Winding Ways 57 - Summer 2010

Winding Ways A Newsletter from the Leicester Branch

RECORD CROWDS AT FESTIVAL The combination of beautiful weather and a huge variety of attractions drew over 15,000 visitors to the annual Riverside Festival on Leicester’s Mile Straight and Bede Park over the first weekend in June.

Leicestershire Branch holds a rally of boats as part of the event, to help draw attention to the River, and they are joined by ‘Paddle Plus’ canoe club who really bring the river to life and never fail to amaze the onlooker as to what can be achieved in a small plastic boat!

Riverside Housing Association once again sponsored valuable cash prizes for the Decorated Boat Competition which was won this year by the community boat ‘Northeaster’ with her fearsome gang of young pirates!

Second prize was taken by n.b. Bluebelle while the classic wooden Broads cruiser ‘Dancing Foam’ came third. Our own Maggie Young was this years recipient of the Adam Brewster Special Award in recognition of all her hard work in organising and marshalling the thirty boats and as many canoes that attended.

Whilst introducing The Lord Mayor, Councillor Colin Hall, who presented the winner’s mounted plaques, our chairman took the opportunity of saying that Tom Rolt,

Issue 57 Summer 2010

the centenary of whose birth the event marked, was less than impressed by what he saw of Leicester’s waterside in 1939. But he conjectured what Rolt would make of it today.

John went on to make a plea for The City Council to safeguard its ‘priceless asset’ and to ensure that sensitive and appropriate development along its banks continues There followed the traditional ‘Procession of Boats’ accompanied by Bill Bailey and his jazz band in the Green Life Boat after which our glowing charcoal was soon sizzling with succulent sausages and other victuals. As dusk fell 900 floating lanterns, many of them containing messages, prepared by members of the public during the day, were released on the river to provide a moving and spiritual close to the day’s events.

The weather was not quite so kind on the Sunday, but all of the programmed events took place which once again included a day of Dragon Boat Racing from Castle Gardens which raises funds for the charity Prostaid.

Throughout the weekend we ran the WoW programme of children’s activities which proves so worthwhile and brings positive feed-back from the children, their parents and participating exhibitors alike. Sadly, we were once again limited in what could be achieved by a serious shortage of volunteers.

Our thanks go to all those who helped both before and during the event with special thanks to Pat and Terry Hind, Jim Evans and the afore mentioned Maggie, all of whom gave up a large part of their weekend to support us

BALDWIN TRUST HONOURED CONGRATULATIONS to the Baldwin Trust, a familiar name on the Soar Navigation and beyond, with their narrow boats Dandelion and St Clare.

Included in The Queen's Birthday Honours was the news that the Rothley based charity has won the ‘Queens Award for Voluntary Service (The volunteers MBE).

The award is seen as the national benchmark for volunteering excellence.

The Baldwin Trust, founded in 1982 by Bert Halsey, originated from a £500 donation from the daughter of a Mr. Freddy St. Claire, who had been cared for in the Baldwin Ward at the Glenfrith hospital. It was given with the stipulation that as many patients as possible should benefit, and after several years of fund raising, the Trust took delivery in August 1988 of the specially designed St. Clare. The different spelling was down to the signwriter’s girlfriend being called Clare!

Since then the Trust has broadened out the use of the St.Clare and more recently Dandelion for the benefit of any group of disabled or elderly people.

Sadly, Bert died in 1992, but his wife Anne took over the reins along with many other volunteers, until handing over this role in 2005.

Glenda Townsend, Secretary to the Trust said “We are thrilled and very proud that our members have been recognised in this way.

Without their dedicated support none of this would be possible”.

FOXTON LOCKS FESTIVAL Saturday 14th & Sunday 15th August 2010-06-16 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Our Biggest Ever Festival – A Great Day Out For All The Family Free Entry to Event ( Car Parking from £1.50 day ) Over 100 stalls Crafts, canal societies, fun games, demonstrations, refreshments Working boats Historic transport, tractors, fire engine Shop at ‘The Cheese Boat’ & The Book Boat The Branch Chairman handing the 'Cressy Medallion' to the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress of Leicester, accompanied by Ron and Mary Heritage (Oxford Branch) of n.b. Heron, who are re-tracing Cressy's 1939 route. (see next page for story)

See the Birds of Prey Folk music, arena display, bands

‘CRESSY’ returns to Leicestershire On 24 April, n.b. Heron departed from Tooley’s Boatyard in Banbury to follow the route taken by Tom and Angela Rolt in 1939, so vividly recorded in Tom’s book ‘Narrow Boat’, published in 1944, which was a major factor in the creation of the Inland Waterways Association two years later.

Heron is owned and crewed by Ron & Mary Heritage, who are giving up their summer to publicise the fact that 2010 is the Centenary of the birth of Tom Rolt, Author and Engineer and a co-Founder of the Association, and who has remained an inspiration to its members ever since.

Ron Heritage is Chairman of the Oxfordshire Branch and it was that branch which supervised the event. There was a sizeable crowd to watch Heron’s departure. She was preceded for the first mile or so by the VIP boat carrying numerous dignitaries from Oxfordshire, Banbury and the Association, notably one of its best known VicePresidents, Sonia Rolt, Tom’s second wife, 92 herself and still a great campaigner for the waterways - together with the National Chairman and his wife.

We first caught up with Heron in Leicestershire at North Kilworth Marina six days later on Friday, 30 April.

David Stevenson had collected Sonia Rolt from her Gloucestershire home, for this is to be her trip on Heron (Cressy), and brought her to North Kilworth. Also on board for the cruise to Foxton were the Vice-Chairman of Harborough District Council, Rosita Page and her lively aide, Blake Paine.

It was most encouraging to have this local support, especially as Heron was to spend the next week in the Market Harborough area. Those who know of Tom Rolt will realise that he had many interests, not least of which was Vintage Motor Cars. It was appropriate therefore that an Alvis, Tom’s favourite car, should be driven to Kilworth Wharf by a suitably dressed and equipped gentleman, topped appropriately with a bowler hat.

Only slightly delayed by the Alvis appearance, which vehicle was to greet us again at Foxton, where Heron and its enhanced crew were headed, they set off in lovely weather on the windy seven mile cruise through the quiet upland meadows of South Leicestershire.

Our Council friends took lessons in steering from Ron, though he held the tiller firmly through Husbands Bosworth Tunnel. All went well, and Council help was also provided as Heron descended Foxton Locks while Sonia Rolt gazed on in approval from the bow. An appropriate conclusion to the proceedings was made at Bridge 61 where ale and pies were provided as Foxton’s contribution and direct involvement with the Rolt Cruise. Tom would have approved.

He was also have been pleased to observe that Sonia and David were conveyed back to his own car at Kilworth in the Alvis, David somewhat wind-swept in the Dickie seat.

DJS

‘Cressy’ in LEICESTER . . .(cont.)

SOCIAL EVENTS

One of the features of the cruise was the presentation to the crew of a ’medallion’ by each IWA Branch through whose area they passed. These are about 30cm in diameter and carry a suitable period scene from the 1930s on one side and a corresponding upto-date scene on the reverse. The growing collection is mounted on the boat to form part of the overall campaign display.

By Beryl McDowall

On this occasion the Lord Mayor of Leicester, Councillor Roger Blackmore, a long time supporter of our cause, graciously agreed to hand over ‘our medallion’ and this provided an opportunity for a ‘photo shoot’ and publicity for both the Association and the forthcoming Riverside Festival.

And so it was that on 12th May with Heron moored to the Castle Gardens pontoons and the City Parks Department and Cressy display stands on show in the park, a small band of members and well-wishers gathered to watch as the medallion was handed over.

The sun broke through the clouds, civic chains glinted in the sunlight, camera shutters clicked and soon Heron was on her way North to meet her next engagement on the Trent and Mersey . . . . . . and onwards via Stone, Middlewich, Chester, Market Drayton, Fazeley, Rugby, Braunston and back down the Oxford Canal until journey’s end at this years National Festival on the Thames.

JRE

Green Energy from Sawley Weir After a number of false starts consent has recently been granted by North West Leicester District Council for the installation of a small scale hydro electricity plant at Sawley Weir.

British Waterways have been investigating the possibility of leasing a number of weir sites on the River Trent to a company specialising in such schemes but have met with considerable opposition from many users of the river.

Assurances have been sought regarding among other things, the maintenance of water depth at critical locations and the potential affect on flooding.

It seems that adequate reassurance has been given, consents granted and work should commence during the coming months. Watch this space!

Our April meeting took the form of a Skittles Night at The Royal Oak in Cossington. The event was well attended, both by IWA members and by local boaters. It was a lively evening, with everyone participating.

We had time for two matches, the first being between two mixed teams, with partners in opposing teams; and the second was a “Battle of the Sexes”, with men v. women – a fiercely fought match, with scores virtually level.

In May we had a Treasure Hunt around Mountsorrel. The weather kept fine, if a little on the chilly side. On returning from the Treasure Hunt, everyone met up in the Waterside Inn, where I marked papers, and went through the clues, giving the correct answers ( with the usual banter over disputed answers – all in good spirits. ) Tony and Carol Grocock were declared the clear winners, with David Brewer behind in second place, closely followed by John and Wendy Evans. It was unfortunate that only a very small number of people turned up for this event, but those who did seemed to enjoy it, saying they would return to explore Mountsorrel in the future.

We have no further organised events until October 2010. A small group from the Leicestershire Branch will, however, be taking their boats down to the Thames to participate in the IWA National Festival and Boat Show.

This year’s main venue of ‘The Wheatsheaf ‘ at Thurcaston has proved very popular, and so the Committee has decided that all next winter’s events will be held there. For those of you who lead busy lives, here are the dates. Please put them in your diaries now, so that you don’t forget them. As usual, they are all Thursdays: 14 October 2010: “Personal Reflections”

by IWA Chairman Clive Henderson. The illustrated talk which time did not permit Clive to give at this year’s AGM 11 November2010: Speaker to be confirmed 9 December 2010: Christmas Meal 13 January 2011: Speaker to be confirmed 10 February 2011: AGM 10 March 2011: - “Wild Flowers of the Waterways” by Mary Matts. The talk we had to cancel because of the snow.

14 April 2011: Possibly a Skittles Night

Volunteer for Caroline!

BW’s Caroline Killeavy, who until a year ago was our local Waterway Manager, is about to become Head of Community Engagement with a brief to increase the number of volunteers working on the waterways and to make the best possible use of them.

Activities in which Caroline’s team will be promoting the use of volunteers include lock keeping, canal ‘ranging’ and a number of educational and historic projects. As she says, ‘there will be a lot of opportunities to get involved in something fun, really rewarding and of considerable benefit to the community and it’s waterways heritage’

In addition, we may well have an outdoor event of some kind in May. Beryl McDowall

New Members Wanted In the current financial climate it is more important than ever that the voice of IWA is heard in the corridors of power; otherwise there is a real danger that our waterways will be allowed, once more, to fall into disuse and decay. The more members we have, the louder our voice will be and the greater our chance of being heard. Enclosed with this issue is a membership form: please use it to recruit a new member as a matter of urgency

Chairman’s Bit I’d like to start my comments this time by giving a big welcome and thanks to two members who have come forward and been co-opted on to the committee since the a.g.m. They are Maggie Young and Peter Dand.

Maggie has been a member and regular supporter of our events for several years and would have offered herself for the committee earlier were it not for the fact that we always met on Monday evenings when she had a regular work commitment.

We know an enthusiast when we see one and the committee showed commendable flexibility in agreeing to change the meeting day if Maggie would join us! Maggie with her husband and their three sons spend as much time on the waterways as possible, if not on their narrow boat Forever Young, then in their fleet of kayaks!

Peter has been a waterways enthusiast for many years but only recently has retirement released the time and energy to not only live his dream of extensive summertime cruising but to ‘put something back by getting involved’. Peter certainly did that at last years National Festival when he spent a couple of weeks helping to set up the waterside infrastructure.

It was not without some misgivings that we plunged both of these folk in to the proverbial ‘deep end’! Peter has been appointed Branch Secretary, having first satisfied the committee that whilst away cruising, he was willing and equipped to maintain electronic communications with Head Office and fellow committee members.

Meanwhile, the Leicester Riverside Festival was fast approaching and we were short of a Moorings Officer and Harbour Master.

Hidden Treasure at Mountsorrel Isn’t it strange how blind one can be to one’s everyday surroundings! For our May Outdoor Social Event, Beryl had put together a ‘treasure hunt’ type trail through her own riverside village of Mountsorrel.

‘Easy’ I thought, being fairly familiar with the area myself. Not a bit of it! Most of us go around our own territory with our eyes half closed, but how revealing it is when something forces one to take note. Beryl’s cryptic clues kept us guessing which route would take us back to The Waterside right to the end, and we learnt much about the history of the village en route.

As all the competing teams were presented with prizes, tales of the evenings events were exchanged over drinks at the bar.

Thank you, Beryl, for a most enjoyable and informative evening. What a pity there weren’t more participants to enjoy it!

EWR

Who better to fill this role than Maggie with her extensive experience of everything that floats!

The fact that we made the right choice was exemplified by her winning of the Adam Brewster Special Award at the festival; a ‘gong’ that is given annually to the person showing outstanding initiative and/or putting in some extra effort for the benefit of the event. Well done Maggie, and thanks to you both for coming forward when we needed you.

On a more mundane note, you may have read my letters in a couple of waterway journals recently, defending the ‘Leicester Line’ against various criticisms. But I have to admit that on my way to and from the Leicester Festival by boat, I was concerned and disappointed with what I found. A couple of locks had badly leaking gates (and obstacles behind them) and there are a number of missing or inoperative paddles.

In addition, there having been a major cloudburst a few hours previously, stormwater had clearly entered the navigation carrying with it significant quantities of litter.

It was not a pretty sight!

I know that BW and Leicester City Council are aware of these problems but with both local and national financial constraints in place I am fearful for the short term future of our waterway.

In the coming months and years, there will be an increasing number of volunteering opportunities . . . . . and not just litter picking. I would urge all our members to ‘get stuck in’ when the opportunity presents itself and meanwhile do all you can to highlight the funding problem to the media and local and national politicians. I wish you well.

John Evans, Acting Chairman

Have we got your e-mail address?

In the interests of economy and speed of communication, IWA, in common with many organisations, is moving towards electronic communication as their preferred method of making contact with members. We have already discovered the benefits of this when, on occasion, we have asked Head Office to get a message to Branch members as soon as possible, for instance, to inform or remind them of forthcoming events.

In the interests of maintaining up-to-date records, only Head Office retains a list of member information but it seems that they only have e-mail addresses for a very small proportion of our members. If you use this form of communication and you haven’t already given us your address (and you are happy for it to be used in this way) would you please send it to membership@waterways.org.uk together with a note of your membership No. You have our assurance that the information will not be misused or abused.

An Action Group needs YOU! You may have noticed in other IWA journals, increasing mention of ‘Action Groups’. These are seen as a way of involving members and perhaps using their specialist expertise or experience without becoming fully committed to a branch committee. It may be necessary for a group to meet only once or twice, or there may be an ongoing requirement.

I know from experience in our own branch that rarely does a committee meeting pass without there being an item that really should be discussed in greater depth but time does not permit and a smaller group would attend to it more efficiently.

An example that I have in mind is the distribution of our Leicester Line Leaflet and other local information from the dispensing boxes along the navigation. For several years we have been putting together the same ‘info packs’ and trying to keep the boxes stocked at all times of the year.

But I have a feeling that this probably wastes time, effort and resources as boaters take a pack from different boxes not realising that the contents are, for the most part, the same.

A number of questions arise: Have we the optimum number of boxes? (currently five).

Should we consider separate boxes for North and southbound boats?

Should our LL leaflet be in them all or only at point of entry and exit?

Should we search out additional visitor material for different locations? (currently most info is Leicester based as the boxes were funded largely by the City Council) Another topic that could be thrashed out by a Specialist Group is the matter of Branch Sales. Like many other branches we used to mount an interesting and attractive sales display at social meetings, festivals and other events.

Sales of books, maps, novelties, Christmas cards (in season) etc can not only boost our campaign and visitors awareness of our message but can also make a significant contribution to funds.

The branch opted out of sales at a time when VAT implications and required accounting procedures made such activities more trouble than they were worth, but these matters are now greatly simplified and I feel that the matter should be looked at in depth.

So, may I ask for volunteers to please come forward for one or two sessions to take a close look at these issues . . . . . and perhaps others that may come up from time to time . .. or that you, yourself can see a need for addressing.

Names please.

to

any

committee

member

Melton & Oakham Waterway Society The big news of late has been the Awards for All £10,000 grant, allowing the society to proceed with plans to modify the “Mole” workboat into a fully trailable river clearance craft.

A brand new twin-wheeled trailer has been ordered to transport Mole and includes full roller deck to aid launch and recovery. This manoeuvre will be made even easier as the modifications include outrigger legs for stability which can be utilised to lift the vessel sufficiently to facilitate removal of the trailer.

A proprietary Hiab arm and clamshell bucket complete the business end and the whole (including Z-drive and prop) are powered hydraulically via the inboard diesel engine and associated pipework. Bardon Quarries are carrying out the work and completion is expected within two months.

Meanwhile the society took stalls at Melton Saturday market, selling bric-a-brac, and Loughborough Canal and Boat Festival where golf ball sales brought in the cash.

Both appearances resulted in new members and nearly ran us out of walk leaflets. The society also put in an appearance at the Leicester Riverside Festival, and at the Braunston Historical Boat gathering at the end of June.

No work parties at the moment as the birds are nesting , but a visit to Oakham will reveal the fruits of our labours as hundreds of bankside bulbs, planted earlier, burst into flower on the section of canal adjacent the ring road (Burley Park Way) between the railway crossing and Ashwell traffic island.

Worth a look!

Mick Clowes

Lovely Leicester!

As you will be aware, Leicester, so far as boaters are concerned, is like a ‘dog with a bad name’. Most of the publicity it receives in the waterways press has negative connotations, mostly totally undeserved. So it was with great pleasure that I received the following e-mail from a southern based member of the Association who enjoyed her stay on Castle Gardens moorings: Dear Mr Evans, After reading your article in Waterways defending Leicester, we could not agree with you more. What a wonderful opportunity to visit Leicester, with our daughter studying pharmacy at De Montfort, we could deliver her hoover by canal.

Five miles from the heart of Leicester, we were warned about bandit country, and to go through in daylight, but we speak as we find and planned to stay a week.

Leicestershire Branch Committee John Evans - Branch Chairman ( Acting ) 01509 416 647 Peter Dand - Branch Secretary 07860 210341 David Stevenson - Membership Secretary 01530 458 257 Beryl McDowall - Social Secretary 07710 029 247 David Brewer - Treasurer 0116 230 3144 Jim Evans - Archivist Ian McDonald Maggie Young

Apart from nearly sinking the boat from the weight of students most evenings, with lots of cheese and wine, it was amazing. Locals were so helpful and interesting with directions etc, the bins on the floating dock were emptied every day, a lovely park as access to the boat, with a brilliant city market and superb museums. We could not believe the amount of people using the tow path opposite, and had great chats with the rowers on the river.

We moored for 5 nights, then travelled to Thrapston and returned through Leicester staying 1 more night. We speak to every one, and had the youngsters sitting on the lock gates helping us through, even though they were skiving from school. Not once were we intimidated, threatened or felt uncomfortable and thank you for a great time in Leicester. It has much to offer.

Regards, Yvonne Meronti (Evolution)

Winding Ways Winding Ways is the newsletter of the Leicester Branch of the Inland Waterways Association.

The next issue will be out in the Autumn.

All contributions are welcome. Come on!!

Please send to: Andrew Shephard, 41 Roman Road, Birstall, Leicester, LE4 4BB or email to: andrewshephard@madasafish.com Opinions expressed in Winding Ways are not necessarily those of the Association, and the Editor reserves the right to edit or refuse to publish material submitted for inclusion.

A Clear Cut Objective A small group of waterway loving environmentalists in Loughborough have set up a canal clearance team cleverly named ‘Clear Cut Conservation’ or CCC for short.

With the blessing and support of British Waterways they have already had a number of ‘outings’ when a remarkable amount of hardware and rubbish has been removed from the navigation.

One of the group’s objectives is to encourage the owners of waterside property, both domestic and industrial, to take a pride in their water frontage and to help keep it free from unsightly debris. It is hoped that a major canal-side company is about to come on board.

One of the problems that CCC faces is the absence of a suitable boat in which to collect the heavier items of rubbish. Do you know of an available craft that may be suitable? For more information, to volunteer your help or to make a donation please contact our committee members Mick or John in the first instance.

Wendy, Acting Chairman’s Wife, minding the shop in our new shelter

at the Loughborough Festival

The Committee still urgently needs new members, so if you think you might be interested, please do contact one of the committee to get more information, or have a chat at one of the socials. We just need you for a couple of hours every two months or so, usually on Thursday evenings.