avvies N Volunteers restoring waterways No 189 October - November 2001
waterway recovery group
Contents Contributions... ...are always welcome, whether hand-written, typed, on 3½" disk (please include hard-copy) or by e-mail. Photos also welcome: slides or colour or b/w prints. Please state whether you want your prints back; I assume that you want slides returned. Computer scanned photos also acceptable, either on disk or as e-mail attachments, preferably JPG format. Send them to the editor Martin Ludgate, 35, Silvester Road, London SE22 9PB, or e-mail to editor@navvies.demon.co.uk. Press date for No 190: November 8th.
Subscriptions A year's subscription (6 issues) is available for a minimum of ÂŁ1.50 (please add a donation if possible) to Sue Watts, 15 Eleanor Road, Chorltoncum-Hardy, Manchester M21 9FZ. Cheques to "Waterway Recovery Group" please.
In this issue:
Editorial more anti-restoration press? 3-4 Chairman MKP asks 'how was it for you?' 5 Camp reports Droitwich, Melton & Oakham,
Sleaford, Ipswich & Stowmarket, Droitwich again, 6-17 Wendover, Basingstoke WRG Wear the latest designer dig-wear 18-19 Logistics trailer? what trailer? 20 WRG BC news from our boat club 21 Diary canal camps and weekend work 22-24 Letters to the editor 25-28 More Camp reports Droitwich again, the 29-34 'National', and Droitwich again KESCRG get a trailer and plan a party 35 Progress the Dig Deep projects and 36-38 Droitwich Bankside return of the popular seriel 39 Publicity report from Milton Keynes 40
Bits & Pieces 41-42 Noticeboard 43 Backfill have you been on too many camps? 44
And next time...
...reports from the Lichfield Camp and the Basingstoke Bonfire Bash, an article about the Anderton Lift, more on the Cleanup and - by way of a change - something about Ludwigs Kanal in Germany. Visit our web site http://www.wrg.org.uk for all the latest news or WRG's activities
Cover photo: in September the new lock-gates were installed Hanbury Locks on the Droitwich Junction Canal - this year's most important work-site for WRG - and the canal was re-watered for the first time for many years. This is the pound between locks 2 and 3, with lock 3 seen in the background finished apart from completion of installation of copings on the wing-walls, and the wildlife already moving in. (Alan Lines) Below: yet another recent canal reopening was the Union Canal in Scotland, including this formerly filled-in section in Wester Hailes, Edinburgh, which has now been reconstructed. Inset: the same section of canal during the re-excavation work. (Photos by David Robertson)
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How many Canal Camp reports? This being the early autumn edition of 'Navvies', and most of our Canal Camps taking place in the summer months, there are rather a lot of Canal Camp reports in this issue. To those who went on the camps: I hope you enjoy reading the reports, and I hope that they will remind you of the good times you had, and maybe even tempt you to book on another Camp soon, because not only is this year's only Lichfield Camp about to start, and not only are there two Christmas Camps coming soon, but as you read this we are also hard at work planning the programme of Canal Camps for 2002. To those who didn't go on any camps: I hope you enjoy reading about them anyway, and maybe reading about all those good times and all that interesting work that you missed out on might even tempt you to go on one next year, because... (as per see previous para.) To those who went on the camps but don't enjoy reading the Camp Reports because you find them boring or you don't like the in-jokes, nicknames, gossip, lavatorial humour or whatever (or you're just plain sick of Droitwich!) perhaps you can do better! We welcome contributions from new writers, and it's always nice to see someone come up with a totally original style of Canal Camp Report. Go on, have a go! And lastly to those of you who didn't go on any camps and don't like reading about them either.... well, I could just say "Sod you, then!" But I won't: Canal Camps are only one part of WRG, albeit an important part. Camp Reports are only one part of Navvies: even in this edition, which has been increased by an extra 12 pages to include all the Camp Reports, they still account for less than half of the magazine. Next time there will be fewer Camps to report on, and plenty of space for other articles - we've already got one about the Anderton Lift lined-up, but we need more. So once again I'll repeat my appeal for some more canal restoration articles. You all seem to like reading the 'Restoration Feature' pieces that I've included in the past: now will some of you please write some more of them and send them to me? Thanks! More bad news? Last time I mentioned an article in the 'Yorkshire Post' by a columnist who regarded the restoration of the Huddersfield Narrow Canal as a waste of ÂŁ30M, and compared it to the Millennium Dome.
Editorial Since then I have seen a piece in the 'Telegraph' property section whose author seems to have somehow managed to winkle-out every anti-restoration landowner on the entire Cotswold Canals and quoted their worries at length, without finding any real supporters of restoration at all among the many property-owners along the route. And while I realise that there are those with genuine concerns about how the restoration will affect their homes, my impression from speaking to a number of the local people while I was leading a camp at Valley Lock, Chalford, earlier this year is that most of them are very supportive of the restoration - and those few who have worries about its effects are mainly (and rightly, to my mind) concerned that the restoration can and will be done sympathetically, rather than downright 'anti'. Not the picture painted by the 'Telegraph' article at all. And hot on the heels of that article comes another piece - this time it's in the Financial Times magazine, by someone called Roger Scruton who reckons that canal restoration, which 'was long ago agreed to be a Good Thing' is in the case of the Wilts and Berks 'a needless violation of a thriving habitat' which is 'better decaying and ought not to be restored'. He is horrified to find that '20 or 30 enthusiasts with a JCB Caterpillar' (aka Canal Camp 06) have descended on his local waterway with a view to restoring a lock between 'one impassible stretch of canal and another'. He contrasts the successfully-restored Kennet & Avon Canal, offering 'peaceful and picturesque holidays, pleasant walks through the country and an opportunity to immerse yourself in the rhythm of our waterways' with what he refers to as 'our little canal' which he says has 'no heritage feel to it: by a fortunate dispensation our little corner of England is a heritage-free zone, with a sense of the past that is all the deeper for being unconscious and unsold'. It is - as I pointed out last time - an easy and enjoyable pastime to pick holes in this sort of thing. For example one can point out that every successful canal restoration - including the Kennet & Avon which he admires - began with what was seen at the time as 'restoring a lock between one impassible stretch of canal and another'. Or mention that the W&BCAG who he seems to be suggesting are a bunch of johnny-come-latelys have in fact been planning to restore 'his little canal' for a couple of decades now.
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Given how much of the surviving remains of the canal had been lost in the previous 20 years, it is probably to a great extent down to their existence and the way that they have gone about raising awareness and support from the local people and local authorities that much of the canal exists at all, whether as a sympathetically-restored waterway or the peacefully-decaying habitat that he seems to prefer. One can point out the differences of scale between the W&B and the K&A, and show that not all restored canals have to be as grand and impressive as the K&A, and that once restored, many of the smaller navigable waterways blend into the scenery just as well as the derelict Wilts & Berks does. Alternatively one can question their motives - I have heard that Mr. Scruton owns a short section of the Wilts & Berks himself. Maybe he doesn't want the hassle of having it restored and thinks that by going into print and declaring his corner of England heritage-free he will get some support. I gather that one of the main 'antis' on the Cotswolds works for a local newspaper - and may have been involved in the 'Telegraph' article. And so on.... conspiracy theory is fun! Alternatively one can ask why there are so many of these articles in the papers at the moment. Of course it could be just coincidence. It could be that three disgruntled writers each happen to have a grudge against a canal at the same time. It may be that there is simply so much happening in canal restoration these days that among the acres of coverage in the local and national papers there is statistically likely to be a certain amount of negative comment. Or maybe it's a party political thing: Mr. Scruton is something of a right-winger I gather; the 'Telegraph' isn't exactly a leftie rag either. Maybe there have been just too many positive-sounding announcements from Blair & Co about canals recently, and just too many pictures of Labour politicians visiting the latest restoration success: the political right have decided that as they are duty-bound to oppose the left, they must take an anti-canal restoration stance. In which case I hope they get thrashed at the next election too... Or maybe it's a sudden waking-up of the 'NIMBY's who have seen all the canal reopenings recently and suddenly realised that the bunch of jokers who have been claiming that they are going to turn the local derelict ditch into a restored canal are actually going to do it. Or might it just be that the 'official' view of the establishment on canal restoration has come so far from 'hostile' via 'unconvinced' to 'totally in favour' that supporting it is 'old hat' now?
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Maybe canal restoration is now so supported-bythe-establishment, 'good news', 'sexy' - whatever you want to call it - that journalists are having doubts about whether to support it. What, write another column about how a piece of industrial heritage has been rescued from decades of dereliction and saved for the nation, and will be an asset for everyone to enjoy, and all the local authorities are backing it and a VIP is re-opening it next year? No, it makes far better newspaper copy to take a controversial or heretical viewpoint: if that means rubbishing canal restoration, then that's what the journos will do. So what do we do? How can we take advantage of the canals' new-found establishment backing, without losing support among the bunch of anarchists that started it all off, and without being so much a part of the establishment that we get knocked for it? Answers on a postcard, please! And even more bad news... As you will read elsewhere in this issue, one of our Canal Camps kit trailers was stolen during the Droitwich Camp in September. You will - as usual - find a good deal of fairly lighthearted stuff about it here (and one or two other 'trailer jokes' didn't quite make it into 'Navvies', e.g. the Blues Brothers version... "It's 106 miles to Basingstoke, we've got no trailer, half a Kit A, it's raining and we're wearing goggles.... Sod it!") but that doesn't mean we don't take it seriously. Jen of Logistics has done a huge amount of work on re-equipping the Camp Kits this year: she needs this sort of thing like she needs a hole in the head. But things could have been much worse - the trailer only had part of the tool-kit and none of the catering kit in it at the time; it was the older of the two trailers; it happened right at the end of the main Camps season, at when we weren't running concurrent camps on different sites, and we had both kits and most of the vehicles at Droitwich; at least the wheel-clamp didn't get nicked... And that final one is my main point: the reason the wheel-clamp wasn't nicked was because it wasn't on the trailer wheel at the time! I've heard people argue over the years about how useful these clamps are, and whether they would stop a determined thief. Look at it this way: the only time we've had a kit trailer nicked to date is one of the few occasions when it didn't have itswheel-clampon. Don't make the same mistake again! Martin Ludgate PS I've just heard that the other half of WRG Logistics has found a good way of avoiding getting the vans nicked - run them out of diesel!
So how was the summer for you? For me it was quite wonderful. I had the privilege of leading a well funded, worthwhile project that had the backing of all parties. OK so I’m lucky like that and have people that make sure problems are dealt with before they get up to me. But all our kit worked, our vans didn’t break down, most of the bricks laid didn’t get knocked down again and best of all pretty much everywhere I went I saw people (both navvies and public) smiling and enjoying themselves. I expect you think after such an enthusiastic start that the rest of this piece is going to be about what went wrong. Well it’s not because, in all honesty, it was a very good summer. The year started with the spectre of the Foot and Mouth outbreak and this together with low numbers for Canal Camp bookings and several regional groups struggling to turn out meant it seemed like being an all time low for restoration in general, and WRG in particular. And yet looking back on the summer it all seems to have gone brilliantly. Two things are probably responsible for this - firstly the considerable ingenuity of local organisers to rearrange jobs, accommodation and dates so that volunteers could always find some work to participate in without taking risks. And secondly we have been so very, very lucky in the volunteers we have attracted this year: Right from Easter through to September we have had some fantastic newcomers who have completely fitted in with what we do. They have responded to all the challenges we have given as enthusiastically and effectively as any “old hand”. Even the numbers of bookings improved. Where did they come from? Well we hope it was a result of our more diverse recruiting attempts, it was certainly a more diverse band of newcomers that booked, but I guess only time will tell if it happens next year. Anyway the most important message to all these new volunteers is “welcome”. Please don’t feel pressured to dive straight back in (though we welcome anyone who wants to get more involved). Just slide in wherever you find you fit in best - as a regular weekend digger or an occasional Canal Camp visitor you will always be welcome. One of WRG’s most oft quoted lines is “the right tool for the right job”. While you may not like being described as a tool it is just as true about the volunteers as it is about shovels (or perhaps spades). The one true strength of WRG is its volunteers - almost everything else can be substituted by anyone else in the restoration scene, but no one can be as flexible as us and still produce such high quality work. In recent months I have been so keen to remind people that they all have their part to play (armchair supporters, IWA branches, backroom staff, etc) that perhaps I have neglected the people at the mucky end. Well I hope I have corrected that mistake and now perhaps it can be seen that whatever your talents there is a place for you in WRG. That said, there is one group that do need to be singled out for my particular thanks - the leaders.
Chairman
I am well aware that this job is getting more and more demanding (neatly counterbalanced by the pleasure of completing ever more rewarding projects, of course!) and this year we tried out a few things to make their life easier. Next year we hope to further improve on this and increase the support given to leaders. This is of course a ‘softly, softly’ approach to revealing the fact that Gavin and Adrian will soon be ringing round looking for leaders for next year. However don’t dismiss the promise - items such as the safety video and the Personal Protection Equipment packs were brought in specifically to give the leader less to worry about regarding Health and Safety. We hope to give even more support next year so, that leaders can get on with the main job - enjoying themselves. By the time you read this about 20 of us will have jumped off Anderton Boat Lift to raise funds for its restoration. However that does not mean that the story is quite over and that everyone can sit back and wait for the opening next Spring. For those that jumped there is still the task of collecting all the sponsor money. So if you did sponsor someone and have not yet paid then please pay up without them having to chase you. What does the next year hold for us? Well that is really a subject for the next “navvies” but having recently had a committee meeting it looks like a pretty good year. Not that this year is over yet of course. Let’s not forget Camp 22 at Lichfield, the bonfire bash or Camp 23 at Basingstoke; indeed the regional groups are just pulling on their boots after the summer hibernation [Err... I think you'll find it's called 'estivation' not 'hibernation' when it's in summer. ...Ed] so lots still to do before 2002. So to roll back to the start of my piece - progress at Droitwich has been significant, indeed very significant - I don’t know of any faster progress anywhere at anytime. There are many reasons for this not least of which is the quality of the volunteers as mentioned above, but as Spencer Greystrong’s letter says - the major difference here is money (especially the Neil Pitts legacy from the IWA). Droitwich is not unique here - thanks to years of planning and campaigning almost every restoration has got at least one project that deserves “medium sized” funding. For too long people have said things like “we need that money in the bank - it’s our rainy day fund”. Well in my humble opinion there is never a better time to spend money with improved legislation, protection and public support rainy days aren’t that common anymore. The conditions for maximising results are better than ever: BW, EA, LAs and even commercial companies are switched on to canal restoration at the moment. I appeal to IWA, Canal Societies, TWT and independent funders to consider spending now. Quite simply we are worth the investment - we can deliver the results. Mike Palmer
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Camps ...and I wonder if you can guess where our first report is from... Yes that's right - Droitwich! The Hanbury flight of three locks on the Droitwich Junction Canal has been our most important work-site for this year, with six weeks of Canal Camps. And we have reports from four of them in this issue, beginning with... Droitwich Camp 03: 30th June - 7th July Following 7 days of sun on Adrian & Marcus’s camp, you’d have thought we’d have been wringing out our pants every night from the rain but the gods were with us and it was more a question of the blokes wringing out their T shirts from sweating in the glorious sunshine. It was after one of these glorious days and one too many lemonades that Gav - the camp leader - tricked me into writing the camp report; after one or two more, Vicki then tricked me into writing it in the style of the comments that we have to write in a Duke of Edinburgh's Award report as we didn’t have any of that particular breed of camper. So I apologise in advance for the quality of the read but a promise is a promise… (I’ll do my best to describe the work in there somehow too but too be honest as you’ll discover it mainly revolved around brick cleaning and winding the solar power stereo up. If only we’d read 'Navvies' Edition 187 beforehand!) Dr Steve – Brought a luxurious element to the camp by cooking for the week (excellent Christmas pudding), calibre of frog oh, and sofa bed! Nutty Sally Nutt (Well wouldn’t you be after two solid weeks WRGing with the first being your first.) - Not only a fine addition to the WRG family but also a fine brickie specialising on a slanty bit of lock 3 side pond and off side wall of lock 2 – cracking work but not literally. Needs to work on traditional brickie's bad attitude to truly blend in with other brickies. Matt Taylor – T-shirt tan man and skilled brickie coach taught Sally the art of WRGing and bricking; excellent work finishing-off the work on the side pond of lock 3 and a substantial section of the lock 2 side wall.
Mr Hair Mole – Part of the fashionable set on site but also did a remarkable amount of work. I suppose our low number of available ladies explains it! Particularly handy at pushing barrows up steep banks to the bricklayers. Nin-Nor-Nina aka Kango girl – Excelled in brick washing after backfill concrete pour to support the side pond rebuild and at keeping us all smiling. Sock Brown – Since I last met Alistair, he has learnt the ability to express himself vivaciously, particularly when he is bored of washing bricks in dirty smelly water. Well done! Alan Lines, his Willy (car, of course) and his baccy tin were all assets to the camp but not as valuable as his sense of humour for the brick cleaners. Birthday Boy – Key skill: driving dumpers where no man wants to drive dumpers. The reason being that the sexy new sidepond walls would only look mouthwatering with many tonnes of landscaping soil from a local housing development. Corinne – Came for a day and brought the sunshine with her. You guessed it – spent the time brick-cleaning. Well, we had to keep Matt and Sally from getting withdrawal symptoms… Happy Harry. Improved the overall aroma on site (very important in the heat) with an excellent selection of after-shave. Hope the beer festival appreciated our loss at the end of the week! Jen ‘Very tolerant’ Leigh. We got WRG logistics' kit and WRG logistics – could we ask for more? Steve The Camper. And on the 3rd day a bearded man appeared, stayed a few days and passed through. Hope the brick cleaning didn’t scare him away from WRGing for another 20 years… Vicki – made my week. Head brick cleaner and jollification queen. Certainly kept me sane. Mr Collins – We are indebted! Ever thought of taking up cake decorating? With your landscaping skills in Blue, I think you could be a big success? MKP – Who's that? Oh yeah, he’ll be the chap that was really in charge, what was that hierarchy thing about locals etc.? Thank you very much for everything, we are very grateful! Last but not least, thanks to everyone who passed through during the week such as Jude and Ellie (esp. thanks for the homemade biccies!)
Marcus Jones – Boot tan man, the most helpful man I know. The Marcus Motto ‘Ask and you shall receive!’
In short, a fab bunch of people and a great bit of work done which can be built on later in the camping season.
Katherine – An excellent late addition to even out the testosterone ratio. Excellent brick cleaner and mini demolition team member.
Lots of love
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Zoe 'Bubs' Rogers and Gav Moor. xxxx
Camp 03 at Droitwich: demolition of failed brickwork in lock 3 (top left), bricklaying the tail walls of lock 2 (top right) and the "slanty bit of lock 3 sidepond" (above); backfilling sidepond walls with concrete (left) and then with soil thanks to the landscaping skills of Spencer Collins (below left); lastly "the main job that the camp revolved around": brick-cleaning! (bottom right) All photos by Alan Lines
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Camps ...in which the Melton & Oakham waterways live up to their name... Camp 08 – Melton and Oakham Waterways After so much nagging from Martin, I suppose I ought to put something down on paper about the first ever camp on the Melton and Oakham. Reluctantly, though: we’d rather have kept it a secret, but with the rumours already traveling so fast about threestar country house hotels, neoprene waders, camps full of girlies, rolling countryside, en-suite bedrooms, some rather nice locally brewed soft drinks… The project for the week was to build a slipway in the centre of Melton Mowbray, so that boats can access one of the longer navigable sections and the town can hold a trailboat festival in the future. In case the challenge of trying to get concrete to sit on silly slopes wasn’t enough, we also had to temporarily dam and pump down the River Eye, which forms the navigation at this point. Limiting the camp to only eight people, because of the tiny site and the nature of the work, fitted in well with the choice (of) accommodation: two brand new staff flats adjacent to the Sysonby Knoll Hotel, completed only the day we arrived! Carpets, en-suite bedrooms, lounge, dining room, patio, adjacent hotel bar… somehow we managed to get everyone to leave at the end of the week, despite having the entirety of 'WRG No Fixed Abode' with us! The first job was to install a temporary piled cofferdam out in to the river. I’m not sure the cricket club on the far bank were too impressed at by the noise from us piling all weekend, but the rest of the town seemed to enjoy watching Nina and Corinne wade around in neoprene, while Matt assisted the piling hammer with all his body weight! While the piling operation was taking up most of the site, the rest of the camp set about improving a set of riverside steps and landing stage, as well as preparing all the shuttering and stakes for the slipway. Naff joke of the week: “I’d like to make a point.” “Good, we need 50; there’s some 2” by 2” and a hatchet over there.” But, hey, it was better than the naff song of the week with chorus line: “Jump in the river and learn to swim”…and please take those waders off first! Word was spreading round the town, and it wasn’t long before the tractor drivers were soon arguing about who got the job of removing the excavated spoil and delivering the limestone subbase material. One certain tractor driver seemed to take longer than the rest to unload. Strange that. Neoprene. Girlies. Hmm. Then the blokes at the hire shop joined in…
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Draped up in enough visqueen, sandbags, and bits of Corinne, the dam sealed surprisingly well. As the water level dropped we were able to admire the handiwork of the lovely little brats of Melton Mowbray, but enough about Spencer Collins! Many canals can offer more than the BCN, it might be said, but not often in terms of rubbish. By Tuesday, we were well on schedule, with the excavation pumped down. OK, so it had taken the entire stock of pump outlet hose from three counties to keep the water level under control after one of the pile clutches had “popped out” (nothing to do with a big yellow machine, honest), but we were able to start on the shuttering. That was until the rain started.... We abandoned site, getting totally soaked in the process. Those who hadn’t had enough of water went swimming, while those who hadn’t had enough of leaks went off to Tesco to buy some more for the dinner. Heavy rain continued all night and throughout Wednesday. A 7am inspection of the very swollen river was followed by a speedy cancellation of the concrete and equally speedy return to sleeping bags. With the water well over the top of the dam, entire trees floating down the canal section at 2-3mph, the river making a level at the weir, and much of the county flooded, any work was out of the question. We rescued what materials we could, made the site safe, gawped at the weir, and were extremely grateful of our deluxe accommodation. Trips out to the cinema, Foxton Locks (meeting up with Sadie by chance), or just to look at the flooding were broken up by videos, some very good meals, and a highly professional talk on the Navigation. One evening we had a brilliant dinner in the hotel’s restaurant, during which Richard’s boat had to be cut loose from its moorings at the bottom of the garden as the river continued to rise. On Friday we made it back down to the site: the highest of the piles were just starting to emerge again, but the river was still flowing very fast. We spent a productive day resurfacing the car parking area around the top of the slipway, leaving the site not only looking a lot tidier, but also ready for a contractor to finish off what we had been unable to do, as soon as the water level drops. With the kit cleaned and ready for its trip on to Sleaford, we were joined by several local members of the society who had worked with us during the week, and we had a very enjoyable evening with plenty to drink and eat. Not that we overdo things: Gav did that for us with the barbecue! And there just might have been some discussion about next year… So, many thanks to a really great bunch of volunteers for making it so relaxing and fun, and especially to all those in the Society and at the Hotel who did such a top job at looking after us. Marcus Jones
Camp 11 - Sleaford Navigation The work on this camp was on Haverholme Lock on the canalised part of the River Slea, continuing the project we started last year, plus a WRG BITM weekend dig a month ago. Last year we scrub bashed and cleared the bywash, felled trees and pulled stumps, and BITM then concreted the two thirds of the bywash base that was ready. We completed the base concreting, and then the main task was to construct brick side-walls with concrete backfill. There was also one last massive stump to remove on top of the bank at the end of the bywash. One of the problems was that having cut down most of the trees close by last year, there was nothing to attach a Tirfor winch to, and this was one very heavy stump, embedded with bricks, the trunk having grown round them. It took a team of two or three Daves plus Di two days firtling and mattocking round the base to cut through the roots (Di was nicknamed the ‘Stump Firtler’), and then we finally attached the Tirfor to the iron bar joining two large coping stones on the lock. This loosened it, and the only way then was to lower it down the end wall into the river, having first enticed away Katy the dog, who was playing in the river right beneath it. It was then hauled out of the river onto dry land where the bonfire was built around it. A comment was made to Di during the mattocking “What would be the penalty if the Assistant Leader accidentally got hit over the head? Washing-up duty for the rest of the week?” Di could think of far worse penalties, so had to bite her tongue. There were also a number of tall willows growing in a silted-up winding-hole (a turning-place for boats) below the bywash, and all these were cut down and most of the stumps removed during the camp, necessitating some pretty big bonfires every day. Fortunately, we had an expert bonfiremaker in Penny Matuska, and several of the younger members learnt a few lessons from her. One of the five Dave’s was up to his waist in water (in waders!) on occasions, cutting up trees which had fallen across the river.
Camps ...while the Sleaford has them all stumped... One of the biggest worries was the vandalism from the local yobs. Immediately after the BITMites had departed from their dig, some very rude graffiti was scrawled in the wet concrete, which had to be covered over the next morning before some sensitive souls among the public arrived. They also wrecked the fence by the car park, and the temporary bridge which the Sleaford Navigation Trust had constructed over the lock for barrowing materials was stripped of its decking, which was used to dam up the river. We were therefore quite concerned all week that damage would be done to each day’s work before the concrete and mix had set. On the Sunday night after the base concreting had been done, we felt we had to mount a guard until most of the yobs had departed, so Pete, Di and I did shifts, paired up with Bob, a local policeman who is also a member of the Sleaford Navigation Trust until 10.30p.m. The biggest surprise was on my shift, when a middle-aged couple appeared on bicycles, and wandered round the lock, and then she disappeared from sight. We felt bound to investigate, and found them in the bywash, where the woman was on her knees writing in the wet concrete! I now know that yobs come in all ages and both sexes....
Meanwhile, Pete Bowers was making steady progress on the bricklaying, and once the line was established, most of the team gained some valuable experience in the art. We were using new bricks for this wall, but the D of E’ers (six of them) patiently cleaned old bricks for use above water level on the lock. All the mixing had to be done on the other side of the lock, and barrowed across, both for the bricklaying and the concrete backfilling, as well as all the bricks, and on one or two days it was almost like a conveyor belt with barrows going back and forth all day, and I think a few of them finished with bigger muscles than they started with! (the navvies, not the barrows) However, a great deal was achieved, with one wall up to the level required, and backfilled, and the other not far behind, and I’m sure everyone got a great sense of achievement. The Big Stump receives some firtling. (Di Smurthwaite)
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We had a fluctuating number on the camp, between 15 and 19, including Ane (pronounced Annie) from Spain. Poor Ane had no idea what she was letting herself in for when she booked on the camp. She wanted to come to England to improve her English, and had found details of the camp on the internet, but she had never heard of a canal or a lock, and it’s surprisingly difficult to explain how a canal lock works to someone with limited English! However, she worked hard on any task given her, whether brick cleaning, bricklaying, or barrowing. It was very hot throughout the camp, and a different heat from Spain, so Ane suffered as much as the rest of us with the humidity, and a lot of bodies finished the week a different colour than when they arrived. Katy spent most of the time swimming in the river, and at other times sitting in the edge where she could at least keep her bum and paws cool.
We had a visit to Jurassic Park III, and a tour of the Battle of Britain Museum at R.AF. Coningsby. On the final night we all went to an Indian Restaurant that had been built on the site of the old Rugby Club just down the road. Incidentally, the only rugby player amongst us was Sam, who is female... We had a lot of help from the local Trust, particularly two of the Daves, plus Norman organising equipment and materials. My thanks to Miriam for the cooking, ably assisted by members of the team at breakfast and sandwichmaking. Thank you also to everybody for working so hard, and making the camp so successful. Rachael Banyard
The footpath was still officially closed to dogs (it opened again right at the end of the camp!), but so many of the public had ignored the notices and walked their dogs that the Trust gave us permission to take our two camp dogs BelIa and Katy to site each day, provided we kept them within sight. One man came along about 5 p.m. each day with 12 dogs, 6 German shepherds and six Jack Russells, who totally overwhelmed Katy. We were allowed to take our dogs into the accommodation, the Sleaford Rugby Club, provided we confined them to the ground floor changing rooms and showers, so Di and myself, Miriam and Dave, all slept downstairs. On the final night, we were quite glad of the dogs, when from the sounds of it there was an attempted break-in at the Club, and our two barking sent them packing... The bywash before (above) and after (below). Photos by Di Smurthwaite Di spent the last three days in chest waders pulling reeds out of the mouth of the bywash, so when it is fully restored the water can flow in. The second day she was joined by a local lad, who was tempted by the thought of the cool water soaking into his jeans, despite the appalling smell, and he proved a great help in getting the area cleared. The most popular entertainment was ten-pin bowling at R.A.F. Cranwell, but a problem arose on the first visit when not only the driver was asked to provide identification as we had been told, but all the team. Who ever heard of navvies carrying identification on a night out on a camp (would WRG Driver Authorisation do?), but the R.A.F. police finally cleared them.
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Camp 12: Ipswich and Stowmarket Navigation After arriving on Saturday we were introduced to the project and the safety aspect by means of an interesting video, starring our very own camp leader, Matt (we know who ruled really, where would we have been without the Delegating Dith?) We were then taken down to site, Creeting Lock, and shown where we would be working, and also saw a previously completed lock restoration project to let us see what we were aiming for. After this we came back and had the first of many delicious meals (Thanks Helen!) Sunday arrived, our first day on site. This mainly involved pumping vast amounts of water out of the canal, during which time we found it necessary to rescue countless eels and fish from meeting a grisly end. After the water had been pumped out, the lock chamber required a great deal of clearance as it was filled with a thick layer of silt and mud. This all had to be shovelled into buckets and hoisted out using the bucket hoist and some good old elbow grease. The rest of the week involved continuation of constant pumping of water, and sorting out the base of the lock. A large number of bricks were in a serious state of decay and the base of the lock had collapsed in places due to erosion. All these bricks had to be removed (by hand, and using an electric breaker), then hoisted up, and barrowed away for future cleaning by Colin’s magical brick cleaning machineTM. The prize for King of Barrowing has to go to Ian, who didn’t grumble once as his arms got longer and legs got shorter each day! The holes had to be carefully prepped, for instance chiselling a recess into the lock wall to hold the concrete. Alice found a somewhat unique way of over coming the lack of room to swing a lump hammer (see picture on next page!)
Camps ...and an 'alternative break' on the Stowmarket Navigation Once the appropriate areas had been cleared of bricks we waited expectantly for the lorry load of concrete to arrive to fill the holes on the lock bottom. And we waited. A phone call later and we find out that the concrete company had their dates wrong, and the concrete arrived late (1 day, 1 hour and 15 minutes late to be precise). Nevertheless this wasn’t too much of a problem, and we continued to prepare the holes for the concrete by smashing up some of the many damaged bricks (satisfyingly destructive) and depositing them into the holes to await the concrete. When the lorry load of concrete eventually arrived, we tipped it into a dumper because of weight restriction at the lock side. The dumper loads were dumped into the lock, destroying four chutes in the process – thanks Peter! We then switched to manually shovelling the concrete down to the party below who were having fun with the vibrator (!). Everyone provided muscle power, but in the lock it was in the form of Nigel “bloke”, Matt “Pepperami Animal” Taylor and Ted “I’ve got my wellies stuck”. Unfortunately there was not enough concrete to fill the holes, so we had to hand mix a further two cubic metres (not made easy by the fact that our decent sized mixer decided to pull a sickie).
Whilst all this was going on, trenches were being dug by our very own Jonathan Edwards lookalike, namely Marcus Jones, and his band of helpers, using the excavator. Piling was driven into the trenches and ground anchors were installed to give support to the aging lock walls. Gordon and Tom managed to drill through our lock walls for us with the aid of a six-foot drill bit (all in the aid of restoration!) and the guiding comments from Spence, one of the regular restorers of Creeting Lock. Sam and Ted gave us our dream team of ground anchor preparers and installers. Creeting Lock on the Ipswich & Stowmarket Navigation. (Judith Gordon)
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On our final day we were lucky enough to be joined by an Anglia TV film crew who were making a series about alternative breaks in the Anglia region. Generally, all was well, and as far as I could tell, nobody was embarrassed too severely. The last day was not overly strenuous since we had been making very good progress. The trenches were finished and filled in. Scaffolding was expertly erected, by Corinne, Swuze and a number of others, so the locals could continue working on one wall of the lock, which was overgrown with vegetation, and at the end of the day we stood back and admired our handiwork. Not all was hard work; we had a great time socially too. We went to the cinema, played rounders on the beach, went swimming, and had a fantastic end of camp BBQ (with drinks money from Anglia TV Cheers!) and celebrated Gordon’s Birthday. We should have celebrated with melon (Gordon’s favourite lunchtime bite) but the masses demanded to have some cake. We also managed to raffle off the ‘Hearsay beer’ that had been lurking around all camp. Matt won it, much to Alice’s disappointment. Does it still call to you? Drink me…..drink me….
Installing the ground anchors. (Judith Gordon)
Overall, a job well done guys. Cheers. Writtten by the Happy Campers.
"Alice found a unique way of over coming the lack of room to swing a lump hammer" (Judith Gordon)
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Meanwhile on the Droitwich (see opposite) the chamber walls at lock 3 were being rebuilt (above), as was the side-pond paddle chamber (below left) and the coping stone on the 'pissoir' (the lower landing stage steps) was reinstated. (below). A shame the standard of construction on the accommodation wasn't quite so high. (oppposite). Photos by Alan Lines
Camp 14: Droitwich Junction Canal Welcome to this week’s edition of “Changing Rooms”. Following on from last week’s episode, where Wychavon Borough Council successfully completed their challenge of turning WRG’s normal accommodation into a small pile of rubble; this week the task is to turn the Droitwich Canal Trust yard into top class accommodation for a team of 25 fresh faced volunteers. The ever-inventive Mike Llewellyn-Palmer is leading the WRG interior design team. “So Mike, what are planning to do?” “Well Carol, I think that we will be taking a slightly rustic / industrial / wartime approach to the accommodation. I’m thinking perhaps a canvas and rope theme for the bedroom. Then we’ll have an open air hallway leading through to the kitchen, with a continuation of the building site theme throughout”. “Sounds marvellous – I really like the use of space, the way that you have interspersed it with old caravans and water-bicycles. Let’s pop across to see ‘Handy’ Harry Watts…. …. So Harry, what have we here?” “Well Carol, as you can see, I’m taking the minimalist approach to electrical distribution. Using this attractive macramé technique, I have combined all the power cables required for the accommodation and plugged them into one simple household socket.” “Marvellous. Well let’s go and see Jude Ryder Richardson Moore, who is tackling our living space.” “Hi Carol. I’m having sooooo much fun. Let’s begin with the kitchen – I’ve fashioned this in the style of a Porta-cabin. Space is limited so we’ve been very clever – this wood lathe doubles as a can opener and this reed cutter is just fabulous at peeling those spuds… …and in the bedroom, I’m hoping to really set off the gravel flooring to its advantage by using these salvaged carpet squares.” “Well I have to say, I’m incredibly impressed by the work of the designers – now its time to bring in our campers and see what they think of their new-look home…” Seriously a really MASSIVE thank you to the heroic efforts of MKP, Jude, Harry, Al and Jen in turning what could have been a cancelled camp into a habitable (if not a little primitive) living quarters. Thanks also to the DCT for the loan of the yard.
Camps ...meanwhile back on the Droitwich... And thank you also to our wonderful campers for being so understanding about the accommodation crisis. After settling in to the marquee, we were fed by the team at the Railway (another thank you!), followed by a few getting-to-know-you beers. Work began on Sunday, with some help (and cake) from the H&G team. We PVA’d over the exposed brickwork in lock 3, laid 2 courses and inevitably moved a pile of bricks from one place to another. In the evening, we moved from camping like Girl Guides into the local Guide Hut, which became our home for the remainder of the camp. For the rest of the week: The Lock Chamber – Matt Taylor persuaded several campers to join him under the acrow props, completing the brickwork on the offside wall. As a result, a fair proportion of Kit B now resides in the bottom of the lock (sorry Jen!). But the wall looks great. The Side Pond – The crumbling brickwork in the paddle pit of the sidepond was repaired, followed by the ceremonial filling with water. Unfortunately nobody told bricklaying Harrie T who, upon stepping back to admire her pointing, fell into said water. If only she had done this half an hour later when most of the water had leaked back out of the side pond. Unfortunately, the final drainage was not assisted by the creative siphoning theories of Lawrence “The Logic” Rutt – I suspect he will do much better in the realm of chaos theory. But the sidepond looks great, especially with the completion of the bottom wall by Brian. The gate recesses were cleared out and the brickwork replaced. The coper on the steps was also laid. Many, many bricks were cleaned and newcomer Dave took a liking to the brick saw, brick sculptures are now available on request. BW delivered lots of mortar almost as fast as we used it and craned the lock gates onto the towpath. Entertainment throughout the week included the most expensive showers in the world, the usual swimming and cinema, a relaxing journey on the trip boat and an opportunity to see Mikron perform at the Railway. All in all, an enjoyable and productive week – MKP was so pleased, he split his shorts. Thanks to Matt and Harriet for feeding us, to our campers for working so hard and being understanding when they arrived and to Spence and Rob for coming to relieve us at the end of the week. Rick Barnes
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Non-Camps Wendover: the Camp that never was... Camp 18: Wendover Arm CANCELLED. . . Well, not completely. I arrived Friday evening, 10th August, to join the BITM weekend dig on the Wendover Arm of the Grand Union Canal, arranged to coincide with the start of the WRG camp, to be told the latter had been cancelled - well not completely. Apparently the leader had to withdraw at short notice, followed by the deputy leader, then two of the remaining volunteers were transferred to Droitwich.
That left four, one of whom was transferred from Droitwich by Roger Burchett, via a vehicle transfer for the 'National' and three, including myself, staying on from the BITM group. The Tring Cricket Club Pavilion, booked for the camp, had been cancelled, so after late rearrangements next day, the Scout Hall, booked for BITM, was retained for the week, though with only two occupants, myself and Brian Betty, here on a seven week holiday from Canada, having already attended the Wilts. & Berks., Thames & Severn and Droitwich camps. Dave & Stella of BITM had the use of a narrowboat moored by Tring pump station 100 metres from the work site. The weekend work went well, despite three hours rain on Sunday morning, 16 BITM and 10 Wendover Arm Trust volunteers taking part. Shuttering had been erected earlier for a wall section by Little Tring Bridge (re-built 2000/2001 and officially reopened in May), concrete for which arrived Saturday morning. At the same time, shuttering for a base section of wall elsewhere was being assembled for a concrete delivery on Monday, steel frames were being bent for further wall sections and the next portion of the trench for the week’s wall construction was being prepared. On Sunday, while the rain fell, more frames were bent and the shuttering from Saturday’s wall pour was taken down, cleaned and transferred to the new wall site. (Two walls are being built from opposite ends to meet at a winding hole, extending navigation 200 metres by 2004. A towpath wall is already completed.) The afternoon saw this shuttering re-erected ready for a second concrete delivery on Monday, the completion of 24 pairs of formed steel frame, enough for 6 base & wall sections of 7 metres each and further back-filling of the towpath. The weather greatly improved on Monday and continued for the week, being hot and dry. So, with an average of 12 people per day on site, work progressed well, casting 3 wall and 3 base sections, two on Monday & one on each subsequent day, the trench made ready to full length for a further 3 base and 5 wall sections, much of the towpath levelled (about 150 metres) by hand and using a mini excavator & dumper, a new 50 metre length of 2 metre wide trench was dug back into a 2 metre high bank from the first wall section at the bridge (cast on Saturday) to a point half way to the winding hole. The bank behind this wall was also reinstated to support a footpath coming down from the bridge running beside the canal on the offside.
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On Wednesday, Dave & Stella decided their water tank needed filling, so a boat trip was arranged, with Pete Bowers, Brian Betty and myself invited. We headed off to a water point at the junction with the Main Line about a mile and a half away. Here we partook of Pizza al Fresco with fizzy drinks, fed the ducks, watched a heron resting and the boats go by. The trip back, in the dark, was less idyllic. We virtually ran into a group of 9 swans, mesmerised by our bow light and after turning the boat around at a winding point a half mile from the pump station, completing our journey in reverse proved very awkward, continually reversing gear to keep the bow or stern from colliding with either bank. A case of two steps back, one step forward! Free showers had been arranged at the local sports centre, though I made use of Mike Paice’s personal shower unit at the Scout Hall: a large bin, bucket & shower hose. One stands in the bin, having first filled the bucket with hot water and placed it on a high window sill, directs the shower head and turns a tap. Voila! A quite effective, pleasing shower. Had the WRG camp gone ahead with the volunteers expected, it was hoped that a base and wall section could be cast each day, almost completing the wall to the winding hole and that a second excavator & dumper could have demolished and removed existing brick bank walls either side of a 50 metre section of canal between a stop lock and the bridge and dug the trenches for the new concrete replacements. Also, the trench from the other side of the bridge up to the winding hole, thus progressing the project by several months. My thanks to Roger Leishman and the Wendover Arm volunteers for re-arranging the accommodation with so little warning allowing us to assist with their project. Personally, I would not have enjoyed the week any more had the official camp been held. Phill Cardy
Five stages in the process of building the canal wall on the Wendover Arm: firstly the trench is dug and a concrete base laid (opposite top); then the reinforcing for the wall is constructed (opposite bottom); next the shuttering and reinforcing are installed (top); the readymix concrete arrives (above middle) and finally the concrete is vibrated into place (above). Photos by Stella Wentworth.
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Camps BuildingbywashesontheBasingstoke Canal Camp 15 4 - 11 Aug: Mission Impossible. Special Agents : Frederick Towey and John Park. The A Team.
The Local A Team.
Charlotte Darwin. Anne Jordan. Costa Muammar. Rebecca Softley. Jeff Williams.
Peter Redway. Kevin Redway. Zak. Chris Willis
Your mission if you wish to accept it: Backfill new bywash at Lock 11 Basingstoke Canal with 36 cu metres of ready mixed concrete and 1 cu metre of concrete mixed on site plus build a manhole in five and half days. This camp will self-destruct in eight days. The first problem on Friday night was to alleviate ourselves of the two Italian spies who had been trouble on the KESCRG camp. So I got on the blower to the top man (code name MKP) and off loaded the problem into his lap.
First thing Sunday was a trip to site to see how much the previous camp had done, which was very little (which I put down to poor leadership) and to have a site safety talk. Then it was back to the accommodation to send FT, CD and CM out on a mission for essential supplies, while myself, AJ and RS checked through the kit and washed every last thing in the catering kit. We all eventually made it on site in the afternoon some of us with ‘dish pan hands’ to prepare for the concrete pour on Monday; Barry Ford decided to stay until Monday afternoon to help out which was gratefully appreciated by all. Monday dawned on us with a bang and a clatter of cups as I made the first brew of the day and FT fried the breakfast into submission. We arrived on site at 9.00am to familiarise ourselves with the pokers etc. and to make sure they worked; by early afternoon the first load appeared and we got stuck in with the help of KR driving the dumper with Z along side. Soon afterwards the second load appeared and we soon sorted that one out. I then approached PR and asked “please sir can we have some more”, and so another load was soon on its way. So by four thirty p.m. we had laid and vibrated 18 cu metres of ready mixed concrete, and were drenched by the heavy rain showers. The A team returned back to the accommodation with the knowledge we can handle everything and anything anybody can throw at us. I wondered what all the fuss KP was going on about on Saturday night, it makes you wonder... can’t he handle the pressure?
We eventually got rid of them at six thirty Sunday morning on a flight bound for Italy from Stansted with help from Matt Taylor.
Tuesday was spent back-filling over the previous days concrete with soil and preparing for Wednesday’s pour.
The second problem was KP hadn’t finished anything on any of the three sites although he had at least twenty people working all week, and they only managed to shift 12 cu metres of ready mixed concrete, with a further 12 cu metres postponed till Monday.
A secret excursion was planned for the evening with exotic food obtained from the local Chinese and Chippie on the way, with the final destination being Odiham in Hampshire. Once there we boarded a fast speedboat very cleverly disguised as a narrowboat on a mission to reach the undiscovered upper reaches of the Basingstoke canal.
I met FT at Mayford Village hall late Saturday morning to find we had five star accommodation with showers. I thought “Better than a tent any day of the week”. FT and myself met the A team at a secret rendezvous, (Woking Railway Station) late Saturday afternoon and took them to a secret location, (the Basingstoke Canal Centre) for a briefing on Health and Safety using the new video supplied by the top man at C&A, MKP, which was very good. Back at the accommodation we had a very good meal supplied by Maureen/KESCRG and had the usual mickey-taking about how much concrete we were due to receive on Monday morning. A worried KP woke FT at 23.45 to tell him if we needed any help during the next week he would sort something out.
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Wednesday was like any other day - wet and wet again especially when the concrete turned up. Two loads were due late morning, so this gave us time to pump the water out of the lower section, which was a daily chore from this point onwards. The first load arrived, and we started backfilling from where we left off on Monday; CD and CM were operating one vibrator between them on one side of the trench and AJ and RS were operating the other one on the opposite side with great vigour; the rest of us were in the trench spreading the concrete out. The next job while we waited for the second load was to put a temporary chute over the manhole so that the concrete would go where it was supposed to go.
Finally the second load turned up and we got stuck in with me in the trench shovelling like there was no tomorrow, of course when the dumper conveyed the last load of concrete down the chute I was the last to see it coming and with the concrete fast nearing the top of my wellies I was shouting every swear word I could think of... including “STOP!!!” But everything turned out OK as the concrete filled the trench the pipe rose out of the mud to the correct level needed for connection onto the existing outlet of the bywash and the young ladies on the team learnt a few more swear words to add to their collection. Last mission of the day was to build some formwork around the lower edge of the manhole and lay some concrete there ably mixed by the A team. Thursday morning was spent backfilling with soil the top end of the bywash previously concreted the day before, removing the internal and external shuttering from the manhole. CM and myself cut the last piece of pipe and then carried the pipe down to the end of the bywash, as we were negotiating the narrow slope CM slipped and went feet first into the cut, which was very timely because the last load of concrete turned up early. So we all rushed round like blue-arsed flies to make a chute over the manhole section and a formwork stop at the other end to stop the concrete from flowing down the canal. Then the heavens opened and it chucked it down, and like true professionals we just carried on working, shifting the last of the concrete down into the trench to cover the pipe. After getting completely drenched, with some more than others we decided to finish early and get even wetter by going for a swim at the local leisure centre. Friday morning was spent shuttering the last section between the new pipe and the old outlet of the bywash and then concreting it. After lunch we knocked out a gauge of mortar, built the manhole and then cleared the site of all the waste materials ready for reinstatement of the towpath - job done. FT and myself would like to take this opportunity to thank all team members for a job well done. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED. Saturday:
We had the advantage of the professional efforts of an equally small number of local people without whom we could not have been so successful:
. . . . . .
36 cubic meters of ready mix Another cube with a mixer Some shuttering Some steel An inspection cover Lots of backfilling
So having very little to do (the best leaders tend to do very little) I thought the following 10 ways to amuse your leader would help future camps: 1. Keep changing your name: this needs to be done by most members but each name needs to be new – no swaps. 2. Text him/her in Arabic 3. Wake him/her at 23.45 to announce that you have ordered 18 cube of concrete for the morning. 4. Ask for a lift to the airport at 4 a.m. 5. “Sorry I forgot/lost/dipped in water my D of E book.” 6. “I need a safety talk – I fell asleep during the last one.” 7. Arrange for a thunderstorm during a delivery of concrete: this needs a lot of influence in high places, but can be very spectacular. 8. Put the plant key in your pocket. This only works if you wear different clothes next morning (alternatively you could work on a different site). 9. Ask for a bedtime story 10.Arrange for him/her to run a camp and find a last minute reason for not attending, appointment at the hairdresser sounds good.
The hall was one of the best. Many thanks to the team, Peter and family and the locals for such an excellent experience. Broc (the badger) In the interest of avoiding too many low-flying libel writs arriving from the the direction of KESCRG, I'd like to say that I think some of the remarks in the above Camp Report might best be taken with at least a small pinch of salt.
John Park.
No doubt if KESCRG had got around to sending a Camp Report in from their week on the Basingstoke it would have been full of stuff about how the only reason they didn't finish off all the work was because they felt sorry for the WRG campers not having enough work to do, and felt that a little gentle exercise would be good for John, Fred & Co.. But they didn't.
This was a real camp to remember: only seven of us, but as good a crew as you could wish for. I was very much reminded of those hot and happy days on the Mont, and of course Tory and her friends.
Still, there are a few photos on p45 to show that either (a) KESCRG did actually do some work or (b) they're exceptionally good at faking it for the cameras. ...Ed
(well I said it would self-destruct) OK let's hear from 'FT' now....
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WRG Wear Be properly dressed for your Canal Camp! Latest News from WRG Wear Thought I’d please the editor by submitting something for Navvies that wasn’t a camp report - and update everyone with general news on WRG Wear. I have a new email address for enquiries wrgwear@hotmail.com. Apologies for the lack of web-site so far but I do have to earn a living (and boats are high maintenance!) I’ve got as far as getting some catalogue style photos done (thanks models) but since I’ve not spoken to the webmaster yet, a fully functional web-site within the main WRG one could be a few months off. So very sorry if you were under the impression it was up and running but I didn’t actually say that it was! In the meantime if you’d like an order form, for items advertised in an edition of Navvies that you’ve lost, then please email me and I can send you a word document or send an SAE and you’ll get a printed version. WRG Wear is proud to announce a winter range (also available in summer) and at the end of this article is an order form for the latest items available. I’ve had many suggestions for items to supply and I’ve taken note - more items will be available soon. Julian from Jancraft (the people we order the clothes from) will be at the Basingstoke Bonfire Bash in November with samples of some of the items so that you can try the size before you order - though he might not be able to produce your items on the day. I tend to carry some samples in the boot of my car so that people can try sizes, so if you see me on a dig just ask. I’d like to explain a little bit about the process behind WRG Wear so that people can understand why orders sometimes appear to be a little delayed. I only get post a couple of times a week and I work away from home quite a bit so it can take a while before I actually get the order. Because I live on a boat, I don’t actually keep a stock of items so I order things on a per order basis from Jancraft who then post the items to you. Occasionally Jancraft don’t have items in so they have to be ordered and this can take a few days. Because I don’t do the actual posting of items I can’t really keep track of how long things are taking.
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So please allow up to four weeks for delivery, but if you’re worried about your WRG Wear then please contact me and I’ll be happy to email Jancraft to see what’s happening. And finally... (a) please note that cheques should now be made payable to ‘WRG Canal Camps’ (b) I don’t supply the Canal Camps t-shirts (the ones with a list of this year's Camps on the back). These are available in medium, large and extra large for £5 (pay 'WRG Publicity a/c') from WRG, PO Box 114, Rickmansworth WD3 1ZY. That’s all folks Helen Gardner of WRG Wear
WRG Wear Winter Range Printed 'Dirty Weekend' t-shirts £7 Small
Medium Large
X-Large XX-Large
Red
Printed 'Dirty Weekend' t-shirts with web address 'www.wrg.org.uk' on back £8.20 Small
Medium Large
X-Large XX-Large
Red
Printed t-shirts (printed with 'Happy but Crazy') £7 Small
Medium Large
X-Large XX-Large
Red Black
Printed polo shirts (printed with 'Happy but Crazy') £9.50 Small
Medium Large
X-Large XX-Large
Red Black Navy White
Printed sweatshirts (printed with 'Happy but Crazy') £12 Small Red Black Navy Grey
Medium Large
X-Large XX-Large
Embroidered t-shirts (with 'Happy but Crazy') £8 Small
Medium Large
Printed Baseball caps £5.50
X-Large XX-Large
'Waterway Recovery Group' 'Happy But Crazy'
Red
Red
Black
Navy
Embroidered polo shirts (with 'Happy but Crazy') £10.50
Embroidered Baseball caps £8
Small
Medium Large
X-Large XX-Large
Red
'Waterway Recovery Group' 'Happy But Crazy' Red Navy
Black Navy
Printed duffle bag (with 'waterway recovery group') £10
White
Black
Embroidered sweatshirts (with 'Happy but Crazy') £13 Small
Medium Large
X-Large XX-Large
Green Navy Natural
Red Black
To order your WRG Wear... Simply tick the appropriate box(es) - or if you want more than one of a particular item, write the number that you want in the box - then write your details here....
Navy Grey
Embroidered fleece top with grey inside collar (with 'waterway recovery group') £21 Small
Medium Large
Name:
X-Large XX-Large
Red
Address:
Black Navy
Embroidered scarf (with 'waterway recovery group') £8
e-mail address:
Black
...and send this page (or a photocopy if you don't want to cut up your copy of 'Navvies') with your cheque (pay 'WRG Canal Camps') to: Helen Gardner, nb 'Sussex', The Boatyard, Rowdell Road, Northolt, Middlesex UB5 6AG.
Green Navy
w r g
Above: all the WRG Wear items previously advertised including large and small logo WRG T-shirts, vests and sweatshirts are still available - see 'Navvies' 185 or contact Helen for details. Above right: the 'Happy but Crazy' logo that appears on some of the Winter range - photos next time.
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Logistics "...imagine my delight at the gift of diesel in a petrol can!" “One of Our Trailers is Missing” One might glean the following from the above title but it is my regrettable duty to inform one and all (who don’t already know) that Kit A trailer has been relocated (in fact, downright misappropriated for our purposes!). Someone, somewhere in the vale of Worcestershire (probably!) is now the keeper of a lovely twin-axle trailer. My only solace is the fact that the thieves will have had a nightmare picking off all that lovely lettering and Dr. Bridge is the proud owner of a lonely jockey wheel! In the continuing fiasco of the attempted “Whose Navvies is it anyway?” this article is no exception. I have plenty of content and even a style but now it is the video shops of Southwest Birmingham and South Yorkshire that thwart any attempt at such ‘humour’. Either that or I am looking for the World’s trickiest film to track down! That said, if I’d idly flicked through a TV guide for the very same week as the trailer was taken it wouldn’t have been a problem! But then there were lots of “ifs” in that week. At least, for my part, the good news is that all the catering kit was in the accommodation at the time and half of the tools were elsewhere so that does mean much less to replace (Phew!). This is a huge relief considering the money I’ve spent on new catering stuff this year. Mind you, the inevitable battle with Bateson’s (trailer company) that will ensue when attempting to replicate said trailer will make up any hassle factor reduced by lack of kit to replace!! After all the items that have gone missing over the summer camp season, the trailer really has to be the most careless. I suppose that it is my fault as I foolishly omitted to put it on the kit list – silly me! It’s tricky enough to get everything back even when listed so how did I expect the return of anything that wasn’t? The new Curver boxes have turned out to be very disappointing – after having the previous set for ten years (although it was definitely starting to show!) the fact that we’ve had these for all of a few months and already they’ve got corners snapped off doesn’t say much for the standards of manufacture now...
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Either that or you lot are far rougher than in previous years. When packing up the trailer please don’t ratchet them in too strongly – if stacked properly they only need the strap there to stop toppling. And don’t thread straps through handles as the boxes aren’t (and never were) very strong there. Thank you so very much for all the presents you sent me from the National. How thoughtful? You can imagine my delight when I found the gift of red diesel … especially when found in a petrol Jerry can! Ni-i-ice! Do we have any brain cells to rub together? Empty (“MT”!) Jerry cans are what we want in the trailer(s) please. At the very least be a little courteous and make sure the following camp knows they have a gift of fuel! Talking of courteous, when it comes to van movements and arrangements (I think you may find that’s what ‘logistics’ is) please can you contact me and ask before sorting them out between yourselves regardless of what your standing in WRG is – you won’t always know about certain intricacies of plans! Thank you time: Thanks very much to Dick and Sue up Elsecar for the use of their garden and garage (and being my surrogate family!) during kit repaints. Oddly enough, the place resembled a certain avenue in Blackpool at times, but at least the neighbours were more amused by brightly coloured, planted tools than their annoyed Northwest counterparts! Thank you also to my fridge freezer replies/contributors, Stella [See you at the Bonfire Bash with it – I’ll be the one without the fridge freezer!] and Alan [It’s gorgeous! I did enjoy the trip through the Valleys to pick it up - thanks to Geezer Chris for giving me a lift with it too.]. And as ever, thanks to all the people I know who have offered help in any way, general sanity (I only have the ‘in’ variety left) or just all-round goodegg-ship! I know it’s a little early (although the shops would have you believe otherwise) but I thought I’d best get on with writing this letter: "Dear Santa, For Christmas I would like…" Just Jen logistics.jen@cwcom.net Mobile Logistics – brought to you by the letters ‘C’, ‘F’, ‘E’, and the number ‘2’
WRG Boat Club news It was nice to see so many members at Milton Keynes, though most were so busy that we didn’t get to chat for long, if at all. The social gathering on the Friday night was a great success as we got some tables together for ourselves and they were outside which enabled us to watch the fireworks in peace and comfort. What a superb display it was, all of us taking our eyes of the drink and food to watch it, that good! All the entertainment in the evenings was of a very good standard and most enjoyable. Yes even the Old Time Music Hall which had great variety and all good. Pity about the sound as some of the best lines were missed by many. Many thanks to Lynne for getting all the nibbles for the Friday night get together and special thanks to the ‘Olive Man’ for donating the olives, which the secretary managed to hog most of! Lots of members paid their subs at the social event, (this saves postage). Hopefully everyone else will follow their lead and rush to pay up at the bring-a-boat weekend in September, otherwise either Anne or I will be pleased to receive cheques by mail though getting a standing order set up at your bank is the best way to pay, ask if you’ve no details In answer to the question in the last issue ‘what award shall we go in for this year?’ (at the National) well I did enter ‘Lynx’ for the best working boat. We can accept that some might not consider Lynx to be the best turned out working boat and that we aren’t members of the CBOA but the great insult was that despite entering we didn’t seem to have been considered, as nobody came on the boat to look round or talk to either of us about any carrying it had done, was going to do, or aything else. Still on a more cheery note two boat club members, the secretary and the gentleman mentioned in the last issue, were given 10 out of 10 by the Lavender Boat for their ‘bucket and chuck it’ toilets, the only ones on site to receive such an accolade. Some claim to fame eh? We have heard that this is the first National that 'Fulbourne' has managed to get to without breaking down, still it did arrive by lorry to ensure this. (I look forward to the Editor’s comments on that!) [OK: "It's the only way we'll get to next year's 'National' at all, thanks to BW restoring the Huddersfield Canal too narrow for 'real' boats." ...Ed]
WRG BC Waterway Recovery Group's own Boat Club I had planned that we bring ‘Lynx’ but after the ‘National’ and Shakerstone we returned to the Black Country Museum, had to lift that VERY heavy bridge and re-arrange boats to get in. It would have been too much to shift them all to get out again as they are gathering for an imminent ‘Working Boat Do’. Anyway that is my excuse: I don’t know of others but congratulations to Tony and Barbara for making the effort. It was a very enjoyable weekend, the clubAGM was held after supper on the Saturday and promised to be a speedy affair, as BITM members were wanting to hold a meeting as soon as we were finished and the pubs close on time. AGM details Club officers for 200 1/2002 will be — Commode Door* Vice Secretary (skivvy) Treasurer AWCC representative
Lynne Cater Sue Burchett Sadie Dean Ann Smart Claire Moynihan
*Lynne has also agreed to take on the ordering of garments with the club logo. Ann submitted the accounts and we are pleased that she has been able to sort them out after the separation from BITM’s accounts. We are in the red, so it was agreed to keep subscriptions at £10 + the £5 joining fee.
It would be handy to know how many members boats will be attending different rallies in the future and which ones proove the most poular. Which rallies not which boats! I should also be pleased to know which members will be taking their boats to The National at Huddersfield next year. I know that some don’t make plans too early and some don’t make plans, just decide at the last minute what they are doing, but please keep in touch. I have just attended a jolly good rally/steam fair at Shakerstone. There were lots of boats there, many that had come straight from The National. Some of them belonged to club members, we do get about! This article will hopefully be in two parts as I shall send the above in before copy date and hope that the report on the AGM and Bring-a-Boat can be added later.
We all had a look at BITM’s display boards and agreed that we are glad to pay for the improvements.
...and here's part two: Sorry, sorry, sorry to the brave pair that did bring their canal boat to the AGM at BITM’s Bring-a-Boat weekend.
Please note subsciptions are now due (defaulters beware of the broomstick brigade). Sadie Dean
We will be able to give our Burgee to be displayed in some boat clubs and, for starters, it was agreed that they go to Stafford and Coombeswood (Halesowen). It was decided that the Lavender Boat crew should be made honorary club members during events, so that our burgee can be proudly flown on all suitable occasions. The club now comes into AWCC Midland region, and there followed a discussion on the facilities and welcome offered by different boat clubs that members had visited. More feedback is needed on this from all members. Those present thought it would be pleasant to hold the AGM in the northern area next year.
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Canal Camps cost £35 per week unless otherwise Bookings for WRG Canal Camps (those identified camp number e.g. 'Camp 0122') should go to WRG Camps, PO Box 114, Rickmansworth WD3 1ZY. Tel: 01923 711114. Email: enquiries@wrg.org.u
Diary Oct 20/21
London WRG
Wilts & Berks Canal: Dig Deep project at Summit Lock
Oct 20/21
wrgBITM
Wilts & Berks Canal: Lift Bridge at East Challow. Leader: Phill Cardy.
Oct 20-27
Camp 0122
Lichfield Canal Camp. Leaders: Steve Wyatt and Joanne ‘Smudge’ Smith
Nov 3/4
wrgCBW
Basingstoke Bonfire Bash: WRG Reunion weekend working party carrying out Leaders: Ian & Liz Williamson. Please book using the enclosed form.
Nov 3/4
London WRG
Basingstoke Bonfire Bash
Nov 3/4
Essex WRG
Basingstoke Bonfire Bash
Nov 3/4
KESCRG
Basingstoke Bonfire Bash
Nov 3/4
wrgNW
Lichfield Canal
Nov 8 Thu
Navvies
Press date for issue 190: including WRG / Canal Societies directory
Nov 10/11
NWPG
Thames & Severn Canal: Dig Deep project at Valley Lock
Nov 10 Sat
wrgNW
Waste paper collection
Nov 17/18
wrgBITM
Buckingham Arm: Leader: Athina Beckett.
Nov 18 Sun
wrg
Committee & Board Meetings
Dec 1/2
KESCRG
Wilts & Berks Canal: Xmas party dig with London WRG. Stump pulling, scrub bashing and hedge laying at Dauntsey. Accommodation
Dec 1/2
London WRG
Wilts & Berks Canal: Xmas party dig with KESCRG. (see previous entry)
Dec 1/2
Essex WRG
Foxton Inclined Plane: Hedge maintenance and Christmas Dinner
Dec 1/2
wrgNW
Droitwich Canal (TBC)
Dec 8/9
wrgBITM
Lichfield Canal: non-Christmas Party dig. Various work at Lock 26. Leader: Joh
Dec 15/16
NWPG
Wilts & Berks Canal: Dig Deep project at Summit Lock, Wootton Bassett. Accomm Note date changed from previous weekend
Dec 15 Sat
wrgNW
Waste paper collection
Dec 18 Tue
Navvies
Issue 190 Assembly: Provisional date
Dec 22-31
W&BCCo
Wilts & Berks Canal Camp. (see p42)
Dec 26-Jan 1 Camp 0123
Basingstoke Canal Camp. Leader: Clive Alderman.
Jan 5/6
wrgNW
To be arranged
Jan 8 Tue
Navvies
Press date for issue 191
Jan 12/13
NWPG
Basingstoke Canal
Jan 12/13
KESCRG
Thames & Severn Canal
Jan 12/13
London WRG
Wilts & Berks Canal
Jan 19 Sat
wrgNW
Waste paper collection
Jan 26/27
wrgBITM
Wilts & Berks Canal: Seven Locks project. Jungle bashing at Locks 4 & 5. Lea
Feb 2/3
wrgNW
To be arranged
Feb 2/3
London WRG
Thames & Severn Canal
Feb 9/10
NWPG
Thames & Severn Canal
Feb 9/10
KESCRG
Wilts & Berks Canal
Feb 23/24
wrgBITM
Wendover Arm: Leader: Graham Hotham.
page 22
e stated. by a G Canal
Please send updates to Diary compiler: Dave Wedd, 7 Ringwood Rd, Blackwater, Camberley, Surrey GU17 0EY. Tel 01252 874437. e-mail: Dave.Wedd@wrgBITM.org.uk.
uk Tim Lewis
020-8367-6227
wrgtim@netscapeonline.co.uk
Dave Wedd
01252-874437
bookings@wrgBITM.org.uk
bankside vegetation clearance on several miles of canal. Tim Lewis
020-8367-6227
wrgtim@netscapeonline.co.uk
John Gale
01277-654683
EssexWRG@cs.com
Answerphone
01622-858329
Kescrg@btinternet.com
David McCarthy
0161-740-2179
malcolm.bridge@btclick.com
Martin Ludgate
020-8693-3266
editor@navvies.demon.co.uk
Graham Hawkes
0118-941-0586
grahamhawkes@btinternet.com
David McCarthy
0161-740-2179
Dave Wedd
01252-874437
bookings@wrgBITM.org.uk
Mike Palmer
01564 785293
mike.palmer@bbc.co.uk
Answerphone 01622-858329 at Goatacre. See p35 for details and please book in advance.
Kescrg@btinternet.com
Tim Lewis
020-8367-6227
wrgtim@netscapeonline.co.uk
John Gale
01277-654683
EssexWRG@cs.com
David McCarthy
0161-740-2179
malcolm.bridge@btclick.com
hn Cheesbrough.
Dave Wedd
01252-874437
bookings@wrgBITM.org.uk
modation at Devizes.
Graham Hawkes
0118-941-0586
grahamhawkes@btinternet.com
David McCarthy
0161-740-2179
John Hawkins
01923-448559
Rachael Banyard
01249 892289
David McCarthy
0161-740-2179
malcolm.bridge@btclick.com
Martin Ludgate
020-8693-3266
editor@navvies.demon.co.uk
Graham Hawkes
0118-941-0586
grahamhawkes@btinternet.com
Answerphone
01622-858329
Kescrg@btinternet.com
Tim Lewis
020-8367-6227
wrgtim@netscapeonline.co.uk
David McCarthy
0161-740-2179
der: Rachael Banyard. Dave Wedd
hawkins@jote.fsnet.co.uk
01252-874437
bookings@wrgBITM.org.uk
David McCarthy
0161-740-2179
malcolm.bridge@btclick.com
Tim Lewis
020-8367-6227
wrgtim@netscapeonline.co.uk
Graham Hawkes
0118-941-0586
grahamhawkes@btinternet.com
Answerphone
01622-858329
Kescrg@btinternet.com
Dave Wedd
01252-874437
bookings@wrgBITM.org.uk
page 23
Diary Canal society regular working parties
Mobile groups' social evenings (please phone to confirm before turning up) London WRG: 7:30pm on Tues 11 days before each dig. 'Jugged Hare', Vauxhall Bridge Rd, London, Tim Lewis 020-8367 6227 or e-mail wrgtim@netscapeonline.co.uk. NWPG: 9:00pm on 3rd Tue of month at the 'Hope Tap', West end of Friar St. Reading. Graham Hawkes 0118 941 0586
Regular monthly or weekly working parties: 1st & 3rd Sunday of month BCG Elsecar Spencer Collins 0114-285-3044 3rd Sunday of month BCNS Jeff Barley 01543-373284 2nd Sunday & following Wed. BCS Cosgrove Athina Beckett 01908-661217 Anytime inc. weekdays BCT Aqueduct section Gerald Fry 01288-353273 Every Sunday ChCT Various sites Mick Hodgetts 01246-620695 Mon & Wed mornings CCT Cotswolds Dudley Greenslade 01453 825515 Every weekend (Sat OR Sun)CCT Cotswolds Neil Ritchie 01452-854057 1st Sunday of monch CCT Cotswolds: summit Mark Welton 01453-872405 Wednesday evenings CCT Cotswolds: East end Keith Harding 01451-860181 4th Mon of month, 6pm CMT London Canal Mus. Martin Sach 020-7625-7376 Every Saturday DCT Droitwich Canal Jon Axe 0121-608 0296 Second Sun of month FIPT Foxton Inclined Plane Mike Beech 0116-279-2657 1st & 3rd Sundays GCRS Grantham Canal Colin Bryan 0115-989-2248 2nd Sat of month GWCT Nynehead Lift Denis Dodd 01823-661653 Tuesdays H&GCT Oxenhall Brian Fox 01432-358628 Wednesdays H&GCT Over Ted Beagles 01452-522648 Saturdays H&GCT Over Maggie Jones 01452-618010 Sundays H&GCT Over Paul Brown 01386-443826 Every Sunday if required IWPS Bugsworth Basin Ian Edgar 01663-732493 1st Saturday & 3rd Wed. IWA Ipswich Stowmarket Navigtn. Colin Turner 01473-730586 2nd weekend of month IWA SBC Maesbury, Mont. Barry Tuffin 01691-670826/49 2nd weekend of month K&ACT John Rolls 01189-666316 1st Sunday of month LHCRT Lichfield John Horton 01543 262466 3rd Sunday of month LHCRT Hatherton Denis Cooper 01543-374370 2nd & last Sundays PCAS Paul Waddington 01757-638027 2nd Sunday of Month SCARS Sankey Canal Colin Greenall 01744-731746 1st Sunday of Month SCCS Combe Hay Locks Bob Parnell 01225-428055 Most weekends SHCS Basingstoke Peter Redway 01483-721710 3rd Sunday of month TMCA David Rouse 01474-362861 Approx 15th of month WACT Mid-Week group Colin Gibbs 020-82417736 Every Sunday & Thursday WACT Devils Hole Lock Eric Walker 023-9246-3025 Thursdays fortnightly WACT Maintenance Unit Peter Wilding 01483-422519 or for general information on Wey & Arun contact their office on 01403-752403 1st weekend of month WAT Little Tring Roger Leishman 01442-874536 Every weekend W&BCAG Peter Smith 01793-852883 Every Sunday W&BCC Dauntsey / Foxham Rachael Banyard 01249-892289 Please send any amendments, additions and deletions to Dave Wedd (address on previous page)
Abbreviations used in Diary BCG BCNS BCS BCT ChCT CCT CMT DCT FIPT D&SCS GCRS GWCT H&GCT IWA SBC
page 24
Barnsley Canal Group Birmingham Canal Navigations Soc. Buckingham Canal Society Bude Canal Trust Chesterfield Canal Trust Cotswolds Canals Trust Canal Museum Trust (London) Droitwich Canals Trust Foxton Inclined Plane Trust Derby & Sandiacre Canal Society Grantham Canal Restoration Society Grand Western Canal Trust Hereford & Gloucester Canal Trust IWA Shrewsbury & Border Counties
IWPS K&ACT KESCRG LHCRT LWRG NWPG PCAS SCARS SCCS SHCS TMCA W&BCAG W&BCC WACT WAT
Inland Waterways Protection Society Kennet & Avon Canal Trust Kent & E Sussex Canal Rest. Group Lichfield & Hatherton Canals Rest'n Trust London Waterway Recovery Group Newbury Working Party Group Pocklington Canal Amenity Society Sankey Canal Restoration Society Somersetshire Coal Canal Society Surrey & Hants Canal Society Thames & Medway Canal Association Wilts & Berks Canal Amenity Group Wilts & Berks Canal Company Wey & Arun Canal Trust Wendover Arm Trust
Dear Martin I know that in publishing circles the Editor always gets the last word but I’m going to get my retaliation in first!
Letters
On a point of clarification, Sue Burchett caught me by the Wendover Arm (ooh that HURT) and asked me to point out that their member was not banned for drunkenness but for ‘inappropriate dress’. I think she said he was actually wearing a dress and the landlord deemed this ‘inappropriate’. That brings back some memories of a certain brickie! ( Now that’s an ‘in-joke’ from way back. If you ever have the pleasure of meeting 'Mucky' Mick Beattie ask him to explain it to you.)
'Navvies' - is it colourful enough?
Now to respond to some of the points made by our editor. I hope I didn’t give the impression that I didn’t want any humour in Navvies. I’m with Steev when he says WRGies are entitled to have some fun and I also enjoy reading about it. I was simply trying to make the point that for an article to be perceived as funny it must appeal to a reasonable proportion of the readership. We have done the full colour cover (Issue 183) which also had a full colour insert and we have also used sponsorship to pay for the printing of both the 2000 and 2001 Canal Camps booklet. I still believe we should consider greater use of colour. If this involves paid for advertisements and sponsorship then so be it. The normal argument used against sponsorship is the danger that editorial independence will be undermined. I can’t believe that Martin would ever allow his views to be influenced by the fact that the magazine is getting money from other sources. (3 or 4 pints is, of course, an entirely different matter!!) I had forgotten that we have already issued a feedback questionaire, the results of which were published in Issue 180 (p17). It makes interesting reading and I noticed that some of the lessons learned were being implemented at our camp on the Ipswich and Stowmarket. I understand the Safety Video was very well received. As I made clear in my letter, I do not have access to the statistics but you yourself said that your subscribers were at their lowest level since 1988. I simply drew inferences from that information and articles in past issues of Navvies that we were not getting the same level of support that we have been used to in the past. As if to emphasise that point I called into the Wendover Arm on Saturday to find that the Camp had been cancelled because only 3 people turned up. And this on a project which has a significant amount of money available. On a more positive note I managed to get a guided tour of the Droitwich Junction canal the other day. (I just happened to be passing through Droitwich on my way to work in Manchester. All right, I know I live in Colchester, but my map reading is a bit off.) Now there’s a project we should all be supporting. The top 3 locks and the sideponds are in remarkably good condition. The sidepond for No1 Lock had just been uncovered and it was if the brickwork had been completed yesterday. New ground paddles have been installed and the gates are waiting to be hung. The brickwork for the wing walls on No.2 Lock is coming on in leaps and bounds. There are some lumpy old coping stones to be lifted and re-set on Lock No. 3 but it can’t be long before the top 3 locks are in water. Re-connecting it to the River Severn might be a bit more work but I seem to remember there are some plans to do much the same sort of thing a bit further downstream. Unfortunately I see that MKP ignored your demands completely and failed to deliver the Chairman’s Page on time. If it’s any consolation, he appeared to working very hard when I saw him. Spencer Greystrong As with the last issue, I will try to fight keep my comments short. I would rather that you the readers used these pages to debate topics such as this: the following are intended to be helpful comments aimed at keeping a wellinformed discussion going. I hope they won't be seen as the editor 'getting the last word'! The Wendover Camp was reluctantly cancelled because the leader dropped out at short notice for personal reasons and no replacement could be found, not because of lack of bookings - which were on the low side, but not so much so that the camp could not have happened. It is in any case unreasonable to extrapolate from the low numbers on a single Camp. Overall the volunteer numbers - while not as good as we would like, and not up to the levels of the early-mid 1990s - have been encouraging this year. But as usual there have been good camps and disappointing camps numbers-wise: we are doing our best to fathom-out the reasons for this variation - and readers' comments are welcome. And by the way, it isn't fair to say that 'other camps have suffered at the expense of the Droitwich'. (Please note I'm not referring to Spencer's comments here, but to general rumour and gossip that I've heard.) The colour pages in issue 183 were a 'one-off' for our 30th anniversary, and cost several hundred pounds, paid for by the generosity of private individuals. I would love to publish in colour more often, and in response to Spencer's comments we will be getting a quote, but it's likely to be pricey and when we're trying to find (say) £10,000-plus for a new minibus it's difficult to justify it. If anyone knows (or would like to volunteer to help us find) a source of sponsorship or advertising that would enable us to use more colour without making cutbacks elsewhere, please tell us! The Editor
page 25
Letters WRG accommodation: is it basic enough for you?
Dear Martin, After reading Navvies 188 I felt that I had to put pen to paper.(well, my computer died on me ...) I have to agree with the sentiment of the letters on the subject of the magazine - life would be a lot duller without it! If it can cheer up a miserable old bugger like me then it can’t be a bad thing! Just a few comments brought up by Spencer Greystrong:
As I understand it, the people in BITM were banned from a pub for breach of dress code NOT excessive alcohol ( which I also find amusing). The noise of a night-time can be a bit too much on a camp, especially when there is hard work to do the following morning. I think that more experienced WRGies ought to be more considerate along these lines. Accommodation? What can I say: it stresses in all the WRG literature that I’ve come across about it being BASIC! It also states that you have to share a hall with a lot of other people, and very few have showers. [very few halls I hope, not WRGies? ...Ed] On the subject of names, the camp report for 0106 on the Wilts & Berks mentions me - would it have been any different to use my surname as well? (Or even the nickname “Zippy”?) “Respond in kind” - sounds like a threat to me! Is this the impression Mr. Greystrong is trying to put across to people that are still considering whether to go on a camp or not, or indeed to go on another one? Finally (on this letter anyway) , Esther - would knowing more about MKP be a good idea? The rumours and stories that circulate are funnier than the boring old truth! The article by Malcolm Bridge on Mr. Mac was very good! Mr. Mac is one of nature’s gentlemen and has a lot of respect in WRGies circles. He is one of these rare people where nobody has a bad word to say about him. As an “associate” member of WRG North West (designated by Jim Lamen as I live in Birmingham!) I have come to know; and having been allowed to work with NW, have gained a high regard for David. (always calling him 'Mr. Mac' out of respect!) I came close to contacting Just Jen whilst on Camp 0106 as we couldn’t find the lid to the Burco - Paul suddenly remembered that it was put in the Ladies’ loo - I didn’t really want to go too deeply into the reasons why! There were a few comments from newcomers to WRG re why the use of plastic bowls and plates - then I realised why! They do less damage when bounced off people’s heads for asking stupid questions! (Not that I would really do that, Jen - honest!) We may have had a few cross words in the past, Martin but I’ll still buy you a pint when see you. You’re doing a great job (No bullshit! Praise where it’s due, mate!) Hopefully I’ll see some of you in the near future
Ken Whapples
Both Ken and Spencer (in his letter in the last issue) have commented on the standard of Camps accommodation. While it is sometimes pretty basic, we have been trying to improve it - for example showers in the accommodation (rather than a minibus-ride away at a sports centre) are becoming less of a rarity these days, and we hope that soon it will be part of the minimum standard for Canal Camps accommodation. This year's feedback questionaire is being analysed, and no doubt conclusions will include attention to accommodation. However we welcome comments from 'Navvies' readers too. Would you be likely to come on more Canal Camps if you knew that you would never again have to pile back into the bus for a trip to the showers 20 minutes after arriving back from a knackering day muck-shovelling - because there wouild always be hot showers ready and waiting at the hall? Would you be prepared to pay for such improvements? Would you pay a luxury rate for a luxury camp where you got sleeping in a bed instead of on the floor? Or are you really not fussed? Or do you actually enjoy roughing-it, and think that the atmosphere (by 'atmosphere' I don't mean the smell of sweaty feet!) wouldn't be the same if we went 'up-market'? What do you think? The Editor Letter to Mike Palmer, WRG Chairman, from Richard Drake: Dear Mike Many thanks to all who contributed to a very successful National Festival at Milton Keynes. As always, wrg were much in evidence and their contribution to the event much appreciated. It would be most unfair to mention anyone in particular, the success is in the team work. Well done everyone. Yours sincerely,
page 26
Richard Drake IWA National Chairman
Dear Martin As a Huddersfield Canal Society member and boat skipper, and a WRG subscriber, I was interested in your comments on the Yorkshire Post article. HCS has run a trip boat at Marsden for many, many years, first to publicise the possibility of restoration, now to link the car park with the Visitor Centre. The 'YP' reporter is ill-informed!
Letters Shouldwerestorelock-cottages? What does 'MBE' stand for?
However, it does raise an interesting question of access to the water. Most waterways users are not boaters - the majority are probably short distance walkers. However, my experience of skippering boats for HCS and CNS is that many non-boaters love getting on the water, they just can’t afford it. Buying a boat is out of the question for most people and hiring is always thrice the cost of a cottage for the same number of people in the same week. Instead people queue for ages for a 15 minute trip at an annual festival on their nearest waterway. Perhaps WRG should start restoring canalside buildings, into cheap hostels or B&Bs, which could be combined with the cost of a (much, much cheaper) day boat? Best wishes,
Christine Johnstone
What do you reckon: would it be a good idea for WRG to get involved (probably in combination with the local canal society or BW I would guess, rather than entirely off our own bat) in turning any surviving unrestored canalside buildings into cheap accommodation for would-be waterways supporters who can't afford boats? Is this a good way of getting new people interested in canals and saving from demolition (as happened a few years ago to make way for the new Safeways in Welshpool for example) the old buildings that are a real part of the historic canal system? Or would we be in danger of diverting effort from our main function of helping to restore derelict waterways to navigation? Comments, please. ...Ed Dear Martin I would like to crave a few lines in an overfull 'Navvies' to say a sincere “Thank You” to the many folk who have written, phoned or spoken to congratulate me on my recent award. At the I.W.A. Chairman’s “Wine and Nibbles” at Milton Keynes, a fellow member of the order – MrsAudrey Smith, OBE – engaged me in a little “shop talk” and suggested that the letters MBE stood for “My B——y Efforts”! Whilst not wishing to upset such a lovely lady (AND one of HIGHER RANK!), I beg to differ. So far as I am concerned it stands for MANY BODIES' EFFORTS throughout the whole of the movement – I.W.A., W.R.G. and all the local societies. I always remember being at Marple with Nancy some 30 years ago and looking down into a lock where a lone GENT - Fred Kemp – had a hammer, chisel, towel and bricks and mortar and was replacing cracked bricks along the frost line. He did it every Saturday afternoon. That same Chris Griffiths who announced with a flourish the formation of W.R.G. North West 25 years ago (Navvies 187), did at the same time stand alongside us at National (and other) Rallies with a card table, some badges, pens and leaflets proclaiming the virtues of a NEW LOT – The Huddersfield Canal Society. Later his place was taken by another founder member, John Maynard, also on his own. It is on behalf of these early enthusiasts AND those of today that I shall receive the award – a Humbling Honour. My only regret is that Nancy “Mrs Mac”, who quietly and cleverly did so much as the power behind the throne, will not be with me to share this happy moment. You’re a great lot to represent
David “Mr Mac” McCarthy
Dear Martin ‘Waterworld.’ Now there’s a film that once seen, should not be repeated. Flicking through the numerous TV channels we seem to have subscribed to one Sunday afternoon, the digital TV program guide at the bottom of the screen flashed up ‘Waterworld.’ I quickly carried on to another channel. Finding nothing else I was puzzled as to why such an awful film would be on Discovery Home and Leisure so I turned back and there was our Fred talking about what a wonderful asset volunteers were and what a good job the Waterway Recovery Group did with a gaggle of volunteers behind him digging and mattocking behind him for all they were worth. Unfortunately I didn’t catch which canal they were on as I tuned in 2 minutes too late. The program then carried on looking at various problems that British Waterways have to deal with on a day to day basis (!), followed the good NB 'Ben' on the journey around the canal network with Rupert and Alison and their crew (I distinctly saw Matt Taylor dashing around madly on it!), that incredible piece of engineering called the Anderton boat lift, how locks work etc. etc. In fact they fitted a lot (a bit too much?) into a short program. But fortunately it was on again this week, although no WRG input this time. So if you are one of those unfortunate people that have digital TV and so many channels to watch that there never seems anything on, find the Discovery Home & Leisure channel at about 5pm on a Sunday afternoon - we are recognised! Viv West (that’s the female Viv!)
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Letters
Dear Martin, I would like to thank all of those who helped & supported me with the catering at this year’s National Waterways Festival camp.
Including everyone who got up at an ungodly hour to cook breakfast: Harry T, Bushbaby, Toby, Dave Layman, Daddy Cool, Gav and Lou, Kay, Christine and the rest of the sandwich fairies, Jude for arranging the Greek Evening after I’d reached poopville, Toby, Maureen and Eli for being marvellous and getting on with it without stupid questions, Dave P for the endless shopping trips. Nina, Ian Williamson, Steve Davis and Eddie for help with the firefighting, And all the wonderful people who chopped things, rumbled potatoes and served. You are very much appreciated.
...from 'Moose', 'Bungle' and 'the Goddess of Fire'...
See you all soon, PS The answer was 'no', but what was the question?
Harry (goddess of fire)
Hello Martin, Could I ask for a bit of space in the letters page of Navvies just to congratulate Andi and Izzy for such a good National. I think all people who were present was happy the way it worked and the way Matt was able to take some pressure off the girls. A few things really come to mind when I think of this National... The boaters who broke through the security fence, did not succede the next night after the fencing crew placed an 18ft scaffold pole in the way. Making the bridge like Fort Knox, after Security complained people were climbing over it. (never did again) Moving tracking again and again. Trying to keep with 'Nigel Site 2', when he would go off at a gallop and we should be following. The shout for more people to do car parks: it was funny watching how many people suddenly had the urge to go to the loo or offer to do the washing up. Speaking to the traders and public - everyone was happy and pleased at the way the festival had gone The new people (the DofE’s, 1st timers, etc), it was a pleasure to work with them, I hope they all come back and have not been put off by working at the National. A big congratluations must also go to the poor cooks - not an easy task. (remember I have helped cook for camps) All the meals were very tasty and as normal lots of it! A very enjoyable but knackering National ( the way it should be) Thanks again and hopefully see everyone at the Bonfire bash
Dave ('Moose') & Maria
Dear Martin, In the current issue of the magazine, Spencer Greystrong suggests that using nicknames rather than peoples real names would be a good idea as it would enable people who weren’t on the camp to know who is being talked about. It seems to me that if someone doesn’t know who 'Tenko' is, putting his real name down will not really help. I know for a fact that many people who know me as 'Bungle' have absolutely no idea what my real name is. This was proved when I rang Black Price Security.. “Hello, it’s George Eycott here” “Who?” “Bungle” “Oh hello Bungle, why didn’t you say that in the first place!” A similar conversation ensued when I rang Julian at Jancraft. I didn’t know what 'Just Jen’s' full name was until last year - and I’m not telling..... So, my conclusion is that putting peoples real name down will probably confuse even more people than putting down someones nickname. George 'Bungle' Eycott Wilts. and Berks. Canal Amenity Group Plant Officer Claverton Pumping Station (www.claverton.ukwaterways.net)
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Droitwich Camp 17: 11 Aug – 18 Aug. Sunday - Despite assurances that it never rains at Droitwich, it rained. A lot. So instead of canal work we took the opportunity to visit the National Waterway Museum in Gloucester. Lunch in car park (the sun now shining)– Spencer demonstrated the correct technique at distracting wasps from his food. Dave was soon stung, interesting connection perhaps? We arrived finally on site around 3pm and rapidly got on with work in the sidepond on lock 3, raking, pointing and preparation for laying protective rubble against the wall. Lock 3 bricklaying began in earnest with Matt Taylor training the new recruits. A good evening meal was had followed by a trip to the local. Monday - A late start, poor weather again. Work continued in the sidepond. Jane and Swooze had the pleasure of using the large, vibrating hammer drill, preparing the overflow wall for gravity fed grouting. In lock 3 there was yet more bricklaying going on amongst tie rod fitting, stone cutting & deliberations on how best to encourage the heavy coping stones outwards. The joys of brick cleaning began too. Fish and chips then a narrow boat trip in the evening gave an image of how things can be after more hard work.
Camps Back on the Droitwich Junction Canal again! Tuesday - Many hands brick cleaning – well done. Several mudfights worth of puddling clay went into the sidepond while the pointing was completed. Andy and Matt started the tail wall on Lock 2. Midmorning Adrian turned his efforts to the vicious destruction of a busy wasp nest under the guise of digging out behind the coping stones. Resulting in many upset wasps and one badly stung Adrian. Hospital here we come. Bricklaying continued in the chamber of lock 3 – Harvey, Chris, Steve, Dave and Harriet making a great team, fed by the concrete mixing excellence of Brian with brick cutting by Mike. Mike R began his expert creation of the entrance wall to lock 3, during which time John started on the stop plank grooves – top jobs done all round. Plans of gravity grouting the cavities in the sidepond wall somehow began to lose gravity. Meanwhile, Spence entertained himself and the rest of us by devising methods of wasp nest destruction. A visit to Mikron travelling theatre gave an interesting and very different entertainment line up, complemented by screeching local peacocks also enjoying the show.
Wednesday – Yep, more brick cleaning and bricklaying. Also plenty of backfilling and concreting in the sidepond and tail wall of lock 3. The ironwork was fitted to Mike R’s entrance wall to match with near perfection. A Above: drilling holes ready for grouting the lock 3 sidepond full day of hard work in the hot sun was walls. Below: 'grouting by gravity'. Photos by Alan Lines supplemented by ice-lollies courtesy of Mr Palmer. The day finished with a tasty BBQ at Mike Palmer’s, followed by the pub quiz and ‘play your cards right’ won by the talented Tess. Thursday – Very hot day. Myself and Brian eventually managed to get the pump working to fill the newly sealed sidepond while brickies worked full speed in the chamber. Coping stone movement was now mastered and becoming extremely successful. Lock 2 tail walls were coming along nicely. Marcus cleared the sidepond and in went the water. Matt finished his tail wall and returned to the lock 3 chamber and work continued on the sidepond paddle gear walls.
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Camps "...to Mike Palmer for his excellence (not!) in plant driving..." Cinema for tonight’s treat ‘Swordfish’ a la Odeon and a quick pint. To top the long tired day we returned to the car park to find minibus NJF with a slashed tyre. Cheers Worcester for your friendly locals!!! The real thanks must go to the AA. The moral of the story is to make sure you all have a wheel nut spanner where it should be……... Returned to the accommodation at 01:30 for a well earned sleep. Friday - Hoping for a lie-in but alas no, up and out as usual. Last day worries gave rise to a little rushing and much jibing at those who some thought were perhaps giving too much attention to detail. The sidepond proved a little leaky due to gravity grouting problems – oops. Re-think required. A good portion of the lock 3 brickwork was completed, with coping stones aligned allowing scaffold to be removed. We also recovered a load of tools from the chamber below.
Temporary scaffold from lock 2 tail wall was taken away leaving us to admire the brickwork. A thorough site tidy up made for a late finish. After a fantastic tea cooked by Harriet it was onto the famous end of week WRG Oscars night presented by myself and Spence. Notable Oscars were awarded to Chris and Harriet for their excellence in brickwork, to Harvey as best newcomer and to Mike Palmer for his “excellence (NOT) displayed in plant driving” (situation: dumper, road, verge, hedge, oops, reverse etc). Some people then went to the pub, others tired after the long day managed to sleep in the accommodation between others still chatting and drinking. Saturday - Home time. The usual chaos of cleaning, counting, packing, departing and general realisation of a weeks’ aches and pains. Vans and equipment now off to the 'National'. This leaves just a quick chance for me to express my thanks and those of everyone involved to all the people who worked so hard this week, particularly to our job-sharing cooks Tess and Sue without whom the week would have been both slower and tougher. Loads got done this week and I can only apologise to those of you whose efforts I’ve not managed to mention above. Rob Daffern Assistant Leader
Droitwich lock 3 sidepond paddle culverts receiving attention during Camp 0117. (Alan Lines)
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Camps 19 and 20: the National Waterway Festival MIlton Keynes, August 20th - 31st When my dad, Dave Worthington, went on his first camp, he wrote a report for it, which has been quoted from many times. This Festival was my first camp, but I think I probably knew what to expect, as it was also my ninth one.... my parents have been dragging me to 'Nationals' since Wakefield in 1992, so I went to Milton Keynes as one of the youngest old hands, at the age of 16 and a couple of weeks. For quite a few years I have been wearing a wrg T-shirt with “2001 – A wrg oddity” on the back, and when I wore it this year, a lot of people who hadn’t previously realised, suddenly did that I was actually on camp officially this time. My dad, my brother and I arrived at about 9 p.m. on the Friday a week before the 'National' opened to the public. There were less than 15 people there, and no tables or chairs. So after ‘borrowing’ some from a pile we found, we put them up in the sleeping accommodation and we had the first of many nights chatting, drink in hand (mine was, of course, non-alcoholic). On Saturday we began the fencing in earnest, and as there was not much demand for plant, we used forks and the dumper. I’m not a big fan of fencing, so when more help came, I wandered back to find something else to do. Gav turned up just in time to help me unpack the catering kit A. That evening was our noble chairman’s birthday, and in honour of this we had a port-and-cheese evening. As the camp didn’t start until Monday, the numbers were still limited, but we all had fun. Mike, however, didn’t seem to enjoy the morning after quite as much, and included “have port-based headache” on the list of things to do. In the eating marquee there was a large whiteboard with a list of jobs on it and those working on them, so that everybody could see what needed to be done, and from where Matt “The Thin Controller” could work his magic. Despite Mike’s headache, he still brought us breakfast – well, actually just tea and coffee – in bed, while everyone else threw a pig and Velcro balls around.
Camps The IWA National Waterways Festival at Milton Keynes Mike and I were given various jobs to do on Sunday, and after we had done them, Mike left little job reports in Izzy and Andi’s big yellow book containing everything about everything. I signed my name under them as well, and that was when Izzy decided it would be a good idea if I wrote this camp report. (I don’t think Izzy will make that sort of mistake again). Sunday was the only day that Alan Jervis could get it to rain, but when it did, it seemed to rain enough for the entire two weeks. But overall this year was one of the best I’ve seen when it comes to weather, as it was scorching every day apart from the first Sunday when it bucketed it down, and the Sunday of the festival, when it was seriously overcast. Most people turned up on Monday, and Andi decided that it would be a good idea if we all introduced ourselves. We all sat around in a circle, and it all ended up looking like a proper meeting of ‘Navvies Anonymous’. We watched the brilliant WRG safety video together, bringing the phrase “The right tool for the right job” to the vocabulary of the masses. However, so that everyone got to know each other properly, we had a camp outing to the local pub, on some retail park. The Geordie boys from Sunderland were happy to discover that the pub sold Newcastle brown ale. However, at more than £2 a bottle, it was a little more expensive than the 75p a bottle that they were used to at home.
Two of the regular festival jobs: laying roadway tracking and putting up fencing. Photos by Martin Ludgate
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Camps "...those strange people who enjoy it..." (car parking, that is!) The newcomers still seemed a little wary, but they were forced to become friendly when Gavin forced us all to sit around one table. Jason said that he was still expecting everyone to don their bobble hats and anoraks, as he thought that everybody would be narrowboat-spotters, and most of the other newcomers agreed. Work began in earnest on Tuesday, and as well as the standard jobs to do at the 'National', there were also the standard bizarre jobs that have to be done. This year’s nightmare job was tracking, which was put down, then taken up, then the ground under it levelled, then it put back down, then it taken up again. Other pieces of tracking had to be carpeted, and pieces were put down in an attempt to protect the paths from being trashed by the crane. The crane was there to move the narrowboats from lorry to canal, or from lorry onto Milton Keynes’s first pier, which was built specially for the event, about 20 metres from the canal. We had planned to go swimming on Wednesday, but because of the workload, it was decided that people wouldn’t want to swim after a full day’s work, so a trip to the cinema was organised. Most people went to see Rush Hour 2, but unfortunately somebody had misread the schedule, and we would have had to wait an hour to see it, so we saw Swordfish. Quite a few people had seen it before, including me, but I still enjoyed it. After the film, I explained to the girls what the plot was about, as none of them had understood it.
There was about 12 tons of gravel brought in to fill in potholes, and to ensure entrances did not get too muddy. As this was the National Waterways Fesival and Inland Boat Show, the gravel was brought in by boat and placed on the towpath. We had intended to move it on the AVH flatbed transit. Unfortunately this required reversing it through a copse, with only a few inches clearance either side. I managed to actually get a job that was actually helping restore canals, which is always a novelty on 'Nationals', as I and a few others got to help pull stuff out of the canal, including an entire wardrobe of clothes, a pillowcase and numerous bags of peat. Our group managed to miss out on all the exciting stuff like the shopping trolleys and bikes, which seemed to always be pulled out a few metres ahead of our position. However, we did get to help pull out some large and very heavy piece of hire equipment, some sort of industrial planer for concrete or something (I can’t really remember what it was, I don’t know about practical stuff like that).
Toby's tracking & The opening of the Festival also heralded the fencing jokes... opening of the beer tent, which was not run (1) Q: What goes 'down-upby Bar-Tec, as part of down-up-down-up'? the company had gone A: The tracking. bust. Instead it was run by The Big Bar Company. Throughout the (2) Q: What goes 'up-downtime that it was open up-down-up-down'? there were the normal A: The fencing. evening entertainments, including a Boater’s Quiz and a covers band, which went down well. However, the best entertainment was, of course, Saturday’s. WRG had two ten minute slots in a montage of pieces. The theme was an Old Time Music Hall, so there were some spoof songs, including a brilliant version of 'Jerusalem', “I say, I say, I say" jokes and a monologue. Jason, Adam and Kirsty did a hilarious Sand Dance, Kirsty wore a fez, and Jason and Adam wore women’s clothes straight out of Aladdin or Ali Baba. However, the best act had to be the “If I were not upon this stage” group, and as for the guy on the far right, absolutely brilliant…
Gravel is unloaded from nb 'Clover'. (George Eycott)
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As always, the legendary car parking team came and stole old and new hands alike, trying to find those strange people who actually enjoy it. Saying that, however, I really enjoyed my time 'Jerusalem': the WRG on the car parks this year Catering version... (I hope no one remembers this "...bring me my bowl of next year). Cath burning chilli; found two eager Bring me my Harriet of first-timers in fire..." Gemma and Ellen, and the only reason that Gemma stopped car-parking was because she had to go on Friday. Ellen won an award in the closing ceremony for her love of car parking.
As well as car parking, Ellen managed to get herself on one of the strangest jobs I’ve heard of on a National; otter racing. This is not as cruel as it sounds, as the otters were toy otters stuck to a remote controlled car with Velcro. This was part of Canal Crazy: Waterways for Youth, which this year included all of the regular activities as well as abseiling and boat and bug building. As always, bizarre nicknames and anecdotes come out of one and a half weeks in a strange environment. Gavin is now proud to be known as “10 stoneGav”, due to Vicky’s inability to guess people’s weights. Mike Palmer made himself a sandwich board with leaflets about the Anderton Boat Lift abseil, and was horrified at the rush to help him when he requested a piece of rope “long enough to go around [his] neck” at the Tardis. A more serious occurrence happened one night however. Mole, Ellen and I went back to the accommodation, leaving the rest of the group of the younger volunteers at the beer tent, including Mel, Ellen’s best friend. When the rest of the group returned, Mel was not with them. They told us that presumed she had gone back with us, so they came back too. When both groups said that they didn’t know where Mel was, we went back to the Festival site, keeping a look out for her on the way. We did not find her on the way, so we looked in the beer tent, but there was no sign of her, so we decided to check that the worst hadn’t happened: But it was too late! We found her, she had been ensnared and was helpless to resist the lure of the Waffle Men. Needless to say, she was very embarrassed, and will probably be more so when she reads this, but she got the camp “Most ingenious way of getting waffles” award.
Camps "Gav is now proud to be known as '10-stone Gav'..." As always the weeks of planning and careful preparation were, for the most part, demolished in a matter of hours. Fencing practically flew down, the exhibitors queued to get their stuff and go. There were still a few jobs to do around site however. Tracking had to be put down for the crane, and then taken up again. Tables and chairs were collected, kit was packed away, and other pieces of tracking had to be de-carpeted and taken away. Overheard at Milton The previously nice Keynes... weather went pearshaped in the evenings Al Moore: "I need six after the National closed – the evenings sharp knives for the IWA were absolutely freez- tent, NOW!" ing, and people were forced to sleep in more What was going on? clothes than they were Nominations for Council? wearing during the day. Canalway Cavalcade committee meeting? Tuesday brought the end of camp party, I think we should be told. helped along by donations of drink from various individuals and also numerous kegs of beer and over 300 cans of (out of date) Pepsi. The night was themed along Greece (although some people thought that it was Grease). A few people managed to wear togas and I managed to scrounge Victoria’s tastefully patterned bedsheet as a makeshift one. We also had some fantastic Greek food that evening. Camp awards were handed out, including the ones previously mentioned, as well as gifts for the chefs, Harriet, Harry and Toby, and I got an award for “brainiest camper” as I got my GCSE results on camp, 7 A*s and 3 As, and the leaders obviously decided that they were quite good. The night ended up with as many people as we could fit all squeezed into the brew hut so that we could listen to some music without disturbing the broken and bruised people in the accommodation. I really enjoyed myself on my first official camp, and I’d like to thank Izzy and Andi for making the whole camp happy, by apparently never stopping smiling; all the people who cooked, as every meal was excellent, and everybody else on camp, who also kept happy. Since the camp, a number of the first timers have been e-mailing each other, and I know of at least 4 who will be coming to the Basingstoke Bonfire Bash. If anybody else wants to email me, you can contact me at luke@lukeworthington.co.uk
Helping with 'Waterways for Youth'. (Martin Ludgate)
Luke “Timmy the wee beastie” Worthington
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Camps And finally, back to Droitwich for the last time this year... Droitwich Canal Camp 21: 8th – 15th September This was a camp that will, for me at least, always be associated with the events of Tuesday 11th of September in New York. Suddenly any problems that we may have been experiencing on site seemed very trivial indeed. The afternoon was punctuated by the sound of various mobile ringing tones going off all over the site as friends and colleagues tried to keep us informed of the situation, and there was not really any other topic of non-restoration conversation. It had all started very differently: a mixture of the usual suspects and newcomers was showing every sign of being able to achieve a great deal in the course of a week. At the end of two days the only ones yet to finish their initial allotted task were Adrian and myself, both of who would claim to be pretty experienced. Never, ever, try to cut right through a wing wall, at an angle of 45 degrees and, needing to make the cut as straight as possible, use a very heavy brick saw with a mind of its own. Eventually we scrounged an angle grinder from BW and managed to finish the job. Meanwhile other people were forging ahead with bricklaying, concrete mixing, the dreaded brick cleaning, building shuttering, concrete pouring and all the other sorts of associated jobs. Inevitably not everything went absolutely smoothly and on Monday we had to move from the usual Guide hut to different accommodation beside the glorious scenic panorama that is an activity centre behind a Shell garage on the A38. It is a very popular place for wagons to refuel and I would dearly like to meet the driver who insisted on testing the reversing warning bleeper at regular hours through the night and shake him, or indeed her, warmly by the throat.
Adrian (why is it always him?) failed in his audition for the part of chief coping brick juggler in the next WRG pantomime and had to be carted off to hospital, thereafter taking no further part in the proceedings. MKP attempted to kidnap every Burco for miles around and render them useless, so we had to hire one. Louise, one of our newcomers, had a potentially nasty accident when she overbalanced the said Burco and rolled down a slope into a patch of stinging nettles and soaking herself. Fortunately the water had only just been topped up so was still cold, although she did end up with a badly swollen knee. Despite this the newly nicknamed 'Burco Bint' has promised to return. Even with all these attempts to get out of doing any work we managed to achieve virtually everything on the list. Nearside wing wall completed; curvy wall up and protective iron work installed; lots of backfill; the biggest copingstone in the world in place; lots of tidying up. But for me the one thing that typified the week, and the way that everyone was prepared to pull together, was the fact that we had a van full of people on site at 7.30 Friday morning, having had nothing more substantial than a cup of tea, so as to strike a lockful of scaffolding that took three weekends to erect, by 12.00 when it was due to be collected. The fact that the wagon pulled off at 12.08 is a tremendous tribute to everyone there: as is their finally getting back to the accommodation at 6.30 without a word of mutiny. We were also able to see water in the lock for the first time since 1939. BW was doing a pressure test and we actually had real wet water flowing down the flight. Only other thing to say is a heartfelt thanks from Mike and me. It was certainly one of the better camps I have helped to lead, and we really appreciated the presents at the end. I don’t know about MKP but that was a first for me. Oh, and I did the Great North Run in 2hrs 13 seconds, beating last year’s time by the impressive margin of 9 seconds! Steve Barrett
Lock 3: preparing to install buffer beams on the upper wing wall (left), removing scaffolding from the chamber (centre) and the completed chamber wall with the scaffolding removed (right). Photos by Martin Ludgate.
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KESCRG Xmas Party, Trailer and all... That time is here again and the KESCRG/London WRG Xmas party is almost upon us. We are back on the Wilts and Berks this year, staying at the village hall in Goatacre over the weekend of the 1st and 2nd of December. The work is clearing the remainder of what we started last year at Dauntsey. The Amoses have kindly offered to look after ticket sales: the cost is the same as last year at 3000 pesetas or £12 for the weekend. [I wonder if you can guess where Eddie e-mailed this piece to me from? ...Ed] Please write your name and address and any special dietary requirements on a piece of paper and send it with a cheque made payable to KESCRG to the Brian & Maureen Amos at 13 Trosley Avenue, Gravesend DA11 7QN. PLEASE book in beforehand: this is not an unreasonable request, bearing in mind the scale of the meal planned for Saturday evening. ‘Uncle Ken’ Parish has come up with the idea of making this year’s theme “fairy tales”. I think you will agree: a huge capacity for dressing up and making a fool of ourselves with this one.... For those who don’t know already, KESCRG has been bought a new tool trailer. In fact not any old trailer but an Ifor Williams (the “dogs’ lower bits” of trailers!!) box trailer custom lined out and painted.
KESCRG Book now for the KESCRG and London WRG Xmas party dig This was the result of a FANTASTIC donation from the Kent and East Sussex IWA sales team who raised £3410 to pay for it. I can’t emphasise just how much we want to thank the team, especially Tony and John. The new trailer was loaded with freshly painted and sharpened tools following a tool repair weekend at Ian and Liz’s in September. Big thankyou to them for yet again letting us use their garden as the KESCRG maintenance yard! We even got some breaker training in, removing their patio! The old trailer has now gone for a new life with the Wilts and Berks Canal Amenity Group. Does anyone want any shovels??? An audit of our tools proved that we seem to have plenty going spare! Our October dig sees us returning to Valley Lock on the Thames and Severn where hopefully the trailer will have been signwritten. In November we will be joining everyone else for the reunion on the Basingstoke. At the time of writing the I am in Madrid [OK who guessed? ...Ed] and haven’t got details of next year’s dates. Hopefully Ken has had time between boating to update the website which is www.btinternet.com/ ~kescrg. The list of next year’s digs will be there. Hasta luega! Adios!
Eddie Jones The keys to the new trailer are handed-over at the Milton Keynes festival. And yes, KESCRG weekend organiser it really is so shiny that you can see people's reflections in it! (Martin Ludgate)
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Progress Dig Deep: the Basingstoke, Wey & Arun, Wilts & Berks and Cotswolds Dig Deep Report – Sept 2001 The Dig Deep Initiative involves four mobile working party groups (London WRG, KESCRG, NWPG and WRG BITM) committing themselves to carrying out a certain amount of volunteer work (whether in the form of Canal Camps or weekend working parties) on certain restoration projects in southern England that have been adopted as 'Dig Deep Projects'. There are usually three or four of these projects on the go at any one time, and the idea is to co-ordinate the four groups' work on them so that they can be completed in a reasonable timescale. This helps the local canal societies responsible for those projects to commit the necessary funding for materials from their usually limited resources something that we have found from experience in the past can tend to be more of a problem if visiting groups' work-parties are organised individually on an ad-hoc basis with no knowledge of when and whether the job is likely to be finished.
Another Dig Deep year is almost complete. Following interruptions due to Foot and Mouth, work has recommenced on all sites. At the worst affected site, Summit Lock on the Wilts & Berks, recent working parties have moved the project forward so that at last the site is looking different from the position this time last year. Bricklaying has started on the chamber walls such that both are now ready for scaffolding and re-building. The construction technique specified will involve considerable volumes of mass concrete being poured behind the walls as they rise. Volunteers will be relieved to hear that Readymix is to be used for this... although less so to know that there are still plenty of bricks to be cleaned! New bricks are to be used for the main chamber walls. John Bowen is the local organiser and with some good weather and hopefully no more F & M this site is ready to “take off” next year. Valley Lock on the Thames & Severn has probably been our most successful site this year. Following on from the WRG camp reported in the last 'Navvies', NWPG spent a week progressing the top end of the lock and spillway and attempting to make progress clearing the silt from the bottom end. By the winter I would expect to see all the top wing and gate recess walls rebuilt (there are of course four gate recesses on this part of the T & S), together with the complex paddle holes, spill weir and retaining walls. This leaves the question of the lock chamber. The offside wall has to be taken down and re-bricked. This requires a scaffold, which we hoped to put in during the summer. However, a combination of excess water and rather more silt in the chamber than had been forecast, made this impossible. NWPG spent five days clearing just the bottom sill and fore-bay using the Jones crane and a small dumper. Large machine access to the site is almost impossible due to the narrow lanes leading to it. WRGNA are due to have another attempt in September in getting sufficient scaffolding into the chamber before the winter. If successful this should enable our programmed weekends to commence demolition. If not, then we may be a little short of work.
Dig Deep at Valley Lock on the Thames & Severn Canal: the nearside paddle chamber rebuilt (above left) and the offside one under reconstruction (left) during the NWPG Camp. Dig Deep at Bonfire Hanger on the Wey & Arun: NWPG carry out stump removal (above) on what is due to become the next Dig Deep site. Photos by Graham Horn.
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Work continues on various aspects of the Basingstoke canal back pumping project. The KESCRG camp is reported elsewhere and there have been relatively few Dig Deep weekends on the canal during the summer. We are all hoping that the road down to Lock One will be finished soon – it must be rivalling some of the M25 widening schemes in terms of timescale and attention! 2002 will see Dig Deep concentrate on the St Johns flight where volunteers will be installing the pipe as well as building the intake chamber for the back pump scheme there. No doubt there will be a little towpath surfacing work there as well.
Basingstoke Canal – Pete Redway on 01483 721710 Cotswolds Canals – Neil Ritchie on 01452 854057 Wey & Arun Canal – John Ward on 01483 527124 Wilts & Berks – Peter Smith on 01793 636597 For general Dig Deep information contact Alan Cavender on 01628 629033 – email alancavender@lineone.net Bill Nicholson
New for 2002 is a Dig Deep mini project on the Bonfire Hanger section of the Wey & Arun Canal. We have been asked to construct three spill weirs across the head of the former locks of the Sidney Wood flight to enable three pounds to be safely flooded. This will help to provide a water storage area for the Loxwood navigable section of the canal to the west. Two footbridges also have to be built to enable public footpaths to cross the flooded canal. Each group has committed one weekend to this project during the summer months of 2002. All sites would benefit from visits (and Camps) from other WRG groups not directly involved in Dig Deep. If your group is interested then please contact the local canal trust organisers who are:
Dig Deep on the Basingstoke: the apparently never-ending job of building an access road to the Woodham pumping station nears completion (above) on a recent London WRG dig (Martin Ludgate), while on this year's KESCRG Camp (top, middle and bottom right) the various ingredients for a replacement bywash for Lock 11 at St Johns are assembled: some pipes, reinforcing, shuttering and a hole to put it all in. (Ken Parish)
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Progress DroitwichJunctionCanalseesits first boat for several decades... Hanbury Locks in water! Deb Turnbull attended her first Canal Camp on the Droitwich in September (see the report on page 34). It was the last of this year's six Droitwich Camps and it ended up with the locks so close to completion that they could be re-watered... As we have just had the last 2001 camp at Droitwich and got the locks looking almost finished I thought everyone would like to see the first, almost complete passage of a boat through the top two locks since 1928. I’m afraid I figure in all of them as I was in the only boat... Needless to say, some portage was required as the locks aren’t actually in operation yet, just full! This was done in honour of the Droitwich Canals Trust’s open day on the 22 September and apparently the two locks are to be kept in water until October when they will be dewatered again. So get along quickly before they return to looking like a building site again.
The pound between Locks 1 and 2 looks completely finished in the picture. Also a lot of effort must have gone on during the week after the camp to tidy up and do some landscaping. Great work: the site now looks like a real canal. Having spent my frst canal camp here (No. 0121) I think I can say that maybe never has a new volunteer seen so great a change in less than a week! I also found out a little bit about some of the future work from some of the many Droitwich Canals Trust who were helping: There was lots of speculation on the camp about the bridge to go in for the Rugby club access road below the locks. Well, another lock is planned below number 3 just “upstream” of the road so a hump backed bridge will not be needed. Then a detour and two more locks before going into a tributary of the River Salwarpe. Also, beyond Droitwich there will be a proper bridge under the A449 dual carriage way so a return to the River Salwarpe will not be needed. 5 years to the opening was mentioned too, but that’s been heard before...for how many years now? As the chairman of the local council paid a visit let’s hope he was suitably impressed and all the future planning submissions receive full support. Finally, yes, I got collared by BITM at the weekend after the camp and hope to return to finish off the coping bricks to the tail wall of lock 2. WRG hasn’t seen the last of me! Deb Turnbull
Deb and her boat in lock 1 (above left), in the pound between locks 1 and 2 (left) and below lock 2 (above)
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Bankside
Bankside Moorings
written written by by Bruce Bruce Tunnel Tunnel
Oz Collingwood, Camp Leader on the Thames Berks & Andover Canal Camp at Spaglingworth Locks, cast a critical eye over a length of irregular brick wall along one side of a muddy hollow in the ground. The brickwork meandered up and down as if built by a drunk, there was a distinct lack of mortar in the joints (and what there was appeared to consist mainly of dry sand) and the whole thing leaned back at an angle that varied between 10 and 20 degrees from the vertical. "No, I'm afraid it's not quite crooked enough. Gordon! Give it a good clout with the 803, will you?" 'Gordon-I-broke-my-nose-three-times' Drake climbed into the excavator and thumped the wall several times with the bucket, until several large cracks ran the entire height of the wall and it looked like one more push would probably bring the whole lot tumbling down. At that moment a tipper lorry labelled 'Mud & Water Services Ltd' arrived on site and - guided by Oz - tipped a load of mud, silt and rubbish (most of which looked like it had originated in the BCN) all over the base of the wall. Meanwhile, John Tetley and Mark Robinson were struggling with a KL15 crane and a decidedly secondhand looking lock-gate - covered in ivy and moss, several large holes in it, a broken gate-paddle and a cracked balance beam. Strangely, they seemed to be trying to install it rather than remove it. "Errr... Oz", said Gordon quizzically, "it almost looks like we're trying to make this canal look derelict. Isn't it the general idea that we restore them from dereliction?" Oz noted that Gordon was showing his usual perceptiveness - most volunteers would have worked this out sometime before the Thursday of the Camp - but began to explain... "Well you see it's to do with the restoraiton funding..." Indeed it was, and it was one of the Canal Society Chairman Henry Banks's more original ideas for raising money to pay for the restoration. TheproblemwasthattheoriginalSpaglingworthLocks had been demolished. A diversionary route via a brand-new flight of locks was planned. But this had run into trouble... The first problems had come from the nature conservationists who had declared the new locks a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and tried to ban boats from using them before work had even begun on building the locks, on the grounds that every other canal that they'd ever seen reopened had become a crucial habitat for biodiversity as soon as it was completed, and they didn't expect this one to be any exception. There was also the little matter of the 'Spag/Bol Agreement' whereby many years ago the wildlife interests had agreed not to interfere with the restoration of Bolminster Locks, so long as the canal restorers didn't try to reopen Spaglingworth Locks. Henry hadn't realised that as far as the nature interests were concerned, this 'agreement' not only included the original Spaglingworth Locks, but also any new flight that anyone might build to replace them...
Fortunately the head of the Wildlife Berks Trust, Randolph Greenmantle, had met an untimely end when he tripped over a Great Crested Badger and drowned in a SSSI, (well, Henry insisted it was good fortune, but someone had seen him leaving Bolminster Library carrying a book called 'How to train animals') and his replacement Alison Hyde seemed more amenable. (The fact that some years ago she had been on a Canal Camp and some incriminating photos had been taken of her with the Camp Leader, a dumper and a tube of stern-gland grease may have had something to do with this more reasonable attitude.) So some of the wildlife people's worst excesses - such as their insistance that the Canal Society would have to build two parallel flights of locks, one for the boats and one for the wildlife - had been quietly dropped. Having resolved the wildlife issues, the second problem was funding the restoration. And it appeared that the main hope - the Heritage Lottery Fund - had (since being conned out of ÂŁ25M elsewhere for engineeering work on a canal that had already been restored) tightened up on their conditions: now they wouldn't pay for any 'new construction' at all; grants were only available for restoring original structures. So Oz and friends had just spent a week building an 'original structure' that they hoped would be convincing enough to fool HLF into believing that it was a 200 year old derelict lock, and ensure that a grant to restore it would be forthcoming. And the HLF representative was due to turn up on the Friday and inspect the site. Sure enough, a chap appeared on the final day of the Camp, and started examining the site, taking copious notes and photographs. Henry showed him all round the site, explaining the many 'historic' features... "Look at the unusual paddle gear here." (it certainly was unusual: it had been constructed by Henry's nephew from parts of an old sewing-machine treadle table and a LandRover gearbox.) "See the remains of a wooden working boat still lying there in the canal bed" (they were indeed the remains of a wooden working boat: thanks to the number of grants from HLF for various wooden boat 'restorations' that were more like total rebuilds, there was a ready supply of rotten old narrow boat timbers to be had. Henry had simply donated ÂŁ10 to the Friends of 'Reginald'...) "Lookatthosemasons'markscarvedinthestones"(well, there may have been a stone-mason with the initals 'MUFC'.) The man was obviously deeply impressed, and Henry sensed that he was onto a winner. "So are the Heritage Lottery Fund going to award us a grant to restore this lock?" he asked "Heritage Lottery Fund? Oh no, I'm not from the HLF, I'm from English Heritage." "Then what are you doing here?" "I've been sent down to have a look. We'd heard that there was an old lock here, but we were a bit sceptical because we thought all the old locks had been demolished. But now I've seen it, I have to say I'm most impressed with the significance of the surviving remains. In fact I'm going to recommend that the lock be made a Listed Structure possibly an Ancient Monument, and the whole area will be proposed as a Conservation Area. Isn't that exciting?" "Oh yes - that's bound to help us to get the funding for a good quality restoration job, isn't it?" "I'm afraid not. This is much too important a historic site to risk damaging it by restoring it to navigation. I'm afraid that if you want to reopen the canal to boats you're going to have to leave this historic lock completely untouched and build a brand new one on a new site alongside."
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Publicity ...recruiting for WRG at the Milton Keynes festival WRG Publicity A quick update from the Publicity team... What a busy time we had at Milton Keynes!! Wednesday and Thursday saw Mandy, Steve, Glen and me crawling around on our hands and knees in the IWA tent - no we were not grovelling for more space, quite the opposite! We were busy covering new display boards (in some rather funky bright red material) and re-doing all the plastic bits and bobs on the stand, so that we could really fill the space that IWA had reserved for us in the tent - many thanks to Ray Carter and his scissors and staple gun. Friday saw us bright and early doing the finishing touches to the stand, setting up the Waterways For Youth Activity, then we opened for business - and what a busy day it was! In fact we were busy over the 4 days, with 30 new ‘Navvies’ subscriptions taken, 18 volunteer personal protection packs sponsored, lots of sponsorship pledged for the Anderton Abseil, including one man who didn’t mind who he sponsored as long as it was a young lady with a nice bottom. (It would of course be unethical for the publicity team to name the chosen bottom!)
Plus many other donations, enquiries, orders for WRG wear, and lots of partakers of the Waterways For Youth activity. There were also some old friends seen (‘Gremlin’ and Wendy Martin, Earl and Julia Ford (plus troupe), with Barry doing best Uncle bit) and new promises made to come along digging again. I can report that ‘Gremlin’ has kept his promise, and came along to help out at the first weekend at Droitwich. So all in all, a very successful event, and the IWA team got 2 new members from within our team!! Well, I couldn’t possibly get cups of tea from the IWACressy Club for non-IWA members, now could I....? So big thanks to everyone who helped out on the stand: Mandy. Steve, Glenn, Ian, Liz, ‘Bushbaby’, ‘Smudge’, Tess, John, and for anyone who I’ve missed I apologise. Plus all the others who supplied Choc Ices (thanks Lou!!), made sure we had some squash when the temperature was up in the 90’s, and definitely made us feel part of the camp, even though we were working in the marquee rather than out on site. By the time you read this we will also have been to the IWA AGM and boat gathering at Banbury update in the next issue! Big thanks to everyone - and a MASSIVE WELCOME to everyone who subscribed to ‘Navvies’ at Milton Keynes!! I shall hopefully see you all at the Bonfire Bash in November. If you want to give me a hand in the kitchen over the weekend, then drop me a note: judith_moore@uk.ibm.com or give me a call: 01564 785293. Thanks,
The WRG publicity display at Milton Keynes. (Martin Ludgate)
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Jude Moore
Remember the last trip on the Ashton? Most of you probably don't: the final attempt to take a boat through the Ashton Canal before it became totally impassible took place in 1961. But what some of you might remember is an excellent blow-by-blow account of the final journey, giving a fascinating picture of the situation 40 years ago when canals that were still officially open were being allowed to fall into a state of such dereliction that a trip along the worst bits of the BCN today looks like child's play by comparison. But I won't spoil the suspense by telling you whether they actually got through, what they did when they found someone had set fire to a set of lock-gates the previous night etc. etc. because I'd like to reprint the whole piece in the next issue. The trouble is, I can't find it! I don't know which magazine it originally appeared in, but I was sure that it had been reprinted in 'Navvies' some time in the 1970s; however either I'm missing that issue or I must have been mistaken and it was actually another magazine. I know the article exists - I remember reading it! If anyone else remembers it, please can they help me by trying to track down a copy and send it to me? Thanks.
And still in the Manchester area...
Bits & pieces ...featuring waterways in the North West... and Basingstoke. Good news: MBB I realise that to many readers the above initials stand for 'Men Behaving Badly', but in this case they stand for 'Manchester, Bolton & Bury', another restoration scheme in the Manchester area. You will remember from the last issue that the government had finally climbed-down on the Birmingham Northern Relief Road - a new toll motorway and agreed to provide for navigation where it crosses the Lichfield Canal. You may also recall a few issues ago that the government were finally heading towards adopting a policy of always making provision for future navigation where a new road crosses a waterway that is under restoration. And being a cynical lot, you probably thought 'I'll believe that when I see it' and wondered how exactly the powers-that-be would try to weasel-out of paying for a bridge next time the same situation arose.... such as a rather tight definition of what actually counts as 'under restoration' or whatever... Well, the new policy has had its first test recently, and passed it with flying colours: the government has paid ÂŁ300,000 to provide a tunnel under the Manchester & Salford Inner Relief Route for future use by the Manchester Bolton & Bury Canal. Although no restoration work has taken place so far in this area, it will be absolutely vital in future as the link between the existing restored lengthss and the rest of the national canal system.
One canal that would have seemed an unlikely prospect for restoration in 1961 is the Rochdale Canal, where after years of delays due to hassles with the canal's owners TCS, and problems with the funding that were finally sorted by the efforts of The Waterways Trust, rebuilding work by contractors is at last going ahead at full speed, with reopening scheduled for next year. This photo by Dave Mack shows Benhealey Bridge, Littleborough, this summer, where a culverted road crossing was being replaced with a navigable-sized crossing. Incidentally, the pipe across the middle of the picture carried the flow of water down the canal while work was in progress.
By boat to the Basingstoke Bash? In case any of you WRG Boaters fancy arriving at the Basingstoke Bonfire Bash by water, I'm pleased to be able to tell you that not only will the canal be open at the time, but anyone working on the canal that weekend will be allowed to bring their boat up the canal for the weekend without having to buy a Basingstoke Canal licence. Please contact Surrey & Hants Canal Society chairman Pete Redway on 01483 721710 if you want to take advantage of this generous offer.
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Bits & Pieces
Coming soon...
The National Canal Cleanup 2002 The return of this annual event after a year's break in 2001 will - we hope - see us move to new waters on the Manchester Bolton & Bury Canal in the Manchester / Salford area. Provisional date is 16-17 March; more details next time. And speaking of canal cleanups...
Lichfield Camp: October 20-27
No more trolleys?
This year's only camp on what is always one of our most popular sites will be just about to start as this issue is published, but I'm sure we'll welcome a few last minute bookings provided you contact us (via head office) first.
No, that's not a change to the WRG Dress Code, it's a possible outcome of a recent court case. Tesco have just been prosecuted for allowing 33 of their supermarket trolleys to be thrown into the Chelmer & Blackwater Navigation in Chelmsford.
The Basingstoke Bonfire (& Beer!) Bash This takes place on November 3-4, the work is mainly 'scrub-bashing' to remove overhanging vegetation from the offside bank of the canal, and accommodation is provisionally in Sheerwater school. More details will be sent out when we get your booking form (enclosed in this issue). Speaking of which... By the time you read this it will only be a couple of weeks away. If you want to come (What do you mean "If?" Of course you want to come! It's your chance to meet up with everyone from this year's summer Canal Camps and all the regional groups in WRG, KESCRG and everyone else for a mega working party and Guy Fawkes 'do'...) and you haven't already booked in, please do so NOW! We really do need to know how many are coming, so that we can work out details of transport to site, plan the catering and so on. If lots of you don't book in till the last minute, you will throw all our careful catering planning into disarray... and worse than that, we might not order enough beer, and it will be YOUR FAULT when it runs out!
Tesco have had to spend a total of £37,517 on fines and costs. Gosh, that'll earn them a lot of points on their Club Card...
Navvies Subscriptions and donations The cost of a 'Navvies' subscription is kept deliberately lower than the actual cost of producing the magazine, so that everyone can afford it - we would far rather lose a few quid on someone's subs than lose the benefit of their voluntary labour on the canals. Most subscribers add a donation towards the actual cost of the magazine, for which we are very grateful. Some go even further and add a sizeable sum, as their personal contribution towards supporting our work - for which we are even more grateful. We would like to point out that these larger sums (as much as £200 in one particularly-generous recent donation) can be made even larger if you are a UK tax-payer by making your donation subject to Gift Aid, enabling us to claim the tax back. Please contact Head Office (see top of diary pages) for information. Thank you.
KESCRG / London WRG Christmas dig
Thank you...
See the KESCRG article on page 35 for details of another big annual scrub-bash and party.
...to AVH Van Rental for once again lending us a pickup truck for use at the 'National' this year.
Christmas Camp on the Wilts & Berks Canal ...on 22nd-31st December 2001. There will be vegetation clearance round Locks 4 and 5 at Seven Locks, near Tockenham, bricklaying and concreting on Lock 3 (depending on the weather), and hedgelaying and stump-pulling at Dauntsey, with plenty of big bonfires to keep warm. Accommodation at Foxham Reading Rooms, and anyone prepared to help with cooking will be very welcome. Cost £50 for the whole camp, or £5 per day for anyone wanting to come for part of the period. Booking through Rachael Banyard, 5 Canal Cottages, Dauntsey Lock, Chippenham SN15 4HD, or telephone/fax 01249 892289. Christmas on the Basingstoke More festive fun and scrub-bashing on December 26th to January 1st with Clive Alderman in charge again. This is the 'official' WRG Christmas Camp, so please book via the usual Head Office address (see top of Diary pages).
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Welcome... ..to the 30 subscribers we signed-up at the 'National' this year. And particularly to Mr. Warren R. Gibbs of Sandy - with initials like that, he should go far!
And finally... Despite this being a bumper-sized issue, space is still at a premium thanks to all the copy you've submitted ! Apologies for having to (a) use a rather small print size for some of the articles (free magnifying glass next time?) and (b) hold over a few items till next time, when there will be fewer Camp Reports and more room for articles about the Anderton Lift, Ludwig's Kanal, what claims to be the first ever shopping centre served by canal in Malaysia... and more! Many thanks to everyone who has contributed - I hope to see most of you at the Bonfire Bash.
Stamps wanted The WRG Canal Camps mobile phones: 07850 422156 (A) and 07850 422157 (B)
Send all your used postage stamps, cigarette and petrol coupons and old phone cards to IWA/ WRG Stamp Bank, 33, Hambleton Grove, Emerson Valley, Milton Keynes MK4 2JS. All proceeds to canal restoration.
MOVING HOUSE Darryl Foster has moved to: 34 Moorland Gardens, Luton, Beds LU2 7QF Tel 07903 446577. Mobile: 07762 348449
Directory update: Chesterfield Canal contact details: Keith Ayling, 16 Pinchfield Lane, Rotherham S66 1FD Foxton Inclined Plane Trust now have email: mike@foxcm.freeserve.co.uk ...and they also have a new web site: http://www.foxcanal.fsnet.co.uk Essex WRG now have a web site: http://www.essex.wrg.org.uk Buckingham Canal Society's web site has moved: http://www.mkheritage.co.uk/bcs/ ..as has the Kennet & Avon Canal Trust's: http://www.katrust.org/ ...not to mention the Ribble Link Trust: http://www.ribble-link.co.uk/ Full directory next time: updates to the editor please.
Navvies Production
Navvies is published by Waterway Recovery Group Ltd, PO Box 114, Rickmansworth WD3 1ZY and is available to all interested in promoting the restoration Subscriptions / circulation and conservation of inland Sue Watts waterways by voluntary ef15 Eleanor Road fort in Great Britain. Articles Chorlton-cum-Hardy may be reproduced in allied Manchester M21 9FZ magazines provided that the Printing and assembly: source is acknowledged. John & Tess Hawkins WRG may not agree with 4 Links Way, Croxley Grn opinions expressed in this Rickmansworth, Herts magazine, but encourages WD3 3RQ 01923 448559 publication as a matter of inhawkins@jote.fsnet.co.uk terest. Editor : Martin Ludgate 35 Silvester Road East Dulwich London SE22 9PB 020-8693 3266
Noticeboard Parking space wanted... Do you have somewhere secure that we can keep one or more of our vans / trailers when not in use? If so, please contact us via IWA head office (see Diary pages).
ROCK DRILLS AVAILABLE IWA Ipswich Branch have available for loan a selection of rock drill bits from 3ft to 12ft in length that will drill a hole approximately 35mm diameter, suitable for ground-anchors. You will need a drilling machinie with a 7/8 inch hexagon drive socket. Contact Colin Turner on telephone 01473 730586 or e-mail colint@copdock.freeserve.co.uk
Lonely Hearts Wheelclamp seeks trailer for friendship. Maybe with a view to getting hitched later. Please write c/o WRG Logistics. Nothing printed may be construed as policy or an official announcement unless so stated - otherwise WRG and IWAaccept no liability for any matter in this magazine.
Directors :
John Baylis, Michael Beattie, Malcolm Bridge, Roger Burchett, Ray Carter, Spencer Collins, Christopher Davey, Š 2001 WRG ltd Helen Davey, ISSN 0953-6655 Roger Day, Richard Waterway Recovery Group Drake, Neil Edwards, Ltd is a subsidiary of the In- Adrian Fry, John land WaterwaysAssociation Hawkins, Jennifer Leigh, Judith Moore, (a registered charity). Michael Palmer, Registered office: Jonathan Smith. 3 Norfolk Court, Norfolk Rd. Rickmansworth WD3 1LT Secretary: tel : 01923 711114 Neil Edwards Registered in England no VAT reg. no : 285 1387 37 1599204
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Backfill You know you’ve been on too many Canal Camps recently when... (1) You call your home ‘The Accommodation’ (2) You refer to your car by the three letters in its registration number. (3) You refer to the place where you work as ‘site’, your boss as ‘The local organiser’ and your spouse as ‘The Camp Leader’. (4) At bedtime you find yourself instinctively rollingout a sleeping bag on the living room floor. (5) You put your earplugs in last thing at night to block out the snoring... and you live on your own! (6) You can’t decide what to cook for your dinner unless you’ve looked at a rota pinned up on the kitchen wall. (7) You invent bizarre nicknames for everyone else in your household.... and swap them for new nicknames every week... (8) It doesn’t feel right when you walk out of your front-door without a hard-hat on. (9) You have a list on the wall (or a file on your personal computer) of all of your friends, giving their food allergies, whether they are vegetarians and who to contact in an emergency. (10) You start cracking in-jokes with your fellow passengers while you’re travelling on the No 63 bus. (11) When your 17-year-old cousin departs after spending a few days staying with you, you apologise to him for having lost his Duke of Edinburgh’s Award booklet. (12) Every Saturday you feel an irresistible urge to count all your belongings and put them in a trailer. (13) When your in-laws turn up on your doorstep for an unexpected visit, you curse them for not sending their booking forms to 114 first. (14) You can’t organise a family outing without getting 9 different people to be involved in tedious and complicated vehicle movements to collect the same car.
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InDroitwich,no-onecanhearyouswear Now showing at a cinama near you: The sequel to the WRG Safety Video...
One of our trailersismissing A secret Canal Camp report is smuggled out of Droitwich on microfilm and hidden in a Burco....
Starring Lou Ustinov and Jen Nimmo photography by Alan Lines directed by Alfred Hitch-lock A Palmer Brothers production (Never mind the film, have you seen the trailer yet? No, neither have we...) ...also coming soon...
Marcus Jones's Diary featuring the hit song "It's raining, Jen" And finally... Remember those H&G Xmas Cards we mentioned last time with the nice watercolour of Over Basin? Well I'm afraid I made a mistake: I said the proceeds went to support the Hereford & Gloucester Canal restoration. However, closer inspection of the small print on the back of the Xmas cards reveals that the proceeds go to support "The restoration of the Herefordshire& Gloucestershire Canal Trust". Is this true? Are the H&GCT in that bad a state? Maybe they think that if we do a good enough job of restoring the Canal Trust, the restoration of the actual lengths of canal will naturally follow on afterwards. In other words, it's a case of "Look after the Pennies and the pounds will look after themselves". Sorry.