the system

Progress on the S&N

After taking advantage of the enforced lockdown break in work to get on with some planning, SNCT are back up and running at Wappenshall Basin

Shrewsbury & Newport Canals

Obviously, we have had very little activity on the ground, due to you-know-what. However, it has provided the Shrewsbury & Newport Canals Trust with time to do some planning. This has focussed on three main areas – Wappenshall Wharf, Berwick Tunnel Approaches and Highways England Grants.

Wappenshall Wharf: it was most frustrating having to cease work early in January, because our great team of volunteers had managed to build half of the 42m retaining wall at the northern edge of the east basin and the remainder would have been completed by now. So, we have planned how we are going to get the remainder of the spoil out of the basin without leaving our JCB marooned in it. This will then permit the rest of the 5m x 2.5m concrete basin floor slabs to be cast and the expansion joints fitted. We then need to finish the retaining wall brick courses to match the remaining basin perimeter, fit the escape ladders and then add the water!

Berwick Tunnel Approaches: as many WRGies will know, as they helped move this section’s restoration forward significantly with a couple of weekend camps, we have improved the south eastern tunnel approach a lot more until lockdown stopped work. However, we have now done all the paperwork necessary to progress the rebuilding of the Donkey Shed / Lengthsman’s Hut and the portal wall at the north western portal. This has been forwarded to the Canal & River Trust (as they own the Berwick Tunnel and its approaches) for approval so we can hit the ground running when current restrictions permit. Weekend camp, anyone?

Highways England Grants: I’m sure the good news from Cotswold Canal Trust about their £4m grant from Highways England (HE) will be known well by now. [In case it isn’t: they got 4 million quid from an HE fund of public money set up specifically for remediation / mitigation of damage to the environment caused as a result of national road construction work over the years, and it has mainly been spent on reinstating the A38 crossing of the Stroudwater Navigation to replace the old bridge and adjacent canal length which were destroyed when the M5 motorway was built in the 1970s] So, we have done a lot of work to learn how SNCT might obtain grants to get our canal across both the A5 dual carriageway at Berwick and the A41 Trunk Road in Newport. This is a massive administrative task and has kept a small team of us from going stir crazy during lockdown. There are no guarantees we will get either or both of these grants, but we will be giving it everything to ensure that we do!

Stop press: [update and pics received as we went to print] Because we are working to CDM Regulations and have done our Risk Assessment to be Covid Bernie Jones compliant, SNCT have man- Removing shuttering from top section of Wappenshall basin wall page 26

aged some limited, socially distanced work parties in the past few weeks. In the first picture (opposite page) the progression of our retaining wall in the East Basin at Wappenshall had the formwork removed from the last top section we managed to pour before lockdown. The wall has been formed in 3 sections – the first was its base (complete with reinforcing rebar of course), then the main wall section and, lastly, the short, thinner top section that will take 4 courses of bricks, finishing off with bull-nosed Bernie Jones ones to match the remain- Setting up reinforcing for the bend into the existing wall der of the basin walls. Anyone know where we can get some blue and orange bull-nosed imperial sized bricks? They are about as rare as hen’s teeth we are told. Second pic (above right) shows the intricate ‘jigsaw’ of re-bar reinforcement that blends a 135-degree bend into the existing stonework wall, which, just to make things interesting, is laid back by 15 degrees towards its top! We luckily had William Jones on hand to work out how this was done. His working life involved doing this sort of thing – luckily for us! This was then filled with concrete mixed by hand and wheelbarrowed into place. I think we used 26 wheelbarrow loads taken about 60m each time. Not bad for a team of six in just one day – almost as good as WRGies!

Finally (left) is a still from a drone video of the basin, taken by member Steve McClelland. The 42m wall is now almost half completed. The twenty 5m x 2.5m reinforced concrete slabs can be clearly seen too. Once we have cleared the remainder of the spoil there’s only another 70 to do! We’ll resort to a concrete pump for these I think. Newport based members have been taking their daily exercise on a rota basis to scrub bash the dry bed section cleared by WRG at Meretown. In addition, some of our Shrewsbury members have been doing a great job by taking their daily exercise by socially distancing and bashing the early scrub that has tried to come back at the approaches to the Berwick Tunnel. There has also been some exciting progress undertaken by the National Steve McClelland Trust on the section of our canal that runs through their Attingham Park Estate. But more of this when we have some photos to show!

Aerial view of progress on the basin wall and base slabs Bernie Jones page 27

Progress Buckingham

The Cosgrove Bridge 1 project nears completion, with bridge construction finished, the dam and piling removed, and the farm crossing next to go...

Buckingham Canal

Cosgrove Bridge 1 and surrounding length: We keep overusing the word ‘milestone’ but I don’t care. This IS another milestone in that we (Buckingham Canal Society) have built the missing Bridge No 1 (the first bridge from the junction with the Grand Union Main Line at Cosgrove), inserted stop-planks, removed the piling across the canal which was holding back the earth dam, and now we have even removed the earth dam. By the way it was earth, and clay, and lumps of stone, and rubble, and tree roots and so on and so forth. There is still some more to come out as part of the dredging, but “there ain’t no stopping us now!”

Covid-19 has reduced our scope and volunteer numbers but we have been managing our work at Cosgrove within the Covid compliance framework, with Canal & River Trust reviews to allow us to continue the works within the Government’s guidelines.

The previous dredgings have been taken out of the hopper and deposited behind the Nicospan channel edging at ‘Cosgrove Cow BCS Corner’ (where the cows have bro- ‘Water under the bridge’ - the dam and piling are gone ken down the bank) by the junction of the Buckingham Canal and the Grand Union Main Line. We are rebuilding the bank for CRT and hence we are able to deposit our dredgings with the relevant permits and without cost to us, whilst being of benefit to all canal users. We will have fenced the muddy bit off in March to stop the silly cows wading into the squidgy mud and getting stuck.

Meanwhile the towpath beyond Bridge 1 is starting to be re-formed where the temporary farm crossing was located. A long time ago this was the most significant breach of the canal between Cosgrove and the A5 crossing, probably caused by a tree fall. That’s why this was the chosen location for the temporary crossing. The field access to Cosgrove Hall has now been closed off and re-fenced.

Part of this temporary works remediation also includes building a splash wall to separate the wet clay on the channel side from the dry toe of the banks supporting the towpath. This is a concrete foundatio with 9in wide concrete blocks and 11 courses of bricks that will all be buried inside the towpath underneath the walking surface. As I write this, the task is nearing its completion and should be done by the time you read this.

Work will then progress to removing the infill under the temporary farm crossing, subject to Government Covid advice etc. Once the channel is clear, we will focus on the towpath bankside leaks over the spring and summer, as well as raising the bund at the farm crossing to allow for the raised water levels. Discussions are onvoing to reduce the number of farm crossings and remove each in turn in the not-too-distant future.

Progress Wendover & Gipping

Planning a footbridge at Baylham on the Gipping, and looking to start removing the historic rubbish infill from a length of the Wendover Arm

River Gipping

River Gipping Trust volunteers are now back working along the river, in maximum groups of six with two or three groups at different locations. The first week back saw a general clean up and tidy up after the winter floods.

The Trust now have all the necessary planning and Environmental Agency permits approved allowing Trust volunteers to start restoration work on the 230-year-old brick bridge abutments at Baylham. If the abutment restoration work goes according to plan the Trust plan to order all the footbridge materials in May for delivery in July, with an anticipated opening date in August or September. Once open, it will be possible to walk alongside the river upstream of Baylham for the first time in 100 years allowing unseen north-facing views of the magnificent historic Grade II listed Baylham water Mill and Mill house, parts of which are 16th century. It is the only complete water mill on the Gipping. Ian Petchey RGT River Gipping Trust Restoration Manager Clearing debris from Baylham Mill sluice gates

Grand Union Wendover Arm

April is the earliest that we are likely to resume on site, depending on the Covid-19 vaccination programme and when our volunteers feel comfortable with being on site.

Health & Safety: To make handling and laying easier with less heavy lifting, we are designing a Bentomat handling excavator attachment that will place an uncut roll directly along the canal bank at 45 degrees. The required stress calculations have been done, and where required, the design has been modified. We have a contracting company prepared to manufacture the rig, as and when signed off for safety. A 13-tonne excavator will be required and we are looking for a suitable (cheap/scrap!) bucket so that the lifting bars etc. that connect to an excavator can be cut off and welded to the rig.

Removing the Historic refuse tip: Our Project group, set up to get the tip material (in the infilled length just past the limit of navigation) off site, has been working hard. We are working with CRT and sub-contractors to finalise the various agreements and contracts for the first Trial phase. Herts County Council/ Dacorum Planning advised that the work can be carried out under ‘Permitted development’, however we may need advice from the Highways Department for road access issues.

Early March was set as a target start date for the trial. For the bulk removal, the Group are evaluating proposals from several major companies. Based on their advice we will be making some more small excavations to take samples for analysis as some parts of the tip will be ‘non-hazardous’, and can go a short distance straight to landfill. Some areas are known to contain a small, local, amount of bonded asbestos and we need to establish and segregate this in the correct manner. [Stop press: the trial excavation has been completed: more next time]

Progress Chesterfield

Not so much a restoration progress report, more the result of an exchange of emails with George Rogers that’s so bizzarre that we had to share it...

Chesterfield Canal and HS2: instalment 57...

The good news on the Chesterfield Canal is that HS2 Ltd, the company in charge of building the new high speed railway line, have dropped their objections to the Chesterfield Canal Trust’s planning application to restore the remaining mile and a half of unrestored canal that falls within the Chesterfield Borough Council area.

And that’s particularly good news because in the Budget on 3 March the Government confirmed £25.2m of funding for Staveley under the Towns Fund regeneration programme. And the Canal Trust is provisionally allocated something approaching £6m of this money to go towards the almost £11m cost of restoring this length of canal - much of which is the cost of rebuilding the Puddle Bank, a massive earthwork embankment across the Doe Lea Valley. All being well, it will be restored between now and 2014.

The length of canal runs from Staveley (where the canal currently comes to an end a little way below the new Staveley Town Lock) to just short of Renishaw. When added to the already restored Chesterfield to Staveley length it will create about a seven-mile isolated restored length. Perhaps more importantly it will reduce the length of the ‘missing link’ derelict section in between the isolated length and the main 32-mile Norwood Tunnel - West Stockwith navigable length to only about seven miles. OK, they’re seven difficult miles with a collapsed tunnel, a built-on section in Killamarsh requiring a bypass with new lock flights, a flight of 13 derelict staircase locks and some mining subsidence. But elsewhere, there’s a more straightforwards section running north from Renishaw that’s already being restored thanks to £50,000 from the Inland Waterways Association’s Waterways in Progress fund.

But why did HS2 object to the planning application in the first place? Navvies contacted CCT’s development manager (and long-serving WRG volunteer) George Rogers for the story. It’s a complicated one, and it goes back nine years to 2012...

As originally planned, it looked like HS2 might be the canal restoration’s nemesis. A five mile length of HS2 from near Staveley to Killamarsh looked set to obliterate much of the canal’s route, destroying much good work already done - and resulting in the loss of a multi-million pound Lottery bid for canal restoration which had had a good chance of success. But then, several years later, HS2 had a re-think about how it would serve Sheffield (in effect, via a loop off tne new railway running on conventional lines, rather than directly by the new main line) and that shifted its route several miles to the east. This was obviously good news for the canal as it would take it away from the StaveleyKillamarsh length of canal. There were just two remaining issues: one involving how HS2 would cross the canal at Norwood Tunnel; the other concerning an HS2 maintenance depot at Staveley, served by a siding off the main line which would cross the canal using (or on or near the site of) an existing (but ‘mothballed’ out of use) freight railway track - whose existence was New Staveley Town Lock - but how many more are needed? page 30

the reason by the Staveley Town Lock had been built, as there wasn’t sufficient navigable headroom under the railway without lowering the canal. (And a second new lock would be needed to bring the canal back up to the original level on the far side of the railway.)

There was no reason to believe that the new siding couldn’t use the existing bridge (or a replacement at the same height) - but HS2 Ltd seemed coy about providing any details. Mainly, it seems, because they didn’t have any, because they hadn’t done the detailed planning on the north eastern branch of the line yet. This might not have been much of an issue, but with the possibility of major restoration funding from the Towns Fund, the funders would want some surety of knowledge that the canal wouldn’t be compromised by HS2. And wth the north eastern branch currently on hold, HS2 Ltd weren’t going to put anything in writing, or even consider the Chesterfield Canal’s plans. The only way to get HS2 to act at all was to put in a planning application. Which CCT did, and HS2 duly objected. Why? Because they hadn’t decided what level to build the line at, and might want to build it at a lower level.

So CCT dusted down some plans it had made some years earlier, when it had appeared possible that a lower level railway crossing might be needed. These plans involved adding a second new lock - not the one to bring the canal back up to its original level, but another one to lower it even further to get it under a theoretical lower-level rail crossing which might (but probably won’t) be needed. And this would involve modifying the new length of canal below Staveley Town Lock that the CCT volunteers have been working on for years. Oh, and it would then need two more new locks the other side of this theoretical low level railway line to get it back to the original level.

These plans were supplied to HS2 and it duly withdrew its objection, meaning that the Towns Fund bid could go ahead. And fingers crossed that the canal will get its money. And at some point between now and about 2024, it’s hoped that further negotiations with HS2 will end in an agreement that the lower level crossing and second extra lock to lower the canal won’t be needed after all.

And finally, it seems there’s a chance HS2’s north eastern branch will be dropped anyway, and the canal won’t need any new locks at all - not even the one they’ve aready built... Chesterfield Canal and HS2

Two new locks needed (or possibly four?) to provide headroom for canal under HS2 depot access siding Renishaw

Puddle Bank

Route of planned HS2 depot access siding

Progress Ashby Canal

After a quiet couple of years getting their (Transport & Works) Act together, Ashby Canal Association are gearing up to get some practical work going

Ashby Canal

For the last 4 ½ years there has unfortunately been very little visible progress towards the restoration of the Ashby Canal, but that does not mean that we have been inactive by any means.

Back in the Summer of 2016 we completed our last major milestone towards the restoration of the missing section of the canal. This was with the opening of the newly rebuilt Bridge 62, or ‘Faulks Bridge’ as it was originally known plus the extension of the navigation to just the other side of the bridge where it now terminates with a winding hole.

The next obstacle against further restoration has been the need for a new aqueduct over the Gilwiskaw brook as the original structure was removed after that section of canal was closed back in the late 1960’s. When the works were being carried out for the last restored section of canal and the rebuilding of bridge 62, the majority of the next section of land from the new terminus to the site of the aqueduct were levelled and graded in preparation for a quicker restart to reinstalling the channel once the aqueduct is in place. We spent the next few years fundraising for the aqueduct with our ‘buy-a-brick’ appeal (which is still active) and taking all of the official steps necessary to be able to get the aqueduct installed. All of the inscribed bricks that have been purchased so far have now been manufactured and have been put on display at Snarestone Wharf until we are ready to install them on the aqueduct.

At one point we were hoping for construction to begin in 2019 or 2020 but then we found ourselves being held back, but oddly by some good news. Previously all of the land required for the canal restoration as far as Measham, the next town along the route had been purchased by Leicestershire County Council for the purpose of restoring the canal. LCC also had been granted a Transport and Works Act order (TWAO) to give them the necessary powers to make this possible. In 2019 LCC decided that they no longer have the resources to continue with their involvement of the restoration scheme and offered the transfer of all related assets over to the ACA. This meant that we could not make any further progress with the aqueduct or any other major restoration works until the transfer of the TWAO and land was completed. To this date that process has not yet been finalised, partially due to the emergence of that pesky global pandemic that has held up so many restoration schemes over this last year for one reason or another. We are now however close to having this process completed in the not too distant future and will hopefully be able to soon report back with a significant increase in restoration activity. Whilst waiting for the Martin Ludgate TWAO transfer to be com- Current limit of navigation, view towards Gilwiskaw aqueduct site page 32

pleted we have more recently had another project that we have been working on. We received a £10,000 grant from the IWA for the installation of a footpath to link up the current canal terminus at Snarestone with the neighbouring town of Measham. This will be largely following the restoration route of the canal and therefore future towpath and will provide an important link for both users of the canal to be able to walk into Measham but also for the people of Measham to be able to get to the canal. This has also been impeded to some extent by the ongoing pandemic and at the time of writing we are stuck in another national lock-down. Despite this we have however been able to make a good start on the project with just a small handful of regular volunteers performing some clearing works and also with some additional sup- ACA port by a local group of professional Sponsored bricks on display while waiting to be used volunteers that we were put in touch with via a connection we have made with the National Forest. We have also employed a local contractor to perform some minor earth works that were required to level out some land that runs through various fields. We still have at least one area that requires more significant work than can be achieved by hand to get the footpath from a lower level within a field up to the higher level of a former railway trackbed on an embankment that will in future become the new route for this diverted section of canal.

On the morning of Sunday 29th November we had a breach in the restored section of canal due to an issue with a culvert that had been installed back in 2016 by the contractors assigned by LCC to perform the works. Thanks to the swift action of a number of ACA members and visitors that were present at the time we were able to install stop planks at the point where the waters change from CRT ownership and stem any further loss of water. Not before a significant amount had been lost into an adjacent field along with many fish, though. With the land of the restored section still belonging to LCC at this time we have no control over when the repairs will take place but we believe that the contract has been awarded so this should begin very soon.

As we are working to restore the missing section of an existing canal we have a number of assets both on our restored section and along the CRT owned section of canal that require constant maintenance. These are items such as benches, notice boards and mile posts etc which we regularly work to maintain but due to the number and spaced out locations of these we are always on the look out for more volunteers to help us with this. We also have our base and shop at Snarestone Wharf which too requires regular maintenance, especially between spring & autumn plus we hold regular work parties when not being restricted by a global pandemic! Towards the end of last summer we held a number of work parties to install a new canopy in front of the shop which greatly improves the visual appeal, especially now we have also installed panels/curtains around the sides to enclose the area from the weather.

Once the TWAO transfer is completed and lockdown lifted we will need more volunteers than ever so anyone wishing to help can contact us via our website www.ashbycanal.org.uk Arran Jenkins & Anne-Marie Eccles Work Party and Volunteer Coordinators, Ashby Canal Association page 33

news Training Grant 2021

A one-off opportunity for WRG volunteers to receive funding for training for a recognised qualification in ant area of benefit to waterway restoration

WRG Skills Training Grant 2021

The WRG Skills Training Grant 2021 is a oneoff grant, funded by our successful National Lottery Heritage Fund Grant to help WRG volunteers ‘dust off their shovels’ after a year-long gap and get ready to return to canal restoration in 2021-22.

The background: The Restoration Hub operated by WRG’s parent body the Inland Waterways Association received a grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund. This covered a number of elements involving developing online resources to help canal projects, offering heritage skills training, providing guidance on environmental and sustainability issues, and facilitating better communication between relevant organisations. Owing to Covid we have been unable to deliver some of the training elements of this, so by agreement with NHLF we have been allowed to repurpose the funds for individual training. We therefore have a short term (between now and 31 July) skills training grant for WRG volunteers to apply for.

Guidance: The award is subect to conditions including the following:

.Training must be completed and claim forms must be received by 31 July. . It is only open to WRG volunteers. . Applicants must include full details of training with the application. . The course should provide a certificate or a recognised qualification. This would normally be by a recognised training organisation. . The training award will consider up to 100% of direct costs (i.e. course, travel and accommodation costs), up to a maximum of £350. WRG will consider contributing up to £350 for more expensive courses. . Applications must be received in good time before training has commenced, in order to allow time for review and discussion. We cannot fund retrospective applications.

Preferred areas: Although applications will be accepted for any area of training which will benefit WRG canal camps, weekend working parties and wider activities, there is a list of ‘preferred areas’. Examples of areas we will fund include:

.Bricklaying . Stone walling . Construction manager training (SSSTS) . Hedgelaying . Food hygiene . Covid awareness training . First Aid . Surveying . Machine operation

For more details including a full guidance note and application form, see the WRG website or contact Jenny Morris on 01494 783453 or jenny.morris@wrg.org.uk.

Smalley for sale!

Remember Smalley excavators? Those strange machines with two wheels and two legs which dragged themselves around by their bucket, and were popular on canal restoration sites in the early days? Well maybe you don’t if you’re under 50... but anyway, Grantham Canal Society has one for sale. Over to Colin Bryan...

The long term Smalley digger (fondly known as Duncan), has become surplus to requirements at Woolsthorpe depot and needs to go to an enthusiastic new owner (rather than just be weighed in for scrap!)

Ian Wakefield and myself bought it back in 1990, it has done sterling work over the years including digging out the byweir at Lock 18, and lifting the heavy stuff from most of the locks at the Woolsthorpe end of the canal in the 1990s and early 2000s, and more recently as a trainer for our workboat Centuri (which has a similar Smalley aboard).

It comes with its cab and glass, three buckets plus tow bar (though I wouldn’t

news Smalley for sale!

...and a one-off opportunity to own an item of plant that you never thought you’d see again - the legendary Smalley walking excavator!

fancy going far by road due to age of tyres), and the engine is good starter.

Selling to best offer. Contact me by email at colinholiday12@gmail.com or phone 07778890139 if you’d like a chat. All money raised will of course go to GCS funds.

Any offers for Duncan the Smalley? Biodiversity Net Gain Working Group

We’ve already covered Biodiversity Net Gain in earlier issues of Navvies, but to recap:

Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) is an approach to nature conservation whereby new developments in England (and yes, many canal restoration projects are likely to count as ‘developments’ for this purpose) will be required to demonstrate a 10% increase in biodiversity on or near development sites.

Although it may seem like yet another imposition on a canal restoration movement that’s already being hit with more than its share of extra red tape / hurdles to jump / extra expense; however at the same time it’s quite possible that there are places where canal restoration could actually benefit by providing the ‘net gain’ for an adjacent development. But like it or not, it’s expected to become a mandatory requirement by 2023 and may well already be required within your local authority area, so those of you involved in local canal restoration groups are already finding yourselves having to deal with it - or will do soon.

To help you, the Inland Waterways Association’s Restoration Hub has formed the new Biodiversity Net Gain Working Group to support and prepare the waterway restoration sector during and prior to BNG becoming law. On the 29th March 2021 the working group held its inaugural meeting to highlight its aims and objectives and to set out priorities for the year. Below you can find out what has been discussed:

The working group’s aims are to:

.Prepare and support restoration groups for the implementation of BNG prior to and after it becoming mandatory in the UK . Respond to and lobby on behalf of restoration groups to ensure the interests of canal restoration are adequately represented at all stages . Undertake case studies of canal restorations in relation to BNG in differing contexts and provide training for the sector

BNG Statement: The Working Group agreed to action a restoration sector statement on Biodiversity Net Gain. The statement would be intended to be used to gather support from the restorations across page 35

news Net gain again...

More on biodiversity net gain, plus a reminder about diesel, and a note of our appreciation of the work of one of IWA’s honorary consulting engineers

the country to allow members and experts on behalf of the working group to lobby government and respond to updates relating to BNG.

Training programme: A training programme, to support the restoration and waterways sector on the various aspects that cover BNG through a collaborative effort, will be developed over the coming years. Currently two sessions on BNG have been held and can be found on our IWA YouTube channel covering the basics and introducing the core principles.

Over 2021 we are looking to get a wider view from across the country on how other organisations are working with BNG, including topics that will cover the following:

.Biodiversity Net Gain - A Planning

Perspective . Biodiversity Net Gain – A Developers

Experience

Restoration case studies: The Working Group agreed that there is a need to undertake a number of case studies using the biodiversity metric to assess how BNG will be applied to canal restorations in differing landscape contexts. The BNG process would be applied on restorations to demonstrate the opportunities or issues that could occur. Case studies would be undertaken on areas of canals with the following characteristics:

.Urban . Semi-urban . Rural . Dry canal . Re-watered canal . Naturalised Canal (high biodiversity priority)

Contact us: If you are concerned or would like to discuss how Biodiversity Net Gain will affect your waterway restoration work, contact alex.melson@waterways.org.uk and we can arrange a discussion. From plants to plant...

If you follow the boating press you’ll be aware that the threat to end the use of ‘red’ (lower duty) diesel for propulsion of leisure boats (even when the extra duty is paid on it) has been lifted by the UK government, and the current system will continue. What you should also be aware of, but we’re taking this opportunity to remind you just in case, is that it’s part of a wider review of use of lower duty fuel which will end the use of red diesel for on-site plant and machinery. So that means that when the new rules come in, you’ll need to run your dumpers, pumps etc on ‘white’ road fuel (DERV).

...and on the subject of fuel...

Our parent body the Inland Waterways Association has set up a sustainability group and one thing it is doing is looking at possible use of other fuels, such as HVO (hydrogenated vegetable oil). We’ll keep you posted.

...and vehicles...

Don’t forget that if you’re planning on driving one of our WRG vans in the London area, the Ultra Low Emissions Zone is being enlarged from 25 October this year. From that date, older vans that don’t satisfy the emissions limits will be charged for travelling within an area extending out to (but not including) the North and South Circular roads. Of our current Canal Camps fleet, vehicles RFB and SAD comply and are exempt; BOB and EHP don’t and must pay.

Thank you...

...to Roy Sutton, well-known to many of us as a regular KESCRG volunteer, but also until he recently retired, one of the Inland Waterways Association’s Honorary Engineering Consultants. Our thanks for his many years’ service providing civil engineering input to much of our restoration work.