navvies volunteers restoring waterways
All revved up with some place to go... (See the 2022 Canal Camps booklet enclosed with this issue)
Spotlight on the
Maidenhead Waterways
Get
trained! issue 311 feBRUary-march 2022
Intro Ocean Railway Bridge
Our pictures show the original bridge which carried the Birmingham to Bristol railway over the Stroudwater Navigation (now part of the Cotswold Canals restoration) at Stonehouse; the small unnavigable culvert which replaced it when it was demolished in the 1960s; and the brand new bridge built over Christmas 2021 which clears the way for reopening. See editorial and progress pages for more
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In this issue Contents For latest news on our activities visit our website wrg.org.uk See facebook group: WRG Follow us on Twitter: @wrg_navvies Production Editor: Martin Ludgate, 35 Silvester Road, East Dulwich London SE22 9PB 020-8693 3266 martin.ludgate@wrg.org.uk Subscriptions: WRG, Island House, Moor Road, Chesham HP5 1WA Printing and assembly: John Hawkins, 4 Links Way, Croxley Green WD3 3RQ 01923 448559 john.hawkins@wrg.org.uk Navvies is published by Waterway Recovery Group, Island House, Moor Rd., Chesham HP5 1WA and is available to all interested in promoting the restoration and conservation of inland waterways by voluntary effort in Great Britain. Articles may be reproduced in allied magazines provided that the source is acknowledged. WRG 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 WRG and IWA accept no liability for any matter in this magazine. Waterway Recovery Group is part of The Inland Waterways Association, (registered office: Island House, Moor Road, Chesham HP5 1WA), a non-profit distributing company limited by guarantee, registered in England no 612245, and registered as a charity no 212342. VAT registration no 342 0715 89. Directors of WRG: Rick Barnes, John Baylis, George Eycott, Emma Greenall, Helen Gardner, John Hawkins, Dave Hearnden, Nigel Lee, Mike Palmer, George Rogers, Jonathan Smith, Harry Watts. ISSN: 0953-6655
© 2022 WRG
PLEASE NOTE: subs renewal cheques MUST be made out to The Inland Waterways Association NOTE new subs address below Contents Acting Chairman’s Page Jonathan looks forward to the summer Canal Camps 4 Editor Martin feared it might never happen 5 Coming soon Training and Little Venice 6-7 Legacy Leaders Training scheme report 8-9 Group reports NWPG and WRG North West are back in action 10-13 Restoration Feature Maidenhead: Recreating the Thames backwaters 14-17 Progress around the system, including the Cotswold’s new railway bridge 18-29 WRG Print The end of an era 30-31 Safety ...or rather, SafeTea 32 Restoration Hub goes online 33 Navvies News Restoration conference 34-35
Contributions... ...are welcome, whether by email or post. Photos welcome: digital (as email attachments, or if you have a lot of large files please send them on CD / DVD or contact the editor first), or old-school slides / prints. Contributions by post to the editor Martin Ludgate, 35, Silvester Road, London SE22 9PB, or by email to martin.ludgate@wrg.org.uk. Press date for issue 312: 10 March.
Subscriptions A year's subscription (6 issues) is a minimum of £3.00 (cheques to The Inland Waterways Association) to WRG, Island House, Moor Road, Chesham HP5 1WA. Please add a donation if you can.
Cover: a rare shot of the Canal Camps fleet all in one place, as we organise getting them serviced, MOT tested and ready for the summer’s Canal Camps. See page 6 for a list of camp dates and sites, and the (hopefully) enclosed booklet for more information. Apologies to the late great Meat Loaf for the misquote! (Front cover picture by the editor, back cover by Jude Palmer)
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comment Acting Chairman Standing in for Chairman Mike Palmer, Jonathan Smith brings us up to date on Legacy Leaders, plus what is and isn’t happening in 2022 Acting Chairman’s Comment So here we all are in 2022. I hope everyone had a good break over the Christmas and New Year period and is starting 2022 raring to go. WRG has already hit the ground running with an excellent Legacy Leaders training weekend at the end of January and the launch of the 2022 Canal Camps programme.
tale recently that when a commercial organisation looked at the job description for our Camp Leader, they declared it an impossible job for one person!
This summer’s camps
Currently we have slightly fewer camps agreed than in previous years, but this is not surprising given current circumstances, and we hope that we may be able to add other camps is due course. One of our priThe Legacy Leaders scheme mary issues is finding suitable accommodaThe Legacy Leaders is a scheme we started tion with adequate space and ventilation. about a year ago funded via Historic England’s National Capacity Building Scheme. ...and what else is happening? It aims to upskill some of our existing Canal Camp Leaders, as well as supporting Before the camps start we will also have potential new Camp Leaders (hopefully the Restoration Conference on the 26th from younger age groups) so that they March (see the Navvies News pages), have the skills to effectively lead week-long where hopefully we can meet more people work camps. Running a camp is no small face to face, and this is followed by our task with the need to co-ordinate and Leader Training in May and the WRG Training Weekend in June (see our Training manage around 18 volunteers, along with all of the necessary planning, risk assesspages). Certainly, when you look at our ments and health and safety legislation plans for 2022 it does feel like some sense etc. So it is hoped that these new leaders of normality has resumed. will leave an enduring legacy of support to canal restoration. ...and what’s not happening? It was great to see our Legacy Leaders training alongside full time IWA emSome events however are just not practical ployees during the day, and then everyone and unfortunately there will be no tradigetting together in the evening with the tional WRG BCN clean-up in March of this canal camp leadership teams from 2021 to year, and whether or not a reunion weektalk and share experiences. It is truly end in November will be possible is very amazing what we can achieve by working much not known at this stage. together with no distinction between volunteer and employee – just a group of And finally... people with common aims. You can read a report from one of the trainee leaders Finally, some of you will no doubt be wonelsewhere in this issue. dering about the WRG Chairman, Mike We do owe our current and future Palmer – the news is also good. He is Canal Camp Leaders a great debt as they continuing with his rehabilitation and has commit their precious time to ensure a just returned to work full time. So, let’s successful camp, with happy volunteers look forward to a happy and active year for and progress made on a restoration project 2022. at the end of each canal camp. It is no Jonathan Smith small task to achieve this, indeed I heard a Acting WRG Chairman
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Editorial It’ll never happen? Martin muses on the 1980s, rail crossings, and the return of Canal Camps Thought it would never happen? (1) in this issue, that’s what happened on the When I first got involved in canal restoration, the schemes which had been completed and reopened to date were what might be called the ‘first generation’ projects. Canals which had never actually been officially closed, just starved of maintenance and left to fall derelict. Routes like the Ashton, Lower Peak Forest, southern Stratford, Stourbridge and Caldon. That’s not to say they were ‘easy’. In fact getting people to accept the idea of anyone wanting to reopen them at all was hard work, when these canals (especially the urban ones) were widely seen as a dangerous liability to be filled in for the public good. Some of the canals I first worked on, particularly the Basingstoke, were in the same category - however much hard work was involved in restoring them, they’d never actually shut, so there weren’t any demolished road bridges to replace, or filled in lengths to reinstate. But others, such as the Huddersfield, the Rochdale and the Wey & Arun, were in the next generation. They had been officially closed; their routes filled in and obstructed by roads and buildings; locks and aqueducts demolished, tunnels collapsed. Frankly they were regarded as ‘impossible’ by many even within the restoration movement. And I’ll admit that I had my doubts too. But then in the early 1980s a restoration scheme - the Rochdale I think - did the ‘impossible’ and got funded to fully restore and reopen a section, including reinstating demolished road bridges. And all of a sudden they didn’t seem quite so ‘impossible’ any more. And sure enough, many of those schemes have since been completed, while others are in the ‘when’ rather than ‘if’ category. But although replacing demolished road bridges had become commonplace on canal restorations in recent years, nobody anywhere in Britain had ever removed a blockage to a canal restoration that was caused by a working main line railway crossing the canal without a bridge. Until now. Because as you’ll see from the pictures
Cotswold Canals over Christmas / New Year. The Bristol to Birmingham railway, which (since the original bridge was demolished in the 1960s) used to cross the Stroudwater Navigation on an embankment with a tiny culvert to carry the water, now spans it on a new fully navigable sized concrete bridge. And to me it feels slightly the same as the Rochdale all those years ago. It’s been shown to be achievable, and the various other restoration sites that will need new rail bridges - such as the Wilts & Berks, the Lichfield, elsewhere on the Cotswold Canals suddenly don’t seem so ‘impossible’ any more. And no, don’t worry, I’m not talking about volunteers doing the work! But as ever, they’ve played a large part in getting the restoration projects to the point where these bigger challenges can be dealt with.
Thought it would never happen? (2) ...and speaking of volunteer work, one thing that has also seemed like it might never happen was for an issue of Navvies to once again appear in print accompanied by a Canal Camps booklet with a full programme of summer camps. For the last two years it’s been a case of the editor trying (usually unsuccessfully) to second-guess the pandemic and publish optimistic ‘coming soonish’ features about Camps that might or might not happen, only to have to apologise in the next issue. Until now. So while nothing is ever entirely certain - and there may well be some additions / deletions / changes to the programme (in which case we’ll do our best to keep you informed via the next couple of issues of Navvies as well as the WRG website and Facebook group) - we really are optimistic that after last summer’s five ‘trial camps’, this summer will be back to more like the old days. So for once I can end with... “So hopefully I’ll see you on a Canal Camp sometime this summer”. ...with a chance that it might be true. Martin Ludgate
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coming soon... Get trained! See the camps booklet which came with this Navvies for a list of the summer Canal Camps. And see below for opportunities for some training first... Summer Canal Camps 2022 There’s no need for us to describe all 14 of the week-long Canal Camps that we’ve got planned for this summer, because included with this issue of Navvies you will have received a copy of the Canal Camps booklet giving full details of all of them. (Just in case you haven’t received a copy, there’s a list of camps at the bottom of this page, you can request a booklet from head office - print or electronic version - and all the info is on www.wrg.org.uk. But just to make sure you’re well prepared for the camps season, we have some training events first...
WRG Training weekend: 25-26 June The Wey & Arun Canal will be hosting our usual pre-summer camps training weekend at which we hope to help familiarise you with some of the skills, vehicles, machinery and anything else that will be helpful for your camp. But we’re not going to give a list of what training’s available - we want you to ask us for what your want to be trained at, and we’ll do our best to provide it. By way of examples, in the past we’ve offered training on machinery (including excavators, rollers, dumpers), vehicles (vans, trailers), practical skills (bricklaying), hand-held plant (breakers), technical kit (levels, Cat scanners), First Aid, risk assessments and lots more. So get in touch with head office on 01494 783453 or enquiries@wrg.org.uk.
WRG Leader Training Day: Saturday 21 May This is aimed both at helping to provide help and guidance for those who have volunteered to be part of the leadership team on Canal Camps, and also those who are considering giving it a go. It will take place at Rowington Village Hall in Warwickshire, and again, you can contact head office on 01494 7823453 or enquiries@wrg.org.uk for details and to book.
Canal Camps 2022
Mobile groups’ weekends
2-9 Jul Herefordshire & Gloucestershire Canal 9-16 Jul Herefordshire & Gloucestershire Canal 16-23 Jul Herefordshire & Gloucestershire Canal 23-30 Jul Chelmer & Blackwater Navigation 23-30 Jul Lichfield Canal 30 Jul-6 Aug Chelmer & Blackwater Navigation 30 Jul-6 Aug Lichfield Canal 6-13 Aug Lapal Canal 20-27 Aug Wey & Arun Canal 21-28 Aug Shrewsbury & Newport Canals 3-10 Sep Swansea Canal 10-17 Sep Monmouthshire & Brecon Canals 17-24 Sep Swansea Canal
In addition to the week-long Canal Camps listed (left), the regional mobile working party groups are also back at work. See Navvies News page 38 for details of two London WRG weekends, see pages 12-15 for news from WRG North West and NWPG, see the last Navvies for reports and pictures from KESCRG and WRG Forestry, and WRG BITM have been out too. So far, working parties have been mainly on an an ad-hoc basis - see the groups’ websites or Facebook pages for the latest news - but we plan to reinstate the Navvies diary in a future issue.
More details in the Canal Camps booklet, mailed with this copy of Navvies, or on waterways.org.uk/canalcamps
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coming soon... Cavalcade As the IWA Little Venice Canalway Cavalcade returns after a two-year absence, volunteers are needed to help run this popular London festival Site services for Canalway Cavalcade at Little Venice, 27 April - 3 May
Martin Ludgate
Canalway Cavalcade is the Inland Waterways Association’s annual festival at Little Venice (near Paddington in London), and a popular and colourful fixture in the canal boating calendar. It will return for the May Day Bank Holiday in 2022 after two years away due to the pandemic. One thing that makes it happen is a team of site services volunteers – not an official WRG Camp, but generally a bunch of mostly WRGies who set up and manage the festival infrastructure and site. The camp runs from mid-morning on Wednesday 27 April (when stuff starts arriving and we build our camp) through Thursday and Friday when we build the festival. The three days of the weekend during the actual festival generally involve site management activities before the take down of the event on the Monday evening and Tuesday morning with the aim to have cleared the site by mid-afternoon on Tuesday 3 May. To make it all happen we’d like the experienced volunteers who have helped in previous years to come again and also some new faces to join the team to ensure the future of the event. We recognise that you may not be able to attend the whole camp because it does run mid-week to mid-week but we do need people to attend on the weekdays, in particular on the Monday evening and Tuesday because this is when we most need them! We welcome people who are only able to help for a day or two. There will be a plan of work activities so that everyone gets chance to enjoy some of the festival and take in the amazing atmosphere of the event. The accommodation is limited and restricted to two narrow boats for sleeping on, plus a field kitchen (which needs to be built on day 1) for cooking and eating. Work activities include putting up (and taking down) marquees, market stalls and banners around the site, fencing, and general event management. Outside of the work camp activities, Canalway Cavalcade also needs volunteers to assist with other aspects of the event such as donation collecting, giving information to the public and children’s activities – if this is of interest please let me know. Contact me on Pete.Fleming@waterways.org.uk for more information. Pete Fleming
Help to make this happen again: just some of the boats at the 2019 IWA Canalway Cavalcade
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training Legacy leaders Legacy Leader Programme trainee leader Karen explains about the Programme, and reports from a training event at Rowington in January Waterways Legacy Leaders Training Weekend 29-30 January Rowington, Warwickshire. I can hear you ask yourselves: what’s the The Waterway Legacy Leader programme? Well, it commenced last January 2021 under the care of IWA / WRG head office’s Alex Melson - who quickly decided that we were too much trouble to handle, and so got a new job and left us! Luckily for us, Jenny Morris has taken us under her wing and is looking after us. The aim of this training was to provide new trainee leaders with the tools and skills to enable us to become future leaders of Canal Camps. All of us underwent a stringent application process and it was decided that we had the correct attributes to offer WRG – although of course you will decide! We have been provided with a varied amount of online training (Due to COVID-19) over the course of the year, which has included: Site Supervisors Safety Training Scheme (SSSTS) Site Environment Awareness Training (SEATS) First Aid Mental Health Awareness Training Mini workshops on Risk Assessments, Management and Ecology.
Some of us also applied for the WRG Skills grant and were lucky enough to be selected: I completed the Mental Health First Aid Course. Over the last weekend of January, we came together for the Grand Finale which was conducted at Rowington Village Hall. We undertook Lateral Flow Tests to ensure we didn’t contaminate the work force, and on arrival we had sausage baps and proper coffee while introductions were completed. This training was conducted face-toface and was a breath of fresh air: it really was, as we were outside in gale force winds! The gazebo took off and had to be rescued by Jude
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Jenny Morris
. . . . .
But is it level?
Jenny Morris
Jude Palmer
Palmer (who was a lovely chef for the weekend) and her minions – Nigel, Jenny and probably someone I have forgotten (sorry). It was really nice to see people in the flesh and not online. We completed a heritage bricklaying introduction, van, trailer and levelling training. Some of us even got a trip to Lichfield to donate the bricks we had used during the day to the Lichfield and Hatherton Canal Trust but, more important than all of that was the evening surprise where we got to meet our Mentors at the Tom o’ the Wood pub in Rowington. We met our Mentors (or should I say Dementors?) - these are the lucky ones who will guide us over the next year; I’m not sure who is more worried, them or us? Nigel Lee has been selected to be my Dementor - how lucky is he? We also got to meet some of the leaders, assistants and cooks from last year’s camps. On return from the pub, we congregated in the huge kitchen like all good parties do, socially distant of course, to enjoy each other’s company but really it was to continue stuffing our faces with cheese, biscuits, and Port, although other beverages were available. On the Sunday morning some of us stayed to observe the WRG Committee / Board Meeting in which we also contributed, even Ricey from his bed on the stage - maybe the other beverages had had an effect! I would like to take this opportunity to say a big thank you on behalf of everyone who has completed this training and for the support we continue to have in our new venture. For those of you that are already leaders, we are all very much looking forward to being a part of the team and hope to see you in May at the Leaders’ and Cooks’ Training weekend. Here’s to a successful year of camps, socialising and getting together with likeminded people who want to make a difference. Best wishes Karen Cook Of course it is!
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groups
NWPG
As the regional mobile volunteer groups awaken from their slumbers,we follow last month’s KESCRG and LWRG reports with news from NWPG Newbury Working Party Group (NWPG) Update January 2022
concept. In return for local canal trusts providing us with worthwhile and well-resourced projects, the WRG teams guaranteed minimum levels of weekend digs and week-long camps. A number of canals took part, with the Cotswold Canals and Wey & Arun Canal being the main beneficiaries. The various sites and tasks are too numerous to list but we have worked on locks (repair and rebuild), bridges (moveable and fixed) and spent numerous hours re-surfacing towpaths, clearing vegetation, cutting down and re-planting trees. Like every WRG group, our construction and organisation and safe working skills have improved over time which, along with increased mechanisation, has meant that we now achieve far more in a day’s work party than we did in the early days. Since the start of the pandemic we have managed three working parties – all on
Pictures by Bill Nicholson
Yes we are still here and are beginning to stir from our Covid-19 forced exile over the past two years! As it’s been a long time since we’ve made contact with fellow restorers in the outside world I thought that it might be a good idea to give an update on our future plans as well as explaining to newer folk who we are and what we have done in the past, and who knows, perhaps encourage some of you to join us. NWPG was formed in 1981 with the main aim of promoting the use of volunteers in the physical restoration of the Kennet & Avon Canal. In that particular aim we were only partially successful when we led the construction of the footbridges on the Caen Hill flight of 29 locks at Devizes - which I am pleased to say are still there today, over 30 years after the canal reopened. Fortunately, during the 1980s we were able to divert our energies to the Basingstoke Canal. Here, along with WRG, KESCRG and the local teams we were trained up in the skills needed to restore canals, assisting with the reconstruction of the locks at Woking (the St John’s flight) and Woodham, up to the canal’s reopening in 1991. Not wishing to lose the benefits of the joint working between groups established on the Basingstoke, in 1991 we set up with London WRG, KESCRG and BITM the Dig Deep NWPG on the Wey & Arun: reinforcing at Birtley on the 2019 camp...
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the Wey & Arun, comprising the manufacture and installation of a temporary timber bridge deck on the lifting bridge substructure at Birtley. This substructure was built by the three very successful joint WRG, KESCRG and NWPG camps in 2019. All our three working parties were three-day digs with rather different accommodation arrangements as Covid precautions: the first involving travelling daily from home to site (not ideal) and the last two when we took over the White Hart in Cranleigh with everyone booking separate rooms. The temporary bridge is now in place and a circular permissive path has been opened along this attractive hillside length of the canal. Forty one years on and let’s be honest, with an ageing profile, the pandemic has made us look to the future. Pre-2020 our work parties were perhaps too frequent for our core members to keep turning out. Also a number of our team are now regulars with the Wey & Arun Northern Work Party and having retired find it easier to work on the canal during the week. Nevertheless, weekend digs do have their benefits – particularly on the social side. To stop them completely would lose the social benefits of a Saturday night together in the hall/pub, would make it difficult for
group members from further afield to work with us and would impact our ability to run our normally very enjoyable and productive summer camps. So, for 2022 we are testing going with just 4 weekend digs, of which two are extended to three days, plus a week camp. We are hopeful that post pandemic, we will be able to slowly rebuild our numbers so that we can achieve around 8 – 10 on site per day and with a large enough group overnight to make it worthwhile to provide catering and accommodation. As to venues, our main focus is likely to remain the Cotswolds and Wey & Arun Canals though we are open to suggestions from other canal societies on projects that we may be able to help. NWPG has an active social group including a lot of retired diggers! We meet every 2nd Tuesday in a pub in Reading (note change from previous diary listings) – currently the Allied Arms in St Mary’s Butts. We have a WhatsApp Group which is active and on which would encourage people to join as it is the easiest way of keeping in touch. Other social events include organised walks in the Berkshire/Oxfordshire area, skittles evenings and our autumn Reading pub crawl. New volunteers are welcome, and despite the name of the group (reflecting its origins) you don’t need to come from Newbury, or anywhere near that part of the country. If you would like to join one of our digs (the next time out is on 12/ 12 March at Inglesham) or want to keep informed of all our activities by e-mail or WhatsApp please drop me an e-mail – billnicholson@gmail.com Other dates are still being finalised but will appear in the Navvies diary in the normal way. Bill Nicholson
...and the temporary fixed deck completed and installed in 2021
[We hope that the ability to plan ahead with a little more confidence will enable us to reinstate the Navvies diary pages soon ...Ed]
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groups WRG North West A...and meanwhile, WRG North West have been to the Montgomery Canal to continue preparations for the building of the new School House Bridge The material to be removed on the other side was a mixture of scrubby hedge, concrete fence posts, stumps and various forms of wire fencing, including some very The weekend of 11-12 December saw 11 rusty barbed wire. Once the hedge had been volunteers turn out at School House Bridge on the Montgomery Canal for WRG North cut down the machine made light work of the roots, except for one almighty brute which West’s first ‘proper’ weekend since Septemtook about an hour to remove. Needless to ber 2020, when we cut down about 200 yards of quite dense regrowth from earlier say, by the time the roots were out there wasn’t enough brash left to burn all of them, Reunion Weekend clearances. though about half a dozen were carried Our original plan had been to remove and burn as much of the cut material as across to the original, rather healthier fire. The concrete fence posts fought hard possible by hand and then use the small 360 as they were well buried in stones (the redegree machine to lift the roots so that they, mains of the old bridge?) and anchored with too, could be burned. However, when we generous amounts of concrete. Nevertheless, arrived, Mel Roberts, the recently appointed most of what could be removed had been by project manager for the School House Bridge the time we retired to the hall for a slightly building project, asked us to concentrate on the other side of the road. In practice, because later than usual lunch. Just for a bit of variety, Malcolm and John H went to investigate the other side of the road wasn’t ready for machine work, three people and the machine the redundan container on Crickheath Wharf, left from the experimental channel lining stayed on the original side on Saturday, camps about 10 years ago. This needs to be reducing to two and no machine on Sunday. moved soon so as not to interfere with SUCS work. It had been welded up but we managed to cut our way in quite easily using an angle grinder powered from the inverter in Malcolm and Barbara’s camper-van. Inside wasn’t as bad as we had feared. Burnable rubbish went on one Clearing the canal bed adjacent to the site of School House Bridge of the fires
WRG North West on the Montomery Canal
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and a dustbin full of non-burnables was vidually wrapping sandwiches worked well, removed for binning, along with a few tools as did clothes peg identification of mugs. to be added to our collection at Mike’s and a Having all self-tested, we didn’t wear masks box of smaller odds and sods for further in the hall. sorting by Malcolm. That left 100 metres of By the time you read this we will have French drain, some working gloves and been out again on a one-day dig: the garden hose, all of which Shropshire Union Hollinwood Canal Society have got permisCanal Society are happy to take, and some sion from Oldham Council for Saturday digs time expired lime mortar which we are hoping scrub-bashing at Daisy Nook on 8 January the locals can dispose of. The cooker isn’t even and 5 February so we have ‘adopted’ the worth cleaning so it, and various other essenfirst of these. Also not strictly NW digs but tially metallic items, can go with the container. litter picks on the Yellow Brick Road (The Accommodation was in the Ashton Canal Stockport Branch) resumed in Llanymynech Church Hall which, after a slow Gorton on Saturday, 20th November; this start, proved warm and comfortable. Memo one produced 26 bags of litter, of which two for future visits: the central heating takes 4-6 were flattened aluminium cans for our hours to warm the hall from cold but, once it friends in the Wooden Canal Boat Society. has, the lack of thermostatic control means that selectively turning off individual radiators is the only way of controlling the temperature without having to keep turning the heating on and off manually. Barbara’s catering was up to its usual high standard, with Saturday evening’s meal of turkey stew almost qualifying as Christmas dinner. Covid precautions didn’t work quite as anticipated. In particular, restricting access to the kitchen to the cook proved unviable. Access by others was minimised but Barbara could not have coped without some help. Restriction to a cook plus one assistant might be worth considering in future. Everyone self-tested prior to Dealing with the troublesome fenceposts joining and indi-
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Restoration feature A little-known set of backwaters off the River Thames have received some millions Restoration Feature: the Maidenhead Waterways Among the sites being planned for possible WRG Canal Camps in the future is the Maidenhead Waterways. And already our WRG BITM regional mobile group has made it one of their weekend working party sites. So what are the Maidenhead Waterways? Where did they go, what state are they in, and what progress has been made on restoring them and what are the plans to open them up to boating? Well the answer to the first of those questions is that they are a set of connected backwaters off the River Thames, which between them once formed a route bypassing a stretch of the main river and passing through the town centre of Maidenhead. As for the state they’re in: well, mostly they’re still intact, they still hold water (some are nominally navigable), and they still fulfill a role as flood channels, carrying surplus water away after heavy rain. But at other times the waterways around the town centre have become almost dry, attracting rubbish and causing them to be seen as an eyesore, while the lengths downstream of the town have been getting more and more overgrown with overhanging trees and vegetation. Or rather, that was the case until around 15 years ago...
The restoration back-story The story began in 2006, with a feeling among the
Pictures by Martin Ludgate
people of Maidenhead that ‘something should be done’ about the state of the channels in the town, which were becoming an eyesore. But their flood relief role meant they couldn’t simply be abolished. So the Maidenhead Waterways Restoration Group (MWRG) was founded, based on a belief that by restoring the water levels to navigable depth and opening up the waterways to boating, they could be turned from a problem into an asset, attracting boaters (who normally cruise straight past as the Thames skirts the edge of the town) to visit Maidenhead. MWRG made a couple of important early decisions. Firstly they decided that breaking the route down into stages would make it more achievable. Although they had visions of eventually reopening a through loop off the Thames, all the way from where the Widbrook stream leaves the Thames near Cliveden to where The Cut rejoins it downstream of Bray, they would tackle the central and southern parts first. They then broke this down further, concentrating on the circuit of urban channels created by the York Stream and the Moor Cut (a parallel flood channel created to relieve the York New basin and development in progress at Chapel Arches Stream) close to the
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Maidenhead Waterways of public funding, and volunteer work is happening. We take a detailed look... town centre. And initially they targeted the York Stream section of this circuit. Secondly, they felt that rather than try to set a standard that attempts to accommodate all Thames craft (which would be tricky as some are really quite large), or even to specify a smaller maximum size (in the way that a typical canal restoration might aim for full-length narrow boats or whatever), they would initially aim for the largest dimensions that can be accommodated under most existing structures by setting the right water level, and open up sections to those craft which will fit. This wouldn’t preclude later enlargement, but it might mean, for example, that the lengths above the town could at some stage be open to
Maidenhead Waterways Length: town circuit 1¼ miles, route to Thames below Bray 2 miles Locks: none originally Date closed: not abandoned, last trade in 1920s
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ame
s
To Reading The Maidenhead Waterways: Usually these ‘history’ pieces begin with a description of a canal being built, opened, prospering for a while, then Cookham suffering from competition from railways and other forms of transport, and falling into decline Cookham Lock and dereliction pending the arrival on the scene of Fleet Ditch a restoration group. But the Maidenhead Water(formerly ways are rather different. They’re a system of navigable) Widbrook (future backwaters off the Thames which between them navigable route?) once provided a through route descending from the Thames near Cookham to Maidenhead, Cliveden through the town centre, and continuing beyond past Bray to rejoin the Thames. They weren’t specifically built as canals to satisfy a transport need, but nevertheless they have for a long time in Town Boulters Lock the past been navigable and used by freight barges Moor ‘Town centre (at one time they even formed the main navigable Maidenhead circuit’ route of the Thames navigation), and (unlike most Moor York canals, especially derelict ones) they still have a Cut Stream New weir built, public right of navigation and are still used by new lock planned small unpowered craft today. Braywick Park However the last barges used them in the Bray Lock Hibbert Rd 1920s, and since then they have silted up. Water The Causeway Bray levels have fallen, and the the only time they’re full The is during flood conditions after heavy rainfall - in Cut fact the Moor Cut section of the town centre circuit was built as a flood relief channal, although To London with the construction of the Jubilee River flood channel on the far side of the Thames the Maidenhead Waterways have less of a flood relief function. Having lost their purpose and most of their water, and gained a certain tendency to attract rubbish, the waterways (particularly those in the town) had begun to be regarded by local people as eyesores, but one that they couldn’t get rid of because of their occasional use to carry flood water. Against this background, in 2006 the Maidenhead Waterways Restoration Group was formed, with the aim of raising the water levels, reopening them to navigation, and turning them from eyesores into an attractive feature of the town, which would attract visitors by water.
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small unpowered craft, the town centre circuit accessible by small narrowboats and cruisers, and the length downstream of Maidenhead to larger craft. MWRG organised some initial volunteer clearance of the channels, while starting the planning for more major work. Fortunately the potential to improve the appearance of the town has meant that local authority the Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead (RBWM) has been supportive of the scheme - and its plans to Overgrown channel (in flood conditions) south of Maidenhead redevelop parts of the town centre fitted in well with restoring the waterways. Following the usual years of detailed plans, environmental impact assessments, planning applications and so on, in 2015 work could begin on dredging, deepening and piling the banks of the centre section of the York Stream to rebuild it to navigable standard, thanks to RBWM and MWRT jointly putting in a successful application for £1.6m of funding from the government’s Growing Places fund towards the £2.1m cost. The initial quarter-mile centre section complete, in 2016 work shifted to the lengths north and south of there with further Council funding. Meanwhile a commercial development on a site known as Chapel Arches paid for the reconstruction of a further section of the York Stream (and the creation of new basins), which completed the rebuilding of the York Stream through the town centre. The next stage of work was to create a new weir to the south of the town, just below where the York Stream and Moor Cut join, to maintain the water level of the entire town centre circuit at navigable level. This was completed, including fish pass and a set of boat
New weir competed 2020 with boat rollers, fish pass, and site for proposed new lock alongside
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rollers for small craft (with provision for a lock in the future), by early 2020.
Where are we at? The York Stream is now rebuilt to navigable standard through Maidenhead town centre, and water level of the whole circuit of town centre waterways is maintained at navigable level. However the Moor Cut is too shallow for boats as yet.
So what next? The next project is to deepen the Moor Cut to the same standard as the York Stream, remove a (now redundant) old weir near Town Moor, and remove a couple of remaining obstructions to allow the town centre circuit to be opened to navigation in small craft. This currently awaits funding. At the same time, MWRG - now under the new name of Friends of Maidenhead Waterways - is also looking for opportunities to open up the southern channel which links the town centre to the Thames at Bray Marina, downstream of Bray Lock. Although enlarged in the 1960s for flood defence reasons, it has since silted up and become heavily overgrown.
The state of the York Stream in 2007 before work began...
... under reconstruction in 2016, and (below) complete in 2020
And then what? We’ve already mentioned aspirations to build a lock by the new weir, but opening the town centre circuit to larger craft off the Thames would need some major clearance, tree removal and possibly channel construction work on the length from there to Bray and this would need a sensitive approach from an environmental angle. And then perhaps look at the length above Maidenhead, looping back to the river opposite Cliveden? Martin Ludgate
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Progress Lichfield Canal We spend a lot of time and effort restoring locks, but Lichfield & Hatherton Canals Restoration Trust are putting a lot of work into abolishing one... presence of the ‘big pipe’, a storm drain installed in the canal bed before the canal Lichfield & Hatherton Canals Restoration was filled in after it was abandoned in the Trust volunteers have concentrated their 1950s. As volunteers started building the work on the Gallows Reach section of the north wall in front of the ‘big pipe’ they had canal alongside Tamworth Road on the to cross over it in order to tie the new wall southeast side of Lichfield, where the chanback into the old lock wall. They started by nel has to be lowered by 2.5 metres to allow excavating around the pipe and shaping a the restored canal to pass under Cricket Lane couple of quoin blocks to become the leading without the need for a humpback bridge edge of the angled wall and hence a rubbing (which it would have had originally, but strip or an impact strip for passing boats. It which would not be allowable now). This has has been a slow job building this tied wall as involved removing the old lock 24 (and will the leading edge has also been shaped with also involve building a new replacement lock chamfered bricks and the wall has been on the other side of Cricket Lane) and build- backfilled with concrete. ing buttresses to support the new north wall. The pipe will have to be crossed over After spending the last two months conagain on the wider section of canal bed, structing them, the volunteers have now which will leave a section of pipe remaining covered all six buttresses over with soil, so in situ as part of the new wall. It is hoped you wouldn’t even know they were there. that providing a parallel water channel will An added complication has been the assist boats to traverse this narrow section
Lichfield Canal
View across the head of the former Lock 24: deepened channel in the foreground, six buttresses supporting the old north wall behind have been covered in soil and are not now visible
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by providing a path for water displaced in front of the passing boat. The first of three pipe inspection chambers on the approach to Cricket Lane is also getting closer, and volunteers will have to deconstruct that whilst being careful to maintain both the flow continuity and the containment provided by the pipe. To this end they have created a slit trench on the line of the pipe so that engineering director Peter Buck can explore some of the potential solutions to these issues. One of the final distinguishing features of old lock 24, the lock wall recess, has been remodThe new lower channel created through the remains of old Lock 24 elled. To retain the heritage, blue bricks were stretcher courses which meant that far fewer used in the new 9 inch wall and the original blue bricks were used. cross bond (alternate courses of stretcher Meanwhile to the south west of Liand header bricks) was maintained. A hunchfield, work at Wood Lock 18 continues with dred or so donated modern orange core a new bridge being constructed and holed bricks were used in the hidden rear repointing of the lock walls. Length: 7 miles Locks: 30 Date closed: 1955
Ogley Junction
A3 8
Railw ay
A5127
A5
1 A5
To Anglesey Basin
M To 6 ll
Coventry Canal
Huddlesford To Coventry Cappers Lane
Byp LICHFIELD ass
A4
61
Fosseway Heath and Lock 18
Aqueduct
To Fradley
Diversions to be built to avoid obstructions to restoration
? HS2
Lichfield Canal
Next part of bypass to be built
New channel being built alongside Wyrley & Essington Canal Falkland Road section of bypass to Wolverhampton
Cricket Lane
Gallows Reach work site
Tamworth Road work site
Old Lock 24 to be replaced by new lock on west side of Cricket Lane
The Lichfield Canal is the name given by canal restorers to the abandoned eastern seven miles of the Wyrley & Essington Canal. The canal originally stretched from the Birmingham Canal Navigations Main Line in Wolverhampton to a junction with the Coventry Canal at Huddlesford, but this eastern length which included all 30 of the canal’s locks was closed in the 1950s to save the cost of maintaining the locks.
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Progress Derby Canal Meanwhile the Derby & Sandiacre Canal Trust are indulging in some ‘extreme gardening’ and putting the finishing touches on their restored canal cottages Derby Canal
DSCT
Martin Ludgate
The Derby & Sandiacre Canal Trust’s work on the Derby Canal continues with working parties out carrying out what I refer to as ‘Extreme Gardening’ on various sites in Spondon, Borrowash, Draycott and Sandiacre. As we are now in the autumn this is a mixture of hedge trimming, removal of dead or rotten trees, bramble bashing and the final grass cutting of the season. We have also been planting hedging saplings with 120 from the Woodland Trust and 950 donated by ‘I dig Trees’ / The Conservation Volunteers / OVO. These have been planted to repair sections of hedging in Spondon and Draycott. Work at the Canal Cottages in Draycott is almost at an end, with the final work being finished to allow them to be handed to our letting agent to find tenants. The car park is complete and the spaces marked out, and the edges landscaped. The work to the cafe / meeting rooms are also almost complete, with walls being painted before the electrics are finished and we can start talk to possible tenants, for opening in the spring. David Savidge Director, Derby & Sandiacre Canal Trust www.derbycanal.org.uk
Inside the cottages and (right) London WRG working there just two and a half years ago
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Progress River Gipping On the River Gipping in Suffolk, volunteers celebrate the completion of a project to replace a missing bridge, closing a gap in the towpath route River Gipping
RGT
At the site of the long-demolished former bridge which took the towpath across the river between Pipps Ford and Baylham locks, River Gipping Trust volunteers have now completed the 230 year old brick bridge abutment restoration and installed a new wooden platform deck on the abutments. The footbridge deck was purchased in kit form from the Wooden Bridge Company www.thewoodenbridge.co.uk and assembled by Trust volunteers. The deck consisted of five 10.5m long wooden beams, each 475mm high by 200mm wide weighing around ¾ tonne each. The footbridge is not yet open to the public. Trust volunteers are now working on
an an ‘accessible to all’ towpath leading to and from it. It is scheduled to open this spring (2022) with an official opening soon after. Trust Volunteers planted over 300 trees along the towpath at the end of 2021, making around 700 trees planted over the last two years, all in open areas that will hopefully in years to come give some shade to the river. The Trust organises a volunteer work party every Wednesday, normally attended by 12 to 18 volunteers. As well as working on the footbridge the Trust are looking to expand their towpath clearance work further upstream towards Stowmarket and further downstream towards Ipswich. Ian Petchey
Volunteers celebrate completion of the brick abutment restoration and the new deck installation.
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Progress
Wendover
Having paused to celebrate the rewatering of a completed length, Wendover Canal Trust are back at work excavating and lining the next section Grand Union Wendover Arm
Pictures by Wendover Canal Trust
In December the Wendover Canal Trust had another successful two-week working period. The main focus of activity was excavation of the canal channel, laying a Bentomat (waterproof bentonite clay matting) lining, and concrete blocks on top of it. The first two pictures show the view in either direction from Bridge 4, showing progress on both sides. On the west side (left), as you can see the section between bridges 4 and 4a has been partially rewatered (the rewatering celebration was pictured on our front cover in issue 310) and is subject to ‘stilling’ trials (see over) to see how well it holds water: fill it up to a known level, close off the supply, and watch the water level to see how fast it drops. The Trust also uses a special dye to spot any possible leaks. Meanwhile on the east side (below left), you can see from the picture how far the lining and blocking has progressed. The next picture (below) is a close-up
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of that lining and blocking. It shows the 40 metres of Bentomat, placed on the towpath side of the channel the previous month with the ‘Bentomatic’ (the Trust’s excavatorplus-attachment set up, designed specifically for this purpose), which now has the concrete blocks placed on top of it. The next picture (top) shows how the reinforced concrete ‘sleeping policemen’ (struts across the canal bed) are cast in concrete to reinforce the canal bank structure. And (above right) the concrete for them is mixed with “some good old-fashioned hard work and a good old-fashioned concrete mixer”. Finally (right) the Trust’s ‘Tidy Friday’ group is seen planting some 300 tree and hedging plant saplings around the winding hole (turning point) at Little Tring, the current limit of navigation for boats cruising the Wendover Arm from the Grand Union Main Line. From WCT’s December Report See over for January update
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Wendover Arm (continued)
Terry Cavender of Bucks Canal Society helped train our volunteers on the roller. Next there was a backlog of clean clay spoil from previous months. Once removed, we started excavating the ash from near the winding hole and storing it at a temporary stockpile ready to load into lorries. We carried out a COSHH (Control Of Substances Hazardous to Health) assessment which concluded that those working with the ash had to wear masks to protect against dust from the ash. Some volunteers also completed online banksman training to maintain site safety. The picture [opposite page] shows ash being dug out. Just visible in the background is a narrow boat ‘winding’ (turning) at the current head of navigation (which we opened in 2005). The ash is about to be loaded into a dumper and taken to the pile for removal. At the end of the working party, all the ash previously piled up at this location near the winding hole had gone, and most of the ash on which that pile was standing has also been dug out. This was our first time using wheeled dumpers with cabs. The cabs were especially welcome on the first Saturday when it poured with rain all day, but since then the weather was unexpectedly dry. The drivers found these dumpers a mixed blessing. While a warm dry cab in January was very welcome, the controls in each of the 2 hired
January update: The highlight of the month has been the start of removing ash from our site. We placed a contract with a large waste disposal company FCC, and this is the first contract of any size that Wendover Canal Trust has negotiated and delivered as a principal contractor to the Canal & River Trust. This material is 100-year-old Tring Urban District Council (UDC) rubbish, mainly ash, which was used to fill in the length of canal immediately beyond the current end of navigation at the winding hole just past the rebuilt Little Tring Bridge. The work this month was largely paid for by Tring Town Council, thank you! 44 lorries took around 870 tonnes of material (which is about 15% of the total amount to go from the tip) to the large FCC waste disposal site at Calvert over a 4 day period. The picture [below] shows a 13 tonne excavator loading ash into one of the lorries. The red on top of the front of the lorry, is a soft retractable top to prevent the ash flying away in transit. Removing the ash was only the last step in a long hard process. Time has been spent over the past year by the Tip Group, led by Steve Chapman, to find the best quote for the removal of the ash. This was a long process, as several rounds of sampling showed that the ash was not ‘hazardous’ as the initial sampling and testing in previous years had indicated. We then had to spend the first few days of this work party resurfacing the short access slope “cart-track entrance” from Little Tring Road. This also included the turning area where the lorry is standing, all in preparation for the vehicle movements. The car park also needed a new layer of stone, because it had become muddy for our volunteers and their cars. We bought suitable material, spread it with the excavator, and hired a vibrating rideAnother 20 tonnes of ash is loaded ready to go to the dIsposal site on-roller to flatten it.
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Ash being dug out from the infilled length by the limit of navigation (see boat in the distance) dumpers were different from each other, and different again from our usual Thwaites cabless dumpers. The smaller wheels struggle on our ground, and the eco features of the nearly-new JCB dumper proved troublesome. Nonetheless over a 6 day period, our volunteers moved some 270 loads of ash in the 2 dumpers, that’s about 1 every 10 minutes. We did this work now, a pilot, because we were keen to prove the feasibility of our plans. A small number of loads were also due to be removed during the February working party. We then need to review any lessons learned, and the availability of sufficient funding, before we continue with more bulk ash removal. Tony’s Magnificent Decade: Thank you, Tony Bardwell, for your magnificent contribution to the Wendover Canal Trust over the past decade. After more than ten years devotion to the Wendover Canal restoration, culminating in the role of Operations Director, Tony Bardwell has now stepped down for a well-earned rest. With a welcoming approach, he has encouraged many new volunteers to join our ranks. He also encouraged them to learn new skills to aid our progress, as well as the important health and safety practices essential on site. This was a vital ingredient in ensuring safe working conditions during the current pandemic. Tony has always been a great innovator. His most recent development has been the ‘Bentomatic’. This has enabled us to lay 40 metres of Bentomat (waterproof bentonite clay matting) canal lining continuously, through an ingenious excavator attachment.
In moving to a slightly quieter life, Tony will still be seen on site during our work parties. He’ll be making his knowledge and skills available to others as well as developing who knows what. We are pleased to welcome team leader Chris Bent, who has stepped up to cover the role of Operations Director. This will initially be until the end of March, when he goes away for three months, and then on his return. Tony was very successful in finding ways of delegating parts of his role, however we still need to delegate more. So this report has been collated and written by longstanding restoration volunteer (and Deputy Chairman!) Clive Johnson. Re-watering from Bridge 4a to 4: Stillage tests requested by CRT following rewatering have revealed a so far unexplained water loss between Bridges 4a and 4. We have followed the CRT hydrologist’s recommendation to use biodegradable fluorescent dye to try to trace the water loss, but so far this has revealed no obvious flows and we are not yet any nearer to tracing the cause. Chris Bent is leading a small team of specialists to quantify the loss and investigate further. Until we trace the cause, we have felt obliged to temporarily pause further relining beyond Bridge 4. This decision had to be taken at short notice, and we’re sorry for any disruption it caused to people’s plans. Although no relining took place this month, some ‘profiling’ was done (excavation of the canal to the required shape ready for relining) and we covered most of the remaining previously-laid lining with spoil.
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Progress
Cotswolds
The Cotswold Canals restoration celebrated Christmas and New Year by closing the main railway line to reinstate a canal bridge demolished in 1968 Cotswold Canals The big news on the Cotswold Canals restoration is that a week-long closure took place over Christmas on the main railway line which crosses the canal at Stonehouse, specifically so that the railway embankment which has blocked the canal there since the demolition of the original bridge in 1968 could be replaced by a new concrete bridge enabling the canal to be opened to navigation. This is part of the Lottery-supported ‘Cotswold Canals Connected’ scheme (also known in restoration circles as Phase 1b of the Cotswold Canals restoration) which will compete the restoration and reopening of the four miles of the Stroudwater Navigation from the junction with the Gloucester & Sharpness Canal (and the national canal system) at Saul Junction to Stonehouse. There it will join the six-mile Phase 1a length, which reaches through Stroud to Brimscombe Port. Most of the Phase 1a length is already restored, including the locks rebuilt by volunteers (including WRG) at Ham Mill, Griffin Mill and Bowbridge. The work still to be done on the Phase 1b section includes reinstating the ‘missing mile’ (filled in when the M5 motorway was built) including two new locks and a new crossing under the motorway making use of the existing River Frome bridge; reconstruction of Westfield Lock including building the new Oldbury Aqueduct (likely to be a volunteer job), completion of three part restored locks, construction of new liftbridges and channel works. Target for reopening of the entire ten miles from Saul to Brimscombe is 2025. On the following pages are a selection of pictures of the work to build the railway bridge.
IKEA bridge kit: the concrete bridge parts cast on site and ready to be assembled
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Above: after the last trains on Christmas Eve had run the line was closed, the tracks were taken up, and the machines spent Christmas Day and Boxing Day ripping out the embankment complete with the two old steel tunnels through it which carried the towpath (just being attacked by the excavator in the picture) and the small flow of water in the canal. Below: once the embankment was out, the base excavated down to below canal bed level and a foundation layer of aggregates laid, the first of the concrete box culvert sections to create the new bridge was craned into place
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Above: as more concrete culvert sections are craned into place the bridge starts to take shape. Left: the first of the wing wall sections can then be added. Below: with the structure complete, the remainder of the embankment can be reinstated ready to put the track back - so the first trains can run on New Year’s Day
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Progress Bradley Canal Bradley Canal Restoration Society are back at work clearing the bottom end of the route they plan to restore from the Walsall Canal to Bradley Workshops Bradley Canal
BCRS
With the relaxation of Covid restrictions, Bradley Canal Restoration Society’s volunteers have been able to start work clearing the overgrown towpath vegetation and boughs overhanging and obstructing the navigation. The work parties have been well attended and a considerable amount of overgrowth has been cleared from both sides of the ‘in water’ canal from Moorcroft Junction (where the Bradley Canal meets the Walsall Canal) for several hundred yards. So far we have had four work parties and before the start of the nesting season we hope to reach the foot of unfilled lock number 9, the bottom lock. Litter has been picked and logs cut to length and left for those with log burners to BCRS volunteers clear the length below the bottom lock help themselves. By Spring we hope to have been given the green light to clear the bottom lock of silt and rubbish. This lock has previously been restored with a HLF Grant and appears intact, requiring only the reinstatement of gates and paddle gear. The photograph shows BCRS volunteers removing one of the trees. Our work parties continue fortnightly on Saturdays and further details are available on the BCRS website bradleycanal.co.uk and Facebook page.
Bradley Canal
Length: 2 miles
Locks: 8
Date closed: 1954
The Bradley Canal was built as four separate sections of canal. The first section from Bradley was part of the winding original route of the Birmingham Canal. It was bypassed when the new BCN Moorcroft Tr am Main Line was built, but survived as the wa Junction Wednesbury Oak Loop until the section y Canal infilled beyond the Bradley lock gate workshops but not obat Bradley was abandoned around structed To Ryders Green 1960. The next section is the New bridge and Birmingham Rotten Brunt Line, an earlier needed s k c shortening of the canal. Branching off this is the Lo Lock 9 y e Bradley Locks Branch, which descended via six locks to dl intact meet the Bradley Hall Colliery Arm of the Walsall Canal. Rotten Bra Brunt Line This descended through three more locks Channel in water, to reach the Walsall Canal at Moorcroft clearance under way Locks 1-7 buried Junction. The locks were abandoned but believed intact To Tipton (abandoned) in the 1950s and subsequently filled in. Wednesbury Oak Loop to Deepfields Junction and Wolverhampton
Bradley lock gate workshops
Walsall Canal to Walsall
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wrg print The end of an era One indirect result of the pandemic has been the end of the long-time garden shed based Navvies printing operation, as John Hawkins explains duced booklets, fliers etc for Canal Societies, other groups and local businesses to raise money for WRG. We also produced and sold For many years we (I, and formerly my late Christmas cards and notelets, printed by me, wife) have been printing and distributing hand folded and packaged by my wife. Navvies magazine. All was going well... until along came Firstly, a little history: when we first Covid-19 and its derivatives. started the only machinery we used was a Unfortunately, as the initial Covid rules bench-mounted friction-fed A4 litho copier dictated, the company that I used in Watford and an A2 guillotine. We then moved onto an to produce the master plates for Navvies etc A4 suction fed machine. had to close part of the business, which As time marched on we acquired varimeant that they couldn’t process the plates. ous machines, either bought at good second- Later, as the rules were eased, the company hand prices, or bought by a WRG regional couldn’t draw-in sufficient work and it was group, or just donated to us. These inwound-up. Several other companies were cluded: a small booklet maker, a collating also having the same problems. machine and the latest addition to our setMeanwhile WRG had decided that (in up, a machine that takes collated sets, then order to limit our contact during the worst of staples, folds, trims the fore-edge and finally forms a ‘square back’. The purchase of the collating machine really helped with the production process; prior to its purchase Navvies was collated and stapled by hand. For many years Navvies was totally printed in black ink – with the exception of the cover sheet which had a second colour. We bought an A3 machine (which had a ‘second colour head’) and so I could have printed the full four colour by doing two passes (which may not have looked too good if I didn’t exactly match the settings), but soon after that Chris Griffiths (who has been a WRG volunteer and supporter for many years) from Stroudprint offered to print the covers in full four colour. These were then sent to me by courier in readiness for me to collate with the inner pages that I would have already printed. We also printed the bar-codes etc on the envelopes, and we printed other WRG related book2020: the press stands idle. John Hawkins takes up baking lets. As time went on we proJohn Hawkins
R. I. P. WRG Print (well at least in its old format)
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Martin Ludgate
the pandemic, for example at the volunteer envelope-stuffing sessions) if we held subscribers’ email addresses on the system they would receive Navvies on-line; and for the remaining minority of subscribers we managed to get a relatively small print run of a ‘hard copy’ of Navvies produced by a company operJuly 2021: first Navvies ating legitimately under a different set of Covid rules. These were then mailed out. By using the different methods everybody, who was a paid-up subscriber should have received a copy. All with the advantage that all pages were produced in full colour. Previously a full colour edition had been available on-line for some years. During this period Martin was still managing to produce a very full edition of Navvies; but it was becoming obvious that many people, often for a variety of reasons, really preferred the hard copy version. And also, during this period Alex at IWA/WRG head office (Alex has now moved to another company and his position is being covered by Jonathan Green) and I were continuing to find different ways in which we could still keep the whole operation running smoothly. (Not helped by the fact that the IWA Office was also having a new computer system installed!) As Covid rules have been relaxed Navvies is being produced in total by Stroudprint and then sent by courier to the IWA office in Chesham in readiness for me to collect, or on occasions I have collected it direct from the print company. Since some months back, I have been attempting to re-instate the volunteer magazine-stuffing evenings at the London Canal Museum that we used to have in pre-pandemic days. This will obviously be dependent on the Covid/Omicron situation and may
stuffing session since pre-pandemic days lead to sessions being cancelled at short notice – as happened just before Christmas. Thanks to some folks who have offered other premises for the stuffing evenings-I think that I’ve replied to all. As mentioned earlier a new computer system is/has been installed in Chesham. This has inevitably led to a few teething problems, but I think that Jenny Morris has now managed to correct the majority of the hiccups that I have highlighted. Over the years of running WRG Print I sometimes wonder the total weight of paper that I have handled... and no, I’m not going to try and establish a figure, but now at least I’ll get some more space in my dining room!! Although I’ll no longer be doing the actually printing of Navvies I will still be involved in its distribution etc; mainly by liaising with Martin , the printers, Jen and Jonathan (for the printing of labels and envelopes) and also to arrange a date with the London Canal Museum. And finally – well nearly, if anybody is in need of any printing machinery then please contact me via email. And finally, finally, a big thank you to the London Canal Museum for the continuing use of its premises and to all of those people who over the years have helped at the assembly / stuffing evenings, wherever they may have taken place. John Hawkins
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Safety ...or
SafeTea?
Keep yourself acquainted with six important aspects of safety relevant to waterways volunteering by watching these online tea-break videos... SafeTea? What’s that about? No, it’s not a piece about how to make a pot of tea safely! (Although in the past there has been the odd accident involving a Burco tea boiler.) No, this was a series of five-minute videos and one infographic, suitable for watching during your tea-break, which go through some aspects of canal restoration site safety. They were put together by the Inland Waterways Association’s Restoration Hub in partnership with the Canal & River Trust and supported by a grant from Historic England. They’re all online, links to them were posted (daily at tea-break time!) from 31 Jan to 5 Feb on the Facebook group Canal & River Trust Restoration, and can be easily found by searching the group for #SafeTea. The subjects covered are: DAY 1: Involvement, Communication, and Review: Acting Safely From Trustees to volunteers it is everyone’s responsibility to act safely. This video sets out some of the approaches to health and safety taken by the Waterway Recovery Group, Inland Waterways Association and the Canal & River Trust whilst restoring canal and rivers. DAY 2: Don’t lose your touch: Hand Arm Vibration Volunteers on a work party or canal camp will only be involved in a construction activity for a short time, rather than for their daily working life. Nevertheless, volunteers can still suffer from the effects of Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome (HAVS), possibly temporarily. You should therefore take steps to manage the risk from vibration. Watch the video webinar by Andy Price, the Canal & River Trust’s Safety Advisor, to find out more. DAY 3: Temporary Works The requirement to manage temporary works is not just restricted to large, complex, multi million pound projects. Across all canal restoration projects we undertake temporary works of
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varying scales and they must be managed appropriately. Poorly managed temporary works lead to risks, such as injuries or fatalities, failure of temporary or permanent works, damage to adjacent premises with consequent delays and extra cost. The video highlights the key points you should consider. DAY 4: First Aid and Accident Reporting Restoration sites, by nature of being a construction site, contain many hazards. Many volunteers will not be used to encountering these hazards in their everyday life. There is a higher chance of accidents and injuries occurring because of this unfamiliarity. Restoration groups have a duty of care towards their volunteers. You should ensure that anyone who is injured or taken ill while on site receives the appropriate and immediate attention. Day 5: Tips on Writing Risk Assessments Starting out to write a risk assessment for your project or site can often seem an overwhelming task but it is a key tool to keep your team safe on site and manage the risks. IWA’s Technical Support Officer, Mikk Bradley, has put together his top tips for writing a risk assessment in this short video. Day 6: Wellbeing In recent years it has been shown that volunteering can have a big impact on your health and wellbeing, as well as offer greater life satisfaction. Volunteering is a great way to get active and meet new people, all in the backdrop of our country’s stunning canals and rivers. With your help we can help wildlife thrive, and people can find health, happiness and wellbeing on their doorstops. A recent study conducted by the Canal & River Trust found that people who volunteer by water see much greater levels of wellbeing and life satisfaction. Your waterway volunteers are a crucial part of the journey to restore our nations waterways, and there are simple ways to ensure the wellbeing of your team. Take a look at our infographic for more information.
Restoration hub online Our parent body the Inland Waterways Association’s restoration hub a resource for canal restorers - has gone online. Jenny Morris explains... IWA launches new Virtual Restoration Hub Thank you for your patience while we get the new virtual Restoration Hub - part of WRG’s parent body the Inland Waterways Association’s Restoration Hub resource for canal restorers - to a state of readiness. We are now ready to start rolling out access to everyone. This new logged-in area in the new IWA website is the place to find events, resources and updates relating to waterway restoration. In there you will find:
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WRG’s Driver Authorisation forms and information Series of toolkits on fundraising, safety, technical and environmental issues Restoration TV Details of the Annual Waterways Restoration Conference, events and workshops
Accessing the new hub areas You need to sign up to access the Virtual Restoration Access – its free, quick and gives you instant access. To sign up go to www.waterways.org.uk/restorationhub From then on the Virtual Restoration Hub can be accessed from your account area:
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Go to www.waterways.org.uk and click on the account area icon (see illustration below) Log in to your account You should now see a link to the left-hand side for the Restoration Hub
Troubleshooting Tips I don’t know if I have an account Start by creating a new account. You will see an error message if your email address is already registered. If this is the case, but you don’t know your password, then you can try resetting it. I think I have an account but I can’t remember my password Go to the login page and click ‘struggling to log in?’. From here you can reset your password. You should receive an email with a link to reset your password. Check your junk folder too. If nothing comes through it may be that you don’t have an account – in which case, you will need to create one.
Queries If you have any queries please contact the Restoration Hub team by email to: jenny.morris @waterways. org.uk or Tel: 01494 783
This is the Account Area icon
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navvies
News
A couple of outings for our London WRG regional group, a return to a ‘real’ restoration conference, and which WRG vans are ULEZ compliant? The emission zones which concern us are as follows: As we went to press our London WRG re1. London. This is the most complex. gional mobile working party group had London has a ‘Low emission zone’ (LEZ, booked two dates for weekend digs. virtually everywhere inside the M25) and an The first is on the Wey & Arun Canal on ‘Ultra low emission zone’ (ULEZ, goes up to, 5-6 March. but not including, the North and South circuThe second is advance notice of a prelar roads.). The zones operate 24 hours a summer canal camps preparation weekend at day every day except Christmas Day. None of Berwick Tunnel on the Shrewsbury & Newthe WRG vans are affected by the outer LEZ; port Canals on 23-24 July. The work will however DD16BOB, WR14FLN, RX06KNP involve removing ash tree stumps from beand D16EHP are all in scope for the ULEZ hind the tunnel portal wall using Tirfor and therefore need to pay £12.50 per day if winches, and demolishing a damaged butthey drive within it, in addition to the contress wall which also formed part of one wall gestion charge (which covers a different and of the tunnel mouth hut. This is in preparamuch smaller area) if applicable. All WRG tion for the rebuilding of the walls during he vehicles are enrolled for automatic payment camp on 21-28 August. Accommodation will for London so if you enter the ULEZ or conbe at Uffington Village Hall. gestion charge zone you do not need to do Contact Tim Lewis on 07802 518094 or anything as it will be paid automatically nbfulbourne@btinternet.com or see the (though obviously it would be better to avoid London WRG Facebook group for details. it if possible). Note that this automatic payment only covers the ULEZ and congestion charge zones, not other charges (e.g. Attention WRG van drivers... Dartford crossing). We have already mentioned in a previous 2. Bath. The Clean Air Zone operates issue of Navvies that some or all of our 24 hours a day 365 days a year. DD16BOB, vehicles are affected by the charges to drive WR14FLN, RX06KNP and D16EHP are all in various zones in Britain - but there are frequent changes and new charges. We have now put the latest information in the folders which are kept in each vehicle, but the following is the latest situation as of 30 January 2022. Clean Air Zones (CAZ) and Low Emission Zones (LEZ/ULEZ): There are now various emission control zones around the country and, depending on which van you are driving, this may affect whether you plan to avoid certain areas (or pay the appropriate charge to enter them). Below is a brief guide to Berwick Tunnel: Work here in July with London WRG which vans can go where.
London WRG weekend work parties
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in scope for the Bath clean air zone charge and therefore need to pay £9 a day if they drive within it, see payment note below. 3. Birmingham. The Clean Air Zone operates 24 hours a day 365 days a year. DD16BOB, WR14FLN, RX06KNP and D16EHP are all in scope for the Birmingham clean air zone charge and therefore need to pay £8 a day if they drive within it, see payment note below. 4. Manchester. Although there is a clean air zone being launched in Manchester during 2022, all our vans have a temporary exemption. 5. Portsmouth. None of our vans are impacted by the clean air zone in Portsmouth. 6. Bristol, Newcastle and Sheffield. All have clean air zones being planned but at the time of writing (January 2022) there are insufficient details to add to this sheet. You will see our two newest vans (D16SAD and R10RFB) are not subject to any of the various emission zone charges so for obvious reason when we have a van based in an area affected by emission charges we will try and make sure it is one of these two. Other than London where payment is made automatically, other charges can be paid directly by IWA/WRG provided you let us know on the day you enter the zone. Contacts who can do this: Paula Smith: 01494 783 453 Ext 614 Jenny Morris: 01494 783 453 Ext 611 George Eycott: 07771 775745
Restoration Conference ‘Overcoming obstacles and seizing opportunities’ is the theme of the annual Waterway Restoration Conference, organised jointly by WRG’s parent body the Inland Waterways Association and the Canal & River Trust. It returns to its usual format as an actual physical event on Saturday 26 March after two years of online ‘virtual conferences’. It’s being hosted by the Cotswold Canals and takes place in the Subscription Rooms entertainments venue in Stroud. The keynote speakers are:
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Jim White (Chair of Cotswold Canals Trust) on Reconnecting Stroud to the National Canal Network (with a focus on the A38 Whitminster roundabout) Chris Mitford-Slade (Canal Project
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Director, Stroud District Council) on Importance of Partnership: the power of community engagement and etting the political influence in place Dr Ian Sesnan (Consultant and IWA Trustee) and John Dodwell (Montgomery Waterway Restoration Trust) on Levelling Up Fund and Shared Prosperity Fund (with a case study from the Montgomery Canal)
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There will also be breakout sessions on diversifying your volunteer base and on methods of canal lining for volunteer projects. The conference will end in time for delegates to o on a self-guided tour of the Cotswold Canals projects. See waterways.org.uk and follow the link to ‘events’ to book your place.
WRG Reunion? As Jonathan Smith mentioned in his Acting Chairmant’s Comment on page 4, “whether or not a reunion weekend in November will be possible is very much not known at this stage”. And one thing that would help WRG to decide whether or not we hold one is what suitable sites might be available. So if you are involved in a restoration society or trust, and you believe that you will have suitable work and accommodation for perhaps 100-plus volunteers for a weekend in (probably) early November (and that probably means most likely but not necessarily vegetation clearance work), then we would very much like to hear from you - so please get in touch with us via head office.
The Triathlon returns Another event that’s back to its normal springtime slot after a gap is the Montgomery Canal Triathlon which is taking place on 7 May. It’s run by the Friends of the Montgomery Canal and it involves participants covering 27 miles of the canal by bike (Newtown to Belan), canoe (Belan via Welshpool to Pool Quay) and on foot (Pool Quay to Crickheath) ending close to the current restoration work site. It’s in support of the Restore the Montgomery Canal! appeal which is raising the final funds for the reconstruction of School House Bridge, which will clear the last serious blockage to be dealt with on the English length of the canal. See https://themontgomerycanal.org.uk/ friends/montgomery-canal-triathlon.
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Restored through here by 2024?
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