The Red Lion at

Fenny Stratford

A friendly, warm and inviting canalside pub, offering a selection of great wines, speciality gins, beers and ales. There is a tasty lunchtime and evening menu, all very reasonably priced. Why not stop by for our amazing Sunday Roast, but remember to book so as not to be disappointed. Karen, Nicky and their team will be sure to make your visit a pleasurable experience.

11 Lock View Lane, Fenny Stratford, MK1 1BY 01908 372317 https://www.redlionbletchley.co.uk karentheredlion@gmail.com

IWA moves house

Following expiry of the 15-year Lease at Island House. Moor Road, Chesham, IWA Head Office moved on 26 April, just up the road to a new address: Unit 16 B, First Floor, Chiltern Court, Asheridge Road, Chesham HP5 2PX.

Although a redirect will be in place for any mail sent to the old office for three months following the move, please make sure to use the new address below from 26 April onwards. The telephone number remains the same: 01494 783453, as do all staff email addresses.

As the move is to a different postcode sector i.e. from HP5 1XX to HP5 2XX, Head Office was not able to keep HP5 1WA, the rather handy former postcode.

Luton GP trains for London Marathon on GU towpath

On 21 April, BBC Look East featured Dr Naushin Hossain, a GP from a practice in Luton, who was using the towpath at Leighton Buzzard (her "favourite canal") to build up her stamina for taking part in the London Marathon on 23 April for the second time.

Much of her final training was done while fasting during Ramadan. She took part in the Marathon to raise funds for a mental health support centre in Luton, and completed the course in about six hours. She plans to run in other major marathons, the next at Chicago.

Robbie Cumming’s viewpoint

The 29 April - 5 May edition of Radio Times magazine (circulation just under 500,000) featured canal video diarist Robbie Cumming as guest writer in its Viewpoint column. Under the title "Bring Back Barges", Robbie argues that canals could fix our transport nightmare. (That title grates at first sight, but wait!)

Aboard his narrowboat Naughty Lass, Robbie has time to think about some big questions. Recently, on the Sheffield & Tinsley Canal, he passed under the M1, where the traffic was moving at 4mph or less - ironically the speed limit on the canal system. The sight prompted him to ask "Does everything need to be delivered next day? Surely with a bit more planning we can adapt successfully to a slower form of travel." As examples, he mentions the Jules Fuels fleet on the Grand Union and and barge operator John Branford, transporting tons of building sand on the Aire & Calder.

Robbie acknowledges that not all of the canals could support large-scale commercial traffic, but he points to the greatly under-used parts of the network that were improved at great expense in the 1980s for "a boating revival that never quite happened. But that was then, and this is now." Time to bring back the working boats, he says.

Hip-hooray

Members will be glad to know that Rodney Evans (former Branch Social Secretary and Lock Adoption Scheme Supervisor), is back home from hospital after he broke his hip in a fall in early April. His aim now is to regain strength and dispense with the walking frame!

IWA launches Protect Our Waterways campaign

Following last September’s launch of its Waterways for Today report, IWA launched its Protect Our Waterways campaign in March. IWA is deeply concerned about the threat to our waterways posed by funding cuts. The financial situations of Canal & River Trust and Scottish Canals are especially critical. Despite being recognised in the government’s Environmental Improvement Plan, the condition of the waterways continues to deteriorate while government funding is decreasing.

Canals and rivers are valuable assets which can contribute to the country’s economic recovery, help to mitigate the impacts of climate change and enrich the lives of local communities, as highlighted in our Waterways for Today report. Ongoing funding is therefore critical if we are to not only save the waterways for today, but for the future too.

History tells us that without boats travelling along them, waterways silt up and become dirty rubbish tips. Without proper maintenance reservoirs, aqueducts, and embankments deteriorate, resulting in communities being put at increasing risk of water damage from a failing infrastructure. The added threat of climate change will only worsen the situation as severe flooding and breaches become more commonplace.

IWA is calling on national and local government to fund all waterways at a level that keeps them as major assets that can continue to contribute to the economy, peoples’ health and wellbeing, and coping with the climate crisis. IWA will:

* Raise awareness of the threat through national, local, and social media.

* Petition to protect our waterways from the risks funding cuts will create.

* Ensure Members of Parliament and local politicians are fully aware of the benefits of the waterways and the threats to them.

* Arrange high profile events and activities including waterways festivals, towpath stalls.

* Be ready to work with government to offer knowledge, expertise and solutions to improve and maintain our waterways both now and in the future.

* Collaborate with communities and organisations that share our passion for the waterways to widen support for the campaign.

* Continue to provide practical assistance in the maintenance and improvement of waterways.

The waterways of today would not exist without IWA which, over many years, ensured that they were saved and enhanced. Millions of hours of volunteer time and effort along with lottery funding have been invested in revitalising the waterway network. IWA will not let that network fall into disrepair again.

IWA Special Bulletin, March 2023.

Waterways for Today report: https://waterways.org.uk/campaigns/waterways-for-today

Protect Our Waterways: https://waterways.org.uk/campaigns/protect-our-waterways

The Editor’s Page

Compiling this edition just before the coronation of HM King Charles, I wondered what sort of track record he has in supporting the waterways. Google quickly told me something that had quite escaped me: he has been Patron of the Canal & River Trust since its inception (as successor to British Waterways) in 2012.

As the young Prince of Wales, Charles got his hands dirty as a volunteer on the Montgomery Canal in the late 1960s, becoming involved following the "Big Dig" at Welshpool to forestall the route being cut by the A483 road improvements. He returned in 1974 to open the newly restored Welshpool Lock. In 1975 - 76, apprentices at the Cammell Laird shipyard, under the auspices of the Prince of Wales Committee, built Heulwen (Welsh for Sunshine), a canal boat adapted for children with disabilities.

In latter years, Charles has visited numerous canal venues, including the National Waterways Museum at Ellesmere Port, the Huddersfield Narrow Canal, the Anderton Boat Lift, the Kennet & Avon Canal, the Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal, and the Trent & Mersey. In 2018, he represented the Canal & River Trust by opening the restored section of the Thames & Severn at Stroud, and in 2021 he visited the Coventry Canal during Coventry's City of Culture celebrations. Just lately he came to Milton Keynes - see Page 14.

His mother and grandmother did their bit too. The Stratford-upon-Avon Canal was reopened by HM Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother in July 1964, and she returned to Stratford ten years later to re-open the Upper Avon Navigation. The late Queen Elizabeth II reopened the Kennet & Avon Canal in August 1990. I daresay that my quick Googling session leaves the above list of royal interest in the waterways far from complete.

The IWA itself has attracted the patronage of some distinguished people. Writer and parliamentarian Sir A.P. Herbert was President, and Peter Scott (later Sir Peter), ornithologist and artist, was Vice-President until he resigned over the Association's 1980s campaign to re -open the Yorkshire Derwent to navigation. At present, IWA has six Patrons: Chris Coburn MBE, Brian Dice OBE, David Fletcher CBE, Sir David Suchet CBE & Lady Suchet, and Paul Wagstaffe MBE - all of whom, I believe, have waterway connections elsewhere.

There can be little doubt that the early royal involvement brought much-needed credibility to the infant restoration movement. Today, the patronage of those with relevant expertise or experience must bring great practical benefit to IWA and other waterway charities.

Les Franklin, Editor.

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B&MK Trust’s Electra team meets HM the King

The Bedford & Milton Keynes Waterway Trust’s "Team Electra" was among 17 charity and community groups invited to meet HM King Charles on 16 February, when he came to Milton Keynes to present the Letters Patent to the newly promoted city. Jane Wolfson said, “It was a huge honour for Electra to be recognised as one of the things that make MK a special place to live, work and play.”

In February, on behalf of the B&MK Waterway Trust, John Best signed the lease for Electra to occupy one of the commercial units at Campbell Wharf, offered by Crest Nicholson at a peppercorn rent. Located close to its pontoon, this will provide a reception space, an accessible toilet, office space, food preparation area, and storage space for food and drink, furniture, publicity, signage and wheelchairs.

John Best has already secured fit-out funding of £32,000, and a bid for Section 106 funding of £20,000 is being prepared with the support of Central Milton Keynes Town Council. Volunteers are ready to start construction as soon as all paperwork is completed. Draft risk assessment and health and safety documents have been prepared with assistance from the Inland Waterways Association. It is hoped that the shore unit will be ready for use when Electra starts cruising again in July.

Tests by battery experts NIBS in February confirmed that Electra’s existing batteries were in need of replacement. Electra was expected to be delivered back to Colecraft, her original builders, in late April. New batteries will be fitted, together with some maintenance work to smarten her up for her third season. New volunteers are being sought for the coming season; if you can help, please visit https://www.bmkwaterway.org/electra/volunteering/

Through the winter, the boat’s maintenance and management teams did extensive research into the best options for monitoring systems and tools to ensure optimum use and longevity of the new batteries. Visit https://www.bmkwaterway.org/electra/ for Electra's cruises.

On 30 January, the John Bunyan team assessed the river conditions and decided to try to reach the landing stage at Kempston, with the aim of looking into what would be required in the way of dredging and modification to the width of the river to enable the boat to turn round there. The river level was 280mm higher than mean summer levels, ensuring adequate depth under the boat. The current was very strong at the approach to the landing stage, making the helmsman’s job difficult, but the John Bunyan was successfully moored.

B&MK Waterway Trust news continued

April saw the start of the cruising season for John Bunyan, fresh from a repaint over the winter. The 2023 season marks 10 years since the Community Boat's launch in 2013, and the management team has planned an exciting mix of new and existing cruises. See https://www.bmkwaterway.org/johnbunyanboat/ for John Bunyan’s cruises.

Water Resources East (WRE) and the Environment Agency (EA) have completed their study into how the Waterway can help with managing flood risk and in times of drought. The Waterway is now included in WRE’s draft Regional Water Resources Plan, which will eventually feed into a national water resources plan in 2024. More work is needed to show how the Waterway can link up with other water resource initiatives. This is a positive step towards the project’s inclusion in significant infrastructure planning at the regional level.

The Eastern Projects Group (EPG) has had discussions with the Environment Agency to establish acceptable disposal areas for any dredged material that will be generated during changes to the river and turning areas at the landing stage site.

The EPG is also considering projects that might show that the Trust is serious about constructing parts of the waterway. Completion of the development at Fields Road, Wootton, offers a chance to engage with the developers and the Council to form a section of the waterway by joining up the lakes, dug as part of the development, by completing the already partially constructed bridge. This is an isolated section of the waterway, but it would create a useful facility for local people as a boating lake for canoeists and paddle boarders etc.

The Group is also looking at the issues at Green Lane, Stewartby. Over £4 million has been allocated to the Council to construct a culvert under the road for cables serving Covanta’s waste-to-energy facility. The Group is trying to assist Bedford Borough Council with suggestions as to how the culvert can be adapted to serve the Waterway. The Borough Council is also planning to develop more housing at Gibraltar Corner, Kempston, and the EPG is studying the proposals to ensure that the Waterway is not compromised in any way.

The Trust has recorded its great sadness at the death on 17 January of its Patron, Sir Samuel Whitbread KCVO JP DL, aged 85. Just over 210 years ago, his great great great grandfather Samuel Whitbread, MP for Bedford, initiated the original plan to create a waterway linking the Grand Junction Canal with the River Great Ouse at Bedford. Sir Sam was much loved and very active in many roles in Bedfordshire including periods as High Sheriff and Lord Lieutenant of the county. We send our condolences to his family.

Councillor Ian Dalgarno of Central Bedfordshire Council has taken up the Chair of the B&MK Waterway Park Consortium, and will be staying in the role until Spring 2024. Under his Chairmanship, there is renewed enthusiasm to work towards setting up a "Special Purpose Vehicle" as a delivery agency for the project as a whole.

Jane Hamilton, Chair of the B&MK Waterway Trust for eight years (she shared the Chair with the late Graham Mabbutt before 2015), is to step down. Jane has paid tribute to the support she has received from both fellow Trustees and volunteers. The Branch wishes Jane every happiness as she moves to the South Coast beside saltier waters.