Towing Path Topics - May 2021 by The Inland Waterways Association

Towing Path Topics Newsletter of the Inland Waterways Association Lancashire & Cumbria Branch

May 2021

DISCLAIMER The views expressed in Towing Path Topics are not necessarily those of The Inland Waterways Association (IWA) or of its North West Region or of the Lancs and Cumbria Branch. They are, however published as being of interest to our members and readers. Nothing printed may be construed as policy or an official announcement unless so stated. The Association accepts no liability for any matter in this newsletter. No reproduction is permitted without acknowledgment. Cover: Spring: new life and for the canals too?

Photograph acknowledgements:

Pages 6 –12 Zita & Tony Aldridge Page 14 John Priddie Pages 16, 17, 22, 23 Jim Nott Page 25 Jan Winnard Pages 26, 28, 29 Lancaster Canal Trust Pages 30, 31, 39 (top) John Hewerdine Pages 32, 33 Scottish Canals Pages 36, 37 Roger Calvert Others the editor

Copy date for next edition 15th August 2021 The editor retains the right to edit any article or letter submitted for publication. Editor: David Faulkner 22 Moorland Road, Langho, Blackburn BB6 8EX Tel. 01254 249265 Email david.faulkner@waterways.org.uk

Inland Waterways Association

Registered office: Island House, Moor Road, Chesham HP5 1WA Registered as a charity (No. 212342) 2

Spring has sprung, the grass is riz I wonder where the birdies is? Some say the bird is on the wing But that’s absurd – the wing is on the little bird! Editor’s comment Well that’s lowered the tone nicely, welcome to our Spring edition. Normally I would be scrambling to get this edition out in plenty of time in order to notify you of all the things that are planned. Not so this year, although there are walks planned for 22 May and 5 June (see page 38) and you can book a trip on ‘Waterwitch’ from 27 June (p28). It’s a real shame as we celebrate our 75th anniversary this year, such a good opportunity for publicity. Hopefully we can get some small events organised for later in the year. The canal societies are in the same boat. During the winter we have been able to enjoy the webinars organised by Wendy. In 2021 we have had reservoirs, Scotland’s canals and sustainable propulsion. All were very interesting, well done Wendy. Reports on all three are included. Thanks to all our contributors to this edition. It is a real mixture so I hope that there is something for everyone. Unfortunately we have to acknowledge the death of Kenneth Todd, which was brought to our attention by him leaving a legacy to IWA. It was given to IWA nationally but will be spent locally. Everyone reports how busy the towpaths have been during the lockdowns as people seem to have been walking more. Perhaps it will make them appreciate the tremendous asset that is our canals. All suggestions, ideas, photos, news, criticism always very welcome. David Faulkner 3

Branch Chair’s Report Welcome to the chair’s report, I hope that everyone is keeping safe and well and starting to enjoy our new freedoms and the better weather. At the beginning of 2020 the branch committee spent a lot of time starting to organise events for the year and making plans to attend other organisations’ events and then we had to spend a lot of time cancelling plans. This year we have taken the view that we should wait and see how things pan out rather than using up a lot of resources putting plans into place. This means that I have very little to share with you on activities and events, I do hope some will happen but there will probably not be a lot of notice. I would urge you to keep checking the IWA website and if you haven’t already done so let Head Office have your email address as I will ask them to send out emails with information about any events. One of the events we had hoped to hold this year was a WRG Family Camp, this would have been non-residential and held in August, we had done a lot of pre planning but have taken the decision to wait until 2022 when we can hold a residential camp and hopefully not have so many Covid restrictions to spoil the fun. I will keep you informed when we know more and be requesting volunteers! I have continued to attend meetings with Lancaster Canal Trust, IWA Region, Canal and River Trust plus the Lancaster Canal Regeneration Partnership. All were online, saving lots of time on travel but still not quite as good as live meetings. And of course, our social programme has continued with webinars on the last Thursday of the month. We have had some really interesting speakers and high turnouts, We are grateful to the speakers who have helped us out with the webinars; there was a lot of juggling to do as some of our planned speakers were not able to hold webinars. Thanks to you all as well for your patience putting up with the many changes. It has been really pleasing to have so many of our members attending who wouldn’t normally be able to get to meetings because they live so far away or maybe don’t like travelling in an evening.

We want to return to live meetings when we can but we don’t want to lose the many people who are only able to join us by webinar so the plan is to hold the live meetings from September to April but in addition to have at least two webinars. Another bonus from the webinars is that a lot more members have been getting in touch with me to raise issues, ask questions or just to say hello, this has been really welcome, please keep it up. We have hit a potential problem with our live meetings, our venue of St Chad’s may no longer be available. We are not absolutely sure yet, but we will know by September. Details of the next season’s programme including the venue will be in the next Towing Path Topics and on the website. (See back page for dates already booked). Our 2021 AGM, was the first held by webinar and I think it went well, we had more people than have attended live AGM’s and it was good to have it in a format where people could join in, thanks to everyone who attended. At the branch committee meeting after the AGM I was re-elected as Chairman and I would like to give my thanks to all the members of the branch committee who assist me in running the branch; I couldn’t do it without them. I will make my usual plea for more committee members, the more members we have the more we can do, if anyone is interested in joining the committee please let me or one of the other committee members know. At our branch committee meeting after the AGM we co-opted Malcolm Sterratt to the committee. Some of you will remember Malcolm, he has been an active branch member in the past and his late wife was our secretary for many years; now that he is (nearly) retired from work he has some time to give to us. Thanks to Malcolm for offering to help. I hope we all have a better 2021 than 2020 and hope to see some of you at events and meetings. Take care everyone. Wendy Humphreys

Cruising with a widebeam boat Tony and Zita Aldridge on the MV Matilda Devizes When Tony applied to Audrey Smith for 2 plaques for cruising the length of the Leeds & Liverpool Canal and for using the link at Liverpool Docks he mentioned some of the problems there had been on that cruise. I thought you might be interested in Zita and Tony’s boat and the experience of cruising in a widebeam boat. Tony has kindly sent the following.

If you want to see more go to their blog at matilda1102.co.uk.

We are currently moored in Gloucester Dock, having achieved our ambition of visiting most of the wide waterways of England, having done most of the narrow in our previous little fibreglass cruiser from the early 1970s. We lived in Devizes, alongside the Kennet and Avon Canal for 30 years and hence named our new boat after Queen Matilda who for part of her reign was based in the then spectacular Devizes Castle. She was born in 1102, hence part of our email address, and the old style font on our boat, whilst maintaining size and clarity to comply with Environment Agency on Thames etc. Queen Matilda was apparently a feisty lady, no doubt necessary in that age. Granddaughter of William the Conquerer and her son was Henry II, but she suffered Civil War with a cousin Stephen. We looked at many boats and boatbuilders and looked at requirements for eg Environment Agency, Bristol Channel pilots and wanted a boat safe for our journey rather than traditional. It has been much complimented and we have had dozens on board at rallies etc. MV Matilda Devizes was built by Aintree Boats to our design, so she has several unusual features, some of which Aintree adopted for other boats, for example high bow, as we have done tidal Trent, Wash, tidal Thames and Bristol Channel. We have anchors bow and stern, each with electric winch, so that we can retrieve the 26kg anchor, plus chain and rope.

We opted for an awning rather than wheelhouse so that we can collapse quickly when low or arched bridges are on the day’s itinerary. Some maps show air draught, but not profile of arches, or the fact, as several including on Leeds & Liverpool, are at an angle to the canal! We have wheel steering, which limits turn, but enables looking down the side of the boat, and through the windscreen, so without low bridges we can cruise whatever the weather, or be sheltered on tidal crossings. Many have asked but we don't plan going to Europe, so much to see and do in England, but if we did, we would take Matilda on a lorry. We wanted to be as environmentally friendly as practical, so no gas or stove on board, hence no clutter on roof and no problem disposing of ash. Part of our time in Devizes was also running a B&B for which we won several Green Tourism awards. 7

We have a potential of 1.5kw from solar panels, but we can walk on them. However we remain warm from diesel fired central heating, and a generator built in, sharing keel cooling etc. With our planned journey we didn’t risk going for electric power, and in 2015 when planning it was still too expensive for our limited budget, however we do now have an electric outboard on the dinghy giving equivalent of 5hp and ample for the exploring it enables eg at Stratford upon Avon, or fetching the shopping. It was originally owned before Matilda, mainly as lifeboat for treacherous waters, but fortunately not needed for that. We have a bow camera, with large monitor at the steering position so that we can see over the bow, very necessary in areas of eg rowers, like Cambridge and Thames, and useful in locks to see how close to gates. I managed to knock the camera off in Leeds, outside the CRT offices, with the intruding lower walkway in short lock, but fortunately cable held and retrieved. You will also notice a large satellite dish, which is self seeking, easy to find a signal in the many places we have stopped. Inside we have an office with computers, dual monitors etc, helpful when selecting photos etc.

The other unusual “green” feature we included in Matilda is rainwater harvesting. All the water from the roof goes down pipes through filters In the engine bay by gravity to the main tank in the bow. From there it all goes through a large UV filter before use. As well as independent of water points, unless really hot, dry weather as we had for part of our journey on the L&L; it’s mainly soft water. We do have a chemical device when taking on mains water and have so far avoided too much hard water effect.

Liverpool to Newark on Trent July to September 2016 (This is the introduction to very detailed navigation notes sent to Nicholson’s guides after the trip. Ed) Although many waterways are indicated on maps as “widebeam”, the sizes vary and many we have so far found are limited to around 10 foot wide, eg from Ellesmere Port Museum towards Chester, the first sliproad bridge has wide wooden protectors limiting the width. Also the access from the River Ribble to the Ribble Link and on the River Great Ouse from St Ives to Bedford and the Middle Levels. Whilst we found the relevant Nicholson’s Guides and canal magazine articles very informative on places to see, location of locks and that our boat should theoretically fit, some more detail of taking a 12 foot wide boat through would help. MV Matilda Devizes is 60 foot long by 10

12 foot wide with a draught of 25 inches. It’s the air draught that is key, 82 inches with awning down, 99 inches with awning up, which we wanted most of the time, either raining or to shelter from long periods cruising in the sun. This is not to deter anybody from doing this cruise, we thoroughly enjoyed doing it, a lot of brilliant scenery and lovely small towns and villages to visit, and we made it. Just some tips of things to watch, awkward bridges requiring awning down etc. The main message is that the mainly traditional arched bridges, most of which are at an angle to the canal line, can be very tight on the corners of the 9 foot wide awning, when up, and a few, tight to cabin sides even with awning down. Unfortunately our new boat was months later than contracted, and later promised completion dates, so we had less time to explore or stop at many places, so apologies to those villages not mentioned, we are only commenting on what we experienced. Our route was from Liverpool Marina across the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, celebrating 200 years, to Leeds and then Aire and Calder, via Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation and Stainforth and Keadby Canal to Keadby where we joined the tidal River Trent and then via overnight at Torksey, then Cromwell Lock to Newark on Trent, a great destination with a lot of facilities, events and places to explore.

Moored in Victoria Basin, Gloucester, outside Soldiers of Gloucestershire Museum. Page 8 An indication of interior, kitchen includes full size fridge/ freezer, washing machine and even dishwasher, used when shore power is available. Page 9 Inside showing console, with monitor for bow camera, VHF etc and glass windscreen and wiper in background. Shot whilst moored, ornaments go when moving! Dinghy on its davits. We have steel shutters for windows, but in spite of some prior tales of the L&L didn't feel the need to deploy. Page 10 Awning down, dinghy and davits stowed. Page 11 Bow view and hence indication of profile for bridges, awning up air draft 99”. Note bow camera. 12

Reservoirs Our January webinar was a talk on reservoirs by David Brown, a reservoir engineer with CRT. Of course the most interesting thing about a reservoir is the dam (there are 4 main types). And the most interesting thing about dams is when they fail. David mentioned some of the problems and as usual, legislation follows major incidents. The UK's worst-ever dam disaster was the Great Sheffield Flood of 1864, which claimed at least 240 lives. The newly built dam, known as the Dale Dyke Dam in Bradfield Dale near Low Bradfield on the River Loxley, collapsed while it was being filled for the first time. An estimated 3 million cubic metres (700 million imperial gallons) swept down the valley to Sheffield and beyond to Rotherham. There have been other incidents but nothing as serious. All dams are regularly inspected, the frequency depends on risk , it can be 3 times a week. There have been no UK fatalities since 1925.

Other parts of the world have not been so lucky, or so careful. This was not included in David’s talk but your editor can never resist a good photo — the Baldwin Hills Reservoir disaster, California 1963. 13

The dam containing the Baldwin Hills Reservoir in South Los Angeles suffered a catastrophic failure and flooded the surrounding residential neighbourhoods. It began with signs of lining failure, followed by increasingly serious leakage through the dam at its east abutment. After three hours, the dam breached, with a total release of 250 million US gallons (950,000 m3), resulting in five deaths and the destruction of 277 homes. Vigorous rescue efforts averted a greater loss of life. Water, water everywhere………?

This somewhat indifferent photograph, is of two of my granddaughters walking back to the car after completing a junior park run. Park runs, for the uninitiated, are a national phenomenon that became very popular before Covid, and are likely to become so again; the junior version is for those aged 4-14 over a 2k course. This particular junior run started with a circuit of a small and attractive park, above a small town, before heading up quite a steep path to playing fields, finishing after a circuit of them. Afterwards we all walked back on the path across a dam to the car, and so home. For those who haven’t already guessed the town is Whaley Bridge, the water in the background is Toddbrook Reservoir, the path shown then 14

led back across the top of the spillway, and the date is 6 th July 2019. A little more than three weeks later that spillway partially collapsed, and the dam came within a whisker of catastrophic failure. Given it had been there since 1838 that probably counts as a narrow escape! What brought this photograph to mind, and caused me to muse on wider issues, was the excellent online presentation from David Brown, Reservoir Engineer for CRT, which we enjoyed, as I write this, a few weeks ago. Reservoirs generally are not something I think about, but water does concern me, having been aware of significant canal water shortages in the recent past, and living in Carlisle which has been the subject of major flooding twice in the last fifteen years. David touched on Toddbrook, but dealt with canal reservoirs more generally, and safety in particular. One thing, which on reflection seems obvious, is that canal reservoirs are old; Toddbrook was opened in 1838, and none seem to have been built since the 19th century. That suggests they need lots of maintenance and monitoring, and perhaps that failure is more likely. Also they are relatively small. I had been thinking in terms of the Hoover Dam which takes water from the mighty Colorado River, but research (OK, Wikipedia) indicates that Toddbrook is supplied by the less than mighty Todd Brook (some of which passes by down to the River Goyt), Killington Lake by Killington/Peasey Beck, and so on.

Putting canals to one side, is there a case for new reservoirs in the north? As far as I can tell since Kielder opened in 1981 there has been only one new reservoir for any purpose in the north, and that a tenth of the size of Kielder. Reservoirs are unpopular projects. That said, given ever more building and climate change, could their construction on marginal land or even underground in the Pennines, improve flood control, water supply to our trans-Pennine canals and/ or via the waterways for domestic purposes down country, and maybe even enable some green local hydro electric schemes? I pose these questions with a complete lack of technical knowledge and ability. It may all be wholly non-feasible, but I would like to think that those who know better have at least considered the possibility. John Priddle, branch member 12th February 2021 15

Killington Lake Talking of reservoirs, Maralyn & Jim Nott joined a small CRT working party to repair dry stone walls and do some painting at Killington Lake which is a reservoir feeding the Lancaster Canal. It is next to the M6 services which most of us have used at some time or other

With Maralyn and Jim was Anna from CRT and another volunteer, John from Preston. The dry weather meant that they could concentrate on preparation and painting.

Before

After

Peasey Beck feeds the reservoir. You can just make out a volunteer painting the railings of a bridge across the beck.

2021 Branch AGM This is a brief summary of the Zoom meeting that took place in February. The minutes will be published in our January 2022 edition as part of the calling notice for the 2022 AGM. If you would like a copy before then please contact the editor. The 2020 accounts were in our January edition. Thirty-one people attended including Paul Rodgers, National Chairman who reflected on the past year and how IWA had adapted to changed circumstances. Much is on hold but a lot is happening behind the scenes, including better ways to support branches and to encourage cooperation throughout the association. We look forward to making this 75th anniversary year special – all ideas welcome. In his absence the Region Chairman’s report was read by Tony Dunning. Sir Robert Atkins thanked Wendy and the branch officers for their stalwart work in difficult circumstances. He mentioned changes at national level eg new CEO and proposals to reform our system of governance. He emphasized the need to develop closer links with other waterway user groups and the importance of establishing close contacts with MPs and councillors. The region committee continued to meet via Zoom. Wendy our branch chair outlined what had taken place during the past year. After 2 conventional meetings our social programme had switched to webinars with substantially greater numbers attending. On our behalf she attended meetings with LCT, CRT, LCRP, L&LCS and even with MPs at the House of Commons. We continue to issue L&L plaques thanks to Audrey. She thanked the committee members for their support. She also mentioned the support of Head Office in training for and setting up of webinars. Ashton Basin at the Preston end of the Lancaster Canal had now been designated a Silver Propellor destination. The treasurer outlined an overall loss for the year of £2,314 mainly due to £2,500 given to LCRP, leaving a balance of £3,823. We would not have enough to support LCRP to the same extent this year. Janet Dunning and Alan Green were elected to the committee; Tony Dunning, Maralyn & Jim Nott were re-elected after serving 3 years. 18

Branch Committee Chairman

Vice-chairman Secretary Treasurer & Newsletter editor Membership secretary & webmaster

Wendy Humphreys Darwen Tony Dunning Egremont

07763 561572 01254 703553 07730 113894 01946 820875

Maralyn Nott Kirkham David Faulkner Langho

07912 249265 01254 249265

Janet Dunning Egremont Alan Green Chorley

01946 820875

01257 274440

Sales

Audrey Smith Wheelton Vacant

Social secretary

See chairman

Lancaster Canal Regeneration P’ship

Wendy Humphreys

Leeds and Liverpool Canal Lancaster Canal Trust

Audrey Smith

Environment & Planning Publicity

Committee members

Region Chairman (ex officio)

Ian Treanor Darwen Jim Nott Malcolm Sterratt

Sir Robert Atkins

Email addresses are firstname.surname@waterways.org.uk You can write to us c/o the editor see page 2

Help! I'm the website editor I'm probably not the best person to be having this role as some would consider me to be a dinosaur when it comes to using computers. I'm not one who spends hours on a computer, I'd rather have my nose in a book! In my days at university, computers were big cumbersome things and used as research tools - their ability to 'number crunch' saving time when the alternative was days of laborious long-hand calculations.

When I started work, use of computers was limited. Routine calculations were done using a slide-rule or mechanical calculators. Dedicated computers, designed to perform a specific task, were used for more complex calculations. They tended to have limited memories and the appropriate program had to be installed at the start of a run of calculations. Data input took place via a punched tape, and these needed to be handled with care. The computer program was relatively simple and the computer was only doing what we could do manually - the computer was much quicker than we were, and less prone to making errors. As electronic systems became more widespread, electronic calculators started to appear on the scene and computers became capable of doing more. The computers that I used at work were still programmed to be used in specific situations, though as valves gave way to semiconductors and processors became silicon chips what they could do became more complex.

Outside work, my first acquaintance with a computer was when my husband acquired a BBC-B. At the time our daughter was in the upper classes at primary school and they were being introduced to the idea of programming a machine. Such computers had limited memories and an appropriate program was fed into the system via a small tape recorder if one wanted to play a computer game. Needless to say, mangled tapes were a hazard of the system. In due course we updated to a computer running Microsoft 3.11. In 1999, I offered to take on the role of editing Towing Path Topics. The qualifications required were a suitable computer and an inkjet printer (a dot matrix printer didn't produce a suitable output for reproduction). In that respect, I was more than qualified as we had a mono-laser printer! More often than not, I received handwritten contributions. Occasionally contributions were type written and one regular contributor sent their contribution on a floppy disk as I didn't 20

have an internet connection. The disk went back and forth until we upgraded our system and were able to connect to the internet. Gradually more and more communication took place electronically as home-computers became more common. When IWA launched its first website, a branch member was given appropriate training then they moved to another branch! Consequently, when no-one else put themselves forward for the role, I ended up being the branch website editor by default as it was seen to be an extension of what I was doing.

After a few years the website was considered to be out of date and a new website was developed. Website editors attended training sessions. The one I atttended was in a room without an internet connection but we needed a connection if the training was to be successful. A well known member of Waterway Recovery Group supplied a mobile Wi-Fi to enable us to go on-line - all very well but the course leader hadn't been given the password! After an inspired guess we got on-line and the session continued. In due course that website became outdated and a new website was in the process of being developed when Covid struck the nation. The website is still a work in progress but we have a say in what appears on our branch pages. The pages belong to our branch and it is up to us to make something of them. What makes our branch different from other branches? Northern waterways are different from southern ones, how can we reflect this? How can we entice visitors to the waterways in our branch area? What would you hope to find in our branch pages? I have some ideas, our branch committee have some ideas but you, the members, may not agree with them. If the pages are to represent the branch we all need to have an input.

Please send any suggestions to either me (janet.dunning@waterways.org.uk) or any committee member. Thank you,

Janet Dunning

Ashton Basin Silver Propellor destination

The end of the canal, about 100 metres South of boat yard

Entrance to boat yard on the left

Boat yard

The end of the canal is shallow and mooring is difficult in places

Lancaster

Canal & River Trust, Cumbria County Council, IWA, Kendal Town Council, Lancs County Council, Lancaster Canal Trust South Lakeland District Council

Canal

Regeneration Partnership

The partnership has a website www.lcrp.org.uk where up to date news can be found. The last LCRP executive meeting was in February 2021, the next meeting is May. The programme group meets more often.

Advertising for a chairman hasn’t produced any results but Robin Yates has agreed to stay as chair for a bit longer. The recruitment information is on the LCRP website if anyone has any ideas for people who might be interested. The contract with Morecambe Bay Partnership was due to end in March 2021 but it has been extended. Morecambe Bay Partnership provides the project manager and admin support for LCRP. The Towpath Trail feasibility study has started, results are due in May. Part of the new Tow Path has been completed near Wellheads Lane. Interpretation project: this will deliver 6 way markers and 6 interpretation panels/structures telling canal heritage stories, this is between Kendal and Lancaster. Look out for the new branding.

Legacy from Kenneth Todd The IWA has been left a legacy of £1.000 by Kenneth Todd, a branch member who lived in Millom. He sadly died of Covid aged 68 in March 2020. His sister has told us that Ken grew up in a small village in Cumbria and after qualifying as a carpenter/joiner at Eskmeals Gun Range he worked and travelled around the world on various overseas projects. He returned to Cumbria to retire. He loved sea fishing, gardening, listening to music and enjoying the open countryside. His chosen charities included Yorkshire Millennium Woodland Trust, RSPB and Inland Waterways Association. He looked forward to reading ‘Towing Path Topics’ and had a great affinity with canals in particular. No decision has yet been taken on spending the legacy but it will be something connected with the restoration of the Northern Reaches, possibly the Towpath Trail.

A couple of photos of Ken walking in the Lakes and one when he was younger.

Lancaster Canal Trust

(Taken from Robin Yates’ monthly ‘e-news’) Working parties on the first furlong (FF) resumed In April as Covid restrictions eased. The Off bank … Contractors working on the Equestrian Centre development adjacent to the FF offered, for a price, to complete the job of filling the profile along the bank using the soil from the mound we’ve grown to know as Mt Galbraith and surplus soil from the work they were doing. Whilst we have all thoroughly enjoyed filling sandbags and floating them across the cut, and looked forward to doing this in the weeks and weeks ahead, this was thought to be the sort of offer that shouldn’t be refused and, though Trustees worried that our loyal and dedicated volunteers might be miffed at being deprived of this activity, it was agreed to accept the offer and pay the price. The contractor completed the task, from Bridge 173 to the point of the bank slippage, in an embarrassingly short time and have made the superb job as the photo shows. We have also gained a little more land along the off bank and have planted the screening hedge which was part of the ‘deal’

The steps alongside the Stables at Crooklands is another useful task we are committed to. This will be a ‘midweek’ job and, given the restricted working area, won’t allow for too many people to be involved. The timber edging provided by CRT has been prepared and is currently at our depot at Millness. This will need to be brought to site courtesy of Ian and Waterwitch. Other material will be delivered by CRT to the site. If you’re interested in helping please email Bob Phillips at robertphillips1@btinternet.com for more info Discussions are taking place with CRT re an assortment of work around Hincaster Tunnel. There is a dry stone wall to be finished, invasive Snowberry to be cleared and paths and steps to be kept clear. The tunnel ‘viewing / picnic’ area really does need attention now that Spring is with us and there are more and more walkers using the towpath trail. We need also to restart work on the ‘paddock’ by the side of the Stable at Crooklands. There was a plan and some work had been done previously but Covid restriction twelve months ago has meant that this potentially attractive area has been badly neglected. The Boat Crew are prepared to do some strimming and the like but we need some keen gardeners to take charge of the area. Drop an email to toni@phonecoop.coop if you’re interested in helping to develop and maintain this lovely area. Your ideas and help will be greatly welcomed.

Fund the Bund to Finish the Furlong Spread the word please – a contribution of a pound for a shovel-full of the bund or £20 for a whole barrow load! The target is some £18,000 and so far £1,200 has been raised so, some way to go. There have already been a number of very generous donations but all contributions welcome! Lancaster Canal Trust, c/o Lancaster District CVS, The Cornerstone, Sulyard Street, Lancaster LA1 1PX 27

Great news Lancaster Canal Trust Trip Boat back in service . Our schedule for 2021 boat trips is now confirmed. Trips begin on Sunday the 27th June 2021 at 11am until 4pm and then every Sunday until the 26th September 2021. In addition we will be running trips on Bank Holiday Mondays as usual with trips from the Westmorland Showgrounds on the 8th/9th September. If Government regulations change these dates, we will post news on our web site and Facebook site.

Tramway Bridge This is the bridge across the River Ribble that originally carried the tramway that was used for that part of the Lancaster Canal through Preston that was never completed. It was closed a few years ago because it is considered unsafe due to the deterioration of the concrete.

There is a lot happening behind the scenes to promote the repair and restoration of the Tram bridge. Friends of Tram bridge committee (https://www.facebook.com/groups/friendsoftrambridge) are sending letters and looking into the repair issues of the current bridge. I have been tasked with applying to Historic England to get the bridge listed. Although it is not the original, it has had quite a good run as a replacement—from the 1930’s work; wooden deck taken up during WW2 then replaced after the war, 1960’s replacement of its wooden deck to a concrete one, and weathering many storms and floods over the decades. As mentioned in previous reports, I am hoping to organise some guided walks, both around the bridge and on part of the tramroad that still exists on the south side of the Ribble. Nigel Hardacre 29

Johnsons Hillock Last year your branch committee was made aware of some problems at Johnsons Hillock lock flight and I discussed this at our Region meeting and decided that I would talk to CRT about our concerns. CRT are happy to meet with us at Johnsons Hillock to look at the problems but first we decided we would have a look ourselves so we could see what the problems were. As soon as the Covid restrictions were relaxed myself and Audrey Smith met at the Top Lock Pub and walked down the lock flight. It was a lovely sunny day and we chatted to lots of people, it was my first sight of a canal in over a year and I enjoyed the walk. We did see lots of problems and we will arrange to meet there with someone from Canal and River Trust to share those concerns and look at whether there is anything IWA can do to help get them resolved. Part of the system was dewatered recently for some maintenance and our member John Hewerdine took the opportunity to take some photographs and some are published here. I will report more on this after our meeting with Canal and River Trust and I may be asking for volunteers to help with some of the problems. Wendy Humphreys

I think we are talking of helping to repaint or repair bridges, paint balance beams etc rather than reconstruct walls. Ed

Scottish Canals: Union Canal breach This was mentioned briefly in our last edition. In the early hours of 12 August 2020 a significant storm and water from the upstream catchment caused a breach between Muiravonside and Polmont. The emergency team working with contractors installed stop planks and concrete dams to reduce the flow. The next day the environment team and partners rescued 11,000 fish. Thanks to £6.5 million of additional Scottish Government funding and some hard work, the works at Muiravonside are now complete, with both canal and towpath reinstated in this area. We are also undertaking a programme of resilience works throughout the Union Canal in response to this event. The resilience works involve installing telemetry, channel exploration and embankment investigations & strengthening to try and mitigate against a similar incident in the future. Thanks to Kimberley Manderson of Scotttish Canals for the above and the photos showing the breach and start of the repairs. Note the size of the people on the 2nd aerial photograph.

Scotland’s Canals webinar March 2021 We had an informative talk on canals in Scotland by Jonathan Mosse for our monthly webinar (I still don’t like that word, Ed).

Jonathan lives on a narrowboat on the Scottish canals and broadcast from there (the wonders of technology). Jonathan has an enormous knowledge of canals and one of his activities is writing Nicholson’s Guides. We were taken along the different canals: • Crinan Canal which gives a 9 mile shortcut for ‘blue water’ boats between the Clyde and the Inner Hebrides which avoids the long diversion round the Kintyre peninsula. • The Caledonian Canal, ‘The Caley’, the one with Loch Ness. It connects the east coast at Inverness with the west coast near to Fort William. • The Forth & Clyde and the Union Canals which connect at the Falkirk Wheel and provide a link between the Firth of Forth and the Firth of Clyde. • Also mentioned was the Monkland Canal, south of Glasgow, no longer navigable but an important water supply for the Forth & Clyde Canal. The canals in Scotland are owned and operated by Scottish Canals, part of the Scottish Government. When Canal & River Trust took over the canals in England and Wales from British Waterways the Scottish Government decided that their canals would remain in public ownership, still under British Waterways, but trading as ‘Scottish Canals’. There is not an IWA branch, most Scottish members belong to this branch but some choose branches where their boats are moored. There are a number of voluntary organisations linked to the canals and the IWA centrally has given advice based on our experience south of the border. According to Jonathan, the care and maintenance of the canals has improved recently after some worrying neglect, especially of bridges. Significant improvements are under way as part of a £19.95 million capital investment programme. If you have not been to see any of the canals get up there and gaze in wonder at eg the Falkirk Wheel and the Kelpies. Ed. 34

Forth & Clyde Canal Society

(From their newsletter) Like everybody else 2020 was very quiet year with only one boat charter in March before the first lockdown (the society has 3 boats for trips and hire). There has been no AGM due to the Covid restrictions, The chairman’s and treasurer’s reports are in the Spring ‘Canal News’. The lack of boat charters meant a loss for the year. Looking on the website charter bookings have not yet restarted.

Leeds & Liverpool Canal Society (From Spring ‘Clogs & Gansy’)

Everything cancelled in 2020. Nothing planned for 2021 yet, the usual first event, Skipton Waterway Festival definitely cancelled and Keighley Historic Transport Festival at the end of May is unlikely. As soon as possible, ‘Kennet’ will be out and about promoting the history and heritage of the canal.

Ulverston Canal Regeneration Group All quiet, nothing on the website since March 2020. The canal was owned by GlaxoSmithKline who operated the large adjacent pharmaceutical factory. GSK are closing the factory but in 2009 they transferred ownership to a separate company, the Ulverston Canal Company Ltd. A trust was set up by GSK to ensure funds are available for the canal’s management, maintenance and preservation. If anybody knows if the factory closure will affect the canal please let me know Ed 35

Sustainable Boating webinar April 2021 We had a thought-provoking webinar led by Bowman Bradley supported at question time by Jonathan Mosse and Malcolm Bridge.

All 3 are members of the IWA’s Sustainable Boating (formerly ‘Propulsion’) Group which has published a ‘Vision for Sustainable Propulsion’. The group monitors and encourages the development of supporting technologies—those available now or soon. Things are changing rapidly, much of it driven by developments in the motor industry. The group are looking at what new boats might look like and how to mitigate the impact of the existing 80,000 diesel boats. Diesel engines will not be allowed in new cars from 2030 and it is likely that this will apply to new boats. At the moment it looks like new boats will be powered by electric motors running on batteries, The batteries can be charged by photovoltaic cells (‘solar panels’) but despite the roof of eg a narrowboat being a good location these are unlikely to be sufficient by themselves. An additional small diesel generator will be required in the short term. Longer term a hydrogen fuel cell may be the answer. Despite still

using diesel, the generator will be much more efficient than a current diesel propulsion engine. A network of charging points, initially at marinas where boats are moored, would allow external charging.

Long term, hydrogen may be the fuel of the future allowing fuel cells to power the electric propulsion motor. Birmingham University built a hydrogen powered narrowboat as long ago as 2007. To improve the sustainability of the existing fleet we could switch to bio-diesel. Current bio-diesel is not suitable for marine use but a second generation bio-diesel, HVO (Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil) is very suitable. It is made from waste vegetable oil (think chip shop). It is currently in use in a number of commercial boats, especially on the River Thames. (See Summer ‘IWA Waterways’ for more information.) Factors other than methods of propulsion can improve sustainability. From switching off engines whilst waiting for locks to better dredging, deeper channels mean more efficient propulsion. These 2 photos from his father's collection, showing old fashioned sustainable propulsion, were sent by Ulverston member, Roger Calvert, to provide a little light relief for the speaker. (These slides are part of the Geoff Calvert Collection at the National Waterways Museum, Ellesmere Port.)

Lancaster Canal Trust Walks, IWA members are very welcome Both walks led by Nigel Hardacre. Due to Covid restrictions the walks will be limited to 15 people including Nigel so you must book for the walks. You can do that through Wendy Humphreys on 07763561572 or delwendwhm@btinternet.com. . Saturday 22nd of May 2021, a walk around part of the Ribble Link. Meet at Haslam Park car park PR2 1JE (NOT The Final Whistle Café at UCLAN as originally planned) for a 10am start. This walk will be around 5½ miles, bring a packed lunch. You will need a reasonable level of fitness to complete the walk and there are stiles. NB If approaching the park from Preston there is no right turn into Bristow Ave, you need to drive past and turn round. Saturday 5th of June 2021, a walk around the old Lancaster Canal near Johnsons Hillock locks. Meet at the Top Lock pub Wheelton to start the walk at 10am. The walk will be about 6 miles, around Whittle le Woods and the Walton Summit branch. There will be a stop for lunch at the old basin with the Co-op shop close by. Bring a packed lunch or buy something from the shop. You will need a torch for the tunnels and a good level of fitness to walk the full route, there are also several stiles.

The entrance to one of the tunnels 38

A reminder of winter

I hope that you are reading this in the warm sunshine, finding it difficult to remember being frozen, Ed

Social Programme for 2021–2022 Dates so far Date

Talk

30/9/21

APOLLO Mission Impossible or a Dream Realised.

Speaker David Lowe

Notes The talk will cover how David became interested in canals and waterways, early canal holidays, involvement with IWA, and finally setting up and running what became a large and very successful waterways business, operating passenger and freight boats in the north and east midlands. Postponed from last season.

28/10/21

Her project

25/11/21

No details

9/12/21

Christmas meal

Carrie House

Carrie is the project officer for Community Engagement, part of the Heritage Lottery Funded Stainton Aqueduct restoration.

Hoghton Arms

Christmas may seem a long way away but the Hoghton Arms were happy to take our booking. Details nearer the time.

27/1/22

No details

24/2/22

AGM

31/3/22

IWA Campaigns

28/4/22

No details

Followed by a nostalgia evening led by Audrey Smith Alison Smedley

Note this talk is postponed from last season.

Venue not confirmed at the moment, we may have to move from St Chad’s 40