1970: Someone mention WRG? Part four of our series marking WRG’s 50th year in which we look back at what was happening in 1970, and how Navvies Notebook reported it... the shock news that the second class postage was going up from 5d to 6d, meaning that it would It’s a curious quirk of WRG’s origins that the account for three shillings of the five shillings words ‘Waterway Recovery Group’ don’t appear a annual subscription rate and sooner or later the single time in any of the first four of the six issues rate would have to go up. (Rather than risk deof Navvies (or rather, Navvies Notebook to use its scending into ‘Four Yorkshiremen’ sketch style original title) which were published in 1970, the parody by converting those directly into decimal year WRG was founded. currency, I will instead say that allowing for inflaWhy? Because the magazine pre-dates the tion that’s roughly the equivalent at today’s prices organisation. Navvies Notebook (initially published of about 40p for a stamp and £4 for a year’s by the working party group of the London & subscription.) Home Counties Branch of the Inland Waterways On the subject of money, Graham menAssociation) was launched by editor Graham tioned in his column that the magazine had “gone Palmer and others in 1966 to cater for the increas- into the supplies business”, negotiating “the best ing numbers of mobile waterway restoration possible rates” for site clothing and safety gear to volunteers, the ‘new navvies’ as they styled them- get “volunteers and group better equipped at the selves (after the original navvies who built the minimum cost” - although if we reuse the same canals) who travelled the country, working on conversion factors as above (which I found on the whichever projects could benefit from their help. It Bank of England’s online inflation calculator, by would provide details of forthcoming work, the way) 14 shillings for a hard-hat is equivalent to reports from working parties, contact details for over a tenner today, which I’m not sure would be restoration projects, information about plant, anyone’s definition of ‘minimum cost’ now. machinery and equipment - plus amusement, Still on money, and in particular raising it, he entertainment, and often some pretty stroppy signs off with a mention of a calendar for 1971, comment about how the canals were run and the illustrated with the line drawings which usually state that they seemed to be falling into. It wasn’t adorned the cover of Navvies Notebook in those until four years later in 1970 that they came up days (before decent photo printing was practicable with the idea of an organisation to back up the given the magazine’s production methods) - and a magazine, providing a resource of labour, expersnip at 5 shillings. tise, equipment, coordination and more. Oh, and the mention of the name of the So although in one or two of the first four new organisation on the editorial page? On the issues in 1970 (which this series of articles has bottom line it says “Published by Waterway Rebeen reviewing one at a time in the corresponding covery Group - bi-monthly”. four issues in 2020) Graham dropped the occaWhere did we work? Moving on from this sional hint that some kind of change might be in somewhat low-key start, we get into the nittythe offing, it wasn’t until after the official launch gritty of what Issue 26 was mostly about: the of WRG at the Inland Waterways Association’s dates, sites and work for the forthcoming working National Rally of Boats at Guildford that he parties. It kicked off with the ‘Next Time Out’ finally went public about it in Navvies Notebook. (diary) pages, listing working parties on the BirWell, when I say ‘went public’... Did the mingham Canal Navigations Soho Loop, River name of the new organisation appear on the Derwent, Upper Avon Navigation, Kennet & cover? No. Did it appear overleaf on Graham’s Avon Canal (Bath Locks), Dudley Canal (Park editorial page? Well, yes, it did, but it still wasn’t Head Locks), Montgomery Canal (Welshpool), exactly launched in a blaze of glory. You might Stratford Canal, Peak Forest Canal (Marple), Peak have expected it to be the leading item in his Forest Canal (Bugsworth Basin), Pocklington column, but instead he led off with a brief apolCanal and Caldon Canal (Cheddleton), plus a ogy for the non-appearance of the directory of promise that Tim Dodwell of Horsell, Woking work party organisers (to save space) followed by (brother of John Dodwell, whose Montgomery
50 years ago...
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