ALISON SMEDLEY
Mr Mac
David in his famous blue camper van at the 40th anniversary of Ashtac in 2012.
David McCarthy’s contribution to canal restoration is huge. A long-standing Waterway Recovery Group volunteer, he’s been raising funds and pouring refreshments (from his famous blue camper van) for decades. Better known as ‘Mr Mac’, he tells IWA about his motivations and fondest memories When did you first become interested in canal restoration? It was really through my son, Ian, who is still very involved with the canals. He had friends in the local Scout group who were also canal enthusiasts, and their Scout leaders had bought a narrowboat for them all to use. One of the leaders, Harold Gwyther, was Ian’s Sunday school teacher, and making the most of his access to the narrowboat he took the class out on the boat one summer. Following this, Ian convinced us to hire a boat and go out as a family. We loved it and I ended up thinking that it wouldn’t take a lot to put the canals right again. Unfortunately, we missed the big clean-up at Ashton, the weather was wet and we had a friend staying, but Ian and I did go along to the later Operation Marple. As we got more involved with canal restoration, my wife decided if you can’t beat them join them, and my daughter Jane wasn’t far behind. We became quite involved with the Peak Forest Canal Society, especially recruiting new volunteers. Thirty years ago, we would phone people up to see if they would come along and help out. I would look through the newsletters of local canal groups and find the bit that welcomed new members. It usually gave their name and town and, if they lived close by, I would look them up in the phone book and give them a call to see if I could get them on board with our latest project. Cold calling took a bit of courage but they would often have a chat and in the end they might come along and lend a hand.
How did you become involved with WRG? In 1977 WRG North West was formed. The restoration of the Peak Forest Canal was complete and interest in the society was dwindling. Membership fell from 750 to 350 in two years. A few of us suggested transferring the whole of the Peak Forest Canal Society over to the Huddersfield Canal Society but the idea wasn’t welcomed, so the younger of us in the society split away and became WRG NW.
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I was involved with fundraising for the Peak Forest Canal Society so carried on in a similar role for WRG NW, but always pointed donors in the direction of restoration work if they were interested.
Tell us about your main fundraising technique, the so-called 'Paperchases'... Paperchases involved collecting people’s waste paper and then selling it on to raise money. They took place around ten times a year and were the primary source of income for WRG NW – at one time we were getting £30 per tonne of waste paper. Through Paperchases, we accidentally stumbled on the money books can bring in. We took the books out of the waste paper we had collected and decided to trial a second-hand bookstall, which went well and became another fundraising staple. They used to be stored, along with other WRG NW equipment, in my garage and cellars until I downsized. And the paper was kept in an area just outside of my lounge windows. There was a brick wall between me and the house next door about a foot high, which was perfect for storing it. The worst it ever got was one December, when we had the bright idea to do a collection just before Christmas, so people were having a real clear-out to make room for gifts etc. The guy who usually collected the paper had just given up, and the new people I found couldn’t
Autumn 2020 23/07/2020 15:42
