MilePost200901

The Magazine of the West Riding Branch January 2009

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Contents Branch Chairman’s Musings .............................................................................3 Leeds Liverpool Canal Mileposts......................................................................6 Unveiling of the New Mile Post.......................................................................10 Bingley – Saltaire – Shipley Destination Delivery Plan..............................11 Branch Annual General Meeting.....................................................................12 North East Region Annual General Meeting...................................................13 Meet Your Committee......................................................................................14 Events...............................................................................................................15 News From Yorkshire Ouse and Ure Section..................................................16 First Year’s Training? To Be A Boatman........................................................18 Notes for Mile Post..........................................................................................21 Thanks..............................................................................................................21 ‘A Warm Welcome!’........................................................................................22 South Pennine Boat Club ................................................................................22 Letters...............................................................................................................23 Using a Wood-burning Stove on the Canals....................................................24 The Mile Post...................................................................................................25 Map showing location of meeting venue.........................................................26 Committee Members 2008 / 2009....................................................................27 Programme of Events for 2009........................................................................28

IWA Headquarters .

Registered Office The Inland Waterways Association Island House Moor Road CHESHAM HP5 1WA Telephone - 01494 783453 Web site www.waterways.org.uk NOTE: The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of The Inland Waterways Association or of The West Riding Branch. They are, however, published as being of interest to our members and readers.

Front cover.

One of the new mileposts which have been installed on the Leeds Liverpool canal. (see page 6) 2

Branch Chairman’s Musings from a Christmas Mooring in Worsley “Let’s just wander into the middle of the road for a bit. Cars might honk, just look confident and honk back.”

The line of Canada Geese caused traffic chaos, and the serene lack of concern for other road users gave me un-seasonal thoughts about BW and their million pounds on useless square bollards installed by most of the narrow locks in the Midlands.

It would be uncharitable to complain of HQ failing to followthrough their delegation to Regions, the need for ‘Health and Safety Professionals’ to understand canals and boating as it is, not consulting those who do know, and the political necessity of avoiding financial disasters in these recessionary times, particularly when the Government is reviewing all its capital assets and BW management is expecting them to give it a path to greater financial certainty and independence from the shortterm allocation of Government funding. Don’t even think about even-more-money going on making the bollards rounder…

But there are successes. We were moored on the Stourbridge Canal in September, just where it breached a week later; in just over 100 days, BW West Midlands completed £650,000 of repairs for a 19th December reopening, ahead of schedule.

IWA has made a grant of £5,000 towards a feasibility study into the restoration of the Uttoxeter Canal. Our objection to the Environment Agency selling Thames lock-keepers' cottages contributed to EA’s about-turn on the issue. Waterways Minis3

ter Huw Irranca-Davies visited the new Prescott Lock on Bow Back Rivers, and announced £2million to support environmentfriendly water freight in London; the new lock will be completed early in 2009 and provide access to the Olympic area for 350-tonne barges, taking hundreds of lorry journeys a week from local roads.

See http://www.britishwaterways.co.uk/olympics The Government-appointed Inland Waterways Advisory Council (IWAC) is chaired by John Edmonds, and he also chaired IWA’s conference of Waterway Societies in November: knowledge and interest in waterways is an essential attribute, which we now have from an able Waterways Minister and his leading civil service advisor, who is not just a bean-counter. John said that the update to the Government's 2001 strategy document 'Waterways for Tomorrow' is to seek input and commitment from across a number of departments; we have a Golden Age of Opportunity to get these strategic issues right and an opportunity to emphasise the wide scope of community benefits provided by waterways. In the Chancellor's Pre-Budget Report, BW is to have a £5million capital injection for network infrastructure brought forward a year to its April 2009 allocation.

Trevor Roberts, chair of the Bradford Motor Education Project, spoke to our December meeting about the joint project re-installing a number of missing mile posts on the Shipley to Bingley stretch of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal.

See http://tinyurl.com/LLposts (Also see page six of this magazine-Ed.) 4

Our own IWA reorganisation has continued to raise passions: the North-East region is now to expand to include a third branch, South Yorkshire and the Dukeries, and there is to be an election in Autumn 2009 for Regional Chairman, at which all members of our Region’s Branches may vote.

And those geese live on the Bridgewater Canal, which belongs not to BW, but the Manchester Ship Canal Company: that organisation slipped out of public control in a far-from-obvious privatisation by the Major Government in the early 1990s.

Worsley is always worth a visit; the path to the mines entrance is protected by a padlock owned by the Coal Authority, another obscure piece of public ownership.

See http://tinyurl.com/worsley Crunching through the ice today, let’s hope for 2009 as a less (credit-)crunching year.

Compliments of the Season Peter Scott

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Leeds Liverpool Canal Mileposts Over the years the mileposts which indicate the distance along the canal from Leeds or Liverpool have fallen into disrepair and in many instances have disappeared all together. In addition to the mileposts themselves there were also ½ and Ÿ milepost markers but you needed to remember the last milepost you have seen to know the exact distance from either end point of the canal. While not installed when the canals were first built they were added to help with the collection of tolls and were more recently used to identify locations where maintenance work was required. They are part of the heritage of the canal and for some time voluntary bodies involved with the Leeds Liverpool canal have been trying to restore the mile posts in the Yorkshire region. A project was carried out on the Apperley Bridge section a few years ago.

The latest project was initiated earlier this year when representatives met from British Waterways, Leeds-Liverpool Canal Society, the Bradford Motor Education Project (BMEP), and IWA West Riding Branch. It was agreed we would try and replace the Mileposts between Shipley and Bingley 5 Rise, some 5 miles involving 6 posts.

BMEP works with young people who are having difficulty within main stream education. It has a canal based activity operating under the name of Dreamweaver. This group has now received the necessary training and authority from British Waterways to carry out minor projects on the canal system. They carry out such activity as clearing rubbish and vegetations and also recently repainted the Micklethwaite swing bridge.

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This milepost project offered some additional opportunities for the young people and the Dreamweaver involvement was a practical way of taking this project forward.

The project was co-ordinated by Howard Tomlinson with trainees Tom, Josh and Kieran. Initially the young people surveyed the canal to establish what posts and plaques with mileage information would be required. Fortunately it was possible to source, from a BW store in Lancashire, a number of the basic posts which had been cast on an earlier project but no plaques or the patterns to make them could be found. To make the new patterns we were able to call on the expertise of Kevin Ratcliff and his team at CarnaudMetalbox, which is located by the canal in Shipley. The young people spent a week working with the CarnaudMetalbox staff in the pattern shop to produce the

Picture 1 - The patterns.

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new patterns. Patterns had to be made for the two different forms of plaque. One with the Leeds mileage and the second with Liverpool. Also, as each plaque requires a different mileage, each pattern had to be made such that the numbers could be easily changed at the casting stage. (see Picture 1)The patterns when completed were transferred to Leach & Thompson, a foundry in Keighley, where, using the patterns, 12 different plaques were cast

Picture 2 A party arriving for the unveiling ceremony on the Dreamweavers’ boat, Lady Rani. with the different required mileages.

The Dreamweaver team have then fixed the plaques to the posts and are in the process of installing the posts.

The first post was installed and unveiled on Dockfield Road, close to the railway bridge 209A on the 23rd October. Over 20 people, representing the parties involved and the local council, enjoyed a journey along the canal from 8

Picture 3. The unveiling by Mike Clarke. the Dreamweaver base at Shipley Wharf to the installation site.(see picture 2) The unveiling of the first reinstated post was carried out by Mike Clarke of the Leeds Liverpool Canal Society. (see Picture 3) Cash funding for the project was required to cover the cost of the new plaques and the expenses of the Dreamweaver team. IWA were able to provide the funds from donations made to it for use in improving the canal. Without this funding this project would not have happened but the enthusiasm of the Dreamweaver team and the support from local companies was also key to seeing the reintroduction of these mileposts. As a result of this success we are considering providing further funds to extend this work next year.

By William Jowitt 9

Unveiling of the New Mile Post

L to R - Mike Clarke, Howard Tomlinson, Kieran White, Josh Crompton, Tom Deangelis, William Jowitt, Peter Scott and Trevor Roberts.

Kieran, Josh and Tom, the trainees from Dreamweavers, with Kevin and Steven from CarnaudMetalbox.

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Bingley – Saltaire – Shipley Destination Delivery Plan.

British Waterways has chosen a stretch of the Leeds- Liverpool Canal, from Micklethwaite Swing Bridge in Bingley to Dock Swing Bridge in Shipley, for a project known as the Bingley, Saltaire, and Shipley Destination Delivery Plan. British Waterways hope that the project will open up the canal as a leisure, recreation, tourism and educational resource.

A BW ‘destination’ is a ‘hot spot’ on the network which draws visitors or has the potential to draw visitors. Each of the areas of the destination has its own character and draws visitors for various reasons.

Bingley attracts visitors to the historic Five Rise and Three Rise staircase locks. One of the proposals is to rebuild the Three Rise Lock Cottage to provide a heritage and interpretation centre to explain the role played by the canal in the region’s history. A heritage lottery bid has been applied for in order to fund the proposals.

The World Heritage Site of Saltaire receives many tourists and daytrippers attracted to the heritage of the area and the visitor attractions in Salt’s Mill. Although the canal runs so close to the mill, visitors are not presently encouraged to make use of it.

A waterbus which ran along the canal until 2001 may be brought back to ferry passengers between Shipley Wharf and Three Rise Locks.

Another proposal is for additional moorings in Shipley, Saltaire and above Five Rise Locks to encourage boaters to stay longer in the area.

The Inland Waterways Association, Leeds and Liverpool Canal Society, Craven Cruising Club and many other local organisations have been involved in the discussions about the project with British Waterways.

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Branch Annual General Meeting The Annual General Meeting of the West Riding Branch of the Inland Waterways Association will take place on Friday, 13th March 2009, commencing at 8.00pm, in the Social Club on the top floor of Centenary House, North Street, Leeds.

Nominations in writing for the Branch Committee must reach the Secretary, Mr Ian Moore, 2 Eric Street, Leeds, LS13 1ET not later than first post Tuesday, 10th March 2009. New members are needed to strengthen the committee.

AGENDA 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

Apologies for absence.

Approval of minutes of the previous AGM. Matters arising from the minutes.

Chairman’s Report.

Secretary’s Report.

Treasurer’s Report.

Any business notified to the Chairman * Election of committee.

* Note any member of the branch may propose business to appear on the agenda of an AGM of their branch, provided that the branch chairman is notified in writing of the item at least six weeks prior to the AGM. Any business not on the agenda for an AGM may, at the discretion of the chairman of the meeting, be discussed at the AGM but no decisions may be made.

After the AGM it has been the practice in the past for members to present a slide show. These occasions are usually most enjoyable. If you have any slides you would like to bring, please do, so that we can all enjoy them.

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North East Region Annual General Meeting The Annual General Meeting of the North East Region of the Inland Waterways Association will take place on Tuesday, 21st April 2009. The venue is Bay Horse Public House, Marygate, York. at 7.30pm. Parking is available at Marygate pay and display car park (the pub is on the right near the river end of the car park).

Light refreshments will be available at the bar.

Nominations in writing for the Regional Committee must reach the Secretary, Mr David Swabey, 18 Skottowe Drive, Great Ayton, Middlesborough, TS9 6DR by the first post on Tuesday, 7th April 2009. All nominations must be signed by the proposer and seconder and contain the consent of the nominee.

New members are always welcome.

A G E N DA 1. Apologies for absence.

2. Minutes of last AGM held on 22nd April 2008 3. Matters arising from the minutes.

4. Chairman’s Report.

5. Secretary’s Report.

6. Treasurer’s Report & presentation of Accounts.

7. Any business notified to the Chairman * 8. Election of committee. * Note any member of any branch within the Region may propose business to appear on the agenda of an AGM of their Region, provided that the Region Chairman is notified in writing of the item at least six weeks prior to the AGM.

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Meet Your Committee Liz Pinder Minutes Secretary Husband Chris introduced me to the canals over 30 years ago. We’ve been West Riding Branch members for about 28 years and this is the second time I’ve served on the committee. My enjoyment of the peace, quiet and history of the waterway environment has increased over the years, whether we are walking, boating or cycling along.

We’ve attended lots of Waterway Festivals including every National since 1989, only missing 2008 to attend our son’s wedding! I read Rosie and Jim stories to the 4 Year olds I work with, I’ve knitted several sets of Rosie and Jim dolls for raffle prizes, make waterway related cards and have started tying knots and made my own Tiller Tassel and next year hope to walk the length of the Caledonian Canal.

We’ve met lots of friendly, interesting and knowledgeable people through our involvement with the waterways and do our best to pass on our enthusiasm for the waterways to others.

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EVENTS This listing only covers events that we were aware of when it was compiled. If further details are required on an event please refer to the contact information below.

For further details of Leeds & Liverpool Canal Society events see website www.llcs.org.uk/. Or for information about society walks contact Mike Hustler on: 01282 816476 or 07929 915487.

Saturday 28th February 2009 Leeds & Liverpool Canal Society tour of canal sites by train. Meet outside the ticket barrier at Leeds Station at 9.30am after buying a West Yorkshire Rover ticket, currently ÂŁ5.00 per person or ÂŁ8.50 for two for a day, for a visit to as many canal sites as possible by train in the West Yorkshire area, returning to Leeds circa 6.00pm. You could leave earlier if necessary using your Rover ticket.

There will be a lunch stop at a suitable pub.

Thursday 5th March 2009 Leeds & Liverpool Canal Society.

Talk by Mike Clarke on water supply to the canal for Upper Wharfdale Heritage Group at 28 Otley Street, Skipton.

Spring Bank Holiday 23rd - 25th May 2009 - IWA National Campaign Festival at Kiveton Park, near Rotherham, on the summit level of the Chesterfield Canal. Jointly organised by IWA together with the Chesterfield Canal Trust, The Chesterfield Canal Partnership, and the Retford & Worksop Boat Club.

For further information please contact: Martin Bloomfield, Chesterfield Canal Trust 0114 229 5355 secretary@chesterfield-canal-trust.org.uk.

Or go to festival web site : www.kiveton2009.com.

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News From Yorkshire Ouse and Ure Section MANY THANKS. First of all, I would like to thank all those people who have helped the Yorkshire Ouse Section throughout 2008. A difficult year for many people. Not least because of the wet Summer, leading to high water levels on the River Ouse and the River Fosse. We only had two craft go through Castle Mills Lock in York.

OPEN MEETING. The Yorkshire Ouse Section of the IWA is holding an open meeting on Tuesday 3rd March 2009 at 7.00pm.The venue is St Olave’s Church Hall, Marygate Lane, York. The speaker is Adrian Lovett who will talk about horse drawn narrowboats.

CASTLE MILLS LOCK, YORK. We have taken the decision to provide a service all the year round, though during the Winter months the booking system changes, so that four days' notice is needed. Whilst on the subject of the Castle Mills Lock, please note the change of contact telephone number: tel.no. 07588-236-597.

The e-mail and postal addresses remain as: amartin_assoc@yahoo.co.uk 69, Clarence Street, York, YO31 7EL. BOATERS' WEEKEND - APRIL 2009.

We plan to hold a weekend for boaters next April (2009). This will include guided tours round York and an evening's entertainment with York's only poet, Adrian Spendlow, followed by an 'Open Mike Evening'.

Both at the Minster Inn. There is also a couple of interesting talks on the Saturday morning at St Olaves Church Hall by Rev John Lee on sailing the Atlantic and by Adrian Lovett on the joys of owning, and cruising in, a horse drawn narrowboat.

There will be an Evensong at St Olave's Church on the Sunday evening.

The dates are Friday 24th April to Sunday 26th April 2009. For more 16

information, please contact the new number or e-mail the above address.

OPEN MEETING AT RIPON MOTOR BOAT CLUB. On September 11th, we held a successful open meeting at Ripon Motorboat Club. This was kindly organised by Mel Bland and the ladies of the boatclub very kindly put on a buffet. John Reeve, the NE Region Chair, gave a talk on the restoration of The Ripon Canal. Many of the people at that meeting were involved in the campaign and successful restoration, of which John was a leading light.

An officer of British Waterways had been invited to give a talk about his work. Martin Walton had agreed to do this, but became ill and was away from work for some time. However, the 'Questions for BW' session was held as arranged, and answers were, eventually, conveyed back to the members by way of Mel Bland.

I attended the recent Users' Group Meeting at the BW HQ in Leeds with David Meigh of York City Council.

This reminds me that we are soon to be the owners of two new life jackets with the help of a small grant from York City Council. For the use of the two person crew that is needed to operate Castle Mills Lock successfully.

Now, does anyone know of a reasonably priced supply of two-way radios?

Many thanks, again.

Tony Martin, Chair of Ouse/Ure Corridor Section of the Inland Waterways Association (IWA) in North Yorkshire.

Please use this e-mail address if interested in booking a passage through Castle Mills Lock, York. amartin_assoc@yahoo.co.uk Two days' notice is needed. OR telephone: 07588-236-597. 24 hour voice messaging service.

Please leave your name, mobile number, name of boat and proposed date of passage. Thank you.

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First Year’s Training? To Be A Boatman.

Part One. Had I been a brewer’s love child, on leaving school at fifteen years old, I would have wanted to be a boatman.

At this time, in the early 1950s I reckon that freight carrying was at its peak on the Aire and Calder Navigation. Keels were being engined by this time, but by night and day tugs towed long strings of dumb barges between Goole and Leeds, many of which belonged to The Docks and Inland Waterways Board, the forerunner of British Waterways. On some of these dumb barges women served as crew members, but they were the first and last barges I saw with women aboard, because when I came out of the army in late 1956, both tugs and barges had disappeared from the waterways.

Hopelessly under-powered steam tugs, which were also wheelhouse less, the steerer exposed to the elements, as was the engineer who stood on the deck behind him manning the set of huge levers, with which, on the steerer’s instructions, he could change gear or control the engine’s revolutions. These tugs towed their ungainly trains of nineteen compartment boats, to give them their proper name, to a lot of pits in West Yorkshire, and to a lesser degree in South Yorkshire, where they would be loaded with coal for trans-shipment into coasters on their return to Goole. To make towing these compartments easier when loaded, each train had a short section of what looked like the bows of a barge. Named a Jabus, it was placed in front of the first loaded compartment and broke the tugs backwater before it could hit the flat end of the aforementioned compartment. With the compartments empty, (light) the Jabus was pushed along in front of the tug.

These compartment trains or Tom Puddings, must not be confused with the push/tow trains which were not introduced until the mid 1960s to bring coal from the local pits to Ferrybridge C Power Station.

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At the time, apart from the fleet of tankers owned and operated by John Harker Limited, Whittakers and Cooks also ran fleets of tankers and Shell and Esso also had a tanker or two. Lots of other barges passed through Knottingley carrying a variety of cargoes further inland. But of all the boats to be seen, only the long tankers of John Harker excited my interest. And so with the help of one of the skippers who knew my father and told us when the company would be employing a new lad, I applied and was given a job. However fifteen year old lads were not allowed aboard tankers, so I spent the first year of my working life as office boy at Harker House at Knottingley, the main office of the Lyon and Lyon group of companies. This procedure had been in place for a few years before my turn, and continued for several years after, the young men going on to crew the ever expanding fleet of John Harker’s tankers.

I make no apology for what I have written as, what shall we call it, an introduction perhaps, I have tried to give the reader a picture of the world of a very busy working canal. A world I joined in the summer of 1952.

It was time to go to the infamous training boat, the Lincoln.

The skipper on the whole was surly, uncommunicative and verbally abusive. I was usually addressed by a good old Anglo-Saxon four letter word. The engineer, starters and stoppers, they were called, was as fly as a wagon load of monkeys. Even though he was getting part of my pay, short-hand money they called it, he never lifted a finger to help me or gave me a word of advice. Looking back I do not think he could have given me any advice with regard to boating anyway. A further word on this so called short-hand money. With a lad aboard Lincoln, the wage that would have normally been paid to a qualified mate, was split three ways, the office kept a third, a third was shared between the skipper and engineer, the remaining third went to the lad, who did all the menial jobs on board despite this unfair pay system.

I have long since forgotten Lincoln’s dimensions, but she was long and narrow and even when loaded had not such a deep draught. This made her very fast, as boats go, it also made her as wick as an eel. Lincoln’s main job was to load tar at York Gas Works, to be discharged at Knottingley 19

Chemical Works, but her length prevented her from using Bank Dole Lock and therefore all the other locks on the Selby Canal. So we had to go to Goole to pen out onto the Ouse. This long way round put hours on us doing the round trip.

We also picked up the occasional load at the small works that used to exist on the north bank of the Aire and Calder just below New Bridge, this too was discharged at Knottingley. Another much less frequent job was, along with several other tankers, we would load at Knottingley Tar Works, our cargoes to be trans-shipped at Goole into a coastal tanker for discharge on the Continent. Once discharged after such a job Lincoln would leave for York regardless of what time the tide was. If leaving Goole in the dark, I would be told that the mast would need to be lowered several times on our run up the Ouse for our passage under bridges. I was not told when, and before I got the hang of it after a couple of trips, I was left standing on the forward deck for hours watching for the red warning light as we approached one of the four bridges between Goole and Naburn. The only break I got was when a shout from the wheel-house told me, in colourful language, that tea was required for both the skipper and the engineer, who would be keeping the skipper company. Both of whom would be smoking countless cigarettes, usually bought cheap off the ship we had recently left.

Arriving at the outskirts of York, Lincoln left the Ouse and entered the River Foss under the small blue bridge on the right of the river. Once up Castle Lock, and now with the wheel-box down to get under the low road bridges, we nosed slowly up the narrow Foss until we came to a fork in the river. The point of this fork was formed by a huge building that was then a warehouse for Rowntrees, the chocolate makers. Let into recesses in the building’s lower walls were big iron hooks, used for mooring the boats that used the warehouse.

By Ken Burden.

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Notes for Mile Post We are starting to look for people to give talks at our meetings for 2009/10. We start the season in excellent style with 'Get Outdoors and Dirty'! by Helen Gardner.

So put Friday 11th September 2009 in your diaries.

If you have any suggestions or requests for the return of your favourite speaker please let Katy and Alastair Sayles know as soon as possible on 0113 393 4517 or kandal@btinternet.com.

Ellen and Ailsa Sayles have collected enough stamps for 1 large envelope and box to be sent off to the WRG this year. Many thanks for everyone who has helped us.

Please keep collecting. *********************************

Thanks.

On behalf of the committee and branch members , we would like to give a big thank you to William Jowitt, our treasurer, for all the hard work he has done in helping to get the Leeds and Liverpool Canal Milepost Project up and running. *******************************

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‘A Warm Welcome!’

The West Riding Branch extends a warm welcome to members who have joined us since the last Mile Post. As this includes all the members who have joined us from Northumbria Branch there are rather too many to name individually. We look forward to meeting you or hearing from you.

******************************* 5th

South Pennine Boat Club Boat Club Rally & Open Day Saturday May 9th 2009

South Pennine Boat Club, Halfpenny Bridge, Wood Lane, Battyeford MIRFIELD, West Yorkshire, WF14 0ED 01924-491320 Battyeford Lock – Calder & Hebble Navigation On Saturday 9th May 2009, the South Pennine Boat Club will be opening its gates to the general public, between the hours of 11am and 5pm, with many activities including Games, Side Stalls, Brass Band, Duck Race and Boat Rides with a Boating Exhibition and a Chandlery to name just a few.

A Children’s entertainer will also be available and various activities, including Drum Majorettes will be performing in the main Arena throughout the day. Food and drink will also be available, making it a fun day out for all the family Canal & River Boaters are also welcome to come and stay with us for the Weekend, when they will be able to join in the “Best Dressed Boat” Competition and with the entertainment organised for the evenings of Friday 8th and Saturday 9th, finishing off with a Breakfast on the morning of Sunday 10th May. Please contact the Mooring Officer, Mike Fretwell, as soon as possible, for a mooring booking form on 07810 582799 or email mooring@southpennineboatclub.co.uk.

Further details and contacts can be found on the SPBC club web site at www.southpennineboatclub.co.uk 22

Letters 8th Dec 08 Dear Peter, Following the demise of Northumbria Branch, there are some exmembers who wish to keep in touch at a local level. As most of our ex-members are now in East Yorkshire or West Riding Branches, I would be pleased if you could put a note in your Branch Newsletter to the effect that we hope to organise some social events locally, on an informal basis. Anyone interested should contact me, Fred Stearman, 01642 559565, and I will be pleased to keep them informed of what is going on.

Best Wishes for Christmas, Fred. (Stearman) ******************************** Dear Editors, I was intrigued to read in Mark Andrew's article on his family history of one John Rothery being master of the barge "BENDLES" at Knottingley.

The name Bendles is used by us freight barge skippers to refer to the stretch between Cow Lane and Jackson's Bridges, Knottingley.

Entering "Knottingley" in the search engine on my computer produced a historical site, where "Bendles" was defined as (i) A clay area between Racca Green and the river in Knottingley. (ii) The name of a House in that area, which eventually became absorbed into Bagley's Glassworks, and (iii) The name of a Ropewalk in the same area.

Best wishes, Geoff Wheat

(m.b. FUSEDALE H).

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USING A WOOD-BURNING STOVE ON THE CANALS Let’s be honest, if you live in a metal box surrounded by water in the depth of winter you are going to need to keep warm, and a huge number of boat owners choose to use wood burning stoves.

It makes sense after all, wood is an environmentally friendly fuel, it only returns the CO2 to the atmosphere that the tree absorbed when it was growing, it is completely renewable and if more trees were planted to provide fuel they would absorb more of this greenhouse gas. Best of all, it is often there for the taking and is therefore a free fuel; there are those amongst us that cannot afford to heat our boats by electricity or by smokeless fuel, which are the two obvious alternatives.

Our boat has been moored at its present mooring for at least five years, and in all of that time it has had two wood burning stoves on board. We use well- seasoned timber in our Morso Squirrel, as did the boat’s previous owner. We reduced the stoves to a single Morso this year to make it more efficient and economic, and have thereby reduced by half the smoke emissions from our boat.

All was well and good until one dissatisfied person complained first to BW and then to the Council about smoke. But they never spoke to us first. We all live in a smokeless zone about eight miles from the city centre. I contacted the Council before any of this came to light to ask if our village was within the smokeless zone and they confirmed that it was, but without prompting added that "vessels on the inland waterways are exempt from the Clean Air Act".

(Section 44 Clean Air Act 1999) One day recently, two inspectors from Environmental Health arrived and mentioned that there had been complaints about smoke from several of the moored boats. I pointed out that our wellseasoned wood did not smoke once properly alight and that anyway I had been told by their colleague that vessels were 24

exempt. With that information, which they confessed to being unaware of, they departed. One of my neighbours has now received a telephone call saying that a complainant said "smoke had been in his property" and that the Council were now going to enforce the Clean Air Act on the five or six residents moored on our stretch of the canal. The Council have also said that they have a "whole range of legislation" that they can use, particularly the Environment Act 1995 but that there is also other Public Health legislation waiting in the wings. According to my neighbour they are being "quite firm" in their dealings with us.

My initial instinct is to fight, I feel that with a huge number of residential boaters on the Canals, any ruling here could affect all residential boaters; indeed any boat owner who chooses to light a stove whilst moored or travelling along the canals of Britain.

Do you know of any earlier cases which may have a bearing on my case?

Thanks for your help, Chris.

[Ed - Any comments, information or similar experiences to the Editors please]

******************** The Mile Post.

Is there anyone out there who could help the branch by writing something for inclusion in the Milepost. Have you been on an interesting boating trip? Tell us about it.. Is there something waterways related you feel strongly about? Write us a letter about it..

Any amusing stories? Tell us all! E-mail us at boblaing@blueyonder.co.uk , hand it to one of us, or post it to any committee member before the end of April. We look forward to hearing from you.

We would like to give a big thank-you to all the people who have already sent us articles for inclusion in the Mile Post.

You have made our job much easier and our magazine more interesting.

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Map showing location of meeting venue Centenary House, North Street, Leeds LS2 8AY 26

Committee Members 2008 / 2009 Chairman Peter Scott 3 Moorbank Drive Sheffield S10 5TH Home 0114 230 1870

Mile Post Editor Tricia Laing 25 Bankfield Road Shipley BD18 4AJ Home 01274 581800

Secretary Ian Moore 2 Eric Street, Bramley Leeds. LS13 1ET Mobile 07989 112581 E-mail westriding@waterways.org.uk

Committee member Elliott Mosley 23 Glenholm Road Baildon Shipley BD17 5QB Home 01274 581413

Treasurer William Jowitt Oak Lodge 1 Oakridge Court Bingley BD16 4 TA Home 01274 567950 Membership Secretary Chris Pinder 152 High Street Yeadon Leeds LS19 7AB Home 01132 509371 Minutes Secretary Liz Pinder 152 High Street Yeadon Leeds LS19 7AB Home 01132 509371 Mile Post Editor Bob Laing 25 Bankfield Road Shipley BD18 4AJ Home 01274 581800 E-mail boblaing@blueyonder.co.uk

Web Editor Elaine Scott 3 Moorbank Drive Sheffield S10 5TH Home 0114 230 1870 Non Committee Posts Meeting Co-ordinators Katie & Alastair Sayles Home 0113 393 4517 E-mail: kandal@btinternet.com Telephone contact Alistair Furniss Home 0113 253 9401 Regional Chairman John Reeve 10 Perth Grove Stockton-on-Tees Cleveland TS18 5BF Home 01642 580350

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Programme of Events for 2009.

All meetings take place at 8.00pm on the second Friday of the month, in the top floor Social Club, Centenary House, North Street, Leeds, LS2 8AY.

13th February 09

Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal

by John Fletcher

13th March 09

AGM

3rd April 09 (note -1st Friday of the month!)

Waterway Engineering

by Laurence Morgan

11th September 09

'Get Outdoors and Dirty'!

by Helen Gardner.

Talks arranged by Alastair and Katy Sayles, 32 Pymont Drive, Woodlesford, Leeds LS26 8WA. Tel 0113 393 4517 Email: kandal@btinternet.com

All the meetings organised by the West Riding Branch are open and everyone is invited. Any member of the general public is allowed to attend and members are invited to bring friends.

The Inland Waterways Association campaigns for the Conservation, Use, Maintenance, Restoration and Development of the Inland Waterways, which are part of our heritage, and are there for the benefit of everyone.

For further information please contact 01274-581413

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