GU’s main line within the Northampton Branch area from Braunston south to Cosgrove: No 1, original post; 2, never installed (now in Stop House, Braunston); 3, original (found during dredging and replaced in 1993 by myself and Paul Morris); 4, replacement, donated by the Dean Family; 5, original (not in correct position, moved during towpath fibreway work); 6, original (not in correct position, should be further south); 7, original (found in adjacent spinney by George Stevens {BW} and replaced as a memorial to Branch member Rodney Furze); 8, replacement, donated by Bruce and Glen Peckett; 9, damaged when new housing was built at Weedon (plate removed from post and fixed to wall); 10, original; 11, original (not in correct position, should be further south); 12, replacement (original went missing during towpath fibreway work); 13, replacement (donated by Blisworth Cruising Club); 14, replacement (donated by narrow boat owners at Gayton Marina in 1994); 15, replacement (donated by John Faulkner in memory of Thomas S. Faulkner, 1883-1984, who lived and worked in the Banbury Lane area from 1903-1951); 16, replacement (donated by Bill Bleasdale); 17, replacement (donated by the Grand Junction Boat Company, the original is in Gloucester Waterways Museum); 18, replacement (donated by IWA Northampton Branch in memory of Northamptonshire County Council Planning Officer David Mackintosh); 19, never installed (now in Stoke Bruerne Canal Museum); 20, replacement (donated by Linda Cruises); 21, original; 22, replacement (donated by Martin and Partners, builder’s merchants, Northampton); 23, replacement (dedicated to “the memory of those who made this navigation possible”); 24, original; 25, replacement (donated by John and Jean Russell); 26, original; 27, original.

Note: Norton Junction plate — original. Went missing years ago when BW dug it up for a reason not known. It was subsequently bought at auction by unknown person who presented it back to BW 1966. It was installed by myself and my wife Yvonne at the request of Bruce Harding. Gayton Junction plate is the original.

11 On the

BRAUNSTON TOWPATH with Peter Andrews IT APPEARS I am in the “dog house” — I have been taken to task by the editor. I wrote for the last edition that the pub which used to be called The Millhouse (although recently signed merely as “The illhouse”!) had been taken over and would reopen as The Boatman. This was, indeed, the name quoted on the notice displayed outside applying for permission under the Licensing Act to change the interior layout.

But by publication date, things had changed. The place was swarming with builders and landscape gardeners and then a notice appeared announcing the opening date and advertising two meals for the price of one, all day every day — the notice was headed “Boathouse” (not “Boatman”). A few weeks later posh signs in gold lettering appeared over both entrances; they said “THE BOAT HOUSE”. By this time the new manager had arrived, so I went in to ask him what the real name was. “Oh,” he said, “it will be ‘THE BOATHOUSE’ and the signs over the entrances will be changed tomorrow.” They were and, at the time of writing, remain.

But another sign, near the road, preferred “The Boathouse”, in lower case. And now an A-board has been erected headed “The Boat House”! However, it is reassuring to note that the pub’s foundations are well above the canal water level which means, happily, it is in little danger of becoming “The Houseboat”. Also, the original meals offer has become “two main courses for the price of one”. The moral is simple — never believe anything you hear or read. Now, does that apply to this column, too?

Incidentally, the pub will be reserving the canal frontage for customer mooring only, so it will be easy to pop in and sample their extensive menu.

Boat Shows By the time you read this, the first boat show of 2010 at Braunston will have been and gone — this was the annual OwnerShips show held on the first weekend of February. The next one is the Historic Narrowboat Rally on the last weekend in June (26th-27th). This year marks the 40th anniversary of the socalled Jam’ Ole Run, of which Tim Coghlan writes on page 9.

Braunston-based Raymond and Nutfield — familiar boats to readers of Endeavour — took part in this and obviously will be in attendance at the rally. They will also be at other events during the year and, to find out where, you can visit www.TheFriendsOf Raymond.org.uk

New on the lockside at Stoke Bruerne

SUBLIME INDIAN CUISINE New fully licensed restaurant Serving the finest ingredients with careful preparation

TAKE AWAY SERVICE AVAILABLE

Tunnel stoppage The stoppage at the west end of the tunnel to clear the landslip started many days before BW planned! This was due to the winter weather which froze much of the canal and made the flight quite unusable.

Three boats were trapped between the top lock and the tunnel entrance — a part of the canal which BW needed to drain. At the time of writing in mid January, the only thing which had happened was the arrival of a large yellow digger on caterpillar tracks which is parked above the landslip. So much now depends on the behaviour of the elements which will largely dictate whether it will be possible for BW to complete the work on schedule.

Keep up to date

If you are unsure of what is going in the Braunston area, remember that you can always check things out on the village website at www.braunston.org.uk

Tel: 01604 863330/863654 5 The Canalside, Stoke Bruerne, NN12 7SB

12

BRANCH COMMITTEE MEETINGS REVIEW DECEMBER BWB stoppage notices

Stowe Hill Wharf, Heyford Lane, Weedon, Northants NN7 4SF Tel: 01327 341365 Stowe Hill Workshop is now run by Graham Shepherd & Robert Gudgeon • Boat Building • Full Repaints • Hull Blacking/Stern Gear Inspection and Repairs • Engine Repairs and Maintenance • Complete Fit-Out and Woodwork Alterations • Plumbing Installations and Repairs • Electrical Installations and Repairs

All work undertaken, from simple tasks to complete fit-outs

Following the article by Rodney Hardwick in November’s Endeavour concerning canalside notice boards, the Chairman reported that BW had now agreed to place stoppage information on local boards.

Historic crane Encouraging news was reported by Lynda Payton concerning the re-siting of the old crane near lock 17 on the Arm at Far Cotton in Northampton. She said that Bellway Homes had acknowledged their obligations in this respect and had accepted a quote from Dorothea Restorations who would be collecting the dismantled crane from BW’s Gayton Yard “within the next couple of weeks” for restoration and subsequent replacement on its original site.

The committee recorded its thanks to BW’s James Clifton for his “dogged persistence” in pursuing this matter and keeping them regularly informed. It was agreed that the area around lock 17 badly needs regeneration to reflect its importance as the gateway to the canal system from the river and efforts will be made to involve other bodies and organisations in a bid to achieve this.

Branch donations An initial list of current waterway projects within the Northampton Branch area was drawn up for consideration for funding as and when funds are available. These include Cosgrove Iron Trunk aqueduct (2011 anniversary); crane and associated landscaping works at lock 17 (see above); Buckingham Canal Society — ongoing restoration; Blisworth Canal Partnership — hard towpath walk between Candle Bridge and Arm End, Walk in The Woods project, lock beam seating and pocket park; Friends of Raymond — re-planking Raymond and repairs to Nutfield; Stoke Bruerne Canal Partnership — interpretation panels; Friends of The Canal Museum — Sculptor appeal and funding for two replacement display cases. It was also noted that the proposed 2011 River Nene event commemorating the 250th anniversary of the opening of the navigable Nene might generate projects requiring Branch involvement.

Listed buildings The committee noted a planning application for the development of BW’s Marsworth Yard which highlighted the urgent need for the Branch to identify waterway structures in its area that might merit listing to protect them from unsympathetic development.

This is a matter which the committee has in hand and it was also reported that Mandy Lumb, Planning and Heritage Officer for South Northants Council, has offered to assist with advice on listing applications. All contributions welcome via a member of the Branch committee.

JANUARY

Clean-Up It was reported that BW is proposing to organise a Towpath Tidy between locks 16 and 17 on the Northampton Arm (this has subsequently been arranged for Saturday, 13th March, see page 3).

According to London-based BW Project Officer Elaine Stanley, this would be organised in conjunction with local residents’ groups, a move which the committee agreed to support provided sufficient advance warning is given to muster volunteers.

Historic crane This has not yet been collected from Gayton Yard for restoration.

It was noted that BW’s James Clifton had advised he was hopeful

13 Branch Committee Review

(continued)

that Bellway Homes would be funding and undertaking landscaping works around lock 17 on the Arm at Far Cotton. Also, land on the offside of this lock was being transferred into the ownership of Northampton Borough Council, a change which would ease maintenance and management issues. It was explained that because the EA do not carry out enforcement above South Bridge, a number of permanent moorers had become established on this land. BW will be producing a strategy for the Northampton Arm and will fully consult IWA.

Tom Rolt anniversary The committee endorsed the efforts of the Stoke Bruerne Canal Partnership and Friends of the Canal Museum in exploring the possibility of organising a display at Silverstone Circuit to commemorate a possible link between Tom Rolt, local waterways and his motor racing activities.

FEBRUARY Historic crane It was reported that the dismantled crane had still not yet been collected from Gayton Yard.

BWB prompt payment discount The committee passed a motion unanimously deploring BW’s proposed strategy to end the prompt payment licence discount.

BW customer services consultation Among various topics discussed, members considered there is a need for more visitor moorings in the Gayton area and asked where boaters (including live-aboards) between Gayton and Buckby disposed of their rubbish and sewage. It is felt that the rubbish disposal facil-

ity at Weedon is not apparent to passing boaters.

IWA Guide box at Gayton Junction This is to be replaced very soon and stocked with copies of the popular guide to the Northampton Arm produced by the Branch. It is hoped that Blisworth Tunnel Narrowboats will continue sponsoring the leaflet.

Building objection It was reported that a renewed application had been lodged to build a “canal cottage” adjacent to the towpath at Mill Bridge, Blisworth.

The Branch agreed to object to this proposed development.

S. Northants Economic Development Strategy Rodney Hardwick will be attending a consultation meeting in February with South Northants Council. Blisworth and Stoke Bruerne Canal Partnerships will also be represented.

REGIONAL NEWSLETTER ON-LINE Members are reminded that Aegre, the East Midlands Region newsletter which features information about all the Branches in the Region, including Northampton, is available (in full colour) to read on -line on the IWA website at

www.waterways.org.uk/InMyArea/ EastMidlandsRegion/Northampton WESTBRIDGE ARM CLEAN-UP As always, on the Sunday before the Boat Gathering (25th April), a Branch Clean-Up of the Westbridge Arm will be held between 10am and 12 noon approx. Equipment (courtesy of the EA) to take the rubbish away will be provided. Dress appropriately and meet in the car park by Pizza Hut at the St James’ Retail Park, Northampton.

14

GAYTON MARINA The narrowboat specialists…

Old Stager Death of Olga Kevelos, our “local” Idle Boatwoman

In addition to operating part of the 200 boat UK Boat Hire fleet of holiday narrowboats, we offer full marina services at our prime location on the Grand Union canal between Bugbrooke and Blisworth.

TOO late we so often mourn for what might have been, like riding the railways when they were there to be ridden through the pastoral byways of the countryside; of the people with whom we should have kept in touch but through inertia let slip through the net; or even the people we should have made an effort to discover more about and, perhaps, met and chatted with. In this latter category, sometimes, sadly, do we only determine what might have been from a newspaper obituary.

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Such is the case of Olga Kevelos. News of her death, just missing the last edition of Endeavour, at the age of 85, seeped out gradually until her life was acknowledged with a splendid near full-page obituary in The Times a month later. Then we learned of her fascinating story. To canal-minded folk, Olga was identified as one of the small band of World War Two boatwomen, or Idle Women as they are still popularly known. Some of you may have met her when their activities were at long last officially recognised with the unveiling of a commemorative plaque outside the Canal Museum at Stoke Bruerne in October 2008. More recently she featured in a BBC One Show item recalling the activities of the wartime boatwomen, filmed at Stoke Bruerne last summer.

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But I guarantee that to most of us she was to all intents and purposes an unknown figure. More’s the pity. For Olga, I conclude, was a genuine character, something of an adventuress, whose other main claim to fame (although I am sure that was not her aim) was to be a highly competitive motorcyclist, tackling some of the longest and most strenuous courses in the world and becoming within a few years one of the few women to win two gold medals in international six-day events. The Times reports: “She had all the qualities she said that a good motorcyclist should have: balance, anticipation, concentration and fearlessness.”

Olga was born in 1923 in Edgbaston, Birmingham, the eldest of three children. Her father was a Greek-born financier. A pupil at King Edward V1 High School for Girls, she subsequently studied metallurgy and then worked in the laboratories of William Mills, who had developed the grenade known as the Mills bomb. She had a passionate interest in astronomy and later worked in the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, shortly to close because of bombing. She moved to the Admiralty at Bath, but became restless doing paperwork and when she spotted an advertisement in The Times seeking women for Inland Waterways on boats lying idle, she successfully applied and became one of about 45 who completed the training. The girls worked up to 20 hours a day, mainly on three-week round trips between London and the Midlands. Olga later recalled that sometimes the prefab houses their load was said to comprise were in fact ammunition. “You’d always know,” she said, “because a bowler-hatted gentleman in a suit would come to check you en route.”

Peacetime saw her travelling in Europe, then starting up a travel agency in Birmingham. When her boyfriend introduced her to motor-cycle racing, she decided to join him, discovering her natural ability for the sport; outstanding success soon followed. Later she drove in Formula Three car racing, eventually giving up the sport in 1970 to help her brother run the Three Tuns pub in King’s Sutton near the southern Oxford just in Northamptonshire.

After she and her brother retired in1992, she continued to make a valued contribution to her local community as a member (and chair from 2005 to 2008) of the parish council as well as a member of the editorial team of the King’s Sutton Times.

“Her sharp mind, quiet wisdom and sense of humour won her many fans,” her obituary noted. I’m not surprised. You see, a little more effort on my part would have enabled me to meet her and maybe to have produced an article for Endeavour encompassing the much-loved journalist’s objective, the local angle.

15

NEWS FROM THE NENE by Sue Cant ON SUNDAY, 17th January, a novice boater on the River Nene attempting to navigate his craft downstream in strong stream conditions became trapped sideways against the historic arched bridge at Irthlingborough, sparking a major rescue operation. It took Environment Agency staff and several fire crews, including a specialist water rescue team, more than three hours to turn the 65ft narrow boat to enable it to pass safely under the bridge.

At one stage, the power of the water against the craft and its position alongside the bridge resulted in an attempt to winch it free being abandoned because the boat was in danger of tipping over.

Photo: Environment Agency

Sign up to a service which could save your life

A little “local difficulty” at Irthlingborough!

Recent rain and snow melt had resulted in a rise in water levels and flows and we had issued Strong Stream Advice the day before the incident warning against navigation. For one reason or another, in this instance, this advice was not heeded. It is vital that people know the state of the river before taking to it in their boats — it could make the difference between life and death. In this particular case, the boat had travelled only a few hundred yards downstream from its mooring before the strong current swung it round and forced it against the bridge.

I am now urging Nene boaters to sign up for a free service to receive Strong Stream Advice (SSA) from us and then listen to the advice we give. You can choose to have messages sent to mobile phones, landlines or receive texts or email alerts. Messages are sent at any time of the day or night. I would also like to ask for your help in trying to ensure that as many boaters as possible who are new to the Nene are aware of this service. Until we have a lock-keeper in place at Northampton as part of the marina development, people can easily enter the Nene from the canal network without fully understanding the characteristics of a river navigation and the dangers associated with strong stream.

So, if you happen to talk to anybody new to navigating the Nene, do please explain to them how they can access Strong Stream Advice. To receive an SSA registration form, please email mandy.doolan@environmentagency.gov.uk. Alteratively, call the SSA line for pre-recorded updates at any time. Call 0845 9881188 and choose option 1, followed by 032112 for the River Nene. To get information on the River Great Ouse, follow option 1 with 033211, or for the Ancholme dial 031212. Thank you in advance for all your help — the more people we can reach ■ Sue Cant is the Environment Agency Team Leader for the Nene Waterway the better.

16

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17

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18

RICHARD GILL BSc, MABSE BOAT SAFETY TESTING BW AND EA APPROVED

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Connecting canal communities Blisworth and Stoke Bruerne Canal Partnerships, which include IWA representatives, have met with South Northants Council and the Ramblers Association and are now seeking funding to waymark the footpath route between Blisworth and Stoke Bruerne over the top of Blisworth Tunnel. At present there is no clear link between the two towpaths each end of the tunnel for walkers. It is hoped to develop a walk leaflet highlighting the points of interest along the way, such as tunnel airshafts, tramroads and limestone quarries.

SWING TO YOUR FAVOURITE MUSIC of the 1930s and 1940s featuring the fabulous Miss Lola Lamour (seen here at the 2009 Stoke Bruerne Village at War weekend)

Saturday 27th March 7.30-11.30pm at Roade Village Hall. Fully licensed bar. Tickets £10 include a light supper (£12 after 20th February). All proceeds to Friends of the Canal Museum, Stoke Bruerne. Call Jenny Copeland on 01327 340492 or Canal Museum 01604 862229

The Little Mermaid Canal Shop Stoke Bruerne Danish Gifts, Glassware, Wooden Toys, Jewellery, Candles, Canal Prints and Flower Decorations

For more information, please contact Dawn Blockley

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19

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20

WHO’S WHO IN NORTHAMPTON BRANCH 2009/2010 Chairman Bill Joyce 01536-724337

E- mail: bill.joyce@waterways.org.uk

Branch Meetings Graham Treagus E- mail: graham.treagus@waterways.org.uk

Branch Secretary/Sales

Membership Secretary

Jan Andrews

Alan Andrews

01604-858023

01604-858023

E- mail: jan.andrews@waterways.org.uk

E- mail: alan.andrews@waterways.org.uk

Deputy Chairman & Police Liaison Officer Eric Young E- mail: eric.young@waterways.org.uk

Treasurer Laura Sturrock

Website Lynda Payton

E- mail: lynda.payton@waterways.org.uk

Committee Member Bernard Morton

E- mail: laura.sturrock@waterways.org.uk

Heritage & Planning Officer Rodney Hardwick 01604-584919

Newsletter Editor, Publicity Officer & Archivist Roger Hasdell 8 High Street, Hardingstone, Northampton NN4 7BT 01604-767212

Non-Committee posts Sales: Catriona Butler 01604 473756 Newsletter Distribution: Penny Spencer

E- mail: bernard.morton@waterways.org.uk

Boat Gathering Sub-Committee Members Bernard Morton (Chairman), Catriona Butler, Michael Butler, Peter Canfield, Jenny Copeland, Peter Copeland, Kevin Cousins, Roger Hasdell, Jenny McCalman, Sandie Morton, John Pomfret, Sam Samuells and Eric Young (also occasional member: Ian Bekusch)

Please note our new Branch Website URL: www.waterways.org.uk/ InMyArea/EastMidlandsRegion/ Northampton

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, other wise 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.

The Inland Waterways Association is registered as a charity (No. 212342)

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 (suggested donations) 1/8th Page (box) £10.00 1/4 Page (box) £18.00 1/2 Page (box) £30.00 Full Page £50.00 Discount of 10% for 4 issues 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 September to May inclusive at The Walnut Tree Inn, Blisworth, at 8pm.

All members and non-members welcome. Food and drink available Tuesday, 9th March AGM followed by “Buckingham Canal Update”

by Athina Beckett Tuesday, 13th April “The Recovery of Raymond,”

by Steve Miles Tuesday, 11th May “George Smith, Children’s Friend,”

by Pat Crecraft

NEW ARM BRIDGE WILL AID ACCESS TO COUNTRY PARK ANOTHER bridge is to be built across the Northampton Arm of the Grand Union from Banbury Lane in West Hunsbury to Upton Country Park. The 282ft long metal footbridge, painted green, will also span the Nene.

Northampton Borough Council Planning Officer Ben Clarke, in a report to Planning Committee members, said the bridge would not unduly impinge on the character and appearance of the area and not adversely impact upon the ecology of the location or increase the flood risk.

The bridge is viewed as a “safe link” between Banbury Lane and Upton for pedestrians and cyclists as well as opening up access to the newly-created country park. Comments Endeavour’s editor: “I regard this latter observation as well founded, as at the moment it can be tricky accessing the park unless you are familiar with the area. For example, it is most unwise to park on the A45 by-pass verges and climb over the fencing!

Instead drive along Upton Way and park in gate entrances.”