BEAR ESSENTIALS The Newsletter of : -
IWA Warwickshire Branch Issue No. 53 – January 2019.
Bouquets and Brickbats for CRT The work by CRT- W.Midlands to eliminate nine years of neglect on the northern GU, between Napton and Radford Semele, by both former BW and CRT-SE’s management - continues apace. Winter weather may not be conducive to lock-painting, but it hasn’t stopped towpath repairs and vegetation control continuing - as seen here right and below. .
Above images by Sue Blocksidge - CRT
The above picture shows (from right to left), CRT volunteer Pete Oakley pointing out to CRT-WM Director Adnan Saif, local MP Jeremy Wright, and CRT’s CEO Richard Parry, the poor state of the towpath alongside the Stockton Flight – while to the left your editor chastises his local MP over his concrete mixing ability !
This high-level / VIP support for the above CRT October workparty in particular is a welcome sign of its commitment to righting a long-time wrong; but so is the much lower profiled, but in many ways more important, appearance of this work-boat and chipper. For several weeks now, the boat and its volunteer crew – including Nick Nicholson at the helm – have been working their way west from Radford Semele to Napton. Here above you can see the team in action above Wood Lock in early December, and by the time you read this they should be in the vicinity of Bascote. As they progress, they’re not only cutting back the offside vegetation, as seen above, but also tackling the equally badly neglected towpath vegetation. Their rate of progress so far has been at about ‘a mile a month’. However, if more volunteers were prepared to join the team – particularly for the towpath work – then progress towards Napton could be faster. If you’re interested in helping here then please talk to Nick at our meetings, or alternatively contact CRT’s local Volunteer Leader, Tom Pierce, on 07825-420947 - or e-mail him at:- thomas.pierce@canalrivertrust.co.uk.
As has been said by others before, one of IWA’s main roles today is to be a ‘critical friend’ of CRT. Here in BE, I’ve always been prepared to shower them with bouquets or brickbats as required. To the left is my bouquet – now read on. In December’s Towpath Talk, CRT’s Chief Exec. Richard Parry stated that: “Boats and boating remain firmly at the heart of what we do” - and I firmly believe that he believes that. However, in practice, not all departments within the organisation appear to be ‘singing from the same hymn sheet’ – particularly when it comes to property disposals. We live in a dynamic world, and in any organisation it makes sense to liquidate assets that are no longer relevant, to reinvest to meet present and anticipated future demands; and I am sure that we all understand CRT’s need to regularly review its property portfolio. However, sometimes those assets contain boaters facilities – which the new tenant or owner doesn’t want on-site. Their use should be safeguarded or alternatively replaced. But for a furoré, we’d recently have lost facilities at Blowers Green, then we did lose facilities at Fazeley – albeit then inadequately replaced; and now we find toilet facilities at Hillmorton closed to all. Come-on CRT, don’t just talk about wellbeing, act on it! Take these important loss of facilities issues to ‘the heart of what you do’ - and do so, not just for boaters, but for all your stakeholders. Editor:
Ian Fletcher.
A New Lock at Hillmorton !