Wolds Waters – January 2015

East Yorkshire Branch

WOLDS WATERS The newsletter of the East Yorkshire Branch

JANUARY 2015

Beckhead, Beverley at the gathering organised by Beverley Barge Preservation Society

Chairman’s comments.

A number of things are happening on our local waterways. Mostly (but not all) good news.

A gathering of Keels and Sloops on Beverley Beck in September attracted a large number of people, producing an excellent result for the societies involved.

At Driffield, we welcome the re-opening of Town Lock, following replacement of the gates. Work by WRG in August and continued by local volunteers is providing a much needed nature walk between Whin Hill and Wansford Locks.

On the Pocklington Canal we have seen progress. All swing bridges are now working and ready for boats. Again, work by WRG and the PCAS volunteers have made tremendous improvements to the towpath. The PCAS volunteers meet weekly, usually Thursdays, and are always looking for more helpers. If you are interested contact Dick Watson on 01759 305025. Much more is planned for the future. See details elsewhere in this newsletter.

The not so good news is the continued closure of Elvington Lock (details elsewhere) We hope to be able to report better news in the next issue of this magazine.

Our Branch plays an important role in helping all of the waterways in the area, in many ways. Fundraising, litter picking, balsam bashing, attending meetings with CRT, EA, YWT to name a few, and not least by lobbying to keep our waterways open and re-open them where possible. It is most important to have a keen and active membership and committee. Please try to recruit new members and try to support the activities that we get involved in. Numbers at social meetings have been disappointing of late. Your Committee is looking at whether any changes should be made to improve attendance. If you have any suggestions please let me or any committee members know. Our aim is to provide what YOU want. Do try to come to our meetings and bring a friend or two. It doesn’t matter if they are not members, they will be most welcome.

Have a happy and healthy 2015

Roger Bromley

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Pocklington Canal New Horizons Our trip boat ended its 11th season at the end of October. The boat has run trips on 75 days, including public trips on Sundays and Bank Holidays from April to October and there have been a similar number of booked trips this year. In total, we carried 2028 passengers. The boat provides a steady income for the Pocklington Canal Amenity Society and 2014 has been the best year so far. Many birthday and joint birthday celebrations are held on our boat, which is regularly decorated with balloons and banners.

At present we have about 20 PCAS members who volunteer to crew the boat. I am sorry to report that we have lost our most active crew member, Ernie Darrell, who crewed on about 40 trips this year. Ernie died suddenly on 22 September. PCAS was well represented at his funeral at Thorganby Church, and the service had to be relayed outside via speakers because so many of Ernie’s family and friends attended the funeral. Ernie will be well remembered because he got on so well with everyone.

Not only have we lost Ernie but his local pub – the Ferry Boat Inn at Thorganby –closed at the end of September, due to poor health of Phil Williamson. Phil and his wife Jackie had run the pub for years. Occasionally New Horizons trips visited the Ferry Boat Inn and it was a treat for passengers and crew.

In the spring, the paintwork of New Horizons will be attended to and the boat made clean and smart, ready for the new season which starts on Good Friday. Bookings are already being taken for trips in 2015.

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PCAS Weed Cutting Boat As anyone who has brought a boat to the Pocklington Canal during the summer will know, there is a weed problem, particularly between Gardham Lock and East Cottingwith.

Around 14 years ago, British Waterways purchased a weed cutting boat for use on the Pocklington, Selby and Ripon canals. BW found it unreliable and it has not been used at all since 2009. PCAS acquired the boat last year and it was taken to a local farm for repairs and repainting. The weed boat is back on the Pocklington Canal and PCAS volunteers are being trained to use it.

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East Yorkshire Branch Balsam Bash.

A small number of IWA volunteers turned out for the Balsam Bash on the Pocklington Canal on August 2nd.

The area concentrated on was around the Melbourne Arm at the current limit of navigation on the canal. The Balsam Bash ‘kit’ supplied by the IWA was put to good use by the volunteers.

Two of our volunteers having a bash at the balsam.

Note:- The IWA is encouraging the branches to help with trying to control this invasive plant on waterways in their region. We plan to hold another 'bash' in 2015 and would welcome a few more volunteers. Watch the website or Wolds Waters for further information.

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THE WATERWAY RECOVERY GROUP AUTUMN CAMP A section of towpath between Giles and Sandhill locks on the Pocklington Canal was being damaged by tree roots and the soil was slipping into the canal making this section extremely sloping and therefore difficult to walk and cycle.

Following a successful bout of shrub bashing by WRG earlier this year, near number 8 swingbridge, PCAS invited WRG back for a week-long camp to tackle the towpath.

The day before WRG were due, PCAS hired a stump grinder & operator for the day, to grind down most of the roots. PCAS’s own volunteers raked the resulting surface flat to leave it safe and ready for WRG the next day.

Due to the limited room working on the site, a workforce of six people was selected, with the remainder of the group working at Driffield (see article elsewhere in this newsletter) Using a mini digger and lots of manual labour, day by day the repaired path grew in length. Another burst by the stump grinder on the Thursday, enabled WRG to reach Sandhill lock, exceeding their expectations for the week.

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The worst sections of the path where the slope was excessive required some shuttering edging to hold the topping material in place. As the surface of the path settles and becomes firm, PCAS volunteers will add more shuttering where necessary.

The work was carried out with the permissions of C&RT and Natural England both of whom sent representatives to visit the work whilst it was underway.

Although this section of the canal is currently unnavigable, it is very popular with walkers and cyclists as it is not too far from Canal Head. It is hoped that WRG will again visit the canal to carry out more work. Maybe restoring a lock next time!

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IWA Restoration Group Discovers Hidden Gem During the week of 17th to 22nd August there was a hive of activity on the Driffield Canal. Young volunteers from as far afield as France came to clear scrub from the kilometre of canal between Whinn Hill and Wansford locks. There was once a towpath here, a roadway for horses pulling Humber keels filled to the brim with grain destined for the bakeries of Hull. Overgrown for years, the towpath is once again clear, not so much for bow hauling horses as for visitors wanting to spend a pleasant hour admiring the canal and its locks The week was supposed to be an exploratory event to see if there was enough land to create a path trail. The result? The discovery of a hidden gem.

The IWA Waterway Recovery Group has been invited to come back next year as guests of the Driffield Canal Partnership, to extend the trail to Wansford - another 450 metres. When cleared, this part of the towpath will link with a right of way on the other side of a road that leads to Whinhill Nurseries across the fields and then to Driffield town by way of Whinhill bridge.

The Partnership’s intention, after discussions with the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, is to lay on the trail a surface that will make for a more comfortable walk for visitors and at the same time prevent the path becoming overgrown once more.

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The Partnership would now like to have the views of residents of Wansford and Skerne Parish, about their priorities for wildlife protection and bench seating along this length of the canal.

The WRG’s work on the Driffield Canal would not have been possible without friendly help from the Pocklington Canal Amenity Society who found accommodation for the group at Pocklington School and took a lively interest in the WRG’s endeavours.

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Elvington (Sutton) Lock Further to the report in the August issue of Wolds Waters, we can update you on the situation regarding the closed lock.

Gren Messham, John Pomfret and Alison Smedley attended a useful meeting with EA about Elvington Lock on 10th October, followed by a site visit to the Lock itself. Roger Bromley and Paul Waddington represented IWA East Yorkshire Branch. The meeting was an opportunity for IWA to state its position concerning the lock closure as well as reassuring EA that there was no intention to revisit any of the legal issues concerning rights of navigation. EA outlined its ‘Doing more for the Derwent’ Project. EA shared the early findings of a structural survey and promised to send a copy of the written report as soon as it was available.

A few days after this meeting the EA held a ‘drop in’ session in Elvington Village hall inviting interested parties to have their say. The meeting was well attended by locals, boaters, IWA members and others. Around 90 people in all. The feeling of those attending was that the lock should be reopened as soon as possible. Some boaters trapped above the blockage complained about the lack of communication from the EA, making it impossible to free their boats, even if they had somewhere else to go.

A meeting has now been arranged for the IWA to meet with Yorkshire Wildlife Trust to discuss the bottom gates of the lock, which are also in a poor state of repair.

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ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING The AGM of the East Yorkshire Branch of the Inland Waterways Association will be held at 8.00pm on Friday, 20th March 2015 at Cottingham Methodist Church Hall.

Agenda i) Apologies for absence ii) Approval of the Minutes of 2014 AGM iii) Matters arising from the Minutes iv) Chairman’s report v) Secretary’s report vi) Financial report vii) Election of Committee members viii) Any items requested beforehand by members ix) Report on Region and National matters Secretary:Mrs Chris Stones 41 Keswick Gardens Cottingham Hull HU6 8TB Tel: 01482 875894

MAKING THE AGM MORE FUN Last year we experimented with having some more substantial eats and giving more time for socialising and felt this was a success and are hoing to repeat it this year. The business of the AGM and report from the Region Chairman should take about 30 minutes then time to share in food and conversation. The evening will conclude with a presentation by Peter and Elaine Scott.

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BACK COPIES OF WATERWAYS WORLD I have been given a large number of copies of Waterways World dating from 1972 through to 2012 Many are in yearly folders with some also loose. There are a few hundred in total.

If anyone would like these, and make a donation to the IWA, please let me know.

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WELL DONE !!!

The Branch Display has been to a number of events this year. The work of IWA has been publicised and branch funds have benefitted from the sales of goods offered and some entertaining games. These funds will help in the financial support of our local waterway restoration projects.

Our thanks go to all who have helped on the display, particularly Chris and Dave Stones. They are always ready to receive suggestions for venues and offers of help or goods to sell. Some of us may be unable to be physically involved in restoration projects but we can help in this way.

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SOCIAL MEETINGS At a recent meeting of the Branch committee some time was spent discussing the social meetings. Currently under 10% of our members attend on a regular basis. Would a change of night or venue make you more inclined to attend? Would you prefer a change of format? How do we encourage non-IWA members to attend and keep on attending? We would like to invite more speakers from further away but the extra cost of this would have to be met from increased attendance. We would really appreciate your thoughts!

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

Friday 16th Jan Paul Waddington, our fount of waterway knowledge gives a talk on “Aqueducts” Friday 20th Feb "Sea Fever" - Excitement for people of all abilities on the largest wooden sailing ship afloat, the Jubilee Sailing Trust's Tenacious.

A lively illustrated talk by Rowena and Adrian Lovett.

Friday 20th March Branch AGM followed by “Natter and Nibbles” and a talk from Peter and Elaine Scott

Further meetings will be held on 17th April and 15th May. 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.

Please note the new Branch email address is roger.bromley@waterways.org.uk This newsletter is edited by Barry Robins, 90 Carr Lane, Willerby, Hull HU10 6JU.

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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