Maidenhead Waterways Restoration Group Page

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This marks the spot where JMW Turner painted his famous Cathedral and Canal view back in c.1828. We hope this will help visitors to learn more about the history of the canal during their walk or boat trip. ARTEL, the contemporary art group, were inspired by our 200th anniversary to create their 2022 exhibition based on the canal history. They exhibited for two weeks at the Oxmarket Contemporary in late June. You can hear more from the artists in our 6th “Canalcast” podcast. Alan Green joined us again on board Richmond for a cheese and wine evening. Rather than sharing the history of the canal chronologically, as we are used to, he presented it geographically as we cruised past different places. Thought provoking and fascinating as always. In July the Chichester Priory Rotary’s popular Dragon Boat Challenge returned again to the canal to bring the community together and raise money for local charities. Our own volunteer team the Canal Canardlies did themselves proud and placed third. We will be taking part in Heritage Open Day on Saturday 10th September www.heritageopendays.org.uk/visiting/event/explore-200-years-of-chichestercanal-heritage1 We’ve our very own podcast! Thank you to BBC2 Newsreader and canalaholic Adam Porter for his dulcet tones and technical wizardry which has enabled us to build a series of podcasts. You can find them on Spotify, Google

Maidenhead Waterways Restoration Group

The Friends of Maidenhead Waterways (FoMW) have had a busy year so far on and off the water, with progress on a number of fronts. We were pleased to announce the appointment of Theresa May MP as Patron of FoMW the charity. A long term supporter of the project and our local MP for 25 years, Mrs May has followed the project from inception and regularly visits the waterway to view progress.

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Two significant developments have moved the project forward this year: the addition of a shipping container to store our channel clearance kit in; and a new ramp and boat loading platform at Chapel Arches right in the town centre. The container was a tight fit in its allotment location next to the Green Lane weir, but is now fully operational. More significantly, the new boat loading platform at Chapel Arches, right in the centre of town, is now complete and fully operational. The ramp and floating platform provide easy access to/from boats next to the streamside cafés and into the town centre. As part of the project both the closed western and

Ramp and boating platform at Chapel central bridge arches have been cleared Arches at the rear to provide a raised dry storage area for FoMW’s use, with power and lighting installed. Three service boats are now moored on the water under the arches, accessed directly from the new platform and able to be easily deployed for litter clearance and recreational use. Our latest addition is a 100 year old open carvel planked wooden launch called Barrian, complete with an outboard, remote steering and comfy cushions. A specialist weed cutter boat returned to the town centre channels for a pre-season clearance to remove excess weed, particularly the floating blanket Dry storage at the rear of the archesweed that had built up towards the weir. Care was taken to avoid disturbing any nesting areas and to clear only the upper layer of weed (which otherwise clogs paddles and props), leaving the beneficial oxygenating Water Starwort closer to the bed undisturbed. Pictured in action near the weir, it is an amazing machine and far more effective than manual clearance by volunteers. Following Environment Agency advice we are also treating the waterway with a beneficial bacteria called Byofix to help reduce blanket weed. With this summer’s extreme Weed cutter boat in action heat once more driving weed growth, we have booked the weed cutter boat again for an end of season visit. July 6th saw a very special visit to the restored waterway by the Queen’s Baton Relay team, on their way to the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. After being greeted by civic leaders and cheered on by hundreds of school children in the