IWA Waterways Magazine - Autumn 2019

Issue 265 • Autumn 2019

waterways www.waterways.org.uk

FESTIVAL OF WATER

HERITAGE HEROES

Walk your way around Waltham Abbey

Preserving our network’s historic assets

BOG

STANDARDS

What boaters really think of their toilets

PLUS

IWA AGM SPECIAL

Vote for your new Trustees now 001 Cover AH.indd 14

23/07/2019 12:38

ELTON MOSS BOATBUILDERS

PART OF MIDDLEWICH CANAL CENTRE

PART OF MIDDLEWICH CANAL CENTRE

Award Winning Luxury Live-Aboard Boats Call Us For Details

SHARES IN OUR 2020 BOAT ARE NOW AVAILABLE Call now to reserve yours!

Outstanding build quality Demo boats available Why not visit and see for yourself 0% VAT live-aboard wide beams available (when qualifying conditions are met)

Fully fitted narrowboats and wide beams Appointments without obligation to discuss your ideas

Come and see us at one of our regular Open Days to find out why 99% of our owners would recommend us!

See our website for details

Visit us at www.eltonmoss.com

visit us at: www.carefreecruising.com

BOATS AS UNIQUE AS YOU ARE

OWN THE ENJOYMENT...SHARE THE EXPENSE

or Call 01270 760 799

01270 760 160 sales@eltonmoss.com

Elton Moss Boatbuilder

@EltonMossBoats

Carefree Cruising

@CarefreeCruise

T: 01270 760 799 M: 07732 366 185 E: sales@boatfinderbrokerage.co.uk PART OF MIDDLEWICH CANAL CENTRE

Boats Wanted! Here’s another successful sale from Aston marina, one of our partner marinas!

Boats Wanted - Selling?

Experienced in selling narrow and wide beam canal boats from their home moorings, whilst out cruising or from brokerage moorings 8 page colour brochure & video of all boats, available on our website Extensive, accurate database for matching boats to buyers requirements

Buying?

Wide choice of pre-owned wide beam & narrowboats Dedicated client account & professional handling of all paperwork Introductory membership to RCR (River Canal rescue) Viewings are normally conducted by owners

EXCLUSIVE SELLER OF NORTHWICH BOATS

Boatfinder Brokerage Services

2

| IWA waterways

pIFC_iwa.indd 2

@BoatfinderBS

www.boatfinderbrokerage.co.uk Autumn 2019 23/07/2019 11:51

Autumn 2019 Contents Issue 265 • Autumn 2019

waterways www.waterways.org.uk

FESTIVAL OF WATER

HERITAGE HEROES

Walk your way around Waltham Abbey

Preserving our network’s historic assets

5. Overview

Column of the National Chairman

18

6. News

The latest from within IWA and beyond BOG

STANDARDS

What boaters really think of their toilets

Including a special focus on IWA Restoration Hub’s Restoring Confidence project

18. Festival of Water

PLUS

IWA AGM SPECIAL

Vote for your new Trustees now 001 Cover AH.indd 14

14. Campaigns update

23/07/2019 12:38

COVER PICTURE: Scotland’s Union Canal at Philpstoun.

Lee Valley walks and advice on lighting up your craft for the illuminated boat parade

22. Love your waterways

In conversation with Nicholson’s Guide writer Jonathan Mosse

22

25. AGM Special

All the details of the meeting and how to vote for your new Trustees

29. Restoration Hub WATERWAYS EDITOR: Amelia Hamson Tel: 01283 742962 E-mail: a.hamson@wwonline.co.uk FEATURES EDITOR: Sarah Henshaw E-mail: s.henshaw@wwonline.co.uk ART EDITOR: Claire Davis ADVERTISEMENT MANAGER: Laura Smith Tel: 01283 742956 E-mail: l.smith@wwonline.co.uk ADVERTISING DESIGN: Jo Ward

Details of the Waterways in Progress Grant and an overview of WRG Forestry team

34. Heritage heroes

The new IWA team giving a boost to waterways history

40. A Bog Standard?

The results of the Great Big Boating Bog Survey

ADVERTISING PRODUCTION: Samantha Furniss E-mail: s.furniss@wwonline.co.uk REPROGRAPHICS: Waterways World Ltd, 151 Station Street, Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire, DE14 1BG. Printed in England by Warners (Midlands) PLC, Bourne, Lincs

44. New AngleS

Articles may be reproduced provided permission is obtained and acknowledgement made.

50. Inbox

ISSN 0969-0654 A non-profit distributing company limited by guarantee (612245), Registered as a Charity (No. 212342) Founded: 1946, Incorporated 1958 Registered Office: Island House, Moor Road, Chesham, HP5 1WA Tel: 01494 783453 E-mail: iwa@waterways.org.uk Web site: www.waterways.org.uk Chief Executive and Company Secretary– Neil Edwards National Chairman – Ivor Caplan For press inquiries please contact: pressoffice@waterways.org.uk For all other contact details, including trustees and branch officers, visit: www.waterways.org.uk/about/ meet_team Nothing printed in Waterways may be construed as policy or an official announcement unless stated, otherwise IWA accepts no liability for any matter in the magazine. Although every care is taken with advertising matters no responsibility whatsoever can be accepted for any matter advertised. Where a photo credit includes a note such as CC-BY-SA, the image is made available under that Creative Commons licence; full details at www.creativecommons.org

Winter 2018 003 contents AH.indd 3

34

The history of angling and how to take up the sport on our canals

48. Then & Now

IWA’s Building Bridges Project Your comments and queries

Seven reasons why your membership contribution is vital 1. IWA Canal Clean-ups led by our branches keep many waterways clear of debris 2. Restoration is kept high priority through funding for the Waterway Recovery Group 3. Over 10,000 days of volunteering each year will be supported with the right training, tools and materials 4. IWA can defend the waterways from unwelcome development 5. We can pass on traditional skills and workbased experience for volunteering young people 6. We can lobby the Government and work with other organisations to repair, improve and protect our waterways heritage 7. Your voice is counted when IWA speaks up for all those who enjoy the country’s canals and rivers

44

IWA ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION RATE £36 More details are available from IWA Head Office.

Join IWA at www.waterways.org.uk

IWA Waterways |

3

23/07/2019 12:40

www.abnb.co.uk

Selling individually inspected, well presented boats from own moorings or from our Crick base

Browse our website for current sales listings with full details on all boats, also lots of useful information

Friendly helpful advice from our experienced and knowledgeable team of boaters

www.abnb.co.uk • admin@abnb.co.uk • Crick base NN6 7XT Open 9.30 to 5.30 every day (4.30 Nov - Feb) Tel: 01788 822 115 or 01788 822 508

4

| IWA waterways

p004_iwa.indd 4

Autumn 2019 23/07/2019 11:53

overview

The Column of the National Chairman

O

ne of the pleasures of my role as National Chairman is to visit parts of the waterways system that I might not otherwise go to. A lot of travel is involved but I am always grateful for the welcome that I receive. Recent journeys have taken me to the extreme ends of the waterways system; the northern reaches of the Lancaster Canal and the Chelmer & Blackwater Navigation.

The former was in support of our National Trailboat Festival at Crooklands, an event held in conjunction with the Westmorland Country Fest, which enabled a relatively small IWA presence to engage with a large number of visitors. The festival promoted the advances made on this restoration by a partnership between our Lancs & Cumbria Branch, the Lancaster Canal Trust and Canal & River Trust, through an excellent day of visits showing many significant people the value of a fully restored Lancaster Canal with the connection at Tewitfield reinstated.

The southern visit took me to our own Essex Waterways; I take every opportunity to shout out about the benefits of running a successful navigation but had never had a formal visit to the Chelmer & Blackwater. The National Treasurer Ray Carter and I remedied this with a comprehensive visit to sites which demonstrate the great variety of this navigation, from a basin close to the centre of Chelmsford, through really attractive countryside

Autumn 2019 005 Overview AH.indd 5

to the major lock connecting with the estuary at Heybridge. Our impression was of a well-managed waterway and of the great commitment and enthusiasm of our staff and volunteers there. The tripboats and kiosk are being well utilised to get people afloat and to explain the purpose and ambitions of the navigation.

This edition contains a substantial article on the heritage of the waterways, something which many members will be aware is important to me. Initiatives such as well-being and transfer of navigations will come and go, but our heritage must be retained for the future generations. Our view of heritage is much wider than just waterways buildings and structures; it is about the boats, people, traditions and skills that make the inland waterways a unique asset. It is appropriate that I am writing this from the Braunston Historic Narrowboat Rally, which has a high IWA presence. We all admire seeing historic working boats maintained and worked in the proper way but perhaps take them for granted and forget the time and commitment given by their owners and crews. It’s another form of volunteering that IWA supports. Of course, IWA supports all forms of boating, from trail-boating to working boats, and this certainly includes residential boating in its various forms from continuously cruising to permanently moored houseboats. All have a part to play in the variety of the waterways and we just ask that boaters

do this responsibly and with due consideration of other waterways users, whether on land or water.

Our cruising this year has taken us on the Grand Union Leicester Line, and I am aware of the need to provide good moorings in urban areas to encourage boaters to stop and enjoy the local amenities. The provision of safe moorings at Memory Lane Wharf, Leicester, is a great improvement, supported by our local branch together with other organisations.

From Braunston we will be heading for the Festival of Water at Waltham Abbey over the August bank holiday.

Following that we will be approaching our Annual General Meeting, full details of which are in this edition. Do get the date in your diaries so that we can continue the increasing attendance of recent years; it is an opportunity to hear of our achievements of the previous 12 months and our plans for the future, and provides a forum in which to ask our trustees questions. I hope to see many of you there, at the Festival of Water or en route – Brandywine is now flying its new (red) IWA burgee.

Ivor Caplan

IWA Waterways |

5

23/07/2019 12:41

Waterways News

John Hewerdine

Colourful craft lined the Lancaster’s towpath for this year’s Trailboat Festival.

IWA Trailboat Festival Celebrates Lancaster Canal Bicentenary Year

The first weekend in June saw visitors braving the inclement weather to visit IWA’s Trailboat Festival on the Lancaster Canal next to the Westmorland Showground at Crooklands, Cumbria. The festival was hosted by IWA Lancs & Cumbria branch in association with Westmorland County Agricultural Society’s ‘Country Fest’. Wendy Humphreys, chair of the branch, was surprised to report that some of the locals did not know they had a canal nearby. “They do now!” she added.

The Trailboat Festival was aimed at all ages and WRG’s ‘Drive a Digger’ was a festival favourite. Bendrigg Trust and Cumbria Canoeists offered free paddling experiences and there was also brass rubbing, lace plate drawing, towpath walks and a litter-picking game.

During the festival a reception was held for boaters, organisers, local dignitaries and well-known names from the waterways. VIP guests were treated to a ride on the Lancaster Canal Trust’s trip-boat, Waterwitch, and shown the work on the First Furlong and at Stainton Aqueduct followed by a walk to the historic Hincaster Tunnel.

Festival announced

IWA’s 2020 Trailboat Festival will be hosted by the Wey & Arun Canal Trust at the canal’s Summit Level in Dunsfold, Surrey, over the 23rd-25th May weekend.

The trust says the event will significantly help the team’s work in publicising the canal in the local area.

The Summit Level has huge strategic significance for the trust as it lays claim to being the best-preserved section of canal in Surrey. Major restoration on this section, starting with the rebuilding of Compasses Bridge, has enabled the trust to demonstrate that it is fully committed to the whole length of the canal, not just to the sections in West Sussex.

More details will follow in the Winter issue of Waterways magazine.

Visiting boats will be able to explore more of the Wey & Arun Canal thanks to the rebuilding of Compasses Bridge.

John Hewerdine

Drive a Digger sessions were popular with visitors of all ages.

2020 Trailboat

6

| IWA Waterways

006 News-1-1 AH.indd 6

Autumn 2019 23/07/2019 12:43

Established 1979

Celebrating our 40 th Anniversary!

We are delighted to announce that August 2019 represents our 40th anniversary.

This marks a big milestone for Channelglaze Ltd, which was first set up

by Janet & John Pearson who championed best practice, innovation and excellence in the marine glazing industry.

Now run by Janet and children Matthew & David, 40 years on and shaped by its own customers, Channelglaze Ltd is known for innovation, high quality and a personal service.Thank you to all customers, past and present that have helped us achieve this.

WWW.CHANNELGLAZE.COM 21A RUSHEY LANE, TYSELEY, BIRMINGHAM, WEST MIDLANDS, B11 2BL TELEPHONE: 0121 706 5777 FAX: 0121 706 7177 EMAIL: ENQUIRY@CHANNELGLAZE.COM

p007_iwa.indd 7

23/07/2019 11:53

Waterways News

RECORD NUMBER OF BOATS AT

CANALWAY CAVALCADE Crowds gathered for the Canalway Cavalcade pageant.

The early May bank holiday saw the 37th annual IWA Canalway Cavalcade taking place in Little Venice, London. Unsettled weather didn’t dampen spirits and saw a record 150 boats lined up along the Grand Union and Regent’s canals, many moored by their sterns in Browning’s Pool.

There was a great selection of events and activities across the weekend. The Noyze Boyz Jazz Band burst into life as the festivities kicked off on Saturday and soon the pool was buzzing with beautifully decorated boats parading in front of an eager audience. Elsewhere in the festival, there was a wide variety of stalls selling their wares, including jewellery, plants and traditionally painted boating paraphernalia. The Stone Wharf offered many different food and beverage options, keeping the hungry visitors sustained while they listened to colourful live music in the festival’s real ale bar.

Libby Bradshaw, ceremonial & children’s activities manager, introduced the Lord Mayor of Westminster, Councillor Lindsey

8

| IWA Waterways

006 News-1-1 AH.indd 8

Hall, who welcomed everyone to the City of Westminster and thanked IWA for putting on the event. Mark Saxon, chairman of the IWA Canalway Cavalcade Committee, also spoke to the crowd, paying special attention to this year’s theme ‘celebrating our volunteers’. Libby thanked British Land for its sponsorship and support before the Lord Mayor of Westminster rang the bell to formally open the event. This was echoed by cheers around the pool, the ringing of bells and horns, and the start of the pageant.

In Rembrandt Gardens, children were entertained by a number of different acts and Sunday saw the wonderful teddy bear picnic, which even brought the sun out. Other children’s activities were led by the Floating Classroom on the Electric Barge, the Church Army and the Pirate Castle from Camden.

Live music was performed each day in the Amphitheatre, and highlights included the sensational Rock Choir on Saturday and Mandolin Monday, who always get the audience on their feet!

Autumn 2019 23/07/2019 12:43

Waterways News

IWA wholeheartedly supports

Tom Claydon

'plastics challenge'

Robin Hendley on Middlesex won this year’s Boat Handling Competition.

On Sunday evening Craig Haslam, in full evening dress complete with bow tie, was master of ceremonies for the procession of illuminated boats, where once again the boaters covered their craft with as many lights as would fit along the roofs and sides. Mark Saxon produced a spectacular display with disco lights and a smoke machine. The IWA Canalway Cavalcade awards were presented on Monday afternoon.

Mark Saxon commented: “The outstanding success of this year’s event is due entirely to the dedication of the volunteers who organise, set up and run the event. This weekend has been an enormous triumph, and we’re already eagerly considering 2020. Thank you to you all.”

Two days for 2020 Following the announcement by the UK Government to move the early May bank holiday in 2020 to Friday 8th May, IWA has confirmed that Canalway Cavalcade is going ahead on the first weekend of May. This means London’s largest annual waterways festival will be celebrated over two days, rather than three, running on Saturday 2nd and Sunday 3rd May with the theme: ‘Celebrating 200 Years of the Regent’s Canal’.

Event chairman Mark Saxon said: “Our 2020 event will be continuing as usual with all our wonderful activities taking place over two days. We already have a large number of boats and stallholders booked in, so the event promises to be as good as ever.”

IWA is 100% behind Canal & River Trust’s newly launched plastics challenge, which is encouraging visitors to help keep waterways clear of litter. We are well aware that plastic pollution is a huge problem on our rivers and canals but were shocked by the figures released by Canal & River Trust which state that an astonishing 14 million items of plastic end up in waterways each year.

The Association runs over 250 canal clean-up work parties every year through our branches and we’ve been addressing the problem of litter in our waterways for nearly 30 years, following IWA’s participation in national Tidy Britain Year in 1990. Since 2012, we’ve taken in excess of 400 tonnes of plastic and other rubbish out of our canals and rivers.

IWA firmly believes in the concept of “act local” and supports CRT’s idea that if every visitor picked up and recycled just one piece of plastic each time they visited, the canals and rivers could be plastic free in a year.

Much of the rubbish that ends up in the rivers and canals has been blown there from the land, although boaters are also guilty of dropping litter from boats. IWA is actively encouraging its members and the wider boating community to be aware of how they dispose of their litter to ensure it doesn’t find its way into the water.

As part of our Gaptracker Campaign, we are calling for better rubbish collection and recycling facilities along the waterways, and are working with all relevant Navigation Authorities, including CRT, to install additional services where they’re needed most.

Ivor Caplan, IWA National Chairman, says: “Our members are already very aware of the problem of litter in rivers and canals. We often hear tales from boaters of propellers that have to be freed from plastic bags. At IWA, we are looking to reduce overall plastic usage and working towards ensuring all our events are now single-use plastic free. This started at this year’s Canalway Cavalcade and was very successful.

“IWA is more than happy to accept CRT’s plastics challenge and looks forward to seeing a marked difference in the amount of litter in the UK’s rivers and canals in the future.”

The decorated boats made for a spectacular sight in Little Venice.

Autumn 2019 006 News-1-1 AH.indd 9

IWA Waterways |

9

23/07/2019 12:43

Waterways News

IWA launches raffle ticket fundraiser with

a top prize of £1,000 Enclosed in this issue of Waterways is a book of raffle tickets to help raise funds for our Restoration Hub. Priced at £2 each, with five tickets in each book, the tickets will be entered into a one-off prize draw, which will take place on 12th December 2019.

There are lots of exciting prizes to be won including the top prize of £1,000 in cash. Other prizes are a Crick Boat Show festival bundle worth £250, Imray maps and publications worth £150, ABC Leisure day-boat hire, a full set of Nicholson Guides, a tug boat driving experience at London Canal Museum, and a goody bag full of IWA-branded merchandise.

Tickets can be bought online at waterways.org.uk/raffle. Please visit the webpage or call 01494 783453 to order more paper books.

The deadline for entry is 9th December 2019. Please ensure all paper ticket stubs are posted back to us in time to be included in the draw.

IWA AGM goes to the Potteries IWA’s 60th Annual General Meeting will take place on 28th September 2019 at 11.30am at St Thomas More Catholic Academy, Longton Hall Road, Longton, Stoke-on-Trent ST3 2NJ. For members who can arrive earlier, a morning of fascinating presentations will begin at 10am with a talk from Jonathan Mosse, who will regale us with details of IWA’s successful Scottish Canals campaign. IWA has been expanding its team of expert advisors and we can look forward to hearing from our Planning Advisory Group which has intervened on several important projects over the last year.

Lunch is free and should be booked in advance. There is ample car parking for all attendees and the afternoon promises some exciting opportunities to visit Burslem Port or Middlewich Pottery.

For more information see our special AGM pull-out section on page 25, or go to waterways.org.uk/agm.

10

| IWA Waterways

006 News-1-1 AH.indd 10

Robin Higgs OBE

Robin taking a nostalgic last turn at the helm of the Basingstoke Canal Society’s trip-boat, John Pinkerton, before it was sold for a new life on the K&A.

We are saddened to report the death of Robin Higgs OBE on 20th June at the age of 88.

Robin was widely known among many waterway restoration groups as the only chairman of Southern Canals Association since its inception in 1975.

He was also chairman of Surrey & Hants (now Basingstoke) Canal Society (1974 to 1991) throughout the years of the restoration of the canal, and was very much the driving force both behind the scenes and as the society’s public face.

Before this, Robin’s life-long contribution to waterways restoration was stimulated by IWA’s National Festival at Woking in 1962 and started in earnest in the early years of Waterway Recovery Group, when Robin acted as WRG’s first plant manager and as WRG founder Graham Palmer’s chauffeur. Graham was legendary for his leadership of waterways restoration in the late 1960s and ’70s and his appearances around the country, but he couldn’t drive, so it was Robin who took him everywhere. It was no accident that WRG was launched on Robin’s home patch at the IWA National Festival at Guildford in 1970. Robin became chairman of IWA’s Restoration Committee and an IWA trustee from 1995 to 1999.

Robin was equally well known and feted in heritage railway circles, taking a leading role in the Watercress Line (Hampshire) and the Welsh Highland Railway (North Wales). He was made an OBE in the 2003 Queen’s Birthday Honours.

By trade, Robin owned and ran a family plant nursery business near Woking, and was president of the Agricultural & Horticultural Society in his home village. His wife, Heather, predeceased him.

Robin carrying out early restoration work on the Basingstoke Canal in the 1960s.

Autumn 2019 23/07/2019 12:44

HoLiDaY CoTtAgEs WwW.AbChOlIdAyCoTtAgEs.CoM

OuR HoLiDaY PrOpErTiEs ArE PeRfEcTlY SiTuAtEd AlOnGsIdE ThE TrAnQuIl CaNaLs Of BrItAiN

4 LoCaTiOnS

GoYtRe, WrEnBuRy, NeW MiLlS & ElLeSmErE

CaLl Us: 0330 333 0590

State of the art technology in a secluded and peaceful seeng

THE MIDLAND’S

BEST EQUIPPED

MARINA & BOATYARD EXCLUSIVE

MOLTEN ZINC METAL SPRAYING

• Set in 20 acres of quiet, sheltered countryside • Close to Foxton Locks with easy cruising to Market Harborough, Leicester and beyond • Long term and short term moorings • Hardstanding for winter storage and DIY fit-out • Diesel, electricity, water, calor & coal • Brand new engineering workshops with a full range of fabricaaon and maintenance services including grit blassng and molten zinc metal spraying for the ullmate in hull proteccon

Autumn 2019 p011_iwa.indd 11

0116 2793034 steve@debdalewharf.co.uk www.debdalewharf.co.uk Now available, purpose built building with

rentable DIY bays complete with liiing gear & moveable plaaorms IWA waterways |

11

23/07/2019 11:55

Waterways News

Third trip-boat added

to Chelmer Cruises' operations In time for the busy summer season, Essex Waterways has added a third trip-boat to its Chelmer Cruises schedule, increasing operations and enabling boats to run from two locations on the Chelmer & Blackwater Navigation.

Chelmer Cruises’ existing boats, Victoria and Albert, are both based at Paper Mill and are primarily available for private charters. Victoria can hold up to 43 guests and is proving popular for wedding receptions and parties as it can be used as either a moving or static venue depending on requirements. Albert is a 13.7m-long narrowboat that holds up to 12 people and is often booked by families who want a private trip up the 13.8 miles of the navigation.

The new addition, Blackwater Dawn, is an 8.2m-long widebeam trip-boat. Based at Heybridge Basin, Blackwater Dawn will operate during the summer months, from April through until the end of September, with one-hour round trips for up to 12 passengers in the day and privately chartered trips in the evenings.

Commenting on the new boat, Roy Chandler, chairman of Essex Waterways, says, “The addition of Blackwater Dawn will allow Chelmer Cruises to operate a pay-as-you-go service for visitors to Heybridge Basin. People often make a spontaneous decision to take a boat trip and, until now, we haven’t been able to accommodate them.”

To coincide with the launch of Blackwater Dawn, Chelmer Cruises has also improved its information point and kiosk at Daisy Meadow. The kiosk has had a makeover, including new

12

| IWA Waterways

006 News-1-1 AH.indd 12

Above: Blackwater Dawn: the third tripboat now operated by Essex Waterways on the Chelmer & Blackwater.

signage and seating made out of recycled timber from a weir repair that took place last year. Light meals, snacks and drinks are available at the kiosk.

Roy Chandler adds, “Our new kiosk is great and has been expanded in response to feedback from customers who were looking for somewhere to find out more information about the navigation, as well as a place to relax, have a snack and enjoy the view.”

A full programme of evening cruises and events is being planned. To find out more visit chelmercruises.com or call 01245 226245.

The expanded kiosk at Daisy Meadow is a welcoming place for visitors to enjoy a snack.

Autumn 2019 23/07/2019 13:18

Waterways News

IWA's Marketing Committee

The children’s nature-inspired mural brightens up the underside of the M1 bridge, which passes over the Northampton Arm.

seeks new members

Fourth installation for Northampton's

'Art on the Arm' IWA Northampton Branch has seen the completion of another installation for its ‘Art on the Arm’ initiative, which aims to bring artistic enjoyment to the Northampton Arm of the Grand Union Canal.

This latest, completed in June, is a mural designed by the Blisworth Art & Craft Group and painted by pupils from Rothersthorpe CE Primary School. At 70m long it covers the nontowpath underside of the M1 bridge, is nature-inspired and entitled ‘Canal through the Seasons’.

It complements a mural painted last year on the towpath side of the underpass in collaboration with Lemon Pop Workshops and students from Delapre Primary School, which features a timeline of Northampton.

Sandie Morton, Branch Secretary, commented, “It began with us removing graffiti and has grown from there into a wonderful artistic display.

Both this year and last year, we were overwhelmed by the children’s enthusiasm for their work and the end result is a wonderful reflection of this.”

The mural project has been largely funded by local company Cummins Power Systems, which actively supports the Northampton Arm by regularly sending corporate volunteers to IWA work parties. Other expenses were covered by a legacy from a longstanding IWA Northampton Branch member, John Faulkner.

Autumn 2019 006 News-1-1 AH.indd 13

IWA’s Marketing Committee is a team of professionally qualified, media, PR, business and market research specialists. The team is strategic in focus and collaborative in style, supporting and challenging the work of IWA’s marketing employees. The committee holds five meetings per year, including digital meetings, and takes a questioning and long-term stance.

If you have a marketing qualification and/or professional experience, alongside fundraising, campaigning or digital marketing experience in larger business or charity environments and would like to be part of this advisory team, please contact Peter Johns, chairman of the committee, by email – peter.johns@waterways.org.uk.

HMRC announces red diesel consultation IWA is appealing to boaters and boatyard operators to respond to an HMRC consultation following the announcement that private pleasure craft in the UK will be prohibited from using red diesel. The consultation, about the likely timescales required for implementing the change, follows the statement in the Spring Budget that HMRC would seek evidence on the impact of the government’s proposal to comply with the judgment made last year by the European Court of Justice.

IWA met with HMRC officials late last year, along with British Marine, the Cruising Association and the Royal Yachting Association. All four boating representative bodies put forward the case that a change to using white diesel would create insurmountable problems for boat-users and the industry. The implementation of the ruling would mean the end of the use of red diesel for any leisure boating. While red diesel could continue to be used for heating, it would have to be in a separate tank, and there would be no dispensation for any proportion of fuel used by the engine for generating heat and light. Commercially operated boats would still be able to use red diesel, as would residential boaters with proof of fixed moorings, but boats without a home mooring which are continuously cruising would be required to use white diesel.

IWA considers that it is not practical for most boats that use the inland waterways to have two tanks, that inappropriate modifications would raise safety concerns, and that many diesel suppliers would simply not supply both red and white diesel due to the costs of installing additional equipment. IWA is particularly concerned that this change may encourage people to take measures that could adversely impact the environment and safety, such as increased use of generators in confined spaces or spillages from containers of fuel purchased away from the waterways. IWA is also concerned that the increased costs faced by both boat-owners and boatyard operators will make an already expensive pastime unaffordable to some existing boaters and to many potential new boaters.

IWA will be taking up the offer from HMRC for further meetings during the consultation, and is encouraging all boating organisations, boatyards, diesel suppliers and boat-owners to respond to the consultation and provide evidence of the practical implications of the proposals.

More information, including a link to the current government consultation, can be found in IWA’s Briefing Note on Red Diesel, available on the website waterways.org.uk/reddiesel.

IWA Waterways |

13

23/07/2019 12:44

CAMPAIGNING WITH YOU The reopening of the Forth & Clyde Canal and Environment Agency funding are among some of the issues we’ve been campaigning on with your help. Here’s how we’ve been doing on these and other affairs…

Help keep our waterways alive

Scotland update: flotilla opens Lowland Canals barbecue. Reminding onlookers of the Forth & Clyde’s importance as a transit canal were the six or so yachts that participated in the flotilla. It was largely on the strength of this historic role that the navigation obtained funding for its restoration.

Michael Matheson aboard Maryhill for the reopening of Bonnybridge Lift Bridge.

Jonathan Mosse

Scottish Canals’ bank staff kept the boats moving at a good pace – jigsawing the wide variety of craft into each lock was certainly a challenge.

Boats reached Kirkintilloch on Monday morning before arriving in Glasgow for the aforementioned

Boats of all sizes joined the flotilla along the Forth & Clyde.

Jonathan Mosse

The reopening of the Forth & Clyde Canal between Falkirk and Glasgow was celebrated with a spring bank holiday weekend of festivities, including a flotilla of boats. The events marked the repairs to both Twechar and Bonnybridge liftbridges, following a £1.625m contribution from Transport Scotland as a result of campaigning by IWA and others.

The weekend kicked off on the Friday morning with a ceremonial re-opening of the lift-bridge at Bonnybridge by Michael Matheson – cabinet secretary for transport, infrastructure and connectivity – sailing under the bridge in both directions aboard Maryhill to the accompaniment of a lone piper.

In the evening it was the turn of the steam boats and coastal rowers to take a turn on the Falkirk Wheel, again accompanied by the piper who was perched on a tiny inspection platform situated at the centre axis of the Wheel itself. Then it was on to an awards ceremony marking the tremendous volunteer effort that surrounds the renaissance of the Lowland Canals.

A flotilla of around 70 boats proceeded from the Falkirk Wheel to Auchinstarry on Saturday, with many then going on to a Lowland Canals Association barbecue on Sunday evening held at Speirs Wharf in Glasgow. The Forth & Clyde Canal Society’s trip-boat Explorer provided VIP hospitality, with Seagull Trust and Linlithgow Union Canal Society craft also in attendance.

The Lowland Canals Volunteer Group’s workboat Lochrin proved a suitable stage for live music performances.

The flotilla continued in the rain on Sunday and with a lift-bridge and four locks to negotiate, progress was slow but morale remained high. Volunteers and

Why campaign with IWA? We strive to make the waterways better for all.

14

| IWA Waterways

014 Campaigns Update AH.indd 14

Autumn 2019 23/07/2019 12:45

Campaigns Update

Jonathan Mosse

Jonathan Mosse

Environment Agency future plans IWA has welcomed the commitment by the Environment Agency to develop a long-term funding and business plan for its navigations. The pledge was made in an announcement by Defra, which also included confirmation that the potential transfer of the 600 or so miles of EA navigations to Canal & River Trust would not take place “at this point in time”.

In meetings with EA senior management over the last 12 months, IWA representatives have learned about EA’s new strategies to support navigation and increase funding in other ways. One of these is the inclusion of navigation in a new Future Funding Team that will be identifying potential funding opportunities. IWA has offered its support for these initiatives, particularly proposals around using more volunteers and developing income from commercial opportunities. One area that IWA is encouraging EA to consider is new mooring sites, particularly residential moorings, as a way of increasing income that would also help with the additional demand for moorings as more people take to a life afloat.

IWA disagreed with EA last year over its steep registration fee increases for boaters, which will see rises of more than 30% over three years for some boaters, but agrees that additional funding sources need to be identified.

IWA will continue to lobby Defra and Government for ongoing Grant in Aid for EA’s navigations to reflect the benefits that our waterways bring to the wider population though opportunities for leisure, health and well-being, as well as the economic benefits of vibrant, wellmaintained waterways to tourism and local communities.

Ivor Caplan, IWA’s National Chairman, said of the announcement: “We understand that current funding is constrained but believe that sufficient investment in waterways is essential to enable them to meet their full potential in environmental and amenity benefits. IWA will continue to campaign and to support EA in practical ways, in order to ensure that these benefits are realised.”

Parliamentary activities round-up Monday 13th May saw the culmination of a flurry of recent parliamentary campaigning and event planning, with a ‘Waterway Restoration’ themed Parliamentary Reception taking place at the House of Commons. About 140 people, including 45 MPs and Lords, attended the event in the Terrace Pavilion, overlooking the Thames. As well as the presentation of IWA’s Parliamentarian of the Year Award for 2019, the event included the announcement of a new grant.

Representatives from over 30 waterways restoration societies and a number of other national organisations joined IWA members and other supporters to hear the event’s host, Lord German, open proceedings, followed by a presentation from Ros Kerslake OBE, chief executive of the National Lottery Heritage Fund. Ros not only highlighted the significant funding that has already been made available to canal restorations in the UK, but also assured attendees that the waterways are an area that the fund is keen to support moving forward.

IWA Trustee Mike Palmer introduced the Waterways in Progress report and stressed the importance of the two-way relationship between restoration societies and their MPs. He then announced the launch of IWA’s new £100,000 Waterways in Progress Grant, which is being funded through IWA legacies (see page 33). The news of the grant was enthusiastically received by the attending trusts and societies.

IWA National Chairman, Ivor Caplan, then announced the IWA Parliamentarian of the Year. He acknowledged all parliamentarians who have supported IWA throughout the year before introducing the shortlist of nominees for the award which included John Bercow (MP for Buckingham), Prime Minister Theresa May (MP for Maidenhead), Robert Buckland (MP for South Swindon), Lee Rowley (MP for NE Derbyshire) and Pat McFadden (MP for Wolverhampton SE), who were all commended for their high level of support for the waterways within their constituencies. Ivor then announced that Andrew Bridgen, MP for North West Leicestershire, was the winner of this year’s award.

Mr Bridgen was nominated by members of both Ashby Canal Trust and Ashby Canal Association for his unwavering support and assistance regarding many difficult issues that have arisen on

the Ashby Canal restoration. He was particularly commended for his work with HS2, focussing on the proposed routing of the high-speed rail link and limiting its impact on the waterway. He was also thanked for his efforts in helping to overcome progress problems with Leicestershire County Council and his continuing work on issues with Defra and the Transport & Works Act Order.

Commenting on the event, Ivor Caplan said: “This was a new format for our Parliamentarian of the Year event and offered attendees a welcome opportunity to network. Having so many MPs in attendance is further proof that support for our waterways is on the rise. Reports such as Waterways in Progress help to emphasise the many benefits that a waterway can bring to an area, and hearing from Ros Kerslake that the National Lottery Heritage Fund is a firm believer in canal restoration is certainly heartwarming. Now is an exciting time for the UK’s waterways.”

He added: “Andrew Bridgen is a very worthy winner of this year’s IWA Parliamentarian of the Year Award. He has supported both Ashby Canal Trust and Ashby Canal Association in what would have otherwise been very difficult circumstances. He has worked with the District and County Councils to help resolve progress issues and has also been instrumental in securing funding for the project. We are seeing more MPs getting involved in waterways restorations and really appreciate all the help and support they provide.”

Andrew Bridgen MP (l) is presented with IWA’s Parliamentarian of the Year Award 2019 by National Chairman Ivor Caplan.

With your support, we can do even more. waterways.org.uk/campaigns Autumn 2019 014 Campaigns Update AH.indd 15

IWA Waterways |

15

23/07/2019 12:45

Funding for the Restoration Hub will allow the team to further its support of waterways projects across the country.

Mikk on the Chesterfield Canal Trust site visit.

Mikk Bradley

technical support officer

Spotlight on...

RESTORING CONFIDENCE Following the announcement of a significant Resilient Heritage Grant, we take a look at what the funding will bring to IWA’s Restoration Hub

I

WA’s Restoration Hub was awarded a significant grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund in May that will help develop new activities to further strengthen its offering to canal restoration societies across the UK. The Restoring Confidence project, funded by the Resilient Heritage Grant Programme, will enhance the role of Mikk Bradley, technical support officer.

This will enable him to undertake further training so that he can provide more expert advice to restoration organisations across the country, and help restart any restoration projects that may have stalled due to complex technical issues.

It will also help the Restoration Hub provide training on environmental management, heritage construction methods, good governance and legacy fundraising, and set up funding surgeries to advise restoration societies on how best to approach funders or manage their own fundraising efforts. Furthermore, it will ensure the 2020 Restoration Conference can take place, which IWA hosts alongside Canal & River Trust.

Jenny Morris, IWA Restoration Hub coordinator, commented: “We have been looking at ways to develop the Restoration Hub and realised that we needed to widen the skills of our pool of experts. These experts can then look at training volunteers within individual restoration societies and will work alongside them to provide a cohesive team of specialists who are best placed to keep projects moving forward. While we knew what we needed, we weren’t sure how we were going to fund our grand plans, so are thrilled that the National Lottery Heritage Fund has stepped in to help us by awarding this grant.”

16

| IWA Waterways

016 campaign focus AH.indd 16

In his role at IWA’s Restoration Hub, Mikk is responsible for providing technical support to restoration groups and Essex Waterways Limited on project planning, risk assessment and method statements.

Mikk has already carried out a review of the project documents for a number of canal groups including Buckingham Canal Society, and has drawn up a project plan for Wendover Arm Trust. He has also provided drawings and costings for lift-bridges for Shrewsbury & Newport Canals Trust.

Explaining his role, Mikk says: “IWA is uniquely placed as an independent voice for the waterways. As such, we want to be able to offer unbiased, expert advice to all waterways groups, but in particular to restoration groups who are working to protect and preserve our waterways heritage.

“This grant is allowing me to gain further qualifications and to learn more about the complex aspects of site management. We will be able to pass on this additional knowledge to anyone who needs further assistance and, hopefully, because of these shared skills, enable projects to run more safely and smoothly. It will also help us to overcome any stumbling blocks in a project. We can call on our team of expert engineers to provide even more assistance on the technical side of things.”

Mikk is currently studying for his NEBOSH Construction Safety Certificate via e-learning – the cost has been covered by the Restoring Confidence grant and, once completed, Mikk will be fully certified in occupational health & safety and risk & safety management.

health & safety audit for Chesterfield Canal Trust Mikk recently carried out a site visit to witness activities on site on the Chesterfield Canal. He was asked to provide guidance on compliance with current health & safety legislation in order to ensure the site was running as safely as possible. Mikk reviewed all documents and provided comment on their relevance to the work being carried out on site. He even carried out an impromptu toolbox talk on hazard-spotting during lunch.

He is now providing an audit report with recommendations, as well as an action plan for all future activity. Mikk will return later in the year for a second visit.

“Running any construction site is a complex process and we at Chesterfield Canal Trust were keen to get an independent opinion of how effectively our health & safety systems were operating and complying with the relevant legislation. It was excellent to be able to call on Mikk, who understands the unique environment of a canal restoration run by volunteers, and his guidance will ensure we continue to improve in the key areas while not getting distracted by unnecessary bureaucracy. It has been a great example of how IWA Restoration Hub is there to help, and we encourage any restoration projects to get in touch with them.”

George Rogers, development manager, CCT The impromptu toolbox talk.

Autumn 2019 23/07/2019 13:19

A SUBSCRIPTION PACKAGE WORTH OVER £95* FOR JUST £39 A YEAR

Waterways

World

O 12 issues of Waterways World delivered to your door each year (saving £15 off the cover price) O Free digital subscription and access to online back issues (worth £36) O Free Waterways World Annual and route-planning map each year* (worth £7.99) O Subscriber-only offers and discounts O Practical, expert advice on choosing the right boat, fitting it out and improving your boating skills O The latest waterways news and events O Canal profiles and pull-out cruising guides O Photographs from the archives and news of restoration activities

Start saving today by calling: 01283

742970

or visit: shop.waterwaysworld.com

*Free Annual and map each year by Direct Debit only, each year the Direct Debit continues. The Direct Debit will continue at £39 a year unless you cancel. UK rates only.

IWA WW subs Aut19.indd 17

23/07/2019 15:20

FESTIVAL OF

More information

WALKERS

For further details of these walks, including the full routes, go to visitleevalley.org.uk/en/ content/cms/outdoors/walkswalking/walking-routes/ or tfl. gov.uk/modes/walking/leavalley (for the Lee Valley Walk only).

Waltham Abbey, site of this year’s Festival of Water, is as worthwhile exploring on foot as afloat. We profile ten of its best walking routes with a watery theme

3

Otter discovery trail Distance: 1.75 miles Terrain: Surfaced paths with one bridge with a steep incline.

Starting point: Fishers Green car park, Stubbins Hall Lane.

Explore the habitat and behaviour of one of England’s best-loved water mammals in this short, circular walk around the glorious Seventy Acres Lake.

1

18

Wetland meadows Distance: 1.5 miles Terrain: Grass pathways throughout the route with several bridges.

Starting point: Waltham Abbey Gardens car park.

A short circular river route around Cornmill Meadows, this is your chance to discover the wealth of wildlife that feed on the wetland meadows. It offers a particularly good opportunity to see dragonflies, with over half of UK species found here, notably the whitelegged damselfly and hairy dragonfly.

In late summer the woodland glades can be worth scouting on a fine evening for large numbers of migrant hawker dragonfly.

| IWA Waterways

018 festival of walkers SH AH.indd 18

2

Lake and riverside trail Distance: 4 miles Terrain: A mixture of pathways, some of which are uneven, narrow and can become wet and muddy. One bridge with a steep incline and several walkaround and kissing gates.

Starting point: Lee Valley Park Farms car park, Stubbins Hall Lane.

A spectacular wildlife walk through the heart of the River Lee Country Park. The route takes you south, circling Hooks Marsh Lake before heading north on the towpath to Holyfield Weir and returning along the Flood Relief Channel.

4

5

Locks and lakes Distance: 4 miles Terrain: Surfaced pathway including a section of towpath and one bridge with a steep incline.

Starting point: Fishers Green Lane, Crooked Mile.

A circular path full of rural magic and historical charm. The Lee Navigation and a liberal helping of beautiful lakes along the route make this waterwaystudded walk hard to beat.

Strolling the towpath towards Cheshunt.

Autumn 2019 23/07/2019 12:49

6

7

Vision for London

Lee Valley Walk Distance: 15.6 miles Terrain: Mostly flat and on hard surfaces, with some ramps by the lock gates.

Towpaths can be muddy depending on recent weather.

Starting point: Towpath off A121 Station Road (Waltham Cross).

Taking you all the way from Waltham Abbey to the Thames in east London, the Lee Valley Walk opens up a fascinating window on Britain’s past. You can opt to tackle the full distance in one go, or take it in stages – the nearby railway runs parallel with the river, so it’s easy join or leave the walk at different points. The route has much to interest the waterways historian, covering changes wrought to the river’s course

by Waltham Abbey monks, the creep of post-war industrialisation and, closer to London, the regeneration prompted by the 2012 Olympics.

Lee Valley Walk joins the Thames at Limehouse Basin.

5

Waders and waterfowl

6

Farm and wetland trail

Distance: 2 miles Terrain: All surfaced pathways/ towpath, some bridges and kissing gates.

Starting point: Lee Valley White Water Centre.

This scenic route takes in the southern habitats of the River Lee Country Park.

You’ll head along the Flood Relief Channel before passing north of Hall Marsh Scrape – a series of four shallow artificial scrapes and gravel islands designed to attract waders. The walk concludes via the western edge of Bowyers Water.

Distance: 3 miles Terrain: Surfaced pathways, several bridges (two with steep inclines) and several walk-around gates.

Starting point: Lee Valley Park Farms car park, Stubbins Hall Lane.

This is an ideal circular route for all ages and abilities, and accessible throughout the year. It links the Lee Valley Park Farms to the wetlands of the River Lee Country Park, travelling west across three waterways before turning south around North Metropolitan Pit and returning along the eastern side of Seventy Acres Lake.

Autumn 2019 018 festival of walkers SH AH.indd 19

8

Rambling rivers Distance: 3 miles Terrain: All surfaced pathways including a section of towpath (steep decline onto the towpath), several bridges and kissing gates.

Starting point: Fishers Green car park, Stubbins Hall Lane.

A picturesque route visiting the four main rivers that wind their way through the River Lee Country Park.

The path heads north along the Flood Relief Channel and past Seventy Acres Lake, before returning south via Cheshunt Lake and Bowyers Water.

9

10

Gunpowder woodland trail

Distance: 1.75 miles Terrain: Surfaced pathways including a wooden boardwalk.

Starting point: Gunpowder Park car park.

We profiled the history and canal network of Royal Gunpowder Mills in summer’s Waterways, so consider this another friendly nudge to check out this terrific site. The circular route heads west along the high path before turning south through the woodland boardwalk and returning along Sewardstone Road.

Lakes of the River Lee Distance: 7.5 miles Terrain: Surfaced pathways and towpath throughout, several bridges (one with a steep incline) and several walk-around and kissing gates.

Starting point: Fishers Green car park, Stubbins Hall Lane.

A scenic circular walk with stunning views across the Lee Valley. The route heads north past Bowyers Water and then follows the railway to Wharf Road. It turns south down the towpath, passing the eastern side of Seventy Acres Lake and continuing along the Flood Relief Channel.

IWA Waterways |

19

23/07/2019 12:49

IT'LL BE ALl bRIGHT ON THE NIGHT

John Butler

Top tips for illuminating your boat – just in time for IWA’s Festival of Water

20

| IWA Waterways

020 illuminated boats SH AH.indd 20

Autumn 2019 23/07/2019 12:50

Looking good at last year’s parade at St Neots.

Vision for London

Will Cheung

Will Cheung

Modest but magical: a Wilderness boat at 2018’s Festival of Water.

O

ne of the highlights of any major inland waterways rally is the illuminated boat competition. This year’s Festival of Water will be no exception, with participating boaters and towpath spectators alike guaranteed a dazzling display on the Sunday night.

For first-timers, entering the procession can seem a daunting proposition. Be reassured – your boat doesn’t have to rival Blackpool to be in with a chance of picking up some silverware. A little bit of imagination, careful planning and a can-do attitude will more than cover you.

Even if you own a modest vessel that’s badly in need of a repaint or aesthetic improvements, no one will know. The beauty of these after-dark displays is that all eyes are on the lights fantastic, and not the peeling paintwork. Feeling braver?

Then ‘watt’ are we waiting for? Here’s how to glow with the flow at Waltham Abbey...

John Butler

Plan ahead As with most things in life, preparation is key. Sometimes festival organisers will specify a theme, while others will allow you to enter freestyle. Whatever the brief, don’t be afraid to think outside the box and let your creative side go wild.

The cabin roof is a good place to begin as lights here will be visible from both sides. If the route of the procession passes under bridges, make sure you take your boat through beforehand: stop underneath and use a tape to measure your clearance to determine how high you can go with a fixed structure. Some people go to great lengths to have hinged masts that lower to allow the boat to glide under a bridge like a ship in a bottle. This is impressive when it works but mayhem when it doesn’t!

Also, consider the sides of the vessel.

Although your boat will be judged from the bank and it’s tempting to restrict your decorations to only the side that’s visible to them, consider the audience as a whole.

Illuminated boat parades shouldn’t be an exercise in self-indulgence – you’ve a duty to entertain visitors too. Try to please Autumn 2019 020 illuminated boats SH AH.indd 21

everyone by decorating your boat to best effect from every angle.

If the bow of your boat has a well deck, this is a good place to add a large feature, but leave enough room in case some of your crew wish to sit there and wave to their adoring fans!

Don’t forget the back of the boat, especially if you own a cruiser stern where there’s more space to create good effects. Lights wrapped around the tiller arm work well, but make sure they don’t impede the steering.

The length of your boat will also make a difference: a full-length craft will require far more lighting than a 25-footer to create the same impact.

The lights Lighting technology has changed dramatically since the early days of IWA rallies. Traditional tungsten filament electric light bulbs have largely been replaced with halogen bulbs, compact fluorescents (CFLs) and light emitting diodes (LEDs).

If you’re starting from scratch, LEDs are the obvious: a set of Christmas tree lights will get you going and, with a relatively low energy consumption, even a 1,000W inverter can provide power for a large number of strings.

Most strings have a transformer and a sizeable length of wire before the first light – so if an inverter is available on your boat, all the components at mains voltage can be kept safely inside the craft, while the light strings can be fed through the windows or doors to decorate the outside.

Of course, the lighting doesn’t have to be electric – paraffin lights can be used to great effect too.

you risk a tangle. Handrails are often used to fix lights – but if a set of lights goes out you may need to walk along the gunwale with a hand on the rail, so keep it uncluttered.

To avoid a horrible mess, make sure you have as many attachment points as possible. This will probably take the form of string rigging attached to a framework of poles or hardboard sheeting. Cable ties are useful for fixings, but make sure offcuts and used ties are collected.

Take care during the procession to safeguard others, your crew and yourself.

The event will take place after dark, so the steerer will have to cope with restricted vision. Maintaining a distance behind the boat in front may not be as easy as it is during the day: some organisers like boats to be tightly packed together, while others will want gaps to allow for commentary.

Even if you don’t normally wear a life jacket on a river or deep canal, this is advisable.

The icing on the cake As well as lights, sound can also be used to good effect in illuminated boat parades.

Horns, hooters and klaxons are easiest, but some boats play music on continuous loop while others have live musicians and singers on board. Marine flares, fireworks and other effects are generally banned for obvious reasons.

Fancy dress, especially if it fits the theme, can also be a nice finishing touch.

Stay safe When planning a layout, always have safety in mind and route the cables so you have unobstructed access through the boat. Any cables on drums should be fully unwound and left neat and tidy.

If possible, keep the decoration within the overall width of the boat. There may be periods at standstill and if your boat drifts into some bankside vegetation

An ambitious floating swan installation lights up the Thames in Reading as part of 2017’s River Stories event.

IWA Waterways |

21

23/07/2019 12:51

Jonathan on the Grand Union at Stockton.

GUIDE

& CLYDE

Callum frew

Few people know the canal network quite as well as Jonathan Mosse.

After 30 years writing Nicholson’s cruising guides, the Forth & Clyde liveaboard explains how the waterways remain his great passion, and what IWA is doing to help north of the border You've pretty much devoted a lifetime to the waterways – when did the fascination with them start?

Well, I’ve been involved with boats forever. I did a lot of dinghy sailing at school, I built canoes, I taught sailing. Once I stopped being a hippy and started looking to do something serious, I trained as a farm manager and then went into lecturing in land-based industries. One strand of that job was focusing on personal development skills, and I had the bright idea of putting my students on a narrowboat for a week. It ticked every single box. We block-booked 20 hire-boats at a time, in March, and this happened annually for about five or six years. There were a few dodgy moments but we generally had a good time, and I got hooked on narrowboating as a result.

Did that lead to boatownership?

Yes, I subsequently bought the shell of a 60ft boat with an engine in it. I was living down in Devon at the time and we couldn’t get it through the narrow lanes on a lorry, so we put it in on the sea, basically, at a boatyard in the mouth of the Tamar. Making my way upstream to safe moorings – along 12 miles of very agitated tidal water – was an experience!

The best arbiters of the scheme were the local Saltash coastguard who, when I consulted them about the trip, thought it was quite feasible as long as we chose our tide and weather carefully. In fact, they were due a training exercise and ended up accompanying us in their RIB! Thereafter ensued a very happy 18 months when any gap in my day job found me banging away, reluctantly disturbing the peace of the boat’s beautiful new home. I was later given my very own mud berth – a 60ft x 10ft slot in the bank excavated by a local farmer, which he introduced as my

22

| IWA Waterways

022 LYW j mosse interview AH final.indd 22

“canal”. Imagine our amazement when, nearly a month later after a heavy rainstorm, a wooden sign washed up nearby, bearing the words ‘The Canal’, to be duly nailed to a post.

How did you get involved with Nicholson's Guides?

A meeting with David Perrott, the name that’s most readily associated with Nicholson’s Guides, was engineered by my brother in 1989. Knowing my involvement with the inland waterways, he invited both of us to the opening of a new extension to his pottery in west Wales. The upshot was that David admitted that after editing the guides for so long on his own, he was beginning to find it a somewhat lonely experience. I was commissioned to help him and borrowed a sit-up-and-beg bicycle, before setting off from Bath to Reading along what had been reinstated of the towpath of the Kennet & Avon Canal.

As restoration was just reaching completion, this was a new entry for the Southern edition of the guides and a baptism of fire for me. When my copy successfully found its way into the book I was hooked (although somewhat financially impoverished by the experience) and soon upgraded to my very own mountain bike, ready to take on all waterway comers.

“I have, in one form or another, covered every inch of the waterways” What's the workload like?

Looking back it was totally mad. We used to update all nine guides every three years, all at the same time. About ten years ago the decision was taken to update three guides every year, so I spend seven months of the year doing that. I start when the towpaths are accessible (not too muddy) in April. As well as getting out and about, I also go through the waterways press every single morning, and do other online research. I have a correction file which I’m constantly adding to. I can’t remember now which canals I’ve walked or boated or cycled. It’s all blurred over the years. But I have, in one form or another, covered every inch of the waterways.

Autumn 2019 24/07/2019 10:44

Love Your Waterways

Part of a flotilla on the Forth & Clyde, where Jonathan has been a liveaboard for the past decade.

Before the K&A was filled with boats, Jonathan's first task for Nicholson's was adding the partially restored waterway to the Southern guide

Your favourite stretch?

I won’t go there! They’re all absolutely wonderful.

They’ve all got different characters.

You've spoken about trying to make the guides less boatercentric, progressively including any waterway that can be followed from end to end on a bicycle or by foot, which naturally includes waterways under restoration. Why is this so important?

We should be extending the interest of the guides to walkers and cyclists – that’s always been my rationale. But also the work that’s going on to reopen waterways is marvellous and the approaches are so different. Working with restoration societies is a privilege and I have the greatest admiration for them.

Likewise WRG volunteers. I’m very conscious that I wouldn’t have a job if it wasn’t for them. To my shame, while I’m not up to my whatsits in mud and general filth restoring fallen waterways, I try wherever possible to use the guides (and the waterways I add to them) to support canal restoration in every way possible. Hopefully, the guides will still be around to see them finally teeming with boats.

You're now one of two Scottish reps on IWA's Navigation Committee. How did that come about?

I’ve lived on the Forth & Clyde for ten years and am part of a campaigning group called Keep Canals Alive!, formed of 11 Scottish waterway organisations, all keen to ensure that Scottish Canals fulfils its obligations to keep the waterways open. As an IWA member I’ve always been feeding information back to the Association, but in the past IWA has been fairly reticent about heading north of the border, for fear of treading on anyone’s toes or spreading their resources too thinly.

The tipping point was the bridges getting closed on the Lowland Canals, and IWA came in at government level on that. Then when Scottish Canals had the daft idea of allocating one of the pods on the Falkirk Wheel to foot passengers, IWA offered further help. Last July IWA issued a formal statement throwing its weight behind our campaigns, insisting: “Scottish Canals should be doing everything it can to keep the Lowland Canals fully open.”

What's next, in terms of keeping the pressure on?

Scottish Canals want to set up an advisory body, so hopefully IWA will be involved with that. And there’s been the recent appointment of a new chief executive, who we’ve had a very positive meeting with already. We explained what we do, the resources we have available and offered our help going forward. So the future’s certainly looking brighter.

Jonathan’s boat Tamarisk at the Falkirk Wheel.

Jonathan at the source of the Thames

Autumn 2019 022 LYW j mosse interview AH final.indd 23

IWA Waterways |

23

24/07/2019 10:43

BEAUTIFUL BOATS BUILT TO LAST Established in 1974, Colecraft have gained the experience and expertise to ensure that the boat we build for you will last for years to come. All our boats are custom designed and built to individual requirements.

Boats built to any stage of completion. From a bare hull or superstructure to luxuriously fitted and finished boat.

We build narrowbeam and widebeam boats for private and trade customers and are possibly the largest supplier of steel shells to other boat builders/fitters.

Trip boat builds include those for Longleat, 2012 Olympics, Jennifer May, Copper Jack, Sheldrake III, Pirate Prince, Chichester Canal and many more.

Our welders are coded to meet MCA requirements.

V 01926 814 081 M sales@colecraft.co.uk w www.colecraftboats.co.uk G www.facebook.com/colecraftboats

Remember us i n yo u r w i l l Find out tact more. Con us on 453 9 14 0 4 783 r u o e or se . e it s b we

A gift in your will, large or small, could help us invest in the future of the waterways for generations to come.

Enjoy a break on the Cambridgeshire Waterways Day Boat Hire

Our day boat hire lets you meander along Fenland Waterways.

The boat can hold up to 10 people. It has a galley complete with hob, fridge and cutlery. A toilet and seating area. Collection from 9:30am, returning for departure at 6pm.

Cambridgeshire Narrowboat holidays

Visit Peterborough, Ely or Cambridge over 1-2 weeks, weekends or short breaks. Ranging from 2-7 berth, avaliable Spring, Summer or Autumn.

Moorings

Marina holds 200 boats, daily or on a long term basis, boats up to 70ft. Slipway can accommodate up to 70ft boat together with hoist and cradle facilities.

Tel: 01354 652770 Email: holidays@foxboats.co.uk Web: www.foxnarrowboats.com Fox Narrowboats Ltd. 10 Marina Drive, March, Cambs, PE15 0AU

waterways.org.uk/legacy

 Check availability and book online now   Visit our website for special offers 

10% OFF CAMRA, IWA, CART MEMBERS 15% OFF FORCES, NHS STAFF, POLICE & RESCUE (See website for conditions)

NARROWBOAT HIRE IN STAFFORDSHIRE WITH A CHOICE OF EXCELLENT ROUTES TASTER DAYS • ONE NIGHT TASTER STAYS • GIFT VOUCHERS • PET FRIENDLY

Boat Yard Services: Covered Dry Dock • DIY • Signwriting & Painting • Engine Servicing • Call-out Service • GAS • Diesel • Pump out • RING FOR DETAILS

As featured in…

V 01785 813982 M mail@canalcruising.co.uk Canal Cruising Co Ltd, Crown Street, Stone, Staffordshire ST15 8QN

24

| IWA waterways

p024_iwa.indd 24

Autumn 2019 23/07/2019 11:56

AGM 2019

IWA AGM SPECIAL

TO THE POTTERIES WE WILL GO

Doors open at 9.30am and the meeting starts at 10am. The first session will include a presentation celebrating one of IWA’s most recent successes – our Forth & Clyde and Union canals campaign which led to the canals being re-opened to through traffic this year. In this issue of Waterways we mention the launch of IWA’s new Heritage Advisory Group. This new team of professional, expert advisors joins our Honorary Consultant Engineers and most recently our Planning Advisory Group. Our planners have been invited to give the second of our presentations and their talk will be followed by the announcement of the winners of IWA’s prestigious annual awards. The formal AGM begins at 11.30am and will be followed by an update on our current campaigns and the opportunity to ask questions of our panel of Trustees, with lunch to follow at 1pm. Lunch must be booked in advance.

AGM AGENDA • To review and approve the minutes of the 59th Annual General Meeting.

• To present the Report and Financial Statements for the Association for the year ended 31st December 2018, and the report of the auditors thereon.

• To re-appoint Saffery Champness as auditors of the Association from the conclusion of the meeting, and to authorise Trustees to decide their remuneration.

• To hear the result of the ballot for the appointment of Trustees.

AGM Agenda Papers: For full details about the AGM, a copy of the minutes of the 2018 AGM, the report and financial statements for the year ended 31st December 2018 and to reserve your lunch and spot for the presentations, go to waterways.org.uk/agm or call 01494 783453. Copies of all papers can be requested by post by writing to AGM Papers, The Inland Waterways Association, Island House, Moor Road, Chesham HP5 1WA, calling 01494 783453 or emailing iwa@waterways.org.uk.

During the afternoon of 28th September we have arranged two optional visits. Steve Wood, deputy chairman of IWA North Staffordshire & South Cheshire Branch, is leading a walk and talk visit to Burslem Port.

Alternatively, we have organised a guided heritage trail to include Middleport Pottery’s Victorian offices, bottle oven, bathhouse, steam engine and ceramic mould store. The guided heritage trail costs £5.50 per adult and £4 for over 65s.

Pay a visit to Burslem Port or Middleport Pottery (pictured) as part of the IWA AGM.

Why not make a weekend of it?

It’s the 45th anniversary of the reopening of the Caldon Canal, and IWA North Staffordshire & South Cheshire Branch is inviting all members to join in with its celebrations.

Saturday 28th September evening – a social gathering including food Sunday 29th September 12noon to 4pm – a garden fete fundraising event at Denford. Visit by boat, on foot or by car for an afternoon of games, shopping and refreshments Silver Propeller locations – Over the weekend, and the days either side, boaters, canoeists and paddleboarders are encouraged to visit the two IWA Silver Propeller Challenge locations in the branch area – Froghall and Leek.

To register your interest in taking part in the extra weekend activities please contact Alison Smedley on alison.smedley@waterways.org.uk or 01494 783453 extension 619.

Proxies: Any person being a member of the Association is entitled to appoint a proxy to attend and vote on his/her behalf at the Annual General Meeting. A proxy need not be a member of IWA. Forms for nominating a proxy may be obtained as above and should be returned by 2pm on 26th September 2019, in order to be valid.

Directions: The address and directions to the AGM venue can be found on the website waterways.org.uk/agm.

Autumn 2019 025 agm AH.indd 25

Jenny Harper Photography

ANNUAL MEMBERS MEETING 2019

SATURDAY AFTERNOON ACTIVITIES

Visit Froghall on the Caldon Canal over the AGM weekend.

IWA Waterways |

Alison Smedley

I

WA’s 60th Annual General Meeting will be held at St Thomas More Catholic Academy, Longton Hall Road, Longton, Stokeon-Trent ST3 2NJ on 28th September 2019. There is a packed day of presentations and activities on offer and our local IWA branch, North Staffordshire & South Cheshire, has plans that will keep attendees entertained for the full weekend. Why not make a short break of it and visit the nearby Silver Propeller locations on the Caldon Canal on either the Friday or Monday and have some great British fun (and hopefully sun) at the branch fundraising fete on Sunday? An evening meal and a talk by deputy chairman of the branch Steve Wood lead the bill for the Saturday night.

25

23/07/2019 12:52

TRUSTEE CANDIDATES

2019

Name: Rick Barnes Proposer: Mike Palmer MBE I’ve been fascinated by the waterways since I was young following a memorable holiday around the Avon Ring and BCN in the early 1980s – when Gas Street Basin was surrounded with overhanging warehouses, and in other places metal works could be seen from the boat… and I had to stand on a milk crate so I could see to steer! Moving on a few years, I became involved with WRG, working on restoration projects and festivals around the country, eventually joining Festivals Committee, creating site plans and documentation, and helping run the ‘National’ as Site 2.

I joined IWA because I recognised its importance in harnessing a wide range of supporters, users and businesses to actively make the waterways and their surroundings a better place as a unique national asset through campaigning, preservation and restoration. I am proud to have helped sustain and promote the activities of the Association over the years in a number of roles – as WRG Director, member of Finance Committee, an elected Trustee since 2016 and recently as a deputy chairman.

I am a chartered mechanical engineer and qualified member of the Association of Project Management with over 20 years’ experience in engineering, project and programme management and strategic change. I use my experience to support my volunteer roles, recently focussing on my local canals in the Cotswolds, restoring Gough’s Orchard Lock at Brimscombe, the IWA Tom Rolt campaign project at Inglesham, connecting the canal to the Thames which will be completed this summer, and representing IWA as a national organisation on the HLF bid to connect the completed Stroud section to the main system at Saul.

The diversity of the waterways, and of what IWA and WRG do, is hugely important to me. For volunteers, we offer a chance to meet new people, gain new skills and a sense of achievement, whether manning a stand, running a branch newsletter or driving an excavator. For waterway users, on foot, bicycle, narrowboat, cruiser or canoe and others besides, there are new discoveries to be made around every bend and an incredible variety of environments and heritage to explore.

As IWA approaches its 75th year, it continues to have a pivotal role and I ask for your support in re-election as a Trustee, to help shape the Association for the challenges ahead, and work to ensure that the waterways can be enjoyed for future generations.

26

| IWA Waterways

025 agm AH.indd 26

Name: John Butler Proposer: Chris Howes After a two year break I would be delighted to become an IWA Trustee again. I was dismayed last summer when the Trustees, on the advice of Marketing Committee, decided to suspend the popular annual Festival of Water. If only they had thought to consult Events Committee first they would have been spared the embarrassment of being forced to reverse that decision by a members’ resolution at the AGM. I am proud to say that I drafted that resolution and that the Festival of Water lives to fight another day, despite the determined efforts by some to kill it off.

I am standing for re-election as a Trustee because this kind of wrong-headed decision has been taken without adequate consultation and without fully considering the best interests of the Association and its members.

I have, in the past, served on Promotions & Communications Committee, Events Committee and Marketing Committee and I have been Chairman of both Events and Marketing committees. I was a Trustee from 2014 to 2017 and I am now a member of Finance and Events committees.

After I qualified as a chartered accountant I worked mostly in the retail and leisure industries, but I also spent time in manufacturing and publishing, both as an accountant and in more wide-ranging managerial roles. I believe that this varied experience will be of value to IWA if I am again elected as a trustee.

I firmly believe that the Association has a future at the centre of the waterways movement. No other body has done so much to encourage the renaissance of the waterways since the war, and no one else has the Waterway Recovery Group! It is vital that we should now adapt to meet changing circumstances, and I am confident that I can play a part in that process.

Finally, I believe that we should invest our energies in planning for tomorrow as well as remembering yesterday.

Name: Ivor Caplan Proposer: Nicki Schiessel-Harvey My inland waterways experience goes back some 50 years with 15 years living afloat; I have moved ashore but still cruise as much as my role as National Chairman allows.

I have a particular interest in the built environment believing that conservation can only be achieved in the long term by finding sustainable uses for historic buildings, and in the widest view of waterways heritage which includes the boats, people, traditions and skills.

My IWA involvement includes 30 years on the Birmingham Branch committee with a long spell as Branch Chairman. I was national organiser of Waterways for Youth prior to it becoming WoW. I served on Promotions & Communications and West Midlands Region committees and my involvement has included the organisation of many different IWA boating events and other initiatives at local and national level.

Throughout this time I also had wide experience of other organisations in the inland waterways family. This includes serving on canal society committees and I was recently secretary of the BCN Society. I have been involved with restoration trusts and a few

Autumn 2019 23/07/2019 12:53

AGM 2019

Name: Dave Chapman Proposer: HELEN WHITEHOUSE Events at the 2018 IWA AGM convinced me there is a need for change; I was both enthused and shocked in equal measure! The message that waterways can, and do lead regeneration, was brilliantly broadcast by IWA and Stroud Council. I was shocked by the lack of preparation to resolve the two major issues raised by members prior to the AGM, and this led to the obvious confusion among the principals and their undignified attempts to control the outputs of the AGM. My wife and I have been members of IWA for 46 years, owning in turn marine-ply and fibreglass boats, and now a steel narrowboat. We are well known faces, attending many festivals. During the period 2003-2011, I was heavily involved in the IWA national festivals. As supplies director I was responsible for delivering the infrastructure necessary to make such a large event work. Cavalcade, trail-boat and campaign festivals, as well as the Festival of Water, each have an important role to play in promoting the value of our waterways. To ensure maximum impact of these events, each needs appropriate and aggressive marketing support.

I have been Chairman of IWA Chiltern Branch since 2013. The branch is an active supporter of the Wendover Arm Trust; we represent IWA at Rickmansworth Festival each year and sponsor the IWA Events Team Trailer.

As IWA approaches its 75th birthday, we have much of which to be proud. IWA has built on the success of heroes like Rolt, Hutchings and Palmer, first in saving and restoring waterways and then in defending waterway heritage. IWA must continue to provide support to restoration and heritage groups; it must strengthen campaigns to ensure Canal & River Trust is adequately funded and IWA must monitor CRT to ensure navigation and waterways heritage remain protected into the future. IWA must re-assert it-self as THE CAMPAIGNING GROUP FOR NAVIGATION! I believe that IWA would benefit from a new impetus. Not all Trustees own boats, and through contact with members and other boaters on ‘the cut’, a boating Branch Chairman is well placed to be an effective Trustee.

Further, I believe my experience, with Xerox, of driving management and process changes in operating companies across many cultures, will help me to understand IWA and to seek improvements.

I hope you will give me the opportunity to prove my worth by voting for me.

years ago retired after ten years as company secretary for the Droitwich Canals Trust, following achieving completion of its entire restoration. I served over 12 years on the committee of the Residential Boat Owners’ Association, with periods as vice-chair, chairman and secretary.

During my eighteen months as IWA National Chairman I have continued the work of my predecessor by focusing on delivering the key IWA objectives as identified by Trustees: Protecting... with our Vision for London and the recent heritage initiative, Restoring... with our highly acclaimed Waterways in Progress, Speaking Up For… through successful political engagement including an increased influence in Scotland, and Inspiring... through improved communications with members – my early report to members on trustee meetings has been particularly welcomed.

I believe that as IWA approaches its 75th anniversary in 2021, it is just as relevant in ensuring the continuation and improvement of the entire inland waterways system, whether navigable, under restoration or currently derelict. The Association must review and where necessary change its structure and processes in order to continue to be relevant and to meet the changing political and financial scene, which could threaten the achievements of IWA over 75 years. I hope that I can serve a further term as Trustee in order to support this and ensure that IWA grows from strength to strength.

Autumn 2019 025 agm AH.indd 27

Name: Peter Scott Proposer: Chris Howes Let’s use 2020 to improve our campaigning, better engage with our members, and modernise our organisation.

I have been a Trustee since 2009 and I’m best at our navigation campaigns. Each year Elaine and I add at least 1,000 canal miles across almost all the connected system to the 40,000 miles we have navigated since 1970. We need more, and younger, people to enthuse similarly about their own navigation; and the navigation authorities need to focus more on supporting them in completing their journeys, within the time that their work commitments allow. Canal closures and restrictions, however temporary, disrupt and deter those we most need to care about the inland waterways for the future.

As IWA approaches its 75th birthday, many of our members are achieving a similar milestone. While many of us may therefore have declining energies for volunteering, we need to encourage and value a continuing involvement with IWA decisions, and better engage with our members’ accumulated expertise. Let’s concentrate on sharing this with all those new and younger members we need to recruit for our centenary in 2046.

We need to show why it’s worth joining a large and vibrant Association, with relevant help and expertise available to new members: modern media can provide the tools if we can find the enthusiasm. It’s not always easy; my own modest tweets are through @peterjohnscott and contributions to doing it better are always welcome.

It is the Trustees, elected by the members, who are accountable for everything IWA does.

During the last turbulent year we have used a lot of energy in making and unmaking decisions, and recovering from other unnecessary distractions. The Trustees elect a National Chairman each year, and for 2020 we should concentrate on having confidence in discharging the leadership role alongside the necessary competences of guiding us towards decisions, preferably by consensus, and ensuring we all know what we are deciding to do.

It was on my proposal in 2013 that we limited Trustees to 12 years in the job, and this has contributed to us having some new volunteers: it also means that this is the last time that I will be seeking election to the Trustee board, and I invite your support for this old-hand in bringing continuity and continued enthusiasm alongside those with new and different expertise. Thank you.

IWA Waterways |

27

26/07/2019 08:25

ELECTION OF TRUSTEES

2019

Rick Barnes, Ivor Caplan and Peter Scott retire on completion of their current three-year terms as Trustees, meaning there are three vacancies. Nominations have been received for Rick Barnes, John Butler, Ivor Caplan, David Chapman and Peter Scott.

Thus, there are five nominees for three vacancies.

VOTING PROCEDURE Only one vote per member may be placed against each name. You have the right to vote for as many candidates as there are places. THIS YEAR THERE ARE THREE VACANCIES AND ANY BALLOT PAPER WITH MORE THAN THREE VOTES WILL BE INVALID. No ballot paper will be invalid because fewer than three votes have been cast. Ballot papers must have your name and address in legible writing so that it may be checked off against the register of members.

Where there is more than one member’s name on the membership, each named adult is entitled to vote. If voting together, all names must be shown in full on the ballot paper – it will then be counted as that number of votes. A digital version of the ballot paper is also available online at waterways.org.uk/ agm/ballot.

THE INLAND WATERWAYS ASSOCIATON 2019

TRUSTEES ELECTION BALLOT PAPER I/We wish to cast my/our votes as follows: Name Name

Please write in CAPITALS

For joint members wishing to vote separately, you can either: • photocopy this form before completion • or go to the website (waterways.org.uk/agm) and complete the form online or print it out • or call 01494 783453 to have a form posted to you • or email your choices, including your name, address and membership number (if known), to ballot@waterways.org.uk.

NAME OF CANDIDATE

PLACE

X HERE

Rick Barnes John Butler Ivor Caplan Dave Chapman

VOTE BY POST Please complete the ballot paper opposite by placing an X next to the names of the candidates for whom you wish to vote. Ballot papers may be sent by post to: Trustee Ballot, The Inland Waterways Association, Island House, Chesham HP5 1WA.

Membership number (if known)

VOTE BY EMAIL – ballot@waterways.org.uk

Address

Complete the form overleaf, scan and attach it to your email. Alternatively, make clear by writing in your email which three (or fewer) candidates you wish to vote for, and include your name and address (with postcode), and your membership number (if known). If there is more than one adult member at your address please state whether you are both voting together for the same candidates. An email acknowledgement will be sent for ballot papers received by email.

To be valid, any completed ballot paper must arrive by 2pm on Tuesday 24th September 2019.

28

| IWA Waterways

025 agm AH.indd 28

Peter Scott

Postcode RETURN THIS FORM TO: Trustee Ballot, The Inland Waterways Association, Island House, Chesham HP5 1WA, or scan it and email to ballot@waterways.org.uk.

In order to be valid, any completed ballot paper must arrive by 2pm on Tuesday 24th September 2019.

Autumn 2019 23/07/2019 13:19

restoration HUB: Waterways in Progress Grant

F

ollowing the launch of the Waterways in Progress report in March this year, IWA has announced a grant offering organisations up to £100,000 to assist in funding a project or projects which helps promote the report’s vision and values.

In line with this, the key requirement for any organisations applying for the grant is that the project can start to deliver from day one and isn’t reliant on the canal or river being fully restored or navigable. This objective is right at the heart of the Waterways in Progress report, with suggestions including the creation of a waterside community hub, enhancing and celebrating the built and natural heritage of an area or helping give unemployed youngsters the skills and training needed to get jobs.

The successful projects need to deliver on one or more of the four themes that underpin the Waterways in Progress report: • Channelling regeneration This looks at the economic benefits that can be felt by the local area when a well-thought-out restoration brings in tourism and new revenue streams.

• Promoting personal development and well-being This encourages people to get out and about for both physical and mental health benefits, as well as promoting volunteering and learning new skills.

• Creating community spaces This looks at how innovative spaces in which to enjoy the waterways build social cohesion, instil civic pride and engage new audiences.

• Enhancing heritage and habitats This focusses on the environmental assets of a project and the preservation of history and tradition for the benefit of future generations.

The grant will not necessarily fund more navigable miles; it is focused on the wider benefits that a waterways restoration project can bring to an area. The aim is for the successful project to create partnerships, engage communities and inspire stakeholders in order to keep the project moving forwards to its end goal.

Funded through legacies that have been left to the Association, the £100,000 grant will either be given to one applicant, or split across several projects.

There’s no minimum amount that can be applied for but the funding is for new projects that haven’t yet started and have a realistic chance of being completed by the end of 2021.

Applications are now open. The deadline for ‘expression of interest’ submissions is Friday 16th August 2019. There will then be a panel review at the end of August/early September. Shortlisted applications will be asked to produce a Development Phase Plan in October with the grant being awarded in December.

Find out more and download an application form at waterways.org.uk/ restoration_grant.

Mike Gallagher

Excavating the canal and restoring navigation on a 6-mile stretch of the Cotswold Canals at Ebley Mill has brought huge environmental, economic and leisure benefits to the area.

Autumn 2019 029 restoration hub grant AH.indd 29

Hollingwood Hub on the Chesterfield Canal is an excellent example of how a partially restored waterway can serve the local community.

Hollingwood Lock House before works began.

“In the report, we talk about larger restoration schemes being made up of bite-sized chunks that make a big difference right from the start.

These are the projects that we are looking to fund with this Waterways in Progress Grant.

If you have a project that has stalled because of funding issues then this is the grant for you – we want to reinvigorate your project, motivate your volunteers and enthuse the local community. It’s all about taking that next small step to keep moving forward and seeing the benefits from day one.”

Mike Palmer, IWA Trustee and author of Waterways in Progress

Before restoration works at Ebley Mill.

IWA Waterways |

29

23/07/2019 12:54

restoration HUB: WRG Forestry

There's a canal hidden among the trees?

Over time and with lack of use, unrestored canals become extraordinary natural sites where trees and vegetation grow to hide the lines of the waterways and their structures. Tree roots, in many cases, destroy walls and before the canal can be restored this vegetation needs to be removed and sites cleared for a whole new and diverse ecosystem to be created. Sometimes trees obstruct designated paths and plant-access routes or, depending on their condition, falling trees or branches could cause severe injury or damage. The people to call for a project of this kind are Waterway Recovery Group and their specialist forestry team.

WRG Forestry was an idea that came about after volunteers were asked to undertake a tree survey for the Cotswold Canals Trust in 2002. It was a 10-mile section of canal from Eastington to Chalford with somewhere in the region of 300 trees that required complete removal or renovation via pruning, coppicing or pollarding.

The WRG Forestry team consists of qualified chainsaw operators who undertake various felling operations – removing anything from saplings to trees the size of small cars. They also bring their specialist knowledge of tree felling, climbing, aerial first aid and the art of building very large bonfires!

Their work is always undertaken from September through to March to avoid the bird nesting season and to ensure best environmental practice. The group travels around the country supporting restoration groups and other waterway organisations, offering advice for management and felling of trees, with a view to delivering a value for money service. Each year one site is chosen as part of WRG’s Canal Camps programme to bring anywhere between 18 and 22 volunteers to a site to spend a week clearing a massive swathe of vegetation, offering a real boost to any restoration project. What can feel like a daunting clearance project to a restoration group is soon dealt with by the energetic, focused WRG Forestry team.

For the team’s regular meet-ups, between 12 and 25 volunteers turn out depending on the site chosen. Obviously some locations are more popular than others, and there is no way of describing a typical forestry camp.

Nigel Lee, WRG Forestry coordinator.

In 2017, the October half-term saw the WRG Forestry gang sharpening their saws and heading for a week away on the Uttoxeter Canal. The first day on site was a short one to ascertain which trees were to be felled; all permissions had been arranged by Steve Wood on behalf of the Caldon & Uttoxeter Canals Trust.

The main task was to remove trees near the restored Bridge 70 at Crumpwood to open up the canal to public view on either side of the structure.

Several of the trees had been lying across the old canal bed and in places were in a foot or so of water. Clearing the brush and logs was hindered because the company which controlled access to the site via its private road had not unlocked the gate. This meant that everything had to be heaved over the gate and then all dragged along a tarmac road. On the third day, the group split into two; one group continued working near bridge 70. The second group had two ‘away days’ completing tree work on two different sites for the Derby & Sandiacre Canal Trust.

The first site was at Draycott near a line of (what were then) semi-derelict cottages which the trust had recently purchased. One volunteer climbed the trees to cut the main branches, leaving them to drop to the ground to be cleared by the remainder of the team. The main trunks were then felled, leaving a decent pile of timber ready for logging and lots of brush to be burned at a later date by the canal trust members. The second site was in Sandiacre where the Derby Canal joins the Erewash Canal. Here some of the trees were in awkward positions near houses and overhead cables. They were reduced to a main trunk and, by some careful rope work, brought to the ground. All of the timber was removed from site by trailer and taken to Draycott for burning.

For the remaining days of the forestry camp, everybody was back working on the same site on the Uttoxeter Canal.

Bridge 70 following WRG Forestry team’s work to clear vegetation.

Alison Smedley

The team consists of qualified chainsaw operators.

A WRG Forestry specialist camp

30

| IWA Waterways

030 restoration hub WRG AH.indd 30

Autumn 2019 23/07/2019 12:55

A snapshot of WRG Forestry season

Climbing gear is needed to assess and work on larger trees.

Chelmer & Blackwater Navigation, Essex, September 2018 Julie Arnold, WaterwayImages

Things are never quite as easy as they might seem! The task was simple enough: get the team to the pretty Heybridge Basin and reduce a very large willow tree in height. All good so far.

But while you’re at it, make sure you don’t damage any of the hundreds of runners attempting a Sunday morning 10k. This is definitely on the list of things you don’t want to find out when you arrive on site.

Wey & Arun Canal Camp, Sussex, October 2018 The Wey & Arun Canal Trust is committed to maintaining the lengths of canal that it has already restored to a good standard while continuing to work on new sections of canal. As part of this, the trust wanted to clear trees from sections of towpath either side of Brewhurst Lane Bridge on the restored Loxwood Link length of the canal (a length worked on by WRG volunteers in the 1990s and 2000s). Some of the trees presented a potential safety hazard to walkers as they were suffering from ash dieback or were already dead. The Loxwood Link is a showpiece stretch, seen by trip-boat passengers, walkers and other visitors.

Keeping it in good condition boosts support for the canal generally while improving prospects for restoration elsewhere.

WRG Forestry cleared trees, needing to use climbing gear and a workboat for part of the work as well as a Mobile Elevated Work Platform. Afterwards the timber was logged, the smaller branches were chipped and the chippings were then spread.

Julie Arnold, WaterwayImages

WRG Forestry team on the Uttoxeter Canal.

Uttoxeter Canal, Staffordshire, November 2018

WRG Forestry was here to support WRG’s annual Reunion/ Bonfire Bash, helping to clear the canal channel.

Stroudwater Canal, outside Whitminster, Gloucestershire, December 2018 The task was to cut back trees on the offside bank to allow a dredger to get through.

Brush is often burned, and smaller branches chipped.

Chelmer & Blackwater Navigation, Essex, January 2019

Back to Essex to fell some trees that were blocking light to local houses. The occupants had asked Essex Waterways if the trees could be cut down and work boats were used to take the wood away.

Right: Sometimes you need to take a closer look.

Below: The timber from felled trees can be reused by the landowner.

Uttoxeter Canal, Staffordshire, February 2019

The proximity to Alton Towers makes this an interesting site to work on. The screams of joy (or terror) can be disconcerting when you’re working with chainsaws. The team worked along the old railway line following on from work previously done in the area.

Stroudwater Canal, outside Whitminster, Gloucestershire, March 2019 For this weekend the forestry space was shared with Kent & East Sussex Recovery Group (or KESCRG for short). Together the teams reduced some huge willow trees in height and then felled them to clear the channel of the canal. It was another opportunity to get the MEWP out!

Autumn 2019 030 restoration hub WRG AH.indd 31

IWA Waterways |

31

23/07/2019 12:55

restoration HUB: WRG Forestry – Tree Surveys

W

RG Forestry spends its time cutting trees down, but for canal restorers it’s also important to know the condition of the trees that are still standing. IWA’s Restoration Hub can provide tree surveys for waterways organisations.

The law makes it imperative that we look after our trees Ultimately, the landowner is responsible for any health and safety issues arising from trees located within their boundary. By monitoring the trees on site, restoration groups can minimise future risk and eliminate hazards.

If a person is injured by a falling/fallen tree or branch, potential courses of action arise against the tree owner in negligence for a breach of duty of care, in the tort of nuisance and, where the injured person was on the land of the tree owner at the time of the injury, under the Occupiers’ Liability Acts of 1957 or 1984 (OLA 1957, OLA 1984). Some regulations under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 may also give rise to liability under civil law as well as under criminal law.

What our team looks for when assessing a tree A number of features can help indicate the overall health and risk a tree poses to people and buildings.

Step by step methodology: • Starting from a distance, inspect the whole tree, checking the crown for gaps in the canopy (summer only), colour of the leaves, lean of the tree (over the canal or near a picnic area?) and overall vigour.

• Moving closer, have a more detailed investigation into the canopy and check for the presence of deadwood, hanging or broken branches. Keep an eye out for cracks, splits and clearly damaged branches, where the wind can take it off or it can simply rot away.

• Moving down the tree, look for abnormal features such as swellings, bark damage, fungus, splits, cracks and hollows.

• Note the presence of ivy and the extent of the spread. Ivy can make it difficult to fully inspect a tree for defects and hazards, as well as increase the potential for wind damage.

• Are there any signs of fungi or decay within the main trunk, at the base of the tree or surrounding the tree’s base?

• Looking at the ground, are there any obvious signs that there may be damage to the roots, such as digging and track marks? Are any of the roots exposed?

• Finally look at the soil surrounding the tree: are there any noticeable cracks in the ground or uplifting of a towpath/concrete structure?

32

| IWA Waterways

030 restoration hub WRG AH.indd 32

Identifying hazardous trees and poor tree health Crown: Dieback occurs often as a result of poor tree health across the tree, i.e. disease, root damage. Typical signs include sparse leaf cover, small foliage and dead wood. Other crown hazards can include cracks, hung up/dead/broken branches. Also, when inspecting the crown architecture it is important to look out for an unbalanced crown, excessively heavy or long isolated branches or for signs of poor pruning works.

Fungal fruit bodies: These can occur throughout much of the tree. Generally, fungus uses enzymes to break down the woody material as a source of nutrients.

This can cause decay and poor tree health. The more frequent the fungi, the higher the risk to tree health.

Certain species will have greater impact than others but can be difficult to identify: take photos and send them to your local biological records centre to have them correctly identified.

Exposed/damaged roots: Site disturbance from the likes of excavations, plant usage and contaminated or poor soil conditions can disrupt the ability of the roots to stabilise/anchor the tree and support its key processes of gaining nutrients and healthy growth. This can lead to poor tree health and increase the likelihood of the tree presenting a risk.

Exposed tree roots.

Loose bark is a sign of decay or damage.

Autumn 2019 23/07/2019 12:55

restoration hub

Structural weaknesses show where trees have been previously damanged or managed.

Basal cavity: Between the buttresses, cavities at the base of the tree lead to structural weaknesses and decay.

These can vary in size.

Basal cavity.

Cracks in the soil can indicate that a tree is unstable.

Loose bark: Loose bark is a sign of inner decay or damage to the tree from wildlife or human activities.

Cracks in soil/ground uplift: These could indicate that the tree may be becoming unstable and should lead to an inspection around the whole base.

Crown dieback.

Fungal fruit bodies.

Structural weaknesses: Pollards, pruning wounds and tree forks are areas of the tree which have undergone abrupt diameter changes in the stem with regrowth forming at these points. Decay is possible at the base and the regrowth is often structurally less integral.

Cankers, swelling, break out cavities or bends occur where a tree has been damaged or managed. Decay can enter the tree through the wounds and structural weakness is possible, particularly if considerable weight is applied above these.

Once the tree has been inspected it is classified as: Good: Healthy, full crown, long life expectancy, no obvious signs of failure.

Fair: Generally healthy, some thinning of the crown, some defects of low significance.

Poor: Lacking vigour, short life expectancy, poor leaf cover, major defects.

Dangerous/Dead: Urgent removal required depending on the tree’s location.

The priority of the works, if any, can then be ascertained.

More details about WRG Forestry can be found at waterways.org.uk/wrg. For advice or information about carrying out tree inspections, restoration groups should contact IWA’s Restoration Hub by emailing alex.melson@waterways.org.uk or calling 01494 783 453 ext 604.

Autumn 2019 030 restoration hub WRG AH.indd 33

IWA Waterways |

33

23/07/2019 12:56

HERITAGE

HEROES Meet the IWA team making sure our network’s illustrious history gets a helping hand...

W

hether you walk, boat, bike or run by them, spend any time around our inland waterways and it’s impossible to ignore the living history at your fingertips.

From towering aqueducts to 200-year-old mileposts, gruelling lock flights to gloomy tunnels, they all have a story to tell about the way our canals came about and how they’ve continued to be used throughout the centuries.

IWA is keen to see these links to our past preserved for generations to come. Its Heritage Advisory Panel operates in parallel with Restoration High Level Panel and Planning Advisory Panel, to provide advice on heritage matters and advance their cause. Its core members meet regularly to discuss ongoing concerns, and report annually on their activities to trustees. They will also submit papers on specific issues if and when high-level involvement is deemed necessary.

34

| IWA Waterways

034 waterways heritage AH-1.indd 34

Get in touch Information and requests for HAP assistance can be communicated through head office (iwa@waterways.org.uk) for general queries, through Alison Smedley (alison.smedley@waterways.org. uk) for navigation-related matters, and via Jenny Morris (jenny. morris@waterways.org.uk) for restoration-related topics.

Aims The six core aims of the group can be summed up as follows: 1. To encourage a greater understanding of the overall significance of waterways heritage and to suggest additional research required on the subject under IWA’s Value of Waterways research programme.

2. To support trustees in making a case for the importance of waterways heritage at the highest levels in government, navigation authorities and other agencies.

3. To provide advice on specific heritage issues related to navigable and under-restoration waterways, liaising respectively with IWA’s Navigation Committee and Restoration Hub. 4. To encourage IWA branches to identify heritage buildings, structures and artefacts which are at risk of being lost or seriously derogated and to assist with registering these as part of IWA’s Gap Analysis Project.

5. To work with the Planning Advisory Panel to facilitate better protection of heritage through the planning system, including greater coverage of inland waterways under conservation area designation.

6. To represent IWA in liaison with other organisations concerned with heritage such as Heritage Alliance.

Autumn 2019 24/07/2019 12:00

Waterways Heritage

Historic boats and wartime remnants, like this pillbox on the Bridgwater & Taunton, are just as important a part of waterways heritage as towering aqueducts and other canal infrastructure.

Then and now: Gas Street Basin in the mid-1950s – and the Old Wharf photographed again in early 2019, with the tall cranes suggesting that even more high-rise developments will soon overlook the basin. Protecting heritage through the planning system is an IWA aim.

Who's who?

Peter Brown is a canal historian who has written extensively for waterways magazines and is author of The Shropshire Union Canal. A boater since 1980, he is a former chairman of the IWA Shrewsbury & North Wales Branch and was editor of the Journal of the Railway & Canal Historical Society. He is currently a member of CRT’s council and its Heritage Advisory Group, and is an adviser to the Pontcysyllte World Heritage Site.

Dundas Aqueduct, designed by John Rennie and chief engineer John Thomas between 1797 and 1801, and completed in 1805.

In practical terms, this broad remit translates to a slew of varied and far-reaching projects. A priority is the publication of a report examining the quantitative value of waterways heritage, including the economic boost from tourism.

Also on the agenda is the launch of a Heritage At Risk tracker for IWA members and supporters to log specific waterways heritage assets. There will be opportunities to record assets that have already been lost (as well as the success stories), plus ones that are currently causing concern.

End goal Once the value of waterways heritage is understood and proven, IWA will work to ensure it is protected as part of the Local Plan in councils across the UK and in all future development plans from both navigation authorities and private landowners. This will be done nationally and on a local level through IWA branches.

Autumn 2019 034 waterways heritage AH-1.indd 35

John Yates has a lifetime’s experience of heritage conservation and the guidance of change. He was an English Heritage/Historic England Inspector of Historic Buildings for nearly 40 years. A past chair of the Institute of Historic Building Conservation, he was a visiting lecturer on conservation courses, and has made numerous media and specialist journal contributions. Industrial heritage has been a lifelong passion, starting in the 1970s at the mighty Kew Bridge Engines and continuing now through his historic narrowboat Buckden.

He is a member of CRT’s council, its Heritage Advisory Group, West Midlands Regional Advisory Board, Montgomery Canal Partnership, and is also a trustee and honorary secretary of Ironbridge Heritage Foundation.

Nigel Crowe (see overleaf) began his career in heritage in the 1980s, working in the listing branch of English Heritage.

Between 1988 and 2018 he was the architectural heritage officer for British Waterways Board and then head of heritage for British Waterways and CRT, where he led a team of regional heritage advisers in England and Wales. He has over 35 years’ experience of working in conservation, management and interpretation of historic buildings and archaeological sites. Nigel has written widely on heritage matters and is a member of IHBC’s editorial board. He is the author of The English Heritage Book of Canals (1995).

Derek Humphries has been a member of South Oxon Archaeological Group and undertaken practical fieldwork.

For a number of years he has been compiling his own online distribution mapping of historic themes, the information for which is gleaned directly from internet sources which will be useful for regional heritage projects. Recently he has been an area inspector volunteer for the Churches Conservation Trust. In October 2018 Derek joined IWA and found himself speedily promoted to the South London Committee, then the position of London Region Heritage Officer and now Heritage Advisory Panel.

IWA Waterways |

35

24/07/2019 12:00

FIVE MINUTES WITH…

NIGEL CROWE CRT’s former head of heritage (and now an IWA Heritage Advisory Panel member) explains the challenges waterways custodians face preserving historic infrastructure, and reflects on his favourite heritage places What do we mean by waterways 'heritage'?

It incorporates a broad range of things; firstly the infrastructure you see on and around the canals, whether that be great aqueducts or humble mileposts.

Secondly the engineering fabric – the cuttings and towpaths and reservoirs.

And then there’s the cultural heritage – the historic boats, archives and portable artefacts we see in waterways museums, and the stories that have been passed down from people who lived and worked on the canals. None of these should be overlooked. On top of that there are also wartime remains, which are equally a part of waterways history. Not just pillboxes, but things like the demolition chambers within the arch of a bridge on the Bridgwater & Taunton Canal, for example, which tell us something about the history of that waterway.

Why is it so important they get preserved?

They’re not just part of the history of our waterways, but are often delightful things in their own right. People like to see them, ponder them. To have them removed would diminish the value and experience of our canals.

What sort of legal protections can you draw on to help preserve our heritage?

Some things fall under the usual suspects like listed buildings and scheduled ancient monuments. However, less conspicuous items are more vulnerable, including to theft. I remember one incident on the Kennet & Avon where a boundary marker was taken and later found on eBay by one of our heritage advisers! You can get Conservation Area status, which offers some blanket protection and will at least flag up the character of an area, and the broad features making up its history, and that can work quite well. But there aren’t many other things that will ensure lasting protection, apart from good management.

Recent new railings on Marple Aqueduct offer a good example of the challenges our heritage faces to comply with 21st-century health and safety standards.

36

| IWA Waterways

034 waterways heritage AH-1.indd 36

Is there much support from heritage organisations that aren't directly linked to the waterways?

Historic England (formerly English Heritage) is a great help and has given a lot of support to Canal & River Trust’s bid to obtain a Listed Building Consent Order. It’s a new piece of legislation that, when finalised, will grant consent for certain specified works of alteration or extension to listed buildings owned, controlled or managed by the Trust (largely locks and bridges). The intention is to reduce the unnecessary burden on the Trust of having to make separate applications for this type of work. It will be groundbreaking as no one else in the country has one of these at a national level. Unfortunately, it’s being held up at the moment by all the other things going on in Parliament.

It's fair to say our canals are being used more today than at the height of the Industrial Revolution, and in ways that their original engineers could never have envisaged. What challenges does this pose?

Certain canals are definitely experiencing more boat traffic and visitors now than in their industrial heyday, and that raises a lot of issues, particularly to do with health and safety. Obviously we want everyone to be as safe as possible, so there are cases where heritage has to be adapted to make allowances for this. A recent example is putting rails on Marple Aqueduct. That’s a scheduled monument, Grade I-listed, so the railings had to be specially designed and approved before being installed so as not to harm the history of the aqueduct. I think they made a really good job of it.

Another contemporary challenge is development.

There's an argument that mediocre modern surroundings can harm heritage structures Autumn 2019 24/07/2019 12:51

Waterways Heritage

almost as much as neglect.

How important is it that waterways organisations intervene to ensure adjacent land use and development don't conflict with the historic environment of the waterways?

I think waterways groups like IWA and CRT have to be as vigilant as possible. Some of the development in the past has been awful. It’s improved a lot in recent years, and of course the Trust has statutory consultee status so does get a chance to look at proposals and comment in the planning stage. Some of it is obviously very subjective, so the discussions can be quite fraught! In the last decade or so, though, there have been some really good waterside developments, including Aldcliffe Yard on the Lancaster Canal. It sits within a conservation area and was a former British Waterways office and yard, with two Grade II-listed buildings. The development has seen the sympathetic refurbishment of these buildings, plus the construction of 14 family homes in-between. The houses face the canal and this works very well. What you don’t want are residential developments that turn their backs on the water, so all you see is the perimeter fence.

The engineering behind the Shropshire Union Canal (evidenced here in Grub Street cutting north of Norbury) and Dundas Aqueduct (pictured on page 34) are among Nigel’s heritage highlights.

Are you encouraged by the way heritage is being managed by navigation authorities?

Yes. I joined BWB in May 1988 as an architectural heritage officer, before becoming head of heritage in 2004/5. I continued in that role until last year. During that time there’s been steady improvement across the whole heritage field. In terms of the human resources, especially. To begin with there was just me covering the entire network! It was pretty bonkers, but I certainly got to see a lot of canals! Gradually we’ve built up a good team of heritage advisers at CRT. The proof of what we’ve achieved was the ministers of state agreeing for the Trust to have the Listed Building Consent Order. That’s a real seal of approval when it comes along and would have been impossible 20 years ago.

Playing devil's advocate, do heritage concerns ever get in the way of maintaining our waterways? For example, would it slow down emergency repairs after a breach or suchlike?

We may have been levelled with that criticism in the past, but I think that was largely because there was less awareness of the value of waterways heritage than there is today. People seem to have got the message and now realise that we’re dealing with a historic environment. As a result, they make allowances for the extra time, assessments and compliance issues that might be involved. When we get the Consent Order through, that will also speed things up considerably.

Autumn 2019 034 waterways heritage AH-1.indd 37

What can boaters do to take better care of our heritage when they're out and about on the canals?

I have a lot of time for boaters, and most are incredibly respectful, but occasionally you do see damage when people ram lock gates at speed, for example, or knock stonework on bridge arches. Sometimes it can’t be helped, admittedly. And actually most damage these days is caused by motor vehicles, not boats. Canal bridges were designed for horse and cart, not 30-tonne articulated lorries going over them. It’s a nightmare. A lot of the time it’s difficult to track down the perpetrators of a crash, so it’s impossible to make an insurance claim.

“Most damage these days is caused by motor vehicles, not boats” Finally, do you have a favourite heritage structure on the waterways?

Oh yes, lots! But my absolute favourite is probably Dundas Aqueduct on the Kennet & Avon. We repaired that around the turn of the last century and it was a wonderful job. It’s a triumphal arch – the entrance to the classical city of Bath. After the restoration and removal of unsightly gritwork for lovely Bath stone it looks superb. And for the sheer majesty of engineering I would add the Shropshire Union Canal. Those enormous cuttings are remarkable, the bridges…

IWA Waterways |

37

24/07/2019 12:00

IWA christmas cards & gifts

Printed by Judge Samp

£7.99

FREE POSTAGE (This item only)

£5.50 2020

FREE POSTAGE (This item October only) Thu 1

Sat

17

Fri

2

Sun 18

Sat

3

Mon 19

Sun 4

Tue 20

Mon 5

Wed 21

Tue 6

Thu 22

Wed 7

Fri

23

Thu 8

Sat

24

Fri

9

Sun 25

Sat

10

Mon 26

Sun 11

Tue 27

Mon 12

Wed 28

Tue 13

Thu 29

Wed 14

Fri

30

Thu 15

Sat

31

Fri

Daylight Saving Time ends

16

2020 Calendar

Printed by Judge Samp

2020 IWA A4 Calendar (Landscape) Code x038 (297mm x 210mm. Opens to 297mm x 420mm at full length) One month to view with space for daily notes.

Illustrated with a full page waterway scene.

January 2020

Paddington Arm of the Grand Union Canal by Colin Harris

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

30

31

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

New Year’s Day

Bank Holiday (Scotland)

Waterway Worcester & Birmingham Canal

Photographer Nigel Essery

2020 Calendar Waterway Chelmer & Blackwater Navigation

C d

Photographer Mark Caldon

2020 IWA Calendar (Portrait) - Code x035 (172mm x 320mm)

P

One month to view with space for daily notes.

Illustrated with a waterway scene in a detachable postcard format.

(6 F

P

(4 F

P Calendar Envelope (Separate) Code x036

£0.30

Burgee £18.99 (480mm x 240mm with toggle and tie line) Dress your boat with an IWA burgee.

Blue - FLA01 Red- FLA02 Green - FLA03

(2 F

Ch

Up

(Ori

IWA Cap £9.99 (100% cotton drill Rip-Strip TM size adjuster) Navy - Code iwa45 Red - Code iwa46 Royal blue - Code iwa47 Green - Code iwa48

Ou

(Ori

38

Autumn 2019 buy now at iwashop.com / 01494 783 453

| IWA waterways

p038-039_iwa.indd 38

23/07/2019 11:56

s

new design

new design

£3.60

per pack Christmas Cards (Printed on high quality card.

Supplied in packs of ten per design.)

Whitchurch Arm of the Llangollen Canal (Original painting by Ann Farell) Code x126 Printed by Judge Sampson of Hastings (01424) 420919

Printed by Judge Sampson of Hastings (01424) 420919

Chirk Aqueduct on the Llangollen Canal (Original painting by Dave Gardham) Code x127 back by popular demand

new design

Message inside: “With Best Wishes for Christmas and the New Year”

Bridge No. 7 on a Wintry Caldon Canal (Photographed by Rosalind Kirk) Code x128 Printed by Judge Sampson of Hastings (01424) 420919

Printed by Judge Sampson of Hastings (01424) 420919

Christmas Card Bargain Packs (All packs consist of a mixture of designs from previous years. Envelopes included.)

Pack A Code x025

£14.95

Pack B Code x026

£9.95

Pack C Code x027

£6.50

Hoar Frost (Original painting by Alan Firth) Code x013 back by popular demand

(60 Christmas Cards Five cards each of twelve designs) (40 Christmas Cards Five cards each of eight designs) (25 Christmas Cards Five cards each of five designs)

Printed by Judge Sampson of Hastings (01424) 420919

Designs may vary from those illustrated.

Kidderminster Church (Original painting by Dave Gardham) Code x112

Christmas Favourites £3.25

£3.25

£3.25

Code x123 Uppermill Huddersfield

Code x125 Braunston Boatyard

Code x121 Shropshire Union Canal

£3.25

£3.25

£3.25

(Original painting by Alan Firth)

Out of the Mists

Code x124

(Original painting by Alan Firth)

(Original painting by Alan Firth)

Code x114 Whiteley Green, Macclesfield (Photographed by Andy Hilliker)

(Original painting by Ann Farell)

Code x122 Kings Bromley Marina

Lots mo re designs availab le.

See: iwash op. com Postage is free on specified items, however when they are purchased with non-specified items UK postage costs £3.25.

Free postage when you spend over £20. Different postage costs apply for Europe and Overseas.

See website for details.

(Original painting by Dave Gardham)

waterways | 39 FREE POSTAGE WHEN YOU SPEND £20 ORIWAMORE

Autumn 2019 p038-039_iwa.indd 39

23/07/2019 11:57

A BOG

STANDARD? As part of IWA’s campaign for better boaters’ facilities, we promoted Kate Saffin’s Great Big Boating Bog Survey earlier this year.

Here she reports on its findings

T

he Great Big Boating Bog Survey was a comprehensive questionnaire on toilets presented to boaters. It had six different routes through it (cassette, compost, incinerating, pump-out and two for those planning to start boating in the future), and received 1,700 responses. It was also unique in that it was entirely independent from any navigation authority, boating organisation and toilet manufacturer or supplier.

Background The starting point for the survey came from my interest in composting toilets.

I first researched and started composting in January 2014 when I was leaving a short-term mooring in London and would be exploring the capital’s waterways.

I found that all the reported horrors of life on a boat in London – being mugged, burgled or relieved of my bike – held far less terror than how on earth I was going to manage emptying the Porta Potti! Spare tanks could only be bought as part of a complete toilet, which seemed a terrible waste of money, so I started researching composting systems. My bedtime reading for several weeks was The Humanure Handbook by Joseph Jenkins – there were none of the online resources there are now.

Five years on and waterless toilets have started to become almost mainstream. I thought it would be useful to do a survey on composting to establish a better picture of who was doing what, where and how. Canal & River Trust had carried out two such surveys, both of which I felt had methodological flaws. The results, which it has been kind enough to share with me, include many comments along the lines of ‘you didn’t include…’ and ‘I couldn’t answer this because…’

Cassette toilets are popular options for people considering changing their toilet or fitting out a new boat.

40

| IWA Waterways

040 toilet survey AH.indd 40

More than half of the survey’s respondents have a portable or cassette-style toilet.

I started to frame the survey and then realised that this would be an opportunity to gain a wider picture. After all, composting wasn’t the only type of new bog on boats – a lot was being written about incinerating loos. Having a good overview of the split between pump-out and portable chemical systems could also be useful as boaters are forever asking for more and better facilities. Finally, by including all users I could assess attitudes to the various available options.

Careful questioning The survey ran over January and February of this year and achieved 1,700 responses, of which 1,525 could be included in the analysis (if they didn’t answer ‘what sort of toilet do you currently have?’ they were excluded as that was the whole point of the survey).

The survey was designed and run using Survey Monkey. This allowed me to develop a large-scale questionnaire with a number of different routes through that could handle several thousand replies.

It was also affordable (I funded the project myself).

However, it meant that participants would be self-selected and an online survey would always be favourable to those are confident and active with online engagement – thus there is bias. No statistical wizardry can claim that a certain group of boaters are more likely to like cassettes, or that all who compost are in a specific age group based on the results – they can only show the opinions and preferences of those who participated, not the wider boating community as a whole.

I also knew that my interest and involvement in the composting toilets for boats groups would introduce an element of bias. I did my best to counter this by recruiting a panel of testers to provide ruthless feedback, undertaking three rounds of testing and promoting the survey via routes such as CRT’s Boaters’ Update and the IWA Bulletin as well as social media, to reach as wide an audience as possible.

Autumn 2019 23/07/2019 13:22

The Great Big Boating Bog Survey

Readable results

Delving into the data

This isn’t a scientific report so I have tried to keep it readable, limit detailed numbers and percentages, and just give a sense of the findings without drowning anybody in statistics. I’ve focussed on providing an overview of current options, satisfaction and trends, including the choices newer boaters are making and attitudes to different types of toilets.

For the purpose of this article, I had to decide how to refer to compost/waterless/diverting toilets.

This is because, in reality, there is no such thing as a composting loo. Just like with cassettes and pumpouts, there’s a container to collect the waste which is then processed elsewhere. It’s a system, not just a toilet. However, as compost and composting have become common terms, that’s what I’ve settled on here. One day I’ll convert the boating world to talking about dry or waterless toilets, which will hopefully get rid of the idea that a compost toilet performs some kind of magic – use it and compost will appear with just a sprinkle of sawdust!

The picture of boating that this survey creates is based on those who are familiar with the internet and have the will to complete online surveys. There is broad range of age, with perhaps slightly more responding in the 46-64 range (52%) which probably reflects those comfortable with online activity rather than the real spread. The majority were boat-owners, with a good mix in terms of length of time boating, areas visited in the last year (East and West Midlands seemed to be the most popular), and with or without a mooring.

Nearly half (47%) have a cassette or portable system of some kind, 35% a pump-out, and 16% a compost toilet. Eight (0.5%) said they had an incinerating toilet; however, on closer examination I discovered that one of these actually had a compost loo but burns the contents once dry.

What sort of toilet system do you currently have on your boat?

I don’t have any kind of toilet on my boat

Pumpout

Cassette or Porta Potti, i.e. with a portable tank to empty Incinerating

Composting/waterless

Most are satisfied with their current loo (between 78% and 94% saying they were ‘very satisfied’ or ‘satisfied’); however, those with a compost system appear more likely to be ‘very satisfied’. [Note: excludes incinerating toilets as there were fewer than six responses.]

The proportion who are 'very satisfied' with their current toilet 100 75

Incinerating toilets are expensive to install and run.

Above: Compost toilets are also known as waterless or diverter toilets. below: There appears to be declining interest in pump-out toilets.

50 25 0

All

Cassette

Compost

Pump-out

About a fifth of cassette and pump-out users are planning to change their toilet when they can. Very few of the compost group want to change but that is to be expected given that it is a relatively new type of system so most respondents will have made a positive choice to have one, rather than inheriting someone else’s installation. Most (84%) aren’t planning to replace their toilet in the near future. Of those who were, a quarter would choose ‘like for like’ and three-quarters a different system.

Autumn 2019 040 toilet survey AH.indd 41

IWA Waterways |

41

23/07/2019 12:58

The Great Big Boating Bog Survey

Taking it a little wider, I asked: If you are, or were, to consider changing your toilet, or were building a new boat, how would you rate the following options?

Toilet Rating Chart Cassette/ Porta Potti Composting Pump-out (macerator) Pump-out (vacuflush) Pump-out (drop-through) Incinerating

0

25

50

75

100

Cassette and compost led the field. There are differences between groups, as you would expect: cassette users aren’t keen on pump-outs and vice versa. The compost group are firmly in favour of what they have (98%); cassette users were mostly in favour of what they have (80%) but with 30% keen to consider compost, and very few interested in pump-out or incinerating. The pump-out group aren’t keen on cassette but a quarter would ‘definitely consider’ a compost toilet. Interestingly only half or fewer would definitely consider another pump-out, and those that did favoured a macerator over vacuflush or drop-through.

In the ‘definitely wouldn’t consider’ category, drop-through pump-outs led with just over half of respondents in any group ranking them the least desirable option. Incinerating toilets aren’t far behind with just under half saying they ‘definitely wouldn’t consider’ one. There are concerns about the cost of installation and running, the power demand, whether they are safe (likely to cause a fire), and the environmental impacts. Around 10% of those who commented had never heard of them but a handful (3%) would be interested to know more.

About a third of both cassette and pump-out users wouldn’t touch a compost toilet. Their concerns span from the size and cost of toilets, the space and time needed to fully compost waste, and beliefs that the toilet will smell and need a fan running all the time.

Pump-out toilets are seen as the least desirable option for new boats.

42

| IWA Waterways

040 toilet survey AH.indd 42

Older compost toilets can be bulky and take up space.

The numbers of respondents who are planning to boat are small (25) but they give an interesting glimpse into what future boaters might be wanting. For those planning to buy a boat in the next six months, a cassette or composting would be their ideal, while for those looking further ahead incinerating was in the lead.

Findings There is still work to do on the analysis of the data (there are 3,100 comments alone on why users would or wouldn’t consider each type of loo and 3,200 on the subject of facilities) but so far, the findings suggest that there is: • Increasing interest in compost toilets and composting, although there are concerns from both supporters and detractors about facilities to support fully composting • Possibly declining interest in pump-outs, especially drop-through models. Those who want a pump-out want a high-end installation such as a macerator • A very small proportion of incinerating boat loos, and these type of toilets currently attract considerable hostility. Interest is likely to grow and they will appeal to those who want a very high-end system and have the power to support it.

Finally, a very big thank you to those who contributed.

Autumn 2019 23/07/2019 12:59

AB Tuckey & MJT Crane Hire Ltd One call and your bespoke boat movement can be arranged

With over 40 years experience we are here to help

01926 812134

The Inland Waterways Heritage Magazine

Keeping the rich history and heritage of the waterways alive

Why subscribe?

Included in your subscription package… ✓ Each essential issue delivered direct to your door every quarter ✓ Full subscriber-only access to our new searchable online archive of over 400 articles and 6,000 images ✓ 10% or more off all Waterways World books ✓ Free postage + packaging on all purchases (UK only) ✓ Every issue of NarrowBoat ever published available at the click of a button – wherever you are

Visit: narrowboatmagazine.com or call 01283 Autumn 2019 p043_iwa.indd 43

742970

Subscribe for just

£27.96 a year (UK only)

IWA waterways |

43

23/07/2019 15:45

SIMON MARLOW

NEW ANGLES

Angling on the K&A. It’s easy to adapt your technique to fishing from a moored boat.

S

Andy Wedgbury, IWA’s Navigation Committee angling rep, explores the history of fishing and how to take up the relaxing hobby on our inland waterways

ince at least the 15th century, angling has been a popular pastime in the UK. It is not surprising, considering the array of different environments and fish species for the angler to test his or her skills against on our inland waterways.

For many years, it was thought that England was the birthplace of angling but more recent research seems to suggest that it developed from subsistence fishing independently in several different locations throughout Europe in or around the 13th century.

It might have remained an oddity sport practised by a few wealthy individuals if it was not for the construction of the canal system across the UK during the Industrial Revolution. Pioneering manufacturers used the waterways network for transport, while fish began to colonise our newly constructed canals.

These polluted waters were arguably not ideal for our finned friends, but were ripe for creating a new British obsession: coarse fishing.

The Industrial Revolution brought with it crowds of people. For the first time, the centres of productivity moved from the rural environment into the growing cities. Factories needed hands and the increasing need for labour brought people to where they could, relatively easily, find work. With them, they brought their traditional country pursuits, which, like bull baiting, dog fighting, heavy drinking and the ensuing drunken brawls, could be violent. Large numbers of people focused in relatively small areas amplified the problem and concern grew among wealthy factory owners about their employees’ recreational activities of choice. The rapidly growing canal system presented a solution.

44

| IWA Waterways

044 angling AH.indd 44

Coarse fishing Men (women were excluded) were encouraged to fish in the canals, not for food, but for leisure. The polluted nature of canals meant that fish that could cope with lower oxygen concentrations thrived and, for the first time, a division occurred between species. ‘Coarse fish’, which, on the whole, belong to the same family as carp, survive in polluted waters, while trout and ‘game’ fish require much cleaner environments. It’s an interesting footnote of social history that the class divide between coarse and game anglers first occurred as the wealthy could afford to travel to fresher waters. Today, of course, that divide has largely dissolved and fishing of all types has become more open and accessible to all.

The canal system is no longer the centre of industrial transport that it once was and instead the network has taken on a second life as a place for recreation. People flock to the canals, not for transport of goods but to cycle, walk, enjoy holidays and, of course, to fish! It’s difficult to imagine the motorways, which are vital to the transport of goods today, having a similar second life when they eventually, and perhaps inevitably, fall out of use.

You must obtain permission from the landowner to fish on the inland waterways.

Autumn 2019 23/07/2019 13:00

Angling

Jan Warsop

Fishing from the well deck on the Chesterfield Canal.

Angling for leisure has been a popular activity since the Industrial Revolution.

Laws and licences I have spent the best part of my life angling and studying the sport as an amateur and now as a fully funded PhD candidate with the University of Worcester. My interests stretch beyond the fish themselves, to the people who catch them.

This wide-ranging leisure activity can include dedicated, regular anglers, those who only fish occasionally, and people who have become interested in angling through their passion for canals and boating.

Angling is an inclusive hobby that is easy to pick up but there are a few legal requirements to be aware of before you catch your first fish. Firstly, and most importantly, everyone fishing in freshwater in England and Wales needs an Environment Agency fishing licence. Traditionally called a rod licence, it allows you to use a rod and line but does not give you permission to fish in any waters.

All water in the UK belongs to someone and you need to obtain consent from the owner of the fishing rights in order to angle there. What does this mean in practice? Organisations like Canal & River Trust lease the fishing rights to much of its network to private fishing clubs; these clubs usually, but not always, offer day tickets to visiting anglers. Water keepers may walk the towpath looking for people who are fishing and collect day ticket fees – don’t assume this is the case, though. If you’re unsure, contact the club in advance to find out. Some clubs are less active in enforcing their rights, or don’t sell day tickets. You may need to research who owns the fishing rights to the stretch of canal where you intend to fish before heading out.

Angling from a boat It’s important to remember that even if you are angling from your boat, you still need a licence. Also, it should be noted that fishing should not take place from a boat in a ‘no fishing’ area. Furthermore, fishing must not take place from a moving craft on the canal network, so you must moor up before you start angling.

You might already be a keen angler, in which case it is easy to adapt your methods so you can fish from your boat. As you will be moored, a short rod would probably be most useful. Fish love to shelter beneath boats so if you have been moored for more than half a day, right under your boat is going to be the perfect place to start. Just drop your bait over the edge and expect to catch an array of fish from carp to zander and everything in between (depending on the Autumn 2019 044 angling AH.indd 45

bait and method you are using, of course).

What if you don’t know how to fish? Angling is simple, but it can be helpful to have a few pointers before you get started. There are some useful resources online, including information about angling law, and many clubs will offer taster sessions. Then it’s just a matter of getting out there and catching some fish.

Despite its long history, fishing has undeniably been in decline for the past decade. We need more people to take up our fine hobby so, by having a go, you will be helping to maintain an important part of British culture.

Useful links IWA angling briefing notes: waterways.org.uk/waterways/activities/angling Angling Trust: anglingtrust.net Canal & River Trust: canalrivertrust.org.uk/enjoy-the-waterways/fishing Environment Agency fishing licence: gov.uk/fishing-licences

IWA Waterways |

45

23/07/2019 13:00

To advertise here please contact Laura Smith

☎ 01283 742956 l.smith@wwonline.co.uk

Contact: Laura Smith, IWA Waterways, 151 Station Street, Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire DE14 1BG | Next issue deadline: 18th October 2019

BOATS FOR hirE

INSURANCE

FOR THE WIDEST CHOICE of canal holidays visit www.abcboathire.com. You can choose from 14 different start locations and more than 200 boats. We operate Viking Afloat, Alvechurch Waterways Holidays, Red Line Boats and Wessex Narrowboats. So go online today or call 0330 3330590 (local rate) for a brochure.

BASIC BOAT

mail forwarding

LIABILITY COMPANY

UK’S NUMBER 1 MARKET LEADER IN BOAT LIABILITY INSURANCE

Third Party Liability

boatmail.co.uk

No Excess

£5M Level of Indemnity

The boaters mail forwarding company.

Unique ‘Pay as you Go’ service.

Upto £50k for Wreck Removal

03333 219 430

BOAT PAINTING BOAT PAINTING SPECIALISTS GRITBLASTING OPTIONS AVAILABLE

www.basic-boat.com

PA727BB01

THIS COMPANY IS PART OF HOWE MAXTED GROUP WHO ARE AUTHORISED AND REGULATED BY THE FINANCIAL CONDUCT AUTHORITY

07984 215873 • info@boatmail.co.uk

LEGAL

Est 1964

07866 022686

info@canaltransportservices.co.uk www.canaltransportservices.co.uk

Visit the Inland Waterways Association Bookshop for some great gift ideas including canal guides and practical books.

WILLS, LASTING POWERS OF ATTORNEY, PROBATE ADVICE AND ESTATE ADMINISTRATION

DISCOUNT 10%10% DISCOUNT FORFOR IWABOATERS BOATERS

Single Wills from £150 Mirror Wills from £282 Lasting Powers of Attorney £595 inclusive We can arrange to meet or you can visit our canalside office: Bridge 33D on Trent & Mersey.

Personal consultation and attended attestation.

DIGITAL AND TRADITIONAL DOCUMENT STORAGE, PROTECTIVE TRUSTS, PREPAID FUNERAL PLANS

T: 01283 320992 E: wills@allwillsandtrusts.co.uk RUN BY BOATERS FOR BOATERS

PAINT

SERVICES

Call 01494 783453 or visit www.iwashop.com

iwa classified advertising Lineage adverts cost £1.38 per word (inc. VAT), minimum 12 words.

Box adverts start from as little as £33 per issue (plus VAT)*.

A copy of our terms and conditions is available on request. (*4 series booking)

46

| IWA waterways

IWA Classies Autumn19.indd 46

REACH THE IWA'S MEMBERSHIP Effective, affordable advertising. To advertise in this section call Laura Smith on 01283 742956 or email: l.smith@wwonline.co.uk PLEASE MENTION IWA WATERWAYS when responding to advertisements Lineage adverts cost £1.38 per word (inc. VAT), minimum 12 words. Box adverts start from as little as £33 per issue (plus VAT)*. A copy of our terms and conditions is available on request. (*4 series booking) 23/07/2019 12:00

CLASSIFIED DIRECTORY WINDOWS

REACH THE IWA’S MEMBERSHIP Effective, Affordable Advertising To advertise in this section call Laura Smith on 01283 742956 or email: l.smith@wwonline.co.uk

Subscribe to

Celebrating our 40th Anniversary!

IWA members receive a 10% discount on double glazed orders.

The Quarterly Inland Waterways Heritage Magazine

WWW.CHANNELGLAZE.COM T: 0121 706 5777 E: ENQUIRY@CHANNELGLAZE.COM

Call

01283 742970 or visit

www.narrowboatmagazine.com

PLEASE MENTION IWA WATERWAYS WHEN RESPONDING TO ADVERTISEMENTS FROM

Visit the Inland Waterways Association Bookshop for a variety ONLY of books from Waterways World £7.99 BARGES & WIDE -BEAM BOATS ON THE

The

Waterways World 2019 Annual Your complete guide to the inland waterways with comprehensive listings and invaluable advice.

Published 28th February 2019 PLUS Your free route-planning map!

INLAND WATERW AYS

Barge Guide HOW TO BUY A BOAT

£7.99

Boating and livi ng

afloat

WE TELL YOU HOW

BOAT TESTS

10

WIDE-BEAM BOATS REVIEWED

+

FAVOURITE RIVER S WHERE CAN YOU GO IN BRITAIN? BOATING IN EURO PE FRENCH WATE RWAYS

HOW BIG?

Our beginner’s guide to the different styles and sizes of boats available Barge Cover.indd

1

LIVING AFLOAT

■ How much it costs ■ Getting a moori ■ Suitable boats ng

GUIDES

The UK wide waterw ays: Thames, Kenne t& Trent and Anglian Avon, waterways 16/8/10 16:18:06

More books online Call 01494 783453 or visit www.iwashop.com PLEASE MENTION IWA WHEN RESPONDING TO ADVERTISEMENTS IWA Classies Autumn19.indd 47

IWA waterways |

47 23/07/2019 12:00

Then and Now: celebrating restoration success stories

Building Bridges

I

WA’s Building Bridges Project was conceived by Waterway Recovery Group to inspire Canal & River Trust to consider the use of volunteers on live waterways as well as on restoration sites. The project would demonstrate the potential for volunteers to carry out major as well as minor repairs to canal bridges in desperate need of restoration.

The rationale was to give local people and communities the chance to come together and look after a structure they might have identified as needing love and care while out and about.

Repairs might include repointing, repainting or reconstruction,

Oxford accommodation bridges
 In October 2012, volunteers spent over 1,000 hours helping to restore two historic accommodation bridges on the north Oxford Canal near Barby, Northamptonshire.

Bridges 79 and 80, built in the 1770s, had slowly fallen into a state of disrepair suffering from erosion and rotational movement. A contractor was employed to undertake the main structural repairs while WRG volunteers carried out long-overdue maintenance work on the bridges in the form of brickwork repairs, repointing of cracks and the reinstatement of coping stones. While both bridges no longer carry any accommodation rights and are not listed within a conservation area, they are significant from a heritage perspective and hence it was desirable for them to be preserved.

or maybe the bridge might require just a little bit of TLC. This type of intervention could head off the need for more major repairs at a later date. With the right skills, experience and supervision, volunteers could readily complete this level of work.

The first task, however, was to develop the framework. Varied projects were selected and, on their completion, WRG published the Bridge Restoration Guide for Volunteers. These projects were slightly more unusual for WRG as the repairs took place on active waterways with boaters passing by, but they proved to be fantastic learning locations for volunteers.

Bridge 80 on the north Oxford Canal was in desperate need of some TLC.

Repairs being carried out on Bridge 79.

Bridge 79 following the volunteer effort.

48

| IWA Waterways

048 Then and Now bridges AH.indd 48

Autumn 2019 23/07/2019 13:01

In the summer of 2013, volunteers spent a total of 287.5 hours bringing the Grade II-listed Lady Capel’s Bridge on the Grand Union Canal near Watford back to its former glory. Before WRG’s big volunteer effort could start, a team from CRT removed the old paintwork.

WRG volunteers then took out the damaged brickwork, cleared out the joints and carefully carried out repointing. The entire bridge was then ready for repainting using a specialist white paint, which required three coats. The work linked with towpath improvements being undertaken by contractors, and so improved the area as a whole for the local community and waterway users to enjoy.

Bridge 41 on the Ashby Canal

Repainting the structure.

Lady Capel’s Bridge before repairs...

...and after.

WRG volunteers Sunny and Peio working on bridge 41.

Bob Coles

In the summers of 2015 and 2016, the traditional brick-built accommodation Bridge 41 on the Ashby Canal was treated to brickwork repairs alongside the replacement of ugly, concrete coping stones with sympathetic new sandstone ones.

Volunteers learned how to mix lime mortar correctly, lay bricks, and cut and bed new coping stones. Repointing skills were also taught. This was a lovely project for volunteers as they were able to learn heritage skills as well as enjoy the pleasant countryside and the sight of the steam train passing by on the nearby Battlefield Line.

WRG on the Ashby Canal bridge.

Autumn 2019 048 Then and Now bridges AH.indd 49

IWA Waterways |

Bob Coles

Lady Capel's Bridge

49

23/07/2019 13:01

inbox

Do you have something to say about IWA or Waterways?

It’s your magazine so please write and tell us your views. We will aim to publish responses to letters that ask questions about any aspect of IWA policy or decision-making. Please write to The Editor, Waterways, c/o IWA, Island House, Moor Road, Chesham HP5 1WA, or email a.hamson@wwonline.co.uk.

Bridgewater bans small boats This year marks the 260th anniversary of the first UK canal act. Royal Assent was given in March 1759 to the Duke of Bridgewater’s scheme to build a canal from his coal mines in Worsley to supply the rapidly growing towns and industries of Salford and Manchester. Over the centuries the canal has been the subject of numerous statutory applications as it expanded and changed ownership, the last being in 2012 when a Secretary of State Order authorised the transfer of undertakings from the Manchester Ship Canal Company to the newly incorporated Bridgewater Canal Company Limited, a subsidiary of Peel Land Holdings, a property development company, owned in turn by Tokenhouse Limited, a company incorporated in the Isle of Man and controlled by the Whittaker Family Trust.

The Bridgewater Canal has continued to remain in private ownership although its original statutory purpose is no longer applicable.

Pleasure craft have been allowed on the canal since 1952, long before it fell into the hands of property developers, and with the demise of all commercial traffic, its leisure use has been recognised by the seven North West local authorities through which it traverses. When the canal suffered a breach in 1971, the various councils formed the Bridgewater Canal Trust to fund repairs at a cost of £250,000. Subsequently the trust has been involved in the Bridgewater Way, an £8m project to enhance and improve the towpath to encourage use by cyclists, pedestrians, wheelchair users etc.

However, in a little publicised policy, the Bridgewater Canal Company has now decided that the canal can no longer be used by small boats.

Two hundred and sixty years ago, the canal was built to allow small boats bringing coal out of the Worsley mine underground system to link up with larger carriers. But today, as one of the current Bridgewater Canal Company’s enforcement officers said, “We are a private company; we can do what we want.”

Don Wright We are very grateful to Don Wright for having brought to our attention earlier in the year the issue of small boats apparently not being allowed to use the Bridgewater Canal. Since then IWA’s Navigation Committee has been trying to clarify the situation but we have been unable to obtain any response from the Bridgewater Canal Company.

From previous correspondence with BCC we were aware that canoeists are only allowed on the Bridgewater Canal if they hold British Canoeing membership, and it would now appear that one-day or short-term visitor licences for any type of trailable or portable boats are simply not available on the Bridgewater Canal.

IWA considers that this policy does nothing to encourage people to get afloat affordably and has written to BCC asking it to re-consider its stance. We have also been trying to find out the latest situation with regard to the reciprocal arrangement for boats licensed with Canal & River Trust, again to no avail so far, but we will continue to lobby BCC about both issues at both local and national level to try to persuade it to make the Bridgewater Canal more accessible for all waterway users.

Alison Smedley, IWA campaigns officer

50

| IWA Waterways

050 inbox AH.indd 50

SAY ON CYCLING

The article on the use of bicycles on the towpath in the Summer issue of Waterways was of interest.

However, I felt that there was one point that could have been included.

My wife and I have been boaters for many years and have encountered problems with some cyclists (the minority), the main one being that most don’t consider the possibility that a walker may be deaf or hard of hearing. My wife, who is deaf, has had several close calls on the towpath and even been sworn at by cyclists, i.e. saying “Are you f****** deaf?” as they fly by.

Could a mention of deaf people be included in IWA’s cycling code?

Thank you for your work and promotion of the waterways.

Colin A Harding The Summer issue of Waterways contained a great mixture of articles, of interest, I am sure, to just about everyone.

My wife and I do a lot of ‘traffic-free’ cycling – and where better than canal towpaths? The piece

by Richard Worthington was full of hints and tips.

One criticism, though: in the main photograph on page 28 the cyclist was not wearing a helmet! Not a very good example to those who would use the towpath for cycling.

Tony Birdwood Thank you for your comments on our cycling feature. The issues raised in both letters will be considered by IWA Navigation Committee as part of a future update to the IWA cycling code.

Alison Smedley, IWA campaigns officer

Autumn 2019 23/07/2019 13:01

EvErYtHiNg CaNaL BoAtS FoR AlL Of YoUr BoAtInG NeEdS We ArE BaSeD At 14 MaRiNaS ArOuNd ThE Uk AnD OfFeR ThE FoLlOwInG SeRvIcEs

Boa�ng Holidays Day Boat Hire Holiday Co�ages Boat Building Chandlery Boat Maintenance & Repairs Marina Services Boat Sales Boat Management Moorings

FiNd OuT MoRe

Go to our website for full details of our services across all areas of our business. www.everythingcanalboats.com

Call us: 0330 333 0595

v4.0 19/2/18

pIBC_iwa.indd 1

23/07/2019 11:58

Are you an IWA member?

Find out more information online www.midlandchandlers.co.uk/iwa



Your 5% discount is available in store & online Take advantage of your discount in store by presenting a valid membership card at the till, or register for your discount online at www.midlandchandlers.co.uk/iwa. *No other offers apply.

pOBC_iwa.indd 1

23/07/2019 11:59