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Bridge No 32 Grand Union by Stephanie Mason & John Grieve
Disclaimer: The IWA may not agree with opinions expressed in this Newsletter but encourages publication as a matter of interest. Nothing printed herein may be construed as policy or official announcement unless stated otherwise. The IWA accepts no liability for any matter in the Newsletter The Inland Waterways Association is a non-profit distribution company limited by guarantee Registered in England no. 612245. Registered as a charity no. 212342 Registered Office: Island House, Moor House, Chesham HP5 1WA 1
Content From The Editor From The Chairman From The Regional Chairman Le Deuxieme Mer Voyage Essex Waterways Update Going to Market Harborough
Page 2 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 7 Page 11
Chelmer Cruises Volunteers Social Events A Sing Along Just For Fun Branch Committee
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From The Editor Happy New Year to one and all. I hope that you are all starting to enter the social dates on your calendars and into your dairies. We would still like to increase our contributors to this Newsletter. Please make time to look out your photos, articles and ideas and send them in for our next Newsletter. Last inputs for Spring Newsletter 21/03/2019. Tell us about your own waterway experiences, your holiday or send in ‘Readers Photos.’ For those on e-mail please send your input to chelmsford.news@waterways.org.uk Those without just give me a call to arrange for collection. 07837 576464.
From The Chairman During the lighter evenings I frequently go down to the Southend/Thorpe Bay sea front, armed with the binoculars that I keep permanently in the car. There I'll spend anything up to a couple of hours watching the shipping on its way up and down the Thames and Medway: RoRo ferries to and from Dartford, dredgers, car transporters heading for Sheerness, massive container vessels from far and wide, the occasional CMV cruise ship out of Tilbury, busy tugs and pilot vessels - the state of the tide seems to make little difference. At this time of year it's often dark too early or there's a heavy mist hanging over everything, so it's less easy to do this, but I took a couple of cruises in 'Waverley' in late summer and was able to get some marvellous closer views of some of these ships, not to mention the docks at Tilbury, the London Gateway and all points up to the Pool of London, where there was even an Argentine warship moored alongside 'Belfast'. If you have the chance to cruise the lower end of the Thames (preferably not in a narrow boat!) I recommend it as a way to see the opposite end of the waterways covered by IWA. The news has recently come out that the EU is proposing to ban the use of red diesel in leisure craft. If this comes about it will make a big difference to the cost of boating, together with the coming increase in licence fees. Hopefully, it's not too late to make your opinion known to your MP about having to use white diesel. Obviously, this will affect hire cruisers as well as privately-owned boats, so it won't just be owners who pay more. Finally, I wish you and yours a very healthy, happy and prosperous new year and look forward to seeing you at the Branch meetings. Molly Beard 2
From The Regional Chairman To start with, I would like to wish you and your family all the best for the New Year. I hope it will be a happy and prosperous one. In the dark days of winter, it is often difficult to remember how much we enjoy the cruising in the summer on the Inland Waterways, but spring is not far away and once again we will be able to get out on the water. As your Region Chairman I sit on Navigation Committee. Recently it has been involved in two issues that in many ways demonstrate IWA’s influence across the country. The first issue was a cry for help from members north of the border. The canals in Scotland, were, when CRT was formed, passed to Scottish Canals, which is funded by the Scottish Government. Working with Scottish based organisations we have used our experience of canals and provided useful knowledge and comparisons with other waterways to their campaigns to prevent the Forth and Clyde canal closing. The other issue is the new Bylaws for boating on the Middle Level. The Middle Level Commissioners have recently received new powers through an act of Parliament and we are working with them to create Bylaws to support the new Act. One common theme both at the World Canals Conference and the National AGM has been our restoration report “Waterways in Progress”. The report, highlights the benefits that partially completed restoration projects bring to local communities and economies. It includes a dozen case studies and we intend to add to these in the future. Keep an eye out for a public launch in the spring. Finally, can I remind you that IWA’s premier event TheCanalway Cavalcade, is held in London on the weekend of the 4th to 6th May 2019. I understand the branch intends to run a coach trip to the event so this will be a great opportunity to join us on the weekend. If you can’t make the branch trip why not just visit for a day? The nearest tube station is Paddington. It is a really great family day out. As always, we are looking for new volunteers to help us run Cavalcade. If you fancy dipping your toe into the water of volunteering, please contact the team via the on-line volunteer form which is on the IWA Cavalcade page of the IWA website, or email them at cavalcade.volunteer@waterways.org.uk Paul Strudwick London Region Chair Person Deputy National Chairman
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Le Deuxieme Mer Voyage Francais In early 2017, we had hired un bateau for a week on the River Meuse in north eastern France. There were four of us, David and Stella and their Labrador Lottie, Maggie and myself. This year, we decided to motor further south, to the Canal Lateral a la Loire, through Locaboat as before. We also chose September, hoping that things would be somewhat warmer than last year. Once again, we picked a Penichette, which is a rather French-looking craft – and not the notorious Chilean dictator, with the same dimensions (11.2m x 3.85m) and layout as last time.
Our base this time was a town called Briare, and we arrived there at 14.00 on the Monday, as arranged, after a long but straightforward drive via the Channel Tunnel and a night stop at Compagne. The name of our bateau was Gros Bouillon. Google translated this as Hard Boiled, but we always thought of it as Big Gravy. After loading her up with all our gear, and a very quick induction talk by a Locaboat garcon, we put to sea at 15.45, leaving our basin and turning sharp gauche. We had to negotiate two ecluses automatique and one manned one before we came to the canal main line. Here we could go north along the Canal de Briare, or south, along the Canal Lateral a la Loire. We chose the latter, mainly because it would involve crossing the formidable Pont Canal de Briar, which takes the canal right across the Loire. We therefore turned hard droite and started the long climb southwards. The aqueduct is 662m long, with 14 masonry piers and a steel trough 6.0m wide supported by a single steel beam. It was in part designed by Monsieur Eiffel, and it was completed in 1896, as part of a huge project to bring the whole canal up to Freycinet gauge. This gauge resulted from a law passed in 1879 during the tenure of Charles de Freycinet as Minister of Public Works of France. The law required lock chambers to be 39m x 5.2m, with a minimum water depth of 2.2m, thus allowing 300 to 350 tonne barges to pass through.
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Le Deuxieme Mer Voyage Francais (cont) I find it interesting to compare Briare with our Pontcysylite Aqueduct. Pontcysylite was completed in 1805; its section is of cast iron, with a width of 3.7m and a water depth of 1.6m. Briare was completed in 1896; its section is of steel, with a width of 6.0m and a water depth of 2.2m. The most striking difference when navigating across is that Briare has footpaths on both sides with handrails and lamp posts, but Pontcysylite has a towpath on one side only, and the cast iron trough on the other side only sticks up 150mm above water level. Sacre Bleu! D'accord! We headed rather gingerly across the pont and in the cross wind, buffeted the leaward side a couple of times. From this respect, the Pontcysylite, being narrower, is easier. We arrived at Chantillon at about 18.00 and had supper on board. On the Tuesday morning, it was cloudy again but still nicely warm. We raised steam and set off at 09.30, after shopping for food and (more) wine. We had a three hour delay in getting through the Maimbray ecluse, with queues of boats and the eclusiere’s one hour plus lunch break. This was the only real lock delay we experienced on our voyage, and as the eclusieres (and in some cases eclusieresses) are on duty from 09.00 to 19.00 each day at this time of year, we could not really begrudge them their lunch hour. I was surprised to see that the majority of locks on this canal are not automated, and each gate and paddle has to be wound up or down individually by the eclusiere. We moored at about 18.00 at St. Thibaut, in a short branch that originally led down to the Loire. We had a wonderful supper overlooking the river in a restaurant appropriately called “Au Bord de Loire”. Wednesday started rather cloudy, but it cleared up and was warm and sunny (29 C) in the afternoon. We set off at 08.45 and went through three locks without real delays, arriving at La ChapelleMontinard at about noon. I used the boat’s mooring pins for the first time, using a clever French mallet whose head didn’t keep coming loose like my boat’s mallet. Took a long walk into La Charite-sur-Loire to locate the vet for Lottie tomorrow, and shopping, although malheuresment, it was early closing and most magazines were ferme. I got soaked trying to disconnect the water tap after having filled our tank. Had a super supper on board. Then Quelle Horrore! Our corkscrew fell apart. Luckily, David’s trusty British Swiss Army knife saved the day. Thursday dawned sunny and warm (29C again in the afternoon). David and Stella set off with Lottie to Charite, for the appointment with the vet. Whilst they were gone, Maggie and I had un blockage probleme avec notre toilette. The boat has two marine toilets, which dump waste via a macerator straight into the canal. As this is a “watershed” type canal, with no overall flow, this doesn’t seem a terribly bonne idee. En tous cas, we had a blockage, and the fuse for the pump had tripped. Locaboat threaten to charge 100 euros for a callout to sort a problem of this nature, so yours truly had to set to baling and fishing out paper etc. before we had the loo working again. Mon dieu! Our next near disaster that day was just before the ecluse at Marseilles-Les-Aubigny. Mainly as a result of some “in house” confusion whether we were going to go through the lock or not, the boat got caught in the turbulence as the lock emptied and was spun round. The rudder touched the side of the lock cut and became jammed to one side. We could only proceed in circles (and look what happened to the Bismark). We bow hauled the boat into and through the lock and moored on a jetty just into the Port de Plaisance. We rang Locaboat about the problem, and to their credit, their ingenieur arrived about an hour later (we were some 60 miles south of their base at Briare), and reset the rudder within a few minutes. Merveilleux! That night, we had another wonderful supper on board, and prepared for the return part of the voyage starting dans le matin.
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Le Deuxieme Mer Voyage Francais (cont) Friday dawned rather overcast, and there was light rain around lunch time. We set off at 09.15 and passed through the first lock, with the steering behaving itself well. We arrived at Herry lock just in time for the lock keeper’s lunch break. We made good progress during the afternoon neanmoins, arriving at Menetreol-sous-Sancerre at 16.00. By then the rain had cleared, and we had some sunny spells. We had a superb evening meal nearby, at a restaurant called Le Floroine. Saturday was somewhat colder, with an autumnal feel and mist rising over the canal first thing. David, Stella and Lottie made the longish walk up to explore Sancerre, whilst I did the less strenuous 2.5km guided walk around Menetreol, which was stimulating. We finally put to sea at 11.45, still heading north. There was some light rain in the afternoon, but it had finished by the time we topped up our water tanks at Belleville-sur-Loire. We carried on to Beaulieu, arriving at 17.00 for supper on board. Sunday started overcast with a light drizzle. We left at about 10.00, heading north in windier conditions. We were passed by a coxless pair on this stretch, the only time we saw a rowing boat or even a canoe on the canal. We stopped at Chatellon again, this time to explore (on foot) part of the Embranchement de Chatillon. This was the original route of the canal, dropping down to the Loire. Until the section of canal from here to Briare was completed in 1896, vessels had to drop down to river level, navigate a short length of the rather treacherous Loire, and then climb up the other side via more locks. There were winches on the shore at each end to help vessels progress against and across the stream, together with submersible walls to channel the current for the same reason. The Loire is not a “boat-friendly” river, being a whole series of shallow streams between sandbanks in summer, and a raging torrent in winter. Prior to the canal age transport on the river tended to be in lightly built wooden vessels, with limited cargo carrying capacity, called Gabares. They had a simple square sail rather like a smaller version of a Humber Keel or Sloop. Most of these made a one-way voyage downstream to be broken up at their point of destination and sold for the timber. We reached the Locaboat base at Briare at 14.30, soon after which the heavens opened. We explored the town centre, and, after doing some of the loading onto the roof rack, we enjoyed a very good last supper at a restaurant in the high street. We were able to check out with Locaboat early on the Monday morning, leaving at about 08.30. It was a long and pleasant drive through France, except for the Paris Boulevard Peripherique, which was slow and very busy. We got back to our home in Essex by 18.00, but poor David, Stella and Lottie had another couple of hours before they got home in Hampshire. We all enjoyed the holiday very much, and were impressed by the efficient and friendly service provided by Locaboat. The effective parity between the Pound and the Euro made our internal accounting rather easier, but it made shopping and eating out seem more expensive than la derniere fois. Tony Weber
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Essex Waterways Update Replacing lock gates is still the main focus of our annual maintenance programme and the most demanding upon our finances, especially as we have recently been able to undertake lock gate replacement on at least two locks each year. This year we have been very fortunate in receiving help from Essex & Suffolk Water through the Hanningfield, Agreement whereby they provide assistance with repairs to certain structures at the lower end of the Chelmer & Blackwater Navigation. The 2018 year has seen the completion of their three year programme of work at the Heybridge Basin Sea Lock, where both sets of top and bottom timber gates have been replaced, as well as a complete new sliding caisson gate and control system. This autumn Essex & Suffolk Water provided funding under the Agreement for us to undertake replacement of both sets of gates at Beeleigh Lock as well as repairs to the cills. The lower gates here had become problematic during the summer, leaking so badly that they were difficult to operate. The leakage was also causing problems with maintaining adequate water levels above the lock to enable water extraction at Langford Treatment Works, especially important during the exceptionally dry summer.
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Essex Waterways Update (cont) The work was undertaken by our own team of lengthsmen during a three week closure. The gates were supplied by Hargreaves Lock Gates and our team assisted with their fitting as well as repairing the cills. Whilst on site the upper lock cut was dredged with the help of our volunteer, Nigel. At the beginning of the year we had also replaced both sets of gates at Springfield Basin. Next in our programme will be Rushes Lock, for which both sets of new gates have already been made. A lock ladder will also be installed here as it is the only lock where Essex Waterways have not undertaken refurbishment since taking responsibility for the Navigation in 2005.
Our other recent major project has been at Cressy Quay in Springfield Basin, Chelmsford. When redevelopment took place here we were only able to rebuild half of the length of the wharf wall due to lack of funds. Subsequently, through negotiation with Chelmsford City Council, further Section 106 monies have been made available through ongoing residential development around the Basin. This has enabled repair of the remainder of the wharf frontage. This work has been contracted to Crown Build. It has involved rebuilding 46 metres of wall and replacing over 50 metres of coping stones. Part of the wall here had been overlaid with a concrete slab which had to be carefully removed to reveal the original coping stones so that these could be salvaged. The condition of these was unknown and when they were exposed they were found to have previously had a top coating of tarmac which was to prove difficult to remove. The salvage rate was however good, meaning that our previous order for new coping stones would be adequate to complete the work.
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Essex Waterways Update (cont)
Previous work on the adjoining section of wall had seen the installation of a section of blue brick coping where coping stones were damaged or had been ‘borrowed’ to repair the walls opposite at Smiths Yard. The Council required these bricks to be replaced with stone copings as part of the funding package. We were able to source new coping stones from Dunaverig in Scotland, close to the quarry from which the original stones came. The work here will also involve completion of the quayside paving, installation of an additional electrical service pedestal and mooring bollards.
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Essex Waterways Update (cont)
There is still one section of original wharf wall at Springfield Basin that requires rebuilding. This adjoins ‘The Red Shed’ on the opposite bank where we will shortly be removing the trees that are growing from the wall. This will allow us to establish its condition as it is known that sections of wall collapsed in 1992 when dredging was taking place. We are also aware that some of the adjoining wharf wall had no proper foundations! Although there is currently no funding for repair of this wall, the quayside here will become an important future pedestrian link between Springfield Basin and Chelmer Waterside where Taylor Wimpey have recently commenced redevelopment of the former Wharf Road Council car park. Volunteers still play an important part in our work in both helping our lengthsmen and maintaining our mooring sites such as at Paper Mill, where Rob and Geoff are in attendance two days a week, looking after the area. At Heybridge Basin further work has been undertaken on repairing the Volunteer Workshop.
The year has seen additional staff join Essex Waterways, with Sarah Philips based at Paper Mill Lock as our Administration Assistant and Sam Colley recently starting as an Assistant Lengthsman. We will be sad to see Christine Walsh our Moorings Administrator at Chesham leaving at Christmas to take retirement after thirteen years with EWL. We wish her all the best for the future. We will also shortly be losing Dave Smart our Navigation Manager, who is making a career move back to the Essex Wildlife Trust. In his time with EWL Dave has made a great impact upon our operation as well as many friends. He will be greatly missed but we look forward to working with him in his new role and continuing the partnerships that he has forged between EWL and EWT. Sioux Crozier has also left from her caretaker role at Sandford Lock and will be repaired by Tony Fallon
Roy Chandler
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Going to Market Harborough
On a hot, sunny day we left Crick on the early May Bank Holiday weekend, heading towards Foxton. We saw Canada Geese with young, lots of birds in the hedgerows - singing, passing trees and bushes which were now green and full of white, pink and red blossom, there were some yellow fields smelling of honey (rapeseed), and other fields containing sheep with lambs, and cowslips along the towpath edges. Above flying in the thermals were three buzzards and nearby were several Gliders above, presumably from a local WWII Aerodrome. Fluttering along the hedgerows we saw so many white butterflies, some with orange tipped wings, also dandelions and pink campion in profusion alongside. Entering Husbands Bosworth Tunnel was a bit of a cold shock after the lovely hot day, exiting the tunnel we saw cows and calves in the fields, and bluebells in among the trees.
After a lovely day cruising and appreciating our wonderful countryside we moored above Foxton Locks, near the Turnover Bridge (also known as a Changeline or snake bridge) and alongside the statue of a working horse and boat crew.
The following morning we were woken by the noisy chatter from a nearby Rookery. So being up and ready early we headed for Foxton Locks. These are 2 sets of 5 staircases, managed with the help of volunteers. After 50 minutes we were out of the bottom lock and lucky enough to see a fisherman who had just caught a good sized Zander. Taking a right turn onto the Market Harborough Arm we passed through a swing bridge which was open, however the next one we came to needed a CRT key for its manual operation. It is a very pretty and rural route where we saw forget-menots, white and bluebells, narcisi, primrose, lilac, cherry blossom, magnolias, ducks with ducklings, and with birdsong all day.
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Going to Market Harborough (cont) Reaching Market Harborough basin we turned and moored in the shade. There are water points all the way along the visitor moorings, which is handy. We walked into town and, apart from plenty of shops, we appreciated the amazing architecture and the stunning flower displays around the town. Back at the basin we wandered around to see the 'Frank the Plank Sundial', watched some roach swimming in the sunny parts of the basin and chatted to several of the day boat occupants moored in the basin, who were having a grand day out.
On our return journey we had to wait below Foxton Locks for a slot to go up, giving me plenty of time to peruse the canal shop for provisions and gifts they had a good selection they had - I did well. There were masses of gongoozlers, and once we were heading up the locks; they helped John with the locks, the usual volunteers were also present. At the top we filled up with water while enjoying ice creams. We then moored beyond bridge 60 in a shady spot, and went for a wander along the Foxton Trail paths, around the site of the Inclined Plane Boat Lift, watched some Morris Dancers near the Foxton Inn, before walking up to the Museum which was about to close, so we just had a quick look in the gift shop. On the route returning to Crick we saw a kingfisher and water voles, which are so cute, and it is lovely to see the wild life. It had been a lovely long weekend with much better weather than our previous trip at Easter, and we came home feeling rested. Stephanie Mason & John Grieve
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Chelmer Cruises - Volunteers Chelmer Cruises, Essex Waterways’ trip boat operation will be running canal trips from both Paper Mill Lock and Heybridge Basin in 2019 with VICTORIA and ALBERT. The recently purchased trip boat ALBERT is a 45 ft narrow boat incorporating a wheelchair lift and capable of carrying 12 passengers. Volunteers are sought to assist with both skipper and crew roles during the summer season. If you are interested in helping with these roles, please contact Sarah Philips 01245 226245 Sarah.Philips@waterways.org.uk
Roy Chandler
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Social Events 2019 Preparing the social programme, sometimes a year ahead, can be a challenge. We need to find topics that are varied but also interest our members. This year we have been very fortunate with our speakers so far. In September - Tim Wander came to speak to us about - The Last Hours of the RMS Titanic’. This was an excellent talk with some very interesting slides and covered lots of information about Guglielmo Marconi and the birth of radio as well as the last hours of the RMS Titanic. Tim’s talk also covered the myths and urban legends that now surround the iconic name Titanic and revealed some of the unknown stories behind the disaster. It was a fascinating story. In October Mervyn Linford came to talk about The Long Pond to Paper Mill – Chelmer Moods, Blackwater Memories. Mervyn is an author, poet and small press publisher (Littoral Press). Mervyn is a wonderful story teller and recited many of his excellent poems. Mervyn sold many of his books during the evening and has kindly allowed us to produce one of his poems in this newsletter. Chelmer Navigation Amble along the Chelmer’s pathsThe old ways, haunted by harness And the toll of hooves. Stroll where the barges Used to brush the banks – Where the brambles Tumble to the water’s edge. Wade through the mallow In its swathes of mauve, To where the long grown grass Sprawls over iron Onto crumbled brick; And the air, pervasive With the weight of years, Carries its cargo Through the lock’s slow timbre. Poem kindly reproduced with the permission of the author Mervyn Linford from his book Reflections of the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation. Littoral Press
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Social Events 2019 (cont) In November Malcolm Case came to talk to us about ‘The History of Navigation at Sea’. We became aware at an early stage of just how much Navigational aids have changed over the years for sailors. The modern day technology used by Naval and Merchant ships and leisure boats has moved a long way from the original use of the stars as the only directional aid available. Malcolm, a retired Master Mariner, was in charge of very large Oil Tankers during his working career and is now an inspector. Malcolm demonstrated the importance of sailors being able to use manual navigational aids as well as the equipment available on the Modern Bridge. Malcolm brought along lots of charts and equipment which members enjoyed looking at in the refreshment break. Malcolm very kindly declined a fee and asked that his expenses be sent to Children in Need. In December we had an excellent evening. The annual Christmas Social evening was very well attended and included a lovely buffet prepared by the attendees. Special thanks to Stephanie Mason our Refreshment committee member who made a lovely Christmas cake. We were entertained by Ian and Tony, ‘The Waterboys’, who played us a great mix of Folk songs, Christmas songs and some well-known 60s and 70s material. Ian waived a fee and has asked for a donation to the British Heart Foundation. We also had a fun quiz with a Christmas music round and this was won by the ‘National Elf’ team. Thank you to everyone who came and made the evening special. The programme for the rest of this year; Thursday January 10th 2019 Dr Colm Lanigan – The work of Mercy Ships The world’s largest charity hospital ship, the Africa Mercy and the dedicated volunteers who provide free medical treatments in countries that lack healthcare services. Dr Lanigan is a semi-retired consultant anaesthetist who has been working abroad with Mercy Ships to “help bring hope and healing” to some of the world’s poorest who need access to safe, affordable surgery.
Thursday February 14th 2019 John Pomfret – The story of Braunston, canal age transport hub John will talk about the history of canals in and around Braunston, Northamptonshire. The history of the canal age, the railway age and the motorway age. The talk describes the effects on Braunston of the arrival of the Oxford Canal and the later Grand Junction Canal and the many subsequent changes arising from the rise and fall of freight traffic and the development of leisure use. Although the talk concentrates on Braunston, it includes many references to the wider history of the narrow canal system of the south Midlands.
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Social Events 2019 (cont) Thursday March 14th 2019 Branch AGM followed by Martin Wade – The work of The Mersea Lifeboats Martin is the Lifeboat Operations Manager at West Mersea The RNLI is the charity that saves lives at sea. They provide, on call, a 24-hour lifeboat search and rescue service around the UK and Ireland, and a seasonal lifeguard service. With lifeboats, lifeguards, safety advice and flood rescue, they are committed to saving lives. Mersea is one of the first inshore lifeboat stations and has been in operation since 1963. Its inshore lifeboat, Just George, is a B class Atlantic 85, which arrived on station in 2014.
Thursday April 11th 2019 Athina Beckett - The Buckingham Canal Society The Society is currently restoring the canal towards a navigable state and to provide wildlife habitats, cycle ways and routes for walkers along the restored towpath. The restored canal will re-establish a lost link in the national waterways network, and the project will be part of the green infrastructure of the region, creating connections between existing wildlife habitats and creating aquatic and wetland habitats for endangered species. Additionally, it will offer a potentially valuable tool for use alongside other flood management initiatives.
Thursday May 9th 2019 Talk and Speaker to be advised
All meetings will be held at The Galleywood Heritage Centre, The Common, Galleywood, Chelmsford, Essex, CM2 8TR. Time: 7.45pm for 8pm. Â
We welcome all members and non-members to the monthly socials, and appreciate a small donation on the door. We also offer tea, coffee, or squash along with homemade cake.
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Social Events 2019 (cont) Other Social Events We were hoping to visit JS Wright & Son (makers of Cricket Bats from Willow grown on the C &BN) at Gt Leighs but unfortunately due to the very stringent Health and Safety regulations they now have to adhere to they have ceased all tours of their Yard. One of the problems of opening out of working hours is the safety precautions they have to undertake, added to which unless the Yard is working it is not particularly interesting. The Directors have said how sorry they are about this as they have had a long association with the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation going back fifty-eight years.
Sunday 5th May 2019- IWA Canalway Cavalcade Little Venice We are hoping to arrange a coach to the Cavalcade. The plan would be to pick up at Witham, Chelmsford and Brentwood and arrive about lunchtime. The afternoon would be spent at the festival and we would leave after the illuminated boat procession in the evening. There would be time for an evening meal in the area. Plans are provisional at this time. Coach sizes are for 22 or 49 and costs will depend on numbers wishing to go. Please register your interest with our social secretary Rebecca Loader. rebecca.loader@waterways.org.uk
Visit to Boat builder / repairer We are hoping to make a visit to the workshop of Katie Cole in Southminster who repairs mainly fiberglass boats but sometimes wooden ones as well. This would be followed by lunch at possibly the Royal Corinthians Yacht club or another Burnham Restaurant. The visit is subject to Health and Safety approval / risk assessment / appropriate insurance cover from Head Office. More information to follow. Rebecca Loader Chelmsford Branch Social Secretary
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A Sing Along Several years ago I ran a course at Denman College (the college of the WI.) on canals called "Life in the slow, slow lane". There is always a student concert at the end of a week's course and my colleague, Jackie Marshall, and I wrote a few verses for our class to sing to the tune of The Eton Boating Song. I came across a copy of these words whilst sorting some boating things and thought it would make an item for the magazine along with a short explanation. The Class called themselves 'The Reed Warblers' for the benefit of the concert. Jolly fine boating weather, let's have a cup of tea, Who'll fetch the water, will it be you or me? Chorus:- And it's wind up the paddle, and don't cause the boat to rock. Pick up your windlass and hurry fill the lock. Jolly fine boating weather! That's what we'd like to think Who's turn to wash up? Let me get at the sink. Chorus. Wild life is all around us as we go chugging along , Willows and daisies and moorhens, hedgerows alive with song. Chorus. Three cheers for the old Grand Union, three cheers for the Oxford too. If you go in the right direction you can sail through the London Zoo. Chorus. Mind how you step on the counter, don't fall in the cut, Put out the fender, make sure the hatch is shut. Chorus. Oh for a life on the water, oh for a life afloat! No stress, no rush, no pressure, all you need is........a BOAT! Chorus. Marion Panzetta
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Just For Fun SUDOKU Fill in the grid so that each row, column and 3 x 3 block contains the numbers one to nine (1 - 9) 6
9
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2 1
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Branch Committee If you have any topics or subject that you wish to bring to the committees attention please use the contact details below Molly Beard:
Chairman
molly.beard@waterways.org.uk
John Gale:
Vice Chairman & Treasurer.
24 Longleaf Drive, Braintree CM7 1XS
Paul Strudwick:
London Region Chairman.
paul.strudwick@team.waterways.org.uk
Chris Chandler:
Secretary.
chris.chandler@waterways.org.uk
Roy Chandler:
Planning and Conservation.
roy.chandler@waterways.org.uk
John Carlaw:
Newsletter and Membership.
chelmsford.news@waterways.org.uk john.carlaw@waterways.org.uk
Dennis Padfield:
Publicity.
dennis.padfield@waterways.org.uk
Stephanie Mason: Refreshments.
None
Kirsten Smith:
Youth.
None
Rebecca Loader
Social Secretary
rebecca.loader@waterways.org.uk
Adam Wyllie:
Branch Web Editor.
Adam.wyllie@waterways.org.uk
IWA Chelmsford Web Address
http://www.waterways.org.uk/chelmsford
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Step on board
VICTORIA and enjoy a cruise along the glorious Chelmer & Blackwater Navigation through tranquil Essex countryside from Paper Mill Lock VICTORIA is perfect for weddings, parties and group outings and can accommodate up to 43 guests and includes a qualified skipper and crew. The vessel is wheelchair and pushchair-friendly, and we can provide food and drinks on-board. A licensed bar is available.
To find out more call Sarah Philips 01245 226245 or email victoria@waterways.org.uk
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