Wolds Waters – September 2015

East Yorkshire Branch

WOLDS WATERS The newsletter of the East Yorkshire Branch

SEPTEMBER 2015

Pocklington Canal 200th Anniversary Appeal Boat Gathering

The Newspaper Editor gets it just right (in the opinion of the editor of Wolds Waters) In the Sunday Express of 26th July under the heading ‘Comment’ is an article ‘A word from the Editor’ by Martin Townsend. An article I would love to have included in full but the opening paragraph sets the scene for the rest of the article.

‘I am not a particularly jealous person, dear reader. But if you are settling down to read this article in the galley of a narrowboat, somewhere out on the English canals, a steaming mug of tea at your elbow and ducks paddling past the window, then I am certainly very envious indeed.’

Some further quotes The English canals in particular are not just a holiday for people like myself, they are also one of the most precious places of sanctuary this country possesses They meander You can potter along at the regulation 4mph, all through the long afternoon and see nothing but open fields with the wind blowing gently across. Wonderful.

Canals are not particularly hard work, except when you go through a long flight of locks, but they need the sort of group thinking and teamwork that simply isn’t required in, say, a Spanish villa.

Everything on the canals is dictated by limitations. There isn’t much room on board the narrowboat itself so everyone has to be super tidy and respectful of everyone else’s bit of space You need to work out rotas for cooking and washing up.

It’s all pretty simple stuff but it draws people together and forges bonds of friendship It (driving a car) can’t be more enjoyable than steering a 65ft narrowboat into Bath in the pouring rain or across a towering aqueduct; or guiding it slowly past other moored-up boats and into a lock.

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You should all take a turn at the tiller. This is where I have had the most fun.

So, as Wolds Waters editor, I read a balanced article which mentions, or hints at, the cons as well as the pros of canal cruising. Are his memories the memories which you hold dear? Of course there are delays, sometimes even mechanical failures but these are challenges to be overcome which bring with them a sense of achievement. I feel the article gives a balanced view.

And this leads me on to our January social meeting

Enjoying England’s waterways It is some years ago, when we used to meet in the Mark Kirby room in Cottingham, that we held an outreach meeting, trying to make people aware of our waterways and encouraging them to enjoy them.

The format last time was to show some cruising videos, have some brochures from various boat hire companies available and to answer questions, trying very hard to give cons as well as pros, giving advice on boat layout, the good and more challenging properties of the various canals.

To make this we need your experience, your enthusiasm, your help in publicising the meeting and your presence on the night. If you have any suggestions please let us know.

We look forward to seeing you on 19th January and having a full house.

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World Barge Pulling Championship

The World Barge Pulling Championship on Beverley Beck, postponed from 4th May, will now take place on Sunday 27th September. The event has been organised by Beverley Barge Preservation Society. Teams of 4 (men, women or mixed) will be invited to pull the barge Syntan over a 220 metre course in the quickest possible time. The barge has an estimated weight of 64 tonnes and it will be up to the teams to decide their own tactics working within the rules of the competition. A narrow boat? Possibly! But a 64 tonne barge plus band?

For this and other activities of the Beverley Barge Preservation Society including trips on the River Hull please see the Society website, www.syntanbarge.org.uk For a report on a trip boat journey with BBPS by members of the River Foss Society see later in the newsletter.

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Pocklington Canal Amenity Society 200th Anniversary Events As mentioned in the April issue of Wolds Waters, PCAS is celebrating the 200th anniversary of the Act of Parliament that authorised building of the canal. The first event was a very successful fete held at Melbourne Village Hall in May, which raised over £1000. Our IWA Branch attended the event and had a successful day.

PCAS held a weekend boat rally at the end of July. There were only a few visiting boats but owners of those moored at Melbourne Arm joined in with the celebrations and entrants received a brass plaque.

Morris dancers from Ebor Morris in York provided entertainment and the ‘Lifestyle Panda Pups’ (local children) helped raise donations.

The event was covered by West Wolds Radio, a new radio station that will launch in Pocklington later this year.

The next major event will be an exhibition in Pocklington Church, running from 10-13 September. PCAS will be joined by the Pocklington and District Local History Group and Pocklington Camera Club.

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The Bicentenary Appeal currently stands at ÂŁ88,000, over a third of the way towards the target. Income raised from boat trips and other activities will go towards the appeal. Tickets for the Bicentenary Raffle are selling well and prizes include a voucher for boat trips on the Anderton Lift and a framed historic print, donated by the Canal & River Trust. The raffle will be drawn at the PCAS Annual Lunch in November.

After some hiccups, the PCAS weed cutting boat, Sheila Nix, is now in action and two members have been trained as operators by CRT. A visit from the Waterway Recovery Group was arranged at short notice in July, because their work on the Driffield Navigation was completed before the end of the week. They dug a trench and laid a water pipe to the visitor moorings in the Melbourne Arm, where a more conveniently located water point is to be located. CRT will be installing the standpipe, and making the connection to the water main in due course.

Also in July, members of the CRT North East Waterway Partnership visited the canal to learn about the PCAS restoration project. After a presentation from the Society they visited the site and some of them stayed for a boat trip. Members of the partnership include Mark Penny (Chair), Jon Horsfall (CRT North East Regional Manager) and Peter Scott (our IWA Region Chair).

A grant has been obtained from insurance company Aviva to fund production of a revised Canal Guide.

Alistair Anderson

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The Pocklington Canal Amenity Society 200th Anniversary Appeal The Pocklington Canal Amenity Society has launched its appeal fund to raise ÂŁ250,000 to restore a two mile section of the Pocklington Canal The money will be spent on installing new wooden lock gates for Thornton and Walbut Locks, and ensuring an adequate depth of water in the length, much of which is presently overgrown with vegetation The project is being promoted with the support and encouragement of both The Canal and River Trust (the owners of the Pocklington Canal) and Natural England, which has a regulatory role, since the works are to be carried out within a Site of Special Scientific Interest. Work will be designed and scheduled to minimise interference with wildlife.

If you wish to make a donation then further information about the Bicentenary Appeal can be found on the PCAS website: www.pocklingtoncanalsociety.org/appeal

East Yorkshire Branch members were present at the Pocklington Canal Celebration Events

Our fund raisers who give so freely of their time and raise most of the funds which we can use in grants have been busy this year.

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‘The gazebo has been used twice up to now this summer. Sunday May 24th we went to Melbourne and were outside the Church/Village Hall.

With our various wares and information boards we met and talked to a variety of people. The weather was kind to us and we raised a good amount of money, a some of which we donated to PCAS. The weather was not so kind on Sunday 26th July, which was the boat rally at Melbourne. We were alongside the canal with various other stalls, until, we had to abandon ship (or is it canalside) because of the rain!

However, we made a fair amount of money for our branch. Hopefully we may go to Beverley Beck in September and possibly Goole. Dave and I would like to thank everyone who helped us on both days. ‘ Chris Stones

HUBERT MILSOM 1932 - 2015 Sadly, we report the death of our long-standing, former member, Hubert.

Hubert became a member of the I.W.A., and our branch, in October 1972.

He soon became involved in working to promote the branch, always with an eye to fostering our social activities. He continued to do this for around three decades until health problems forced him to take a back seat. For most of that time he was also an active committee member.

His interest in our waterways was, as for many, kindled by family boating holidays. But he also had a specific interest in the Market Weighton Canal. I think this arose out of the fact that he crossed it twice a day on his way to work! He was one of the original members of the Market Weighton Canal Society, and took an active in early working parties aiming to restore the lock structures in the 'sixties.

Through the later, more fallow period of that Society, he became the unofficial deputy of its leading light - Bruce Miles.

Though very much a practical man, it may be less well known that

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Hubert was an accomplished small boat builder. He had a well equipped home workshop, and even built a three-wheeled car there.

Those of you who attended branch meeting during the eighties and nineties will remember the many interesting film and slide shows that Hubert put together for our enjoyment. You may also recall the many quiz nights that he put on, doing all the research and compilation himself. They promoted great involvement by all present.

As a trained draughtsman, Hubert worked in the design dept. at the Brough aircraft works. He started there as a trainee in 1956 and retired in 1992. He witnessed many changes there over this time and worked on three major projects. Initially on the Beverley transport aircraft, In those days it was the Blackburn Aircraft co. Then he worked in the team that built the Buccaneer fighter plane. This was probably the project he was most passionate about. Latterly, he became involved with the development of the Hawker Harrier jump jet.

We are all well aware of the ups and downs that the Brough aircraft works suffered for a great many years. It's interesting to note that Hubert was forced, by redundancy, to find work elsewhere during the mid sixties.

He returned in '68. Around the time of the Buccaneer project.

It was this engineering design expertise that led to him being asked, in 1987, to produce the engineering drawings for the proposed new road bridge, at Frodingham, to cross the Driffield Canal.

Margaret, Hubert's wife of sixty years, was equally involved in branch activities throughout this period, and gave him total support. We extend our sympathies to her, together with our grateful thanks for all the fond memories we share.

Jack Wootton.

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BEVERLEY BECK LITTER PICK Despite short notice due to a late date change, IWA East Yorkshire branch managed to assemble a small group of volunteers on Sunday 26th April to assists members of the Beverley Beck Boating Association in what has now become our traditional annual clean up along the beck.

IWA took their normal South side working from the town end down to the lock at the junction with the River Hull. BBBA took the North side and between us the whole length of the beck was covered. A gloomy weather forecast pleasingly turned out to be inaccurate and we all enjoyed warm sunny conditions throughout.

Upon finishing at the lock, the bags of rubbish were disposed of and all volunteers were then treated to tea & biscuits in the BBBA club house.

-0-0-0-0-0-0Members of the River Foss Society enjoy a trip on Beverley Barge Preservation Society’s SUN This article is reproduced from the River Foss Society’s summer newsletter with permission.

On 23 May, 12 members boarded “SUN”, Beverley Barge Preservation Society’s trip boat (converted from a mud hopper), as it set off along the half mile Beverley Beck before passing through the Lock into the tidal River Hull - hence the early start to catch the rising incoming tide against the natural river flow. Travelling north on the River Hull we saw so much - the Beverley Shipyard with some work still being carried out there, sunken wrecks, life aboard other boats, becks draining into the canal, the abandoned Leven Canal, kayaks and a boat travelling south from the Driffield Navigation.

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We eventually reached Struncheon Hill (Hempholme) Lock and Weir where we disembarked. Dave Ware, volunteer Warden at Tophill Low Nature Reserve, gave us an Introductory talk and leaflet about the Reserve explaining that the site was a Water Treatment Works providing Kingston on Hull’s water and was the only Nature Reserve owned by Yorkshire Water. A short walk took us to the nearest Hide where members learnt more both on the way and at the Hide including the finding of remnants on the site of a plane from nearby RAF Catfoss which crashed during a WWII training flight.

Unfortunately, time was limited by having to return to “SUN” to catch the best of the, by now, ebbing tide. Nearing Beverley on the return trip, we were delayed for a short while waiting for the Grovehill lift bridge to be operated. In the lock there was much excitement as a mink was spotted in the top lock gate - it then climbed the lock gate, ran along the beam and scuttled around on the adjacent land.

Our thanks are due to BBPS’s Chairman, Iain Campbell, and the Reserve Warden, Richard Hampshire, for arranging the visit and to Sun’s crew: Iain again (skipper), Alistair and Connor. Not forgetting Dave, our leader at the Reserve. We all had a truly excellent day thanks to these gentlemen.

Peter Hopwood

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PROGRAMME Sept 2015 to Feb 2016 Venue (unless stated otherwise) Cottingham Methodist Church Hall, Hallgate, Cottingham HU16 4BD 8.00-10.00 pm. Use entrance down side of church.

18th Sept

A Waterways Quiz - Just for Fun by Iain Campbell Questions based round a photograph with the answer given straight after you have had a go. Questions mainly based on Northern Waterways using pictures taken over the last 50 years.

16th Oct Dr Robb Robinson with a presentation entitled Viola : a Ghost Ship of Grytviken 20th Nov To be announced. See local press or IWA website for details.

6th Dec 2016 15th Jan

Our Christmas meal at Wansford . Details and bookings with Chris Stones and Roger Bromley So you want to cruise England’s waterways?

See article on page 2 of the newsletter. Full details in December’s Wolds Waters

19th Feb Paul Waddington tells us everything we want to know about Canal Bridges Come and learn from one of our experts For more information about the Inland Waterways Association use the website www.waterways.org.uk or contact Barry Robins on 01482 658254 or 07885941983. For more information on the above meetings contact Roger Bromley on 01482 845099.

The Branch email address is roger.bromley@waterways.org.uk This newsletter is edited by Barry Robins, 90 Carr Lane, Willerby, Hull HU10 6JU. bandrrobins@gmail.com Note: The views expressed in this newsletter are not necessarily those of the Association and should not be construed as such unless so stated.

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