Inland Waterways Association Great Ouse Branch Spring Newsletter 2020

Great Ouse Branch

Ouse News - Spring 2020 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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Regional Chairman

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Boat Safety Scheme p10 Milling Dynasties

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IWA Away-Day

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Parliamentary News p16 Why not join us on our ‘Away-Day’ for a cruise on the John Bunyan Community Boat see page 14 for details.

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

River News

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Book Review

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WRG p27 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: 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 Membership Officer: Peter Webb Tel: 01353 658581

Volunteer Coordinator: 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.

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Branch News Winter Meetings are at 8.00 pm at the North Lodge Pavilion, North Lodge Park, Milton, CB24 6UD. T HURSDAY 27 TH F EBRUARY

If anyone is reading this newsletter and would like to become a member, please con tact Pet er Webb, ou r Membership Officer, on 01353 658581.

2020

An illustrated talk by Richard Thomas on The Royal Gunpowder Mills, beside the River Lea at Waltham Abbey.

T HURSDAY 26

TH

M ARCH

2020

This will be our branch Annual General Meeting, together with an update from the Environment Agency.

S UNDAY 26 TH A PRIL 2020

We should like to thank Mr & M r s B e n n et t fr o m Im pington for their kind donation of a num ber of waterways related books.

We will be able to sell these on our IWA stand at Reach Fair and Ely Aquafest, thus generating funds for our branch.

Please see page 14 for details and a booking form for our ‘Away Day’ on the Bedford & Milton Keynes community boat John Bunyan.

S ATURDAY 9 TH M AY 2020 There will be the traditional evening meal held at a local pub. For more details and to book your place please contact : Stephen Foote - tel: 01763 838936.

S UNDAY 10 TH M AY

2020

IWA stand at Reach Fair.

S UNDAY 5 TH J ULY 2020 IWA stand at Ely Aquafest.

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Chairman’s Corner Well, we have certainly caught up with the lack of rainfall over the last summer! We seem to have received Strong Stream Advice calls from the EA every other week over the winter months. Hard luck for those who enjoy winter cruising! We live halfway between the heads of navigation of the River Wissey and the Little Ouse and despite experiencing some slightly higher water levels, have not suffered any major problems. Fortunately, the rivers closest to home have their catchment areas extending eastwards into Suffolk, one of the driest counties in the UK. It is the River Great Ouse with a vast catchment area that stretches as far west as Buckinghamshire that usually experiences the worst of the flooding problems. The fact that the eastern rivers around Ely remain under control show that Vermuyden’s plan to divert flood water direct into the Wash along the New & Old Bedford Rivers still works well nearly 400 years later.

You may be aware from recent communications that our Eastern Regional Chairman has been elected to become a Deputy National Chairman. I am sure that Chris will bring his usual enthusiasm and hard work to the post and will have a positive influence on the organisation. Members will have received a regional newsletter from Chris, aimed at keeping members abreast of the major campaigns and activities being carried out in the East.

I would like to bring to your attention details of our annual away-day on the 26th April (see page14). This year we will be spending the afternoon on the Bedford & Milton Keynes Waterways Trust’s trip boat the John Bunyan.

It is intended that we will cruise from Bedford to the head of navigation at Kempston Mill to see the proposed connection point between the River Great Ouse and the B&MK Waterway Park. However, this will be subject to the upper reaches of the river being dredged to a suitable depth in time for the visit. Failing that we shall have to cruise downstream instead. A ploughman’s lunch will be provided and we will have a talk on progress with the B&MK Link along the way. Please secure your booking by completing the form and sending your payment as requested.

Ouse News Page 5 This year we are once again following the previous practice of circulating all the paperwork associated with the branch AGM in a separate booklet for you to study in advance of the event. This enables us to carry out the formal business in a snappy manner and allow maximum time to hear the presentation from the river managers of the Environment Agency. We will of course be making our usual plea for members to come forward and join the branch committee. We are a diminishing band and would welcome new committee members to share the load and come up with new ideas.

By the time you read this the boating season will be fast approaching and we will no doubt be busy carrying out the usual tasks preparing for another active boating year.

Have a great time on our waterways.

Keith Alderton

News & Views Do you have an article, comment or photo you would like to share? We would be very pleased to receive it! Contact the editor: carolealderton@waterways.org.uk

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Chris Howes, Eastern Region Chairman: Joined up Thinking = Joined up Waters !

Sitting in my conservatory, in the middle of February, with the rain pounding on the roof, last summer’s water shortages appear only a distant memory. The past is, as they say, a foreign country !

There are two parts to water resource management. Getting rid of excess water (flood management) and guaranteeing a sufficient all-year-round supply of clean water to meet demand. For many years these activities have both taken place, but perhaps despite (rather than in accord with) the other.

Those of us who boat on the rivers Nene or Great Ouse will know how quickly these rivers rise after what can appear only quite a modest amount of rain.

During a couple of incidents in 2019 the EA deposited over 100 million cumecs of water into the Wash, yet their underlying water ground levels remained alarmingly low. I remember waiting in the constant drizzle this summer for C&RT to open Buckby Flight which was closed at night for ‘Water Saving’ despite the seemingly abundant water descending on me.

What was clearly needed was an approach to water management which balances and reconciles these apparently contradictory requirements. In an outbreak of ‘joined up thinking’ across the Country five bodies have been set up, tasked with water management. Water Resources East (WRE) have been instructed to take an ‘holistic’ approach for our Region.

Ouse News Page 7 WRE’s first task is to guarantee an adequate water supply for East Anglia.

The River Trent provides a supply of water in excess of the requirements of the administrative areas along its banks, and the plan is to move water from the Trent down to a new reservoir to be constructed somewhere broadly in the region of Holbeach.

The water companies have traditionally moved water in closed pipes, rather than by open channel. However, in the 1960s the Great Ouse Cut Off Channel partly included open water transfer. The Cut Off Channel acts as a wildlife corridor, but is sadly closed to leisure activities, including boating.

At IWA we are arguing that moving water from the River Trent to this new reservoir using existing rivers and dykes should produce as wide a range of benefits as possible. The Environment Agency and Lincolnshire County Council support this argument.

Indisputably, people in general love water and the Government has recognised that a sense of ‘wellbeing’ has an actual monetary value in respect of decreasing strain and anxiety (savings to NHS) and is promoting walking, cycling, nature preservation, fishing, canoeing, surf-boarding etc as all good for us. What we’ve all known, for years, is now official BOATING IS GOOD FOR YOUR HEALTH !

If this link to the Trent is made navigable it brings the aspirations of the Fens Waterways Link significantly closer. With the EA and Lincs C.C. the IWA has formed the Boston to Peterborough Wetland Corridor to ensure that the connection be open water. Even DEFRA are in favour !

Boston and Peterborough are geographically only 30 miles apart, but at present navigating between them by boat requires either a challenging Wash crossing or a torturous 250 mile, 135 lock, 15 day trip in a boat less than seven feet wide. When the Boston to Peterborough Wetland Corridor comes to fruition, it will only require a couple of days leisurely cruising !

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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)

Ouse News Page 10 THE BOAT SAFETY SCHEME – AND THE FUNNY SIDE An Illustrated Talk by Graham Freeman On October 24th 2019 a sizeable group of IWA Great Ouse Branch members gathered at North Lodge Pavilion in Milton for a well-received presentation by Graham Freeman.

Graham is a retired RAF Engineering Officer and boating enthusiast who is based in Northampton. On his retirement from active service, he decided to use his engineering skills and knowledge to good effect and having attended the relevant courses, undertaken the appropriate studies and gained his qualifications, set up in business as a certified marine engineer specialising in gas systems, electrical systems and – Boat Safety Examinations.

In his presentation Graham led us through the trials and tribulations of the BSS scheme – from the (often opposing) points of view of both the Examiner and the examined! His illustrations of some of the amusing (and sometimes quite scary) horrors he has uncovered during his work gave us all food for thought. I think all we boat owners in the audience went away from the meeting with a list of points we needed to double-check on our own boats.

Even our Chairman, himself a Chartered Engineer and BSS Examiner, admitted ‘He certainly knows his stuff!’

Sadly, in a way Graham’s presentation to our Branch was his swan-song as he has decided to stop doing BSS examinations and concentrate on the gas and electrical repair side of his business. He has done gas repairs on the writer’s boat in the past and I would recommend his work without hesitation. If any reader would like to be put in touch with Graham please telephone me on the number in this newsletter and I will provide his contact details.

Stephen Foote

Ouse News Page 11 Milling Dynasties In November Hugh Howes (our Regional Chairman’s father) gave us a very interesting talk about the milling dynasties and their mills in the area.

Hugh has a passion for mills and has researched his subject in great detail, amassing a wealth of information and photographic evidence over the years.

I can only attempt to provide a brief flavour of his presentation in this report. The schematic map below shows the names of the companies and the location of the mills discussed. Please contact me for further details if you wish to know more about the history of a specific mill.

The history of milling in the region over the past 200 years is one of family businesses gradually expanding, modernising and taking over their less efficient competitors. A common practice was the ‘silencing’ or the purchasing and then closing down of competitor’s businesses. However, a surprising number of businesses founded in the 1800s remain in operation today, many still occupying some of their original buildings.

Ouse News Page 12 Although many redundant mill buildings have been demolished over the years, many others have been saved and converted to industrial, warehousing or residential use.

In order to maintain their competitive edge, mill owners have been quick to adopt new technology over the years. A typical example was the Paine’s St Neots Steam Flour Mill which was rebuilt in an imposing Victorian Gothic style with 10 pairs of millstones in 1879. The mill was updated several times, the stones being removed after only 10 years and replaced by rollers. In 1899 the mill was once again remodelled by Robinsons of Rochdale with new rollers and the addition of their ‘cyclo-pneumatic scalping system’. The building was perceived as ‘an ornament to the whole town’ and known locally as ‘Paine’s Cathedral’. After a major fire in 1909 the mill was restored to its previous state with the addition of a sprinkler system and electric lights. The mill was powered by a horizontal engine and lighted by electricity generated in the mill. The building was sold in 1967 for offices and apartments.

A major issue from 1940 onwards for the next 30 years was the need to ensure reliable supplies of bread to feed the nation in times of both war and cold war. During the Second World War each mill was assigned an achievable target. Exceeding the target was frowned upon as much as failing to meet it. In this way supplies and prices of grain and flour would remain steady. The government built 15 huge grain silos, which embodied milling equipment to provide strategic stockpile of grain at a time when the U-boat war in the Atlantic was making the import of grain unreliable. Grain silos were built to dry, process and store increasing amounts of home grown cereals. Two such silos in Northamptonshire are still in use today. They conform to a standard design, comprising of a central tower housing the machinery, drying equipment and a passenger lift, either side of which were six pairs of concrete silos with a total capacity of 5000 tons.

During the 1950s the use of combine harvesters increased rapidly, although only 40% was harvested in this manner by 1952.

Ouse News Page 13 Very wet summers in the 1950’s required the grain to be adequately dried before storage. A disturbing reflection on the state of post war Britain was a recommendation to give all possible support for farms to be supplied with electricity.

I would like to thank Hugh for providing such a detailed and interesting talk.

Keith Alderton 5,000 ton Processing and Storage Facility

Mead & Sons Roller Flour Mills, Tring, Herts

Whitworths Mill, Wellingborough

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IWA Great Ouse Branch Spring Visit - A cruise on the John Bunyan Community Boat Join us on Sunday, April 26th for a four hour round trip from Bedford to Kempston, leaving at 1.00 pm. Please arrive in plenty of time. There will be a commentary given by the Boatmaster about interesting areas that we pass through. There will be a ploughman’s lunch available, of which vegetarian and gluten free options will be offered.

The John Bunyan is located in Priory Country Park, Barkers Lane, Bedford, MK41 9DJ. Please make sure to park in the designated car park. More details regarding the John Bunyan can be found on their website www.johnbunyan.org The cost of the tour will be £25.00 per person. This will include the cost of the boat hire and the ploughman’s lunch. Please complete the form below and send it, with a cheque, made out to IWA Great Ouse Branch to: Enid Hodgson, 9 Beaufort Way, Brickhill, Bedford, MK41 7XQ by Monday, April 6th. If you have any questions or need any more information please contact John Hodgson on 01234 344884.  -----------------------------------------------------------------------Please reserve .... places on the John Bunyan trip on April 26th I require ... vegetarian meal(s) I require ... gluten free meal(s) I require ... ploughman’s meal(s) I enclose a cheque for £ ........................

Name ....................................................

Tel No ................................................... e-mail ...................................................

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

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Bridge Boatyard Bridge Road Ely, Cambs CB7 4DY

email info@bridgeboatyard.com Website www.bridgeboatyard.com Telephone 01353 663726

Moorings in marina and on riverside in historic Ely. Close to rail station.

Repairs and servicing Engineering and glassfibre workshops Slipway Suppliers of diesel, gas and coal Authorised Nanni dealership Gas safe engineer

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IWA Briefs MPs on the Issues Facing Our National Waterways Today Chris Howes, Keith Alderton, Paul Rodgers

Ouse News Page 17 Parliamentary Reception On the 27th January I had the privilege of being invited to the IWA Parliamentary Reception at the Houses Of Parliament. The briefing was a specially convened event designed to highlight the need for adequate funding for the publicly owned waterways operated by the Canal & River Trust and the Environment Agency.

Those invited included all of the MPs who have a waterway in their constituency, leading figures from the navigation authorities and representatives from other waterways organisations. Newly elected MPs were encouraged to participate in the All Party Parliamentary Waterways Group. Those attending, of particular relevance to our branch, were Alice Mayne, EA Deputy Director Navigation & Commercial and Daniel Zeichner, MP for Cambridge.

Fellow branch member Ivan Cane and I held a long conversation with Alice Mayne about the lack of co-ordination between the EA’s various divisions and the difficulties experienced trying to get things done. Alice is determined to get the navigation budget ring-fenced so as to allow long term planning and avoid the danger of funds being diverted from navigation to other areas for which the Agency is responsible. However, the comment was made once again that they would have to consider ‘closing assets’ if adequate funding was not forthcoming! I had thought that the threat of closures had gone away after our last campaign, but it would appear not to be the case. I got the impression that Alice was well aware of the problems besetting the EA and that she is working hard to improve the situation.

The event provided the opportunity to discuss matters with representatives from other IWA branches and regions and also a chance to meet Paul Rogers, our new National Chairman.

Keith Alderton

Ouse News Page 18 River News from the Environment Agency Waterways Operations Team Leader (Gt. Ouse and Stour Navigations) Capital Winter Works Programme This large scale Programme has now commenced on the River Great Ouse.

Unfortunately the wet winter and extended Strong Stream Conditions endured across our Anglian Waterways Network have impacted massively on the programme, particularly on the River Nene where much of the programme was focused from November. Even here on the Great Ouse it has caused delays to the programme.

At the time of writing, our contractors were at Hemingford Lock on the Bedford Ouse for a full drain down or de-watered inspection. It is not every day you get to see a lock devoid of water and it is quite a sight when you do as they are always much deeper than you would think. We aim to undertake inspections of this nature approximately every 10 years at our lock assets. This isn’t always possible and we have to undertake what is affordable.

Whilst drained, the locks get a thorough health check and are surveyed.

We paint the gates if needed and undertake repairs that are usually below the waterline, which otherwise would require divers. For instance the pintle or pin that the doors hinge on are set into the lock floor and had completely sheared off at Hemingford. Utilising technology, we can also undertake a 3D survey of the drained lock, which when repeated in the future can monitor even the slightest movement in lock walls or other parts of the structure that could give an early indication of developing problems.

Contractors are then due to move onto the Hemingford downstream landing stage to break out the old one and completely re-align and replace the existing failing piled fascia of the existing stage. The re-alignment should make it much easier for craft to negotiate their way into the lock from the landing stage and make it much easier to navigate and moor up.

Ouse News Page 19 From Hemingford the crew will move up stream to Houghton and Offord locks, before the replacement of the Denver Lock Tidal Landing Stage, and Prickwillow and Mile End Mooring repairs from March 2020. You can find out more on our web site at: https://www.visitanglianwaterways.org/ by looking at our online shared TeamUp calendar: https://teamup.com/ ks7f3fcbc3e94ed8f0/, following us on Twitter: @Ang_WaterwaysEA or liking us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VisitAnglianWaterways or our page: @AnglianWaterwaysEA Paul Separovic

Ouse News Page 20 Introducing The Waterways Workforce Over the past 12 months we have been busy recruiting 5 new posts within the Great Ouse and Stour Waterways Operations Team. Collectively, in addition to the 5 new posts within the Nene and Lincolnshire Team, we now have a new dedicated Waterways Workforce. Last year I was pleased to appoint Matt Yallop into the lead post and he has successfully recruited a further 3 of our 5 posts on the Great Ouse. We have just completed readvertising for the fifth and final post and hope to have everyone in place by April 2020.

On the Ely Ouse section, Ray and Gary are assigned to this patch. Gary you may recognise from Hermitage Lock, as he was one of our seasonal lock keepers and Ray may also be a familiar face as he previously worked within the Ely Field Team.

On the Bedford Ouse, Dick is currently the only team member employed, but we hope to recruit a further member of staff in time for this coming season. Unfortunately Dick’s a little more camera shy, so I’m unable to put his face to the name but he may be familiar as he also previously worked for the Bedford Field Team.

From April this team will be out working at our sites and will be primarily delivering our amenity works programme at our Waterways Lock and Mooring sites. This involves mainly grass cutting and vegetation control as well as some cleaning and painting. The team should be recognisable in their navy blue waterways uniform and are keen to meet our boaters whilst out and about, so please do say hello if you bump into them on your travels.

Those in post have already set to work on some of our sites following the winter, giving them a good tidy up. It is the attention to detail, such as pressure washing, weeding, cleaning and painting a crisp fresh white lock edge line that is subtle but makes all the difference at our sites.

Ouse News Page 21 We hope you will start to notice and appreciate the difference over the coming years as the team establishes itself. There are already plans going forward, including introducing wider biodiversity at our sites. They have just started mounting handmade bird boxes at a number of our locks for instance. This will benefit both river users and our beautiful river as a whole.

I have included a selection of photos to show the sort of work they have been doing over the winter to give you a flavour.

Whilst these are steps in the right direction and a more cost effective way of delivering better quality services, there will be just 5 team members within our Operations Team covering more than 170 miles of navigation across both the Great Ouse and Stour navigations - so these are small steps at present. Whilst, if successful, we will want to grow this approach in the future I also want to be realistic as they will be fully committed to grass cutting at our sites during the summer months. However, at this time of year, they will have more time to focus on other jobs that crop up on a navigation, to undertake repairs and make improvements that you will then benefit from during the main boating season.

Offord downstream pathway before and after Cont’d

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Gary pressure washing

Ray’s joinery skills

Matt Yallopp

Ouse News Page 23 Volunteer Thank You Evening & Update We held a celebratory evening for our volunteers on Wednesday 6th November 2019 at Colne Village Hall to say thank you and acknowledge their achievements in 2019. In only its second year of operation the Anglian Waterways Volunteering scheme in partnership with Camb’s ACRE managed volunteers at three sites on the River Great Ouse at Denver, St Ives and Houghton. Between 23 volunteers, they generously attended 217 sessions across these sites offering a total 507 volunteer hours.

We have just extended our partnership agreement and contract with Cambridgeshire ACRE for a further 2 years and they will continue to manage the volunteering programme on our behalf. If you have free time and are interested in volunteering this coming year we will shortly be recruiting further members to this exciting team. We hope to expand the programme out to further sites this coming year, with more volunteers and introduce new exciting roles for our volunteers to undertake. Please register your interest with Cambs ACRE and you could be out volunteering on the river this coming season adding value and sharing your enthusiasm for the river with those who use and appreciate it and will value your contribution.

Here’s some of the things last year’s volunteers had to say about their experience; What do you enjoy most about your volunteering?

“Meeting people (boaters and lockers) and feeling like I’m doing something useful.”

“The chance to be outside and contributing to the success of Britain’s waterways” Do you feel your volunteering is making a difference to the EA Waterways and Waterways users? How? “Definitely! We get a lot of good comments and gratitude, and most boaters would like to see us manning the locks more often.”

Ouse News Page 24 “Quite frequently we get asked why we are not offering the service at other locks – it must be wanted!”

“Volunteers seem much appreciated by boaters and as such is another service provided by EA to boaters. Volunteers are also additional eyes and ears to pick up any issues or problems.”

Interested? Want to find out more: Search for or say “Anglian Waterways Volunteers” https://anglianwaterwaysvolunteerscheme.wordpress.com/ Call: 01353 865 037 or e-mail: rachael.brown@cambsacre.org.uk

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Book Review

by Anthony Marris

MAIDENS’ TRIP by Emma Smith The death in April 2018 of Emma Smith has sparked renewed interest in her books. Maidens’ Trip was her first book written in about three months only a year or two after World War II. In the book, Emma gives an account of her experiences over a two year period from 1943 as an “Idle Woman” (taken from her badge IW) or, more properly described, as one of a crew of three young women taken on to crew a GUCC narrowboat which would otherwise have been “idle”, carrying goods between London and Birmingham and back.

Emma Smith was born Elspeth Hallsmith in 1923 and raised in Newquay, Cornwall; a far cry from the inland waterways of middle England upon which she lived for two years. She published three further books for adults and several stories for children.

Her life was as unusual as it was sad. After a difficult upbringing, she married Richard Stewart-Jones only a month or so after meeting him. He worked with the National Trust restoring old buildings. Tragedy was to happen only a few years later when Richard died suddenly. Bereft, she took herself and her two young daughters off to a remote house in rural Wales, living hand to mouth reliant on her writing.

Ouse News Page 26 The book is hard to pigeonhole in that although the characters of the three girls are imaginary (albeit based on Emma and the friends she worked with) and their adventures, in reality it is a glimpse into the world of the working boatmen of the inland waterways at the time and the difficulties and dangers they faced. As such it is a useful commentary on a piece of social history of people rarely written about.

The author’s style is lively, immediate and vibrant. Emma Smith tells in great detail the privations and dangers of the war, the physical hard work, the long hours, the poor weather, the accidents which took place and the competition between the boatmen to get their cargoes delivered quickly, bringing their individual characters to life. She also tells of the community spirit of the boat people and the acts of friendship extended to them as outsiders with less experience of life on the cut.

In many ways Emma Smith in her preface to the recent reprint encapsulates her experiences in her aspiration that the readers may “get a whiff of the youthful exuberance and confident belief in all good things being possible which are even more vital today if we are really to wish, at last, a better world for everyone”.

I raise a toast to Emma for this and for her enterprise on the canals, together with the skill in which she brings her memories of the cut so vividly to life. A worthwhile read.

Maidens’ Trip by Emma Smith ISBN 978 1 4088 0125 3 Published by Bloomsbury www.bloomsbury.com

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Waterway Recovery Group is part of IWA and works to restore often disused and un-navigable waterways. WRG owns a fleet of vans, and a range of heavy duty equipment including excavators, dumpers, pumps, mixers and winches - all used on their volunteer Canal Camps.

Volunteering with WRG is often more physically demanding than taking part in an IWA work party but is just as rewarding. Tasks include demolishing brickwork, brick laying and driving dumpers. You’ll be guided in whatever you’re asked to do making this a great opportunity to learn new skills. If this sounds like your thing then join WRG on a Canal Camp and make a difference to our waterways!

For more information about WRG and volunteering with them (including prices) visit the WRG pages or Enquiries@wrg.org.uk or ring 01494 783 453.

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.