Book Review

by Anthony Marris

Tales From The Tillerman

A life-long love affair with Britain’s Waterways

By STEVE HAYWOOD

Tales from the Tillerman is Steve Haywood’s latest travelogue, charting his meanderings around England’s inland waterways network over a four year period at around the time of the EU referendum. Given the author’s age and musical taste I assume the name of the book derives from Cat Stevens’ LP from the 1970s “Tea for the Tillerman”, one of my favourite albums.

The book is aimed at a wide audience both the casual travel book reader to the inland waterways enthusiast and so the text is sprinkled with useful information about the size of the network, the reasons and background of the “Canal Age” etc whilst also providing entertaining anecdotes for the experienced boater. Some of his stories such as his entering the River Douglas on the Ribble link in conditions which perhaps were unadvisable verge on sheer madness. Perhaps this account is there to grip the reader from the start.

The author then goes on to describe his admittedly overly optimistic trip to York up the River Ouse, a river which is notoriously prone to flooding in the winter. Yes, guess what, the worst floods duly arrive and the book details a number of Steve Haywood’s adventures on the river before they took the wise decision to take a break to warm, dry South Africa, the only problem being that they had left their passports back on board their narrowboat NB Justice, which by then had been moored in a place only accessible – yes you’ve got it by water. Eventually they persuaded a boatman to take them but he gave them only ten minutes to gather what they needed from the boat before the river rose even higher.

For the benefit of the East Anglian reader, the author decides to head east to explore the Fens and the Great Ouse basin via the Wash, another potentially hazardous trip, this time carried out without drama, giving a good account of the history of Wisbech and the wealth created in previous years contrasted with the more recent decline. He hits the nail on the head as to the reasons behind the Brexit vote which while a great disappointment to him was even more so for his wife, Em. He also gives a detailed account of the Denver Complex, a complex which few in the region realise presently gives them security from the devastations of further flooding.

Finally with the tenants vacating the Haywood house in South London, their dream comes to an end and they find themselves and the reader returning to the humdrum of everyday life – but at least in this case the Haywoods have fulfilled a promise they made to themselves and given the reader an amusing account of their adventures aboard and an insight into the British psyche.

ISBN 978-1-4729-7700-7

Anthony Marris

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IWA Publishes New Guide to Denver Crossing

Like most rivers, the River Great Ouse flows into the sea. The main boundary between the non-tidal river and estuary is at Denver Sluice. The Middle Level is a series of drainage channels.

To get from the non-tidal waters of the River Great Ouse to the Middle Level requires a short estuary crossing between Denver and Salter’s Lode Lock.

For those who have not made this crossing before, it can be daunting. Chris Howes, author of the Imray guides to the Great Ouse and Fenland Waterways, IWA Great Ouse branch member and Eastern Region representative, has put together this very useful guide to navigating between the Middle Level and the Great Ouse.

In it you will find details of how to contact the lock-keepers at either end for the best times to cross, how the tides affect crossing and how to avoid the sand bar; as well as tips on equipment and checks to carry out before you make the crossing. View, download and print the guide on our website.

waterways.org.uk/about-us/news/iwa-publishes-new-guide-to the-denver-crossing

Emergency

convoy leaves

UK with vital flood equipment for Ukraine

An emergency convoy of lorries carrying donated flood equipment left the UK for Ukraine, following the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam.

An emergency convoy of lorries carrying donated flood equipment, including pumps and temporary barriers left the UK for Ukraine on 15th June, following the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam in the Kherson region last week.

Equipment donated by the Environment Agency will offer a significant capability to pump water out of flooded areas and protect from further flooding in Southern Ukraine. Alongside, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office is leading a major relief programme in the area following the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Ukraine and considerable amounts of flood water causing danger to life.

Donated equipment includes three high volume pumps, six mobile pumps that can be used to pump water out of affected areas, and 15km of temporary barriers, which can be used to deflect water and protect critical infrastructure. Environment Agency high volume pumps have the capacity to remove 1750 litres per second from affected sites.

The UK government moved quickly to bolster its support to Ukraine as it deals with severe flooding from the dam breach, which is expected to last for weeks and leave many in need of food, water and basic supplies. Flooding from the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam is having an untold impact on over 42,000 people in the Kherson area. The floods have submerged an estimated 100,000 hectares of agricultural area, important for grain and oil seed production. This compounds an already dire situation, as so much of Ukraine’s agricultural land has been mined and destroyed as part of Russia’s barbaric invasion of Ukraine.

Earlier that week, an additional convoy of life-saving equipment set off from Ashford in Kent, organised by the Home Office, the National Fire Chiefs’ Council and supported by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency. The convoy, which left from Kent Fire and Rescue Service, included 19 rescue boats and more than 2,000 items of flood recovery equipment including helmets, life jackets, throw lines and pumps. It was expected to arrive in L’viv, Ukraine, as a matter of urgency.

This deployment followed the announcement on 10th June that the UK government is giving an extra £16million in humanitarian support as Ukraine deals with the aftermath of the destruction of the Nova Kakhova dam. This builds on our existing humanitarian support of £220 million which is allowing partners, such as the Ukraine Red Cross, to help evacuate civilians affected by the flooding.

Alongside this the UK-led Partnership Fund for a Resilient Ukraine had already delivered two specialist rescue boats, search and rescue equipment, and trauma medicine to Kherson to assist the ongoing rescue operations by the State Emergency Services.

The Beez Neez goes to Liverpool

Graham and Sue Schneider were to leave Stafford on The Beez Neez heading for Liverpool Dock on April 27th. The idea was to visit Liverpool Docks and then take on the Lancaster Canal. Both places we had never been to. The plan was in place and all bookings made. The 8th of May would see us in Liverpool for a week and then on 15th May we would undertake the Ribble Link crossing for the Lancaster visit.Then, everything went pearshaped! We had been thwarted by the owners of the Bridgewater Canal. They were supposed to rebuild Vicars Hall Bridge in November 2016, such work needed a complete closure of the canal. It then got moved to December with an anticipated reopening date of March 2017, then it moved again to February 2017 reopening on 26th May.

Being a flexible crew we went into a huddle. The Liverpool booking would have to be re-scheduled so we picked 28th May. Unfortunately the follow up of that was that we could not get the Ribble Link crossing because all the tides were wrong. We could have spent a month on the Lancaster Canal but we thought that might be too long so the Lancaster visit was cancelled for a future cruise. Being brave we thought we would take on another canal we had never done, the Huddersfield Narrow including the Standedge Tunnel (the longest, deepest and highest tunnel in England) going under the Pennines. We still haven’t done it!!

Lets start with the Macclesfield and then the Peak Forest. Beautiful canals and worth the trip on their own.

Macclesfield Canal

Below the Marple Acqueduct on the Peak Forest Canal

We got as far as Uppermill on the Huddersfield Narrow but having been sat in a lock for three hours, then another two hours to travel the next mile we were a little apprehensive. We had another ten locks to do and overnight the water disappeared again and left us sitting on the mud.

Uppermill is a very nice Pennine town

Executive decision time. The locks were too difficult for the two of us to cope with and the delays caused by lack of water would cause us problems later in the trip so we retraced our route back on to the Trent & Mersey Canal. We headed for Runcorn on the Bridgewater Canal. Mooring behind the Brindley theatre in Runcorn we took in the first night of Guys and Dolls. The show was fantastic and the voices well, all I can say is for an amateur group they were very professional. It was as good as any West End production.

We slowly made our way along the Bridgewater Canal and visited friends in picturesque Lymm.

Luckily we timed it right and we were the first boat north bound through the re-built Vicars Hall bridge, and a day early so we had loads of time to get through Wigan and Burscough to meet up with CRT on the 28th May.

We had to be up bright and early because CRT required us to be at Bridge 9 on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal at 8am. They only operate the bridge at 8am for one hour. Maximum of six narrowboats or three wide beam boats (wide beams count as two narrowboats). We were booked in with four narrowboats and one wide beam. The wide beam went through to Litherland the day before and would meet us there before we descended the four locks into the Liverpool Docks.

Entering Collingwood Dock and passing the Titanic Hotel

Sid’s Ditch which takes us from Collingwood Dock through to Prince’s Dock and then a new tunnel under the Liverpool Museum

There were only two locks to go. Prince’s Lock which we had to operate ourselves and the Mann Island Lock which has to be operated by our CRT crew who had followed us all the way from bridge 9.

Travelling with other boaters who had already been into the docks before helped us to find our way to our mooring in Salthouse Dock, which is right opposite the new shopping centre of Liverpool One.

Just as an aside, I love the sense of humour abounding in Liverpool. The two main football teams both have fan shops in the new Liverpool One shopping centre. Liverpool has the Liverpool Football shop. However Everton don’t stick at that. They call their shop ‘Everton 2’ so their postal address is Everton 2, Liverpool 1. These marketeers eh!

Our mooring for the week. Just a walk away from everything Liverpool has to offer and there is a lot of it so we will be doing it again.