Bear Essentials No26

BEAR ESSENTIALS The Newsletter of : -

IWA Warwickshire Branch Issue No. 26 – December 2009.

Winter Meetings Programme The Alan Higgs Centre, Coventry CV3 1HW Meetings start at 7.30 pm. – bar available from 7-00pm.

January. (Wedn 13th Jan)- FULLY BOOKED! New Year Dinner at The Greyhound, Hawkesbury

February, (Wed 10th Feb ) (Rearranged from Nov 2009) ‘My Favourite Waterside Pubs’ by Mike Lucas Having travelled the waterways extensively since the early 1970‟s, Mike comes home to Coventry to tell us something about one of the things that kept him going through the „hell and high water‟ of touring on „Tyseley‟.

March , (Wed10th Mar ) Branch AGM followed by Ian West: The Trials and Tribulations of Organising a ‘National’ The AGM will take place promptly at 7.30 pm this will be followed by a talk from Branch Member Ian West (Chairman of IWA Festivals Ltd )who has been intimately involved with the National Festivals And Rallies for many Years:

April, (Wed April 14th) ‘The Fens Waterway Link’ By a speaker from the Environment Agency This Link plans to connect the cathedral cities of Lincoln, Peterborough and Ely, essentially linking the Trent with the Nene and Middle Level navigations via the Fossdyke. with 80 Km new waterway and improvements to existing waterways

Winter Walks Programme Again this year we have arranged two Sunday morning Winter walks and a weekday walk These start 10.30 am and are no longer than 2 hours.

Afterwards we will adjourn to a nearby pub

January 3rd. Meet at the Blue Lias Inn car park at the bottom of the Stockton Flight on the GU canal February 7th Meet at the car park below the dam at Earlswood reservoir for a walk around the lakes Thurs March12th. Meet at the Durham Ox car park for a walk based on Shrewley

Editorial Our new Venue at the Alan Higgs Centre is proving very popular with its comfortable surroundings and lack of noise. We got off to a great start with Timothy West who just gave a very funny off-the cuff talk about his boating experiences. The planned November talk by Mike Lucas had to be rearranged to February but we were able to seamlessly swap this with our own branch member Richard Saunders‟s talk on his experiences on the new Liverpool Link which was original programmed for February. Recently a group of IWA members joined local residents in a canal clean up in Leamington. Concentrating on the water removing several Bicycles and Supermarket Trolleys If you fancy taking part in this sort of activity please contact a committee member.

Lastly as a number of our members are retired th we plan to trial a weekday walk on March 12 see panel left .

AGM Once again we are approaching AGM time and are once again appealing for members to stand for committee. We welcomed 2 new committee members last year but the committee is still light in numbers. There are no more than 6 committee meetings annually and in particular we are looking for new ideas for our meetings programme and fund-raising ideas. Nominations for committee need to be received 2 weeks before the AGM but we are able to co-opt volunteers at any time.

We hope to keep the business side of the AGM as brief as possible but remember if you have items you wish to raise at the AGM these need to be submitted to me (Sue Roy) th in writing (or by E-mail by 10 February

Sue Roy. STOP PRESS Stratford River Festival.

The Recent Demise of the Stratford Town Management Partnership has cast some doubt over the holding of a River Festival in 2010. However, there is still a determination within the Town, and among river-users, for the event to go ahead; and interested parties will be reviewing the situation in the new-year.

Bear in Mind: Written in December, with boats barely „to bed‟ for the winter, it seems strange to look ahead to 2010 – but that we must, both individually and collectively.

On a personal level, one significant change for me will be stepping down as Branch Chairman – a deliberate, pre-meditated action that I firmly believe will be to the Branch‟s long-term benefit. However, I‟ve no intention of abandoning Branch activities, and, if re-elected to the committee at our March AGM, I‟ll willingly continue to work, under a new chairman for the benefit of the Branch and its waterways. On a collective level we have much to do in 2010 - particularly over the next few months, when SOS-2010 will take up much of our time.

Notes from the chairman. gear needing repair, shallows needing dredging, overgrown vegetation, impassable towpaths, damaged bridges, or other examples of slipping standards.

Finally, on a happier note, in the centenary year of Tom Rolt‟s birth, colleagues in Oxfordshire Branch –will re-enact Cressy‟s Cruise (from Banbury to Chester). We must contribute in some way as they pass through our „patch‟ in April. Come along to our February and March meetings, and let us hear your ideas.

Ian Fletcher.

Save . . . Our . . . System.

One action that we can all undertake now is to As you know, the funding for BWs maintenance ensure continuing support for the “protectourcanals” comes from three main sources:e-petition on the „Number 10‟ website - (see below).

Although (at the time of writing) more than 19,000 1. License fees, and other trading income. have „signed‟ this petition – making it the eighth 2. An annual government grant. best supported out of more than 4,000 petitions - its 3. Income from property held by BW. level of support is rather disappointing. With some Significant grant cuts mean that, despite heavy 35,000 licensed boats on BW waters there must be license increases, BW is now £30million pa. short of at least 100,000 people with a direct interest in the funds needed to maintain our waterways in a boating – so 80% don‟t yet appear to have taken safe, „steady state‟ (no deterioration / no on-board the serious implications to long-term improvement). waterways‟ security of The Treasury‟s short-term plans. Their tactical withdrawal of BWs property Despite its recent tactical retreat, the Treasury would from an Autumn Statement „fire-sale‟ is a skirmish still like to sell off BW‟s property portfolio in a one-off won, but not even a battle won – let alone the war! „fire-sale‟. This would deprive BW of a further This proposed sale of „family silver‟ will affect not £45million pa. and lead to an even more rapid only boaters. For every boat there are dozens of deterioration of the system – with its significant safety tow-path users, all of whom face a declining implications. experience - as the loss of some £45million pa.

Please help us oppose this short-sighted measure towards waterway upkeep starts to bite. Many by signing a „Number 10‟ e- petition. more, who are but disinterested neighbours of a Please go to: petitions.number10.gov.uk then 200 year old network that‟s not getting any younger select protectourcanals to register (in complete will (if this year‟s breaching problems are anything security).. to go by!) become progressively more concerned about infrastructure integrity. Please implore all Even if you have already signed, please pass this your relatives, friends, and colleagues to support information on to as many relatives, friends and Please tell me of any problems that you are aware colleagues as you can. We‟d appreciate it, as will of, or come across over the next few months:– lockgenerations of waterway users to come.

The IWA may not agree with opinions expressed here in this newsletter, but encourages its publication as a matter of interest. Nothing herein may be construed as a matter of policy, or an official announcement, unless otherwise stated.

The Association accepts no liability for any material contained herein.

Editor : The IWA is a registered charity ( No. 212342 ), founded in 1946. Supported by donations & members‟ subscriptions, it campaigns for conservation, use, maintenance, restoration, & developmentof the inland waterways of Great Britain - for the benefit of all.

Registered & General Office: - Island House, Moor Road, Chesham, Herts. HP5 1WA. Phone: 01494 - 783 453.

Website :- www.waterways.org.uk.

Sue Roy, 46 The Butts, Warwick, CV34 4ST Phone :- 01926 – 49 78 45.

E-mail : - roy154@btinternet.com To receive future editions earlier - and at a reduced cost to the branch. Please Email me at the above address, so that I can add you to our growing database.