6 minute read
on a possible way forward for WRG
chairman A way forward?
Chairman’s Comment
I’ve been chairman of WRG for many years and, because there is a seasonality to our activities, it naturally follows there is a seasonality to my comments in Navvies. Pretty much every year this edition of Navvies has featured an appreciation of a great summer and a promise that we are planning some great work for the next year.
This time however it will not follow the traditional pattern, because although we have looked for positive examples of progress (and indeed many people have been working hard on all those “other tasks” we have talked about), almost none of us have had the pleasure of walking off site at the end of the day with the warm, wonderful feeling that we achieved something.
We shouldn’t ignore this loss no matter how stoical we think we should be. No matter how positive our outlook it would be foolish to ignore the fact that this summer, volunteers both new and old did not discover they could lay bricks or operate dumpers. Some people didn’t discover they had the confidence to lead a team of people or the skills to construct some clever concrete shuttering. Possibly worst of all some people didn’t have that feeling of looking round a table in a village hall one evening and realising they had found a place they could genuinely call home.
Because to ignore that loss is to ignore what our activities mean to us. In the next few pages Martin’s editorial seeks to reassure that:
“…[given a timescale of WRG’s 50 years], a year’s gap in WRG activities isn’t quite the ‘end of the world as we know it’ that it might seem.”
He is of course correct: we have faced bumps along the road before and no doubt will again. But in all those times we have all been able to keep doing what we enjoy and this time we haven’t. A lot of people have missed out recently on their ‘WRGie playtime’, and the opportunity to get back to it seems a long way away. Whilst we don’t know the ‘first timers’ we have not met up with over this summer, we do know which ‘regulars’ we would have met and spent time with. Please take some time to keep in contact, drop them a line or a text. If you are missing that mud and laughter, then the chances are so are they.
Just as the ‘looking back’ part of this comment is different this year, so it will be for the ‘promise of things to come’. WRG has, generally speaking, always been an optimistic bunch of people and I think it’s true to say that our current hope is that:
Whilst it’s going to be tricky to get our traditional Canal Camps offering up and running before next summer, surely by then the whole world must have sorted things out and everything will be back to normal. If that’s the case then we will probably be able to spring right back into action as the planning and preparation was already in place and our vans and trailers are ready to go at pretty much a few days notice. Some camps might not fill up completely but they can still run. We will have lost a whole year of work but we will be back up and running doing what we do best. If, by some happy chance, the pandemic is halted earlier then again - we are ready to go.
But right now (a) this looks a little risky as a policy anyway and (b) WRG have always been pretty good at seeing opportunities for change and, at the very least, giving them a good talking about.
The WRG committee met a few weeks ago and it seems many people are genuinely page 8
interested in working through an alternative offering that assumes the risks of Covid are still there. Depending on how successful this alternative is we could either offer it until ‘normal’ Canal Camps are viable or perhaps just keep it going alongside our Canal Camps.
So we have formed a sub-group of the WRG committee to push around all the ideas/ opinions/experiences and see what an alternative offering might look like. If we manage to stick to the timetable then there should be a thought-provoking article in the next Navvies followed by a Navvies-wide survey to see what you liked/disliked about the ideas we had come up with. The sub-group will no doubt be also flashing out various social media discussions along the way as well. If you have any contribution to make, even if it’s just an information sign you saw and took a photo of then please send comments into the team at Head Office (enquiries@wrg.org.uk). With things like this every contribution is helpful – whether overly optimistic/pessimistic or anywhere in between. It’s a similar process to Accident Reporting – every little nugget helps, whether it’s a really big philosophical point or a tiny point of detail. (As an aside for only the very long term readers of Navvies: yes, I too am just a little bit alarmed that our answer to one of the biggest threats to our work is “let’s form a subcommittee”.)
The one thing about this 2020 version of the October comment that will resemble all the other years is that it usually features some thanks and appreciation from me to those who have helped me during the year. So firstly congratulations to all our friends who were mentioned in the IWA awards at this years AGM, especially long term navvies Athina Beckett and Adrian Sturgess (someone who I definitely missed spending time with on-site this summer). Finally I really should record my thanks to our Navvies editor Mr Ludgate. Putting together this magazine is never an easy task but the care and dedication that Martin has shown over the last year to make sure that Navvies is both positive and responsible in its outlook but still an entertaining and informative read is second to none. That’s the thing about WRG – it doesn’t matter whether it’s a van, a shovel, a project plan or an apple crumble. Somebody cared about it and looked after it to the best of their ability because they knew you would appreciate it. Navvies is no different – just read the next few pages.
Hugs and kisses
Mike Palmer
RIP Sadie Heritage
We have lost one of life’s characters. Sadie was always up to something, travelling with narrowboat Straw Bear; historic working boat Lynx or her camper. I remember being in a pub on the Middle Level with some of Peterborough IWA. It was after hours and the Police arrived as Sadie was doing a handstand. On another occasion we were at a WRG Boat Club gathering when we were woken in the early hours. Sadie and Peter Thompson were doing a clog dance on the towpath. They had managed to find a sheet of timber to dance on, which enhanced the effect. Sadie was always accompanied by a small dog. I remember Doglet, Lill and Butler. The Butler was responsible for looking after her recently when she came home from hospital... or that is what she told the nurses?
Sadie was a founder member of WRG Boat Club and secretary until the club’s demise last year. Her enthusiasm and ideas kept us entering and joining in events at National Waterway Festivals. Who can forget her washing line of bloomers flying from the roof of Straw Bear at Chester? Club members all looked forward to her clever original and hand drawn Christmas cards every year. Meeting and marrying Fred brought her much happiness for she loved working boats and quiet Fred was her perfect companion. They travelled on Lynx which they kept in immaculate authentic traditional working boat condition. Boating along the Basingstoke canal (the first canal my husband Roger and I had worked on) with Sadie and Fred was a revelation. Sadie joined me at NABO being my secretary. Meetings were always fun. I will miss her.
Sue Burchett (plus contributions from Lynn Cater)
