May 2020 Endeavour

Endeavour Northampton Branch Newsletter — May 2020

Sculptor, which is ordinarily moored outside the Canal Museum at Stoke Bruerne, was called into action by the Canal & River Trust after a suspected sinkhole was reported near one of the tunnel’s construction shafts.

Continued on page 13

waterways.org.uk/northampton Printed by Colour Image. Phone 07821 894521 email colourimage@aol.com

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I hope everybody is well in these unusual and challenging times!

We all miss boating and enjoying the canals at the moment, with the towpaths restricted to essential movement mainly live-a-boards, especially as the sun shining. I hope that this lockdown will soon be lifted, and we don’t have to go through this again, so we can all enjoy our canals once more, whether it’s for boating walking, fishing, cycling or whatever else.

It is not just us leisure users that are missing the canals - spare a thought for the waterway businesses who are missing our custom and possibly facing financial difficulties. How many will still be there when we get back to normal? We need to support those that we can. Hopefully they will have availed themselves of help from the Government to help ensure their survival in these difficult times.

As a small token of our support, we are giving all our advertisers in the May Endeavour their advert for free.

With the lockdown and little boat movement, the canals are getting clearer. I have seen pictures on the internet where the canals and rivers are so clear that you can see the bottom – and read the words on rubbish! With the very wet autumn and winter, at least there shouldn’t be any water shortages. STOP PRESS! I have just seen that CRT have closed the Leeds & Liverpool canal for essential maintenance work to the reservoirs which feed the canal. Levels in these reservoirs have been kept low to facilitate these works and CRT warn that this closure could last until end of May or longer if there is no significant rain fall.

Linda and I had planned a long cruise this year, with friends, as it is my first year in retirement, and we would be able to go for longer than two weeks and not have to hurry back for work! But alas that will now have to wait until next year.

Let me know how the lockdown has affected you.

IWA Northampton Branch now has a Facebook page. It’s at https://www.facebook.com/IWANorthamptonBranch Members will find posts there about our talks, Task Party dates and much more, as well as being able to use it for discussion purposes. We’d like to hear your views. We also have a Twitter account @northamptoniwa where you can leave us a message or engage in discussion on what’s happening.

The IWA may not agree with opinions expressed in this magazine, but encourages publication as a matter of interest. Nothing printed may be construed as policy or an official announcement unless so stated, otherwise the Association accepts no liability for any matter in the magazine.

Neither the editor nor IWA can accept responsibility for any errors or omissions in the magazine, and opinions stated are those of individual contributors. We will, however, gladly publish corrections if notified. The editor reserves the right to shorten or modify articles published in the interests of clarity or space.

The Inland Waterways Association is registered as a charity (No. 212342)

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DIARY DATES

June 27th-28th Historic Narrowboat Rally and Canal Festival at Braunston Marina CANCELLED July 18th-19th Buckingham Canal Festival and Craft Fair at Cosgrove. See www.buckinghamcanal.org.uk August 8th-9th Blisworth Festival see www.blisworthfestival.org September 12th-13th Village at War Weekend at Stoke Bruerne see www.friendsofcanalmuseum.org.uk

Please check with organisers if their event is still on

NORTHAMPTON ARM TASK PARTY DATES

June 7th, 16th. July 5th,21st.

August 2nd, 18th. September 6th, 15th.

Contact: geoff.wood@waterways.org.uk or phone 01604 453932 BUCKINGHAM CANAL SOCIETY WORK PARTY DATES MAY June 11th, 14th, 25th.July 9th, 12th, 23rd.

August 6th, 9th, 20th. September 3rd, 13th, 17th.

Contact athinabec@aol.com or phone 01908 661217/07721 319404

STOKE BRUERNE CANAL PARTNERSHIP WORK PARTY DATES June 10th. July 8th. August 12th. September 9th.

Contact: stokebruernecanalpartnership.org.uk

BRAUNSTON CANAL SOCIETY TASK PARTY DATES June 11th, 29th. July 9th, 25th.

August 13th, 29th.September 10th, 29th.

Contact Clive at braunstoncanalsociety@gmail.com or phone/text Clive on 07817 435911.

Due to Covid19 all task/work parties are cancelled until further notice.

IWA Northampton Branch web site www.waterways.org.uk/northampton Please visit it regularly to see any updates

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GRAND JUNCTION BOAT COMPANY GAYTON JUNCTION BLISWORTH ARM NORTHAMPTON NN7 3EF

01604 858043 www.narrowboat-repairsnorthampton.co.uk Email: info@boatrepairs.uk.com              

MARINE ENGINEERS ELECTRICAL MECHANICAL PLUMBING & HEATING CRANE OUT HULL BLACKING & SPRAYING IF PREFERRED DIY SLOTS AVAILABLE HULL GRIT BLASTING WITH QUILL MACHINE OVERPLATING & STEEL WORK STERN GEAR BARRUS SHIRE AGENTS BETA AGENTS WEBASTO AGENTS CHANDLERY

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Branch Chairman’s Jottings

by Bernard Morton Well, what strange times we find ourselves in! As I write, our canals and towpaths are, to all intents and purposes, on “lockdown” for the foreseeable future and, for once, not due to excessive rainfall or drought.

CORONAVIRUS. Following the Gover nment’s announcement of “lockdown” on 23rd March, CRT asked that all leisure boaters stop any non-essential travel and refrain from visiting their boats if they do not permanently live-aboard. Along with this, the requirement to move every 14 days was suspended, further helping those living on their boats and those who would have to travel to their boat in order to move it every fortnight.

Whilst towpaths remain open, CRT have requested that our use of them should be limited and only for those who are local to it to support the ‘stay at home’ campaign and to protect those living aboard their boats.

I am sure I wasn’t the only person to think, initially, how ideal self-isolating on a boat would be – alas, my dreams were very short-lived! Our Branch activities have had to be put on hold also. Meetings at The Walnut Tree for April and May have been cancelled and the speakers will be invited for the 2020-21 season. Our task parties have been another casualty and have had to be put on hold for the foreseeable future. Our Branch Committee meeting for April was able to go ahead via Zoom, which was organised for us by Lynda Payton – thanks Lynda. It was an experience that we all enjoyed and will no doubt have to repeat for May’s meeting!

One can only sympathise wholeheartedly with all the canal and riverside businesses up and down the country whose livelihoods have been put in jeopardy – whether they be boat hirers, pubs and restaurants, shops, chandleries and boat yards to mention just a few. Some have closed their doors temporarily whilst others have adapted their business model to suit the present situation. One such example (and the closest to me) is The Boat Inn at Stoke Bruerne.

Forced to close their pub/restaurant activities, they have turned to supporting local residents in Stoke Bruerne and surrounding villages by supplying basic necessities as well as frozen meals from their inhouse menus … together with beers in flagons which I have sampled! Their service is very quick with free delivery in SB and a small charge for nearby villages. No doubt other businesses have made similar adjustments but, as I’m trying to “stay at home, protect the NHS and save lives”, I don’t know of any others. If you do, please try to support them, if you can, so they survive until normality returns!

STOP PRESS! Alison Smedley, IWA Campaigns Manager, has just launched a campaign to get members to lobby their MP to encourage the Government to increase support for waterways businesses during the current restrictions. We all have a bit more time on our hands at the moment, don’t we? So how about putting pen to paper or fingers to keyboard? To make things extra easy for us, Alison has produced a template for letters with helpful bullet points and a detailed article about how dire things are for these businesses. These can be found at

https://www.waterways.org.uk/news_campaigns/campaigns/ support_for_waterway_businesses#Actions

BOOK LAUNCH. At the beginning of Mar ch I was invited to attend the launch of a new David Blagrove book called Ellison’s Winter. The launch was organised by Peter Silvester of Audlem Mill and was well attended with David’s daughters, Richard Parry, and Tim Coghlan amongst others. If you would like to find out more about this book, turn to page 9 for more details.

BRANCH AGM. We wer e pleased that we managed to hold our Br anch AGM befor e

8 lockdown and to welcome along Paul Rodgers, our new National Chairman. There was a good turnout, with the formal part of the meeting being followed by an excellent presentation by volunteers from Friends of Raymond. They talked about the history of the boats, their acquisition and on-going restoration work on both Raymond and Nutfield.

Paul spoke about his new role as National Chairman with a “day job” and how he was grateful to his three deputies who share the workload. He talked about how branches across the country were IWA’s greatest asset and how our Branch was “leading the way” in being active in campaigning for local waterways such as the Northampton Arm. The AGM concluded with the first draw of 2020 of our 100 Club. First prize of £80 went to Geoff Wood (number 15). Second and third prizes of £30 and £15 respectively went to Jules Gela-Dundas (numbers 26 and 27). Well done to both and thank you for your support!

DAVID BLAGROVE PAINTING. At the AGM I was able to exhibit a painting by David Blagrove which has been donated to the Branch for fund-raising purposes. After Committee discussions, it has been decided to hold a sealed-bid auction over the summer/autumn concluding at our Branch Dinner in November. For further details, please see page 18.

SPREADING THE WORD. In Febr uar y, we wer e pleased to host two visitor s, Roger Still and Ray Gill, from IWA West London Branch. Their Branch is keen to set up an adoption scheme for the Hanwell Flight of locks on the Grand Union and wanted to know how we set up our adoption, run task parties, attract volunteers etc. Geoff Wood and Mick Butler thought the best way for them to find out was for them to join us for a task party - a big litter pick around the Briar Hill area of Northampton. There was a good turnout of volunteers and a large amount of rubbish was collected. At lunch, they asked very detailed questions and took copious notes as Geoff and Mick imparted their knowledge and wisdom built up over the years of running our adoption of the Arm. They went away full of enthusiasm to start their own adoption which was due to kick off in April – sadly, they have had to postpone this due to the lockdown.

Additionally, Geoff and Mick were recently asked to take part in an IWA Webinar about our adoption scheme which was hosted by Paul Rodgers. This was entitled “One Arm, Many Heads … transforming the Northampton Arm”. If you missed the original, you can still catch up with Geoff and Mick talking about our adoption work on the Arm by using https:// www.youtube.com/channel/UC_ROBJ6rpm_41BSmu-Glf2Q ROGER HASDELL. It was with gr eat sadness that we lear ned of the passing of Roger Hasdell at the end of February. Roger was a founding member and loyal supporter of our Branch for many years during which time he became heavily involved in the production of Endeavour. I remember him fondly as a great raconteur and a stickler for correct punctuation and spelling. There were many times when I have been corrected! We will miss you very much Roger. For more information about his life and work, please see page 10.

BOATING?? At the beginning of the year , Sandie and I dr ew up plans for an exciting cruise to Liverpool and onto the Lancaster Canal, setting off in May. We were confident that with plenty of rain over winter, there would be no problems with water shortages and lock closures. Little did we know what was to befall us in March! As the situation remains uncertain with talk of the lockdown continuing for months, we have decided to postpone this cruise until 2021. When our canals and waterways are fully reopened, we shall plan some shorter trips closer to home for this year.

We are still hopeful that our Mini Boat Gathering at the Village at War Weekend (12th-13th September) will be able to go ahead … fingers crossed!

Whatever you are going to be doing over the next few weeks/months, please stay safe.

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David Blagrove Book Launch

In early March, the launch of a new book by David Blagrove MBE was held at The Boat Inn, Stoke Bruerne. Unusually for David, Ellison’s Winter is a work of fiction which, it is thought, was written in the middle 1990’s as the first book of a trilogy. It seems to have remained a big secret since then. Tim Coghlan said, at the launch, “During my many, in depth conversations with David over the years, he never breathed a word about it”.

After David’s death in 2016, Jean Blagrove remembered the book being written and, after some searching, the family were able to resurrect the transcript. Peter Silvester, from Audlem Bookshop, offered to have the transcript edited and then published as a paperback.

Ellison’s Winter is certainly vastly different from all David’s other published works which focused on waterways history, working boats and Northamptonshire’s railways together with two autobiographical books about his early boating life. His knowledge of boating, canal life and Northamptonshire’s waterways are brought to bear in what is described on the cover as a lively thriller with “compelling, well-woven and gritty narrative, and a great variety of believable characters”.

The story centres around Andrew Ellison, a former City solicitor, as he is released from prison. Wanting a different and simpler life, he buys a boat to travel the canal system but almost immediately his past life comes back to haunt him as he becomes involved with the police who are investigating a threat to national security! The story takes the reader up and down the Grand Union between Milton Keynes, Stoke Bruerne and Braunston and down the Arm to Northampton.

If this review has kindled your interest, Ellison’s Winter is available from Braunston Marina Shop for £13.95.

Sandie Morton

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Obituary

Roger Hasdell A long-time Branch member … a brief history Roger was born on 26th Feb, 1935, in the Oakwood nursing home, Northampton. He was educated at Cedar Road School, Barry Road & Northampton Grammar School. It was at the Grammar school that he discovered his major sport, cricket. He played for 2 seasons and opened the batting…he also bowled with moderate success! Roger also thoroughly enjoyed his rugby and tennis.

Much to his father’s chagrin, sailing racing dinghies overtook his interest in cricket and he was actually better at sailing than cricket. His interest in sailing was inspired by reading Arthur Ransome…Swallows & Amazons! In later years, he became a member of the Arthur Ransome Society where he served on the committee and helped to organise events for a while.

His first sailing race was at the Middle Nene Cruising Club at Thrapston. He later became a founder member of Northampton Sailing Club at Pitsford reservoir. He was among those who took part in a sail-past before the Queen Mother when she opened the reservoir in 1957. Over the years, he won several sailing awards. He was never happier than when sailing on the Norfolk Broads and did, in fact, introduce Catriona to the sailing bug when she was 6 years old on the sea at Southend on Sea…Nicola (Catriona’s sister) sadly showed no interest!

In the mid 1960’s, he did National Service with the Royal Army Service Corps serving as a shorthand typist where he obtained a home posting so he could continue his studies in journalism, eventually becoming a reporter for the Chronicle and Echo.

11 Roger met his wife Joan whilst sailing at Pitsford, where she crewed for him in a National 12 class sailing dingy, and together they won several trophies. They were married for 41 years, having tied the knot at Northampton Registry Office in March 1959.

After leaving the Chronicle & Echo, Roger had a spell on the editorial staff of the trade magazine, Building Materials, in London. He commenced work as senior reporter on the Oban times in March 1959. After 3 years, he left there and joined Sydney Barton Ltd, a leading public relations agency, just off Fleet Street where he remained until 1969. During this time, he worked for various clients principally involved with solid fuel and shipping. He produced “house” newspapers and was also heavily involved in looking after stars of TV and radio making personal appearances. These included Ken Dodd, Kenneth Horne and several Coronation Street actors. It seemed he was quite good at this and meant he lived a life of luxury! During this time, he lived at Thorpe Bay, Southend on Sea and sailed dinghies on the Thames Estuary.

In late 1969, the family moved back to Northampton and within a short time he became a self employed public relations consultant and developed his Inland Waterways interest. By this time, the family were already enjoying holidaying on the canal system. Roger was producing a brochure for the Bletchley Boat Company and associated boat hire firms. He remained an independent PR operator until his final retirement in 2005.

For 17 years, he edited Waterways, the national magazine of the Inland Waterways Association and also became editor of The Shipbroker Journal (Institute of Chartership Brokers) for many years producing magazines for shipping companies.

For about 23 years, he was press officer for the Eastern Region of the Sports Council editing their quarterly newspaper and did much promotional work with football legend Sir Trevor Brooking. For 4 years, he edited a quarterly promotional newspaper for Air Canada Cargo which involved considerable amounts of overseas travel. And he also represented Anglia Television locally for a time, mainly in connection with the station’s Miss Anglia promotion. How did he pack it all in!

On the waterways scene, Roger joined the Inland Waterways Association in 1970 just prior to the 1971 IWA National Rally of boats at Beckets Park in Northampton, sitting on the organising committee where he handled the publicity and editing of the Rally brochure. This ran to 78 pages, the biggest brochure for this

event ever produced! He then became IWA Northampton Branch Vice Chairman to David Blagrove’s Chairmanship but very soon was invited to become the editor of Bulletin, the Association’s national publication. Realising he would not be able to operate at Branch level alongside his editing responsibilities, he relinquished active local Branch involvement. He remained Waterways

12 editor for 17 years, during this time overseeing the change from the smaller Bulletin format to the larger Waterways style we know today. In 1990, he was awarded the Cyril Styring Trophy, the associations premier award for his work on Waterways.

Because of his wife’s illness during the 90’s, he remained in the background until 2000 when he re-joined the Northampton Branch committee, in due course serving as publicity officer, Endeavour editor and helping to organise the Annual Boat Gatherings. But since resigning from the committee several years ago, Roger has always been “in the picture” in various ways, not least in assisting Endeavour’s editor. In 2018 he was presented with the John Faulkner award—an award acknowledging the member who has made an outstanding contribution to the Northampton Branch. He was also a recipient of a Richard Bird medal. In the mid 2000’s Roger was also closely involved in the formation (as its initial secretary) of the Friends of the Canal Museum and in more recent years as a Council member and minutes secretary.

In retirement, Roger maintained his interest in sailing by spending many years as a volunteer with Sailability (sailing for the disabled) at Pitsford reservoir as well as following cricket and rugby both for Northampton teams. These were his major interests in retirement but he was also a voracious reader! Oh and not forgetting his volunteering at Kingsthorpe nursing home (where Joan spent her last years) and Richmond care home in Grange Park.

Even so, when asked by friends at the County Ground, on a sunny summer’s day with a fair breeze, where he would really like to be, the answer was always ...”sailing on the Norfolk Broads…”

My Family…you know who you all are … there’s so many of you now!

“Crack On!” Thanks to Catriona Butler (daughter) for this short history of Rogers life.

Obituary Passing of a Member Jeanette Waddup I’m sad to say that my partner Jeanette Waddup passed away on the 23rd March, having lost her battle with cancer.

She was fondly known as the Lady from the Duck boat, yes that one with all the plastic ducks on the roof, previously nb Robin and latterly nb Andromeda.

Peter Gammond

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Sculptor called into action by CRT for emergency inspection of Blisworth Tunnel

An 85 year-old canal boat, which played a key role in fighting fires in London during WWII, has once more come to the rescue to help with an emergency inspection of Blisworth Tunnel.

Sculptor, which is ordinarily moored outside the Canal Museum at Stoke Bruerne, was called into action by the Canal & River Trust after a suspected sinkhole was reported near one of the tunnel’s construction shafts.

The Trust’s engineers needed a boat to inspect the tunnel from the inside and Sculptor, moored just along the towpath, seemed an ideal option for a quick response. Being part of the Trust’s museum collection and on the historic ships register special permission was granted to use her.

The inspection, which was carried out in accordance with social distancing guidelines, found a small amount of displacement in the tunnel’s concrete lining but nothing to cause the Trust’s specialist engineers immediate concern or require a closure of the tunnel. Further investigations will take place once the coronavirus restrictions ease but the inspection allowed the Trust to ensure that the tunnel is safe.

Built in 1935, Sculptor is one of a small number of working boats that still lives on the canal. Originally owned by the Grand Union Canal Carrying Company, she was used to carry a variety of cargo such as cotton and coal from London to the Midlands. During WWII Sculptor was called into action to help with firefighting duties in London, helping to pump water from the city’s canals to extinguish fires caused by bombing.

After the war, she was used as a canal maintenance boat at Northwich before being taken out of service in 1985. Today, Sculptor is an important exhibit at the museum and is lovingly cared for, on behalf of the Trust, by volunteers, including a number from the Friends of the Canal Museum.

Neil Owen, regional engineer for the Canal & River Trust, said: “Although boat traffic is very limited at the moment due to coronavirus, it was important for us to get into the tunnel to make sure that everything is safe.

“It was really helpful for us to be able to use Sculptor as it enabled us to get in there quickly, have a good look, check there was no significant damage and alleviate any concerns. It was also a bit of a treat for us to spend time on this amazing historic boat and it was wonderful to see her back in service again. We’re really grateful to the Friends of the Canal Museum for their support in making it happen.”

Kathryn Dodington, Sculptor volunteer, said: “It was a huge privilege to be able to operate Sculptor on behalf of Canal & River Trust to enable their specialist tunnel engineers to inspect the Blisworth Tunnel and to declare it safe.

Sculptor is ready to serve again when required should the call come. She is a delight to operate and, like any old lady, does exactly what she is asked with graciousness.”

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A new pedestrian footbridge over the Grand Union Canal near Crick will open to the public after years of campaigning from villagers.

The bridge, which aims to improve the safety of people using the footway along the A428 between Crick and West Haddon, was installed on Tuesday 14th April.

The coronavirus lockdown enabled workers to take advantage of less traffic on the road and reduced footfall but further work is needed before the scheduled opening on Friday 24th April.

Northamptonshire County Council cabinet member for environment and place Cllr Jason Smithers said: “I am delighted that despite the challenging time we are facing, we have managed to continue works on the Crick footbridge to ensure safety for all users.

“We will continue to pull together and follow government guidance to help keep essential services that we all rely on, such as roads and highways, running right across the county.”

The majority of funding for the bridge was provided by Prologis (DRIFR 111) and Daventry District Council, with contributions from Northamptonshire County Council, the nearby wind farm developers and Crick Parish Council, which has campaigned for the infrastructure for years.

Crick Parish Councillor Brian Hughes said: “All residents of Crick are delighted and relieved that they will at last be able to cross the canal safely via the new footbridge.

“Many villagers have campaigned for a bridge over the years, and now it’s to their great credit that they have at last succeeded.

We are particularly grateful to the support we have received from our MP, Chris Heaton-Harris, Councillor Malcolm Longley of Northamptonshire County Council Highways in getting the bridge constructed.

This is a major achievement for Crick that will benefit residents and visitors for many years to come.”

(Northampton Chronicle & Echo)

VILLAGE AT WAR MINI BOAT GATHERING We are again having a mini Boat Gathering in conjunction with Stoke Bruerne’s Village at War on 12th –13th September. Moorings will be in the long pound from Thursday.

There will be free entry into the Village at War if you volunteer to help as a steward, (or entry for the weekend is £10) there are 3-4 hour slots so chose when you can help!

We will organised a 1940s dinner at the Boat Inn, two courses with tea/coffee and mints for the Saturday night.

Booking forms will be on the webpage or from Sandie Morton Yew Tree House, 14 Baker Street, Gayton, NN7 3EZ sandie.morton@waterways.org uk Phone 01604 858294 for mooring/volunteering and dinner.

This is subject to Village at War going ahead. Please check webpage and Facebook.

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SUPPLIES We are a family run, customer friendly business based adjacent to Bridge 32 at Nether Heyford. Our service point is clear of moored boats making your stop quick and easy. We offer the following services:

        

DIESEL – always competively priced PUMP OUT – no meter clock here BLUE TOILET FLUID ODORLOS – organic waste tank treatment CALOR GAS – all sizes of bottled gas including Camping Gaz. SOLID FUELS – all types of smokeless fuel or coal. Plus firelighters, sticks and logs.

CHARNWOOD STOVES – all sizes of multi-fuel stoves with or without boilers MORRIS OILS – popular grades of engine oil plus water resistant grease FUEL SET FUEL CONDITIONER

Most Major Credit Cards Accepted.

Open: 8.00am to 5.30pm Monday to Friday, 8.00am to 1.00pm on Saturdays

Fred Tarry

Bridge Cottage Furnace Lane Nether Heyford Northampton, NN7 3JY

Telephone/Fax: 01327-341202 Email : rhigginbottom@btconnect.com

Northamptonshire RESTAURANT º BARS º TRIP BOAT

DINE IN STYLE IN WOODWARD’S CANALSIDE RESTAURANT 01604 862428 www.boatinn.co.uk SAVE THE BRANCH MONEY! Stop receiving Endeavour by post and instead get it electronically. You will be notified by email when it’s published on-line. This will save in postage and printing costs. The printed version will be available at Branch meetings. Contact Geoff Wood at geoff.wood@waterways.org.uk and he will organise it.

Editor

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VISIT STOWE HILL WHARF FOR ALL Y

Proprietor Robert Gudgeon welcomes you to Stowe Hill Workshop

Full Repaints Hull Blacking/Stern Gear Inspection and Repairs Engine Repairs and Maintenance Complete Fit-Out and Woodwork Alterations Plumbing Installations and Repairs Electrical Installations and Repairs NEW — Fuel Polishing Service Stockists of Morris Oils and Grease Full range of Batteries always available (please let us know your requirements) By road we are easily found, a few yards off the A5 at Stowe Hill towards Nether Heyford. By boat close to Bridge 26          

ALL WORK UNDERTAKEN, FROM SIMPLE TASKS TO COMPLETE FIT-OUTS

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YOUR ESSENTIAL BOATING SERVICES

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AN UNUSUAL FUNDRAISER Some time ago, a David Blagrove painting was donated anonymously to the Branch to be used as a fundraiser. Exactly how this could be done has been discussed and the Committee have decided to hold a Sealed Bid Auction for the painting, with proceeds going into Branch funds.

David’s daughters have confirmed its authenticity and thought the setting was probably Stoke Bruerne locks, but with some artistic licence! It has the initials DRB and 76 (date created?) in one corner. It measures 65 cm in width and 42 cm in height and has a simple gilt frame.

As you can see in the photo, there are two working boats, named Dunlin and Tern, about to exit a double lock. The painting was displayed at the Branch AGM in March and aroused quite a bit of interest amongst those present, including Paul Rodgers (IWA National Chairman). The consensus was that it depicts a Grand Union lock and that the boats, Dunlin and Tern, were once operated by Willow Wren Canal Carrying Company. If you can throw any further light on the subject matter, we would be delighted to find out more.

If you would like to own this painting, we are inviting sealed bids to be submitted to Branch Treasurer, Paul Lynam, before 1st November 2020. Paul’s email address is paul.lynam@waterways.org.uk and his postal address is 2 Dalestones, Northampton, NN4 9UU. The bids will be opened at the annual Branch Dinner later in November and the winner announced on the night.

Good luck!

Sandie Morton

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RICHARD GILL BSc, MABSE 30 YEARS WORKING ON THE WATERWAYS

Grand Union, Oxford & Leics Canals Rivers Nene and Thames RING: 07889 10 99 39 rgbarcos70@btinternet.com

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Winners for 100 Club Draw

The winners of the draw of 2020 were:1st winning £80 ticket no 15 Geoff Wood

2nd winning £30 ticket no 26 Jules Gela-Dundas 3rd winning £15 ticket no 27 Jules Gela-Dundas The next draw will take place at the Annual Dinner in November

We extend a warm welcome to the following who have joined Northampton Branch since the last issue of Endeavour

NEW MEMBERS Mr A Gosling Mr S Love

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Now fully open

WHILTON MARINA CHANDLERY 

Diesel 



Pump out

Well stocked chandlery  Groceries

Pay us a visit, just browse and see what we have to offer Open daily 9am –6pm ALL YEAR ROUND Tel 01327 844639 E-mail: marinachandlery@gmail.com

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BUCKINGHAM CANAL SOCIETY The BCS AGM was held with a limited number of people attending in person at Buckingham Community Centre on Saturday 21st March, whilst most members used a proxy vote. We also had to cancel our speaker and his talk on Hayes Boats of Stony Stratford but Neil Loudon has promised to give the talk at a future date.

At present, we haven't cancelled our annual Cosgrove Festival and Craft Fair planned for weekend of 18th-19th July but the decision will be made after the next government announcement in three weeks time..

Otherwise, work was continuing to go well on Bridge One at Cosgrove with bricklayers working to complete the brick facing there. Bookings were also being received from outside companies who had worked with us last year and wished to join us on our work parties for community and team building days this year. We also had three new outside companies which included Volkswagen wanting to join us this year, in fact at the end of April we would have had about 30 people from Volkswagen working on site at Bourton Meadow..

After the Government announcement on Monday 23rd March, all BCS work parties are postponed. The only work to be carried out by volunteers will be some necessary safety work connected with Bridge One at Cosgrove.

The BCS now has its own work boat Louise which will be used by BCS volunteers along the Buckingham Arm and we also plan to carry out some tasks for CRT which could include cutting back branches and trees overhanging the non tow path side of the Grand Union canal. Some of our volunteers have already attended training courses run by CRT. I'm writing this report at the end of April so it is impossible to say what will happen over the next few months at all our sites. Like everybody else we will just have to wait and see. So the message to all IWA members is to just keep safe.

Louise getting a new coat of paint

Athina Beckett, Buckingham Canal Society

25 All advertisements must comply with the requirements of the Trades Descriptions Act and avoid misrepresentation of goods offered for sale. The Business Advertisements (Disclosure) Order 1977 requires that businesses seeking to sell goods must clearly indicate this in an advertisement.

COMMERCIAL RATES 1/4 Page (box) £12.00 +VAT 1/2 Page (box) £25.00 +VAT Full Page £40.00 +VAT Other sizes by arrangement 10% discount for 4 issues paid yearly in advance 5% discount for 4 issues paid quarterly

CLASSIFIEDS (suggested donations) £1.50 for 22 words, 15p each additional word £3.50 for box around classified advertisement (nb. telephone numbers count as one word) £3.50 for photographs

Regular Branch Social Meetings are held on the second Tuesday of each month from October to May inclusive at

THE WALNUT TREE INN, BLISWORTH, at 8pm All members and non-members welcome Food and drink available

NEXT MEETING 13th October Speakers will be announced in the next edition The next edition of Endeavour will be published in August 2020

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Branch Chairman Bernard Morton

07785 375787/ 01604 858294 E-mail: bernard.morton @waterways.org.uk

Vice Chairman, Joint Task Party Organiser & Membership Secretary

Joint Task Party Organiser Michael Butler E-mail: michael.butler @waterways.org.uk

Planning Officer

Geoff Wood

Helen Westlake

Branch Secretary

Branch Meetings

E-mail: geoff.wood @waterways.org.uk

Sandie Morton 01604 858294

E-mail: sandie.morton @waterways.org.uk

E-mail: helen.westlake @waterways.org.uk

Catriona Butler E-mail: catriona butler @waterways.org.uk

Treasurer

Paul Lynam

E-mail: paul.lynam @waterways.org.uk

Newsletter & Archivist Tony Clarke

Non-Committee post Website and Media Officer Gail Anscombe E-mail gail.anscombe @waterways.org.uk

07305 893924

E-mail: tony.clarke @waterways.org.uk

Committee Member John Pomfret

E-mail: john.pomfret @waterways.org.uk

Vacancies Publicity and Grants Officers Committee Member

The Inland Waterways Association is a membership charity that works to protect and restore the country's 6,500 miles of canals and rivers.

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