Hereward Autmn 2018

HEREWARD SUMMER 2018 St Neots Festival Old Bedford Cruise London Cavalcade Canal de Berry

PETERBOROUGH BRANCH

www.waterways.org.uk/peterborough

The IWA charity registered number 212342

The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the Inland Waterways Association or of the Peterborough Branch. They are, however, published as being of interest to our members and readers

This page includes some views from the St Neots Festival of Water.

Front cover: Decorated boats moored on the Great Ouse at the St Neots festival site

FESTIVAL ROUND-UP The 2018 IWA Festival of Water held at St Neots over the recent Bank Holiday weekend proved to be another successful event. The venue was well situated close to the town centre with plenty of mooring space for visiting boaters. Over 100 boats made the journey to the festival with over 75% having been CRT registered visitors from the canal system and many making their first visit to the East Anglian waterways.

Some views from the festival are shown opposite with the Peterborough Branch stand pictured top left. There was a wide range of entertainment including a very talented one man band and the drive a digger opportunity was very popular with the youngsters, as well as a few dads!

The Middle Level Watermans Club made a name for themselves by winning the Boat Club Challenge by being the group featuring the largest number of boats at 14.

The Cruising Plaques for boaters cruising the Middle Level system, as pictured above, are still available to boaters who attended the festival. The plaques are ÂŁ6 plus postage from Branch treasurer Roger Mungham.

The add-on segments covering various sections of the system will be available at ÂŁ3 each.

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Cavalcade and Back Again!

CHRIS HOWES describes his cruise in May this year to the IWA Waterway Cavalcade held annually at Little Venice in London.

I set off from the Middle Level on a cold and wet Friday in the third week of April. Dark and menacing clouds were to prove a harbinger of what was to come. The journey to Little Venice would take me 11 days, 10 of which it rained on!

The journey up the Nene was solitary, and uneventful. After three weeks, Strong Stream Advice had only just been lifted, and the river was still very full and needed to be treated with respect. As I joined the Grand Union and headed South, I wondered gloomily if the rain would ever stop.

My wife had, sensibly, decided to stay at home, although she did visit to help lock me up the Rothersthorpe flight. This meant that I was locking single handed, which can be quite hard work, and which always demands full concentration. There appeared no other boats moving, and traveling up the Nene, and then towards Northampton, I never found another boat to share my locks, which further increased the workload on my shoulders.

Then on Mayday, for one day only, the sun came out. The Grand Union was quite transformed! It appeared that every ‘continuous cruiser’, had taken advantage of the sunshine to undertake their compulsory fortnightly move. Rather than empty locks, I found myself queuing for locks, in one case behind two sets of boats breasted up as ‘tug and butty’.

Locking through one of these pairs of boats, I fell into conversation with the owner. He explained that he had regular moorings on the River Chess in Rickmansworth. The Chess is accessed through a lock immediately below Batchworth Lock. Apparently the CRT had written to him and his fellow River Chess moorers advising them that they would no longer maintain the lock. It appears that the EA aren’t the only Navigation Authority with a tendency to try and off load responsibility for their more remote locks - though one wonders whether Rickmansworth can really be regarded as ‘remote’.

After the one day of sunshine, the wet weather returned, other traffic stopped, and I resumed my solitary passage down the GU. The climb up to the Tring summit appears relentless, with yet another lock, just round the next bend. I finally made the summit and travelled across it in heavy drizzle. The water levels were surprisingly low (in view of the rain) and restrictions had been posted limiting when it could be used. Someone explained to me that the summit had in the past been fed by three reservoirs, but asset disposal and an unrepaired pump breakdown had restricted the water supply.

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Going up the Nene I had found every lock in full working order. These are, of course, the responsibility of the EA. On the GU several locks had new gates, and although other locks had gates that leaked so badly it made filling them a challenge, I only found one taped up and inoperable paddle mechanism. I concluded that CRT appeared to be working their way through a backjam of maintenance. Mind you once I’d crossed below the M25 I found an empty pound between Hunton Bridge locks no’s 72 & 73. This has been like this for the last year that I know of, which is hardly a testimony to the CRT’s maintenance.

I finally reached Little Venice in time for the early May bank holiday weekend, and wonder of wonders, the sun finally reappeared. With a vengeance! We sweltered through the warmest May Day bank holiday in memory! My wife, inspired by the weather, jumped on a train, and joined me. My journey had taken me 11 days hard work, whereas my wife’s train journey lasted a comfortable couple of hours!

Cavalcade was colourful, vibrant and great fun. I’ve included a picture which give some of the flavour, but would encourage you to visit next year yourself, whether for the day by train, or like me, by boat.

On the bank holiday afternoon my wife Soulbury Locks caught the train back home (although she later valiantly rejoined me to help me back down the Northampton flight). I turned my boat around and set off home again. The sun had disappeared by the Tuesday, and my journey back along the GU and up and down the Tring summit was nearly as solitary as my trip down had been.

However, as I left the Northampton Arm and rejoined the Nene, the sun returned. I don’t think I have ever seen the River Nene looking so beautiful! The trees were laden with May blossom, everywhere there were fresh colours and new life. It was simply breathtaking!

All the River Nene locks were fully working. I passed a maintenance crew at Elton, working their way up the river, ensuring everything was in order for the expected influx of visitors for this summer’s festivals. Generally, I found things working better on the EA’s waters than I had found on the CRT’s, which makes me question the common assertion that our Eastern waters would be better under the custodianship of the CRT. When I eventually crossed back to the Middle Level I had made a 26 day trip, gone through 266 locks, used 250 litres of diesel and run up 190 engine hours. I’ll almost certainly go to Cavalcade again next year. So will I take the ‘soft’ option next year and catch the train? No chance!

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INLAND WATERWAYS ASSOCIATION Peterborough Branch

COMMITTEE MEMBERS CHAIRMAN: Chris Howes e-mail: emailchrishowes@gmail.com SECRETARY: Roger Green, 70 Windmill Close, Ellington, Huntingdon, Cambs PE28 0AJ Tel: 01480 890215 Mobile: 07799 066001 e-mail: nb.chatsworth@gmail.com TREASURER: Roger Mungham Tel: 01945 773002 e-mail: rogerboatmans@talktalk.net EDITOR: Philip Halstead, 20 Cane Avenue, Peterborough PE2 9QT Tel: 01733 348500 e-mail: philipntricia@hotmail.co.uk ENTERTAINMENTS OFFICER: Richard Fairman Tel: 01406 380575 Roger Sexton

Andrew Storrar

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Mike Daines

STUART HOLMES BOAT SAFETY EXAMINATIONS PETERBOROUGH BOATING CENTRE

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An exciting new working partnership has been formed to develop and progress a stretch of a waterways link which will reach across the Fens from the Cathedral City of Ely in Cambridgeshire, through the Cathedral City of Peterborough and on to Boston, home of the landmark “Boston Stump�.

The Fens Waterways Link (FWL) is an ambitious scheme originally conceived in the early 2000's. To date significant progress has been made with major investments at Boston, and to extend the waterways and improve accessibility.

A fresh initiative, the Boston to Peterborough Wetland Corridor, has now been launched to breathe new life back into that original vision. Lead by IWA Lincolnshire & Peterborough Branches the partnership brings together Environment Agency Navigations, and Lincolnshire County Council. The initiative is being formally announced at the IWA Festival of Water at St Neots on 25-27 August 2108.

The Partnership has identified the development of a wetland corridor connecting Boston and Peterborough as a tangible and deliverable section of waterway that can be progressed at a significantly lower cost than the original concept of Fens Waterways Link (FWL). Using largely existing waterways and public access footpaths the partnership has identified that the addition of approximately 12 miles of new channels to connect with 50 miles of existing waterways will create a significant new wetland corridor. This will incorporate and link Black Sluice Navigation (South Forty Foot Drain), the River Glen, the River Welland and the River Nene all of which are existing EA navigations.

Widening the scope of the original Fens Waterways Link project will unlock new opportunities to incorporate a range of economic, ecological, environmental, and public access benefits in addition to extending the region’s navigations. This range of benefits will also facilitate wider options for obtaining funding such as flood risk management, health & wellbeing, and ecological enhancement To ensure inclusivity of all potential stakeholders and beneficiaries the Partnership propose to form a charitable trust which will include representatives of all interested stakeholders.

The Trust Board will be formed from volunteer stakeholders and significant regional and local representatives. One of the main objectives of publicising B2PWC at the IWA Festival of Water at St Neots, 25-27 August, is to make all the potential stakeholders aware of this exciting new initiative and to invite all parties to register an interest in its support. The partnership is also aiming to reinvigorate public interest in the opportunities and benefits of the full FWL concept, particularly in the Peterborough, Lincolnshire and North Cambridgeshire areas.

The benefits of the proposed new corridor far exceed the benefits to boating between to Boston and Peterborough. It would provide a new route for cyclists and walkers, be welcomed by fishermen and other waterway enthusiasts - including canoeists and paddle boarders. It would benefit both flora and fauna, creating a wetland corridor. Welcome economic regeneration would flow into the market towns of Spalding and Market Deeping, it will benefit the cities of Boston and Peterborough and communities of Hubbards Bridge, Pinchbeck, Surfleet, and Peakirk.

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OLD BEDFORD RIVER CAMPAIGN CRUISE TO WELCHES DAM The campaign cruise organised by The Inland Waterways Association to highlight several navigation issues in the Fens took place on the 19th and 20th August, in the lead up to IWA’s Festival of Water at St Neots. The event was organised to highlight the continued closure of Welches Dam Lock, which via the Horseway Channel provides an alternate route from the Middle Level Navigations, along with current problems navigating the Old Bedford River, a statutory navigation.

Chris Howes on Lily May was the one narrow boat to make it through the Old Bedford Sluice at Salter’s Lode, which serves to highlight the difficulties of accessing the Old Bedford River from the tidal Ouse. Two other narrow boats and Richard Fairman on his 22ft sailing yacht, which had crossed The Wash to take part, also attempted to get through the sluice gate. However they failed despite valiant efforts by all concerned. These attempts took place over three different tidal windows when a level was reached, to allow passage through the single guillotine gate, but the tidal entrance was too shallow and silted.

Three portable craft were put directly into the Old Bedford River by the sluice gate at Salter’s Lode, and so a flotilla of 4 boats set off and reached Welney, about half way along the waterway, by the Sunday evening.

On the Monday morning the four boats continued their journey along the river, encountering much more weed along this section which made the passage slower, and arrived at the closed lock at Welches Dam soon after midday. Those supporters viewing the flotilla from the bank included some of the boaters who had been unsuccessful in getting through the sluice, the crew of a boat who had arrived at the other end of the Horseway Channel, and a TV news reporter with camera and drone. After photos and interviews had taken place, the flotilla set off to return to Salter’s Lode, and the narrow boat successfully passed back through the Old Bedford Sluice on the ebbing tide on the Monday evening.

Chris Howes, IWA Eastern Region Chairman and skipper of Lily May, the one narrow boat that managed to get on to the river, said “On behalf of IWA and the other boaters taking part in this event I would like to thank EA and MLC staff for their support in enabling the campaign cruise to take place. We look forward to working further with EA to come to a resolution regarding the continued closure of Welches Dam and the difficulties in accessing the Old Bedford River, as well as working with them on other initiatives in the Anglian Region.”

Photos: Mike Daines 7

Mill Drove, Ramsey Cambs. PE26 2RD Tel: 01487 813621

billfenmarina@tiscali.co.uk www.b illfenmarina.com

Moorings occasionally available, £15 per foot per year + VAT, if paid annually.

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Helping hands – volunteers making a difference on our waterways Our precious waterways are an important part of our nation’s rich heritage and beauty. They give enjoyment to countless people – not just to those who navigate them but also those who walk along them, sit by them, fish on them, cycle beside them or simply enjoy being near them.

The Environment Agency is Partnering with Cambridgeshire Acre, a rural community council, means they can work with volunteers to do more for the 1 million visitors who enjoy our waterways every year. This Volunteers’ Week, the EA are recognising all the diverse skills, personalities, perspectives, knowledge and experiences local volunteers can bring.

Here, two of Environment Agency assistant lock-keepers describe what motivated them to volunteer and what they’re enjoying most.

“It’s like working on the East Anglian Riviera”

David Myers, 54, is a retired care worker. Now he volunteers with the Environment Agency as an assistant at Denver Sluice in Norfolk "It's a dream job, in a rural location surrounded by nature and wildlife," David says.

In the same way that some people just have to live by the sea, I’ve always had a connection to our rivers.

There’s something clean and natural about it, and the pace of life is gentle.

I grew up with the River Cam and remember boating, canoeing and holidaying on the Broads.

Then three years ago I stopped working and my partner and I have been living on our boat ever since. At first it was an adjustment, but there’s nothing like waking up in the morning, opening the shutters, and looking out at the sunrise over the farmland from the end of the moorings.

These days I spend about 98 per cent of my time on the water, and last year I became a volunteer at Denver lock. I’d seen an advert online and I’d always wondered about being a lockkeeper – the way of life was so appealing. So, when I’d finished working and was looking for something interesting to do with my time, I applied.

It’s enjoyable, light work with something to appeal to everyone. Working in a pair, one person mans the controls on one side of the bridge while the other talks with the folks in the boat, explaining what we’re doing, reassuring them and giving helpful guidance. Although I’ve spent a lot of time on the water, I never knew there was such a knack to operating the locks – you have to account for the tides, winds, weather, and keep an eye on the computerised system to make sure conditions are right and the water is calm enough to let boats through.

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And while it’s not always busy, it’s never dull. You’re outside, surrounded by nature, meeting all different kinds of interesting people including holiday-makers, full-time river-dwellers, and visitors from all over Europe – in fact I think it’s like working on the East Anglian Riviera.

It’s a bit of a dream job, really, out in a rural location surrounded by nature and wildlife, with a relaxed pace of life and a real sense of community.

I’d encourage anyone who’s thought about volunteering at a lock to look into it further. You’ll be trained and supported, get to work in the fresh open air, and help others enjoy our wonderful rivers, too.

“I love passing on my local knowledge”

Tina, 57, is a part-time carer and photographer who has recently signed up as a waterways volunteer.

I never knew volunteer lock-keeper assistants existed until last year. But I got chatting to a fellow boater who lives nearby, and he told me how rewarding he found volunteering with the Environment Agency at Denver lock. I was intrigued. I love to learn and it seemed a great opportunity to further my knowledge about the rivers and natural world around us. My partner and I have lived on our own 62ft canal-boat for about three years. He’s always wanted one and I’ve since come to relish the freedom, peace and quiet of river-living. Last year we spent three months away in our boat and travelled 450 miles and went through 427 locks.

When you travel by river, it gives a different perspective on the country we live in. You notice different things because you’ve got more time to do it. I’ve been able to see birds like kingfishers and herons, and observe the behaviour of nesting swans – things I’ve never experienced first-hand before. Now I’ve signed up as a volunteer, and so far, I’ve really enjoyed learning about the rules and regulations of the waterways and what our roles are, thanks to excellent training.

I’ll be working at Denver Lock on the Great River Ouse at Norfolk, helping boats get safely through the lock, and doing a bit of gardening, too, to make the area more attractive to visitors. I also help people learn more about the local area – answering their questions and helping them learn more about the local area. Everyone’s really friendly and it’s great to be able to pass on my local knowledge. I want to help people find the same enjoyment on the rivers that I have, so I’m already finding that volunteering is really rewarding. Who knows – maybe they’ll then go on to volunteer at some point too.

Being a volunteer at the lock is ideal whether you want to find hours that better suit your lifestyle, meet new people, or just be by the water as it’s so peaceful and relaxing. Plus, doing something to help the community just feels good.

You can find out more about Anglian Waterways on the Environment Agency website. If you’d like to learn more about opportunities to volunteer, search online for Anglian Waterways Volunteer Scheme, or contact the EA on 01353 865037.

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NEW BRIDGES TO CROSS THE RIVER GREAT OUSE Three new major road bridges are scheduled to cross the River Great Ouse. The first, south of Ely, will carry the new Ely Bypass. Construction is well advanced and it is anticipated that this will open in October of 2018.

The construction of the new crossing for the rerouted A14, just North of Offord Cluny and between Buckden and Brampton Locks, has been causing delays with occasional closures to river traffic. We have been assured that these should never last more than 30 minutes. The 39m span is part of a 750m viaduct. The ÂŁ1.5 billion A14 upgrade is due to open at the end of 2020.

Photos: Chris Howes 13

Email: gregbassam@gbwatersports.co.uk 14

WATERWAY RESTORATION IN FRANCE PART 2 THE CANAL DE BERRY Described in words and pictures by Andrew Storrar

My article in the Autumn 2016 edition of HEREWARD described the restoration situation on the River Cher in the Departement de Loire-et-Cher in central France and our boat trip between the locks at Chisseaux and Chenonceau under the arches of the dramatic Chateau de Chenonceau.

On my visit this year my friend Anne-Marie and I took the opportunity to explore by car and foot the first 12 km of the Canal de Berry, which continues eastwards from the later head of navigation of the River Cher, from Noyers-sur-Cher to Selles-sur-Cher through beautiful rural scenery. This section is now restored to full navigation.

This romantic waterway, with locks little bigger than those of the narrow-beam network of the English Midlands, extended for 261km in the form of a Y. Comprising three branches, it connected the Canal Lateral a la Loire at Marseilles-les-Aubigny in the East with the Cher Navigation at Noyers-sur-Cher in the West and thence the River Loire at Tours. A Southern branch headed to Montlucon.

Constructed largely with the aid of Spanish prisoners of war, its 96 locks were completed by the 1820s. A leading traffic was in cast iron from the foundries at Montlucon, with coal, pit props, wines and spirits, slates and tiles, cement and lime and building sand. Throughout the 19th century trade was brisk, the 27m x 2.7m barges (known as berrichons) pulled by horses, mules in twos or threes, or Algerian donkeys working as a team of four. By 1936 the annual tonnage had slumped to less than 400,000, representing about 5,000 boat journeys.

Chronic leakages forced a lowering of water levels with consequent reduction of payloads, and a new pumping station at Mornay in 1878 was only partially successful. The last 20 berrichons still in use escaped to the Canal Lateral a la Loire when the Berry was finally closed in 1955, and here lingered in service until the end of the 1960s.

Searching for the remains of the Canal de Berry at Marseilles-les-Aubigny would be totally unproductive: so completely has it been filled that not a trace remains. But 8km down the old line towards Fontblisse there is still an intact lock with single gates at Patinges.

If it could ever again be further restored for pleasure cruising, the Berry would make a magnificent rural holiday route, bordering on the mysterious lakeland wilderness of the Sologne, setting of Alain Fournier’s compelling novel, Le Grand Meaulnes.

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To date the Societe des Amis du Canal de Berry has rewatered a 17km length between StArmand on the Southern branch and Ainy-le-Vieil, and since then the 12 km between Noyersur-Cher and Selles-sur-Cher has also been reopened in the West.

It is this latter stretch that we explored this July 2018. It is shown on the map on the previous page. The photo below shows a photo of the entrance lock to the canal, in the foreground, from the River Cher at Noyers-sur-Cher. It is easy to see why the canal was built to supersede the River Cher as a navigation from Noyers to Vierzon at the beginning of the 19th century.

Like many river navigations it would flood in the winter and dry up in the summer.

The photo Fig 3 opposite shows the next lock, at Les Martinieres, just a few km from Noyers.

By French standards it is very small, though still bigger than the standard English Midlands lock. A wonderful surprise greeted us at Chatillon-sur-Cher where the magnificent aqueduct, le Pont de Saudre, strides across the River Saudre, a tributary of the Cher. This is illustrated in Fig 5.

Fig 6 shows the current head of navigation, where the fairly recent Selles-sur-Cher by-pass road passes across the canal at low level. Across the road the Selles canal basin stands intact at full water level with the canal tantalizingly heading eastwards in the Vierzon direction. Hopefully this blockage will be removed and the navigation extended on this beautiful waterway.

References: Hugh McKnight “Cruising French Waterways” Stanford Maritime Limited ISBN 0-540-07413 -6 David Edward-May “Inland Waterways of France” Imray Laurie & Wilson ISBN 0-85288152-5 16

Right: Fig 5 Le Pont de Saudre aqueduct

The Canal de Berry

Left: Fig 3 The lock at Les Martinieres

Below: Fig 6 shows the current head of navigation, where the fairly recent Selles-sur-Cher bypass road passes across the canal at low level.

Photos: Anne-Marie Todd