BEAR ESSENTIALS The Newsletter of : -
IWA Warwickshire Branch Issue No. 47 – January 2017.
Are You Engaged ? Whatever has the above headline got to do with the image on the right; and in turn what have they both got to do with ‘me’ I hear you thinking - well please read on. I’m sure that those of us who know the southern Stratford were pleased when the new owner of Pete’s cottage by lock 28 started to renovate and energetically improve the building and its garden. Unfortunately, his energy now seems to know no bounds (literally), and as those who cruised this part of the world last summer will have seen that these ‘improvements’ spread onto CRT land and onto the lock abutments. No doubt those of us who saw it, at the very least, tut-tutted at this thoughtless action – as indeed did CRT-WM when told about it in June & July. By the end of October - when this picture was taken – although the sunflowers had ‘peaked’ the two shrubs looked well-established, and able to survive the winter. We trust that CRT has by now ensured that this will not happen.
Before we chastise the new resident too much – after-all, from his point of view, he was only trying to improve the canal’s environment - we should realise that he’d probably had no practical ‘engagement’ with a working waterway. Such lack of engagement is not just confined to non-boating riparians – as the photo on the left below also shows. The towpath and lock surrounds on the Aston flight in Birmingham are well surfaced, and the quadrant ‘kickers’ are beautiful examples of the pavers art. However, not only do the bricks have the wrong ‘glaze’ for wet-weather working, but at some locks the kickers finish at least a metre short of where they should - to enable that allimportant initial ‘purchase’. Whether specification or execution was at fault here doesn’t matter – somewhere along the line someone didn’t engage. Ironically it’s probably we ourselves who are most at fault when it comes to lack of engagement. Perhaps we should all make new-year resolutions to talk more when out on our travels. From giving constructive feedback to CRT, and other ‘official’ bodies - through to engaging with families and even individual dog-walkers as they go about their gongoozling; I’m sure that we can show them that there’s more to our inland waterways than John Sergeant or Tim & Pru have told them. And even before then, why don’t we start by engaging with our colleagues, families, friends and neighbours, and inviting them along to our up-coming meetings, walks and work-parties. Ian Fletcher Editor.
Thank You: Many thanks to all those of you who purchased your IWA Christmas Cards, and 2017 calendars, through the Branch. Our total sales this year exceeded ..£200. This helps makes a significant contribution to Branch funds, and will again help us to maintain our support for deserving waterway causes.
Stop Press ! As you may have read in IWA Bulletin, colleagues in branches northwest of here are installing mooring rings around the Cheshire Ring. Not to be outdone, we plan to do similar work here on our section of the Warwickshire Ring - and will shortly take delivery of a batch of rings for this purpose. We will install them initially at Emscote, and will hold a work-party there, to do this, in either Jan or Feb. Please check with our web-site, or through committee members, for details.