Chester & Merseyside Branch Spring 2024
Waterway walking group on the Ship Canal by the Thelwall Viaduct
Chairman’s Report – Spring 2024 Packet Boat
Welcome to Spring 2024 even though the weather still thinks its winter but hopefully it will start to warm up soon and we’ll all be able to get out and enjoy our waterways.
Looking back first though, the 2023/24 branch socials with guest speakers took place at the Holiday Inn, Ellesmere Port but the number of members attending, as stated in my last report, is still declining. These talks are put on for the benefit of members to socialise and have a pleasant evening with other members (and non-members) and are free to attend– please support the branch if you can. There is always a fun raffle and a sales stand offering books, IWA merchandise and other small items. The first of the social talks for the 2024//25 season is advertised elsewhere in this issue of the Packet Boat.
Our Winter/Spring walks are organised by Derek Smith are attracting good numbers and are another chance to socialise with like-minded people, and get some exercise. Details of his walks can be found in the IWA website under our local branch area. Alternatively, just reply to the IWA emailed advert to get the parking time and instructions. Looking forward, the branch has now received the draft study for the lock in the Chester Weir and my thanks go to Andy Yates, (IWA honorary Structural Engineer) in producing the document. The next stage is to get the study costed and this is now being funded by the branch with assistance from the Chester Civic Trust.
We will be attending The Chester Heritage Festival on Friday, 28th June, to promote the Heritage Port and the Waterways Strategy with John Herson conducting a walk around the Heritage Port assets. All volunteers are welcome to help man the gazebo from 10.00 a.m. till 3.00 p.m. which will be situated at Tower Wharf.
It was announced on at the beginning of April that the annual Regional Social will take place aboard the “Daniel Adamson Steam Ship on 16th August and will include a light lunch and a short round trip down to Marsh Lock at £20 per head. Lunch will be served on the promenade deck. Bookings for this event have proved very popular and was closed two weeks later as space aboard is limited.
Again, I hope that you keep well and enjoy the waterways in 2024 and hopefully see you at waterways events in our area during the summer.
Best Wishes - Jim Forkin, Branch ChairmanCanal Fundraisers Respond to Changing Market Conditions
There have been a number of tried and tested means of small charities raising funds some of which increasingly are under threat in this modern age. Although some of the revenue streams may appear to be quite small they are vital to keeping restorations going and acting as match funding when applying to the big charity donors. As society moves progressively towards a more digital, electronic and risk adverse environment, some of these long-trusted methods are under threat. The plastic collecting boxes we frequently saw by the cash tills in pubs, cafes and some small shops is one example where well meaning supporters frequently gave their change. More people now pay for goods and services with credit cards or on their phone so there is less cash in pockets. Many publicans gladly supported restoration but many pubs are sadly closing although not the waterside pubs as the big chains and brewers may have noticed...
Some idea of the benefits of donation boxes could be seen on board the Daniel Adamson steam ship A mobile phone app has been put on board where by visitors can contribute directly by phone. This was one of the first actions taken by SUCS to attract donations from towpath walkers. When ‘Danny’ was in Liverpool`s Albert Dock in 2014 over £400 was received.
Many charities show great innovation in finding new ways of fundraising. Some charities had a small income from stamp collectors with members sending in used stamps to be sold on to agents who then sold to stamp collectors worldwide. But the expending growth of free e-mail and texts is reducing the amount of letters. Another line opening up is a women`s institute in Warrington which collects aluminium foil from medical pills for Alder Hey Hospital Liverpool. One railway charity had a member who loved E-bay and members donated unwanted goods and Xmas presents to him which he readily sold on at 100% profit.
There is an active source of revenue, undertaken by SUCS, by giving presentations to groups such as the University of the Third Age (U3A), historical societies and business organisations like Probus which has been prevalent for many years. The organisation that runs the “Danny” have taken this to a new level with a team of 5 presenters giving two separate talks about the boat, and Manchester Ship Canal, with two further waterway related talks about to be launched. Only launched in 2015 they are now aiming for their 250th presentation charging up to £75 per talk. SUCS will be cooperating with DAPS on one talk about the “Shroppie” to be launched at the Chester Lecture Society in February next year.
EDITOR’S MUSINGS
Good morning all; hope you have enjoyed the break and come through the lovely wet winter, at last the skies have cleared and we are looking forward to a long hot summer!! Personally, we missed most of Jan and Feb because we were in South Africa visiting one of my cousins. We went out there on the Queen Mary 2 which took us three weeks and we returned courtesy of Lufthansa which only took one day. Returning to our English cold climate was a bit of a shock, but we have survived to tell the tale and are now getting ‘Olive’ ready for the Moira IWA Trailboat Festival in a couple of weeks. It will be good to meet up with boaters whom we have not seen recently and catch up with all their news.
We have continued organising the branch Waterways Walks, some of which have been very muddy. Fortunately, the walking days have managed to stay quite dry but the ground was still very wet. We held the last one on Sunday 5th May (photo right), and the new season starts on 29th September, so if you would like to join us please just reply to the email advert when you get it and we’ll book you in. There is always the option of staying for a pub meal once we reach the end oif the walk. The walks are not too strenuous and the pubs cater for all tastes.
NEWS SNIPPETS
The first programme item for the winter season at the Ellesmere Port Holiday Inn will be on Tuesday 8th October and the speaker will be Gillian Bolt on the ‘green and silver’ cruising on the Irish canals. The following meetings will be on 12th November and 10th December. Details of these to follow.
Sadly, long standing member Peter Taylor died peacefully in his sleep on the 1st May. His funeral will be held 1.30 pm on Thursday 16th May, at Landican South Chapel, Arrowe Park; with refreshments afterwards at the Bassett Hound in Thingwall. Branch members are welcome to attend. Our sincere condolences go to his wife Lesley and all his family.
Steam Ship “Danny” all Set for New Season
On Tuesday 23rd April, the “Danny” after spending 5 months in Liverpool`s Sandon Dock undergoing a through annual maintenance programme, passed with flying colours the annual inspection by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency. This nautical “MOT”, under taken when in live steam, is necessary for the “Danny” to return to carrying passengers in 2024.
Most of the 2024 season will be spent on the River Weaver in Cheshire with cruises on stretch as far up rive as the Anderton Boat Lift. There will be some cruises on the Manchester Ship Canal – see web-site for details.
One unique cruises aimed at the family market will be a short one and a half hour cruise from Sutton Weaver Wharf down river to turn above Marsh Lock then return to Sutton Weaver. Marsh Lock is the point of entry into the Weaver off the Manchester Ship Canal giving views across the Mersey Estuary to Liverpool Airport and crossing under M56 and railway viaduct. It is thought that the is suitable for children`s attention span and is attractively priced at £25 for a family ticket. However the first group to book passage was the Inland Waterways Association to hold a presentation, lunch and short cruise for 40 people.
On shore things are beginning to move forward with meetings taking place with C&RT on improvements to Sutton Weaver Wharf and the Highways Agency on a reduction of speeding limits on the A56Warrington to Frodsham Road. The current speed limit is 60MPH
The presentation team celebrated two hundred completed talks in late 2023 and already have an order book of 20 talks for completion in 2024/25. The team are working on two new presentations, one covering the restoration of the “Danny” beginning in 2004 whilst a further talk on the Shropshire Union canal and the Cross Mersey trade will be ready for a launch in 2025
should be noted that the views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the IWA. They are published as being of interest to our members and readers. The IWA is a registered charity No 212342
Canal Volunteers Cash Boost from Henstone Distillery
North Shropshire based Henstone distillery are to work raising funds with volunteers from the Shropshire Union Canal Society to contribute to the further restoration of the Montgomery Canal as it gathers pace on its historic course to the Welsh Border at Llanymynech. The award winning distillery will offer online customers a 5% discount when they quote code “Monty24” on their order form and that will trigger a 10% donation towards the restoration of the canal. A donation will be made on all their drinks
The Shropshire Union Canal Societies volunteers recently completed a £2.8 million award winning civil engineering project to return the canal for navigation to Crickheath Bridge. On going at the moment is the restoration of the historic Crickheath Wharf with a £14,600 grant from the Institute of Industrial Archaeologists whilst local authorities have funded the towpath improvements. A further quarter of a mile of canal has also been prepared for re-watering courteous of Shropshire County Council rural development funds.
The original premises for the distillery have now proven to be too small to cope with the demand for their products and new premises are now being developed. Renowned entrepreneur Mike Harris has now joined as a major shareholder and prospects look very positive especially after the company were award the “Uk distillery of the year in 2023”. Henstone`s Rosé Gin was given the accolade of “Best in Britain”
Chris Toller, Henstone Distillery director said “ I frequently walk along this canal and see the excellent work the volunteers complete and in sharing their vision of a fully restored canal, it is great that Henstone Distillery can play a part “ .
Dave Carter - Chairman Shropshire Union Canal Society said “ There are studies which reveal what a restored canal can do for rural economies but what we are showing by working with local forward thinking companies like Henstone is that even during restoration there are still substantial impacts on the local economy”
The scheme has now been implemented and the full details are available on the Henstone Distillery website.
John Tackley - 60 years an IWA Member
John is a long-standing stalwart and active supporter of the Inland Waterways, and is shown here proud of his long service award. His background makes him well suited to running a crane lifting company which moves heavy machinery and creates factory robots.
He used to live in Marple for a time, at the top of the Macclesfield canal and its junction with the Peak Forest. There he acquired a 70ft narrow boat named Ant with butty named Axe; which he loaned to scout groups for camping cruises.
After he moved to Northwich he lived at an idyllic address between the tunnels on the Trent and Mersey. then purchased Aquarius for dinner cruises pausing in the tunnels to listen to the echo effects. The river Weaver is nearby and larger vessels attracted him. He bought a wide beam Dutch barge Bollie Bier from Holland with an epic voyage down the Channel around Lands end and up the Irish sea to Liverpool, not for the faint hearted!
On the Weaver he operated the 50 seat diner boat for many years and was prominent in the restoration of the Anderton Boat Lift; he became both a friend and Trustee. His wife Bernice painted the large mural of the campaign and original engineers still prominent at the Lift today.
He became Chairman of the River Weaver Navigation Society and campaigned actively for improvements on the river and a water link to the Shropshire Union Branch. He remains president of the Society and at 93 years of age shows no sign of slowing down! He continues to be a long time, long term asset to the River Weaver and our other district waterways
OFFICERS AND COMMITTEE
President. Ron Evans
Branch Chairman Jim Forkin jim.forkin@team.waterways.org.uk H. 01270 650054 M. 07803 928929
Minute Secretary Ann Farrell ann.farrell@waterways.org.uk
Treasurer, Social Sec. Jim Mole jim.mole@waterways.org.uk H. 01606 40955 M. 07580 162355
Publicity Officer
Editor Packet Boat
Les Green les.green@waterways.org.uk
Jeanne Smith jeanne.smith@waterways.org.uk
H. 01244 382058 M. 07746 955931
Planning & Geoff Gittus geoff.gittus@waterways.org.uk
Navigation Officer H. 0151 605 1094 M. 07808 859751
Membership John Herson john.herson@waterways.org.uk Secretary
Merseyside Liaison
Geoff Gittus geoff.gittus@waterways.org.uk
Scars Liaison Vacancy
Chester Liaison
Bridgewater Canal
John Herson john.herson@waterways.org.uk
Ian & Vera Short ian.short@waterways.org.uk Liaison vera.short@waterways.org.uk
Committee Members Vacancies