ISSUE No. 17 FEBRUARY 2014
MAGAZINE INDEX Chairman’s Notes & New Members7777777..77..3 Social Get Together7777777777777777...4 West Stockwith Lock February Opening hours777.7...5 21014 Branch Schedule77777777777777....6 Word Search77777777777777777.77...7 From the Archives77777777777777777...8 Elizabeth Jane Howard77777777777777 ..12 HS2 Consultation77777777777777777 .13 S&SYN Works Update777777777777777 .15 SY&D Branch Officers777777777777777...16
Keels and Cuckoos is published on behalf of the South Yorkshire and the Dukeries Branch of the Inland Waterways Association by M. H. Fielding, I Vicarage Way, Arksey, Doncaster, DN5 0TG. Views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the Inland Waterways Association or of the South Yorkshire and the Dukeries Branch Committee but are published out of interest to members and others. The Inland Waterways Association is a non-profit distributing company limited by guarantee (612245), Registered as a Charity (No. 212342) 2
BRANCH CHAIRMAN’S NOTES I would like to extend a warm welcome to any new members that have joined us since the last edition of Keels and Cuckoos. I do hope you will be able to make it to one of our bi-monthly meetings. These are held at Strawberry Island Boat Club, Milethorne Lane, Doncaster, DN1 2SU starting at 8.00pm. We are looking for suggestions for another venue and would greatly appreciate any feedback from members about suitable topics and venues preferably with a separate room. A nearby car park would also be very handy. The next social will include the Branch Annual General Meeting . After the AGM we usually join SIBS members in their quiz, hopefully sullied by the branch. The next Canal Clean Up will be held on Sunday April 13th, please note there has been a change of date from March 30th. If you would like to help in an enjoyable morning followed by pie and peas please contact my. My contact details can be found on the back page. Mavis Paul SY&D Branch Chairman
NEW MEMBERS Mr D & Mrs S Fennell-Roberts Mr & Mrs S Mitchie Mr R Stonebridge Mr D Boore & Family Mr & Mrs J Daniels Mr K Clayton Mr & Mrs s Huxtable Mr & Mrs A Jones Mr & Mrs DWoods Mr & Mrs P Woodward Mr A & Dr C Piper
Rotherham Rotherham North Anston Sheffield Sheffield Sheffield Hope Valley Barnsley Rotherham Chesterfield Matlock 3
SOCIAL EVENING An enjoyable evening was spent at the Black Lion at Firbeck on January 15th by some members and part of the Branch Committee. In 2012 it was decided to organise a meal out for those who wanted to attend instead of holding a Christmas social. As this venture was deemed a success it was decided to repeat it again for Christmas 2013, but early in 2014 thus reliving the pressure of finding a venue with enough room to accommodate us during December. Last year after a recommendation from a committee member the Black Lion was chosen and was repeated this year. A quiet part of the largish dining room was allocated for our use. There was a varied menu so all tasted in food could be catered for. We met at approximately 7.30pm, had a drink and ordered our meals . All the main meals were served at the same time meaning that those that wanted a starter were not eating their main meal whilst others had finished theirs. Because of the success of these two outings we would like to reinstate more compact social gatherings that can feature a speaker or theme. We are therefore searching for a venue where we can achieve this. A venue with a handy secure car park would be top of our wish list. Malcolm Fielding DID YOU KNOW
When they heard that Weighton Lock on the Market Weighton Canal was likely to be demolished, the Market Weighton Civic Trust moved quickly to have the whole structure listed as an Ancient Monument and their action , together with public pressure resulted in lock being repaired and reopened 4
WEST STOCKWITH LOCK OPENING TIMES FOR FEBRUARY These are the February opening times for the entrance lock onto the Chesterfield Canal at West Stockwith Lock. Information Supplied by CRT. February February February February February February
1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th
February February
10th 11th
February February February February February
17th 18th 19th 20th 21st
February February February
26th 27th 28th
07.30am 07.30am 08.00am 09.00pm 09.00am 10.00am to 10.00am 07.00am to 07.00am 08.00am 08.00am 09.00am 10.00am to 10.00am 07.00am 07.00am
to to to to to to
13.00pm 13.00pm 14.00pm 15.00pm 15.00pm 16.00pm
to to
16.00pm 13.00pm
to to to to to
13.00pm 14.00pm 14.00pm 15.00pm 16.00pm
to to to
16.00pm 13.00pm 13.00pm
Further information can be obtained from the CRT office at Newark. DID YOU KNOW The Grand Surrey Canal was the first to have its own police force, when “ Bank Rangers” who were the forerunners of the British Transport Police were appointed in 1811 to keep law and order along the length of the canal.
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2014 SCHEDULE BRANCH COMMITTEE MEETINGS Wednesday 15th January Wednesday 19th March Wednesday 21st May Wednesday 16th July Wednesday 17th September Wednesday 19th November
SOCIAL MEETINGS Held at Strawberry Island Boat Club, Milethorne Lane, Doncaster DN1 2SU Wednesday Wednesday Wednesday Wednesday Wednesday
19th February (Branch AGM) 16th April 18th June 15th October 10th December
CANAL CLEAN UP Sunday 13th April Sunday 26th October Please note change of date for April clean up..
COPY DATES FOR KEELS AND CUCKOOS January 1st for February Edition April 1st for May Edition July 1st for August edition October 1st for November editiom
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WORDSEARCH In the grid below are the name of fourteen different types of boats that could be used on a canal. They may be written forwards, backwards ,vertically, horizontally or diagonally. The answers can be found elsewhere in the magazine, all the answers are single words. GOOD LUCK
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FROM THE ARCHIVES The following article is taken from materials found in the old offices of the Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation Company at Sheffield canal basin after nationalisation it became the DAIWE North Eastern Divisional Office.
Ellesmere and Montgomery sections of the Shropshire Union Canals This report runs into 27 close typed foolscap pages. With the first 20 pages dealing with the Ellesmere Canal ( Llangollen Canal) The latter pages deal with the Montgomery Canal of which the IWA is heavily involved with its restoration. If readers want me to publish part one (Ellesmere Canal) I will gladly do this over several issues. I have reproduced it verbatim. Part Two Montgomery Canal The last few sentences of the main report read7 The Executive, therefore, must decide whether, for the sake of what publicity they may derive from it, and the good-will of the Inland Pleasure Cruiser, they are prepared to spend public money unprofitably . That is a matter of policy on which I am not asked to report, but I am of the opinion that only a negative form of publicity will be gained by encouraging the pleasure boatmen to visit a Canal on which there is no commercial traffic—will it not add strength to the point of view which is not and which we do not want to propagate that “canals are out of date”. I think they were out of touch even then (ed)
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Montgomery Branch The Montgomery Branch, with which I include that part of the Ellesmere Canal south of Frankton Junction, differs in many respects from the Ellesmere Canal. No inspection by water is possible because the branch has already, in fact, been closed to navigation, not only legally but also physically, if only by reason of the fact that the bridge at Queen’s Head (Bridge No 76) 4 miles south of Frankton Junction is being dropped and a culvert substituted. This culvert of 3’ diameter is already under construction and will be 150’ long as it will carry the water under not only the existing road bridge but also the new diversion alongside. Other bridges further up the Branch are already culverted, or culverting will shortly take place. In addition to the culverting of bridges there are two sections which have been de-watered, one because of the breach about one mile south of Frankton Junction which occurred in 1936, and one at Pant because of chronic leakage and increasing damage by consequent flooding. It has only been possible, therefore, in the first case to make a super superficial inspection of certain points easily accessible by road, and I shall have to make a more complete inspection later, mostly on foot, which will take considerable time. I do not propose to hold up this report, however, until I have been able to make this full inspection, and I will make the result of that inspection in the form of a supplementary report. Another way in which this branch differs from the Elllesmere Canal is that the water, of which there appears to be an ample supply from the Rivers Severn and Tanat, is not required by the Commission either for navigation purposes on the main Shropshire Canal or for locomotives. The only need to maintain a water supply, therefore, is the outcome of the 1944 Act which has apparently laid upon the Executive the onus of continuing supplies for adjoining land owners, for which in the first case there appears to be no proper justification, and for which the rights, if any, appear to 9
have been acquired by a questionable use of personal authority over the original management and ownership of the canal. As these water requirements, however, appear to be for agricultural rather that industrial purposes they, presumably, do not cease, as other industrial users will cease under the terms of the Act, in 1954, but will continue indefinitely , and, in fact, already special measures are being taken by the Maintenance Department in order to ensure supplies solely for, the benefit of these users. Before making any definite recommendations with regard to this it will be necessary to examine carefully the rights for each particular case. Possibly some might be got over by other arrangements of supply from natural sources. Others might possibly be commuted for lump sum payments, especially if alterative sources, even by well sinking, were potentially available. Others might prove to be of such doubtful justification as to make possible the challenging of the rights and possible liquidation. It will take time to go into these and again I would refer to these in a supplementary report. For the purpose of this report it must be assumed that water supplies along the line of the canal, at least over certain sections, must be continued even though on other sections they can be avoided or modified. For instance on the section below Aston Locks which is cut off from the Tanat feeder by the de-watered sectio0nm at Pant, and form the Frankton supply by the breach on that section, a limited supply for maintaining a certain minimum quantity in the canal to comply with Agricultural Committee requirements, and presumably for cattle watering, is now being maintained by local catchment derived from adjacent marshy ground draining into the canal. The Company has apparently undertaken in the event of failure, and on demand by the Agricultural Committee, to pipe across the southern de-watered section to obtain a supply from the Tanat source. This, of course, would involve considerable 10
capital expenditure, and for this reason , and also as a test caser for further similar experiments, possibly elsewhere. it is to be hoped that the experiment will prove successful. With the finish of navigation the need for lock renewals and repairs has, of course, ceased as well, and this should reduce the annual cost of maintenance, particularly so far as craftsmen are concerned. As it will not be necessary to retain locks, as locks, for navigation, as these fall into decay a head wall will be built on the forebay with a pipe and sluice for controlling the flow of water where necessary, This, has already been done in some places. I believe, on the Shrewsbury Branch. There is a considerable amount of cottage property on this branch requiring constant annual maintenance . With this cottage property today it is, generally speaking, impossible to recover in rents the costs of maintenance, and continued ownership is inadvisable except where necessary for canal maintenances purposes. All cottages now occupied by company’s servants should be retained, and also a certain number in addition as a pool, because apparently in this area servicemen’s tenancy agreements do not exist and it is not possible to evict a tenant who ceases to become a company’s servant. For this reason something like a dozen extra cottages, if these can be found at suitable points, i.e. immediately adjacent to the canal and to points from which a man can easily be transported to other points , should be retained. All others should be sold as surplus, I have no list of these, and, in view of the preceding remarks , I think it would be well to ask Mr Marsh to have a summary of this property prepared with a view to deposing of all those which he does not require. I have in mind, for instance, a long row of cottages at Newton which are obviously of no further use to the Company. On other matters and details I would defer my report until a more complete inspection has been made. Conclusion and report in issue 18 M H Fielding 11
ELIZABETH JANE HOWARD Elizabeth Jane Howard, the novelist who died on 2nd January aged 90, was lesser known in public life for her role in the inland waterways, but which was significant during IWA’s formative years. Elizabeth Jane Howard was the Association’s first employee, commencing duties shortly after the Association was formed in 1946, working in a secretarial role to Robert Aickman (who effectively ran the Association in its early years). Initially this was for two mornings a week at a nominal sum, but soon extended to ‘several days’ a week for the grand sum of £2 and 10 shillings (£2.50). Elizabeth Jane Howard (she was generally known just as ‘Jane’ within early IWA circles) was introduced to Aickman through Peter Scott, son of the Antarctic explorer, and later to become the famous naturalist, was a close friend of Aickman, and Peter Scott had met Jane when they were both at drama school during the war (Scott being on sick leave from his Royal Navy duties). And they swiftly married—Jane aged just 19 and Scott 16 years her senior. Their marriage lasted only 3 years, until Jane walked out on Scott abandoning their baby daughter. In the Association’s early years, IWA’s office was Robert Aickman’s home, and Jane soon became a permanent fixture there. Her romantic involvement with Aickman became a cause of tension within the Association, but Scott and Aickman remained on good terms. Aickman’s wife Ray, accepted the situation as her marriage to Aickman was more a business relationship, but she once famously said that she did draw the line at having to take them breakfast in bed. Aickamn and Jane produced the Association’s early Bulletins; Aickman dictated the text as Jane typed direct on to stencils for duplicating. In 1948, Jane accompanied Aickman on his six-week tour on the northern waterways, on the boat Ailsa Craig, including the famous passage of Standedge Tunnel, with other key IWA figures joining then for parts on the trip. Jane resigned from IWA’s employment in 1950 to concentrate on her writing career, but joined the Association’s Council shortly afterwards, and was a key figure at the 1950 Market Harborough Rally of Boats and Festival of Arts, directing one of the plays put on at the event, Although Aickman and Jane wrote a collection of short ghost stories for commercial publication together, their relationship waned. Her eventual break-up with Aickman was traumatic and led to estrangement with mutual friends and Jane left the waterways scene, but she met Aickman again in a reconciliatory meeting during his long illness from cancer in 1980, shortly before his death in 1981 and gave a reading at his funeral. Reproduced from
IWA Bulletin January 2014
WORD SEARCH ANSWERS Barge Canoe Coracle Dinghy Houseboat Punt Raft Wherry Rowboat Kayak Skiff Sloop Keel Narrowboat
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HS2 CONSULTATION FROM THE CHESTERFIELD CANAL TRUST MAGAZINE “CUCKOO”)
The HS2 Consultation closed on the 31st January 2014. The HS2 proposed route lies directly on top of the restoration route of the canal for over 800 metres at Renishaw and for 1,200 metres, in a cutting, at Killamarsh. In addition, the links to the proposed HS2 Infrastructure Maintenance Depot at Staveley would cut through the canal’s route at three points. The Chesterfield canal Partnership and Derbyshire County Council will be submitting detailed engineering information and the Trustees will be putting in a formal statement of objection to the HS2 route where it interferes with the canal’s restoration (see below). However it is vital that the Government understands the depth of feeling amongst the public that the restoration of the canal must not be blocked by HS2. We got over 13,600 signatures on our petition two years ago. In order to register our support for the continued restoration of the Chesterfield Canal, we need another massive individual response this time. HS2 response Due to an omission by the Ordnance Survey (OS), there was a mistake with maps showing the Staveley infrastructure Maintenance Depot, that we issued in July as part of our public consultation outlining the proposed line of the route for HS2 Phase Two. The Staveley Town Basin was surveyed in March 2013 by the OS, but it was not included in the updated mapping they supplied HS2 Ltd in July. “OS have confirmed that the Staveley Town Basin will be included when the mapping is next reissued to customers in October. We encourage the Chesterfield Canal Trust to participate 13
In the public consultation, which runs until 31 January. Information gathered through the consultation will help infirm the decision on the final preferred route, which will include how the line traverses existing infrastructure—including canals. A statement was issued by OS which states that their revisions held in their large database were available in late March , too late for the April revision but should have been included in the July update. Unfortunately on this occasion the change was omitted from this release which was used by HS2, and should be included in the October update. As of November 4 there was still no evidence that these changes have been made.
CCT map showing the affected parts of the canal and Staveley Town Basin both of which will be gravely harmed or obliterated if HS2 cannot be persuaded to alter their plans.
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S&SYN WORKS UPDATE Several years ago we reported some safety work that needed to be carried out in the immediate area around Barnby Dun lift bridge. Some 15 metres of the angle iron that made up the edging on the Doncaster side of the bridge had come away from its anchor point. This was dangerous because the mooring bollards were welded to this steel work. If a boat had moored on the bollards at the end of the moorings wind or a passing boat could have bent the steelwork and ended up across the canal. Fortunately this did not happen although it was close run thing. There has been a ban on mooring on the other side of the bridge now for a couple of years due to towing path subsidence adjacent to one of the water points. This has caused a slight disturbance because there are two water taps at this point, although have seen boats moored in against the subsided towing path. Happily CRT and its contractors have now repaired both these faults and made the area safe to use again. I sometimes wonder though what would have happened if there had been an injury . Who would be at fault. Rarely it is up to the individual not to risk using these areas, there is also a need for CRT to repair damaged areas as soon as possible to reduce their liability.
Completed safety work at Barnby Dun
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BRANCH COMMITTEE OFFICERS CHAIRMAN Mavis Paul
116 Sandygate Road Sheffield Home 0114 268 3927 S10 5R Mob 07725 464611 email mavis.brian_paul@btinternet.com VICE CHAIRMAN & PLANNING Colin Crofts Staddlestones Home 01302 841619 South Bramwith Stainforth Doncaster DN7 5SJ email cjcrofts@btinternet.com TEASURER Pat Davies 212 Boundary Road Rawmarsh Home 01709 526725 Rotherham Mob 07977 113021 S62 6JN email patdav@fsmail.net BRANCH SECTRARY & K&C EDITOR Malcolm Fielding 1 Vicarage Way Arksey Home 01302 873127 Doncaster DN5 0TG email elliemalc@aol.com MEMBERSHIP John Bower Shaw 72 Norton Lees Crescent Sheffield Home 0114 258 2535 S8 8SR PUBLICITY Dave Scott 17 Bowshaw Avenue Batemoor Home 0114 273 5372 Sheffield Mob 07900 272 5327 email acp2004naburn@hotmail.com COMMITTEE MEMBER Mary Crofts Staddlestones Home 01302 841619 South Bramwith Stainforth Doncaster DN7 5SJ email cjcrofts@btinternet.com
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