navvies
Volunteers restoring waterways
Intro Schoolhouse Bridge
Lasttimeweshowed youthefirstvehicles goingoverthenew SchoolhouseBridgeon theMontgomeryCanal. Herewe’vegotthefirst UNDERit!Seeour News,Progressand Chairman’spagesfor moreontheMont…
Pictures by Mike Palmer
In this issue Contents
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Contents
Chairman’s Comment site paperwork 4-5
Editorial More good news stories 6
ComingsoonTraining weekend, Leadership Teams Day, Canalway Cavalcade 7
Cleanup reporting from the BCN 8-9
Camp report Lancaster Canal 10-13
Archive looking back to 1974 14-17
Safety report goggles and scaffolds 18-19
Diary Camps and working weekends 20-21
a Progress Special 22-25
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Note new address (right)
Production
Editor: Martin Ludgate, 35 Silvester Road, East Dulwich London SE22 9PB. 020-8693 3266 martin.ludgate@wrg.org.uk
Contributions are welcome, by email or post, to the address above. If sending a lot of large picture files, please contact the editor first. Pressdateforissue325:15May.
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Navvies is published by Waterway Recovery Group and is available to all interested in promoting or supporting 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: Unit 16B, First Floor, Chiltern Court, Asheridge Road, Chesham HP5 2PX), 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, George Eycott, Helen Gardner, John Hawkins, Dave Hearnden, Nigel Lee, Mike Palmer, George Rogers, Jonathan Smith, Harry Watts.
ISSN: 0953-6655 © 2024 WRG
Cover picture: The site for the new aqueduct / culvert carrying the canal over a stream above John Robinson Lock (visible in the background). Building this is likely to be the next main project on the Cotswold Canals for WRG Canal Camps and other visiting groups, following on from the lock. Back cover upper: “There’s a dumper in there somewhere!” - uncovering the clay lining of the Lancaster Canal on the February Canal Camp (see page 10). Back cover lower: Another tyre comes out of the BCN during the annual Cleanup (see page 8)
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chairmanCamps and CDM
Mike Palmer enjoys an Easter Canal Camp, and brings us down to earth with the Construction (Design and Management) regulations…
Chairman’s Comment
Martin will confirm that there is no end to the variety of excuses I can generate for the late delivery of the Chairman’s Comment to him. This time, however, I’m hoping that “I was leading a Canal Camp on the Montgomery” will be acceptable. Additionally I’m hoping that, by turning part of this comment into a Camp report I’ll get double brownie points!
But that is for further down the page. What messages have I got from the WRG Board? Well let’s start with something that, although it comes from the Board, it has originated elsewhere in the organisation…
The WRG Sites Group is the team that is charged with making sure all the preparation is done for our sites (mainly Canal Camps but also other sites). So it spends all its time in conversation with restoration projects, on site visits and in meetings discussing the merits of (insert interesting concreting technique here) versus (ditto). Generally speaking things are going well but there is one issue that they have noticed while preparing for this years Canal Camps – like everything in the waterways world it is just three letters: CDM.
So CDM stands for Construction (Design and Management) regulations.
And here is the important bit: CDM applies to all our restoration work, and to all restoration sites we visit. While we are confident that this is well understood within WRG, there seems to be a variable level of understanding out in the wider sector.
Perhaps this is due to one foible with the regs (I say foible, the CDM regulations are clear on this bit BUT it seems people are able to believe all sorts of interpretations of this foible).
‘To be read and used’ - site documents
Yes there is an exclusion in the CDM regulations for “small” projects (that’s small in terms of time, number of people, etc.) BUT that exclusion only relates to the requirement to inform the Health & Safety Executive (via a form called F10) NOT any other part of the CDM regulations.
And we are getting the feeling that some people out in the restoration sector feel that if they keep the project “small” enough then, because they don’t have to fill in an F10, they don’t need to worry about CDM in any way. That is not true. Which means not only are they making a mistake, they are also missing out on a really useful tool.
The WRG Board believes the use of the CDM framework is a good way to keep both our volunteers and our work both safe & effective.
I could fill the rest of these pages with facts, info and details * about CDM but I won’t. The message highlighted in red above is the one I need to give here.
So you may be thinking “well if WRG have got CDM all sorted, then why is he banging on about it here?”. Well here is my answer and I give it not only to excuse myself but also to explain how you the reader fit in this jigsaw: this is a restoration wide issue and so we will be asking our parent body the Inland Waterways Association’s Restoration Hub to campaign for better understanding across the sector.
But the WRG contribution is to be the exemplar and that is where you all have a part to play: step one is to use all this “planning and paperwork” – we really do write it to be read and used. Step two is to engage and contribute to the “planning and paperwork” – that’s the
Pictures by Mike Palmer
process that makes it even more useful and effective.
If the situation is to improve across the sector then WRG’s role is clear – to be the exemplar.
So at the start of this “comment” I promised you a Camp report from the Monty but I’m actually going to make that a Camp update from a previous Camp or two. Because, unless my memory fails me, I’m pretty sure that we spent a whole chunk of the nineties at Aston locks where, as well as restoring three locks, we also built a nature reserve. While on the Camp this Easter we couldn’t resist going back to see how it was getting on, and yes it is all still there. We worked lock paddles and gates, looked at some splendid brickwork and then took a trip round the nature reserve. It seems rather stupid to say this now but boy has it grown! It’s clearly cared for and doing its job of “being a habitat”. And right next to it, because of the work we put in on the reserve, are the restored Aston locks. So as an update to all those Camp Reports from Aston I will add – it’s still a success.
Paperwork is an ‘on-site’ thing, not just a bookshelf thing
Finally, and just to prove that Aston is not a one off, our actual site for this Easter was just 500 yards down from the current end of navigation some 4 miles on from Aston, thanks to excellent work by Shropshire Union Canal Society volunteers. To quote from the IWA Waterways in Progress report “interim restoration has the potential to completely transform landscapes and local communities they touch along the way”. That was certainly the case on this site – every towpath walker that passed by was eager to point down the water and ask “when do those boats get to here?”
Mike Palmer
* The other reason I don’t need to fill these pages with more info about CDM is that we have published a Guidance Note on CDM as part of our Practical Restoration Handbook – see https://waterways.org.uk/restoration_hub/advicesupport/practical-toolkit-introduction/practical-restoration-handbook for details.
Aston Nature Reserve: we planted those trees
editorial more good news
Return of three regular WRG events, and news of restoration moving forward on three projects. But will there be good news for CRT funding?
Editorial
You’ll see from three recent volunteer events covered in this issue that we’re still taking some of the final steps in the long drawn-out process of getting back to ‘normal’ after the pandemic. We’ve reinstated the February Canal Camp after several years’ absence: see page 10 for a report from a successful week on the Lancaster Canal. We’ve also brought back the Easter Canal Camp – see the picture on the back cover. And the BCN Clean Up, having returned as a slightly low-key event in 2023, was back up to full strength this time – see page 8.
But rather than use any of these for our front cover picture, we’re illustrating another piece of good news of a slightly more ‘political’ rather than ‘practical’ nature. This is the granting of planning permission to re-create the ‘Missing Mile’ of the Cotswold Canals, a section destroyed by 1970s road works, whose reinstatement constitutes the majority of the work still to be done to get boats onto the ten-mile length of the Cotswold Canals running all the way from the link with the national canal network at Saul Junction through to Stroud and Brimscombe.
This has been promised for a long time – its National Lottery funding got provisional approval six years ago. But delays due to Covid, construction price inflation, local authority planning issues and more, have meant that work has only just got the go-ahead to start on this one-mile length of new waterway. There’s likely to be plenty of volunteer work involved, quite possibly including building the two new locks needed. And at the east end, where it rejoins the original canal, WRG Canal Camps and other visiting teams have already done most of the rebuilding work at John Robinson Lock. Our next task looks like being to build the small aqueduct / biggish culvert to carry the canal over the stream that crosses the canal bed at the head of the lock. Our cover photo shows the site for this new structure, with John Robinson Lock in the background.
See our Progress Special on page 22 for the full story on the Cotswold Canals and the Missing Mile.
That’s not the only ‘political’ good news: on the Chesterfield, contractors have been appointed to build the first new bridge being created as part of the Staveley Town Fund £5m scheme to extend the canal east from Staveley Town Basin and Lock, scene of much WRG and other volunteer work a few years back – see page 31. And on the Montgomery Canal, scene of our Easter Camp, another £½m has just been secured which will support the work by the Shropshire Union Canal Society volunteers to rebuild the channel towards the Welsh border, linking up with the Welsh section which is already being restored under a Levelling Up Fund grant.
So everything’s rosy, is it? In a word, no. We still have the threat of major cutbacks in annual public funding for the Canal & River Trust, which threaten to put the future of the national canal system in doubt within the next decade – unless there’s a Government change of heart, or some new method of funding the system.
But this is where I’ll mention the ‘Archive’ piece on page 14 - the first part of a twopart article looking back exactly 50 years to 1974. Because that wasn’t exactly an optimistic time for the country or its canals. And yet it saw a series of waterway reopenings that was unprecedented, unparalleled for many years afterwards, and paved the way for many secondgeneration projects which have since been completed or are well on their way. So coming back to 2024, might it just be possible to generate enough good news about canal restoration to help spur on a change of heart regarding supporting the existing network? It would be nice to think so, but I’m not under any illusions about how much of a fight it will still be… Martin Ludgate
coming soon…
Book now for the WRG Training Weekend, or the Leadership Teams Day. Or offer to join the Site Services team at London’s Canalway Cavalcade…
IWA Canalway Cavalcade site services camp, London, 2-7 May
Final call for volunteers to help set up, run, and take down the Inland Waterways Association’s annual canal festival held at London’s Little Venice over the 4 -6May Bank Holiday weekend. If you fancy building market stalls, gazebos and putting up banners, helping provide site services during the weekend, and taking it down afterwards, please email pete. fleming@waterways.org.uk.
WRG Training Weekend, Lichfield, 18-19 May
Learn some new skills or refresh your existing ones ready for this summers Canal Camps. The Training Weekend is being hosted by the Lichfield Canal restoration project, on Saturday 18 and Sunday 19 May, with accommodation available from Friday evening for those staying over.
We plan to provide initial training and refresher sessions on: excavators, dumpers, vans and trailers, site tools and bricklaying, and more. To discuss opportunities, or book on, contact wrgtraining@wrg.org.uk
LTD: Leadership Teams Day, Rowington, 1 June
Existing and aspiring WRG Canal Camp leaders, assistant leaders and cooks are invited, leadership teams for this year’s Canal Camps are strongly encouraged to attend, and those leading work parties for WRG regional groups’ (and other mobile groups’) weekend working parties are also very welcome. For full details see Navvies 323 or contact enquiries@wrg.org.uk.
Lichfield Canal Camps, Rowington, 27 July - 10 August
Two more Canal Camps have been added to this summer’s schedule since the programme was launched in Navvies issue 322, on the Lichfield Canal from 27 July to 23 August and from 3 to 10 August.
The work is based around the initial works for construction of a new pedestrian lift bridge over the canal at Tamworth Road, Lichfield, and the tasks will include steel piling, creation of a temporary path, and concreting. Book for these camps in the usual way via head office or the website. See Diary pages for details of leaders.
…and speaking of Canal Camps…
…as usual at this time of year, some of the week-long summer Canal Camps are already starting to get booked up. So to avoid disappointment, book now!
IWA’s Canalway Cavalcade festival needs volunteers
Martin Ludgate
cleanup on the BCN
Reporting from the annual BCN Cleanup, a weekend spent dragging junk out of the less-frequented parts of the Birmingham Canal Navigations
BCN Cleanup 2024
After a rather low-key post-Covid revival last year, the weekend of 16-17 March saw a return to full strength of the annual working party spent throwing grappling hooks into the less well-frequented parts of the Birmingham Canal Navigations network, helping to keep these underused waterways clear and navigable. Leader Chris Morgan reports…
Into British Summer Time again, and yet another BCN event has taken place.
Lots of new faces this year which was great: 47 in total for feeding and grappling, plus day visitors took us over the 60 mark.
This year we were based at Minerva Wharf in Wolverhampton, and on the Saturday worked two sites. Team leader Moose’’s crew worked on the Wyrley & Essington Canal from Birchills Junction to Wednesfield and produced a good haul from the depths; the trouble was, the Canal & River Trust only supplied them with one boat!
Meanwhile my crew worked the western end of the Wyrley and Essington from Bentley Bridge back to Horseley Fields and had a rather quieter morning sadly, but were inundated by boats: one from CRT, two (workboat Phoenix pushing an unpowered boat) from the Birmingham Canal Navigations Society, and Coombeswood Canal Trust’s workboat Hawne.
Lunch time provided a welcome debrief, logistical discussion and resulted in a change of sites. Both teams decided to work the Wolverhampton end of the Wolverhampton to Birmingham Main Line, and so Saturday afternoon and from 9.30 to 1300 on Sunday turned into a fairly good pull out session for all. The whole length from Deepfields Junction to Wednesfield having been completed was much appreciated by CRT, who politics aside were very
Martin
Ludgate
BCNS
Alan Lines
accommodating with tea/coffee etc and tooling and boats.
We used the same great canalside accommodation at Tipton Malthouse Stables that we have used since 2015. 18 gallons of real ale lasted until 1945 hrs on Saturday!You thirsty lot!! The cider went down well too!
My thanks to all who attended, to Moose for all his help, to the Van drivers, to Aileen for coordinating the site issues, to Jenny and Verena of IWA / WRG Head Office for the office stuff and finally to Lou our new camp cook for all her hard work and support on the weekend.
(What is it about WRG that whenever you need a tutu, not one but three turn up, enough said…)
I can’t forget the local Societies without whom we just could not hold this event: BCNS Society, Coombeswood Canal Trust and Bradley Canal Society.
Talks have started for a big event next year at Tipton involving two CRT groups, we have never yet hit this area in a big way, so watch this space for a good one.
Thanks everyone for your support, see you next year.
Chris Morgan
For reasons we don’t have space to explain, tutus were a feature of the Saturday night socialising…
Martin
Ludgate
Martin Ludgate
Camp report Lancaster
Reporting from the first Canal Camp of 2024, a week spent uncovering theoriginalclayliningofalengthoftheLancasterCanal’snorthernreaches
Lancaster Canal camp report
The first Canal Camp of the year, in ‘sunny’ Cumbria in February! We were expecting the worst weatherwise, but it didn’t turn out that badly in the end.
We had deliberately restricted the numbers on the camp, as we weren’t expecting a vast amount of work, but on Saturday evening a select team of volunteers from all ends of the UK, and one from Germany, gathered at the Sedgwick Village Hall.
After the usual safety briefing, we sat down to the usual excellent meal prepared by Lou our cook (pre-prepared quiches with jacket spuds and salad), followed by jigsaws and Jenga in the hall.
We had also heard that our normal route to site had flooded where it passed under a low bridge. A quick visit revealed that the underpass was indeed flooded and impassible, so we had to do a hasty recalculation… Fortunately the alternative route wasn’t much longer, so no great panic. Sunday dawned and we arrived on site and had a look at the work. The main task was to clear silt from the existing canal bed, exposing the original clay lining. We would then build berms (temporary dams) at approximately 50 metre intervals, which would then create short pounds. These pounds can be filled with water at a later date, to establish the viability of the lining. To enable us to do this, however, we needed
factfile Lancaster Canal
Length to be restored: 14 miles Locks: 8 Date closed: 1950s
The Canal Camp project: uncovering the original clay canal lining near Stainton and installing temporary dams across it.
Why? So that it will be possible to establish the state of the clay lining and how waterproof it is, and therefore what will need doing to enable it to hold water again in the future.
The wider picture: The Lancaster Canal Trust’s long-term aim is complete reopening of the abandoned ‘northern reaches’ from the limit of navigation below Tewitfield Locks to Kendal. However the southern part of this section is beset by main road blockages (particularly the M6); while proposals to reinstate the Kendal terminus have struggled with planning issues. In order to get the restoration going again and ensure that physical progress could be seen (and to extend the current trip-boat operation based on an isolated navigable length of canal near Crooklands), the Trust launched the ‘First Furlong’ project. This would restore one furlong (200 metres) of what had been dry canal (the section from Tewitfield to Stainton is still in water as it forms part of the water supply to the navigable lengths south of Tewitfield, but north of Stainton it was allowed to run dry). Following the successful completion and rewatering of this length, the Trust is now embarking on restoration of a second length leading on from there, heading towards Hincaster Tunnel. This is the length that the Canal Camp worked on.
Canal from Tewitfield to Stainton unnavigable but watered (at reduced level)
Tewitfield Locks
Canal from Stainton to Kendal dry or filled in
Hincaster Tunnel Navigable for 41 miles south to Preston
Canal blocked by M6 and other roads
Kendal
Stainton
Crooklands
Canal Camp site: Stainton
to clear scrub and some trees from the bed to give us access.
The first job, though, as ever, was to get the Burco set up and running!
We were using two excavators and a dumper for the main task, so Adrian was set to work to remove a rock pile which had been used to prevent vehicular access to the canal. We were then able to move the plant to the far end of the work site.
It turned out that the covering of silt where we were starting working was a bit deeper than on other parts of the site, so the machinery was kept busy. We had the larger excavator clearing the silt and loading the dumper. This would then travel to the next berm and tip the spoil, and the smaller excavator would then start constructing the berm. We left the central section clear to enable the large excavator room to get through, before the large excavator finished off the construction.
Unfortunately, there is no room to turn the dumper within the bed, so it meant reversing past the berm and trying to tip sideways without blocking the passage to return to the clearance site.
Adrian is the acknowledged expert on machinery, so he spent the week driving the large excavator while the other bits were operated on a rotating basis. We soon discovered that the steering knob of the dumper would become detached if we
weren’t careful! Surprisingly, this created a conversation about the usefulness of knobs on a camp...
We got back to the accommodation, and found that the showers in the local leisure centre closed at 4pm! Ah well, dirty WRGies are not unusual!
Evvo had brought a chocolate Santa for consumption. It was massive (over a foot tall)! No-one knew what to do with it, so it was ignored...
The pudding that day was a sponge tower (about 8 layers!) which Lou had obtained from Tesco at a very reduced price – presumably it had been obtained by them as a Christmas treat, but hadn’t sold. This led to all sorts of discussions about which food could possibly be used to make Jenga...
On Monday, we had to move our beds as a local arts group were planning to use the hall, so one half of the hall was left clear for them. It turned out to be a bit of an overkill though, as only four people turned up.
Nigel, a local volunteer, helped us through the day, and a visit from David, the chair of the WRG’s parent body the Inland Waterways Association’s North Lancs & Cumbria branch, provided some useful drone pictures of our work.
Much searching by Jenny revealed there are no pub quizzes within 20 miles of the accommodation, so we had to knock that
The state of the canal channel at the start of the camp
idea on the head (sniff). Research wasn’t helped by there being no decent internet at the hall. There was no real interest in going out for the evening anyway, so no great shakes. We did attempt to book ten-pin bowling for later in the week, but even that proved to be a no-no because of restricted parking in the area caused by a local event.
‘X’ (our tame German) got back to find a strange lump in his bed. It turned out that his airbed had popped some of the cells so was no longer functioning. He blew it up and struggled on through the night…
Santa was ignored again...
Tuesday was yet another day we weren’t expecting weatherwise – it started off as another dry one (if dull)! It did start raining heavily in the afternoon though, so we had an early finish.
We had to make way for the hall to be used by the WI, so we’d cleared a section of the hall again. This time though, quite a few people had turned up, and they had set out the tables into various positions. Because we’d got back a bit early, it meant our first job was to put them back into some semblance of a dining area...
The work continued much the same as previously, though we did receive a visit from
the current and past chairmen of Lancaster Canal Trust (Robin and Richard). Nigel, a local volunteer, helped us through the day. Kieran, one of our young Duke of Edinburgh’s Award volunteers, got to drive the dumper.
He proved to be a natural, so much so that he obtained his WRG Driver Authorisation ticket by the end of the week Lou brought us soup for lunch but then left us. This meant that Jenny took over as evening cook, though Lou had left us enough meals for the week that mainly need reheating, with Evvo and Paul H looking after breakfasts.
X’s airbed had completely died by the morning, but fortunately he was able to borrow Lou’s for the rest of the week.
Santa had now been broken up, so pieces of him were eaten...
Wednesday’s weather was just what we were expecting – lots of heavy rain! The ground conditions for the plant turned from blancmange to, well, very runny blancmange! We ploughed on, though, and managed to do a bit of the clearance. We also began to lay weed-suppressant membrane on the clay bed we’d already cleared.
The excavators and dumper get to work on uncovering the clay canal bed
Because of the weather Laurence, X and Riley went into the Lake District to do some sightseeing.
All the scrub clearance we needed to do for our work had been completed, so the team moved on to an adjacent section near the Hincaster Tunnel. It’s rumoured that a dragon or ghosts inhabit this tunnel, and though there was no evidence of these while we were there, there were some emanations of steam/mist at times!
After a fairly normal day on site, we visited the nearby Stainton Aqueduct. This is a brick-built aqueduct carrying the canal over Stainton Beck. In the floods a few years ago, the foundations of this aqueduct had been washed away, leaving it in a dangerous condition. CRT had rebuilt the structure, though the footpath beside the beck still gets submerged in flooding conditions.
Friday was a short day on site, as we needed to get the plant back to the compound for cleaning (and re-fitting a track on the large excavator). We had also discovered a hydraulic leak on the large excavator, so this had called a premature halt to proceedings. Digging off all the ‘blancmange’ was fun! Because there is no water near the compound, we had to transport cleaning water from the far end of the site.
The kit was cleaned as far as possible on site, and because there is no parking
Riley’s poem
What once was overgrown brush
Will soon be flush
Listened to Adrian’s many stories
After a day of felling many trees
Clearing our waterways
In the warm days
Saving our history
Thanks to our persistency
Having a carpet debate
And somehow Harry always forgets his plate
Using the clippers
But definitely not the chippers
Riley defaced the Union Jack Lucky he did not get the sack
Driving dump trucks
To make a home for the ducks
immediately adjacent to the accommodation, we had to give the vans a roadside wash.
Santa was finally finished!
Riley wrote a poem for us (see below)
All in all, we had a good week, and I’d just like to thank all the participants againJenny H (my assistant), Lou K (our cook), Adrian S, Andrew C, Charlotte T, Evvo, Paul H, Susan M, Laurence H, X, and last but not least Riley H and Kieran B, our 2 DofEers.
Paul Shaw
Not washing our hair
We could not bear
Could not sleep with the snore
But the week certainly was not a great bore
Making it our life
To protect our wildlife
Killed chocolate Father Christmas with a plate
Laurence forgets it’s out of date
We all say don’t eat it
But he still tries a bit
We had a wonderful time
Making the world prettier
One canal at a time
The next report may be wittier
To find out what’s it’s truly like
Come with us to build a dyke
Even Santa was there - all 3kg of him
From the Archives Glorious 1974!
Looking back exactly half a century to 1974, a momentous year in the history of waterway restoration, as reported by Navvies magazine…
1974: a year to remember…
A quick glance at some of the issues of Navvies published around early 1974 reveals some snippets that sound very familiar 50 years on. Inflation was making it difficult to carry on funding canal restoration work – or even to pay the paper, postage and printing costs of Navvies. Meanwhile there were concerns that “the deterioration of the state-owned waterways”, attributed to “a short-sighted attempt to reduce deficits”, while British Waterways Board (BWB), operator of most of the national waterways network (and predecessor of today’s Canal & River Trust) was said to have a “bleak future” as it was not only strapped for cash but “practically all of its good, experienced, long-term staff” were to retire in the next two years.
However the Navvies editor reserved his “biggest stick” for the Government: “those who dole out the money, and continue to keep waterways, and practically every other worthwhile asset this country has, denuded of finance, encouragement, or hope.” Oh, and the editor was also apologising for a “lacklustre” magazine, in particular the ‘Next Time Out’ section (equivalent to today’s diary pages), which was suffering from the travelling volunteers struggling get to the worksites as a result of fuel costs and shortages.
And yet, against this background the waterway restoration movement completed some of its greatest success stories to date, in a “year of reopenings” that saw the culmination of restoration projects to put considerably more miles of navigable waterway back on the map than any year to date (and which wasn’t really beaten until the Millennium).
So this is the first instament of a two-part article taking a trawl through old issues of Navvies to look back on a memorable year – and with just a modest amount of hope that 2024 might in the end be looked back on by canal restorers in a slightly less gloomy light than it might seem now…
Opening No 1: the Titford Canal
The first reopening of 1974 didn’t generate much publicity in Navvies – in fact there’s no mention at all of the actual reopening of this relatiely short length of the Birmingham Canal Navigations. But it deserves a mention here…
A branch leading off the Old Main Line of the BCN in Oldbury, the Titford Canal also performs a water supply function. From the junction it climbs through six locks (known as ‘The Crow’), at the top of which a (once navigable) feeder the Tat Bank Branch turns off to supply Rotton Park Reservoir. The canal continues
BCNS’s workboat keeping the Titford Canal tidy recently
past Langley Green before splitting into two branches, leading to two small reservoirs known as Titford Pools. In the 1960s it was becoming difficult to navigate, but the Birmingham Canal Navigations Society held campaign cruises in 1963, 1971 and 1972 to try to keep it open.
However by 1972 it was becoming impassable. So BCNS got together with Warley (now Sandwell) Council and BWB, and carried out much work on the locks over the following two years (and these working parties did make it into the Navvies diary!) – in between working on other sites on the BCN (including the Soho Loop) as well as holding ‘away’ BCNS working parties on the Droitwich and Stratford canals. And other groups returned the favour by working on the Titford – the Stroudwater Canal Society (now the Cotswold Canals Trust) were regular visitors.
This culminated in an opening ceremony on the weekend of 30-31 March 1974 – and four years later in 1978 the Inland Waterways Association took advantage of the restored canal to hold the first of two National Rallies (the second was in 1982) at Titford Pools. More recently the silted-up pool under the M5 motorway has been cleared thanks to a Highways England grant, and even more recently the BCNS (whose headquarters is now in the former pumping station by the top of the locks) marked 40 years since the opening with an anniversary celebration just a few weeks ago.
Opening No 2: Ashton and Peak Forest – the Cheshire Ring (almost!)
This reopening turned into a bit of a long-running saga. But first, a brief look at the story behind it…
Until around 1960 it was possible for boats to make a through journey east-west through the centre of Manchester. From the Bridgewater Canal at its Castlefield Basin terminus to the west of the city centre, the surviving one-mile length of the Rochdale Canal climbed through nine locks (the ‘Rochdale Nine’) to Ducie Street Basin. Beyond there, the main trans-Pennine length of the Rochdale Canal had been abandoned (with little hope of reopening), but the Ashton Canal turned right and climbed another 18 locks to Dukinfield Junction. Here the Huddersfield Canal (generally regarded as another hopeless case) continued straight ahead, but boats could turn right into the Lower Peak Forest Canal, then cross Marple Aqueduct and climb Marple Locks to join the Upper Peak Forest and Macclesfield canals.
From there, the Macclesfield led to the Trent & Mersey, which in turn connected to the Bridgewater, completing a 100-mile circuit – which waterways supporters later dubbed the ‘Cheshire Ring’.
However by 1960 the Rochdale Nine, the lower Peak Forest, and particularly the Ashton, were falling into disrepair through lack of use and maintenance since the ending of commercial freight traffic. A campaign cruise involving North Cheshire Cruising Club and the Inland Waterways Association was organised in 1961 to attempt to draw attention to the route and keep it open – but the night before it was due to take place, vandals set fire to a set of bottom lock gates on the Ashton. One boat still got through (it was a small cruiser, and it was bodily dragged out of the
Dennis Howell MP declares the Ashton Canal open
Chris Griffiths
water and around the lock), but that was the end as far as through navigation was concerned.
For the next decade, waterway supporters and organisations including IWA and the Peak Forest Canal Society campaigned to reopen the route, in the face of practical issues (there were serious problems with Marple Aqueduct, which was threatened with demolition at one point) and political ones (some local authorities on the route wanted the canals eliminated as a health and safety hazard), not to mention the cost of restoration. And then there was the attitude of the privately-owned Rochdale Canal Company who threatened to abandon their canal – as well as British Waterways Board who took the Lower Peak Forest and Ashton off the cruising licence and put up signs warning boaters not to attempt to navigate these canals.
To cut a very long story short, by the start of the 1970s the tide of opinion was turning. The first of the ‘Big Digs’, Operation Ashton, had brought several hundred volunteers to spend a weekend clearing a huge amount of rubbish from the canal; this was followed in 1972 by Ashtac, when 1000 volunteers working on the Ashton and Peak Forest launched the final push to reopen the two canals.
Issues of Navvies from 1973 show plenty of working parties on these canals, with volunteers from as far away as the IWA London Working Party Group (predecessor of London WRG), who were urged “We must have a big turnout of London navvies to work on this most important of waterways”. A review in early 1973 shows a Cheshire Ring making good progress towards reopening, with work shared between BWB and the volunteers. On the Ashton…
“Under the experienced leadership of area engineer John Freeman, things have certainly moved. BWB have given priority in four main fields: (1) work the two aqueducts, (2) land-based dredging projects, (3) supplying and fitting lock gates, (4) preparation of lock chambers (pointing, rebricking etc). (1) and (2) are all but complete; (3) and (4) are progressing to programme. On the volunteer front, lock chamber clearance has had 95% of the available time.” Meanwhile on the Peak Forest…
“Progress on the Marple flight has been less visibly dramatic, only 5 new gates being in position to date. In addition much of the gating is to be retained. BWB has given priority to two main fields: (1) lock works on the top section of the flight, (2) commencement of the floating dredger programme on the lower Peak Forest. On the volunteer front, chamber clearance has again had 96% of the work.”
Finally, things were less clear on the Rochdale Nine, which in theory were in a better state…
“This canal is NOT navigable, as those who would describe it as navigable do so at their own peril. This canal was put into ‘basically operable’ order by the PFCS working party aided by the Rochdale Canal Company and WRG etc for the Manchester Rally two years ago. The canal has steadily deteriorated since; the scope of the working parties by no means keeping up with the decay. The unofficial position remains in a state of flux but you can rest assured that the position is in the forefront of our ‘Ring’ consciences…”
Meanwhile an untimely breach had shut the Bridgewater Canal near Lymm, and the Canal Company’s contractors were hard at work on a site that “resembles a motorway construction project” to rebuild it. The writer (Pete Stockdale) concluded by saying that at the one year stage, “we are about one third of the way to a complete Ring.”
By summer 1973, Navvies was quoting a ‘deadline’ of April 1974 for completion of the Ashton and Peak Forest, and urging volunteers to turn up and help make this happen – and in doing so, to provide “a stick to beat the owners of the Rochdale into repairing their part”. By Autumn there was less to say about the Ashton as the volunteer contribution was nearing completion but on the Peak Forest, while Marple Locks were progressing, dredging was
behind schedule and “we would like to see a bit of ‘extractum digitum’.” And on the Rochdale Nine, the Canal Company had put up some cash and were to carry out the necessary gate replacements as well as funding plant hire etc for the volunteers who appeared to have been ‘volunteered’ in their absence to do the chamber clearances – and “some sort of navigational prospects” were hoped for by April 1974.
Come the end of the year, and Navvies was still referring to “the target date of 1 April 1974 for the reopening of the Cheshire Ring”. In February, two months before the opening date, the following issue reported that on the Ashton and Peak Forest “the volunteer effort is now complete”, with BWB just putting the finishing touches on what had been “a superb job, a lasting credit to John Freeman”.
Things were less happy on the Rochdale Nine, where “Working party organisers had been led to believe that the finance of the operation, which was to have started on 4 January and conclude by 1 April had had the necessary clearance,” but “due to official bungling, volunteer work is now at a standstill”. Some money was loaned, and one of the nine locks was cleared (By an interesting technique involving craning a Smalley excavator into the chamber - see picture).
April came, and the Cheshire Ring wasn’t ready to open. The Ashton and Peak Forest were officially opened on 13 May, but on the Rochdale, although once the funds had been confirmed the volunteers did a large amount of difficult work clearing lock chambers with very awkward access, the Canal Company’s gate fitting programme had only just started, with no completion date available other than it might possibly open in “mid-summer”.
It didn’t. The August issue of Navvies said “Despair is the only word to describe the situation with regard to the completion of the restoration of the last link in the Cheshire Ring.” The canal company had made no progress with the gates, and in the meantime the reopened but barely used Lower Peak Forest and Ashton were starting to suffer from weed growth and vandalism.
One more set of gates had gone in by October. In December the “provisional official estimate” for the completion date had slipped to February 1975 –which is, of course, outside the scope of this article about the glorious year of 1974. That might seem nit-picky (and it is!) but perhaps less so when you hear that it actually took another whole year beyond that for the Rochdale Canal company to get its act together so that the Rochdale Nine – and therefore the complete Cheshire Ring – could finally reopen in 1976. Finally, to end on a positive note, those two ‘hopeless’ cases I referred to earlier, the main trans-Pennine length of the Rochdale Canal and the (also trans-Pennine) Huddersfield Canal were both the subject of restoration plans launched in 1974 in the wake of the completion of the Ashton and Peak Forest restorations. And they reopened throughout in 2002 and 2001 respectively.
Martin Ludgate
In part two we’ll look at some more 1974 reopenings, including the Caldon Canal
Craning a Smalley into a Rochdale Canal lock
Chris Griffiths
safety Annual report
From accident and incident reports received from WRG events in 2023, two things we need to tighten up on are: scaffolding and eye protection
WRG Accident and Incident Report for 2023
For any occurrences on WRG Canal Camps or other work parties that result in Accident forms, Incident forms or Near Miss form being filled in and sent to head office, the details of the incidents are compiled (currently by Dave ‘Moose’ Hearnden) in an annual report to the WRG Board.
The WRG Board will then consider any changes that need to be made, any points that need to be stressed at the WRG Leadership Training Day, or any other appropriate way that their concerns and any lessons learned can be communicated to the volunteers. And one of those ways is through Navvies.
Whilst we aren’t going to go through the complete list in this article, we think it’s worth picking up on two issues that between them are responsible for the majority of the forms sent in during 2023.
Incidentally it isn’t a long list: we hope that’s because WRG is maintaining its good safety record; although we remain alert to the possibility that a short list could mean that not all incidents are being reported as they should. But on to the first issue…
Erecting scaffolding: The incidents which occurred while putting up scaffolding highlight a couple of points…
Firstly, some of the lengths of scaffold tube commonly used on our work sites are quite long, heavy, and unwieldy, especially when they are being erected as ‘standards’ (verticals). If you don’t have enough people holding one, it’s very easy to inadvertently let it fall while holding it ready for assembly –or perhaps when passing it to another team. Make sure you’ve got enough people on it, even if it delays the job by a couple of minutes. Never try to hold two standards up at once – if one starts to go over, you have no option but to let go of the other one to try to recover the first one.
Vertical scaffold tubes can be heavy and unwieldy
Tim Lewis
And secondly, when you’re erecting / altering / taking down scaffolding, make sure that everyone knows what they’re doing, and that you don’t leave anything unsupported at any point – particularly if you’re removing / replacing bracing. Again, it could be a case of making sure you have enough people – and that they’re all working in coordination.
Eye protection – mixing concrete / mortar This is a very frustrating one: for the last few years we’ve been using it as a good example of how the WRG incident reporting system highlighted a particular safety issue – splashes in eyes while operating mixers. This led us to implement changes including volunteers wearing eye protection on all our Canal Camps, as well as giving greater emphasis to this issue during safety briefings. And yet, after several good years, we have had a sudden reappearance of these incidents in the annual report. We aren’t yet entirely sure what happened (see ‘filling in the forms’ below) but again a couple of points can be made:
Firstly it’s WRG safety policy that normally all volunteers on our Canal Camps wear eye protection – whether this is goggles or safety specs provided by WRG, or if the volunteer wears glasses, their own prescription safety specs. In one case a volunteer declined to wear them, as they steamed up – they should either move to a job where this doesn’t happen, or try a different type.
And secondly, if somebody is using (or working near) a mixer, then even though they are wearing eye protection it may still be possible for splashes / cement dust / lime dust to get in their eyes. So try to keep your eyes away from it, and watch out for gusts of wind blowing it your way.
Filling in the forms I mentioned above that “we aren’t entirely sure” – which is not a good position to be in regarding a safety incident. So we should emphasise here the importance of filling in the form fully. That includes the following, which were missed off in at least one case:
• Was the volunteer involved wearing appropriate personal protection equipment (eg safety specs, gloves) – and if not, why not?
• Was the volunteer injured?
And if you have to fill a form in, remember its better to give too much info than not enough.
Wear eye protection at all times - especially when working with or near mixers
Tim Lewis
navvies diary
Canal Camps cost £80 or as stated. Booking for WRG Camps with number (eg Camp Court,AsheridgeRoad,CheshamHP52PX.Tel:01494783453,enquiries@wrg.org.uk.
Apr13Sat IWA/CRT
Apr13-14 KESCRG
Apr13-14 London WRG
WaterwayRestorationConference2024:10:00-15:30atNorthamptonUniversitycampus
JointworkingpartywithLondonWRGontheWey&ArunCanal
JointworkingpartywithKESCRGontheWey&ArunCanal
Apr20-21 wrgBITM Tobearranged
May1-7 WRG/IWA CanalwayCavalcadefestivalatLittleVenice:teamneededtosetup,supportsiteservicesandtake
May3-16 WAT
May11-12 KESCRG
WendoverArm:provisionaldates
CotswoldCanals:probablyfurtherworknearJohnRobinsonLock
May17-19 wrgBITM CotswoldCanals:IngleshamLock,removalofsandbags
May18-19 WRG
WRGTrainingWeekend:seepage8
May18-19 London WRG CotswoldCanals,aroundJohnRobinsonLock
Jun1 WRG LeadershipTeamsDay,RowingtonVillageHall:seepage8
Jun2Sun WRG WRGCommittee/BoardMeeting:10:00amatRowingtonVillageHall
Jun8-9 KESCRG CotswoldCanals:WeymoorBridge,prepworkforsummercamps
Jun7-20 WAT
WendoverArm:provisionaldates
Jun8Sat London WRG ToolmaintenancedayatStansteadAbbotts
Jun29-Jul6 WRG CC2024-03 Wey&ArunCanalCamp:RooksBridge(NWPG).Leaders:BillNicholson/GrahamHawkes,cook: Jun29-30 London WRG BuckinghamArm
Jul5-18 WAT
WendoverArm:provisionaldates
Jul7-14 WRG CC2024-04 Manchester,Bolton&BuryCanal(week1).Leaders:JessLeighton/Dave‘Evvo’Evans,cook:Claire
Jul6-13 WRG CC2024-05 Wey&ArunCanal:RooksBridge(KESCRG).Leaders:EdWalker/StephenDavis,cook:EliMathieson
Jul14-20 WRG CC2024-06 Manchester,Bolton&BuryCanal(week2).Leaders:RuthHarden/SueJones,cook:BevWilliams
Jul20-27 WRG CC2024-07 CromfordCanal.Leaders:Dave‘Moose’Hearnden/PeteFleming,cook:MariaHearnden
Jul27-Aug3 WRG CC2024-08 LichfieldCanal(week1).Leaders:ColinHobbs/WilliamMatthew,cook:SteveWyatt
Jul27-Aug3 WRG CC2024-09 CotswoldCanals:JohnRobinsonLock(week1).Leaders:MikePalmer/BeckyParr,cook:MitchGozna
Aug2-15 WAT WendoverArm:provisionaldates
Aug3-10 WRG CC2024-10 LichfieldCanal(week2).Leaders:ColinHobbs/JaniceChambers,cook:MatthewRogers
Aug3-10 WRG CC2024-11 CotswoldCanals:JohnRobinsonLock(week2).Leaders:RuthHarden/WillRadice-Horne,cook: Aug10-17 WRG CC2024-12 LouthNavigation.
Aug10-17 WRG CC2024-13 CotswoldCanals:JohnRobinsonLock(week3)
Aug17-24 WRG CC2024-14 LapalCanal.Leaders:Dave‘Evvo’Evans/PaulHarrowsmith,cook:IanJohnson
Aug17-24 WRG CC2024-15 CotswoldCanals:WeymoorBridge(week1)
Aug24-31 WRG CC2024-16 Wey&ArunCanal:BonfireHangerTowpath(week1)
Aug24-31 WRG CC2024-17 CotswoldCanals:WeymoorBridge(week2).Leaders:StephenRice/SandraHorner,cook:LouKellet
Aug31-Sep7WRG CC2024-18
Sep6-19 WAT
Sep7-8 London WRG
Wey&ArunCanal:BonfireHangerTowpath(week2)
WendoverArm:provisionaldates
CotswoldCanals:jointworkingpartywithKESCRGatWeymoorBridge
Sep7-8 KESCRG CotswoldCanals:jointworkingpartywithLondonWRGatWeymoorBridge
Sep21-22 wrgBITM MaidenheadWaterways:BrayCut
Sep29Sun WRG WRGCommittee/BoardMeeting:10:00amatRowingtonVillageHall
Oct4-17 WAT
WendoverArm:provisionaldates
Oct5-6 London WRG Shrewsbury&NewportCanals
Oct5-6 KESCRG Tobearranged
Oct19-26 WRG CC2024-19 CoombeswoodCanal.Leaders:NigelLee/Dave‘Evvo’Evans,cook:AnneLilliman
Nov2-3 WRG Reunion(‘BonfireBash’)majorworkingparty:venuewanted!
Nov2-3 KESCRG SupportingWRGReunion
Nov2-3 London WRG SupportingWRGReunion
WRGandmobilegroups
Camp CC-202403) should go to: WRG Canal Camps, Unit 16B, First Floor, Chiltern enquiries@wrg.org.uk.DiarycontributionstoDaveWedd,Tel07816175454mdave.wedd@wrgbitm.org.uk verena.leonardini@waterways.org.uk
Ed Walker 07887-568029 ed@edwalker.eclipse.co.uk
Tim Lewis 07802-518094 london@wrg.org.uk
Dave Wedd 07816-175454 dave.wedd@wrgbitm.org.uk down
Pete Fleming pete.fleming@waterways.org.uk
Ken Palfrey volunteer@wendovercanal.org.uk
Ed Walker 07887-568029 ed@edwalker.eclipse.co.uk
Dave Wedd 07816-175454 dave.wedd@wrgbitm.org.uk 01494-783453 wrgtraining@wrg.org.uk
Tim Lewis 07802-518094 london@wrg.org.uk 01494-783453 enquiries@wrg.org.uk
Mike Palmer mike.palmer@wrg.org.uk
Ed Walker 07887-568029 ed@edwalker.eclipse.co.uk
Ken Palfrey volunteer@wendovercanal.org.uk
Tim Lewis 07802-518094 london@wrg.org.uk
SuWebster 01494-783453 enquiries@wrg.org.uk
Tim Lewis 07802-518094 london@wrg.org.uk
Ken Palfrey volunteer@wendovercanal.org.uk
ClaireMorton
Mathieson
01494-783453 enquiries@wrg.org.uk
01494-783453 enquiries@wrg.org.uk
01494-783453 enquiries@wrg.org.uk 01494-783453 enquiries@wrg.org.uk
01494-783453 enquiries@wrg.org.uk
Gozna 01494-783453 enquiries@wrg.org.uk
Ken Palfrey volunteer@wendovercanal.org.uk
01494-783453 enquiries@wrg.org.uk
BevWilliams
Kellet
01494-783453 enquiries@wrg.org.uk
01494-783453 enquiries@wrg.org.uk
01494-783453 enquiries@wrg.org.uk
01494-783453 enquiries@wrg.org.uk
01494-783453 enquiries@wrg.org.uk
01494-783453 enquiries@wrg.org.uk
01494-783453 enquiries@wrg.org.uk
01494-783453 enquiries@wrg.org.uk
Ken Palfrey volunteer@wendovercanal.org.uk
Tim Lewis 07802-518094 london@wrg.org.uk
Ed Walker 07887-568029 ed@edwalker.eclipse.co.uk
Dave Wedd 07816-175454 dave.wedd@wrgbitm.org.uk
Mike Palmer mike.palmer@wrg.org.uk
Ken Palfrey volunteer@wendovercanal.org.uk
Tim Lewis 07802-518094 london@wrg.org.uk
Ed Walker 07887-568029 ed@edwalker.eclipse.co.uk
01494-783453 enquiries@wrg.org.uk 01494-783453 enquiries@wrg.org.uk
Ed Walker 07887-568029 ed@edwalker.eclipse.co.uk
Tim Lewis 07802-518094 london@wrg.org.uk
Progress Special
As planners give consent for reinstatement of the ‘Missing Mile’ length, we look
Cotswold
Canals: putting back the Missing Mile
We, the waterway restoration volunteers, have a challenge on our hands: playing an important role in re-creating a mile of canal that disappeared into road developments in the 1970s – and doing it at a time when high inflation is pushing up construction prices, making it harder to afford with the existing funding, and increasing the need for volunteer involvement. And I personally have a challenge on my hands – writing an article that’s basically about a local authority planning committee decision, without making this sound like the dullest ever article in Navvies (against some stiff opposition).
So rather than talk about the planning decision, let’s look back 50+ years at why the canal’s missing…
The Missing Mile: the background Very frustratingly, the most serious physical obstruction to the restoration of the entire western end of the Cotswold Canals was only created in the early 1970s, when restoration of the waterways was first being proposed.
The Stroudwater Canal Society was founded in 1970, initially aiming to restore the Stroudwater Navigation from Saul Junction (where it met the navigable Gloucester & Sharpness Canal) to Stroud – but very soon expanding its aims to include restoration of the Thames & Severn Canal from Stroud through to the Thames at Inglesham (and in due course changing its name to the Cotswold Canals Trust). The initial aim of getting to Stroud might have seemed ambitious enough at the time (most canal restoration to that date had focused on reopening canals that had simply been allowed to fall derelict, rather than officially closed with the resulting removal of any duty to prevent them being obstructed). But looking back now it would seem to have been eminently achievable and a lot easier than several successful restorations which were started more recently – but for one thing.
Unfortunately as the canal society was being launched, the M5 motorway was already in the process of being extended from its existing terminus near Cheltenham, first to Junction 13 near Whitminster, and then on to meet the M4, the two sections opening in April and December 1971. From Junction 13, new link roads (now forming part of the A419) were built in either direction to connect the M5 to Stroud and to the A38, replacing the old main road which zigzagged through Eastington village. The junction, link roads and associated earthworks between them destroyed a mile of the Stroudwater Navigation, from just north of Eastington to just south of Whitminster. This is the ‘Missing Mile’.
Cotswold Canals: the phases
Phase1bSaultoStonehouse: Lotterygrantconfirmed2020
Phase3BrimscombetoWater Park:Some restorationcompletedmainlyaroundCerney
Phase1aStonehouseto Brimscombe:complete(except BrimscombePortlength)
to Oxford
Phase2Water ParktoInglesham: Someworkcompletedaround Eisey.IngleshamLockrestored
Cotswold Canals Missing Mile
at what it is, how it came to be missing, and what putting it back will involve…
Reinstated A38 crossing, with two new bridges under the roundabout
But couldn’t we just dig it out again? No, unfortunately simply digging out and reinstating the Missing Mile on (or close to) the original route wasn’t an option. Although much of the route is through open farmland, it would need to cross both the A38 and the M5. The first of these might be possible if expensive (see later); crossing the motorway, with two three-lane carriageways plus a pair of junction sliproads, was a different matter. And it wouldn’t just be the cost of bridges – the motorway was at completely the wrong level for either an aqueduct over it or navigable culvert underneath.
So for many years, restoration therefore concentrated on ‘easier’ bits elsewhere – for example a length from Eastington eastwards saw two locks restored and a trip-boat put in operation; in the 1980s and 1990s a lot of effort went into the sections around Cerney including Boxwell Springs, Wildmoorway and South Cerney lock.
The missing mile: reinstatement on the agenda More recently, with the availability of major funding for canal restoration from sources such as the National Lottery, the Cotswold Canals Trust began to look at the possibility of reopening a significant length of canal at the western end of the route, connected to the national canal network at Saul Junction, which would mean doing something about the Missing Mile.
The need to match the aims of the canal restoration movement against the priorities of the National Lottery Heritage Fund and local authorities have meant that the Phase 1a section from Stonehouse to Brimscombe Port (see explanation of the phases, opposite page) was restored first because it had more direct heritage, regeneration and local amenity benefits, even though it would initially be an isolated navigable length with no connection to the rest of the waterways network. It has been followed by the Phase 1b section from Saul to Stonehouse – including the Missing Mile.
This would cost in excess of £20m, but a package was successfully put together including a National Lottery Heritage Fund grant which was finally confirmed in late 2020. Initially it was hoped that restoration work would be complete by the end of 2023, ready for a reopening this year…
Martin Ludgate
A plan for the Missing Mile As mentioned earlier, the main challenge is getting the canal across the M5 motorway – and creating either an aqueduct or a new navigable culvert would be impracticable. However, half a mile to the west of the canal’s original route is an existing bridge carrying the M5 over the River Frome. But any solution involving using this bridge would need to avoid compromising its ability to cope with abnormal river water flows in flood conditions.
The engineers planning the restoration came up with a solution involving squeezing a reinstated canal channel through this bridge alongside the river, but with the barrier between them low enough that the river can overflow into the canal channel in flood conditions.
The canal level through this bridge would be precisely determined by the need for sufficient depth, enough headroom for navigation, and its ability to cope with floods. This meant that on each of the two lengths of new channel linking the river bridge to the original canal on either side, there would need to be a new lock to take the canal back to the correct level.
Phase 1b: progress and delays You’ll have seen the reference above to a reopening this year, and may be wondering why you haven’t heard about it yet. Well unfortuately, delays for various reasons including the pandemic,
The diverted canal will share this bridge carrying the M5 over the River Frome
CCT volunteers testing out new materials with a trial wall
Martin Ludgate
CCT
construction price inflation (Stroud District Council has significantly increased its contribution to keep it on track) and complicated planning issues have slowed down progress considerably, and it’s still a couple of years off.
There have been major achievements. One was the reinstatement of the canal where the A38 roundabout at Whitminster sits right on top of the original canal route. And here, unlike the M5 crossing, it did prove practicable to go back to the original route – via two new bridges under the roundabout. And rather unexpectedly it got funded to the tune of £4m independently of the main package, thanks to a Highways England grant scheme specifically for reversing historic environmental damage from new national road schemes. And the second major achievement was reinstatement of the Ocean Railway Bridge carrying the main Birmingham to Bristol railway line over the canal, which took place during a week-long railway closure over Christmas and New Year 2021-22.
Cotswold Canals: Phase 1b section showing ‘Missing Mile length’
Gloucester & Sharpness Canal to Gloucester
Saul Junction
To Sharpness
Whitminster Lock Walk Bridge: new bridge to be built
Canalised River Frome section
New Stonepitts Lift Bridge to be built
Whitminster
River Frome (unnavigable)
A38 crossing reinstated 2020 with Highways England grant
New lock to be built (likely volunteer project)
Diverted canal channel to pass under M5 alongside River Frome sharing existing bridge
New lengths of canal to link up with original route on either side of M5
A38 A419
New mooring basin to be created
‘MissingMile’section
M5
John Robinson Lock and aqueduct / culvert above (current WRG project)
Eastington
Dock Lock Pike Lock
Blunder Lock
Newtown Lock
New lock to be built (likely volunteer project)
Stonehouse
Ocean Railway Bridge reinstated 2021-22
Phase 1a section restored (almost) to Brimscombe Port
And meanwhile, as you’ll have read in last year’s issues of Navvies, volunteers (including several weeks of back-to-back Canal Camps) have got to work on John Robinson Lock (formerly Westfield Lock), just at the east end of the Missing Mile, and are set to follow that with work to create a culvert to carry the canal over a stream at the head of the lock.
The Missing Mile: reinstatement at last There is still some work to be done at the west end of the Phase 1b length (such as reinstating Walk Bridge and completing Whitminster Lock), but most of the remaining work to be done is centred on the Missing Mile. And the good news is that planning consent has finally been given for this section – so the contractors will soon be able to crack on with getting the M5 crossing sorted.
The less good news is that the continuing steep inflation in construction prices has added several million to the total cost of Phase 1b. And that means it’s looking increasingly likely that (as some of you will remember happened with Phase 1a and the locks above Stroud) there will need to be an increased volunteer input. In particular one or both of the two new locks would be built by volunteers –including visiting WRG and other mobile teams.
The locks being brand new, consideration is being given to using modern materials rather than copying the brickwork construction of the original locks. CCT volunteers have been trying out some ideas by building a trial wall in interlocking concrete blocks, reinforcing bar and concrete fill.
Whatever the decision on construction methods, it looks likely that we’ll be spending a fair amount of time on building locks and other work on the Missing Mile – and helping to get the reopening from Saul (and the rest of the canal network) through to Stroud and Brimscombe Port back on track.
Network Rail contractors putting in the new Ocean Rail Bridge, and a train crossing the completed structure
Martin Ludgate Network Rail
progress Erewash Canal
It’s not just restoration: the Erewash Canal Preservation & Development Association are helping maintain the canal reopened 50 years ago…
Erewash Canal
The main job for the Erewash Canal Preservation and Development Association (ECPDA) over the 2022/23 winter was assisting Friends of the Cromford Canal removing shrubs and small trees ready for the start of their Beggarlee project where the Cromford Canal heads north from the top of the Erewash just north of our Langley Mill base [see reports in the last three issues of Navvies to see what has happened since then on this site], whilst for contrast this last winter it has been cutting back off-side vegetation for the Canal & River Trust (CRT). We completed all the priority areas despite starting a bit late; our work boat Pentland had first to appear at the Shardlow Historic Port Gathering in September and was then needed for the fitting of anti-vandal locks at two Erewash Canal locks.
Other recent work for CRT has occupied us with filling up a couple of washouts behind the ends of a run of piling, grinding down a paddle spindle to the correct size and cutting back a short length of grossly overgrown hedge. In the next few weeks when the materials arrive we will be repairing and replacing a ground paddle spear rod, replacing plain fixings with security nuts on the previously mentioned anti-vandal locks, replacing the anti-slip surface on four lock balance beams, replacing a signpost and - more mundanely - fitting a replacement paper towel dispenser in the Langley Mill facilities block.
But life is not solely about helping CRT. The floods and a failing pipe in our pump house have caused a bit of head scratching this winter. Surplus water from Moorgreen reservoir feeds into the Great Northern Basin and the resulting high water level caused one of our moored boats to end up with an uxter plate (the underside of the counter) on the bank, but this was quickly solved by Tom from the neighbouring boat yard. However the fore end of the boat had also lifted the concrete coping to which it was moored and when the level subsided the 8ft 6in coping was dangling in the water! We have now recovered the coping but await the water level returning nearer to normal before we can shutter up and cast new concrete.
During one of the recent storms the water overtopped the basin and flooded the pump house, filling it to a depth of two feet above floor level on the middle storey, but this could have been worse as even the entrance doors on the top floor are below canal level. Both the 3-phase back pump electric motor and the sump pump for the bottom storey were inundated and had to be removed to our workshops to dry out. Fortunately there was no lasting harm done. We had earlier suffered a problem with the sump pump outlet pipe which had failed where it passes through the pump house wall. The problem was that since the outlet was into the canal below water level, we couldn’t break the pipe without starting to empty the canal! Therefore it was a great day when we discovered a valve for the outlet hidden under the towing path which the original ECPDA volunteer installers had forgotten about.
Dave Turner
Langley Mill at the top of the Erewash Canal
Martin Ludgate
progress Montgomery
Shropshire Union Canal Society dodge the floods to carry on lining the canal channel southwards from the new Crickheath limit of navigation
Montgomery Canal
Shropshire Union Canal Society March 2024 work party report: lining and blocking at Crickheath South, the next length to be restored from the canal’s new terminus (since last year’s reopening) at Crickheath Wharf to the recently rebuilt Schoolhouse Bridge.
This winter has been wet (!) and February was no exception with estimates varying between 2½ to 3 times typical rainfall. The Phase 1A section (the first length from the Crickheath end) remains full of water and out of bounds, but with 3 pumps now running, the channel level had dropped a few inches and at least the overflow into the site compound had stopped.
Universally cold, Friday dodged the forecast sleet showers, Saturday didn’t, and Sunday was bright but with a heavy frost. Wet weather put an end to any further channel profiling on Saturday, so digger operators diverted to stump removal in an area of the Phase 2 section (towards the Schoolhouse Bridge end) agreed with the CRT ecologist. All the stumps are now removed, providing a future opportunity for another popular pastime – bonfires. But the main focus of this work party was lining and blocking of the channel, with a waterproof liner and concrete blocks laid on top of the part of it that will be underwater. Work started in Phase 1B.
Clearing the channel
Taking delivery of the rolls of ’carpet’ (lining material)
Pictures by SUCS
This area doesn’t hold water so, unlike Phase 1A, a fortunate consequence is that we have been able to maintain access over winter. The length being worked on runs from the compound to the southernmost clay dam retained from last October’s water tests. A haul road on the offside bank provides easy access for most of this area. Starting at the far end of the haul road, work moved towards the dam and by the end of the weekend 30 metres of channel had been lined and blocked. Work will continue in this direction for another 15 metres until the dam is reached, and then we’ll work back towards the compound.
Above water level, the liners will be covered by riprap (medium-sized stone) and site strip (soil) on the towpath side. An innovative method of creating a ‘soft bank’ behind a submerged retaining wall will be used on the offside bank. This will maximise the ecological benefit of the restored channel and create habitat for many species, including water voles.
Elsewhere, the last day of this season’s hedgelaying work was completed. A total of 90 metres has been completed this winter together with preparation work for next season.
Job done: the liner is covered in blocks up to the finished water level
Installing the channel lining material
progress North Walsham
The group restoring Norfolk’s only canal are making progress towards opening it to light craft, thanks to the Rural England Prosperity Fund
North Walsham & Dilham Canal
The Light Craft Navigation project: an amazing success for the Trust
A step towards the restoration of the canal: It has long been thought that craft suitable for portaging might use the sections of the canal in water in advance of the repair of the major structures. However, to undertake any project work the North Walsham & Dilham Canal Trust needs to secure the necessary funding.
So, it is great news that, as announced at its 2023 AGM in October, the Trust has been awarded a grant from the Rural England Prosperity Fund.
The award means that the Trust can be suitably equipped to help maintain the sections of the canal that can be used by unpowered craft (e.g. canoes, paddle boards
etc.). The award however is only part of the story.
The challenge: It took three months of hard work to develop a scheme and submit a grant application to North Norfolk District Council (NNDC) who were supported by the New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership (NALEP) in this process. At the outset the Trust showed what it had achieved working in support of the
factfile NorthWalsham&DilhamCanal
The North Walsham & Dilham Canal, opened in 1826, was an extension of the River Ant (one of the Norfolk Broads rivers), which climbed through six locks to terminate at Antingham Ponds.
It was intended as an ‘agricultural canal’, aimed at taking farm produce out and bringing in coal, but was not a commercial success. The top end above Swafield Locks was abandoned in 1893; the remainder carried some trade until 1934 after which it fell derelict although it was never legally abandoned.
Despite 80 years of dereliction, most of the route survives and much is still in water, only one bridge has been culverted, and the six locks still exist. In 1972 it was said that it would be easy to restore – but it wasn’t until 2008 that the North Walsham & Dilham Canal Trust was launched. Since then restoration has included rebuilding of Bacton Wood Lock, as well as work on Ebridge mill pond and the adjacent spillway which WRG helped rebuild during the summer 2017 Canal Camps programme.
Length: 9 miles
Locks: 6
Opened: 1826
Closed: 1934 (trade ended, never legally abandoned)
Canoeists on the canal
Pictures by NWDCT
proprietors of the canal. It also outlined what it could do soon, if suitably equipped, to facilitate navigation by light, unpowered craft.
There were two key aspects to the proposal –
Pontoons: The purchase of sectional pontoons that the Trust could move between sections of the canal. These would be used to help the Trust to address the ongoing maintenance that is required, primarily the vegetation that can make the canal unnavigable if left unchecked.
Materials for pontoons and platforms arrive on a stormy day
to manage the process of applying for the grant.
Platforms: The provision of platforms that would allow users of light craft to easily come on and off the canal. Note that the level of the water in the canal can vary, and it is desirable to minimise any restriction of flow in the canal.
Conditions: Before payment of the grant, all expenditure had to be completed and there had to be evidence of the project work being undertaken. Secondly, the project had to be complete before Christmas, Thirdly, the Trust had to provide 25% of the value of any project from its own resources, a not insignificant amount.
The proposal: A sub-committee was set up
Given the timescale and budget, the focus of the project became Pound 1 (Wayford Junction to Honing Lock) and Pound 4 (Ebridge to Bacton Wood Mill).
Procurement: During the first two weeks of the project we procured all the equipment. This had to be achieved at the prices quoted with strict timetables for the deliveries. The four main packages to be procured were:-
• The sectional pontoons and platforms –this was the major purchase.
• The trailer to allow the pontoons/ platforms to be moved between the different sections of the canal.
Testing out the first platform
• The outboards for the work pontoons, complete with batteries and chargers.
• The hand tools for use on the pontoons, including the batteries and chargers.
Equipment delivery: Thursday, 2nd November brought the severe storm Ciaran. It was also the day that the majority of the materials to construct the pontoons and platforms arrived in the yard at Spa Common!
Suitably clad the volunteers withstood the
storm and the equipment was off loaded. By the end of the day and, after some training, the first floating platform was assembled and launched into the canal. It was moored on the west bank of the canal just below Bacton Wood Mill Lock. A huge achievement given the conditions.
Project delivery: The platforms The following work parties rapidly assembled further platforms for mooring at specific locations in Pound 1 and Pound 4. A second platform was moored to form a double platform at Spa Common. Two further platforms were taken to Ebridge Lock by canal and moored on the east bank above the lock.
Two platforms were taken by road to Tonnage Bridge on Pound 1. One platform was moored at the canoe field and the second taken by canal to the bottom of Honing Lock.
The final platform has been assembled and it is planned to use this at Honing Staithe to work from to help remove a large tree that is in the water at the entrance to the staithe.
The pontoons Three work pontoons have been assembled with two being deployed on Pound 4 (Ebridge) and one on Pound 1 (Wayford Junction/Lower Canal).
On Pound 1 the pontoon was used to take a platform from Tonnage Bridge to the bottom of Honing Lock, there being only pedestrian access to this location.
In the future it is planned to use this equipment to remove sunken and floating logs from the pound.
Taking a fully made-up pontoon to Pound 1 by road has shown that the Trust could use the trailer to take a pontoon to
remote sections of the canal and move the pontoon manually to the desired position.
The deployment of the platform below Honing Lock completes the operational delivery of the project. The equipment will, of course, be used for many years to come. This will be both on maintaining the channel within Pounds 1 and 4 and elsewhere on the canal as the pounds come back into water.
It has been a fabulous project undertaken to very strict time scales and within a tight budget. The volunteers have put a lot of effort into the many work parties which is great.
To see our Work Party reports for the Project over November and December 2023: nwdct.org/work-party-reports-archive-from2008-to-today/
Chris Heath, Projects Officer
The Trustees and Officers of the North Walsham and Dilham Canal Trust wish to record our grateful thanks to Officers of North Norfolk District Council for the opportunity to apply for a share of the Rural England Prosperity Fund, funded by UK government. This project is part funded by the UK government through the Rural England Prosperity Fund, which supports capital development in small businesses and local communities.
Pontoon being used to deliver a platform
Progress Chesterfield
Preparation and planning is complete, and practical work can start on the £5m project to extend the Chesterfield-Staveley length eastwards
Chesterfield Canal
A lot has happened since our last report on the section of the Chesterfield Canal being restored with funding from the Staveley Town Deal. Last time we included an impression of the design for the bridge which will carry the Trans-Pennine Trail (TPT) over the canal, in blue. We’ve now had updated visualisations in our two preferred colour options - a ‘black grey’ and ‘pearl orange’. The bridge will be painted steel, with a timber panel to meet equestrian guidelines. We are now consulting with stakeholders on which colour they prefer. Immediately before Christmas, the construction tenders were returned for the first phase of works, which includes building the TPT Bridge, improving the access onto site from Ireland Close, creating the site compound and re-aligning the footpaths. The response was phenomenal, with 10 contractors submitting bids. We evaluated and interviewed accordingly, and appointed O’Brien Contractors Ltd for this phase. Before they could start work, two key tasks needed to be completed. Firstly, the necessary areas needed to be cleared of vegetation, and secondly, a raft of planning conditions and final consents needed to be signed off. These typically take around 8 weeks to get signed off, so as we went to press we were still on target to move onto site properly in early April. Meanwhile on 12th February, work started to clear the vegetation - complete with some serious kit! Two excavators, a chipper and a very nifty remote controlled flail, as well as chainsaws and other hand tools made short work of the clearance and it was all done within a week. It was essential to get this done before the bird nesting season starts on 1st March. The site is now much clearer and you can see in the photo where the new TPT bridge will be going, as well as where existing paths are going to be reprofiled and widened. These construction works will be carried out by O’Brien, who were due to start on site in April, and have been working hard to complete the final stages of preparatory work that they are responsible for. The expectation is that April and May will be spent establishing the construction compound, the new access road and the various footpath diversions. Bridge construction will start in earnest in June and the superstructure will be lifted into place in late July or early August. The final stage will be to connect up the various paths, replacing the existing ramp arrangement, and then tidy up, finishing in late August or early September. In the meantime, as regards raising the necessary funding (on top of the £5m from the Staveley Town Fund), in addition to our Aviva crowdfunder last year, which raised over £24,000 towards the landscape around the TPT bridge, we have recently been awarded two grants totalling £31,000. Applications for £575,000 are awaiting decisions, and £210,000 of further applications are being prepared. We won’t get them all, but it is encouraging nonetheless. George Rogers, Project Director
Site clearance ready for bridge construction
CCT
progress Wey & Arun
The Wey & Arun summit level is benefiting from the redevelopment of the former Dunsfold Aerodrome (aka the Top Gear test track)…
Wey & Arun Canal
Dunsfold Park desilting results in 2km of fully navigable canal: 2024 has started with the completion of desilting work on the Dunsfold section of the summit level of the canal, resulting in a fully navigable unobstructed wide and deep channel, for nearly 2km from Fast Bridge down to Tickner’s Heath, and a canalside path.
Our volunteers had made huge progress with restoration here over many years, but we were then set back by Covid. So we were very happy to step back when the final stage was taken over by Dunsfold Airport Ltd, which is behind the transformation of Dunsfold Aerodrome into a new village, where 1,800 homes and further commercial zones will emerge. The first stage of new housing will border the canal.
The 2023 desilting operation: The principal contractors were Sir Robert McAlpine. They called on Land & Water Group Ltd who spent much of the year on Dunsfold Airport Ltd’s behalf on this major project.
• All the fish were rehomed. Many of them were large carp, with which the canal here had been stocked by the British Aerospace angling club.
• All the canal water in the section – 90 megalitres [or to use the international standard unit of volume, enough to fill 36 Olympic swimming pools] – was pumped into temporary lagoons built on site.
• The water was then cleaned by substantial process plant that uses the power of rising air bubbles to remove harmful contaminants and returned to the canal.
• 13,000 cubic metres of silt was then taken out by an amphibious tracked excavator and a dragline and bucket. As far as possible it will be reused for landscaping on the development.
Unexploded Ordnance: The aerodrome was built in the Second World War by and for
Canadian forces. During the dredging, the contractors found unexploded ordnance from that time which needed professional disposal.
How the canal will be used and public access: At the moment the canal is within the secure perimeter of Dunsfold Park and will not be open to the public until the housing development is underway. However, Dunsfold Park will allow us to run special events on this stretch of canal and organise guided walks. The Trust has a slipway within Dunsfold Park to launch small boats.
Tickners Heath Crossing: At the Southern end of this section is Tickner’s Heath where the route of the canal is blocked by the causeway which carries Dunsfold Road. To overcome this obstruction a new road bridge will be built and a new canal cut excavated to rejoin the original canal to the west of the old crossing. A new footbridge (a separate span to carry the footpath / bridleway, with the main bridge for road traffic to be built later) was built in 2022 but then work had to be but on hold while we awaited highway approvals for a temporary road and for a water main to be re-routed. The Trust hopes to restart this project later this year. The newly desilted Dunsfold
Tech tips Griddle care
After the New Year Camp had to deal with a particularly nasty example of an uncared-for Griddle, Maria has come up with some advice…
Griddle care during and after your camp
The griddle forms part of the catering kit, and arrives to your camp in the back of the van with the rest of the catering equipment. It can’t be missed in the kitchen, as it is both large and heavy, which is why it will have two pairs of handles on the ends, to allow for a two person lift and carry.
During a camp the griddle should be kept as grease free as possible, on the shiny steel around the cast iron cooking plate, and the drip tray in the front left corner, which should be regularly emptied of any food debris. Adding a piece of paper towel in the bottom of the drip tray, will help soak up any oil in it. After each session of use, the cooking plate should have any excess oil and food waste scraped off. This will ensue that the plate does not become too bad by the end of the week. One way to help with this is to use paper towels to mop up excess oil.
Due to the nature of the cooking plate, it is difficult to completely clean, and this is why at the end of the camp, it is necessary to scrape and wipe the plate with paper towels as clean as possible, de-grease the stainless steel body of the griddle, and empty and clean the drip tray. Don’t forget to clean the back as well.
When it is time to pack up all the catering kit, the griddle needs special attention. Making sure the griddle is not too hot after cooking the last breakfast of the week, clean the cooking plate as well as possible by scraping and mopping with paper towels, then spread a layer of clean oil on the plate. Finally, using a bin liner, seal the plate by placing the bin liner flat to the plate, and up the sides. Keep the bin liner in place by adding cling film around the outside of the griddle. This is especially important if kit is not going straight onto another camp, as the griddle may be going into storage for some time. If the griddle is not sealed properly then it may need cleaning again before your first use on the camp.
Maria Hearnden
Agriddlethathasn’tbeenproperlysealedandhasbeenleftfor sometime,and(below)oneproperlysealedwithabinliner
letters to the editor
Terryanswersthequestion“Whybother?”andgivesthankstoWRG,while JohnsharesmorememoriesofthelategreatMrMcofWRGNorthWest
Dear Martin
Why bother?
On behalf of Buckingham Canal Society (and hopefully many other restoration groups) I just want to say thank you to WRG and their IWA parents especially “mummy” aka Jenny Hodson. Most restorations plough on with nose down to the canal bed and keep making what sometimes feels like millimetres of progress at a time, but it’s progress and we get there. The opening of our 515 metres of waterway at Cosgrove last September is testament to everyone including our own volunteers as well as the many WRG folk who have attended over the years. It then felt like suddenly we were admiring the WRG team on the Christmas Camp performing a cross between a well-choregraphed production of Swan Lake and a plague of locusts destroying the (unwanted) vegetation in our next target section of waterway to restore. As mentioned by Mike Palmer in the last edition of Navvies, there is a shedload (lot) of background work to these visible events and that is undertaken by many unsung heroes providing excellent advice and support from vehicle options, insurance, logistics to fundraising, grant application references and many others. Restoration is a team effort, and indeed whilst I have helped guide this year’s restoration conference, the credit must go to Jenny and Verena for doing the legwork alongside the many others from IWA, CRT, WRG and beyond who have been invited (maybe coerced!) into preparing and presenting at the conference. Restoration is an intergenerational project, or so it says in one of my many presentations. So why the title, “Why bother?”. Because we care and because we can. Regardless of why you care, make sure you find a person to follow on; to keep the “restoration faith” for the next generation. Each of us may or may not see chunks of progress but every millimetre is measurable be it on the ground or in the back office. Now sit down and make a list of 10 people and aim to “recruit” at least 2 of them to the waterway restoration community. I fear the next era of restoration will be some very different challenges alongside the ones we as a community have some recipe’s and experience that needs to be handed on.
Thanks to all who support restoration groups from WRG and beyond
Terry Cavender Executive Officer and Trustee of Buckingham Canal Society
Opening of Bridge 1 and 515m of canal in September
BCS
The following letter follows on from the sad news reported in Navvies 323 that David ‘Mr Mac’ McCarthy, elder statesman of our WRG North West group and canal restoration legend, had died just short of what would have been his 100th birthday:
Dear Martin
End of an era…
Many years back when we (myself, Tess – my late wife, and our children Andrew and Tracey) first started to go on weekend digs we met with many people from several regional groups; this obviously included WRG North West. We then stepped back for a while whilst Andrew and Tracey were going through school.
Tess and I then returned to do weekend digs mainly with North West which may seem a bit strange, considering where we lived in Hertfordshire!
There was always a warm welcome – often in the form of copious cups of tea all brewed by Mr Mac in his camper van, and not forgetting the broken biscuits. We often wondered how many hot drinks had been brewed in the close confines of the van; and not forgetting the small stall with a wash bowl and soap, ready for a quick hand wash.
For a long time we tried to work out how we could help on ‘paper chases’ (WRG North West’s regular waste paper collection / recycling / fundraising rounds in north Manchester); rather too far to travel for a day! We managed to help on a few, because other events had been arranged around certain weekends – Mr Mac’s birthday celebrations, the award of his richly deserved MBE, and other special events. And of course, not forgetting the fish and chips at his home in Crumpsall after the paper chases.
Over the years Mr Mac has always sent us a Christmas card, complete with a hand written letter with some often very meaningful comments.
Mr Mac always called us “the southern contingent of North West”.
Really good to have known such a great guy.
From all the Hawkins family.
Mac’s ever-popular tea-dispensing camper van in action on the Montgomery
John Hawkins
Mr
navvies News
AnMBEforBillfromNWPG,newCanalCampsT-shirtsavailable,goodnews fortheMont,andthe endofcivilisation(andteadrinking)asweknowit…
Congratulations…
…to Bill Nicholson of the independent mobile canal restoration volunteer group NWPG for being awarded the MBE in the New Year Honours, for services to canal restoration. Bill has led the group for many years, having been involved since it was first set up as the Newbury Working Party Group of the Kennet & Avon Canal Trust but worked on other waterways when there were issues with volunteer work on the K&A. Well done Bill, the award is well deserved (and apologies for not mentioning it last time).
SavetheBurco!
Shock news for all tea and coffee drinkers in WRG: the makers of the Burco water boiler, mainstay of on-site hot beverage production on
Canal Camps for many years have stopped making the gas-powered model. With no plans to re-start production and no other companies currently making an equivalent model, that’s going to leave us with a problem at some point in the future. The good news is that Bungle’s store contains enough Burcos or bits of them to keep us going for a while, but in the long term we may end up having to resort to using electric Burcos (and therefore needing a generator or other mains supply on site), flasks of hot water, a billy-can on a bonfire, or some other solution…
More goodnewsfortheMont
After the progress update for the Montgomery Canal had already been written, we received some more good news for the canal.
Over £250,000 has been secured for the restoration of the remaining length of the canal in Shropshire.
The Canal & River Trust has received £177,625 in funding from the government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund. The grant, secured through Shropshire Council, has been further boosted by an extra £76,250 from the Shropshire Union Canal Society and the Restore the Montgomery Canal! Public appeal, bringing the total to £253,000. This will be enough to pay for the next phase of the restoration, led by volunteers from the Shropshire Union Canal Pride of place at tea break - but are the Burco’s days numbered?
Society, to restore and re-line a further 360-metre section of the historically leaky canal channel from Crickheath towards Schoolhouse Bridge (the ‘Crickheath South’ project) - see our Progress pages 28-29 for more.
Schoolhouse Bridge itself has just been rebuilt with money raised through the Restore the Montgomery Canal! public appeal (and WRG has just supported it with a four day mini-camp over Easter carrying out finishing-off works - see Mike Palmer’s piece on pages 5-6). This removes the final road blockage on the English length of the canal, paving the way for future restoration from Schoolhouse Bridge to the Welsh border at Llanymynech. Beyond there on the Welsh section, there is already funding in place from the Levelling Up Fund for work including two road bridge reinstatements and channel clearance, leading to hopes for reopening through to the isolated 12-mile restored navigable length through Welshpool in the medium term.
Reunionsitewanted
CanalCamps2024T-shirts
This is the design on the back of this year’s WRG Canal Camps T-shirts.
Supplieswillbesentoutwiththekitstothe summercamps,andthey’llbeavailablefrom headoffice.
Are you involved in a canal restoration society or trust? Would an influx of up to 100 or more volunteers for a weekend in autumn benefit your project? And would you be able to find suitable accommodation for them to sleep, eat and socialise on the Saturday evening? If so, WRG would like to hear from you.
The WRG Reunion, sometimes also known as the Bonfire Bash, is a major working party held traditionally on the first weekend in November. It aims to give a major boost to canal restoration project, while also providing an opportunity for volunteers from the summer Canal Camps, the regional mobile volunteer groups, and anyone else to get together for an end-of-season social gathering.
The work is usually scrub-bashing i.e. tree and vegetation clearance. It doesn’t have to be, but we do find that this kind of work is we suited to large teams and not too weather dependent. So if you’re thinking of proposing something different, remember that it will be helpful if it satisfies those two criteria.
If you’ve got a suitable site, please get in touch with head office on 01494 783453 or enquiries@wrg.org.uk
Concreteclasses
We hope to organise some training in the use of reinforced concrete. We will publish details in Navvies when they are available.
Got a bit of canal like this? Maybe you need a Reunion…
Martin Ludgate
