Kent & East Sussex Branch Interim IWAKES Chairman’s Piece

Is the prospect of a canal trip to Liverpool a destination or a journey? In the days before embarking on this adventure earlier this month my vision was of a journey to be endured rather than relished, after all I had experience of this whilst living close to the route over forty years ago! My impression could not have been more wrong. I was astounded particularly by the quantity and variety of wildlife. For example, probably more ducklings per mile than I remember seeing on any canal elsewhere in England and a stunning variety of spring flowers. Luckily I had left Wigan with several days to spare before my booked arrival time at Liverpool and had time to make the best of this journey.

Some other boats were lingering in similar fashion. I was struck by how priceless these water based urban and semi-rural arteries are to all of us and the urgent need for the campaign to "Protect our Waterways". The IWA is as important today as it has ever been. Please support the campaign in any way that you can. I am sure that many members who are resident in the South East Region have undertaken this journey but if you have not I urge you to give it a go if you are able.

Peter Wilkinson

Thames & Medway Canal Association

There were a number of overhanging trees along the bank or growing in the water along the Nuralite section. These were cut and hauled out by the 4 x 4 fitted with a winch. This allows a boat clearer access along the canal to access the far bank where more overhangs need attention. It also gives us space to clear litter accumulated along the waterline without having to fight through low branches to get to the banks. Five of our Work Party recently attended a refresher course on using motorised equipment such as strimmers and chainsaws to comply with our insurance requirements (which was part of the reason our funds dropped in 2022). So, in spite of a foggy and cold day, we managed to clear a very dense section.

A large tree fell across the towpath this month blocking it completely. This was notified to us by Ian McDermid with a post on Facebook. Our chain saw guru and treasurer John Knight spotted the post and promptly set to work clearing the way. The Work Party cleared the remaining timber and an adjacent tree affected by the fall, all within the week.

We will soon have to stop cutting at this location due to the nesting season, so will concentrate more at Mark Lane, Gravesend. The picture shows the result after removing another tree which had fallen. The logs disappeared almost as quickly as we cut them.

The boats are being recommissioned ready for putting in the water. We do not have covered storage so leaving them unprotected on their trailers over the winter months has taken its toll. We plan to launch one to allow us to collect litter and to stir up the silt to hopefully maintain a channel depth. We will also use it to clear branches overhanging the southern bank or those inaccessible from the towpath.

On a very wet Thursday evening three of the TMCA Work Party took a group of Brownies along the towpath to give them a little detail about our canal. Hopefully they found some of it interesting as Mike and Karen Shelvey had put together a small quiz. We had offered to give free boat rides but owing to Guiding procedures such as risk assessment, notifications, etc. Brown Owl declined the offer. It seems a shame that nowadays simple pleasures are sometimes so tedious to manage. As it turned out it was good not to have to struggle in and out of a boat in the pouring rain.

Dave Parnell