Three Leeds and Liverpool short boats, Kennet, Ribble and Wye, lead the bicentenary flotilla across the Pennines. More pictures inside.
November 2016 West Riding Branch
Contents Chairman’s Thoughts 3 Leeds and Liverpool Bicentenary - Freight across the Pennines 4 Leeds and Liverpool Bicentenary - Every Mile Counts 6 Leeds and Liverpool Bicentenary - Recreation of the Inaugural Voyage 7 Meditation of a Regional Chairman 16 The State of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal 22 Awards given this year for work in 2015 25 Not quite in our patch - but with connections (see Milepost May 2014) 26 Members Comments 28 IWA Responds to CRT Above Inflation Increase on Boat Licence Fee 30 People who help run the Branch 2016/ 2017 31 Open Meetings 32
The Sayles afloat at Pelsall IWA Festival of Water where they got a special mention for their rowing boat, Asterix, (home mooring Leeds, garage,) entry in the illuminated boats.
Please make sure we have your correct contact details If you don't get an email notification of the meetings, we haven’t got your details. Please give Tracy at Island House the correct details. Tracy.Higgin@waterways.org.uk Front Cover —
Peter Scott 2
Chairman’s Thoughts Greetings all. I hope you have enjoyed the summer and spent plenty of time enjoying the waterways. We certainly have, The climax to our boating year (and the reason that this edition is a bit later than usual) was being part of the flotilla that followed Kennet across the Leeds and Liverpool Canal recreating the inaugural voyage in 1816. the turnout of local people along the way to greet us was wonderful with flags and bells along the way. More on pages 6-19 and on the internet on various websites. This issue includes issues and comments from several members. Thank you all very much. I would daw your attention to the report on page 30 on the increase in licence fees. Any comments? Whilst attending the celebrations that greeted the flotilla in Blackburn I was to be introduced to Ian Rogers, CRT’s Director of Customer Services and Operations. We had a sensible discussion of various points. He intends to hold meetings around the country on boats to experience for himself some of the problems that boaters report . Naturally he has my full approval for this idea. He also invited me to report any general problems about the system to him. I am not sure if he realised what a large document this will be, after all we do cover a lot of the system during the year. I will be taking him up on his offer, so any general comments, like those from Chris and Liz Pinder, page 30, are very welcome. More specific problems can be raised with the appropriate local Operations Manager. There is a programme for meetings for 2016/17 due to the efforts of Ian Moore and David Lowe who each have organised a speaker. If each member can arrange one meeting, at three meetings a year the programme will be full for many years! Any volunteers, please contact any member of the committee. Don’t forget you can always arrange a venue near your home for a change.
Elaine Scott West Riding Branch Chairman
An interesting web site about boating history - only look with plenty of time to spare “We have a website www.spellweaver-online.co.uk My family worked on the canals in the Midlands as boatmen, and I have been collecting newspaper articles about boatmen and their way of life. It seemed to me that there was very little available on this subject online, and boatman ancestors are notoriously difficult to trace for anyone interested in family history. Angela Moorefield “
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Leeds and Liverpool Bicentenary - Freight across the Pennines To mark the Bi-Centenary year of the completion of the Leeds & Liverpool Canal, David and Margaret Poole, owners of the 1934 built Leeds & Liverpool short boat ‘Ribble’ got together with various parties to organise a demonstration ‘cargo’ run across the canal. The object was so that people would get the chance to see what a loaded short boat looks like - a sight once commonplace, but not seen on the Leeds & Liverpool canal for over 30 years. In David Poole's words it would bring joy to those who knew what they were looking at (and education to those who didn’t), and also it would be a fitting tribute to all those who built and worked on the canal; at a purely practical level it would be a good test of the extensive dredging work that has been done recently on the L&L.
Arrangements for the cargo and the loading were made through the Commercial Boat Operators Association and 32 tonnes of sand (in 1 tonne bags) was donated by CBOA member AC Marine Aggregates Ltd, and loaded on to ‘Ribble in Goole Docks by North West Trading Ltd at no cost on 21st September, with assistance and advice from Humber Barges Ltd. The Maritime and Coastguard Agency gave the trip its blessing, categorised it as a 'pleasure trip' and the sand could be classed as 'ballast' commonplace on the narrow canals. The Canal & River Trust (NW waterway) supported the project as did the Trust’s N E Partnership – and the sand will be donated to the Trust at the end of the voyage. This was the first load of sand to taken up the Aire & Calder Navigation for three years but while Ribble’s voyage is not a true commercial cargo, resumption of sand deliveries to Leeds is expected later this year. ‘Ribble’ was the first loaded short boat to traverse the Leeds & Liverpool eastern end since 1982, and the first across the summit since September 1978 when short boat ‘Weaver’ crossed from Selby to Manchester with a load of fish meal. In terms of draft - 'Ribble' was 3 ft 2 in aft and about 2 ft 10 in forward on loading, but the damp sand dried out, and by Gargrave the draft aft was down to just over 3 ft. These metal
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boats could carry 50 tonnes on 4 ft (though the last three carried up to 55 tonnes for the same draft). Apollo Canal Carriers Ltd was carrying 55 tonne loads in 'Everton' between Esholt and Leeds/Goole in the late 1970s, bringing 50 tonne loads of aggregate up to Shipley until 1982 with little trouble, and in earlier days 45 tonne loads of grain (3 ft 9 in draft) between Liverpool and Manchester in the 1970s. 40 tonnes over the summit was about the limit by the late 1970s. There were few problems draft wise on the eastern side. Offside foliage through Calverley woods pushed 'Ribble' into the mud, which coupled with heavy weeding, made for difficult progress, and near Gargrave a sudden and unexpected shoal (near where dredgings had been unloaded) pushed 'Ribble' into the path of an incoming boat, fortunately with no damage other than embarrassment. For much of the way it was difficult to find a proper channel, but if carrying resumed I'm sure one would return. Like many UK waterways much of the canal (especially where recently dredged) is probably better in terms of depth than in the 1970s but some parts are not as good. There were no bridge hole problems at all, but exit from the western end of Foulridge tunnel was difficult due to silting. Back in the 1970s when I was operating loaded boats on the L&L the main problem was that it was never possible to be sure whether the long pools in Lancashire would be full - and as they usually weren't that was the reason for the problem if over 3 ft 6 in. In Yorkshire the pounds were fine and BW did actually put weir boards back on the byewashes some of which remain today (as at Field Locks) though the pound from Hirst Wood to Dowley Gap is now maintained as it was previously with the weir boards removed - that said it wasn't a problem. I steered from Field Locks to Gargrave and it was wonderful to be back on a loaded short boat through my old 'stamping ground'. I cannot praise David and Margaret Poole enough for their enterprise and kindness. David Lowe
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Leeds and Liverpool Bicentenary - Every Mile Counts
An update on the Bicentenary Milepost Restoration Project An initial survey highlighted: 32 Missing or severely damaged Mileposts 80 Missing or severely damaged Distance Plates 33 missing ½ mile & 85 missing ¼ posts Additional posts buried needing excavation The majority of the work painting and installing new posts has been undertaken by volunteers with support from the operations teams across the Leeds & Liverpool canal. Project progress 80% of the painting has been completed 24 New mileposts have been installed – the remaining have been planned for installation and should be complete by December 2 new ¼ milepost has been installed 2 original posts have been reclaimed/ discovered and will be reinstated Additional surveying and investigation has discovered 12 buried/hidden ¼ and ½ posts not identified in in the initial survey. The IWA is sponsoring four posts: Post 1 (Liverpool) – This has been delayed due to a large high pressure gas main being located under it’s intended location. Post 34 ¾ (Wigan) - Due to be installed by staff on 09.11.16 Post 56 (Blackburn) – Installed by volunteers Post 127 - It is planned to remove the Leeds plate take it away, paint it indoors to make sure that it matches the new quarter plate then replace both plates. Our Branch is sponsoring this work. Volunteer groups that have worked with include: Cookson’s canal action team, Maghull in Bloom, Barnoldswick in Bloom, Scarisbrick marina, Thwaites’ brewery, Towpath Taskforce volunteers in Sefton, Wigan, Blackburn, Burnley & Skipton, U3A- Aintree, Princes Trust Blackburn, Volunteer Lock Keepers, and J.A.M.E.S group Alice Kay EveryMileCounts Project Officer
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Leeds and Liverpool Bicentenary - Recreation of the Inaugural Voyage On Saturday 15 October 2016 the Leeds and Liverpool short boat Kennet set out from Leeds to lead a flotilla of boats across the Leeds and Liverpool Canal in a recreation of the inaugural voyage in October 1816. The boats were sent of and greeted by civic dignitaries, school children and the ringing of bells as occurred in 1816, but the firing of guns was less in evidence. Despite having a following of up to 13 boats, which altered day to day and included three historic short boats, Kennet arrived on time in Liverpool. The only real delay was the arrival in Silsden, caused by a power cut preventing the opening of a swing bridge. Despite being dark and wet the citizens of Silsden lined their back gardens to welcome the convoy, and got up early next morning to wish the convoy well.
The IWA West Riding Branch and North Eastern Region were represented by the Branch and Region Chairmen on nb Copperkins from Leeds to Blackburn and then on nb Andante from Netherton to Eldonian Village
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Leaving Leeds …...
Kennet’s crew and dignatories
Starting off
Approaching Office Lock
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...On the way ...
Bunting and banner on Copperkins
Alan Holden on his replica tug Anna who stayed with the flotilla the whole way. Alan worked for Canal Transport to the end of commercial carrying over the main line of the L&LC, and then went to work for the Bridgewater Department on the Kelloggs traffic, amongst others.
Lizzy Jane - “tailend Charlie� for the trip 9
Schools
Whole schools turned out to greet Kennet - 200 at Ostwaldtwisttle West End Primary School, 20 at Greenberfeild.
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People
Alan Holden and Anna
Sue Day and horse Bilbo giving horeboating demonstrations on the length of the water above Oddy Locks with the horse baot Elland.
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Art on the way
Knitting and crochet in Leeds
Stephen Turner’s Exbury Egg in Burnley. A temporary, energy efficient, self-sustaining work space,
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Wednesday 19 October - Celebration dinner In keeping with the spirit of the event CRT hosted a celebration dinner to celebrate the occasion. This was a black tie event attended by members of the organisations involved in the organisation of the event, Friends of Kennet, Leeds and Liverpool Canal Society, IWA and Canal and River Trust.
This was a great occasion, with Ian Macmillan, the Barnsley poet, as a very entertaining compère. After the meal the special Bicentenary awards were presented, 1. Natural Environment - Sefton Towpath Taskforce (Merseyside) 2. Culture, Education and Learning - JAMES Group (Bingley) 3. Heritage - Historic Short Boat Kennet (Leeds & Liverpool Canal Society) (Sponsored by the IWA, presented by Audrey Smith and Elaine Scott) 4. Young Volunteer of the Year (under 25 years) - Dylan Manning (Burnley) (Sponsored by the IWA, presented by Les Etheridge and Wendy Humphries) 5. Volunteer of the Year - Les Dundon (Sefton) 6. Enterprise - Pennine Cruisers (Skipton) 7. Outstanding Contribution (Waterway Manager’s award) – the Leeds & Liverpool Canal Society 8. Waterway Partnership Chair’s Award - IWA National Campaign Festival at Eldonian Village 2016
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….Still going...
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….Liverpool at last
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Meditation of a Regional Chairman It's a reflective mood here, after completing the West Riding part of the Leeds and Liverpool bicentenary flotilla, continuing to Blackburn in our boat Copperkins, and later hitching a ride for the last few miles into Liverpool on nbAndante. I was invited to a meeting to work on why our IWA branches across the country are weakening, and what we should do about it. At the national AGM I outlined to the eighty members in attendance, a possible way forward: the AGM, with the support of another hundred-odd members voting by proxy (see June 2016 Milepost "Time to Decide"), overwhelmingly endorsed the Trustees' proposal to give us the Trustees the responsibility to decide on our subscription rates without necessarily proposing resolutions to future AGMs. The other 98% of our members didn't express an opinion. In explaining the new rules, I said we could recognise that we are all becoming older, and that if our subscription was about the same as the six pounds per month that Canal and River Trust ask of their 'Friends', IWA could employ more staff to lead the campaigning that makes us the campaigning organisation that we always have been. It's hard to know whether our 98% of members would support a new approach. That meeting was proposed to run alongside another which looks at Navigation issues across our waterways. In my reflective mood, it's understanding and supporting Navigation that is my priority and personal incentive to volunteer my time to the IWA, and to the Canal and River Trust. I'm not particularly enthusiastic about "standing-in-muddy-fields" with the Branch display stand while talking to passers-by, and I'm hopeless at persuading them complete a membership form. The standing-on-the-stand isn't too bad, it's the time carting it about, setting it up, taking it down, and dedicating a room-in-the-house to IWA 'stuff', which is increasingly irksome. The balance of advantage - and it may be old age coming on - has shifted to preferring a quieter life ... ... with more Navigation in it, at least until that old age and infirmity makes it all too hard, when I can retire to my armchair to classify those half a million images of the Waterways that have accumulated from those forty thousand miles of navigation over (hopefully) fifty years. That's all too maudlin, perhaps? Anyway, the relevant point is that the expertise I have, and any useful future contribution to the Waterways, comes from those annual thousand miles (two thousand in 2015) of seeing t'cut from t'middle. And also having experienced waterways across the network when speaking with navigation authorities who see 'their bit' and who think of the Grand Union as a world away. Like the best canal trips, in circular fashion let's return to the starting point: the bicentenary flotilla, bringing our narrowboat from the Midlands to be part of it, and the Navigation Campaign issues that happened along the way. Our planning began a year ago with a sketch of which weeks to use, with the potentially tricky question of the November 2016 Stoppage Programme and no information that early on where stoppages might be. As the flotilla was planned to cross the Pennines westwards on the Leeds and Liverpool, we signed up our regular navigational co-conspirators for an eastwards crossing on the Rochdale, which they hadn't previously completed. But there was a 'but'.
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Christmas 2015 brought the floods which devastated the Calder Valley and Leeds. Overall it was a brilliant response from CRT and volunteers, and our autumn trip eventually showed the canals mostly restored to their preflood state, and still operational while bridge rebuilding continued. Except for the Rochdale for which it was a lawyers' delay rather than an engineering one which had its re-opening delayed until October, too late to be certain of a passage. It's always easier to argue about mending a canal instead of actually doing it: it wouldn't have delayed a road or a railway, and we could have made more campaigning noise (1) about it, however sympathetic we were to Springs Branch CRT's travails. Another flood-repair exception is the Springs Branch of the Leeds and Liverpool Pennine Cruisers' trip boats introduce many thousands of visitors to this little delight of half-a-mile of canal under the walls of Skipton Castle, and it is the rock supporting these walls that has slipped into the canal. Stoppage Notice of 8 Jan 2016 was updated three days later and it's closed until further notice. That's it: there is no further published information. a bit more campaigning (2) there wouldn't go amiss. With the Rochdale closed, plan B was the Huddersfield, another canalling gem, and a need of booking Standedge Tunnel. It opened with a seven-day service in 2001 (half-day each way) and is now closed for four days (and the three half-days) each week. CRT intend to offer an online booking system shortly, and maybe that will give better information about all the available slots. At the moment, navigators just have to be there on time: miss the time, and it's a two or three day delay for certain: but there is no guarantee of a slot it two days' time, or even five days time: they might all be booked. There is a much-delayed programme of recruiting volunteers to be trained to chaperone boats going through. I just fundamentally disagree the need for all this bureaucracy: that's the campaign: let's have turn-up-and-go every day, morning one way, afternoon the other, and maybe with a chaperone on the first and last boats each way (3). And having steered the boat with an engine fire, I do understand that risk: had it happened in any of the long tunnels, our survival would have been in serious danger: it's just one of those risks which we can't legislate away. Nothing awful happened this time, it was just the need to be certain of being on time that made us arrive with a whole day to spare. And to worry about how many boats are discouraged by the needto-be-there-then, which circularly feeds CRT's idea that these restrictions somehow provide an acceptable service. Through the tunnel we have the declared
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stoppage at the guillotine lock 24E at Slaithwaite: "Bookings are available on the hour, ... 9am to 2pm with at least 24 hours’ notice". Well, in practice, the people at Marsden Tunnel Entrance say it's much more flexible than that, but trip planners reading the website don't know that, and there's the risk they will find it all looks too hard to begin the journey. This gate has caused stoppages on two earlier trips, and needs to work better. This time, winding the mechanism a bit too hard at the end may cause a spring-back for the next user, one of whom suffered injury from a whirling windlass. Fixing it would be best, but advice would be good enough, and maybe users need to be speaking on their phones to a remote expert to avoid this particular problem. With so few people working on the canal, having two of them diverted to wind a paddle is not the best management of their time (4). Had we booked a specific time for the guillotine, we might have been even more disrupted than we were by the emergency stoppage at lock 29E "A hole has appeared in the bed of the canal ... the canal is closed ... we expect to be able to carry out a temporary repair by tomorrow evening". Next morning the puddle next to the lock wall was taken out, and a well-booted chap was treading it down again in traditional navvy fashion. Sympathies for the emergency were slightly reduced by the conversation that this is a hole behind the lock wall that causes this problem every dozen weeks or so. It needs a proper fix! (5) And having passed this stoppage and phoning for our flexible attendance at the guillotine, nobody was available to come out until the next morning ... ...which was a delay overshadowed by "Wakefield Branch (Aire & Calder) Woodnook ... Navigation Closure until further notice ... Due to engineering problems lock is currently inoperable. We are waiting for new parts to be manufactured ...". That sounded bad, and severs the connection to Leeds and our flotilla from both the Huddersfield and the Rochdale. It's always difficult to work out what so few words actually mean. Manufactured within an hour? a day? a month? Turning-tail and heading for Leeds via the other Cromwell Lock (there's one on the Calder and Hebble) was 252 miles including the tidal Trent: maybe it was just possible with long days, but there was that Tunnel to book back through at best in two days' time, not to mention the guillotine. Phoning the enquiry number for more Woodnook information helpfully had the stoppage notice read back to us, and it sounded just as bad as the written version. At which point we asked for help from those we speak with at all those CRT meetings: the job was under the control of the newlycentralised engineering team, so needed internal CRT conversations to get the best estimate of the options. And in the end it worked out OK. Many thanks to those who helped: I hope that the same level of service was available to all beleaguered boaters: the campaigning issue is to keep the website updated with realistic assessments of all emergency stoppages (6) which we understand may sometimes turn out worse than advertised and sometimes better: it's sharing the latest information that is important. On to some Good News: (see December 2015 Milepost) the contradictory bridge numbers on the Huddersfield Broad have been removed, leaving some lonely-looking black posts: that's one small bit of successful campaigning, and thanks to those who organised the work during a year with many other priorities in the
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North East. If navigators find the Strong Stream Warning boards valuable, then we still need one above Cooper's Weir (7) as we have at all other locks entering the Calder's river sections. Also in the earlier article was marvelling at a strange Warning Board between locks 10W and 9W. That's still there, but the level marker to which it refers has disappeared. We had a side-trip to Sheffield, with its isolated and unique lock restrictions supported by its isolated and unique booking system. "Passage through the Tinsley flight of locks must be booked at least 24 hours in advance with our Lock Keepers [who] will advise customers what time the last passage will be as it takes approximately 4 hours to navigate the flight. Monday – Friday 8am until 7pm" Phoning at 8am to give the required 24 hours notice of arriving at Holmes Lock at 8am the Rural canal above Holmes Lock next day received first a standard Vodaphone answerphone (better maybe than the 'this is BW' message in 2014, two years after BW was superseded) and then a gruff negotiation of a 9am to 9.30am start. "8am?? No. It's the firm. 8am is the operational hours and we have to get down there". The campaigning for a turn-up-and-go system here (8) needs to overcome issues about pumping water up to Sheffield level to feed the locks, the myth (and as a Sheffield resident, I resent the implication) that our vandalry is worse than any other town or city on the system, safety at Jordan's weir, the strange idea that some navigators taking four hours should close the locks early when with efficient lock working it takes ninety minutes or less. Integrating the booking on the standard contact number and the proposed online booking system might concentrate management's mind on advertising and providing the same service. An easy and immediate improvement would be to allow overnight mooring in the rural section between Jordan's and Holmes locks. On our return through Sykehouse Lock on the New Junction Canal, there was no return of the lonely goat (see September 2014 Milepost) but the lock still has the interminable and wholly unnecessary interlocking swing bridge across its middle. Most leisure boats can pass underneath without moving it, and the lock is big enough to always have the boat at the top side of the swing bridge when filling or emptying. When operating from the cabin, the mechanisms allow this: CRT users are therefore less affected than are their customers using the pedestals. It happened that we delayed a van on the wrong side for the full ten minutes of the lock cycle: they too are legitimate users of a CRT structure who deserve a proper service. (9) Approaching Leeds, the occupants of Fearns Wharf, CRT North East headquarters, have a grandstand view of the rebuilding of Crown Point weir, to be a newly adjustable structure as part of the Leeds Flood Alleviation Scheme. It's all months behind schedule because of the Christmas 2015 flooding, and the vast crane on Fearns lock island will now finish its work in the middle of 2017. At the autumn North East Waterway Forum, CRT announced that the current proposal is that the crane should return to the real world
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by reversing the process of its arrival: filling in the lock cut to make a road and driving its dismantled parts across. This would require a waterway closure for a month during the summer, of which only a fortnight would actually be used. The worry is that this proposal passes a credibility test: is it credible that CRT should consider the proposal worth asking its users about? (10) Maybe there's an accommodation that could be reached to solve an expensive problem at the other end of Fearns Island. Leeds Lock, Lock 1, the lock nearest to Leeds on the Aire and Calder Navigation is currently navigable through the push-button mechanisation for Leeds-and-Liverpool-sized boats. For commercial-sized boats up to 142ft, or even seventy -foot narrowboats, there is a further set of gates available to make a longer lock, and these gates have developed a hole and need the expensive replacement. Spending money on retaining the navigation dimensions through to the centre of Leeds is the issue here. Why would we want to close the navigation to Leeds to boats that have always been able to reach it, when we are trying to encourage better use and understanding of the Leeds Waterfront and its heritage? (11). It would demonstrate that we have no confidence in our Navigation. Was it one of those strange daydreams that has the Little Crane trundling across the filled-in-lock-cut to dismantle the Big Crane, doing a quick trundle to the other end of the island to lift out a gate and lift in a new one, before sorting out its Big Brother? The plans for the bicentenary flotilla went through many iterations. It would have been brilliant to have Big Boats (to use a technical term), Leeds and Liverpool short boats and narrowboats all congregating at Leeds Bridge for the send-off in 1816 fashion. In the event No10 and FredaCarless looked a bit sad moored together outside the Armouries and unable to pass through Leeds Lock, while the main celebration for Kennet was at the top of River Lock a mile away. The flotilla had lots of help from volunteers and CRT people along its course. At Bingley 3-rise, the structure is always operated by lockkeepers, and that bears comparison with the bigger (seventyfoot) Northgate 3-rise on the Shropshire Union in Chester which is operated by boatcrews. I enjoy working locks, and sometimes it's a challenge to work out the best strategy, and then there are other navigators to reassure that two descending narrowboats can pass one ascending narrowboat inside the flight, and maybe the next narrowboat that is following as well. Volunteer lockkeepers are of course a useful resource for advice and assistance while they are there. Let's have confidence in those who
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navigate the system and rely on them to take responsibility for doing their job properly: after all, there is no oversight of a boat's movements between structures or inside most tunnels. If navigators can understand a 3-rise, the same principles apply to the 5-rise. And yes I am old enough to have operated the 5-rise without any lockkeepers to help. It's just too easy to persuade ourselves that navigators, even new navigators, are so easily bemused by the simple system of moving water around to send boats up and down that 'we' have to do it for them: then 'we' are only available for some of the daylight hours, so the structure has to be closed until 'we' the experts arrive to operate it. (12). As the flotilla passed our World Heritage Site at Saltaire, the celebrations were a good reminder of the importance of the canal. Our agreement to actually encourage boats to stay there overnight still needs to be implemented, though (13) Our return journey to the Midlands continued through the Bridgewater, and here there are national discussions about the reciprocal agreement with CRT which Peel have reneged on. In addition to that problem, Peel have closed their Main Line from a week before CRT began its winter works programme, through Christmas to February and all to erect a new bridge across the canal. Railways seem to manage this job rather quicker. Perhaps we need a way of persuading Peel to listen to all their users, many of whom navigate from all over the network of waterways (14) The theme of these campaigning points is to be OPEN in all senses. CRT has much improved on its predecessor in being open to advice assistance and volunteering of all its customers and users, and it is more open in explaining its decisions and the results of its management. To improve our na4gations, we need them OPEN on a turn-up-and-go-basis whenever we have light to safely navigate. That's the best way to maintain and expand the movement, the colour, the vibrancy that navigation brings to our waterways, which we need to continue to protect with all the campaigning and the vigor that inspired the early IWA. If some of that sounds like a valediction, a handing-on of the reigns of our Region, I rather wish that I had some keen people to take them on. Each of my numbered (0) campaigning points above could be led by different members: as ever, it would be excellent to hear whether my enthusiasms are shared. PeterScott North East Regional Chairman peter.scott@waterways.org.uk
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The State of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal
Observations during the Voyage of the Short Boat “Ribble”. 21 September to 9 October 2016
We loaded the 1934 Yarwoods short boat Ribble on 21 September 2016 with 32 tonnes of builders sand in Goole docks. We took the sand to Liverpool, as a tribute to 200 years of carrying, and as an adjunct to the L&L200 celebrations, arriving at Liverpool locks on 1 October 2016. We then travelled to the Canal and River Trust yard at Rose Grove, where the sand was unloaded having been donated to CRT by the supplier. With this load, the boat drew 3ft at the bow, and 3ft 3ins at the stern - not deep by commercial standards, but considerably deeper than most modern narrow boats, the most numerous users of the canal. We have over 30 years’ experience of boating in historic narrow boats, and a Leeds and Liverpool short boat. Additionally, for this trip, we had several guest steerers drawn from the distinguished professional boaters of the 1970s. Overall Impression: The canal is in a better state than we expected, and the fact that it allowed passage of the type of loaded boat that it was designed for speaks for itself. It is a pity that the Management of Canal & River Trust did not take sufficient interest to capitalise on this. The Yorkshire side of the canal is, in general, much better than the Lancashire side, although there are a couple of problem areas. On the Lancashire side, there are many problem areas, but even here, the areas requiring urgent major attention are few. There is an issue with water level maintenance in Lancashire; an unexpected crisis caused by damage to paddle gear, compounded by either mischief or boater carelessness, demonstrated that the current policy needs review. The Yorkshire Side: The outward journey on the Yorkshire side of the Foulridge tunnel was mostly easy and uneventful. The canal had a good depth of water, and the fixtures such as swing bridges and locks were in good working order. An operational issue arose at the Bingley locks when, arriving at the 3-rise at about 3.50pm, we found it locked and had to contact the keeper who was away taking someone up the 5-rise. He came down and unlocked the 3-rise whereupon we worked through it, and were told that we could not enter the 5-rise because we would not clear it by 6.00pm, and the keepers were not allowed overtime. This despite the fact that the published last passage is 5.00pm.We had to tie up at the bottom of the 5-rise, at 4.30pm and the next morning, mob-handed with permanent staff and volunteers, we cleared it in less than an hour. It was no great hardship to spend the night in the pound below the 5rise, but it is a shame that the keepers are pushed into this kind of “jobsworth” position, when without exception both paid staff and volunteers are enthusiastic and helpful in the extreme. Three areas need attention, or at least review by CRT staff at the scene, preferably in boats: -From Calverley to Rodley, the canal was shallow enough to cause grounding in places, and thick with pondweed. Although possibly a function of the time of year, the weed problem was bad enough to repeatedly overwhelm a 3ft propellor. The problem is compounded by the fact that excessive tree growth across more than half the width of the canal, with quite substantial branches, forces boats to move out of the channel on to the shallows beside the towpath.
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-The approach to Foulridge tunnel has two areas of concern. Just west of br 147, a stream feeds into the canal on the offside. The scour from this needs more regular attention, as it extends right across the canal and caused a prolonged grounding. In the immediate approach to the tunnel, on the offside opposite the trip boat moorings and the moorings for those waiting to use the tunnel, there are overgrown trees with branches substantial enough to cause injury to those on the deck of a short boat or on the roof of a modern narrow boat. -The large bank of reeds by the Bed Factory at Barnoldswick is now more than half way across the canal. It needs complete removal in the near future or the canal will be passable by narrowboats. The Lancashire side: The canal on the Lancashire side of the Foulridge tunnel has many more problems but even so, there are substantial lengths where it is in good condition. Where new canal has been built to accommodate new motorways it is, of course, superb, and most of the length from the bottom of the Wigan locks, through to the Liverpool locks is fine, with one major exception. The stretches downstream of all the Lancashire towns are rubbish-filled, and all the bridge holes sticky to difficult. Lock maintenance appears inadequate on this side, with broken paddle gear outside the CRT offices in Wigan, and at Appley Lock, of which CRT have been “aware” for a year or more. With “normal” water levels, we identified the following in need of urgent attention: - On the Summit level west of Foulridge tunnel, the canal is shallow by the permanent linear moorings on the offside; not enough to cause grounding yet, but enough for a deep boat moving at all to cause discomfort to moorers. This may be because of a feeder which comes in there. - In Nelson, immediately west of br140, there is a shallow bank in the middle of the channel, where we were grounded for about 30 mins. - At Rose Grove, immediately before br126A (embarrassingly close to the CRT yard), we ran aground in the middle of the bridge, and took 2½ hours to re-float. - Locks 59 and 60 on the Johnson’s Hillock flight have silt behind the bottom gates which prevents full opening. This needs regular removal, and this is clearly not being done. On our journey to Goole, on our return with the load, and on our trip back to Rose Grove, the only way to get into or out of the locks was to use brute force. - From br 11 to br 9 (Melling to Hancocks Bridge), the problem with reeds is so severe that the canal will soon be impassable by anything bigger than a canoe. The problem is almost certainly related to the presence of livery stables accommodating a very large number of horses at Melling, on the offside above the level of the canal. Attention to these areas would mean that at normal water levels, the Ribble could pass with ease along the whole length of the canal, drawing 3ft 3ins; and this would mean that the majority of leisure boats using the canal would have no reason to complain.
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The Return Journey to Rose Grove The return to Rose Grove from Liverpool was difficult in the extreme from above Johnson’s Hillock onwards. Whilst it is accepted that the circumstances were atypical, our experience should prompt a review of several areas of policy. Owing to ground paddle failure, compounded by either mischief or boater carelessness causing massive leakage of water, the pound from the Hillock to Blackburn was 110mm below “normal”; as judged by the green algae on the level markers. This resulted in severe grounding in a bridge hole in Feniscowles, where we sat for 4 hrs on top of a load of road cones, and the next morning for 3 hrs at bridge 96. Above Blackburn, the levels were alsodown as a result of running water to the pound below. We stuck in every bridge hole for a minimum of 20 mins, and longer in all the swing bridges. It took a whole day to get from Rishton to Hapton - a 30 min walk at most. We have been informed that it is “policy” to keep water levels around 100mm below the notional “normal”. We have been told that at Wigan top lock it is often at minus 220mm after heavy use of the locks. Whatever the reason for this, it allows no leeway in the event of unexpected sudden water loss as occurred in this case. If this policy is to continue, we would suggest that extensive dredging will have to be done, particularly in bridge holes in the urban areas, and for about 30m either side of the bridges. Alternatively, simply maintaining notional zero levels, would mean that a great deal of dredging could be avoided, other than in the areas mentioned previously. As regards operational policy, the practice of not having resident lock keepers must increase the risk of mishaps such as that at the Hillock going unnoticed for long enough to result in catastrophic dropping of pounds. Perhaps some regime of morning and evening inspections could be instituted even with van-borne keepers? The Final Straw: After unloading the sand at Rose Grove, the Ribble went to Gargrave to join the Kennet’s commemorative procession to Liverpool. After an uneventful trip from Liverpool, on the 25 October in the late afternoon, we approached the lower Poolstock Lock - the last of the whole trip. The offside top gate would not go back due to an accumulation of silt. 2½ hrs later, and thanks to liberal applications of grease, we were able to force the boat into the lock and take her back to her mooring in Leigh. This lock has been malfunctioning for over a year, with massive water losses leading to at least daily draining of the pound between the two locks, a broken ground paddle, and silt behind the offside top gate. It incredible that rectification of these problems does not appear on the Winter stoppage programme. Conclusion: The Leeds & Liverpool is still the best canal in the country, and badly under used. However, there are areas which need attention as we have described, particularly on the Lancashire side. We are aware that a great deal has been spent on dredging in Yorkshire; although ideally the same should be done in Lancashire, we believe that more limited action, together with some changes in policy regarding water levels, would avoid the need for such expenditure for the foreseeable future. If CRT is to maintain its stated commitment to history (which presumably includes allowing the passage of appropriate historic boats), what we have suggested is a minimum. If this commitment is to be abandoned, those of us who care for and maintain such boats must at the very least deserve some warning.David Poole
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Awards given this year for work in 2015
The Hotel Boat section of British Marine Inland Boating (BMIB) has awarded its prestigious Lock Keeper of the Year award for 2015 to the lock keeping team on the Bingley Five Rise Locks on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal. Harry Arnold.
Mikron Theatre’s Annual Waterways Tour 2015 was announced as the winner in the Art & Interpretation category at the prestigious 2016 Living Waterways Awards ceremony, held at Birmingham Town Hall,.
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Not quite in our patch - but with connections (see Milepost May 2014) Sweden’s Gota Canal In July and August 2016 my wife, Eileen and I toured northern Europe by car. Having taken the ferry from Hull to Rotterdam we drove through Holland, Germany, Denmark and Sweden to spend a week at Norrkoping, some 50 miles south of Stockholm, where Eileen was playing with 20 members of the Hall Royd Band who had travelled, mainly by air from Saltaire in Yorkshire. One of the highlights of our time in Sweden was visiting the Gota Canal, you may have seen it when it featured as one of Timothy West and Prunela Scales Canal Journeys which was shown on TV earlier in 2016. The Gota Canal is part of the canal and lake network which joins Stockholm on the east coast and Gothenburg on the west coast of Sweden. The canal was conceived as a way of avoiding paying duty to Denmark to pass though the Oresund Straights, now famous for The Bridge at Copenhagen which they had been demanding since 1429. The driving force behind the canal was Baltzar von Platen who saw the development of the canal systems particularly in Britain in the late 1700 hundreds. In 1809 Baltzar von Platen and Scottish canal builder Thomas Telford presented a detailed plan for a water route thought Sweden. Following an act of parliament the canal was started, it was expected to take 10 years and cost 1,597,481 riksdaler, it took 22 years and six times as much and was finally opened in 1832. All the digging was done by hand and unlike the British canals which used navvies the Swedish army provided the manpower. To benefit from the experience in Britain, Telford advised von Platen to hire a number of skilled British engineers and foremen and tools were also brought from Britain. Von Platen died in 1829 so did not see the completion of the project. The canal was used through to the 1930/40 until the Swedish road system was developed. After a few decades of dormancy in the 60s the canal reawakened when it was taken over by leisure boats and tourism. Today the Gota Canal is one of Sweden’s best known and most popular tourist attractions with boaters, walkers, cyclists and plenty of Swedish gongoozlers. The canal is in fact in four sections joining some of the many lakes in Sweden. Today the majority of the boats using the canal appeared to be yachts of which we saw 1000’s but there were also cruisers. There were a few hire boats but we were told this is still not a major activity maybe because of the short summer season. We spoke to one of the lock keepers who told us you had to book your passage between mid May and mid June but between mid June and mid August no booking was required but again from mid August to mid September you needed to book so only a 4 month season!! Maybe the British canals
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aren’t too restrictive after all. The locks are 7 metres wide and 30 metres long so there large gates which are now all powered, as are the paddles. They are controlled either by the lock keepers on site, most appeared to be students, or remotely as were also all the bridges so there were lots of CCTV cameras in use. On the locks we visited there were no side paddles, just 2 paddles in each gate so coming up the lock was quite challenging, most of the large yachts were using lines and winches to keep themselves steady in the locks. The most impressive locks were at Berg, they are like Bingley 5 Rise Locks but on steroids! The main flight is 7 chambers followed by 2 sets of double chambers all within less than 500m. Water does not appear to be a problem in feeding these locks as the canal is fed by the large lakes it joins together. These lakes are many times larger than say Loch Ness, so that adds to the interest of the journey and probably explains the many yachts. The canal is obviously a major attraction at the Berg locks were there is parking for over 100 cars, which was full on the day of our visit. There is also a site for motor homes to stay for several days, which we also saw at other locks and marinas; there was also a visitor centre and restaurant. At other locations there were also bike hire facilities and all appeared to be well used. This canal is very rural, mainly passing through open arable countryside, there are trees in this area but not vast forests as we had expected. The canal is maintained by the Swedish government and in the areas we visited was well maintained, we did not gain any knowledge on the costs of using the canal but it appeared to be well used in the summer period by both those on the water and other visitors. If you are looking for a different boating experience the Gota Canal is certainly a canal to consider and from looking at the hire boat websites cost are not dissimilar to hiring a boat in the UK although the reduced value of the £ recently will be increasing the costs, there is the added cost of getting to Sweden of course.
William and Eileen Jowitt
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Members’ Comments - Space for your thoughts and comments TidalTrips
You may have seen a nice little bit in the "I" newspaper extolling the virtues of the Pocklington Canal. In the [June 2016] Mile Post you raised the issue of regulating tidal passages and prompted by the Pocklington article I am worried that restrictions such as you envisage would discourage a significant number of the the few boaters who visit that canal at present. Assuming that the Pocklington is being restored with a view to enhancing navigation any new regulations negate what PCAS has and will achieve. Is there any significant record of mishaps which would justify such additional regulation? It costs at least ÂŁ100 to attend a VHF course and that alone would put off a lot of boaters from venturing on tidal waters. Keith Noble Associated British Ports already require VHF, and all boats leaving or arriving at Selby, Goole, Barmby or Keadby pass through their waters for some or all of their tidal journey. At all of these tidal locks, it's easier to get out than it is to get in, and we need to persuade more navigators that they can visit the Pocklington Canal and York safely. CRT maintain a list of incidents, some small, occurring to boats which have passed through their tidal locks (Selby and Keadby), and there are a few of these each year. IWA advice here: http://www.waterways.org.uk/boating/navigating_your_boat/vhf/using_vhf_radio PeterScott
Contact sport
We are increasingly concerned at the use in various forms of media that narrowboating is a 'Contact Sport' . As well as being used by Timothy West and John Sergeant on TV, a journalist writing an article for the CRT 'friends' newsletter had the term shouted at him after a 'near miss', the other boater laughing as he said it. Putting aside that we would be extremely angry if someone damaged our very expensive new paint job and labelled it a 'contact sport', we feel the wrong message is being sent out. Much damage can be done when a boat makes contact with a person, or another boat, or any physical part of the canal heritage. We feel CRT need to address this matter to prevent accidents becoming the norm. Chris and Liz Pinder
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Rochdale 9
To CRT My family and I have just completed the Cheshire Ring starting from Preston Brook traveling in a clockwise direction. There are temporary towpath gates preventing boaters and public using the towpath between locks 91 and 84. There was no notice of this to boaters entering Lock 92 or 84 or how to escape from the canal in an emergency. Last Monday we were stuck in Lock 90 as there was insufficient water in the pound above to enable our boat to get over the cill. The bottom gates were in poor condition and leaking water. In addition we had 2 boats following us. To bring water down from the next lock 89 we got out our BW key to open the towpath gate between the two locks. A local builder in the meantime called his supervisor and appeared with their private key as the BW key would not fit. It seems this issue at lock 90 and lack of water has been a regular problem over the past couple of weeks. If a BW key is not going to be used then there must some public information to the boater. This arrangement between yourselves and the building company is not acceptable. In addition support from your volunteer lock keepers would be very beneficial as suggested 3 years ago in “ Waterways World”. We did not need your volunteers at other sites on the ring. No water in 1976 either! Katy and Alastair Sayles Leeds CRT reply Good afternoon Alistair and Katy, I am really sorry to hear about the problem you encountered when cruising the Cheshire ring and would like to thank you for taking the time to let us know about them. I have copied the local waterway office into this email so that they can investigate and fully respond to the concerns you’ve raised. You can expect to hear from them shortly. Kind regards, Sarina Young Customer Service Co-Ordinator (When further details are available we will let you know. Ed.) The two articles in the latest Milepost, L&L Mileposts and Locks at Bingley, prompted me to write. My partner and I walk the canals as a hobby and to date have completed over 1000 miles and are currently walking the Ashby. I keep a photographic record of our walks and also plot them on Google Earth. We completed the L&L in 2012 and I have photographs of most of the Mileposts as they were then. We also visited Bingley 5 Rise twice in 2012 when the total refurbishment took place. Regards Fred and Audrey
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IWA responds to CRT above inflation increase on Boat Licence Fee The Canal & River Trust has announced that private and business boat licence fees will rise by 2.5% from 1 April 2017 after having capped licence fees to inflation for the past three years. IWA welcomes Canal & River Trust’s announcement that it will consult widely on a review of the structure The Trust is also announcing that, following feedback from boating customers and the boating volunteers who sit on its Navigation Advisory Group (Licensing and Mooring), it will be carrying out a wide-ranging review of the structure of boat licensing fees to help guide potential changes to the structure of licence fees from April 2018. There will be an extended period of engagement and consultation with boating organisations, boat clubs and societies. Individual boaters will also be given the chance to be heard to ensure that any proposals are based on a full understanding of the range of views from across the Trust’s wide range of boating customers. The Trust will announce more information and timelines for the consultation process in due course. According to CRT the rise in licence fees will raise income to ensure that the Trust can continue to sustain the increased spend on waterway maintenance over recent years. IWA is, however, disappointed by the announcement that CRT will increase licence fees for both pleasure and business craft by 2.5% from 1st April 2017. For the last 3 years, 2014 to 2016, CRT held licence increases at inflation only, using the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) as a guide, and IWA considered that this was a fair and reasonable approach. CPI is currently 1% and IWA considers that an increase of a 2.5% in these uncertain economic times is not fair on boaters. IWA is particularly concerned about the impact the proposals will have on those with business licences, such as trading boats, hire companies and canal societies.
The Inland Waterways Association has recognised the work of a member of the House of Lords for the first time, nominating Rt. Hon. The Lord German OBE as its IWA Parliamentarian of the Year.
Lord German has been a leading advocate for our canals and rivers for some years with the All Party Parliamentary Group for the Waterways and is currently a Vice Chair of the Group. He is a former leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats and Deputy First Minister of the National Assembly of Wales. Lord German is also President of the Monmouthshire, Brecon & Abergavenny Canals Trust, which is working to restore the Ty Coch lock flight on a derelict section of the canal in Cwmbran.
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People who help run the Branch 2016/ 2017 Chairman *
Secretary *
Treasurer *
Elaine Scott 3 Moorbank Drive Sheffield S10 5TH 0114 230 1870 07980 953880 elaine.scott@ waterways.org.uk
Ian Moore 2 Eric Street, Bramley Leeds LS13 1ET 07989 112581 westriding@ waterways.org.uk
William Jowitt 35, Lowfield Crescent Silsden BD20 0QE 01535 657256
Committee Member*
NE&Yorks Region *
Minutes Secretary*
Mike Tucknott 4 Royds Avenue Birkenshaw Bradford BD11 2LD 07885 951099
Peter Scott 3 Moorbank Drive Sheffield S10 5TH 0114 230 1870 peter.scott@ waterways.org.uk
Peter Scott (temporarily)
Membership Secretary * Committee Member* Telephone Contact Volunteer needed
Volunteer needed
Volunteer needed
Speaker Finder
Badges, Stamps & Raffle
Website
Volunteer needed
Ellen & Ailsa Sayles
David MackDavid.Mack@sdgworld.net
Committee member indicated by *
Branch boundaries on the waterways
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Open Meetings
South Pennine Boat Club 8 pm to 10 pm Light refreshments from 7.30
Friday 11 November (arranged by Ian Moore)
Paul Monahan “Loaded narrow boats and waterway heritage”
Friday 10 February 2017 (arranged by David Lowe)
Nigel Bowker – Operations Director, Viaduct Shipping
Friday 10 March 2017 AGM Speaker to be confirmed
All the meetings organised by the West Riding Branch are Open and everyone is invited. We are delighted to welcome any member of the general public and members are encouraged to bring their friends. To find out more about the waterways or the IWA come and join us at one of our meetings or visit the website http://www.waterways.org.uk Closing date for contributions for the next issue 15 January 2017 Contributions can be hand written, typed or in electronic format. Pictures can be prints or digital. Please send to Editor: Elaine Scott 3,Moorbank Drive, Sheffield, S10 5TH elaine.scott@waterways.org.uk The views expressed in this publication are published as being of interest to our members and readers and are not necessarily those of The Inland Waterways Association or of its West Riding Branch. The Inland Waterways Association Registered in England no 612245 Registered as a Charity No 212342 Registered Office: Island House, Moor Road, Chesham, HP5 1WA Tel: 01494 783453
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