Great Ouse Branch
Ouse News - Summer 2020 Newsletter covering the Great Ouse and tributaries Contents: Branch Committee
p2
Branch News
p3
Chairman’s Corner p4 Regional Chairman p6
A Deserted Waterfront in Ely at the end of April Photo: Peter Webb
Campaigning for the conservation, use, maintenance, restoration and development of the Inland Waterways.
Gunpowder Mills
p17
Yellow Submarine
p20
Waterways Chaplaincy
p22
Bedford River Festival
p26
Mike Petty
p28
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.
Ouse News Page 2
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.
Ouse News Page 3
Branch News Winter Meetings are at 8.00 pm at the North Lodge Pavilion, North Lodge Park, Milton, CB24 6UD. T HURSDAY 22 ND O CTOBER
2020
This will be our delayed Annual General Meeting for 2019/2020, together with an update from the Environment Agency.
T HURSDAY 26 TH N OVEMBER
2020
A talk by long standing committee member Stephen Foote on ‘Fenland Rivers Before Vermuyden’.
T HURSDAY 25 TH F EBRUARY
Chris Beale Kathy & James Keeley Eugene & Sandy Lefeuvre Members who have moved to branch: Mark Allan
2021
To be decided.
T HURSDAY 25 TH M ARCH
We welcome the following new members to the branch. We hope you will introduce yourselves to us when coming to an event or meeting:
2021
This will be our Annual General Meeting for 2020/2021.
Jon & Eliz Swain From your membership officer: I must give my apologies to any new Branch member that is not listed here. Also during these strange times I have been unable to send a welcome letter and copy of the latest printed Newsletter. Please remember that if you would like a posted, printed version of Ouse News then please contact Head Office or myself at peter.webb@waterways.org
Ouse News Page 4
Chairman’s Corner I am writing this report in glorious weather, one month into the Covid-19 lockdown. However, I am sure that the weather will have deteriorated by the time we are allowed to use our boats again! It is a shame that we are prohibited from leisure boating, as boating by definition is largely a selfisolating hobby, provided that social distancing measures are strictly observed at locks. We moor on a 15 mile lock-free pound where you can cruise all day without coming into proximity with another soul. However, I suppose that it is better to be safe than sorry! This brings me to the cost of boating nowadays. We are just about to pay our annual dues for our 38 year old, 55-foot narrowboat. This will set us back some £3,700 which includes £2,600 for moorings, £960 for the navigation licence and £140 for insurance. To this you have to add maintenance costs; we spent £4,000 on a partial paint job 18 months ago, £400 on a new water heater and modifications to the gas system last year and have already spent £580 on space heater repairs this year. Not bad for a £30,000 asset that we are not allowed to use! I wonder if we could furlough the boat and get the Government to pay 80% of the cost? Needless to say, owning a boat still gives us a great deal of pleasure, despite the fact that you could travel on holiday halfway around the world for the same money. I regret that we had to cancel the branch AGM and summer activities at such short notice and hope that we managed to contact everybody in good time. You will see on page 3 that the AGM and talk by the EA has been rescheduled for the 22nd October. A full set of AGM documents has already been circulated to all branch members. In November, long-standing committee member Stephen Foote has kindly agreed to give a talk on ‘Fenland Rivers Before Vermuyden’.
Ouse News Page 5 Stephen has carried out a great deal of research about his subject and has written an as yet unpublished book about Cornelius Vermuyden. Both of these meetings are of course subject to the lockdown being lifted. Likewise, there would seem to be little point in trying to rearrange our planned awayday this summer. Let’s hope that we will be able to go ahead with the trip next spring. There is good news for our local rivers as, according to Paul Separovic, the EA’s planned programme of maintenance and construction projects is progressing to plan. However, I suspect that the lack of boat movements will have an adverse effect on the fight to control weed growth this summer. Still, it would be nice just to have the chance to get caught up in some weed! In January, Stephen Foote attended a regular meeting of the Cam Conservators as an observer representing the IWA. The conservators agreed that the navigation fee for all privately owned craft would be increased by 7.5% in line with the interchange agreement with the Environment Agency. An objection from the Town Rowers was not upheld. Likewise it was agreed that all commercial craft licences would increase by 20% despite an objection from the punt operator, Scudamores. However, it was also agreed that the licence fee for safety boats would be reduced to zero. Canoes will be required to display registration details as per all other craft and will benefit from a blockbooking system. Here’s hoping that restrictions on the movement of boats will be eased in time for us all to enjoy at least some summer boating. The important thing is for us all to stay safe! Keith Alderton
Ouse News Page 6 Chris Howes, Eastern Region Chairman: Boating the Cambridge Backs More than half a century ago, one of the founding fathers of the IWA, Robert Aickman, wrote about the “Seven Wonders of the Waterways”. I’ve boated each of these Wonders and ticked them off my ‘to visit’ list. Although such structures as the Pontycysyllte Aqueduct obviously deserve every accolade available; while I marvelled at Standedge Tunnel, half way through I did ‘wonder’ just how much I was enjoying it. When we started up Caen Hill in tandem with another narrowboat, (who decided without warning to turn back after the lower 7 locks!), I ‘wondered’ how much I was enjoying the experience when halfway up the remaining 22 locks a descending hire boat decided to fully open the sluices of the empty lock I was in, without either asking, or warning, me ! I have another, personal, list - the “Seven Most Wonderful Places to Boat”. There are some occasions on which I have had to pinch myself because I can’t believe that I’m lucky enough to be boating in such a breathtakingly wonderful place. Clearly, crossing the Pontycysyllte comes high up on the list. But add to that list, mooring in the historic Royal Albert Dock in Liverpool - oozing history from every piece of stone and iron column, or visiting Bristol floating harbour and steaming past the SS Great Britain to visit the Harbour Master. Mooring in the heart of Bath with the gorgeous Georgian terraces rolling down the hill in front of you. The breathtaking beauty of crossing the Pennines on the Leeds & Liverpool, or mooring on the Thames in front of Hampton Court Palace with the evening sunlight bathing Jean Tijou’s magnificent wrought iron gates in its golden glow. Travelling up the truly beautiful River Nene in spring when the May blossom fills the valley of the clear flowing river, populated with historic watermills and beautiful stone villages each crowned by a picturesque church. These are just some of my favourite things !
Ouse News Page 7 And on a roasting, shirtsleeved February day (the warmest since records began) in bright sunshine we experienced a new ‘drop-dead gorgeous’, not to be missed, special boating location - the Cambridge Backs. This is probably the most beautiful area of the River Cam, above Jesus Green Lock. It flows past some of Cambridge’s finest buildings (including King’s College Chapel) and provides that world-famous view of Cambridge. Navigation is prohibited to powered craft during the summer. This is probably just as well because in high season this part of the river becomes a confused mass of hundreds of punts, bobbing haphazardly across the river like a confused giant children’s game of ‘Pick-Up Sticks’. But between 1st October and 31st March access is permitted, so long as you give the river manager 48 hours’ notice. The idea of taking up this seasonal opportunity to boat this famous stretch of water was put into our minds by Simon Judge, doyen of St Pancras Cruising Club, in a Facebook entry inviting interested parties to join him on a cruise on the last Saturday of February. We jumped at the opportunity to accompany Simon in our 45ft narrowboat ‘Lily May’, and bought the necessary Cam Licence (an addition to the EA licence required to get as far up the Cam as Bottisham Lock). We boated up to Cambridge on the Friday, easily finding space on the visitor moorings below Jesus Green Lock. Being permitted to take your home (snail like) and moor it in the middle of one of our great cities is to me one of the true marvels of boating the Inland Waterways. We over-nighted in Cambridge (where the cost of an hotel is eye watering) for absolutely nothing !
Ouse News Page 8
Ouse News Page 9
More pictures of Ely Waterfront
Ouse News Page 10 As the sun struggled to burn through the morning mist we assembled at the lock, where Simon joined us in ‘Scholar Gypsy’ (title of a poem by Matthew Arnold, son of that other great University City, Oxford). Jesus Green Lock is one of those logic defying locks with the only means of crossing from one side of the lock to the other, by swing bridge which spans the lock and has to be removed before you can fill the lock, a seeming impossibility for the single-handed boater. Fortunately between the two boats we were well crewed. The short journey requires passing under 10 bridges. By the time we had reached the first, Magdalen, the sun had conquered its battle with the morning mist, and we were bathed in glorious sunshine ! There are two considerations that the intrepid boater of Cambridge Backs ignores at their peril. Bridges and punts! The height of the bridges requires careful attention. The third one you pass under, St. John’s Kitchen Bridge, is the lowest, with a published air clearance of six foot nine inches. However one is well advised to remember that:a) like any river the water levels in the Cam rise after rain, and clearances quickly reduce, b) the published height is to the centre of an arc, and will be lower where the corners of your boat pass under, c) the computation of air clearance assumes that your boat is passing under at right angles to the line of the bridge, and on a narrow and bendy river the effects of wind and other boaters can combine to make it harder to ‘shoot the bridge‘ in a perpendicular line.
Ouse News Page 11 A punt is a flat-bottomed boat with a square-cut bow and stern, about 24 feet long and 3 feet wide, designed for use in small rivers and shallow water. The punter propels the punt by pushing against the river bed with a 12 - 16 foot long pole. Pleasure punting developed on the River Thames in the 1860s and arrived in Cambridge about 1902. The bows of a punt feature a flat raised deck known as the ‘trill’ and the stern called the ‘huff’, which features cross plans (a.k.a. treads). The punter (propelling the boat) stands at one of the ends and pushes the boat away from him (or her). In Oxford the punter stands with a secure foot hold in the stern and proceeds bow first. However in Cambridge the punter stands on the flat raised bow or deck (with little secure foot grip) and propels the boat stern first. This less stable practice is said to have arisen in the Edwardian era when the lady undergraduates of Girton College felt it better showed off their ankles. There is no towpath along this section of the Cam. In the 18th and 19th Centuries when deliveries were made to the Colleges it was by horse drawn barge. The Cam isn’t deep, and old prints show the horses wading chestdeep through the water, pulling barges and lighters. To facilitate this a cobbled causeway was laid down the centre of the river. There are two kinds of punts in Cambridge, single width boats hired by the hour, generally to absolute novices, who laugh and splash and pose for selfies as they career haphazardly along the river, often crashing from side to side, sometimes assisted by the occasional alcoholic libation. There are also double width boats with ‘professional’ chauffeurs, propelling the boat, seemingly effortlessly, in a straight line (while dodging the beginners) straight up the middle of the river. These seasoned punters are following the hidden causeway along the centre of the river because it is far easier to propel their heavily laden boat by pushing off against solid cobbles than to allow the pole to sink into the clinging mud either side of this causeway. The ‘middle of the river’ punt chauffeurs certainly aren’t prepared to surrender the precious centre of the bridges to narrowboats, pinball punting novices, or even other chauffeur punts.
Ouse News Page 12 There is a famous annual 420 rowing boats race on the Thames in London where every cox has been told to ‘aim for the second lamp post on the right’ on Hammersmith Bridge, and the onlooker can revel in the chaos as all the boats steer for the same point, seemingly regardless of other boats. Similarly on the Cam, everyone heads for the centre of the bridges, with little or no consideration for other boats eyeing up the same destination! The universal rule ‘steam gives way to sail’ clearly still applies, even if it has been transcribed to ‘Beta 43 marine engine gives way to madly waving pole’! Of course it hasn’t crossed the punters’ minds that our boat may weigh 15 tons and doesn’t have brakes. Picking your way through, often on no more than tick-over, can feel like you are dancing around delicate china in hob nailed boots ! The custodians of the river, the Cam Conservators, recommend positioning a look out in the bows, just to watch for wayward punts. By the first bridge punts were coming, from seemingly every direction, thick and fast. After the rather stodgy cast iron Victorian Magdalen Bridge, the next one is the Grade 1 listed Bridge of Sighs. There are a number of similarly named bridges around the world, but the inspirational original was constructed in 1600 in Venice and given the nick-name (which stuck) by Lord Byron. Cambridge’s was built in 1831, and bathed in the strong spring sunlight was breathtaking ! The next bridge, St John’s Kitchen Bridge, is a pleasant stone bridge. The Conservators ‘guide to navigating the ... backs’ advises caution: “this is the lowest and most challenging of all the bridges. Headroom at the apex of the largest middle arch is 2.08m / 6’9"; the curvature of the arch constrains the width available.
Ouse News Page 13 You must ensure that your vessel is aligned dead-centre before proceeding. On the return passage, the entrance to the bridge is blind. Take especial care.” Trinity Bridge, next, is another stone built bridge and is the second lowest bridge that we passed under. However, as we’d just squeezed under St John’s Kitchen Bridge, it wasn’t a problem. After a nondescript modern pedestrian bridge (Garret Hostel Bridge) we arrived at Cambridge’s oldest, Clare Bridge. This is the only bridge to survive the English Civil War. Its considerable antiquity can be seen in its higgledy-piggledy appearance. After another stone bridge (King’s) we came to probably Cambridge’s most famous, the Mathematical Bridge. There is a popular myth that this bridge was designed and built by Sir Isaac Newton without the use of nuts or bolts, and that in the past students dismantled it, but couldn’t work out how to reassemble it again without using bolts. In fact mechanical fixings were always part of the design, it’s just that originally it employed spikes driven through the joints from outside (where they could not be seen from the inside of the parapets), whereas when it was rebuilt, big hand cut square bolts were used which are still highly visible.
Ouse News Page 14
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
Ouse News Page 15 The bridge was originally constructed in 1749. Newton had already died in 1727 so his direct involvement in the bridge’s construction appears unlikely. The last bridge is Silver Street. It’s a single span bridge, clad in Portland Stone, designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, and built in the late 1950s. In the middle it has a generous 8ft 7in air draft, but immediately upstream (to the left as we were travelling) is Mill Lane punting station with rafts of moored punts. We had to turn 90 degrees right immediately as we emerged from under the bridge; a manoeuvre made harder by extremely slow speed and punts absolutely everywhere. We had reached Head of Navigation. There is a small weir, and the only boats that could access the river above the weir (here called Granta, despite remaining the Cam) were either boats that could be lifted by hand, or punts which are dragged across rollers. We winded in the mill pond, known as the Mill Pit. The Conservators’ navigation guide advises: “allow the water coming over the weir to carry the bows around”. Travelling up the Cam from Jesus Green Lock had taken about an hour. It took at least another hour to retrace our route back to Jesus Green Lock. If possible, progress was even slower on the return journey, as the unseasonably stunning weather had attracted even more punts to the water. I often observe “if I was in a hurry I wouldn’t have bought a boat”. Nowhere does this more apply than to the Cambridge Backs. However, the most leisurely cruising speed I can ever remember adopting, gives you more time to enjoy the uniquely special views of Cambridge from the water. The Backs have become a firm entry into my “Seven Most Wonderful Places to Boat” list of uniquely special locations, but I doubt, however many times we might boat the Backs again in the future, that the weather will ever be so kind to us as on this trip!
Ouse News Page 16
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
Ouse News Page 17 The Royal Gunpowder Mills In February we were pleased to welcome back Richard Thomas for another of his waterways related historical talks. This time the subject was ‘The Royal Gunpowder Mills’ at Waltham Abbey. Richard traced the history of explosives from the invention of gunpowder by the Chinese in the 9th century right through to modern times. The function of a gunpowder mill is to gently mix the three components, charcoal, sulphur and saltpeter together in a safe and effective manner. It is an inherently dangerous process. The Royal Gunpowder Mills occupy an area of the Lea Valley where the river divides into four channels, two of which were man-made in ancient times. The site proved to be ideal for production of explosives on an industrial scale due to an ample supply of water and ready access to the London Docks and Woolwich Arsenal along the newly improved Lea Navigation. The first reference to the production of gunpowder can be found in1665 when the parish records state that ‘two men were killed by a powder mill’. The establishment grew rapidly until there was eventually a total of thirteen mills on site. In 1787, the mills were considered to be of such national importance that the Government took them over, paying the owner William Walton the sum of £10,000, equivalent to over £1 million in today’s money. Major General Sir Walter Congreve (father of the rocket pioneer) spent the next two years improving the Mills. From this time all the explosives produced at Waltham Abbey were for military use. The processes used were continually updated over 200 years to take advantage of the latest technology, with the introduction of hydraulic presses and eventually steam power.
Ouse News Page 18 Due to the dangers involved when manufacturing explosives, the various processes were housed in separate buildings widely distributed around the site, some protected by huge brick-built blast walls. Materials were initially transported from process to process by hand cart. However, as the volume of powder produced increased, a canal system was gradually developed operating on three levels, joined by two conventional mitre-gated locks. Short narrowboats, built entirely of wood with no ferrous components were bow-hauled around the system. In the 1850s a railway was built using wooden trucks pushed by hand along wooden rails. By 1917, small battery-powered electric tractors had replaced manual labour. Finally, a complex narrow-gauge railway system was built that connected the production buildings over the whole 2½ mile long site using diesel-engined locomotives. The discovery of guncotton and nitro-glycerine in 1856 and the development of chemical explosives virtually put an end to gunpowder manufacture. The production processes on site were turned over to making Cordite at the end of the 19th century and this continued to be the propellant used for bullets and shells until the mid-20th century. Scientists at Waltham Abbey developed other explosives such as RDX and Torpex. Torpex was used in Barnes Wallace’s bouncing bomb and was tested in a pool on site. From 1945 onwards the site became a research establishment for the development of rocket fuels. The site finally closed in 1991. Today, 170 acres of the northern section, incorporating 21 listed buildings has been preserved as part of The European Route of Industrial Heritage. The site has become a popular visitor attraction offering exhibitions, talks, children’s activities and escorted tours.
Ouse News Page 19 Despite the scale of the operation, the organisation receives little public subsidy and relies heavily upon volunteers to carry out archaeological and restoration work. Richard has been actively involved on the project for many years. If you would like to become involved, The Waterways Recovery Group are holding a family canal camp at the Royal Gunpowder Mills on the 7th- 9th August (subject to lockdown restrictions) when they will be working on one of the two remaining semi-derelict locks. Information and booking details can be found at ‘waterways.org.uk/canalcamps’. Information about visiting the site can be found at ‘www.royalgunpowdermills.com’. Members may well like to make a group visit to the site on a future branch ‘away-day’. Please let me know if it would be of interest to you. Keith Alderton
Press House
1878 Lock
Ouse News Page 20 ‘We’re all going in a Yellow Submarine’ My experience of boating had been on top of the water, mainly in our own cruiser on the Great Ouse as well as on ferries and cruise ships. For Christmas 2018 we went on a cruise to the Canaries and one of the shore tours on offer was a “Submarine Adventure”. This seemed an opportunity not to miss. We docked at Las Palmas, Gran Canaria where we went by coach to the south of the island to the resort of Puerto de Mogan and climbed into our yellow mini submarine. Once inside there were rows of seats arranged two to a porthole on either side of the vessel. Our seats were right at the back so we could also see the propellers through a glass window at the stern. Each pair of seats had a screen which showed the view from the deck camera and allowed us to watch what was happening at the surface as we dived and later resurfaced. We were also able to see the depth of the dive which at its maximum was about 20 metres.
Ouse News Page 21 The trip lasted about 45 minutes. During this time we were given a commentary on what we could see, accompanied by classical music. As well as various types of fish there were ruins, shipwrecks and what looked to be a whale skeleton. All too soon it was time to go back to the surface after an unforgettable experience. I did have a thought afterwards that some of the things we saw could have been put there for the tourists but at least the fish were genuine. Enid Hodgson
Ouse News Page 22
A Day in the Life‌ A Waterways Chaplain comes alongside Chaplaincy to waterways people started formally just over ten years ago with two volunteers walking a length of the Grand Union. They discovered loneliness, poverty, alcohol and drugs dependency, mental and physical health issues and a high suicide rate. And so the ‘Waterways Chaplaincy’ was born and it has been gathering pace ever since. My name is Lorraine Newman and I am a senior Waterways Chaplain. When I joined eight years ago there were just eleven of us (all volunteers) working on the Grand Union and the Lee and Stort but there are now around 100 chaplains spread across our system of canals and navigable rivers and we are expecting to double that number soon. Waterways chaplains come in all shapes and sizes and from many different career backgrounds. Some are retired and some still working. Diverse they may be, but what they all have in common is the central qualification needed to be a Waterways Chaplain: they are all good listeners. The Chaplaincy provides them with training, mentoring and a significant sense of common purpose. My day starts with prayer. If it is a Monday I meet with a group of ladies from my village church and we pray together. Other days I pray alone because I need to be prepared. As chaplains we come across lots of amazing people but many may be going through difficult times, so I pray for those I have met for their many needs and I pray for those I am probably about to meet.
Ouse News Page 23 To many, prayer might not sound like a very useful activity, but I can assure you it is. In offering the people and needs I encounter to God, I am able to pass all of those burdens on to him and free myself mentally for the day ahead. If the day begins in this way I can put on my Chaplain’s gilet and go out in confidence that this work I do is not mine but God’s. The next thing that I do is check and deal with emails. Boaters often make contact with the Chaplaincy through our website and those enquiries are sent on to the local team leader. I co-ordinate three teams of chaplains (currently 18 of us) in London and the South East. Our area comprises the Rivers Lee and Stort, the London canals, parts of the Thames and the Grand Union from Brentford and north to beyond Leighton Buzzard. When a boater contacts us through the website I will pass the information to a local Chaplain (if there is one) or I will contact the enquirer direct. Help can often be given over the telephone but for more complex issues I will arrange to meet with the boater, or whoever it is, face to face. As well as contact through the website, I receive telephone calls, text messages and other contacts through social media. ‘Live aboard’ boaters (unless fortunate enough to have a permanent mooring) must move their boat every fourteen days and continue on a journey rather than return to a place left behind a month ago. But in spite of constantly cruising and being on the move, the boating community is amazingly good at keeping in touch and looking after their own. People will support each other through all manner of difficulties, but often when things are really difficult someone involved will urge their troubled friend or neighbour to get in touch with me. Since my commissioning in 2012 I have worked as a Waterways Chaplain on the River Lee and the River Stort and so, over time, have become quite well known on these rivers. My telephone number and other contact details are frequently passed on to people who would benefit from a chat or some practical help. People I have been able to help in the past often become my ‘eyes and ears’ on the waterway… and so the work goes on. .
Ouse News Page 24 Licence Support officers working for The Canal & River Trust (CRT) also refer people who are in need of help. In particular, we are often asked to help when owners of unlicensed boats are threatened with eviction and seizure of their boat - which of course is their home We can get alongside the boater and discover what the difficulty is. There may be a need to claim benefits to help with licence fees, or to put together and agree an acceptable cruising pattern for them if they have stayed in the same place for too long. Once CRT knows that we are working with a boater they will usually give them a second chance and grant them another licence. This advocacy role is an important aspect of Waterways Chaplaincy. My day may involve meeting with Chaplaincy teams or I may walk a section of towpath with another Chaplain or be involved with a mentoring session. Helping boaters with form filling is a regular activity. Government health or benefit related forms can often be seventeen pages long and completing them is a daunting prospect for some. There may be lifts to doctors, hospital visiting, helping somebody with no address register for a doctor or dentist, to get a bank account or making a trip to a food bank to help someone who is struggling financially. And there is much much more so that every day is different. One day I may have a kitchen floor full of soggy washing which I have collected from somebody whose boat has sunk or sprung a leak, and the next I will be helping to organise a service at a boat festival or a funeral. This work is challenging, exciting and rewarding: certainly never dull or boring. We are not only there for boaters. Waterways Chaplains are all Christians and members of mainstream churches who agree to walk a mile of towpath every week. On that walk we chat to those we meet, who could be boaters, fishermen, walkers, people with towpath businesses, cyclists, indeed anybody living or working on or around the canal or river.
Ouse News Page 25 Simply put, our aim is to take the love of Jesus onto the towpaths of our waterways system, to serve Him and those that we meet in any way that we can. Thus the end of a rewarding day ends in the same way it began: with prayer. As I write this we are in the middle of the COVID 19 lockdown so life is very different. Chaplaincy work continues and with imagination much can be done from home. Meetings can be held using web tools like Zoom; Chaplains can be encouraged and self isolating boaters can be supported. We can organise food boxes over the telephone and even help with signing on with a doctor. Every contact provides a new challenge but none that cannot be overcome. We have a Great God! To find out more about the Waterways Chaplaincy visit: www.waterwayschaplaincy.org.uk
With Chaplain colleague Barbara Davis aboard Lorraine’s narrowboat ‘Annie & Walt’
Lorraine Newman
Ouse News Page 26 Bedford River Festival Why is this article about Bedford River Festival I hear you ask? It has been cancelled for this year due to that pesky virus I hear you say. This article is about the very first Bedford River Festival which was held on the 27th and 28th May 1978 ; so this year should have been the 22nd Festival. I obtained access to the completed application forms and so the information I am working from does not indicate whether all the boats who applied to attend actually did so. The Great Ouse Restoration Society sent out application forms from January 1978 with a closing date of 8th of May 1978. Even so 13 applications arrived after this date! Boaters were invited to attend the River Great Ouse Water Celebration to be held in Bedford to celebrate the opening of Navigation from Bedford to the sea (King’s Lynn). After much restoration work navigable access to the sea was now possible for the first time since the previous century. Unlike in later years, when entrance to the festival was free, a charge of £2 per boat was made as a donation to the Great Ouse Restoration Society. The receipt was to be shown to the Harbour Master, Jack Crawte, on arrival. A total of 198 applications were received from boats of all shapes and sizes, including a converted lifeboat, two yachts and a couple of dinghies. The boats themselves were for the most part a lot smaller. There were only 9 boats 35 feet or over, the longest narrow boat being 50 feet long; of the rest 114 were 25 feet or less and of these 53 were 20 feet or less. Although a registration number was requested, 19 applications failed to give this. A further 7 were awaiting a registration number from the River Authority. This perhaps indicates that because the navigation was now open to the sea new boats were coming onto the system.
Ouse News Page 27 It was hard to distinguish narrow boats from cruisers from the information given on the form and although there were a large number of narrow beam boats only 7 of these could definitely be recognised as narrow boats, as opposed to narrow beam cruisers. A small number of boats indicated that they needed to be craned in and one of these stated that cranage onto the river had been arranged on the Friday from Prebend Street Bridge and back out again on the Tuesday. It is hard to imagine the traffic chaos this must have caused if it actually took place. Whilst it appears that cranage was to be provided there was no indication of the costs involved and presumably the cost of transporting a boat by road must have been borne by the owner. Several boats were attending as members of various boat clubs, including Bedford Boat Club, Ouse Valley River Club based in St Neots, the Pike and Eel Boat Club based at Needingworth and the Cambridge Motor Boat Club based on the River Cam. There were also several boats from Bedford Police Boat Club. I am not sure whether or not this club is still in existence. The Star Rowing Club planned to construct a “banana boat� out of two rowing eights lashed together to look like a Hawaiian canoe for the daytime decorated water procession. Priory Marina had not long been open and slipway facilities would be available here as well as at Silvery Ouse Pleasure Craft Boatyard and Bedford Marina. Neither Silvery Ouse Pleasure Craft Boatyard nor Bedford Marina is still in existence. The Site of the Silvery Ouse Pleasure Craft Boatyard is now the Barnes Hotel.
Ouse News Page 28 I was not boating at this time but remember seeing the street procession whilst shopping in town. It was a bit of a surprise as I cannot remember seeing any adverts for the event and did not realise its significance in the history of the navigation of the River Great Ouse. Were any of you there at that First Bedford River Festival? What are your memories and do you have any photographs? Enid Hodgson Lodes loss fight - Past Snips May 10th - Mike Petty (Facebook) 1974 - Water seeping through the banks of the Reach, Burwell, Swaffham Bulbeck and Bottisham Lodes presented the Great Ouse local land drainage committee with a cash dilemma: spending a smaller amount of money but partly closing the system to navigation or spending a lot more to allow boating to continue. The engineer said there was a straight choice. This involved demolishing all or part of the high-level lode systems so creating a new low-level system of drains, or retaining the high-level systems and controlling the seepage that occurs. “Once you close a system of waterways to navigation you will never get it open again”, he said. 74 05 10 1976 - A flotilla of 14 boats sailed to Burwell in a “quiet demonstration” in support of preserving the ancient fenland waterways. The Commodore of the Cambridge Motor Boat Club, Chief Inspector Roy Hardingham of the City Police said it was designed to make the point that the Lodes should be protected for boating of all kinds, for fishing and because they were part of our heritage. Mr Geoffrey Woollard said Anglian Water Authority now seemed convinced that it would be foolhardy to destroy the Lodes, which are reputed to date back to Roman times. Peter Webb 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.