Ouse News - Spring 2014

The Inland Waterways Association

Ouse News - Spring 2014 The Great Ouse Branch Newsletter covering the Great Ouse and tributaries

Contents: Branch Committee

p3

Chairman’s Corner

p4

River News

p6

Chelmer & Blackwater p11

‘Spotted in Westview Marina’ Photo: Fred Ray

Campaigning for the conservation, use, maintenance, restoration and development of the Inland Waterways.

St Neots Lock

p14

‘Diamond 44’

p16

Branch News

p18

Denver Sluice

p20

Cam News

p22

Welches Dam

p23

AGM Appendices

p25

The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the Inland Waterways Association or of the Great Ouse Branch. They are, however, published as being of interest to our members and readers.

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Branch Committee Chairman: Keith Alderton Holly Cottage, 57 Globe Street Methwold Thetford, IP26 4PQ Tel 01366 727236 e-mail:keithalderton@sky.com Secretary: John Hodgson 9 Beaufort Way, Brickhill Bedford, MK41 7XQ Tel 01234 344884 e-mail: jhodgson@rivouse.fsnet.co.uk Treasurer: Enid Hodgson 9 Beaufort Way, Brickhill Bedford, MK41 7XQ Tel 01234 344884 e-mail: jhodgson@rivouse.fsnet.co.uk Ouse News Editor: Carole Alderton Holly Cottage, 57 Globe Street Methwold Thetford, IP26 4PQ Tel 01366 727236 e-mail: carolealderton@sky.com Sales Officer: David Anderson 21 Cambridge Street St Neots PE19 1JL Tel 01480 477227 e-mail:david.anderson@uwclub.net

Membership Officer: Peter Webb 35 Norfolk Road Ely, CB6 3EJ Tel 01353 658581 e-mail: peter.c.webb@tesco.net Member: Stephen Foote 14 High Street, Chrishall Royston, SG8 8RP Tel 01763 838936 e-mail: g4foh@tambourine.org.uk Member: Derek Bradley 24 Witchford Road Ely, CB6 3DP Tel 01353 661601 e-mail: bradleyd@waitrose.com

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Chairman’s Corner Having greatly enjoyed the 2013 National Waterways Festival at Cassiobury Park, I was saddened to hear that due to the £40K loss incurred there will be no more ‘nationals’ for the foreseeable future. However, the good news is that the river festival at Stratford upon Avon will go ahead with a strong IWA presence rather than as a joint enterprise. Having already made our plans, we along with several other branch members, are still intending to attend as it provides a good excuse to visit the waterways in that area.

Our longest serving member, Ian Wright, has reluctantly decided not to renew his membership after supporting the IWA for 66 years. Ian, who joined in 1947, was one of the stalwarts who supported Robert Aickman in the legendary early campaigns, including the battle to save the Brecon & Abergavenny Canal. The fact that we are now able to cruise a largely restored national canal network is largely due to the persistence and hard work of such people. We are greatly in his debt and thank him for his many years of loyal support.

If, like me, you have wondered why certain boats seem to have a charmed life and have been able to flout the much vaunted 48-hour mooring policy along Ely riverside, we now know the answer. The Secretary of State has yet to approve the new byelaw and East Cambridgeshire District Council is, therefore, unable to enforce the rules along the newly acquired sections.

It is not known when approval will be given – but let us hope it will be before the cruising season gets underway! ECDC have pointed out that they will not be able to enforce the regulations when boats are breasted up as, due to health & safety concerns, officers are not allowed to cross the nearside boat to post a notice on the outer one. It would seem that daft ‘elf & safety’ jobsworths are still alive and kicking!

The prospect of increased navigation licence fees has raised its head once again as the Environment Agency considers the budget for the next few years.

Ouse News Page 5 This follows a three year period when licence fees have been raised each year by 2% above CPI, bringing the total increase since 1998 to 127% (compared with a CPI increase of 43%). This is not good news for boaters struggling on a fixed or depleted income! There is still no news regarding possible revision of the interchange agreement between the EA and Cam Conservators for navigating the River Cam. You will note that, following justifiable criticism at last year’s AGM, we have reverted to the former practice of circulating both hard and electronic copies of the relevant documents prior to the meeting. Hopefully this will enable everybody to have ample opportunity to study the information provided in advance, so that we can complete the necessary business in the usual snappy manner and leave as much time as possible to hear the annual presentation from the Environment Agency.

By the time you read this issue, the worst of the winter flooding will hopefully be behind us and we will all be thinking about preparing for the boating season once again. We can only hope for another long, hot summer.

IWA Eastern Region I am pleased to note that Great Ouse Branch member Richard CollettFenson has been duly appointed to the position of Eastern Region Chairman. We have been without a Regional Chairman for some time and I would like to thank Richard for volunteering to take up the role and look forward to working with him over the coming months. It should also be noted that the position of Regional Secretary is still vacant, although we understand that there is a volunteer willing to take up the position in March.

Please be aware that the Annual General Meeting for the Eastern Region, which branch members are invited to attend, will be held on Tuesday, 18th March. All members are eligible to stand for election to the regional committee. Anybody wishing to do so should complete the consent form attached to the Agenda prior to the meeting. Details of both the regional and branch AGMs are outlined in the separate newsletter supplement.

Keith Alderton

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R iver N ews from the E nvironment A gency The Environment Agency carried out a major dredging scheme throughout the summer on the River Great Ouse just upstream of Hermitage lock and on the Hundred Foot River. This work was predominately for flood risk management purposes, but also provided good benefits for navigation and water resources. We would like to say a big thank you to our boating customers who were extremely cooperative when the works were being done and took notice of our river signage showing the safe way to navigate past the work.

Earith dredging

Major improvements to Godmanchester lock visitor mooring Major improvements have been carried out next to Godmanchester lock to repair the visitor mooring that was closed to boaters a couple of years ago. The old brick mooring has been replaced with a new steel sheet piling structure, concrete pathways and a non-slip GRP floor/edging. The design, based on Before our standard landing stage used at other sites, such as St Ives lock, has been specially adapted to suit the site. This includes a curved design to help maintain a good depth of water in front of it. We are looking forward to seeing boaters use this mooring once again for overnight stays in Godmanchester.

After

Ouse News Page 7 Desilting work at lock sites Towards the end of the summer we were able to get heavy machinery into Castle Mills and Godmanchester to carry out desilting and remove hundreds of tonnes of silt from the approaches to the locks. We have also been very active throughout the summer maintaining marker buoys at Castle Mills and Hemingford locks informing boaters of shallow areas near the downstream landing stages.

At the time of going to print we are organising similar machinery to be brought to the river at Hemingford lock in March/April 2014 after the winter flows.

Excavators clearing the entrance to Castle Mills Lock

Traditional English Pub Sunday Roasts, Homecooked Food, Real Ales, Quiz Night Tuesday, Large Beer Garden with Play Area, Pool Table

Axe & Compass High Street, Hemingford Abbots, Huntingdon, PE28 9AH 01480 463605 Facebook: The Axe & Compass, Hemingford Abbots Twitter: @axeandcompass Only a short walk from the moorings at Hemingford Grey or Houghton

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Working closely with the emergency services Throughout the year our Waterways River Inspectors work very closely with the Police and Rescue Services to help tackle crime or provide rescue service assistance along our rivers. Matt Yallop, Andy Hubble (Waterways River Inspectors) and PCSO officers in the St Neots area recently carried out ‘joint’ river patrols on our boat “Ouseabout”.

We also look for opportunities to promote Boatwatch and other local initiatives to help make our rivers a safe place to enjoy.

Enforcement activity still a priority for our Waterways Staff Our Waterways River Inspectors and lock keepers have been very busy through the year checking boat registration and byelaw compliance on the River Great Ouse and its tributaries. The compliance rate for boat registration remains very high (97%) across the Anglian Region. Unfortunately, we have still needed to issue approximately 350 offence tickets for non-compliance such as boats not being registered, failing to display a current registration disc or not displaying a boat registration number. Many of these tickets will lead to court case prosecutions or warning letters being issued to offenders.

Please make sure you always display your current registration disc in a location that is visible for Waterways officers and lock keepers to inspect.

Please keep up to date with any work being carried out on the River Great Ouse by visiting the Environment Agency’s website at www.environmentagency.gov.uk . Alternatively you could telephone our lock keepers at Hermitage on 01487 841548 for further information or follow us on twitter @PaulSeparovicEA .

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Make sure you know when Strong Stream Advice is issued We would like to remind our customers of the risks of navigating on the River Great Ouse when flows and water levels are above normal, following periods of heavy rainfall. At certain flows we ‘reverse’ the locks with guillotine gates: an operation that pins back the pointing doors and sets the lock ready for discharge, if required. This effectively turns the guillotine gate into an additional sluice, which for safety reasons closes the affected locks to navigation. The lock is isolated and padlocked to stop any unauthorised use when it is ‘reversed’.

Red warning signs are displayed at our guillotine gate sites and we also switch on a LED red light, warning any upstream river traffic that the lock is either set ready for discharge or is actually being used for discharge. Strong Stream flags are also displayed at various locations along the river.

When we ‘reverse’ the locks we issue our Strong Stream Advice message informing river users that locks are ‘reversed’, flows and river levels are above normal and we strongly advise against attempting to navigate.

Green Strong Stream Advice flag informing boaters Strong Stream Advice is cancelled

We will call your landline/mobile phone (or both) free of charge informing you via an automated messaging system when Strong Stream Advice has been issued or cancelled. Text and email facilities are now also available.

We strongly recommend all river users to sign up and receive this free service for the rivers Great Ouse, Nene and Ancholme (or all three).

If you would like to receive our Strong Stream Advice message please call 01522 785943 or visit our website for further details.

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Ouse News Page 11 The Chelmer & Blackwater Navigation In October, members were treated to a first class talk on the Chelmer & Blackwater Navigation by Roy Chandler, Director and Chairman of Essex Waterways Ltd. The presentation covered the recent history of the navigation which has involved the IWA Chelmsford Branch and the first seven years of its operation by Essex Waterways Ltd. It is many years since we moored our 22ft. Dawncraft Goosey Gander on the canal and things have now certainly changed for the better. In those days, some thirty years ago, the navigation was ruled with a rod of iron by an ex-military gentleman whose sole objective in life seemed to be to prevent pleasure boats using the canal. I well remember the battles that the Chelmsford Branch had with this obnoxious man in the early days. However, all’s well that ends well!

Below is an account of Roy’s talk: Keith Alderton The Chelmer & Blackwater Navigation is a 14 mile river navigation running from Heybridge Basin to the city of Chelmsford in Essex. It opened in 1797 following authorisation by an Act of Parliament in 1793. It is a conservation area throughout and its 13 locks and original bridges are listed structures. There is a public tow path for its length. It has remained in the ownership of the original company since its opening and operated purely for commercial traffic until 1972.

In the 1950s Chelmsford Branch arranged a trip for IWA members in an adapted lighter. In the 1970s they arranged a series of boat rallies and campaigned for it to be opened for recreational use.

Although this happened, Springfield Lock and Springfield Basin in Chelmsford remained derelict; so in 1985 the Branch published a report entitled Springfield Basin and Beyond which was well received. It promoted the restoration of Springfield Basin and the construction of a new navigable cut to connect the Navigation to the rivers in Chelmsford.

Ouse News Page 12 As nothing had happened by 1992 the Branch decided that they would have to be more active. They arranged a series of partnerships with the Navigation Company, local authorities, National Rivers Authority and land owners to undertake the restoration of Springfield Basin and Lock.

Roy explained the project, with some detailed illustrations of the work undertaken with the Branch rebuilding the lock and restoring the feeder channel and then the grand re-opening in 1993. The restoration was the catalyst for a series of waterside redevelopments encouraged by Planning Briefs from the Local Authority. The development included shops, restaurant, apartments and a new mooring basin. Development continues today.

The Branch continued its partnerships until 2003, seeking funding and organising repairs to locks and weirs on the Navigation.

However, in 2003 the original Navigation Company went into Administration and most of the useful assets including tea rooms, pub, trip-boats and lock houses were sold to pay debts. During this period all the authorities were approached by the Branch, including the Environment Agency and British Waterways, but none were willing to take on the waterway.

As the IWA has been campaigning since 1946 to reopen canals, the Branch appealed to its Trustees not to let a working waterway close. Support was forthcoming and Essex Waterways Ltd was formed as a volunteer lead company wholly owned by the IWA and, in November 2005, it took responsibility for maintaining and operating The Chelmer & Blackwater Navigation. It is a not-for-profit company with all monies being spent on maintaining and improving the waterway.

Essex Waterways has now been successfully operating for seven years and Roy illustrated and explained some of the many repairs and improvements made during this time, both large and small.

Ouse News Page 13 These included four major lock repairs in the first four years, installation of services to mooring sites, expansion of moorings at Sandford Lock, bridge rebuilding, bank and wharf piling and an ambitious project to replace a timber chunker (culvert) beneath the Navigation at Heybridge. This project alone cost ÂŁ750,000. Much work is carried out by both regular and visiting volunteers including regular Waterway Recovery Group Canal Camps. Whilst grants were available initially, Essex Waterways now relies upon income from its moorings, visiting boats and growing willows for cricket bats.

The Chelmer & Blackwater Navigation is in good hands and has a secure future, although the proposed new navigable cut in Chelmsford still remains as a hope for the future.

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S t N eots L ock St Neots Lock has been the subject of much controversy amongst Great Ouse boaters, for one reason or another, over many years.

The lock has had nearly two million pounds spent on it in the last ten years, lengthening it to increase capacity and, more recently, to replace the guillotine gate. None of these works has ever gone to plan – always resulting in increased temporary navigation delays and massive over-budget expense.

However, love it or hate it, I think most boaters agree that it is better than it used to be – except for the awful bridge over Mill Lane. It is such a shame that this couldn’t be improved when demolition of the mill and residential development on the island made work on the lock possible.

Local people are often inconvenienced by flooding of Mill Lane and the road is often closed for several days when the river rises. Diversions can add considerably to journey times for local drivers.

Ouse News Page 15 Neither Cambridgeshire County Council, responsible for the road and bridge, nor the Environment Agency, responsible for the sluices and the navigation has expressed any real interest in solving the problems for boaters or drivers. Usual reason, of course - no money - although there have been missed opportunities in the past.

Now, an interesting new idea is being proposed by a local residents’ group – MilHEFAs. They are looking for support to promote a scheme to build a raised causeway over the sluices to keep the road open in times of flood.

The scheme would also include a hydro-electric generating plant which, over time, could defray some of the capital costs. It’s all in the very early exploratory stages at the moment.

The MilHEFAs website, where they are asking for views and support (and potential investors) is well worth a look – www.milhefas.org.uk. It surely has to be a good thing when local people look to find innovative ways to solve local problems where the authorities have failed to come up with a solution. That’s just the sort of thing that instigated many improvements to the navigation over the years. The authorities don’t always get it right, as we know!

But, purely from a boater’s point of view, it would seem to me rather a pity if the whole of the problem at this site was not addressed and the awful bridge improved both for navigation and road safety at the same time.

David Mercer

IWA Peterborough Branch Peterborough Branch has invited members of the Great Ouse Branch to attend its Annual General Meeting. This will be held on Wednesday, 19th March at the Peterborough & District Indoor Bowls Club, Burton St, Peterborough, PE1 5HA. The meeting will start at 7.30 pm and should finish by 7.45 pm. Irven Forbes from the Environment Agency will be attending.

So, if you can’t attend our AGM on Thursday, 27th March, perhaps you could catch up with developments on the river at the Peterborough meeting.

John Hodgson

Ouse News Page 16 ‘Diamond 44’ On the west bank of the Great Ouse between Ely and Littleport, almost opposite the entrance to the River Lark, there is an Environment Agency 48 hour mooring called “Diamond 44”. This unusually named mooring was constructed after a community group staged an event in 2004 to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the boat race being held on the river in 1944.

There were four unofficial boat races held away from London during the Second World War. As none of those competing were awarded blues, these races are not included in the official list: 1940, 1945 – At Henley-on-Thames 1943 – Sandford-on-Thames And in 1944 – River Great Ouse, Ely, Littleport to Queen Adelaide 2014 will be the 70th anniversary of this event; but 10 years ago THOUSANDS of people braved the bitter cold and flurries of snow on the day of the re-contest to watch Cambridge gain their revenge for defeat in the Great Ouse Boat Race of sixty years previous.

The day’s events began early in the morning when the then Dean of Ely, the Very Rev Dr Michael Chandler, laid a wreath on the grave of his predecessor, Charles Merivale, one of the founders of the Boat Race in 1829.

He then led a service in Ely Cathedral that was addressed by the Bishop.

During the service, commemorative medallions were presented to six veterans of the original race - Martin Whitworth, Donald Ramsay, Ian Phillipps and David Paul from Cambridge with Dr Michael Brooks and Richard Turner-Warwick from Oxford.

Ouse News Page 17 The action then moved outside as groups of re-enactors gave the city a 1940s flavour and the veterans unveiled a plaque on The Old Boathouse Restaurant, where they had started their epic encounter when it was Appleyard’s Boathouse.

They then sailed to the Queen Adelaide course on board the Riverboat Georgina, arriving just in time to see a Spitfire make three dramatic passes over the crowds gathering for the big event.

More than 5,000 people lined the banks - as they had in 1944 - by the time the present Oxford and Cambridge veteran crews set off along the mileand-a-half course from the River Lark to Queen Adelaide bridge.

With Olympic gold medallist Tim Foster umpiring from the historic steam launch Consuta, the Cambridge crew took an early lead and pulled ahead throughout the race, passing the finishing line four-and-a-half lengths ahead.

The day finished with a post-race dinner at The King’s School.

Meanwhile, at the Maltings, Ely’s Mayor entertained a group of fellow civic leaders and revellers enjoying a 1940s-style dance with the Umbrella Big Band.

Apart from the mooring there are other reminders on the East bank. A Portland stone marker is placed at the finish line and another three markers at half-mile intervals before the river junction. This stretch of river still is used for training by the Cambridge crew from their Ely boathouse.

Our thanks go to Terry and Jack for the use of facts from their leaflet ‘River Heritage Walks’ and the website: http://www.digian.com/diamond44/website/index.cfm Peter & Jean Webb

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Branch News Winter Meetings

are at 8 pm on Thursday evenings at the Cole’s Road Community Centre, Milton (North Cambridge) CB24 6BL.

Members & Visitors welcome.

F RIDAY 21 ST F EBRUARY 2014

Branch Dinner at the Pike & Eel Hotel, near St. Ives.

Cancelled due to lack of support

T HURSDAY 27 TH F EBRUARY

2014

Our February meeting will be a ‘fish & chip supper’ together with a waterways themed quiz.

T HURSDAY 27 TH M ARCH

2014

Our March meeting will be our AGM and update from the river managers of the Environment Agency.

S ATURDAY 5 TH A PRIL 2014 Visit to Welches Dam plus pub lunch. Meet at Horseway Lock at 11.00 am.

See further details on page 23

S ATURDAY 3 RD M AY

2014

Gathering of boats at Reach, followed by an evening meal at the Dykes End. (Book your place with Stephen Foote).

S UNDAY 4 TH M AY

2014

Barbecue & quiz if sufficient support.

M ONDAY 5 TH M AY

2014

IWA stand at Reach Fair.

We welcome the following new members to the branch.

We hope you will introduce yourselves to us when coming to an event or meeting: Felicity & Philip Turner, Milton, Cambs.

John Peal, Yelling, Cambs.

Jeff Crow & family, St Ives, Cambs.

David Birchall, Saffron Walden, Essex.

Simon Chandler, Newport, Essex.

Members who have moved to the branch: Ellen Dexter, Christchurch, Dorset.

Mrs M Charter & Family Bury St Edmunds.

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(Authorised to examine all private boats and in addition, residential boats provided they are fitted with a gas bubble tester) Additional contact no: Ely Boat Chandlers - 01353 663095

Why not come along to our next meeting on Thursday 27th February2014. We shall be having a ‘waterways themed’ quiz and a fish & chip supper.

A14 West A10 to Ely A10 to Cambridge

Tesco To Milton

A14 East Tennis Courts Entrance Community Centre

Details of more meetings are on Page 18 and the map above should help you to find the exact location in Milton! (If you have a problem finding us please phone Stephen Foote on 07774 613557)

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H eavy R ainfall in East A nglia Report on conditions from Denver Complex In this part of the country, flows have been below normal for the time of year.

The ground has only just become saturated; so, depending on rainfall, it might get a bit more interesting down here.

There has been a huge amount of water coming down the Bedford part of the Ouse and this has tide-locked discharge out of Denver Sluice since Christmas. Part of Denver Sluice did sustain some damage on the tidal surge on the 5th December. This has meant that two sets of the Vee doors have been stop logged off.

Dan Pollard

Vacancies The IWA Great Ouse Committee has a vacancy for a Social Secretary, which involves arranging our four branch meetings. We also hold committee meetings approximately every six weeks.

Please contact: Keith Alderton (Chairman) on 01366 727236

GOBA has vacancies for committee members. Meetings are held on the third Thursday of every month, with a few hours work between meetings.

Please contact: Ian Cox (Chairman) at ian.cox@goba.org.uk.

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Waterways Wonders Our November meeting comprised an illustrated talk by Richard Thomas on Waterways Wonders. Richard is well known to us and has presented talks to us on several previous occasions, the last one being about the steam narrowboat President. As usual, Richard’s talk was both educational and entertaining and was attended by some 25 members.

Richard gave us a detailed tour of some of the engineering marvels around the waterways system, including the Foxton Inclined Plane, Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, Harecastle Tunnel, Anderton Boat Lift, Bingley Five Rise Locks and Falkirk Wheel; together with fleeting glimpses of many other impressive features.

If you missed the November meeting, don’t worry, as I am sure that we will ask him back again before too long.

Keith Alderton

More Punt Wars On The Cam The Cam Conservators battle to bring some order to the operation of punts on the river has suffered a setback as a result of a recent court case. The High Court has ordered the Conservators to pay legal fees amounting to some £32,000 following a ruling relating to the use of an unauthorised punt station at Garret Hostel Bridge. Although the judge ruled that the Conservators were acting within their powers to restrict punt operations to six authorised stations in the City, he ruled against the Conservators on a technical matter relating to a previously held appeal. In his summing up the judge suggested that that the Conservators go back to Cambridge and spend their time conserving the Cam rather than spending money on expensive and unnecessary legal litigation. It is alleged that the Conservators spent some £60K fighting the case. However, the operator concerned has been alleged to operate punts in a commercial capacity without a valid registration and has been further summoned to appear in Cambridge Magistrates Court for failing to abide by the Conservators’ byelaws.

Keith Alderton

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Don’t forget our meeting on Thursday, 27th February!

There will be a ‘waterways’ themed quiz, followed by a fish and chip supper.

There is no need to book - just turn up.

?

The meeting will start promptly at 8.00 pm and will cost £7.00; this will include entrance fee as well as a cup of tea and fish & chips.

Visit to Welches Dam on Saturday, 5th April 2014 The Great Ouse Branch, together with the Peterborough Branch, has arranged the above visit.

We will meet at 11.00 am on 5th April at Horseway Lock (2 miles east of Chatteris). From there we will walk to see the sections where leakage is a problem and then visit Welches Dam. Peterborough members will provide some background to the challenges faced with re-opening the lock. There will be a presentation and a question and answer session at a venue yet to be decided. We can then adjourn for a local pub lunch.

Further details will be emailed nearer the date. You can, of course, contact me on 01353 658581 or email peter.c.webb@tesco.net Peter Webb

Ouse News Page 24 Welches Dam Horseway Lock

Horseway to Welches Dam

Views of Welches Dam

The Inland Waterways Association is a non-profit distributing company limited by guarantee.

Registered in England No 612245.

Registered as a charity No 212342. Registered Office: Island House, Moor Rd, Chesham, HP5 1WA. Phone No 01494 783453.

Ouse News - Appendix 1 Eastern Region Annual General Meeting Notice is hereby given that the Annual General Meeting of the Eastern Region of the Inland Waterways Association will be held on Tuesday 18th

March at Peterborough Indoor Bowls Club, Burton Street, Peterborough PE1 5HA at 7.30 p.m

Agenda 1. Apologies 2. Approval of the Minutes of the AGM held on 20th March 2013 3. Matters Arising from those Minutes 4. Chairman’s Report 5. Election of Committee Members (see notes below): a) The Chairman of the Region is elected in a separate ballot and the Chairmen of each of the branches within the Region are members of the Region committee ex officio. This is an election for the remaining members of the Region committee. b) Under the 3 year rule the period of office of those elected at the 2011 AGM comes to an end at the forthcoming AGM. All of those individuals are eligible to stand again for election. There is no limit to the number of members of the committee and therefore no limit to the number of those who may stand for election. c) It is no longer necessary for those who wish to stand for election to be nominated and seconded but all who wish to stand must agree to do so. Consents from members of the Region who wish to stand for election at the AGM 2014 must be deposited with the Acting Region Secretary [Roger Green, 70 Windmill Close, Ellington, Huntingdon, Cambs PE28 0AJ or email: nb.chatsworth@gmail.com ] before the start of the Annual General Meeting

Consent Form I agree to stand for election to the Eastern Region committee at the 2014 Annual General Meeting. I am a member of Eastern Region (Sign) ——————————

Print Name ————————————

Ouse News - Appendix 2 Notice is hereby given that the Annual General Meeting of the Great Ouse Branch of the Inland Waterways Association will be held on Thursday, 27th March 2014 at the Community Centre, Milton, Cambridge, CB24 6BL at 8.00 p.m.

AGENDA 1. Chairman’s welcome and apologies for absence 2. Approval of the Minutes of the AGM held on 28th March 2013 printed in Appendix 3 3. Matters Arising from those Minutes, not included on this agenda 4. Chairman’s Report - printed in Appendix 4 5. Secretary’s Report - printed in Appendix 5 6. Treasurer’s Report and presentation of accounts - printed in Appendix 6 7. Election of Branch Committee 8. Close of Meeting Notes: (following the amendment of Byelaws dated 14/3/09) 1. Accounts are audited by IWA Head Office. There is no need to adopt the accounts or appoint an auditor.

2. There is no longer any limit to Committee numbers. Members serve for 3 years after which they retire but may seek re-election.

3.There are 4 committee members due to retire by rotation who are: Carole Alderton, Enid Hodgson, Keith Alderton and John Hodgson.

4. New Committee Members are most welcome. Those who would like to stand must sign the consent form below and send to the Branch Secretary, John Hodgson (Address on page 3) before the AGM.

 INLAND WATERWAYS ASSOCIATION CONSENT FORM

I agree to stand for election at the Annual General Meeting of the Great Ouse Branch. I am a member of the Great Ouse Branch.

(Sign) .................................................. Print Name ............................

Date ...............................

Ouse News - Appendix 3 Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of the Cambridge Branch of the Inland Waterways Association on Thursday, 28 March 2013.

Held at the Community Centre, Milton, Cambridge at 8.00 p.m.

Present: Keith Alderton (Chairman) plus 17 Cambridge Branch members and visitors.

1. Apologies for absence.

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting and noted apologies for absence from: Roy Thompson, Roly and Jean Griffin.

2. Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held on 22 March 2012 The minutes of the previous AGM were displayed at the meeting. It was explained by the Chairman that the previous minutes, Chairman’s, Secretary’s and Treasurer’s reports were not printed in “Ouse News” in order to save increasing postage and production costs and reflecting the reduction in income via the Head Office “per-capita” allowance. It was proposed by Carole Alderton, seconded by Derek Bradley that these be adopted as a true record. This was agreed unanimously.

3. Matters arising from the AGM on 22 March 2012 It was noted that, following the vote at the last meeting to change the branch name to the “Great Ouse Branch,” this had been subsequently approved by the Trustees.

4. Chairman’s Report The Chairman’s report was printed and available to those present. There was nothing to add to those notes. There were no questions for the Chairman.

5. Secretary’s Report The Secretary’s report was printed and available to those present. There was nothing to add to these notes. There were no questions for the Secretary.

Ouse News - Appendix 3 cont’d.

6. Treasurer’s Report.

The Treasurer’s report and accounts were available to those present.

There was nothing to add to these. There were no questions for the Treasurer although it was noted that there is no payment for membership of GOBA. It was explained this is because the branch is not a member but will consider this at the next committee meeting.

7. Election of Committee Members.

Derek Bradley, Stephen Foote and Peter Webb were due to retire by rotation after their 3 year term of office. A consent form having been received by the Secretary from each of them, it was proposed by Jack Maiden and seconded by Meg Foote that they be re-elected to the Committee. This was agreed unanimously.

8. There being no further business - the meeting closed at 8.12 pm.

Ouse News - Appendix 4: Chairman’s Report 2013-2014 I am pleased to report that the branch has had another successful year with a good level of interest and attendance at all of our autumn/winter meetings.

In addition, we manned our stand at both the Reach Fair and at Ely Aquafest providing us with the opportunity to inform the general public about the aims, objectives and activities carried out by the IWA locally and at national level.

We have also held preliminary talks with the volunteering co-ordinators from head office and are considering developing some form of voluntary activities with a view to improving local waterways. Fortunately, the Environment Agency is now taking a more enlightened attitude towards allowing voluntary work to be carried out on the local rivers and we are hoping to be able to get some meaningful work underway.

We have been approached by residents at Burwell to help them improve access by clearing overgrown trees and vegetation along Burwell Lode and initial advice has been given from HQ as to how to proceed. All of this depends of course on the willingness of volunteers to come forward.

Ouse News - Appendix 4 cont’d.

Although branch membership remained fairly static throughout most of the year, we have recently seen a fall from 374 in April 2013 to 338 in January this year. Without doubt many people on fixed or depleted incomes have found their finances to be under strain of late, resulting in the need to reduce their expenditure or to cease boating all together. I would like to thank those members who do not attend meetings but continue to subscribe because they value the work carried out by the IWA for their continued silent support.

Our branch is financially sound and the effect of the reduced per-capita grant has so far been offset by increased donations at meetings, enhanced advertising revenue and reduced printing and postal charges.

I would like to thank our small but dedicated committee for the considerable efforts made on your behalf throughout the year.

Keith Alderton

Ouse News - Appendix 5: Secretary’s Report 2013-14 I mentioned in my report last year that new members living in some post codes along the natural run of the river were allocated to Peterborough Branch by Head Office on joining. This anomaly has now been addressed and agreed by both Peterborough Branch and Head Office that new members in those post codes will be allocated to the Great Ouse Branch in future. Existing members are free to ask Head Office to transfer if they wish.

We are now having the newsletter printed and distributed by Head Office.

This has resulted in a welcome reduction in costs and some members have become “e-members” receiving all their correspondence electronically, which also reduces costs. This continues to be important as the Head Office percapita allowance will again be reduced. The overall costs of operating the branch are being off-set by the continuing success of the advertising in “Ouse News”.

Ouse News - Appendix 5 cont’d.

It is understood that other members prefer the traditional paper methods, particularly for the newsletter. The branch magazine continues to go from strength to strength, but let that not foster complacency! Our editor, Carole Alderton, would be grateful to receive articles, long or short, from members for inclusion. This spreads the load and introduces more variety.

The revised Interchange Arrangement between the EA and Cam Conservators (CamCon) for navigation licences above Bottisham Lock continues, with agreement for further revision between the two appearing to be almost as far away as ever. IWA, GOBA and others continue to try to negotiate a better arrangement for all involved, not least the users (their customers) who seem to be the last people both authorities want to consider.

The inflation + 2% increase for the River Great Ouse system is again expected to be applied, despite objections from user groups, resulting in a 4.6% rise from April 2014.

On a similar topic, I can report that the decision on whether to transfer the navigation responsibilities of the EA to the Canal and River Trust (CRT) has been deferred for three years. This is disappointing as the uncertainty does no good to the boating community, nor the navigation authority and means that boaters will have to continue to put up with fee increases and largely ineffective efforts of the EA for longer than hoped. This poor performance has again been noticeable over the past year, in particular with the amount of dredging that needs to be done especially immediately downstream of Castle Mills lock. This has been promised to be addressed since last April and is still not completed! It is now in a dangerous state and EA still show no sign of action! I cite this merely as an example of their overall performance and as an example of the navigation issues which IWA, GOBA and others have been pressurising local managers to address, often without success or apparent interest.

I reported last year that the branch was a consultee of the East Cambridgeshire Council initiative to take over more of the moorings at Ely. This has now been agreed and the Council will take over the management of the remaining stretches they were not previously responsible for.

Ouse News - Appendix 5 cont’d.

The bureaucratic wheel grinds ever slowly and they are still waiting for final confirmation and authorisation from the Secretary of State! The branch was also a consultee to Cambridge City Council on their options in changing their mooring policy at Riverside. Of the options offered we recommended to “permit mooring on Riverside Wall, integrating the area into the City’s mooring policy”. This was passed to the Regional Committee to make the recommendation on behalf of all five branches in the region thereby, hopefully, having greater influence.

We still would like to recruit a Social Secretary. The main responsibility would be to arrange the four branch meetings. Whilst this has, for the last few years, been organised by the existing committee members between them, it would spread the load and input other ideas into the committee.

Would all volunteers please form an orderly queue!

The events are mentioned elsewhere in this newsletter (with fuller reports in earlier editions of Ouse News) but I would like to especially mention the visit to the Denver Sluice complex in April. This was a huge success (a full report appeared in Ouse News) with members and their friends attending.

As a result, it is planned to hold a similar visit in conjunction with Peterborough Branch to Welches Dam, see the newsletter for further information.

At the close of the AGM last year I asked those present who would like a branch dinner to mark the anniversary of the forming of the branch. Most of those present indicated they would be interested. In the event, when this was advertised in Ouse News, only two people outside the committee wanted to attend. Regrettably, this event has been cancelled.

The branch section of the IWA web site is still in operation so please have a look at this. I found the easiest way was to go to the IWA home page www.waterways.org.uk and follow the links from there to the branch via “local” along the top.

Finally, I would like to wish everyone a sunny and happy boating season and hope to meet as many of you as possible somewhere on our lovely system.

John Hodgson

Ouse News - Appendix 6