Shrewsbury District & North Wales Branch Newsletter Autumn /Winter 2019
Front cover : Branch Lock Wind photo by Alison Smith If you have a picture of the canals in our area which you would like to see on one of our front covers, email it to andrew.smith@waterways.org.uk
THE BRANCH COMMITTEE
President
Michael Limbrey 01691 654081
michael.limbrey@waterways.org.uk
Chairman
Michael Haig 07801 415573
michael.haig@waterways.org.uk
Secretary
VACANT
shrewsandnwales@waterways.org.uk
Membership Sec.
Dawn Aylwin 01691 830403
dawn.aylwin@waterways.org.uk
Treasurer & Welsh Liaison Officer
Alan Platt
alan.platt@waterways.org.uk
Webmaster
Alan Wilding
alan.wilding@waterways.org.uk
Publicity
Phil Pickin
phil.pickin@waterways.org.uk
Newsletter Editor
Andrew Smith
andrew.smith@waterways.org.uk
Committee Members
Susan Wilding
susan.wilding@waterways.org.uk
NW Region Chairman
Sir Robert Atkins robert.atkins@waterways.org.uk 01995 602225 or 07770 254444
Heritage & Planning
Peter Brown
iwa@peterquita.co.uk
Branch Web pages www.waterways.org.uk/shrewsbury www.facebook.com/pages/IWA-Shrewsbury-Branch/388651831206061 If you would prefer to communicate with the branch in the traditional way, please write to the chairman c/o IWA Chesham address at foot of page Shroppie Fly Paper is the newsletter of the Shrewsbury District & North Wales Branch of The Inland Waterways Association (IWA). IWA is a membership charity that works to protect and restore the country's 6,500 miles of canals and rivers. For further information contact any committee member. Copy for Shroppie Fly Paper is very welcome, preferably by email. Photographs may be in any common computer format or as prints. Please supply a stamped addressed envelope if you require photographs to be returned. ‘Letters to the Editor’ intended for publication are invited, as are comments for the Editor’s private guidance. Copy and letters submitted for publication may be edited. The Inland Waterways Association may not agree with the opinions expressed in this branch newsletter but encourages publicity as a matter of interest. Nothing printed may be construed as official policy unless stated otherwise. The Association accepts no liability for any matter in this newsletter. Any reproduction must be acknowledged. 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 Road, Chesham HP5 1WA Tel: 01494 783 453 Web: www.waterways.org.uk
THE EDITOR'S CUT... Well, it has been another busy summer! From the reports in this issue, you will see that our branch has been represented at many waterways events round the area. These events are a great way to get involved with the waterways and hopefully have some fun along the way. Nonetheless, as the original founders of the Inland Waterways Association showed, working to restore and preserve the waterways does require a lot of determination and stamina— definitely a marathon rather than a sprint. And there may be setbacks along the way. For example, our lobbying about the state of the Ellesmere warehouse has been adversely affected by the collapse of Pochin who owned the property. But on a much more positive note, our efforts on the Audlem crane were rewarded when the newly refurbished structure was returned to Audlem in time for the Festival of Transport in July. Meanwhile the painstaking, detailed work to restore Schoolhouse Bridge on the Montgomery Canal continues. You can read all about that on page 9. What all these endeavours need is volunteers! Since you are reading this magazine , you must be interested in the waterways. If you would like to take your interest a bit further, get in contact or take part in one of the many planned events. As you can see from our cover photo, even an event like our annual lock wind is not all hard work! Plenty of time for a cuppa and a chat with others who love the waterways! Dates of forthcoming events are in the diary on the next page. The next Shroppie Fly Paper will be the Spring 2020 issue. Please send your contributions to me at andrew.smith@waterways.org.uk. Andrew Smith
PS: Please remember that we are always on the lookout for nice waterways related pictures to include in the magazine, so while you are out and about by the canals, please keep your phone or camera to hand!
Next copy date: Friday, March 20, 2020 1
IWA SHREWSBURY DISTRICT & NORTH WALES BRANCH DIARY 2019 / 20 While the Winter is generally a quiet time, we have already been busy planning events all the way into Spring and Summer next year. To reduce travelling and cost many of the branch business meetings now take place online. If you would like to join us online, please contact our Chairman at: michael.haig@waterways.org.uk
Date(s)
Event
See page
Up to Dec 7, 2019
Shrewsbury Charity Xmas Card Shop
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Dec 16, 2019
Branch Business Meeting, Online at 7pm
Jan 4, 2020
Winter Walk, Canal Central to Queens Head
March 9, 2020
Spring Quiz, Navigation Inn
March 20, 2020
Copy deadline for Spring edition
1
April 4, 2020
Branch AGM, Audlem
8
May 2, 2020
Montgomery Canal Triathlon
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July 17-19, 2020
Gnosall C-Fest
26
Aug 8-9, 2020
Branch Lockwind, Cholmondeston
17
Aug 23-24, 2020
Whitchurch Waterways Festival
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FROM THE STEERER A few days before writing this column, we gathered at The Boathouse restaurant in Ellesmere for our annual autumn social gathering. Our speaker was Malcolm Bridge, a Waterway Recovery Group volunteer from the day WRG was formed and – more importantly from the point of view of our talk – a keen advocate of electric boating. Malcolm and his wife Barbara have certainly covered an impressive number of miles in their battery-powered boat, Ampère, and have successfully contended with some of the worst that the British weather could throw at them, as well as some of the best. But in the current spirit of us all trying to do our bit for a ‘sustainable’ future, I couldn’t help wondering: is electric power the future for canal boats and will it herald the demise of the demonised diesel? Now, I am very far from being an engineering whiz, and I’m not even particularly mechanically minded, as anyone who knows me will cheerfully confirm. However, that does tend to put me in what I think is the largest category of waterways users (and indeed the general public): those who will convert to new technologies only when it is practical to do so and when it is clear that they are going mainstream. (You can tell how badly scarred I still am from the VHS/Betamax battle of the 1980s!)
So while I doff my cap and knuckle my forehead to early adopters of batterypowered narrowboats like Malcolm (and indeed the other pathfinders out there – Ampère is not alone), I was keen to learn what this all might mean for the rest of us. Others who attended our get-together may have drawn different conclusions, but I’m afraid I didn’t hear much to encourage me, even though I wanted to. We learned, for example, that if we wanted to commission a boat-builder to prepare us a nice new battery-powered boat, we would probably struggle to find one as things stand at the moment. We learned, too, that to convert an existing diesel-engined boat, particularly one without a ‘traditional’ engine room, would be less than optimal in view of the need to site 1½ tons of batteries in the best position for them to drive the power train. That isn’t under the back deck, apparently. And do we have sufficient draft to accommodate the larger propeller that our battery boat needs to glide efficiently and silently along the waterways? Then, even if we were to overcome these obstacles in our custom-designed hull shell, what of the cost? I’m not going to quote numbers as I don’t have Malcolm’s informative presentation slides handy from which to crib, but I understood that we should adopt the brace position for a fairly hefty price premium. In current battery technology, lithium-ion is what we want, but in view of a price tag that can add tens of thousands to the cost of the boat, it seems unlikely that it’s what we’ll get.
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Finally – at least for this column, though there’s an awful lot more to it than I have mentioned – there’s the challenge (but an opportunity for someone) that the early generation of electric vehicles is facing: range and recharging infrastructure. Although the first electric charging points are starting to appear at a few waterways locations, it looks like it will be a long time before the volume of users provides a tipping point to encourage commercial providers to make them readily available to a burgeoning fleet of electric boats. Ampère’s solution sounded refreshingly DIY in comparison: a diesel generator charging the batteries. Minimal diesel consumption compared to the trusty 42hp diesel, but best not to run it while moving – there’s a lot of muck in the water, as anyone who has fallen in can attest! It seems then, that most who own or hire boats are likely to be reliant on the diesel engine for a considerable number of years to come. And, given the lifespan of a diesel engine – step forward Bolinder, Lister, Russell Newbery and others, not to mention their more modern counterparts – that needn’t be too much of a strain on our natural resources. Let us just hope that we can find pragmatic, workable solutions to duty and VAT rates on diesel fuel and comply with the demands of increasingly strict clean air legislation. Of course, this is all just personal conjecture and I may be completely wrong. You will probably tell me if you think I am!
As autumn draws on, I hope those of our readers who boat still have some good boating days ahead. For those who like to look further ahead, there is always our spring get-together in Audlem to anticipate, complete with a brief branch annual general meeting. Take a look at pages 8/9 and please come and join us. Michael Haig
CANAL & RIVER TRUST WINTER WORKS
The final programme of navigation closures from November 2019 to March 2020 has been published by CRT. Details are available on their “Notices and stoppages” page (https:// canalrivertrust.org.uk/notices). Alternatively a printable version can be downloaded from: https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/media/report/winter-notices.pdf
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REGION CHAIRMAN WRITES My wife and I have just celebrated our Golden Wedding Anniversary (I will take the congratulations as read!) but it reminded us that we had first met on a narrowboat in 1968. It was a 72 ft former Ovaltine workboat called the “Almighty” and was pretty basic in its creature comforts - chemical loo in a bucket etc.! There were eight of us on the vessel and, amongst other shenanigans, we set a world record time for traversing the famous Northampton Flight of locks. Absolutely true - it was in the Guinness Book of Records - and we raised money for charity. But 50 years ago the canals were very different to today - under-used, underresourced and, in many cases, derelict or out of commission. We have come a long way since then and it is to the great credit of members and boaters like you that the situation has improved so much. The IWA Trustees always want to know what you think about the waterways issues of the day, whether by way of User Forums, branch meetings or a pertinent e-mail. Please do keep in touch. You have an excellent, representative and hard-working Branch Committee and your chairman is never slow in communicating his concerns. As you may know by now, your Branch covers both the NW Region of CRT as well as the West Midlands. Not so within the IWA, which causes some logistical difficulties. I understand that there are some differences, not always helpful, in the operation of the two CRT regions and I am exploring how best to ensure that both are as good as each other - or, at least, the same! The Trustees have just been informed that the present Chief Executive of IWA, Neil Edwards, has decided to retire and we are now considering the existing terms of reference for that position and any possible changes that might need to be made. Your thoughts and views would be a help.
And I make no apology for mentioning again that, consequent upon the retirement of our esteemed Regional Secretary, Alan Platt, there is a vacancy. As I have indicated before, not a particularly arduous task but a good working knowledge of waterways and its people would be a help. Is it too early to wish you all the Compliments of the Festive Season? If not, I do so with pleasure. We will be in the Seychelles on our Golden Wedding Anniversary cruise but I shall be thinking of you! Sir Robert Atkins—Chairman, North West Region
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WHITCHURCH WATERWAYS FESTIVAL This was the first year of a new regime at the Whitchurch event; previously it was centred round Chemistry Farm but the centre of operations has now shifted almost to a twin-centred event, one focus being up by the swing bridge at the entrance to the arm, and the other by the bridge at the town end of the arm. However there was a good crowd of boats, with a strong contingent from the Broken Cross Boat Club, and the weather was generally clement, at least by the standards of current climatic uncertainties. When I first attended this, it constituted part of a late summer trip to the large event at Ellesmere, originally an IWA/ SUCS joint event, but in the early noughties this was run by SUCS, followed by many of the same boaters going down to Whitchurch, and in some of those years a Montgomery event also was staged. Some things remain constant, including the Aylwins and my presence, although all of us are slightly longer in years and shorter of energy than of yore, and Brian in his pink boat seems eternal. When I first participated the Farmers brought the ‘sand game’ and much time was spent filling yoghurt pots with sand; now alas both the sand game and Denis and Janet have retired so we sell jam, books, calendars and Christmas cards and any other bits and bobs we have been donated. This year we have also featured the IWA branded merchandise, but these do not seem to attract the buying public; anyway our efforts reaped a satisfactory reward financially. Traditionally for myself there have been two highlights; the evening boaters’ meal was relocated to what is locally referred to as ‘The Masonic’ where according to reports a good time was had by all; unfortunately I’d got the dates wrong and instead we spent the evening with friends at the refurbished ‘Swan’ at Marbury, which I can recommend. The other high point was the dog show, where various canines of mine had succeeded in winning the odd rosette, so I duly entered for two classes. However I omitted to note that the timings given were approximate so turned up to find we’d missed one class; the second class was judged at a swift canter by two local ‘canine beauticians’ (a profession not patronised by my short-haired animal), who seemed to know the names of the
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winners by telepathy, so we came away prizeless, not that Lola seemed bothered as it was a nice walk. On one previous occasion my return to base included taking the ruins of a wrecked gazebo to the skip at the head of the Grindley Brook flight, but the wind was a bit milder and the gazebos a lot stronger, so unburdened I gently ambled down there on Sunday evening, got a hand down the flight in the morning and, having been left on my own for a very good reason, had to gently cruise back to Swanley single-handed. The years have improved my technique but not my energy level, but I managed Wrenbury by the evening and Swanley by Tuesday afternoon, where I had the usual fun and games reversing into the pontoon in the wind; and so, as they say, to bed. A date for your diary - The next Whitchuch Festival will be on 22 -23 August 2020
Alan Platt
(Photos courtesy of Dawn Aylwin)
MEMBERSHIP MATTERS We are delighted to welcome the following members who have either transferred to the Branch or joined as new members since the Summer edition and hope to meet you all at one of the events advertised in this magazine.
Mr Allum & Ms Greenwood from Oakengates, Telford Mr Bastos & Miss Rosser from Oswestry Mr & Mrs Bowker from Betws-yn-Rhos, Abergele Mr Challinor from Benllech, Tyn-y-Gongl Mr Chambers from Bowbrook, Shrewsbury Ms Davis from Cheddleton, Leek Mr McCarthy & Ms Light from Telford Mr & Mrs Squires from Whitchurch Mr & Mrs Turnbull from Jedburgh
Dawn Aylwin
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2020 ANNUAL MEMBERS’ MEETING (AND BRANCH AGM) Saturday, 4 April 2020 10.15am (for 10.30 start) Audlem Public Hall 12 Cheshire Street Audlem CW3 0AH For our spring get-together next year we will make a welcome, some would say overdue, visit to the quintessential Shropshire Union Canal village of Audlem. Two years ago in 2017, the Audlem community celebrated the opening of a very smart annexe to its long-established Main Hall. Our venue will be the Small Hall in the annexe, right by the (free) main car park in the centre of the village. We are delighted to announce that well-known writer John Liley has agreed to be our speaker at the event. John wrote the classic canal book “Journeys of the Swan” about his canal voyages in 1964/65, was later the editor of Motor Boat and Yachting, and has been a regular contributor to Waterways World for several decades. John’s latest book “The Trouble with Canals” was published by Audlem Mill a couple of years ago. John plans to talk about his career in waterways, including the campaigning of the 1950s and 60s, and what he has discovered in other countries - including the recent resurgence in freight barge traffic on the larger routes in France. Continuing our historical theme, there will also be a screening of the short 1964 satirical film “The Prendergast File”, in which a civil servant sent by the Ministry of Public Apathy to investigate canals, with an eye on their closure, meets some of those involved, becomes enthusiastic and “goes native”.… Our volunteers will provide a finger buffet lunch at a cost of £6.50 per head, payable on the day. To arrange the venue and catering, we would ask members to let us know in advance if they wish to attend, by email to shrewsandnwales@waterways.org.uk. After lunch there are lots of options for canal and country walks around Audlem. Branch chairman Michael Haig will lead a 40-60 minute circuit up the Audlem flight before striking off on country lanes and paths to return to the village. Please mark the date in your diaries and join us for a (hopefully sunny) spring day in Audlem. When planning your travel, please note that there will be no access to the hall before 10am.
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IWA SHREWSBURY DISTRICT & NORTH WALES BRANCH Notice is hereby given for the 2020 Annual General Meeting of the Shrewsbury District & North Wales Branch of The Inland Waterways Association to be held on Saturday 4 April 2020 at 10.30am at Audlem Public Hall, 12 Cheshire Street, Audlem CW3 0AH AGENDA
Apologies for absence Approval of the minutes of the 2019 AGM Matters arising from the minutes Treasurer’s report Chairman’s report Election of committee members
Any resolutions requested by members of the branch should be notified to the branch chairman at least six weeks prior to the AGM.
IT’S THAT BRIDGE AGAIN! Once upon a time, when the end of the last century was still some way off, there were canal enthusiasts who regretted the dereliction of the Shrewsbury & Newport Canal but little effort was being made to revive it – rather as is the case today with the Leominster Canal. So the Council decided to carry out a test on one of the canal’s old brick bridges. In a test to destruction the bridge took a load of 200 tons before collapsing: those canal builders knew how to build bridges! 1
If it’s easy to destroy a canal bridge it’s harder to try to build one. Schoolhouse Bridge was the obvious objective to follow the current HLF programme and our engineer Roger Bravey – you may have heard him at the Montgomery Canal Forum in May – started to look at the bridge over four years ago, and it was the early focus of the joint Restore the Montgomery Canal! appeal. I reported in the last SFP that the application for planning permission for Schoolhouse Bridge had been submitted. We think permission will have been granted by the time you read this. The intervening period has involved more intensive and detailed discussions with engineers of Shropshire Council, with the contractors for the bridge arch and the retaining walls and possibly with the uncle from Widdecombe Fair too.
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We have seen a draft of the planning permission conditions. They say that even though we have planning consent we still need the Council’s approval of the construction details, highway layout, surface water drainage and even the facing bricks. Our Construction Method Statement and our Tree Protection Plan and Arboricultural Method Statement have to be approved, as does the Approval in Principle document prepared after detailed discussions with the Council (we have to position with great care the dots on the i’s and the crosses on the t’s). We also have to provide design and check certificates to show that somebody else has approved the details so the Council can. And we have to get an ecological consultant to confirm that we are complying with the recommendations of our ecologists (who didn’t find any bats, badgers or tigers). In other discussions we have to work out who is to be identified as the party wanting the bridge to be built, who then will be its representative arranging for the work to be done, its contractors doing the work, its consulting engineers advising on how the work is to be done, who is to approve the plans’ compliance with highway and canal standards, who are to be the subcontractors supplying the bridge arch, the retaining walls and the finished road surface, who will own the bridge at the end and what will be the arrangements between the Council and CRT for ongoing maintenance above and below. We know who all these people are, but there has been some jockeying for position to settle the final arrangements. On top of all this is the necessity to record ownership where the changed bridge position may not accord with present CRT and Council land boundaries. And of course we need to finalise agreements with the neighbouring owners – all of whom I must emphasise have been very helpful. Oh, and we have to get the work finished next year to meet the conditions of the valuable IWA contribution from the Tony Harrison legacy. There is a water main in the bridge. We propose to lay a temporary pipe bypassing the bridge and then to provide a duct in the bridge for the new pipe. Severn-Trent have been asked for their approval. They have just said this will cost £75,000 – one quarter of our budget for the whole bridge!! Discussions are continuing! 2 None of this will be a surprise to members with experience in construction! I expect they will now be asking themselves if over the next twelve months they could help this important project in some way. Our plans involve a sequence of volunteer work parties from spring to autumn next year and we are talking to WRG about the help they can give. We shall of course be using specialist sub-contractors for the skilled tasks such as the retaining banks and the installation of the arch. I am sure there are too local supporters who will want to help: in particular we could use a local team to help with the arrangements, not necessarily skilled, being on hand to help visitors to the site – the bigger the team, the better we can share the load so no-one is called upon all the time. Could this be you? Do get in touch.
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It is essential to rebuild Schoolhouse Bridge. It would cost three times our budget to bring in contractors for the whole job, and it would be a monumental task to raise nearly a million pounds – as the Lichfield & Hatherton Canals Restoration Trust has been finding. The Lottery? The initial bid for the current project was submitted six years ago following the failure of an earlier application and the final award was announced 3½ years later. Lottery bids require much preparation and have to include a mix of projects beyond simple restoration, and of course they need match funding. CRT is currently planning a bid for the Vyrnwy Aqueduct – in desperate need of repair – and will have a list of other projects across the country which need lottery support too. How’s the Appeal going? I reported in the last SFP that we had over £280,000. Since then we have been making grant applications where we see the opportunity, receiving monthly donations from our stalwart supporters (a great help) and making collections at events like Braunston Festival and Shrewsbury Steam Rally. (These events really are fun: could you join us next year? Do get in touch.) Unfortunately, we still do not have a final cost and you can see why from all the details I have outlined above. We do have a promise of support if the cost exceeds our expectations, but of course that would have to be repaid. Which means we need to continue with the fund-raising. I am sure many members have supported the Restore the Montgomery Canal! appeal already – many thanks to all – if you have not, or indeed haven’t done so recently, we still need help: and if we really do have too much at the end, well, we have two miles of dry canal to tackle to get us to the border.
Rebuilding Schoolhouse Bridge next year will be one of the biggest volunteerled projects in fifty years of Montgomery Canal restoration, and it will be one of the most important waterway restoration projects of 2020. It will open up the way to restore the canal to Llanymynech and then into Wales. Could you help, on site, online, raising funds? Do get in touch. Michael Limbrey michael.limbrey@waterways.org.uk 1
The test took place in 1985 and was reported in the Shropshire Star in May 2019 -www.shropshirestar.com/news/features/2019/05/18/world -crumbles-for-once-proud-bridge
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BT now tell us that they want nearly £1,000 not to arrange a temporary diversion of the telephone line crossing the bridge, but to tell us how much it would cost to do so.
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SMALL TASKS TEAM VOLUNTEERS During the summer months the team has been busy tidying up. June saw us at Calveley where we laid top dressing to the ramps and steps which we had built earlier. We also did quite a lot of painting!
In July we re-painted the lock gates at Cholmondeston and gave some attention to Barbridge Junction. The steps which we constructed on a very snowy day some time ago were very overgrown. Top dressing was not available to us, but we were able to weed the steps and cut back the vegetation before painting.
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Fortunately, the moorings were almost deserted which gave chance for them to be cleared of the grass and weeds.
The big gate was in a sorry state. It was given a holding treatment with some extra timbers and then it was painted. There are two benches, one each side of the junction, one of these is dedicated to the memory of Fred and Doris Archer and their boat Juliana. In spite of the heat (it was July 26th!) they were also painted. August saw some us at Ellesmere. We ran a stall and managed the trip boat provided by C&RT. The picture shows the boat passing Ellesmere Yard where the displays were held. At the end of the month the Whitchurch Festival gave us another opportunity to man the trip boat and spread news of our ventures! Alas the September and October work parties had to be abandoned for reasons beyond our control. We are hoping for better luck in November when we are due to be working at Coole Pilate, creating a flight of steps from the lay-by to the tow path. Extra volunteers will be welcome! John Banister STTV are always prepared to welcome new members. Contact: John Riley
01352 741322 / 07707 781832 | johnriley1701@gmail.com
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ROD, POLE AND A LOT OF PERCH I read about the 2019 national angling championship details in the Spring edition of this magazine and carefully noted the dates planning to miss them all. So leaving Wheaton Aston one very sunny Sunday morning in September my heart sank when there up ahead, just beyond bridge 24, was a dreaded fishing competition. However the closer we got, it became obvious it was not a usual competition as there was much too much activity on the towpath. In the first section between Little Onn and High Onn bridges the competitors were all teenagers. The next section up to bridge 26 consisted of middle school aged children some of whose feet didn't touch the ground. They all had posh angling equipment, long carbon poles, seat tackle boxes etc and most wore the padded fishing dungarees. All were accompanied by parents and/or grandparents; hence the crowded towpath. More importantly there were a lot of official 'fishing tutors' several of whom thanked us for cruising slowly down the middle of the canal. The younger children were very excited and proudly told us what they had caught, including a lot of perch (possibly I misheard and it was roach) whereas the older teenagers were already learning the fisherman's scowl, or perhaps they were just concentrating hard on the job. The competition continued through the turnaround bridge with a small group of younger children who fished with rods rather than poles; the youngest was only 5 years old but was a bit dispirited as unfortunately he had not caught anything. In total 103 young people took part; all out in the fresh air and all learning to fish. It was great to see and was in contrast to the knife crime reports we saw on TV when we returned home. Dawn Aylwin
SHROPPIE FLY PAPER BACK ISSUES ONLINE!
Did you know that you can access back issues of this magazine at issuu.com? The link to find issues back to 2009 is https://issuu.com/waterwaysassoc/stacks/ ff499dbd5f2941bba5e738cf88c600d6 But if that’s too much to type in, try this shortened version! https://bit.ly/2Pn5arf
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HURLESTON WORK BEGINS Regular readers will be well aware of the ongoing problems with the bottom lock (Lock 4) of the Hurleston flight with boats over the standard 6’ 10” width in danger of getting stuck. Work had been planned for winter 18/19. However due to “complexities in delivering the works” they were deferred to this winter.
There have been restrictions on the Hurleston Flight since Monday 15 April with the flight only open from 08:00— 17:00 and lockkeepers on hand to assist. Work has now commenced with assembly of a work compound at the top of the flight and construction of a roadway by the side of the towpath down to Lock 4. Lock 4 will be closed from Monday 4 November and the works are due to last until March 27, 2020. The CRT Winter Stoppages list states that “An extensive lock wall rebuild is required to restore the navigable width of the lock chamber. The navigation will be dewatered, the existing lock wall will be dismantled, re-constructed and reinstated to its previous alignment.” Mike Butler has posted these pictures on the CRT Volunteers Hurleston Locks Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/groups/655795918126822/). The page is a great place for updates on the Hurleston Flight and other work that the volunteers undertake on the canals around the Flight. We hope to be able to report the successful completion of the works in the Spring issue of Shroppie Fly Paper! Andrew Smith
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EXHIBITION AT ABBEY STATION , SHREWSBURY, JULY 2019. This was an interesting event suggested to us by Frank Sarre of the Shrewsbury Railway Heritage Trust who is also an IWA member. The Abbey Station has been recently restored and the trustees want the two rooms to be used by other groups. We decided to give it a go under the banner of the Shrewsbury & Newport Canals Trust, Shrewsbury Group, although we also included IWA and Montgomery Restoration information. After a busy two days of transporting the display materials and setting up, we opened to the public for five days. During this time we had around 220 visitors, some briefly, others spending about an hour with us. Stewarding was undertaken by SNCT members as well as members of the Railway Trust. Donations were divided between the two trusts. We had lots of photographs, a guillotine lock model, a time-line and videos as well as pull-ups and large maps. The man who built the lock model actually came to look around along with people who remembered the Shrewsbury Canal when it was in use. People were interested in canals generally as well as the restoration work at Berwick Tunnel, a few miles from Shrewsbury. Membership forms were taken away so we hope we have encouraged some folk to join one or more of the organisations. It is an excellent venue so we hope we can have another exhibition next year, possibly either early in the season or after September when we can involve more volunteers. Susan & Alan Wilding Pic 1 Group watching video of the Tree Stump removal at Berwick (facebook.com/iwa.shrewsbury which has had over 2000 people views)
Pic 2 Susan Wilding with James Gollins of SNCT at The Abbey Station
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SHREWSBURY CARD SHOP—HELP CHARITIES AND GET XMAS SORTED
Did you know that IWA’s Christmas cards and our branch’s pictorial waterways calendar are on sale at the pop-up charity Christmas card shop at St Mary’s Church, Shrewsbury between 25th October and 7th December? If you’re visiting Shrewsbury for business or pleasure why not look in and meet all your Christmas card and gift needs from the super stock on offer? The shop is open Monday to Saturday from 10.15am until 4pm each day and is at St Mary’s Church, St Mary's Street, Shrewsbury SY1 1DX.
Mayor of Shrewsbury, Councillor Phil Gillam opens this year’s Charity Christmas Card Shop
Part of our commitment to the charity card shop at the church is to help out for a few mornings while the shop is open, helping people to find the cards they want and restocking the sales trays. If you live reasonably close to Shrewsbury would you like and be able to help us with this? Our present stalwart, Hugh, who has been volunteering at the card shop for a good few years now, will be there on Saturday 9th and 23rd November from 10am to 1.15pm. He would be delighted to see you and can show you how easy it is to help.
BRANCH LOCK WIND
As this photo shows, the weather was a little changeable at this year’s lock wind. Due to the restrictions at Hurleston, we moved the event to Cholmondeston lock (one of the busiest in the country apparently). Over the two days we helped 75 boats through the lock. We had 13 volunteers at the lock who together logged 162 volunteer hours. We also had help from those who baked and conserved the delicious cakes, jams and chutneys that we had on sale. We are in the process of planning next year’s lock wind and details will be in a future issue of Shroppie Fly Paper..
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AWARD GIVEN TO PETER BROWN FOR SHROPSHIRE UNION CANAL BOOK At its annual conference in Somerset, the Association for Industrial Archaeology presented its annual Professional Publications Award to Peter Brown, for his book, The Shropshire Union Canal, from the Mersey to the Midlands and MidWales. This award is given to encourage high standards in the publication of research and recording in industrial archaeology. AIA’s journal, Industrial Archaeology Review, describes how the author has set himself an enormous task, and the result is a thoroughly researched account of the establishment, development, growth, decline and partial revival of a complex of waterways spanning a century-and-a-half of tremendous importance in the economic and social history of Britain. In summary, Peter’s book is ‘a model of its kind, putting canal history into its broader context. Thoroughly referenced, well-indexed, equipped with a good suite of maps and appropriate illustrations, the quality of its production is outstanding.’ Making the presentation, the AIA President, Professor Marilyn Palmer, said ‘The judges were all impressed by the scope of the book, which is far more than a straight canal history.’ The well-illustrated book gives the history of the canals of Shropshire, west Cheshire and the Welsh border counties from 1768 to 2018 Peter is a longstanding member of the IWA and a past Chairman of this branch. His article on “Preserving the Canalscape” can be found on page 20. Peter said, ‘I’m delighted to have won this prestigious award. I look upon the canals as businesses and also as part of local history, promoted by local people for local purposes. I’ve tried to assess whether they succeeded in their aims and what their effect has been on the local community.’ The book was reviewed by Alan Platt in the Autumn/ Winter issue of the Shroppie Fly Paper which you can read online at https://issuu.com/ waterwaysassoc/docs/spf_201811. It is published by the Railway & Canal Historical Society, price £35 and is available through the website of the Railway & Canal Historical Society <www.rchs.org.uk/shop> or from the Canal Book Shop, Audlem.
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AUDLEM CRANE RETURNS! A year ago, we reported that the crane at Audlem Wharf had been fenced off by Canal and River Trust for safety reasons. In our Spring issue, we reported on the removal of the crane which was being taken to Northwich for refurbishment by CRTâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s lock gate carpenters.
Flat-pack crane arrives
On 17th July, our roving reporter Graham Russell was once again present to witness and record the return of this iconic structure in time for the Audlem Festival of Transport. Thanks to him for the photos of the event!
Is it straight?
Crane back in its rightful place
It is very pleasing to see the crane back in position ready to feature in many more holiday snapshots. There is no doubt that this is in no small part due to lobbying from this branch which has been very persistent in first highlighting the craneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s poor state of repair and pressing for progress on its refurbishment.
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PROTECTING THE CANALSCAPE
Regular readers will be aware of our serious concern about the warehouse at Ellesmere which is deteriorating rapidly. It is an important part of the ‘canalscape’ of Ellesmere. These concerns have prompted this review of the protection of canal-related buildings and structures. The other photos in this article show examples of successful adaptive reuse of canalside buildings in our area. There are various legal forms of protection including listed buildings, scheduled monuments, World Heritage Sites and conservation areas. Buildings (including engineering structures) can be ‘listed’ by Historic England (Cadw in Wales) if they are of special historical or architectural interest. There are three categories: Grade I (exceptional interest — about 1½% of the total), Grade II* (about 5¾%) and grade II. In our Branch area there are over 350 canal-related listed buildings. Pontcysyllte and Longdon Aqueducts are listed Grade I. Grade II* structures include Chirk Aqueduct and Tunnel, Vyrnwy Aqueduct, Nantwich Church Minshull: former stables Aqueduct, Beech House and many of converted to a dwelling the depot buildings at Ellesmere, several lift bridges, and Telford’s valve house at Belvide Reservoir. Scheduled monuments are nationally important archaeological sites, designated by Historic England or Cadw. It is possible to be both a scheduled monument and a listed building: examples are Pontcysyllte and Longdon Aqueducts. Conservation areas are designated by local planning authorities to conserve all aspects of character or appearance that define an area’s special interest. Some local authorities are active — for example, the entire length of the Shropshire Union Main Line in the area of the Borough of Stafford has been designated. Others have made relatively little use of the legislation. All these legal forms of protection are relevant matters to be taken into account when an application is made to the planning authority for changes which affect the property (including demolition). But there is a gap in the law. Although permission is needed to alter or demolish a listed building, there is no duty to ensure it doesn't just fall down.
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Local planning authorities may serve an Urgent Works Notice, saying that the Council intends to do basic necessary works and will either reclaim the costs from the owner or place the cost as a charge on the property. Alternatively, it may serve a Repairs Notice which specifies the work necessary; it must also explain that failure to comply may result in proceedings are started to compulsorily acquire the building.
Pentreheylin: former warehouse converted to dwelling
Normally open market value is paid when a property is purchased compulsorily. However, only minimum compensation would be paid if the owner has deliberately allowed the building to fall into disrepair in order to justify its demolition and secure permission for redevelopment of the site. Regrettably, these powers are not well used for fear of the potential cost to the public purse. In addition, cuts to local government finance have greatly reduced the number of specialist staff , in many cases to just one per local authority; much expertise has been lost.
Queenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Head: former warehouse now used by Shropshire Paddlesport, a community-based canoeing and kayaking club
A Compulsory Purchase Order will not be approved without an agreed end use and funding for the heritage asset. If the local planning authority can identify a partner to underwrite the financial risk it might be more willing to act. This could be the National Trust, the Landmark Trust, or some other conservation body. Sometimes third-party funding may be identified, the most important source being the National Lottery Grants for Heritage programme. Any funder will insist that there is a sustainable business plan. This can be tricky for buildings such as warehouses and virtually impossible for engineering structures.
Inevitably, success usually comes by persuasion: by convincing the owner that restoration is worthwhile or that they should sell to someone willing to undertake the work, or by convincing the local authority to use its powers. This requires the decision-makers to be convinced that repairing the building or structure is worth doing for historic, environmental, social or safety reasons, or because it would be too publicly embarrassing not to do it.
Peter Brown
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WHY DO I DO IT?
This is the first of a series of short articles where branch volunteers talk about what they enjoy about taking part in IWA activities. Thanks to Alan Platt for agreeing to go first! We had joined the IWA in the 1980’s but work and family excluded any active participation, but when my wife died in 2002 I felt I needed to get involved in something to avoid stagnation. I rang up Dawn Aylwin, the then Secretary, and she said turn up to a committee meeting to see what was going on so I did. John, the then Chairman was quite deaf, which did make for short meetings, and he didn’t hear my bleatings that I was there just to see what was going on, so before I knew it I was on the committee. I learnt in double quick time how to put up a gazebo, the mysteries of the sand game, and how the restoration of the Monty is really much more important than Brexit. I also made a number of friends, and hopefully not too many enemies, and think in my volunteering I do more good than harm. I am not a practical body, and as I get older I get more inept, so work parties or WRG are not for me, but I can man a stand, impart hopefully not totally inaccurate information to the public and attend meetings without falling asleep, some of which abilities are useful. I’ve also enjoyed myself a lot which is at the heart of it, because if I didn’t like it I’d stop. That’s the heart of volunteering, having fun while doing a bit of good. Alan Platt
QUIZ NIGHT -MONDAY, MARCH 9, 2020 7.30PM The Narrowboat Inn at Whittington Wharf - formerly Maestermyn Marina - (SY11 4NU tel: 01691 661051) will again host the popular Branch Quiz Night in March. Come along with some friends or join others on the night to form a team and test your general knowledge. Last year's winners set the questions - can you outwit them? It will be the usual format with a meal beforehand from 6.30pm - prior notice of those wishing to eat would be helpful. The quiz follows at 7.30pm. For further information contact us using the details on the inside front cover.
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RNLI FESTIVALâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;OVERWATER MARINA SEPTEMBE R8, 2019 The branch had a stand at the 9th annual Overwater RNLI Festival. The event is a good opportunity to promote the work of the IWA. We make use of a gazebo provided by IWA headquarters. It features a very large map of the Inland Waterways of Britain which is a great talking point and the start of many a discussion; particularly about how the IWA is different from CRT and how we promote the maintenance and restoration of all inland waterways regardless of their navigation authority. It was a fun day, the highlight of which was the raft race where, ironically, the RNLI raft sank and had to be rescued by their own safety boat!
Andrew Smith Raft race photo courtesy of Overwater Marina
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LIGHTING UP TIME It’s ten years since the top of the Llangollen joined the list of World Heritage Sites. To celebrate a ‘spectacular light show’ was held over three weeks in October, organised by the Canal & River Trust with Clwydian Range & Dee Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Wrexham County Borough Council and Denbighshire County Council. There were illuminations of Horseshoe Falls, Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, Chirk aqueduct and railway viaduct plus Castell Dinas Brân overlooking Llangollen town. You may have seen splendid pictures in the local media or the waterway press.
Pontcysyllte Aqueduct illuminated . Photo by Phil Pickin
And those publicity pictures must have been the objective because for me the commemoration merely underlined how little has been achieved in terms of access to these structures, remembering that the best way to appreciate them is from below. We joined Alan and Susan Wilding and friends who were going to look, starting at Chirk where there was a good view from the small terrace at the side of the Bridge Inn. The only public parking is by Bridge 21 involving a walk down the unlit road to the pub. Trees along the main road obstructed any view of the illuminations. The others then went into Chirk and walked down the dark path from above the tunnel as the entrance was also said to be lighted, but they were disappointed to find it was not. The situation at Chirk was repeated at Pontcysyllte. The aqueduct was lit from below with a changing sequence of colours. We tried to view the display from the towpath but, not surprisingly, that was a bit tricky in the dark! Down by the river people were trying to find somewhere to park along the unsuitable roads either side of the old road bridge then climbing over a padlocked gate into a muddy field.
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At least there is a public footpath at Chirk, but at either venue I wonder if there was any Health & Safety consideration of an event encouraging people – at least those with unlimited mobility – to wander into muddy fields in the dark to get the only good view of the lights. The displays themselves were no doubt very impressive and I am sure those who took the trouble to get to them will have enjoyed what they saw. But, please, after ten years can the Canal & River Trust, Clwydian Range & Dee Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Wrexham County Borough Council and Denbighshire County Council do something about access so that people can see these splendid structures at their best! Michael Limbrey
MONTGOMERY CANAL 2019 PHOTO EXHIBITION This year’s exhibition was successfully launched on 3rd of October at Newtown library . The photographic workshops on the Heulwen Trust boat and on the towpath combined with a good response to our call for entries led to a great selection of photos, depicting a canal being widely used for a range of recreational activities. It also has a wide variety of amazing views of the “Monty”, a section about narrowboats built and decorated by young people, and of course the traditional panel dedicated to the restoration, with the focus this year being on the winding hole at Crickheath. The latter was of particular interest to past and current mayors of Newtown who joined us for the launch. David Selby, who currently holds the post, is well familiar with canals as he lived on a narrowboat on the Kenneth and Avon for a while. After Newtown, the exhibition will be at: Welshpool library, Brook St, SY21 7PH, 4 Nov-17 Dec. Opening hours Mon 9:30 - 18:30, Tue 9:30 - 17:00, Wed 9:30 - 13:00, Fri 9:30 16:30, Sat 9:30 - 13:00, closed on Thursday and Sunday. Oswestry library, Arthur St, SY11 1JN, 3-31 January. Opening hours Mon-Tue 9:30-17.00, Wed 9:30-18.00, Thu-Fri 9:30-17,00, Sat 9:30-16.00, closed on Sunday. Sylvia Edwards Montgomery Canal Community Development Officer
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BRANCH WINTER WALK SATURDAY 4TH JANUARY 2020 MONTGOMERY CANAL TOWPATH APPROX 2.5 MILES Meet at 9.45am at Queen's Head Hotel Car Park. SY11 4EB - just off the A5 and canal-side in north Shropshire. Walkers:Arrange car share to Canal Central, Maesbury Marsh, SY10 8JG, leaving remaining cars at Queen's Head. Road route sketch will be provided. Park cars at Canal Central and have a coffee/tea and a scone (as we are making use of their parking and toilet facilities the cafe owners would like us to do this). Set off at 10.30am to walk along canal towpath towards Queen's Head stopping in Maesbury Marsh to look at Sycamore House and the Navigation Inn, then later the Nature Reserves and Aston Locks. Lunch at Queen's Head - orders for food to be collected at start or over coffee and phoned through. After lunch car-share to collect cars from Canal Central. Details on our website: waterways.org.uk/shrewsbury.-or facebook.com/iwa.shrewsbury. To help advise cafĂŠ and pub of numbers please pre-book with Alan or Susan on 01743 359650.
GNOSALL C-FEST RETURNS! JULY 17-19, 2020
The organisers of this summerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first Gnosall Canal Festival (C-Fest) have announced that the event will be returning in 2020. Planned attractions include historic boat displays, trade boats, waterside treasure hunt. If you want to express an interest in participating, or to be kept up to date with news you can email the organisers at Cfest.gnosall@gmail.com
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2020 CALENDAR – NOW AVAILABLE
Our 2020 branch calendar featuring the usual excellent selection of canal scenes from our branch area went on sale in July. It’s selling well so don’t miss out!
The calendar is available from our usual outlets: Aqueduct Marina, Audlem Mill, Blackwater Meadow Marina, Kings Lock Chandlery, OverWater Marina, Venetian Marina Chandlery, whitchrch Marina, Wrenbury Mill (ABC Boat Hire) as well as the charity card shop at St Mary’s Church, Shrewsbury (see p17). We also supply by mail order at £6.00 per calendar including p&p. Please send cheques (made payable to IWA) to 7 Barnton Edge, Stone, Staffs ST15 8ZR or you can pay by PayPal to 07801 415573. Don’t forget to let us know your postal address so we can send you the calendar! For any questions please contact michael.haig@waterways.org.uk Thanks as always to our wonderful sponsors:
Aqueduct Marina 01270 525041 Cheshire Cat Narrowboat Holidays 07867 790195 Kings Lock Chandlery 01606 737564 Mercia Marine Insurance 01684 564457 M&L Canal Services and Mobile Engineer 07970 384047 Moors Farm 01938 553395 Morris Lubricants 01743 232200 OverWater Marina 01270 812677 Swanley Bridge Marina 01270 524571 Talbot Wharf 01630 652641 Venetian Marina 01270 528251 Whittington Wharf Narrowboats 01691 662424
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CANAL PEOPLE POWER IN OSWESTRY
Heritage Open Days are an England-wide exercise in bringing people to parts of our heritage they might not otherwise reach. Oswestry has one of the most ambitious Heritage Open Day programmes for any area.
This year one of the features of the Oswestry programme was a display of 101 posters of â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;People Powerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; for all ten Heritage Open Days, celebrating local voluntary organisations, and the canals were there! The branch display was accompanied by others for the Friends of the Montgomery Canal and the Triathlon, SUCS, Llanymynech Heritage Area Group (the Llimeys), Montgomery Waterway Restoration Trust and the Shrewsbury & Newport. There were many other local organisations on the display: next to the SUCS poster was one for the Oswestry Society of Naturist Joggers who must have thought they had some useful exposure from the exhibition. Is there an opportunity in your area to promote the work of the IWA? Michael Limbrey
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2020 MONTGOMERY CANAL TRIATHLON Following the success of the 2019 Montgomery Canal Triathlon, which raised £5,000 for the restoration of Schoolhouse Bridge, the date of the 2020 event has been announced by the Friends of the Montgomery Canal as Saturday 2nd May. The organisers aren’t sure whether to expect a further visit from Sir Gareth Edwards, Welsh rugby legend and his wife Maureen, who helped start the 2019 event as part of a feature on the Montgomery Canal in their television series on the canals of Wales ‘Gareth’s Great Welsh Adventure’. The Montgomery Canal programme was screened on 25th October on BBC 1 Wales. Nevertheless, once again, triathlon entrants can attempt any or all of the three sections in one day along 35 miles of the Canal: CYCLING 17 miles from Newtown to Pool Quay; WALKING 11 miles from Pool Quay to Morton; CANOEING 7 miles from Morton to Lower Frankton. Entry fees are £25 for the full Triathlon or £10 per section (£12.50 and £5 for juniors). Hire charges for canoes/kayaks and for bus transport in the morning are detailed on the Entry Form which is available at www.montgomerycanal.me.uk/fmcevents2020.html and the closing date for entries is 18th April 2020. The Triathlon is organised in support of the restoration of the Montgomery Canal and organisers hope they will be able to donate another large sum from the 2020 event. If entrants would like to raise funds personally for the restoration through their entry in the Triathlon, they can download a 'Restore The Montgomery Canal' sponsorship form which is also available at www.montgomerycanal.me.uk/fmcevents2020.html. We hope we’ll see you at next year's event (either as an entrant or as a helper along the route! Contact montcanaltriath@btinternet.com). Maggie Ellis Friends of The Montgomery Canal
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