The Packet Boat - January 2016

President: Ron Evans

January 2016 CHESTER & MERSEYSIDE BRANCH

View from the top

by Peter Bolt, Branch Chairman I trust you all had a good Christmas and can I wish you a Happy New Year. 2016 will be special for the branch with the Eldonian Village Canal Festival taking place on 11 and 12 June, celebrating the bi-centenary of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. We are delighted that IWA have designated our Festival as the National Campaign Festival 2016 and the publicity will be going out shortly.

This will be a large event and we are grateful to have the support of our three partners. The branch is organising two convoys of 8 boats crossing the Mersey to meet up with the Mersey River Festival taking place the weekend before in the dock complex. Boat entries are well under way for our Festival and we fully expect to fill the 120 places available.

Over the last three years the Branch has been active in developing a ‘Waterway Strategy’ with other partners as part of the ‘Chester One City Plan’. This document is underpinning a number of projects, one of which is the landscaping around the King Charles tower located on the gateway approach to Chester. Realising the benefit of this document CWAC now propose to develop a ‘Mid Cheshire Waterways Strategy’ to bring out the best of waterside development in Middlewich, Northwich and Winsford. Again the branch has been invited to be part of the steering group and the document should be finished later on this year.

The branch AGM will be in March and I am highlighting the need for more committee members. We have an exciting year coming up and we need people to get involved in a number of ways. Please, have a think about it. The branch will not run itself without committee members and I promise you it is very rewarding. Have we made a difference? Yes, we have and this was recognised by receiving the Branch Achievement Award 2014. Have a chat to me or any committee member for further information, we do need you!

Lastly, following the death of Richard Drake BEM (Branch President & Chairman, Region and National Chairman), I am delighted to announce that Ron Evans has accepted our invitation to be Branch President.

This is in recognition of his dedication and contribution to the waterways movement over many years which has been much appreciated.

IWA NATIONAL RALLY OF BOATS 1968 The converted narrowboat, “Flower of Gloucester” moored near the centre of Liverpool. Photo by Hugh McKnight

This iconic rally was held in July 1968 to try and stop the L&L section down into Liverpool being reclassed as a remainder waterway.

The patron was the Earl of Derby and with over 130 boats attending from all over the country, it was a grand occasion. A steam engine rally was also held during the weekend whilst boat crews were taken out to “places of interest” including Speke Hall, the Cavern and New Brighton.

There was a boat “tug of war”, illuminated boats and a band concert. All in all a very successful event.

ELDONIAN VILLAGE CANAL FESTIVAL IWA National Campaign Festival 2016 11 & 12 June 2016

This will be a really significant festival, celebrating the 200th Anniversary of the opening of the Leeds & Liverpool Canal.

With moorings for 120 craft of all sizes and entertainment on the Thursday and Friday evenings before the Festival weekend, this is a great opportunity to take part in a landmark event.

Booking forms and more information on our Website: https://www.waterways.org.uk/chester/chester_merseyside Or email: mike.carter@waterways.org.uk

NEWS FROM THE SANKEY CANAL

By Colin Greenall Progress is being made all along the canal with projects in Widnes, Warrington and St Helens.

Work Parties During the past three months SCARS volunteers have been active at the New Double Locks in St Helens clearing away the unwanted vegetation in the dry pound above the locks.

The picture shows the pound above New Double Locks after clearance of unwanted trees and vegetation

New Volunteer Groups We now have a new set of volunteers working at Spike Island. Halton Riverside College are using our new volunteer hub facility at Spike Island for their Duke of Edinburgh Award students who are doing volunteer work on projects around the area.

The picture shows the area around the wooden bridge which was cleared by the students. This site was the location of the former railway Swing Bridge that led on to Spike Island from the St.Helens and Runcorn Gap railway.

Coastal Communities Fund Marsh House Bridge - after many delays work is expected to begin in January 2016 on the installation of the new crossing at Fiddlers Ferry Marina.

Originally planned as an electrically operated lift bridge, due to budget restraints it will now be a bridge that is future proofed for the installation of the mechanism to make it into a lift bridge. ☺

WREN Funding for Spike Island Locks Work on repairing the lock at Spike Island is now complete. The contractors, UNICON Ltd of Ellesmere Port, have repaired the gates and cill, refurbished all the paddle gear and desilted the lock chamber.

Widnes, Victoria Park Vintage Vehicle Rally Saturday 26th & Sunday 27th September This year’s annual “Vintage Vehicle Rally” in Victoria Park, Widnes proved to be one of the best. With a record 70,000 attendance and glorious sunshine on both days people turned out to enjoy the classic cars, motor bikes, traction engines, fairground organs and much, much more.

The Sankey Canal Restoration Societies exhibition marquee was there to promote the “Interlocks Project” and to raise funds for its work towards restoring this historic waterway.

Many people, young and old visited our stand and made purchases from our wide range of bric-a-brac and second-hand books.

RESCOM Meeting; On Saturday 3rd October SCARS were host to the IWA Restoration Committee; this was held at the Sankey Valley Heritage visitor Centre, Blackbrook. ” Our chairman, Dave Smallshaw, told them about our plans and aspirations for the Sankey Canal. Following discussions about our problems and potential solutions some of the group went on a short walk around the area close to the centre with others venturing out to Spike Island to look at the work going on there.

STRANGE HAPPENINGS IN ST HELENS !!

By Dave Smallshaw

A worryingly large swelling became obvious on the towpath of the Sankey Canal recently! What could it be? Many of our Sankey colleagues shook their heads in amazement as they watched it grow — and grow!

St Helen’s Council have recently upgraded the towpath from the borFlood relief Canal bed area ough boundary at Newton Brook through to the old head of navigation at Newton Common Lock after the 1931 Abandonment Act. The work has included clearance of undergrowth and some trees which hid the famous Stephenson viaduct. The path follows the towpath of this infilled section and the ground profiling for flood relief purposes to its left.

However — disaster struck! Just as the work had finished, the land either side became unstable due to unauthorised tipping — which had taken place over some years. The pressure from the waste resulted in the canal wash wall being driven up, with the puddling, onto the towpath! So some of the lovely new towpath disappeared under landspill which also covered the site of the adjacent canal bed!

Action against the lessees of the land is currently being considered !!!

NW Region Chairman's Report by Mike Carter Firstly I would like to thank my predecessor Alan Platt for all his work and dedication over the last 6 years as IWA North West Regional Chairman. I hope to emulate the high standards he has set for the role. Please do bear with me if I get things wrong in the early days. I will resist the temptation in this my first Regional Chairman's report in 2016 to look back over the last year. Apart from a heartfelt thank you to all IWA members for their continuing support, friendship and valuable contributions, in this report I'll concentrate on the year ahead and look forward to all the exciting prospects we have planned.

As you know in June 2016 we have the Leeds & Liverpool Bi-centenary celebrations kicking off with our Chester & Merseyside Branch hosting the 2016 IWA Campaign Festival at Eldonian Village in Liverpool.

There is the Mersey River Festival and the annual Mersey Convoy also planned in June with all the challenges and logistical issues of getting hundreds of boats in and out of Liverpool. We will also see the welcome return of the upper reaches Dinghy Dawdle at Holm on the Lancaster canal and many other events along the Leeds & Liverpool including : Burscough Heritage Weekend, Blackburn & Burnley Canal Festivals Super Slow Way Symphony performances in Blackburn & Liverpool Recreation of inaugural voyage along the Leeds & Liverpool canal by short boat Kennet.

Of course, let’s not forget the regular work parties, waterways walks, talks and social events and other annual festivals in our region including : Easter Boat Gathering, Ellesmere Port, Maesbury Canal Festival, Ellesmere Festival, Whitchurch Festival Finally, from the regional perspective IWA NW Region are now well established as a recognised expert consultancy on waterways affairs, but we also expect many other challenging issues including the proposed update to the Bridgewater canal reciprocal licensing agreement and planned gating of the Undercroft in Manchester.

Thus to summarise, in the North West Region we are expecting an exciting time in 2016. There is so much happening that I'm sure (when it stops raining ) you will all be able to come along and support the events and take a few minutes to stop and chat at the IWA stand to share your views on how you think the IWA is progressing and perhaps start to get more involved in the success story as we continue to improve, restore and celebrate our unique waterways heritage.

Branch Liaison Report - 3rd Quarter 2015 by Mike Carter Canal & River Trust Regional Navigation Liaison: These meetings continue to be useful with many issues raised and solutions proposed and a summary of items discussed on 1st October that impact Chester & Merseyside area is shown below : Leeds & Liverpool Canal – Need for additional CRT staff to man the swing bridges at Wango lane and Netherton.

Weaver Navigation – Weston Marsh Lock maintenance works schedule surveys in progress. If any longer term stoppages are to be considered the alternative route via Runcorn Docks will be established as an alternative. This location is also being considered as a suitable venue for a CRT open day Bridgewater Canal - The planned long term stoppage (4 months) on non-CRT Bridgewater canal at Worsley will be the subject of a meeting between IWA, CRT and Peel Ports as soon as possible. (see below) Vegetation Clearance - Guidelines for Hedge to 'Waters Edge' specification have been reinforced with CRT contractors. It was noted that saplings of more than 75 mm dia. would not be cut by contractors, such items will be the subject of a 'Tree Order' IWA Liverpool Eldonian Canal Festival 2016 – IWA appreciate continuing support from CRT staff in the ongoing logistical planning for this large event.

Dee Lock - Developments stalled due to delays with EA flood relief works. The IWA tidal gauge board has been purchased and assembled and is ready for installation as soon as EA works allow. ( CRT have now committed resources to remove the old gates and install the tidal gauge board) Recycling Bins – CRT feedback indicates that the mix is not good, with some boaters failing to sort waste as required.

Sanitary Services – The need for a service block at Middlewich continues to be an issue.

Work Parties The Chester & Merseyside Volunteer Task force continues to be very active in our area. There were four work parties in the area as follows : Sept 29th. Liverpool - Clearing weeds and litter around canal at Eldonian Village Nov 3rd Liverpool – Clearing overhanging vegetation and litter picking along towpath.

Nov 28th Chester – Clearing overhanging vegetation and litter picking at Northgate locks.

Dec 1st. Liverpool – Clearing weeds and litter along towpath at Stanley Locks.

The next Liverpool work party is scheduled for 12th January. If you want to get involved with these work parties please contact mike.carter@waterways.org

Dates for your diary !

If you are not a regular at our social meetings, you will have missed some great evenings ... So put the 2016 ones in your diary now.

October brought us Ken Pye, Radio Merseyside broadcaster and great raconteur, with his tales of the Mersey Ferries and their various destinations. This was hugely entertaining as ever. In November we had the hilarious (& disastrous sometimes) story of Britain’s submarine development by Tony Rowe, ex RN and a submariner himself. Our Christmas social in December brought Dave Walker from the Guild of Knot Tyers, who demonstrated his skill with pieces of rope which turned into amazing artefacts and works of art. He also proposed his theory of how they moved the stones at Stonehenge — using ropes of course! But in a special way .......

January 12, 2016 will see our IWA National Chairman, Les Etheridge, talking to us about IWA’s 70 years and how we will be moving forward in the future. February 9th brings back Colin Edmondson to talk about grain carrying on the Manchester Ship Canal whilst March 8th brings our AGM and a CRT representative for the North West. April 12th will see Tony Barratt talking about McTay shipbuilding at Bromborough from 1974 — 2004 whilst May 10th sees the return of our delightful speaker, Derek Arnold, who will be telling us his version of the “Mutiny on the Bounty” in his own inimical way. And of course June see us holding our Eldonian Village Canal Festival in Liverpool.

So make sure you don’t miss any of these! Put the dates in your diary and sit back, ready to enjoy another entertaining season of socials.

7.45 pm, January and February meetings at the Holiday Inn, Ellesmere Port. March, April and May will be in the Tom Rolt Centre, at the National Waterways Museum, Ellesmere Port.