MANCHESTER SHIP CANAL GUIDE

The Manchester Ship Canal is a waterway which links Manchester with the coast and provides access to the city for large ocean-going vessels. The canal is over 37 miles long and has five locks in total. However, it is not considered a leisure waterway and the incompatibility of large ships and small boats means that hired vessels are not usually permitted. Boat-owners must seek permission to use the canal from the Manchester Ship Canal Company, proving that their boat is seaworthy, insured and has the required safety equipment on board. A guide for small craft planning to use the canal was originally prepared for IWA by John Fletcher and published by IWA North West Region; a revised version was recently released. The 38-page route section of the guide has been completely reworked by John Fletcher (former National Chair) and the preceding notes revised with input from IWA Chester & Merseyside Branch. A link to the guide will be included in new editions of Nicholson’s No 4 and No 5. It is also available to download from waterways.org.uk/ manchester-ship-canal.

Successful Campaign To Protect Caldon Canal Heritage

IWA North Staffordshire & South Cheshire Branch submitted an objection to a Canal & River Trust planning application for Listed Building Consent for alterations at Hazelhurst Top Lock (Lock 10). IWA objected strongly on heritage and health and safety grounds to one aspect of the application, which was the proposal for a fabricated ‘restrictor’ on the end of the balance beams. Despite what the Heritage Design and Access Statement says, we were concerned that this would have had a detrimental impact on the heritage setting of the listed lock (which is also part of a conservation area), and would have introduced a new unexpected hazard to boaters operating the lock, who would no longer be able to pass around the end of the balance beam in an emergency, for example if the gate is swinging closed of its own accord. The problem at this lock is that the balance beams are too long for the original stonework of the lock. We suggested this could be rectified by reducing the length of the balance beams and adding additional weight underneath (if the balance of the gate is affected), as has been done in many other locations around CRT’s network of waterways. This view has been endorsed by IWA’s national Navigation Committee. Objections were also submitted by the Caldon & Uttoxeter Canals Trust and the Historic Narrow Boat Club for the same reasons.

We recently heard that our objections have been taken on board, as CRT has removed the part of the application referring to the balance beam restrictors. It now plans simply to move the handles on the end of the balance beams to align with the quadrant below, as well as investigate the possibility of shortening the beam.

Time Capsule

Let us know what the waterways mean to you and we’ll include your name and response in our time capsule! We will be creating the Waterways Time Capsule to mark the launch of the Waterways for Today report in 2022.

While the report focuses on waterways in the present day, we very much hope that it will become a benchmark for the waterways of the future, too. Our Time Capsule Project will help to achieve this by creating a snapshot of today’s waterways that can be revisited in many years to come.

The time capsule will include your responses, a copy of the report, case studies, and photographs of our waterways. Once you’ve completed the online form, we’ll keep you updated on the progress of the time capsule and let you know when/where it will be buried.

Visit waterways.org.uk/time-capsule to take part.

Canal Camps

We have received a number of enquiries from people who are interested in attending a Canal Camp. The 2023 programme will be available in early spring and we’ll also be recruiting volunteers for key roles including:

• Canal Camp Leader As a Canal Camp Leader, your main role is to make sure the Canal Camp is a fun, well-planned and safe experience.

• Assistant Canal Camp Leader As an Assistant Canal Camp Leader, you will support the Leader in making sure the Canal Camp runs smoothly and safely.

• Canal Camp Cook As a Canal Camp Cook, your main role is to feed 12-18 Canal Camp volunteers. Canal restoration is hungry work, after all!

Towpath Upgrade At Wootton Brook

IWA Northampton Branch adopted the Northampton Arm of the GU Canal in 2013. There are 24 regular work parties each year, and in recent years we have been partnered on the weekdays by staff from Cummins Power Systems in Daventry.

There have been several housing developments to the west of the town through which the arm runs. Over the last 10 years, various council initiatives have used Developer Contributions to fund vast improvements to the towpath between Lock 17 (Northampton Town Centre) to beyond Lock 14 where the housing area now extends. Cummins helped fund and lay a recent small extension to the path in 2019.

The recent lockdowns have contributed to a vast increase in foot and cycle traffic along the towpath. Many of these walkers and cyclists now use the towpath regularly. There remained a stretch of towpath that was still in its original state, and got very muddy in wet weather, often passable only by the brave. The Northampton Branch team resolved to improve it. The parish council was very supportive, Canal & River Trust was on board, and local business Cummins was keen to support by paying for the materials and bringing staff to help.

In May 2022, during very hot weather, 70m of path were dug out and levelled, 35 tons of gravel barrowed along from the nearest access point, and 30 ice lollies consumed! After a summer of further refining their plans, a further 70m were dug and levelled in September, along with 35 tons of gravel shifted, laid and compacted, countless cups of coffee drunk, and some new faces seen among the IWA volunteers. The last full day of work brought heavy rain showers, a visit from CRT’s Richard Parry, and some thoughts on the missing 140 or so metres to Lock 13 that they hope to complete in 2023.

In Memoriam

Wendy Humphreys

We were deeply saddened to hear that Wendy Humphreys, Chair of IWA Lancashire & Cumbria Branch, passed away on 6th October 2022. Wendy was an incredibly proactive branch chair who was truly committed to her role. She had led the Lancashire & Cumbria Branch for several years and was also a Zoom Champion. Wendy will be missed by many, not only in her local branch but within the wider IWA community. In light of this sad news, Audrey Smith stepped in to help manage correspondence for the Lancashire & Cumbria Branch. She can be contacted by email at audrey.smith@waterways.org.uk.

Roger Leishman

We were very saddened to hear that Roger Leishman, former Chair of IWA Chiltern Branch, passed away on Friday 28th October 2022. The loss of Roger was felt not only within the Chiltern Branch, but also within the wider waterways community.

Denis Farmer

IWA Shrewsbury District & North Wales Branch lost a good friend with the passing of Denis Farmer on 21st October 2022. Many members of IWA Shrewsbury District & North Wales Branch and the waterways community will remember Denis fondly.

Successful Campaign To Protect Waterways Heritage In London

IWA’s Heritage Advisory Panel supported the North & East London Branch in objecting to a proposal from Canal & River Trust to dispose of the strip of land alongside Commercial Road Lock on the Regent’s Canal. IWA felt that disposal of this land threatened the canal’s heritage setting and amenity value.

Taking Limehouse Basin as a meeting place for boats between the tidal Thames and the inland canals, this lock stands as a gateway to the canal system. The two lock chambers fit neatly into the space between two historic bridges, twin arches of the Commercial Road Bridge and the fine single arch of the docks railway, now DLR. This canalscape is very important to the character of the designated Regent’s Canal Conservation Area and we felt that anything built on the site would inevitably damage these views.

Additionally, we believe that it is inappropriate to dispose of any land that forms part of the operational environment for a canal lock. The second chamber is an important heritage feature, and it deserves to be kept to show how the canal operated in its busy commercial days. It is also important to make sure that restoring the second chamber is possible in the future, even if not currently an option.

Objections were also raised by the Friends of Regent’s Canal, the Commercial Boat Operators Association, the Lower Regents Coalition and the Greater London Industrial Archaeology Society. The Canal & River Trust responded to the objections saying that they have “carefully considered the various representations made”, and “accept that the sale of this land on a freehold basis is not in the best interests of the Trust and we will not be progressing it”.

Importance Of Waterway Funding Discussed By Mps At All Party Group Meeting

The first hybrid meeting of the All Party Parliamentary Group for the Waterways (for which IWA provides the secretariat) took place on Wednesday 2nd November 2022, with MPs in a meeting room in Westminster while representatives of waterway organisations were able to join by video link.

The meeting was chaired by Michael Fabricant, MP for Lichfield and APPGW Chair, and was also attended by Heather Wheeler MP for South Derbyshire, Wendy Morton MP for Aldridge and Brownhills, and Suzanne Webb MP for Stourbridge. Other MPs and peers joined by video or sent representatives to attend on their behalf.

The main purpose of the meeting was to highlight to MPs the importance of waterway funding, particularly in the context of Defra’s review of Canal & River Trust’s grant funding which is currently taking place. As Richard Parry, CRT Chief Executive, explained in his presentation, the outcome of the Defra review, due to be announced in 2023, will be critical for CRT’s longterm financial position, with the current grant funding contract only in place until 2027.

Richard gave an overview of the Trust’s achievements during its first ten years, and explained the importance of its waterways to the nine million people who live within 10 to 15 minutes’ walk of them. He also highlighted the importance of the inland waterways to the Government’s plans for ‘levelling up’, with 61% of households within 1km of their waterways experiencing well-being inequalities.

Jonathan Smith, Interim IWA Chief Executive, then gave a presentation detailing IWA’s new report, Waterways for Today. This report demonstrates how the country’s network of 5,000 miles of inland waterways can contribute to the country’s economic recovery. It details the 12 most significant benefits that the inland waterways can bring to our economy, environment, local communities and lives.

A lively Q&A session followed, with questions raised by waterway organisation representatives and discussed by the panel, on subjects such as the impact of climate change on the costs of maintaining safe waterways, heritage structures at risk, and how waterways under restoration and those run by other navigation authorities can also get better support from Government.

The meeting closed with the MPs agreeing to put in requests for a Parliamentary Debate on the subject of waterway funding.

Some of the MPs who attended the Waterways APPG meeting at Westminster.

L-R: (sitting) Wendy Morton MP, Suzanne Webb MP, Michael Fabricant MP; (standing) Jonathan Smith, Interim CEO, IWA and Richard Parry, CEO, CRT.

Parliamentary Debate And Pqs On The Future Of The Waterways

Following on from the APPGW meeting, MPs were successful in securing a Parliamentary Debate and this took place on Tuesday 22nd November 2022. More than a dozen MPs spoke passionately and knowledgeably about the importance of public funding for inland waterways, but IWA was disappointed by the response from the Waterway Minister. It is IWA’s view that Government has missed an opportunity to reassure the public that 2,000 miles of waterways in England and Wales will receive sufficient funding in the future to keep them safe for the people who live, work and spend time on or near them, and to protect this important infrastructure network for future generations.

The Westminster Hall debate was opened by Michael Fabricant, MP for Lichfield and Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for the Waterways. Michael outlined the importance of waterways to local people, the environment and the economy. He noted that with waterways more popular than ever “we are seeing their benefits realised on a grand scale, repurposed for leisure and recreation, for health and well-being, for homes – and still playing a vital economic role for freight and other commercial uses, attracting visitors from across the globe while also enriching the lives of so many local communities”.

The 90-minute debate heard about waterway projects in constituencies across the country, with many MPs mentioning the importance of the Canal & River Trust’s 2,000 miles of waterways. Waterways managed by other navigation authorities were also discussed, with MPs from Norfolk, Scotland and Northern Ireland also taking part.

Issues raised during the debate included the potential for more water transfer projects, the impact of climate change on historic infrastructure, waterway restoration projects and the hard work put in by volunteers, as well as the most important issue of continued support for the waterways funded by Government.

The outcome of the review by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) of its funding for CRT’s waterways, originally due to conclude in July 2022 and then postponed until 2023, will be critical for the Trust’s long-term financial position, with the current grant funding contract only in place until 2027.

Rebecca Pow MP, who had, at the time, been recently reappointed as the Defra Minister with responsibility for waterways in England and Wales, responded to the debate, but was unable to confirm any timescale for the announcement of Defra’s review into Canal & River Trust’s funding, saying only that, “… the outcomes… will be announced forthwith”.

The Parliamentary Debate was followed up with a series of Parliamentary Questions in December, asked by Michael Fabricant MP, to which the minister again responded with no definitive answer about when Defra’s review of CRT funding would be concluded.

IWA is disappointed that the minister is still unable to give a more positive response to the debate, and in particular to the question of timing for the Defra announcement. As endorsed by many of the MPs during the debate, IWA considers that it is essential for CRT to have the certainty of knowing that it will receive sufficient funding to meet the increasing challenges of climate change and inflation, so that it can plan for the proper maintenance of its waterways and associated historic structures.

Some of the MPs who took part in the Parliamentary Debate on 22nd November, 2022. L-R Maggie Throup MP for Erewash, Richard Parry, Chief Executive CRT, Michael Fabricant MP for Lichfield, Sue O’Hare, Deputy Chair IWA, Wendy Morton MP for Aldridge & Brownhills.