Ouse News Spring 2017

The Inland Waterways Association

Keeping our waterways alive

Ouse News - Spring 2017 The Great Ouse Branch Newsletter covering the Great Ouse and tributaries Contents: Branch Committee

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Branch News

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Chairman’s Corner

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Talk on CRT

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Sluices & Staunches p8

Why not join us on our visit - see page 27 Photo: Courtesy of Prickwillow Museum

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

Ship Inn, Brandon

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River Cam Update

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Planning W’shop

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Volunteering

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Russian W’ways

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River News from EA p24 Prickwillow Visit

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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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Great Ouse Branch Committee: Committee members may be contacted by email: e.g. an.other@waterways.org.uk Chairman: Keith Alderton Tel : 01366 727236 Secretary: John Hodgson Tel : 01234 344884 Treasurer: Enid Hodgson Tel : 01234 344884 Ouse News Editor: Carole Alderton Tel : 01366 727236 Sales Officer: David Anderson Tel : 01480 477227

Membership Officer: Peter Webb Tel 01353 658581 Volunteer Co-ordinator: Gail Mead Tel 01359 232603 Member: Stephen Foote Tel 01763 838936 Member: Derek Bradley Tel 01353 661601 We are a small, friendly group and would welcome another committee member to help us organise meetings and events. Please contact the editor.

(Authorised to examine all private boats and in addition, residential boats provided they are fitted with a gas bubble tester) Additional contact : Ely Boat Chandlers 01353 663095

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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.

T HURSDAY 23 RD M ARCH

2017

We welcome the following new members to the branch.

We hope you will introduce yourselves to us when coming to an event or meeting:

This will be our branch AGM, together with an update on winter maintenance from Nathan Arnold of the Environment Agency.

Members who have moved to the branch:

S ATURDAY 22 ND A PRIL 2017

Ivan Cane, Fakenham

Visit to Prickwillow Drainage Museum - see page 27 for further details.

Christopher Hubbard, Bedford

S ATURDAY 29 TH A PRIL 2017

Gathering of boats at Reach, followed by an evening meal at the Dykes End. Book your meal place with Stephen Foote. (01763 838936)

S UNDAY 30 TH A PRIL 2017 Barbecue. (If sufficient support, and weather permitting.)

M ONDAY 1 ST M AY

2017

IWA stand at Reach Fair.

S ATURDAY 6 TH M AY 2017 Work party at Jesus Lock, Cambridge. See page 16 for details.

S UNDAY 2 ND J ULY 2017 IWA stand at Ely Aquafest.

Keith Day, Cambridge

Mark Lusby, Swaffham

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Chairman’s Corner On behalf of the branch committee, I would like to wish all members a belated Happy New Year and hope that you are getting set to enjoy another great year of waterways activities. Our winter programme of evening meetings has been well received, with interesting topics and first rate speakers. We do hope that you will come along to our last off-season meeting on the 23rd March, which will follow our usual format of a very snappy branch AGM followed by an update of the ‘goings-on’ on our local waterways from the Environment Agency. This event always provides a good opportunity for you to find out about the difficulties encountered over the past year and to learn about future plans direct from the EA management team.

We have followed our recent practice of providing members with advance copies of the agenda and officers’ reports prior to the meeting so that you can have ample time to digest the contents.

Whilst on the subject of waterways management, I regret to report that Jed Ramsey is no longer River Manager for the Cam Conservators and has been superseded on a temporary basis by John Adams (formerly Regional Waterway Manager for the EA). Jed proved to be very supportive of our efforts and we wish him well in his future endeavours.

I noted in the last issue of Ouse News that the IWA trustees had decided to stop paying branches a per-capita grant and instead would not charge for the printing and distribution of branch magazines. Although it was stated that this would have a neutral effect on branch finances, the reality has proved to be somewhat different and we, as a branch, will be some £120 per annum worse off. We understand the reason for this action, as with national membership steadily falling it is necessary to reduce central administration costs. There is, therefore, a need for us to have a recruitment drive and encourage friends and fellow boaters to become IWA members. A supply of membership application forms is readily available at meetings and from our Membership Officer.

Ouse News Page 5 As a branch, we supplement our income with the sale of Christmas cards and books at our various events, and from advertising revenues. Although we currently have a healthy bank balance we will need to work hard to maintain the situation as our costs continue to rise.

Although we have held our winter meetings at the Coles Road Community Centre for many years it has become clear that the centre management do not want us there and would rather let the room to organisations that meet on a more regular basis. We will, therefore, hope to be holding next winter’s meetings nearby in Milton at North Lodge. Unfortunately, this will be more expensive and we will subsequently have to increase the contribution to £2.50 per person.

During the spring we will be pleased to invite you to attend our ‘away day’ at Prickwillow Drainage Museum on Saturday 22nd April. This event will provide an opportunity to hear about the history of drainage machinery used on the fens, see a number of engines running and enjoy a cooked lunch. In order to arrange the food it will be necessary to book places in advance. Later on, over the Mayday Bank Holiday weekend, we shall be holding our usual gathering of boats at Reach to promote the continued use of the Cambridgeshire Lodes, with a dinner at the Dyke’s End on the Saturday and our stand at Reach Fair on Monday. A do-it-yourself barbecue may be held at the moorings on Sunday if sufficient numbers attend. Details of next winter’s programme will be published in the summer edition of Ouse News.

You may recall that when CRT Trustee, John Dodwell, addressed the branch last year, he pointed out that Defra had cut the grant given to the Environment Agency to run the East Anglian navigations by some 50%. The ramifications of this decision are now beginning to take effect. The minutes of an ‘EA-CRT Proposed Transfer meeting’ held on the 20th October state that “it was agreed that an option which may need to form part of the discussion with government is the possibility that we may have to close some navigations in the future on health and safety grounds if we’re unable to fund the repair and maintenance of assets”.

Ouse News Page 6 This statement has set the alarm bells ringing and prompted IWA HQ to coordinate a letter writing campaign aimed at MPs and chairs of local authorities through which our navigable rivers pass. There is a prepared format available from HQ should members wish to write and add their voice to the campaign. This is a fight that we cannot afford to lose! The solution must surely be the transfer of our navigations to the Canal & River Trust with adequate government funding as soon as possible.

Keith Alderton

Talk by John Dodwell John, who is a Trustee of the Canal & River Trust, came to address the branch in October on the subject of the formation of the CRT and the anticipated transfer of responsibility for those navigations currently controlled by the Environment Agency. John explained that the Trust is a charity, set up in 2012, and is not part of Government and, as such, has not been affected by sweeping public sector expenditure cuts. The Trust, however, has a 15 year contract with Government and can plan ahead in a way that British Waterways simply couldn’t.

The Trustees are all volunteers and were likened to the non-executive directors of a company; setting policies and strategies to be implemented by the paid staff. The Trust is accountable to the National Council which is made up in part of elected members from various groups such as boat owners, volunteers, ‘Friends’, staff and nominated members representing anglers, ramblers and chairmen of the Regional Waterways Partnerships.

John was pleased to report that the Trust had now signed up over 18,500 ‘Friends’ (mainly recruited on the towpath) who made an average monthly contribution of £5/£6. Over 4 million people visit our waterways in a typical 2-week period. The more visitors signed up as ‘Friends’, the greater the Trust’s influence would be when the time comes to renew the Government contract.

Ouse News Page 7 It was pointed out that the CRT is one of the UK’s top 20 charities with a staff of 1600 and net assets of £700m. The trust has a total income of £190m, 25% of which comes from property rents, 19% from boat licences and moorings and only 26% from the Government. Last year the Trust spent a total of £195m maintaining the 2000 miles of waterways, 3000 bridges, 1900 culverts, 1583 locks, 750 major embankments, 850 major cuttings, 74 pumping stations, 129 river weirs and 73 reservoirs for which they are responsible. The Trust’s maintenance staff have been reorganised into one national construction team to carry out major works and 10 local customer service groups. Last year 2600 volunteers contributed over 480,000 hours, with their work being valued at £7.6m. It was noted that the CRT controls some 65% of all navigable waterways and the Environment Agency controls 30%.

The current Government is broadly in favour of combining all of these navigations under one roof and discussions are taking place between the Trust and the EA. The EA is not now objecting in principle to the transfer – unlike 15 years or so ago. The Government grant for EA Anglian Waterways has been cut from £3.4m to £1.8m. - a drastic fall of some 50%! By way of contrast, John noted that the Trust’s income had risen since it was formed in 2012, allowing a 15% increase in expenditure on maintenance over a 3 year period.

It had not been proposed that CRT would take over all the EA responsibilities for rivers. Far from it. Flood control, land drainage etc would remain with the EA. Such a split of responsibility already takes place on rivers such as the Trent, Severn, Lee, Stort, Kennet, Bristol Avon, Aire, Calder, Don, Yorkshire Ouse and Soar. The perceived advantages of the transfer are (a) Moving the EA navigations from an organisation where it is inevitable that they are a very minor part of a wide ranging regulatory body, to one where navigable waterways are at the heart of what it does. (b) Operational efficiencies. (c) The ability as a charity to attract more volunteers and donations. (d) The opportunity of stopping the decline of these great river navigations.

Ouse News Page 8 John asked ‘why should the Trust take on the responsibility of the EA waterways unless there is some financial package?’ He said that ‘there are various answers to the money problem, but it is one which needs to be resolved as the Trust isn’t in a position to take on the liabilities without knowing how they are to be paid for’. ‘So – watch this space’.

Keith Alderton Sluices and Staunches – an illustrated talk by Ivan Cane On November 24th last year, a goodly number of branch members gathered to hear a talk by Ivan Cane (a boater well known for his intrepid explorations of some of the smallest and least-used waterways in the area).

Ivan’s chosen subject of ‘Sluices and Staunches’ is one he knows a great deal about. He traced the history of these structures, starting with the simple ‘flash locks’ which were no more than gaps in the weirs which held back the water for powering mills and creating fisheries. They were opened and closed using boards inserted in the weir and lifted out on poles to release the water – a system known as ‘paddles and rimers’. Amazingly, a few examples of these primitive structures survived until relatively recently.

The development of pound locks with both lifting or ‘guillotine’ gates and mitre gates, or ‘vee-doors’ with their often oddly-shaped chambers was explained, leading to the modern hydraulic or electric structures of today which we all take for granted.

The talk was illustrated by a huge range of photographs from Ivan’s own collection. To see how some of the old staunch and sluice structures were built and operated left some of us wondering how they ever worked at all.

It was hardly surprising that there were rather a lot of accidents. Some photographs vividly illustrated what could happen when a sluice or staunch failed. The discussions which followed the presentation showed that the spark of interest in this somewhat neglected subject had been lit amongst the audience. The Branch Committee would like to thank Ivan for travelling to Cambridge and introducing us to such a fascinating piece of history.

Stephen Foote

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Pies, Pints and Puddings – the 3 P’s come to The Ship Inn, Brandon Creek The Ship Inn at Brandon Creek has been run successfully by father and son hosts, Keith and Mark Thomas for nearly 5 years; serving both their numerous Great & Little Ouse customers and those residents from the main A10 corridor between Ely and King’s Lynn. They have decided it is time for a change of direction and renewed focus with their traditional National Award winning menus. From 7th March 2017 the Chefs will be concentrating on producing a wide range of freshly baked, individual, homemade pies, served with vegetables and chips or mashed potatoes.

There will be an extensive (around 10), though unpredictable, variety of pies daily including meat, fish, vegetarian and exotic/seasonal pies; dependent upon available local fresh ingredients, and the Chefs own ingenuity.

Ouse News Page 10 If pies are not your style, then there will still be a limited choice of other pub favourites such as Fish & Chips and, on Sundays - a traditional roast with all the trimmings, and some children’s choices.

Importantly – everything will continue to be available, using Non-Gluten containing ingredients, so that our many valued customers looking to eat Gluten Free will not be disappointed. Most other allergens can be catered for with minimal advance notice.

You know the saying. “If something’s worth doing, it’s worth doing properly”. Then to us, a pie is definitely worth doing properly. We do hope you enjoy these new experiences at The Ship Inn and we always welcome our customers’ valued and constructive comments at the Bar. Those river users amongst you, may or may not be aware that our Little Ouse riverbank was completely re-built by the Environment Agency contractors last summer; so we now have 150m of pristine moorings along the bank. Do come and make use of them and prove to the EA their efforts are being appreciated.

Keith & Mark Thomas

Ouse News Page 11 River Cam Update from John Adams, Acting River Manager All change here at the Conservancy; Jed Ramsey, the River Manager, has moved on to a life closer to his Oxfordshire home and I am standing in on a temporary basis, whilst a permanent replacement is found.

Those with a long memory might remember me as the Regional Waterway Manager with the Environment Agency before my retirement back in 2008.

It’s good to be back on the river!

River Crew The autumn and winter have been busy periods for the river crew; with the main emphasis being on bushing works on the river below Baits Bite Lock.

Visitors to our lovely river will have noted just how far overhanging trees were encroaching across the fairway in recent years. Well no more; the team has made a great job of facing up all of the trees along this length, both large and small, to once again open the fairway to its full width. We have tried to do this with sensitivity to the wildlife value of the marginal tree growth; no trees were removed during these works, so the pollards which remain should soon begin to grow and re-establish the habitat value of the area .

Looking forward to the next few months, the river crew are once again active on the riverbank; this time repairing the eroded riverbank close to the A14 road bridge above Baits Bite Lock.

Bushing work complete below Baits Bite Lock and the navigation fairway restored

Ouse News Page 12 Baits Bite Lock In November, we suffered a few reliability problems at Baits Bite Lock.

These were mostly due to worn tracks on the guillotine gate. Happily, we were able to drain-down and effect a temporary repair to the guillotine gate track and reopen the gate without too much disruption to navigation.

However, as this was only a temporary repair, we will need to return to complete proper repairs in the future. The lock should be fine for the coming season, so works will be programmed in for the autumn/winter period later this year.

Winter is the traditional time for old trees to collapse into the river and although 2016/17 has been reasonably gentle on the wind front, the occasional tree has still ended up in the river. A large willow fell into the river, just above the Green Dragon Bridge; fortunately no one was hurt, but it did obstruct navigation for a couple of days, before it was removed by contractors.

One tree which had become something of a feature or obstruction, (according to your use of the river) was the large willow close to the Plough public house in Fen Ditton. It was also the tree most likely to fall into the river during the 2016/17 winter. The tree is no more; it did not fall, but was felled by contractors working on behalf of the pub and is now merely a small stump on the river’s edge.The tree will no doubt be missed by drinkers, but probably not by boat owners, as it was becoming something of a hazard to navigation.

Ouse News Page 13 Floating Pennywort Readers will know that this particularly invasive aquatic weed has been causing navigation difficulties on the River Cam and elsewhere in recent years. Here at the Conservancy, we have had our share of challenges with Pennywort and, at the present time, the situation is that of an uneasy truce.

Using our weed cutter/harvester boat ‘Berky’, the river crew have made a great job of clearing and controlling Pennywort on the main parts of the navigation. However, high levels of Pennywort in the upper reaches of the river mean that, at present, our operations are more focussed on control, than on eradication.

In partnership with the Environment Agency, we have been carrying out work to remove Pennywort from the upper river, with some short term successes. Unfortunately, a lack of access means that it is not possible to use our weed control boat on the upper river. Further work will be carried out to control Pennywort on the upper river in partnership with the Environment Agency in the next few weeks.

Diary Dates As we all know, we will soon enter the craft registration period, with all Conservancy licences being due for renewal on 1 April 2017.

We have made minor changes to the application procedure for 2017, which should make the whole process easier. The owners of craft already registered with the Conservancy, will no longer be required to complete a full application form for renewal of registration. Unless there have been changes to either boat or owner, all that is needed will be to complete a simple single sheet application form, enclose details of BSS and insurance, tick to acknowledge Conditions of Registration, and pay. As registration and payment can now be made on line, it is hoped that the whole process of registration is now as simple and pain-free as is practically possible.

Let us know what you think of the new application process.

Ouse News Page 14 IWA – CRT Planning Workshop Some of the more perspicacious of you may have noticed the announcement in the IWA Bulletin of a series of planning workshops jointly hosted by CRT and IWA. Being the inquisitive sort, I signed up and towards the end of last year duly presented myself at the London Canal Museum which is located in a former ice warehouse near King’s Cross Station overlooking Battlebridge Basin. Peering into the enormous hole in the ground in the warehouse, it is scarcely credible to think that ice was brought over from Scandinavia to be stored before being sold on to the wealthy households of London.

The workshops were a fascinating glimpse of how a lesser known part of the CRT operates. Helen Edwards, the National Spatial Team Manager, and her team gave a concise overview of the planning system, development plans and how planning applications are decided. Detailed consideration was given into how we can become involved in local plans as they emerge from district councils. I suspect that most Local Authorities are now sufficiently advanced in their plans for little further involvement on our part. It is, however, worth bearing in mind that plans do need to be updated from time to time.

Our attention then turned to planning applications or, as the professionals put it, “development management”. This is an area in which we can have a substantial input. In East Anglia, the development of riverside settings will usually be carefully considered. There will always be odd pockets of land which could be developed inappropriately or certain historic features might disappear. Vigilance is therefore called for. It would be ideal if local members could find the time to become acquainted with local planning policies such that the local branch could be informed of applications. The commitment to this can be substantial given the frequent comings and goings of planning officers. It is, therefore, important that we are all vigilant in our own respective areas and report any potentially harmful development proposals to the branch for further consideration.

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Towards the end of the morning session, we were given details of the management structure within the CRT. It is amazing how large an area each planning manager covers and although CRT is a “statutory consultee” how quickly they need to respond to applications which are lodged.

After a buffet lunch and time to have a look around the museum we took to a couple of workshops demonstrating practical ways in which our input can result in planning applications becoming either more appropriate to their settings or refused. This is an area where CRT and local members of the IWA can work well together in preserving and enhancing the waterway scene.

All in all an informative and thoughtful presentation which all the attendees found useful.

Anthony Marris

Advertising in Ouse News  Do you want to contact boating enthusiasts?  Advertisements cost £30 (+VAT) per half page or £60 (+VAT) for a whole page for a year.

 Three editions a year.  Circulation = 300 within 30 miles of Cambridge.

 Contact the Editor on 01366 727236 or (carole.alderton@waterways.org.uk)

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Why not come along to Jesus Lock and join our work party on Saturday, 6th May between 10.00 am - 4.00 pm?

Refreshments provided.

May 2016 - Baits Bite Lock

Please contact our Volunteer Co-ordinator, Gail Mead, on 01359 232603 if you are interested in volunteering, or want to know more.

Ouse News Page 17 A Thousand Miles on the Russian Waterways Although we greatly enjoy our travels on the inland waterways of Great Britain we also like to explore waterways elsewhere in the World. The great advantage of river cruising over other forms of travel is that you can visit many interesting places without the hassle of having to pack and unpack at each location. The ships are generally relatively small and friendly, typically catering for 80 to 200 passengers. Life on board offers plenty of time to relax, eat, drink and watch the countryside pass gently by. Having already cruised the rivers Nile, Yangtze and Douro we fancied something really different this time and so, in June of last year, we decided to explore the waterways of Russia.

Our journey took us through four vast lakes, along four different canal navigations and six rivers through largely unpopulated areas of dense forest, with only the occasional logging camp or small town to be seen. River traffic was few and far between and consisted mainly of other cruise ships and freighters carrying timber and bulk materials. It was only as we approached Moscow that we came across small privately owned boats as we would recognise.

Ouse News Page 18 Our journey took us some one thousand miles, travelling between the old imperial capital city of St Petersburg and the modern capital Moscow, with several major diversions on the way. Having joined our ship we spent a fascinating two days in St Petersburg including visits to the Hermitage Museum, Summer Palace, and the obligatory performance of Swan Lake. St Petersburg is a well preserved city with many beautiful palaces formerly belonging to royalty and the local nobility. The city was originally built by Peter the Great on swampland captured from Sweden during the Great Northern War in order to provide Russia with strategic access to the Baltic Sea. Having set sail from St Petersburg, we travelled inland on the Neva River to Lake Ladoga, the largest fresh water lake in Europe. This vast lake is 140 miles long and 80 miles wide and has some 3500 rivers feeding into it; but only one, the Neva, flowing out. We entered the lake at 5.00 pm, travelled all night, eventually reaching the first of two locks on the Svir River on the other side at 7.00 am the next morning. The river connects Lake Ladoga with Lake Onega, some 140 miles to the east. It was at Lodeinhoe Pole on the Svir River that Peter the Great set up a shipyard in 1702 which built over one hundred ships for the Baltic fleet during the Great Northern War.

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At 155 miles long by 50 miles wide, Lake Onega forms Europe’s second largest fresh water lake. Once on the lake we headed north, travelling to within a few hundred miles of the Arctic Circle. This far north during the summer solstice it hardly gets dark at all and we experienced ‘a white night’ when the sky changes to a beautiful translucent silver for an hour or so either side of midnight. Well worth coming all this way and stopping up late to experience! At the top end of the lake we visited the Kizhi Museum Reserve situated on the island of Kizhi, one of the largest amongst some 1400 islands. The reserve is a Unesco World Heritage Site and houses a magnificent collection of historical timber buildings including the 18th century Church of the Transfiguration with its multitude of onion shaped domes clad in glistening aspen shingles.

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Ouse News Page 21 It was with great reluctance that we left Kizhi after an all too short visit, headed back south across Lake Onega to exit onto the Volga Baltic Canal.

This is the generic name for a 230 mile long succession of waterways that connect Lake Onega with the Rybinsk Reservoir. The first section comprises the Vitegra River where six huge locks raise boats 260 feet to join the Watershed Division Canal. This latter navigation linking the Vitegra and Kovzha Rivers was dug in 1963 and is located at the summit where water either flows north to the Baltic or south to the Caspian Sea. The navigation continues through the White Lake (the 8th largest in Europe) and on into the Sheksna River. Here we stopped at the town of Goritsy and visited the ancient Kirillo-Belozersk monastery.

Finally the navigation enters the Rubinsk Reservoir, one of eight such huge reservoirs constructed along the Volga during the soviet period between 1941 and 1947 to generate hydro-electric power. At the time of construction it was the largest man-made body of water on the planet.

Day by day, as we journeyed southwards the climate became warmer, the nights longer and the forests gradually made a welcome change from a monoculture of pine trees to a mix of pine and aspen.

Ouse News Page 22 At the south-eastern end of the reservoir we joined Europe’s longest river, the Volga, travelling eastwards through one lock to the town of Yaroslavl.

Our ship then turned about, went back through the lock, across the bottom end of the reservoir before turning south once again for 130 miles on the mighty River Volga to the town of Uglich.

Here we had one of the few opportunities to wander around a small Russian town to get a brief glimpse of how the local people live. Inevitably on these visits you get shepherded through many museums, churches and monasteries and it is nice to see something other than dismal icons for a change. By the end of our trip we considered ourselves to be thoroughly ‘iconed-out’ and never ever want to see another one!

Leaving Uglich we passed under the arch at Uglich Lock and down the River Volga for 85 miles to the junction with the Moscow Canal. Here the river turns west and the canal continues the journey south towards Moscow.

The Moscow Canal, like many of the other navigations on our trip varies from a few hundred yards to several miles wide, encompassing a series of lakes. The 85 mile canal with its six locks was built between 1932 and 1937 by slave labour. It is said that over half a million workers perished during its construction and, on completion, 200 supervisors and foremen were shot so that they could not talk about the loss of life. As the canal approaches Moscow pleasure boats, sailing yachts and jet skis appeared for the first time and the local inhabitants could be seen enjoying sun bathing and swimming along the shoreline.

Ouse News Page 23 Moscow was a revelation; a bustling modern city with many new apartment blocks, ring roads, underpasses, overpasses and a wealth of green spaces.

The attractive young ladies dress as if they are in Paris or Rome and the occasional Lada car is heavily outnumbered by hundreds of smart black BMW and Mercedes limos. Not what we expected! Needless to say, we greatly enjoyed visiting the historical buildings surrounding Red Square and the Kremlin. A memorable part of our visit was a night time tour of the city, including the Metro Circle Line to see the stations highly decorated with mosaics and bronze statues commissioned by Stalin. The pace down there is frenetic, with the escalators travelling at twice the speed we are used to in the UK and the trains only stopping for a few seconds. During the rush hour the trains run at fifty second intervals.

If you want to visit the Russian waterways, you must be able to appreciate the peace and tranquillity of cruising for day after day along rivers, lakes and canals, dotted with islands through hundreds of miles of almost unbroken pine forest, with only occasional stops at fascinating places of interest. During our 10-day trip we spent two days in St Petersburg, two days in Moscow and six days cruising, with five further stops. We were very lucky in that we were able to attend lectures on-board about Rasputin, Catherine the Great and the Breakup of the Soviet Union and see such topical films as Anna Karenina and The Cranes are Flying.

All-in-all, a most memorable experience – you really should try it sometime!

If you do go, you will need to plan your visit during the brief few summer months as the northern waterways visited are normally covered in several metres of ice during the winter.

Keith Alderton

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Ouse News Page 24 River News from the Environment Agency - Paul Separovic The Environment Agency Waterways Team has again been active over this winter period, working with colleagues across a number of teams at the Environment Agency and other partners and contractors to deliver a busy winter works capital programme. We have had a number of stoppages at various locks to conduct surveys like lock drain-down inspections; such as at Brownshill Lock where we drain off the lock chamber using stop logs and pumps so we can access the empty lock chamber floor for a full inspection of what usually can’t be seen or easily accessed below the waterline.

The vast majority of our Anglian Waterways Locks, not just those on the River Great Ouse, have now had this type of inspection within the last decade which provides us with a really good baseline of data and foundation for the future in terms of our understanding of the condition of our assets.

We have also taken the opportunity to paint a number of the guillotine gates at certain sites to greatly improve their life expectancy and provide efficiencies and savings for the future. Godmanchester lock has already received this treatment and at the time of writing Cardington Lock guillotine gate painting is underway. It all sounds so simple and straight forward but the work involved in just adding a lick of paint is anything but as the photos of the works underway show!

Firstly the guillotine gates have to be dewatered and dried off using stop logs, sheeting and pumps. The gate is then cleaned and a scaffold framework is built around the gate structure. Once in place the whole scaffold is then completely encapsulated in sheeting. The next job is then to remove the old paint, which requires shot blasting; and the old paint that contains lead has to be disposed of correctly and responsibly. Finally, a new layer of paint can be applied, but only under the right conditions and those conditions also have to be right for the drying process. To achieve this, warm air is blown in and circulated around the whole encapsulated gate. I have been receiving feedback to say contractors could be on the scaffolding in shorts, despite the dismal wintery conditions that are endured outside in the rest of the site compound.

Ouse News Page 25 Our very own waterways assets team has been working with our Project Delivery teams and contractors to develop the gate painting process into a neat package that can also be invoked and become a part of the future lock drain-down inspection programme, so that as much can be done at a site as possible when stoppages are required in the future. Creating modular packages like this allows us to be flexible to match the grant funding that we receive so works can be tailored to suit the budget. Of course we argue that we can never have enough grant funding to cover these types of work; but by developing these ways of working we really maximise benefits and leave the locks in as good a condition as possible for the future, improving their useful serviceable life span with the main objective of keeping the waterways open and in a safe useable state for as long and in as cost effectively way as possible.

In addition to the work on lock structures we have also been undertaking a programme of shoal re-profiling, or spot dredging, at known priority hot spots including down stream of Offord and Hemingford Locks with future work also planned on the Old West River in the Twenty Pence area. We have utilised contractors to undertake these works and you may have seen the Rother Group out on the river over winter. We will continue to collate information and feedback monitoring areas where we know problems are developing. The aim is to target future spending on this type of work to where it is most needed and best spent, as it is unlikely we will receive sufficient funding to be able to cover all of the areas in need of attention.

Our operations colleagues, both in waterways and the local area teams, have also been out this winter undertaking vegetation control programmes.

They have revisited some of the sites, such as Holywell, to keep on top of previous bushing programmes, and also new sites such as the downstream reach of Godmanchester Lock. Until the new boating season is upon us, and throughout, we will also react to waterways emergencies such as fallen trees blocking or restricting navigation and we have also assisted with sunken vessels.

Ouse News Page 26 Our engineers have also been out, when required, maintaining and replacing items like the chains on some of the guillotine gates when issues have arisen such as at St Ives Lock.

When you finally get back out on the river in 2017 we hope you notice the works undertaken and improvements made; although many of them, like the drain-downs and guillotine gate painting are very subtle, they are all vital tasks to keep the navigation open and working smoothly. Of course, there is always more to do and, come the start of the season, there will likely be some outstanding repairs on some landing stages and moorings that you will notice.

We have to prioritise our limited available spend and much of this is directed towards the locks themselves and the critical infrastructure to keep the navigation open. Other required repairs and faults are all logged, some of which will already be in our work programmes. It is likely we will be aware of issues, but please do report anything you spot whilst out and about. We will make safe and put in place temporary measures where we can safely do so without closing facilities. We will repair defects and problems where resources and funding allows, but if a fault renders a facility unsafe for use then, in some circumstances, we may have to temporarily close them and we appreciate your understanding in this matter.

St Neots Lock

Godmanchester Lock

Ouse News Page 27 IWA Great Ouse Branch Spring Visit – Prickwillow Drainage Museum Join us on Saturday April 22nd for a guided tour of the remarkable Prickwilllow Drainage Museum followed by lunch. The tour will start at 11am and will include an introductory talk and video, a guided tour of the museum and its huge range of exhibits. The museum staff will demonstrate the starting and running of one of the giant pumping engines which are on display.

The tour will be followed by lunch of home-made Cottage Pie and Vegetables, with an Apple Pie and Custard dessert.

More details about the museum, including how to get there can be found on their website www.prickwillowmuseum.com The cost of the tour and lunch is £14 per person inclusive. Please complete the form below and send it, with a cheque, made out to IWA Great Ouse Branch to: Stephen Foote, 14 High Street, Chrishall, Royston, Herts SG8 8RP by Saturday April 8th please. If you have any questions or need any more information please contact Stephen on 01763 838936

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Please reserve…………places on the Prickwillow visit on April 22nd I enclose a cheque for £………………………..

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Ouse News Page 28

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.