Waterways Autumn 2010 by The Inland Waterways Association

Autumn 2010 | Issue 229

waterways Keeping Our Waterways Alive

Beale Park 2010

www.waterways.org.uk

SOS Campaign Events

National Festival Preview

Off the Beaten Track

Quiet waterways of the south VIEWPOINT BWâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Robin Evans speaks out COVER.indd 2

IWA at work News from the branches

THE INTERVIEW

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AGENDA

Contents

The Column of the National Chairman

Autumn 2010

4 The Election,

SOS Events and Future Strategy

A New Government

Explore some quiet waterways of England and South Wales

The new government at Westminster has a clear focus on resolving the financial and economic challenges which face the nation. This will inevitably have far reaching effects for all of us in many aspects of our lives including our waterway interests. “This presents IWA with both challenges and opportunities.” We have already engaged with a number of new MPs to support the message previously passed onto them by you during our SOS campaign in the run up to the election. The message is getting through. Waterways are suffering from underfunding and more of the same may put this unique aspect of the nation’s heritage at further risk. The wider benefits for their constituencies from a well cared for waterway also seem to be recognised and many MPs we’ve spoken to are keen to see more made of them.

28 The Interview

Conservancy on the Cards?

We review a busy period for IWA

8 Viewpoint

British Waterways chief executive Robin Evans speaks out

10 News

News and views from around the network

Restoration Update From the Droitwich Canals, the Chesterfield Canal and the Wey & Arun

Off the beaten track

We talk to Chelmer & Blackwater navigation manager Colin Edmond

34 National

Festival Preview What to see at Beale Park over August Bank Holiday

37 IWA at Work

What’s been happening around the branches

Waterway Cuttings What the press have been saying about the Inland waterways

43 Inbox Readers’ letters

44 Directory

Who’s who at The Inland Waterways Association

Our vision for an Inland Waterways Conservancy is also being widely recognised as an option worth investigating. We hope to now work alongside other stakeholders and government as this happens. The outcome should be clearer later this year when I hope to be able to let you know of our progress.

A New Philosophy

A new government brings changes in political philosophy as well as language so we must now embrace the concepts and language of ‘Big Society’ and ‘Localism’ in our dealings with the waterways. I personally hope that we all want more active involvement as stakeholders in the future planning and priorities for waterways. For this concept to work properly, there must be genuine local input reflecting the specifics of each waterway and its local community, which needs to then be linked up with neighbouring waterways to make an aggregated plan where consistency (where justified) can be applied to produce a fuller, more integrated plan that stakeholders at all levels can support.

WATERWAYS EDITOR: Keith Goss Tel: 01283 742951 E-mail: k.goss@wwonline.co.uk ART EDITOR: Liane Hunt ADVERTISEMENT MANAGER: Tony Preston Tel: 01283 742965 E-mail: tony.preston@wwonline.co.uk ADVERTISING DESIGN: Jill Brown, Bethan Large ADVERTISING PRODUCTION: Samantha Lloyd E-mail: s.lloyd@wwonline.co.uk EDITORIAL BOARD: Neil Edwards, Jo Gilbertson, Keith Goss, Clive Henderson, Peter Johns, Jim Shead REPROGRAPHICS: Waterways World Ltd, 151 Station Street, Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire, DE14 1BG. Printed in England by Warners (Midlands) PLC, Bourne, Lincs Articles may be reproduced provided permission is obtained and acknowledgement made. ISSN 0969-0654 l

Your ‘Local’ IWA

I realise that some of you may be waterway supporters who live in a community with no waterway yet visit and enjoy one or more other communities with waterways. Your input is still important and I would urge you to use your voice through our IWA branch structure. All of our members can be allocated to any branch of their choice (although by default this is based upon the post code of the address a member provides for correspondence). Please use today as an opportunity to reflect on your waterway interests and in your branch alignment. If you wish to change branches to help you have a better say in waterways of interest to you, just let our membership team know. Equally, if you want to keep in touch with waterway matters in another branch area, or several areas, you can now view most of our branch and region newsletters in a library accessed via our website or at www.waterways. org.uk/information/iwa_publications/branch_ region_publications. I sincerely hope that you will find topics or projects that you have opinions on or may wish to get involved with, particularly where branches are engaged with local community groups and parish councils.

IWA National Restoration Appeal

I will close with a plea for your support for the appeal launched to raise £125,000 to fund the acquisition of a section of the Thames & Severn Canal beyond Inglesham Lock and the lock restoration as featured on page 10. We hope this will be a fitting and lasting tribute to the centenary of Tom Rolt’s birth as well as giving a boost to both the Cotswolds Canals and the Wilts & Berks Canal restoration plans. The target equates to around £10 per membership but rather than ask you directly for such a sum (with gift aid preferably), can I request that you approach your friends, neighbours and fellow boaters to help? That gives you the chance to explain the importance of IWA’s work and produce a real life example of our relevance today. If you are able to help, may I personally thank you for your support.

Clive Henderson

A non-profit distributing company limited by guarantee (612245), Registered as a Charity (No. 212342)

Founded: 1946, Incorporated 1958 Registered Office: Island House, Moor Road, Chesham, HP5 1WA Tel: 01494 783453 E-mail: iwa@waterways.org.uk Web site: www.waterways.org.uk Chief Executive – Neil Edwards Company Secretary – Helen Elliott-Adams Operations & Information Systems Manager – David Forrester Campaign & Communications Manager – Jo Gilbertson Nothing printed in Waterways may be construed as policy or an official announcement unless stated, otherwise IWA accepts no liability for any matter in the magazine. Although every care is taken with advertising matters no responsibility whatsoever can be accepted for any matter advertised.

COVER PICTURE Enjoying a trip on the Bridgwater & Taunton Canal in Somerset. PHOTO: ROBIN SMITHETT

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THE ELECTION, SOS EVENTS

AND FUTURE STRATEGY The last three months have seen IWA active in a number of important areas

Election Run Up WA held a series of waterway awareness events in the lead up to the General Election. The Association orchestrated concerted lobbying with existing and prospective MPs on the benefits of waterways in their constituency; IWA also lobbied at governmental level on the importance of retaining waterway funding, and on the benefits of IWA’s vision of a National Waterways Conservancy. Numerous events were organised around May Day Bank Holiday weekend by IWA branches and other organisations supporting the SOS campaign. They ranged from traditional annual festivals like London Region’s Canalway Cavalcade at Little Venice on the Regent’s Canal to a Protest Cruise on the Middle Level organised by the Peterborough Branch. Most of the network saw some kind of campaigning activity, from Sudbury in the East to Middlewich in the North West, from Ware in Hertfordshire to the Sleaford Navigation in Lincolnshire.

RIGHT: Peterborough Branch’s Protest Cruise on the Middle Level. BELOW: Stoke-on-Trent Branch’s Community Day on the Trent & Mersey Canal.

New Administration he new Coalition administration – comprising Conservatives and Liberal Democrats - appointed Caroline Spelman as Secretary of State Defra, with overall responsibility for all departmental issues. Ms Spelman has been the Member of Parliament for Meriden since 1999. In Opposition, she served in the Shadow Cabinet, covering the Environment, International Development and Communities and Local Government portfolios, as well as holding other senior posts. Her Meriden constituency includes part of the northern section of the Stratford upon Avon Canal (Hockley Heath and Waring’s Green to Majors Green), as well as a part of the Grand Union Canal main line between Chessetts Wood and Elmdon Heath, which includes Knowle Locks. (See www. election-maps.co.uk/index.jsp) She is local (but not the constituency MP) to IWA’s national chairman, Clive Henderson, who has been in regular contact with her. Her constituency is also local to the chairman of British Waterways, Tony Hales.

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Meanwhile Richard Benyon, MP for Newbury on the Kennet & Avon Canal, was appointed Parliamentary Under Secretary of State with responsibility for the waterways. Mr Benyon served as a Shadow Minister for the Environment, Fisheries and Wildlife. Prior to this appointment he was a Party Whip and has also served on the Home Affairs Select Committee. He is a farmer and riparian landowner on the River Kennet, and is vice president of the Kennet & Avon Canal Trust, although he has since had to resign his vice presidency in order to comply with the rules of his ministerial position. It would appear that there are two ministers in place with a strong understanding of the waterways and the value that they bring to the community at large. IWA Parliamentary Reception WA held its first reception for MPs elected to the new Parliament on 15th June, hosted by former waterways minister, the Rt Hon Alun Michael MP. The purpose was for IWA to give new MPs a briefing on the importance of the inland waterways and the problems which must be overcome if they are to continue to flourish. After a brief introduction from Alun Michael, one of three former waterways ministers present, national chairman Clive Henderson then gave a presentation to set the scene for the reception. The key issues that he raised were: the benefits that the waterways can convey – regeneration, a focus for social cohesion and integration, and a facility for community health and recreation; the desirability of continued use of suitable waterways for freight movements; the need for infrastructure funding; the opportunity for the Government to consider the formation of an Inland Waterways Conservancy, initially comprising the British Waterways and Environment Agency navigations, and the cost efficiencies that would be realised by this merger. The reception was attended by 24 MPs representing all the major political parties, with many others requesting a briefing. IWA had representatives on hand from around the country to engage with MPs about what benefits specific waterways can provide for their individual constituencies. The event was also attended by senior representatives from British Waterways, the Environment Agency and Defra.

IWA Waterway Conservancy Proposals WA had written ahead of the election to key politicians and stakeholders outlining the proposals for a waterways conservancy. Currently there are over 5,000km of navigable waterways in the ownership or control of over 30 navigation authorities; the two largest are the government funded and controlled agencies, British Waterways and the Environment Agency. IWA’s vision is to encourage the formation of a larger, rationalised organisation, incorporating both BW and EA managed waterways, together with the opportunity for other non-publicly funded navigations to join. IWA does not foresee the new organisation as being a case of a take-over by one organisation or another, but something completely new.

Waterways Minister Richard Benyon

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Election, SOS & Strategy Where now for Mutualisation? he last Labour budget included a pledge to mutualise BW as a charity, with a view that the non-operational property portfolio might be transferred in a charity locked arrangement. Whilst the new coalition Government is not bound by the last Labour budget or the pledges on mutualisation, nor by anything in the draft policy document Waterways for Everyone, the new minister was quick to make a statement on the subject. On 21st June he said that he was familiar with the public benefits that the waterways provide and wanted to explain how he intended to take forward inland waterways policy for England and Wales. His view is that the Government considers civil society to have a very valuable role to play in delivering public services as part of their commitment to creating a ‘Big Society’. He intends therefore, to continue to look in detail at whether a third sector model would be appropriate for BW, contemplation of which should now also include the possible inclusion of the EA’s navigations, as the other navigation authority grant-aided by Government. His department would also be engaging with a wide range of stakeholders in order to carry out this work (including liaison with the Scottish Government). He was keen to express, however, that given the Government’s overriding objective of reducing the financial deficit, no decisions on such a change could be taken until after the autumn Spending Review and that in the light of this he had also decided not to proceed at this time with a new Government waterways strategy. In questions posed to him subsequently in the House of Commons, by among others, Tristram Hunt, MP for Stoke-on-Trent Central, the Minister confirmed that “...For the third sector model to work, British Waterways will have to have access to its estate, or a large proportion of it, for it to gear up funding for sustainable funding in the future. I can assure him that it will not proceed unless it is locked in that way. Those are the negotiations that we are taking forward with British Waterways.”

IWA views on Government Response WA has been lobbying hard for a form of waterways conservancy, initially arising from an amalgamation of the two main government funded navigation authorities, BW and the Environment Agency navigations as one body, with the possibility of other navigations voluntarily joining at a later date. IWA was therefore pleased to receive news of the Waterway Minister’s statement on 21st June concerning Government’s views and intentions to consider the implications of integration of the EA navigations as part of a move by BW to the third sector. IWA is also pleased that the Minister has signalled his intention for Defra to undertake to engage with stakeholders on this work ahead of the Spending Review in the autumn.

Funding and Governance – key factors for IWA ey to progressing the issue of any move into the third sector; IWA believes that more work is still needed on understanding the funding of the third sector organisation, and the extent to which government will have to continue to support it as recognition of the public benefit that it provides, and how funding is to be managed and developed over time. In addition to the currently unanswered funding issue, IWA also has concerns over the ongoing discussions on governance, which IWA believes needs to more fully engage the wider waterway stakeholder community. In principle, what IWA doesn’t want to see is a ‘rebranding’ (ie just a renaming) of BW but in a third sector guise. IWA sees the third sector as an opportunity to radically address the way in which our

A poorly maintained section of the Kennet & Avon Canal near

Devizes.

waterways are managed and to seek to improve their husbandry. Together with its colleagues and partners in the Kennet & Avon Canal Trust, who are currently piloting a local partnership model, IWA wants to see more consultation, so that the new organisation incorporates the best of waterways expertise and experience, with sound local structures and good local volunteer support in turn supporting a slim-line and efficient head office. This means a joint, working partnership arrangement of the stakeholders, to create a new model of governance in the light of Government’s ‘Big Society Agenda’ which both IWA and K&ACT believes has relevance in putting the waterways at the heart of communities in the future. IWA has suggested that a stakeholders’ meeting and workshop might be a way of achieving full and transparent participation in the development process, similar to that which was carried out by Defra during the Waterways for Everyone process. IWA will continue to press BW and Defra on the matter of both funding and governance – whilst supporting the third sector proposals as part of a wider conservancy idea. The time is therefore right to consider alternatives to the current disparate management arrangements for the inland waterways of England and Wales. The IWA vision is of an Inland Waterways Conservancy providing a single navigation authority for the majority of the inland waterways. At a meeting held by Defra on the 15th July, IWA along with other waterway organisations participated in a workshop to consider the benefits and concerns relating to the mutualisation of BW and the possible inclusion of the EA navigations into a new body to manage the waterways. The workshop indicated that IWA’s lobby towards the inclusion of EA navigations together with BW’s waterways in a new organisation seems to be gaining ground within government and is now under active consideration. There appeared to be a consensus that there were no ‘show stoppers’ towards a case that the EA navigations should be incorporated into the new body; especially as it currently faced cuts in budget of between 25% - 40 %. EA manager Stuart Taylor, in his opening address to the workshop stated that the current position was unsustainable and that ‘preserving the status quo was no longer an option’. The final decision on any incorporation into a new body, however, will ultimately be left to ministers to decide. However, before this occurs, a fuller cost benefit analysis needs to be made, and further work must be conducted on the governance arrangements for any such organisation. A further stakeholder workshop to focus solely on governance issues will be held on 2nd August. IWA will again actively participate.

Jo Gilbertson

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t n i o p w e i V With all the current discussions on the Third Sector and Government’s plans for the ‘Big Society’, IWA is commissioning a series of articles by ‘non-IWA waterway stakeholders’. In the first, we asked Robin Evans at British Waterways to put his case for ‘mutualisation’. We plan to develop this theme in future editions with the intention of stimulating debate on topical issues.

Charting a future course for the waterways In 2008 I made probably my most difficult decision since becoming BW’s chief executive. I recommended to the BW Board that we should withdraw from the Cotswold Canals Restoration. I did not take this decision lightly or out of a lack of belief in the project – it is a brilliant restoration deserving of support. I did it because we could not continue to commit money to the restoration and at the same time repair the catastrophic breach on the Mon & Brec. The choice was painful - and I regret the upset and anger it caused to old friends and partners – but I believed then and I believe now that it was vital to prioritise an existing waterway - with its businesses, customers and livelihoods - over a future restoration. I don’t bring this up to be provocative or to reopen old wounds, but as a useful starting point to explain why the time is right for fundamental change on the waterways. Because for me that event, and the letters, articles, recriminations and investigation that followed, highlighted the need to find a radically different way to manage our waterways. We needed to find a way whereby those who benefit most from waterway investment, such as local communities and businesses, made a matching contribution to their upkeep. We needed to build a better and more reliable long-term safety net rather than assume government will always be there to fund repairs in the last resort. We needed to encourage all those enthusiastic, passionate people who give so much time and money to restore derelict canals, to consider also helping towards the cost of maintaining the wonderful waterways we already have. But most importantly we needed to find a way to ensure all of us who care about the waterways work for a common goal, where our shared energy, enthusiasm, resources and aspirations might achieve more together than in isolation. In a nutshell, we had to: decide what a national waterway body should be for; unify waterway users, workers and the public behind a single cause; and put the waterways on a sustainable footing.

The need for change in no way diminishes the tremendous achievements of BW, waterway enthusiasts, government and partners over many decades. While we have not always seen eye to eye we have, together, overcome enormous odds and achieved amazing things, often with limited resources. The problem is that the increased profile, visibility, use and popularity of the network have rightly increased public expectations, while the funding to maintain our increasingly elderly waterways has not kept pace. BW has, given the size of the network and the enormous variety of users, sometimes fallen short in its desire to accommodate and keep every different user group satisfied. Almost inevitably we have, whilst doing what we believed to be in the waterways’ best interests, antagonised individual groups. At other times we are the victims of problems beyond our control – from crime, vandalism and anti-social behaviour to pollution and poor planning decisions. There is a general expectation that we, as a public body, should have the resources to deal with all this AND should be promoting agendas as wide as social housing, renewable energy, cycling, health, biodiversity, regeneration, restoration, job creation, flood management, tourism etc etc. The list goes on and, in the past, changed as often as our political masters. I am not denying that the waterways are wonderful catalysts for all of these public goods – they are – or that we ourselves have promoted these uses – we do. But the priority for us must be to protect, enhance and promote the historic working network. Where our waterways can bring added value to local communities, businesses and society we should be enthusiastic partners. But we cannot use our increasingly scarce resources to fund other peoples’ priorities. Overall, BW is torn in too many different directions, by too many different interest groups, with too little funding and too little long-term support.

RIGHT: The inland waterway network is a priceless national asset for all. BELOW: The beautiful Stroudwater Navigation – part of the Cotswold Canals project.

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Viewpoint

ABOVE AND BELOW: Repairs in progress on the Mon & Brec in 2008.

So what do I think needs to happen? Well, I do not have a crystal ball, and any solution must have the backing of government and wider stakeholders. Put simply, however, I believe the best option is that the canals and rivers currently cared for by BW be transferred to a new independent charity. This charity could be governed by expert trustees appointed by a council representing the myriad of different interests in the waterways, from boaters and anglers, to local authorities, trade bodies and local partnerships. The core of the charity should be those canals, rivers, docks and reservoirs cared for by BW in England, Wales and, if the Scottish Government wish it, Scotland. The new body could also take on responsibility for the EA waterways if government agree and the necessary funding is transferred too. Over time other waterways might be included if the Council and existing owners want it. All of this could be achieved without the need for primary legislation and could be up and running by early 2012. To work, the charity would need a long-term funding contract with government to replace annual grants, giving it funding security and greater flexibility in planning future expenditure. In return Ministers would get greater clarity and measurement of the public benefits being delivered. The charity would need to retain BW’s property endowment, providing important longterm investment income and a strong balance sheet to match its liabilities - in a similar way to the Church of England and many Oxford colleges. It would be able to leverage this property as well as raise, over time, further income from charitable sources such as donations and legacies. The new charity should be free to campaign and fundraise well beyond its own borders and be a strong national champion for all waterways, just as the Woodland Trust champions trees outside its own forests. At the heart of the new charity must be a new and invigorating working relationship between its paid employees and its supporters and funders. Local and national policy, priorities, and activity could therefore better reflect the needs and aspirations of those supporters and funders. It would need mutual respect and understanding together with an openness and willingness to debate what is in the waterways’ best interests (not those of individuals or particular groups) and what is affordable. I acknowledge that this would require a significant cultural change within BW but I would suggest it would also need a change of approach from many who have been our traditional critics, and even adversaries. We would have to put aside historic quarrels and find a way to channel our energies towards shared goals. This could not work if it was simply a re-branding of BW or a cause dominated by single-issue groups – it has to be

something new which creates mutual trust and unites support beyond traditional areas. We know what can be achieved when we work together – our shared history has more triumphs than tragedies – and we all, at heart, love, believe in and want the best for the waterways. So making this change would require a new way of thinking among BW staff and a new way of thinking among waterway users and supporters. BW would have to preserve its core waterway management expertise, while becoming more open and responsive to new ideas. For this to happen we would need the support and encouragement of the public, and in particular those active waterway participants whose help we need to fundraise, to advise, to volunteer and to be ambassadors for the waterways. In the future I hope we might change the prevailing attitude from asking “what the waterways can do for us”, to “what we can do for our waterways”. I don’t claim this as my idea. It has been discussed among the waterway movement for decades. The difference now is that there is genuine cross-party interest and momentum for making it happen - not in ten years as we first suggested, but possibly in less than two. The dramatic change to public finances makes a move essential if we are not to lose all that has been achieved in recent years. While I do not expect any firm commitments from Defra until after the spending review in the autumn, two things are very clear to me. Firstly the status quo is not an option. Secondly, in our ministers we have people who understand both the value of the waterways and their potential for demonstrating the role of a ‘Big Society’. The charitable sector holds no fears for me – it is where I have spent much of my working life, in wonderful organisations such as the Landmark Trust and the National Trust. It is increasingly inconceivable to me that the organisation which cares for the third largest collection of listed structures, and one of the finest examples of working industrial heritage in the world, should not join and be welcomed into this great family of national charities. I am genuinely delighted that the Cotswold Canals Restoration is carrying on. It is doing so with local support, with local funding and with over £2m of contribution from BW. In the future I look forward to the Cotswolds and many other restored canals reconnecting with the rest of Britain’s great network of inland waterways. A network that is in good shape, valued by all who use and enjoy it, and which has the resources and support to ensure its success and survival for another 200 years.

Robin Evans

Chief executive, British Waterways

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waterways Keeping Our Waterways Alive

Inglesham Lock Appeal

WA has launched a national appeal to raise funds for the restoration and re-commissioning of Inglesham Lock at the junction of the River Thames and the Thames & Severn Canal, which is part of the Cotswold Canals scheme. The announcement was made at IWA’s Chester Rally, to coincide with the commemoration of the centenary of the birth of Tom Rolt, one of IWA’s founders. Speaking on behalf of IWA, Clive Henderson, national chairman said: “Inglesham is the gateway to the Cotswold Canals restoration, and an iconic structure. IWA is keen to present an opportunity to get it open and create a usable link to the network. “IWA wants to raise funds towards the restoration of the canal from the junction with the Thames, involving the restoration of Inglesham lock chamber and to

fund the purchase and restoration of 380 metres of the pound above the lock. “In doing so we want to provide a new front on the Cotswold Canals restoration campaign, to encourage momentum and engagement with local residents. This new restoration front will compliment the work in the Stroud valley. We also want to force further movement on the full realisation of the Cotswold Water Park where it links to the Wilts & Berks Canal. This is the shortest and simplest route to reconnect Swindon with the national waterways network. We hope, therefore, to encourage and capture the imagination and support of the population in and around Swindon in relation to regeneration of Swindon town centre as part of the Wilts & Berks master plan. “IWA wishes to show continued support to the Cotswolds Canals project

and to consolidate and build on the recent gift of the lock at Inglesham to the Trust by British Waterways. “We are creating a new project on the Cotswolds Canals that our volunteer restoration arm Waterway Recovery Group can wholly own from start to finish; and to help develop and facilitate new forms of volunteering from those who may be interested in just giving a day or half a day’s time through to fully committed weekenders and week-

long ‘canal campers’ thereby encouraging more participation by locals and waterway supporters. “The target for IWA to raise in support of the whole appeal is £125,000. If everyone who supports our cause raised and donated just £10 we would easily meet our target.” Just go to www. inglesham.org.uk to make a donation, or send your donations marked ‘Inglesham’ to IWA Head Office, Island House, Moor Road, Chesham, HP5 1WA.

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AUTUMN 2010 | NEWS | FREIGHT | RESTORATION

Award for Harry Arnold

WA Vice President and Stoke-on-Trent Branch member Harry Arnold was awarded an MBE in the 2010 Queen’s Birthday Honours List, for the significant role he has played in the promotion of Britain’s inland waterways for almost 50 years. He is well known throughout the inland waterway network as a photographer and writer - recording the ever changing places, craft and people of the waterways since the late 1950s. Harry served as editor of Waterways magazine for over 17 years, and was involved with IWA Festivals throughout the 1980s and ‘90s, as well as being a key member of IWA’s Publicity Committee in the ‘80s. He was also a founder of Waterways World and Canal & Riverboat magazines, as well as being instrumental in the launching of the original Narrowboat magazine in 1984.

GIRL GUIDES AFLOAT

f you are out on the Kennet & Avon Canal this summer look out for Falcon Adam (a community narrowboat). From the 14th-28th August she is transporting 100 girls over from Reading to Bath and back to celebrate the Centenary of the Girl Guide Association. From 5 year old Rainbows through to Trefoil Guild Members (age unlimited!), all sections of Guiding will be taking part in this adventure afloat. The participants will be from all over the south of England. Not only is this adventure an opportunity to celebrate the Centenary of Guiding, but it

is also a chance to encourage more women to get involved in boating activities. Narrowboating has been part of Guiding for many years and will continue to be so in the future too. On this trip they will be celebrating with thanks for the last 100 years of Guiding along with hopes that the next 100 years will continue to provide women and girls with the opportunity for personal challenges, development, fun and lasting friendships. Onboard the girls will also be learning all about the K&A Canal - which is itself celebrating an important anniversary – its 200th.

IWA AGM IWA’s 51st Annual General Meeting will take place at The Grove School, Stafford Street, Market Drayton, Shropshire TF9 1HF at 2pm on Saturday 25th September. A full notice (including directions to the venue), agenda and trustee ballot are included as a detachable insert within this issue of Waterways.

Clive Henderson to join BW Board…

ritish Waterways and Defra are considering the creation of two new positions of Special Advisors to the BW Board in order to support the proposed transition of BW’s canals and rivers in England and Wales into civil society. The unpaid positions will have full Board Member status and would advise and support BW as it builds the model and then transfers to the civil society. While details of the new positions and selection process are being considered, BW and IWA have announced that Clive Henderson will take on the interim role as Observer to the Board, attending all Board Meetings until the final selections are made. BW chairman Tony Hales explains: “There is now real enthusiasm for the idea of establishing a new ‘national trust’ for the waterways. For this to happen we have to begin a root and branch change in the way all those who love the waterways work together. “I cannot think of a better person to help us start this process than Clive. As chairman of the IWA and chairman elect of the British Waterways Advisory Forum, as well as being a respected waterway campaigner of 25 years, he brings great experience and wisdom at a time when we are looking to build a completely new organisation to care for our waterways in the future.” Welcoming the news, Clive said: “We are at a crossroads in the history of the waterways. The goal that so many campaigners have worked so long and so hard to achieve is within sight and we have a British Waterways and a Government who are genuinely open to new ideas of working. We now have a great opportunity to work together for a common goal. For my part I am delighted to have the chance to play a role in the reshaping of British Waterways.”

... and appointed to BWAF

he British Waterways Advisory Forum (BWAF) has elected Clive Henderson as its new chairman from 3rd November this year. He takes over the role from the incumbent BWAF chairman Nigel Stevens. Run by its members, BWAF represents all national waterways interest groups and has a remit to debate and advise BW on strategic issues. Clive Henderson says of his appointment: “I am looking forward to chairing the advisory forum at this crucial time for British Waterways as it seeks greater independence from Government and new levels of engagement with traditional waterway stakeholders, as well as with others dependent upon their future wellbeing. I hope that my time as chairman will allow the many waterway supporter and user groups represented on BWAF to influence the agenda and ensure that our combined voice is one that is both respected and listened to.”

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waterways Keeping Our Waterways Alive

IWA

Clothing Offer

et ready for autumn/winter by taking advantage of IWA’s new range of clothing – perfect for boaters and all outdoor people. The waterproof Regatta Stance style jacket comes in navy blue with grey side panels, has two zipped side pockets and a zipped chest pocket for a mobile phone. It also has a hood which folds into the collar and is made of breathable Isotex material, with the IWA logo on the left breast. We can order these in ladies sizes too but will not be holding them in stock. The sleeveless fleece bodywarmer is also Regatta, and again is navy blue. It zips into the waterproof jacket. It has two zipped pockets and a draw-cord at the bottom. The arm-holes are bound. It too will have the IWA logo on the left breast. Ladies sizes are available to special order. The cost of the bodywarmer/waterpoof jacket combination will be £49.99, of which £3 will be donated to the Cotswold Canal Trust for each combination sold (or ordered) at (or before) the National Festival over August Bank Holiday. IWA children’s t-shirts will also be available with a rubberised printed logo (not embroidered as in the photo). These will cost £4.99 each. To order or for further details email iwaclothing@waterways.org.uk or telephone Helen on 01543 491161.

IWA Trailboat Festival draws the crowds

isitors and trailboats were both present in large numbers to enjoy IWA’s National Trailboat Festival over Spring Bank Holiday. The event, incorporated into the Welsh Waterways Festival, was staged on a navigable three-mile section of the Monmouthshire Canal between Newport (near Malpas Road) and Pentre Lane, near Cwmbran. Those attending were able to appreciate the rapid progress being made on the Monmouthshire Canal restoration project, which will one day link up with the better known Brecon & Abergavenny Canal further to the north. Halfway along this section is Bettws Lane where a new slipway and lock landing stage were constructed by volunteers from the Monmouthshire Brecon & Abergavenny Canals Trust last year. At Pentre Lane, the limit of navigation, Tamplin Lock has been refurbished. Trailboaters at the festival were able to reach the landing stage here for first time in almost 84 years. The whole section has been restored over the last two years, leaks have been repaired and trees trimmed. Waterway Recovery Group has played a key role. Malpas Lock was comprehensively refurbished, from repointing open joints in the stonework to repainting gates and fencing. At Ty Ffynnon Lock, trees and scrub were cleared from the spillway and a start made on repointing the site’s boundary wall. Following WRG’s visit, MB&ACT volunteers completed rebuilding the spillway and overflow weirs, repaired top and bottom mitre gates and repaired cills.

John Sully

Ancient Monument status for Harriett On 9th June the Kennet-built canal boat Harriett was formally recognised as being of national importance and was officially protected and listed as a Scheduled Ancient Monument. She now joins the Mary Rose and HMS Victory which share similar designations as part of the nation’s surviving maritime history. Built in 1905, 72 feet long and 14 feet 1 inch at the beam, she had a gross tonnage of 60. Known as one of the ‘Purton hulks’, she was beached in 1964. For further information visit www.friendsofpurton.org. uk/Vessels/Harriett.htm.

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AUTUMN 2010 | NEWS | FREIGHT | RESTORATION

Tom Rolt Centenary Rally a great success Over 100 boats visited Chester Basin during the weekend of 26th- 27th June for IWA’s Tom Rolt Centenary Rally. The sun shone, bunting and flags fluttered in the breeze and the Tom Rolt steam train from the Talyllyn Railway regularly blew its whistle and let off steam.

isitors were able to admire the boats, visit the stalls and find out more about the Ross Barlow, the concept narrowboat powered by a hydrogen fuel cell. She also helped deliver the VIPs to the opening ceremony, along with the Lady Hatherton, a historic canal inspection boat which had travelled from the Midlands to join in the celebrations. IWA was formed following Tom and Angela Rolt’s cruise around the waterways in 1939 and Ron and Mary Heritage, IWA Oxford Branch members, are re-creating this cruise in 2010. The Sheriff of Chester presented Ron with a medallion depicting Chester Basin, one of just many ports of call on their epic cruise. The Chester Canal Heritage Trust’s displays about Taylor’s Yard and the Rolt history were popular attractions, whilst Sonia Rolt, Tom’s widow who is now in her nineties, visited for the weekend and signed copies of his many books. A blue plaque was also placed on Tom Rolt’s birthplace, 7 South View, Eaton Road, commemorating the fact that he was born in Chester in 1910. Sonia Rolt carried out the unveiling, accompanied by her sons Tim and Richard, in the presence of a number of dignitaries including IWA national chairman Clive Henderson.

Gillian Bolt

LEFT: Ron and Mary Heritage with national chairman Clive Henderson. BELOW: Chester Basin – packed with boats on 26th-27th June.

Punting for Heroes

he epic punt around the waterways in aid of the charity Help for Heroes, which was undertaken by four students from Cambridge, arrived at Wigrams Turn Marina at Napton to a welcoming party on 26th June, including the Wigrams Turn team and members of IWA Warwickshire Branch. Gillian and Jeff Sansum welcomed the ‘punters’ on behalf of Wigrams, offering them not only a hot shower, and the use of laundry facilities to wash their clothes, but also a Black Prince hire boat for them to take a well earned – and comfortable - night’s sleep. First though a barbeque was provided by IWA members Peter and Maureen Hennesey. The following morning the Warwickshire Branch, organised by Greta Russell, escorted the ‘punters’ through the Napton flight as far as Marston Doles. The students – Toby Dickens, Rebecka Kiff, Andrew Marshall and Karl Williams, then continued on to Oxford, having travelled 200 miles and passed through 113 locks. Their target is to raise £2,000 for their chosen charity. For further details or to donate visit www.bmycharity.com/V2/punt.

Community Engagement appointment at British Waterways British Waterways has established a senior management position specifically looking at community engagement across the BW network. Caroline Killeavy has been appointed Head of Community Engagement with a remit to increase the number of people volunteering across the waterways, and so lay the foundation for any future transition of BW into the third sector. BW currently benefits from 16,000 volunteer days each year, and Caroline will lead a team developing new ways to get more local people interested in helping out across the waterways. She took up her new position on 1st July. Having been a senior manager at BW since 1996, including most recently as Head of Customer Services, Ms Killeavy has extensive experience in waterway regeneration and community engagement projects. During her time at BW she has been a founding director of Nottingham Waterside and was also involved in establishing Lincolnshire Waterways Partnership. She also led the national team that doubled the volunteering activity in one year in 2008/9.

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waterways Keeping Our Waterways Alive

FREIGHT BY WATER AND MODAL SHIFT

On 11th June Freight by Water held a modal shift forum concerned with the Thames and was the first of a series of regionally based meetings. Over 70 delegates with a variety of interests in transport use of the Thames attended the one-day meeting held at the Chamber of Shipping. Under discussion were papers on existing infrastructure and traffic, water transport in the London Freight Plan, retail distribution by water, Crossrail, London Gateway port, the Port of Tilbury and a clutch of papers dealing with aspects of supply chain management and ‘rethinking the world’ in response to declining oil supplies and increasing prices. The papers created a great deal of discussion and Peter Ward, Executive Director of FbW, emphasised the importance of the Thames as a launch pad to drive forward sustainable solutions to the transport problem. The water freight industry is highly fragmented, does not enjoy the subsidies of the railways and is rarely able to provide off-the-peg solutions. The case has to be built around demand and FbW is committed to facilitate this. The next forum will be in the North West where maximising use of the Manchester Ship Canal and the region’s ports will provide the theme. The London forum was sponsored by Armac Marine which acquired some of the former Coastal Bulk Shipping vessels and is active in providing specialist logistical services – special projects, ship agency, chartering, consultancy and forwarding – with an emphasis on promoting the use of water transport. All the delegates went away with a copy of Inland Waterways Freight Group’s pamphlet and several have already asked for more!

A SWEET NOTE

n June 2009 the Broads Authority Planning Committee granted permission for an extension to British Sugar’s Cantley, River Yare, refinery to be based on imported raw cane sugar imported through Great Yarmouth’s new Outer Harbour (East Port). A Section 106 condition required further consideration of rail and river transport options from East Port to Cantley and Capita Symonds was appointed to undertake a feasibility study; this has now been completed. The rail option is thought to be technically possible but is not considered feasible in view of the need to connect the port to a rail terminal somewhere near Great Yarmouth station, and because of problems at Cantley where a former rail link to the mainline was removed and work on sidings would be needed. Constraints with respect to water transport concern tides, bridge opening times and a ‘presumption’ against night time navigation which means that a daily shuttle would not be available on all days – surely nothing which could not be overcome by effective management. The Cantley factory had its own wharf used for sugar beet and fuel oil and rehabilitation should not require great investment. Water transport would reduce noise pollution and congestion in Great Yarmouth and the impact of heavy lorries on villages such as Cantley and Beighton. The report concludes that with capital amortised over 10 years the water option is cheaper than road and should qualify for Modal Shift Revenue Support. How sweet it would be if British Sugar joined firms such as Tesco, Asda, Homebase and Sainsbury in some ‘green’ thinking and adopted the water transport option. It would be good for their credentials and provide a valuable demonstration effect. It is to be hoped that they do not pass the opportunity by.

NEW BOOK ON WATER FREIGHT

t is good to report that IWFG member Dr Merv Rowlinson’s book Freight by Water in Britain and Ireland has now been published and represents a great deal of indepth research and a timely contribution to the debate on ‘green’ transport solutions and modal shift. The author’s essential argument is that it is necessary for the once so significant water freight routes,

coastal and inland, to be rediscovered. However, this is far from being a plea for a return to the past which he accepts is wholly unrealistic and the first part of the book is a comprehensive examination of the changes in economic geography, land transport and shipping technology and organisation, all of which make this so. Having described the

potential for a Green Highway, his generic term for water route options, Rowlinson considers the economics and logistics of waterborne freight and its ‘green’ credentials. Rowlinson provides a comprehensive, balanced and realistic case for greater attention to and use of water transport and argues for the adoption of more positive and proactive approaches which

capitalise on the mode’s inherent advantages. While there is greater emphasis on short-sea than inland shipping the case presented certainly applies to both and the book deserves a wide readership especially amongst the decision makers and supply chain managers. The book is obtainable from Mellon Press, Lampeter at £49.95 or contact www.mellonpress.co.uk

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AUTUMN 2010 | NEWS | FREIGHT | RESTORATION Please send any news and views on inland waterways freight to David Hilling c/o IWA Head Office

REALISING POTENTIAL

he Inland Waterways Freight Group has revised and updated its pamphlet promoting freight by water. The cover picture at Ripple on the Severn shows a barge carrying ten times as much as the lorry crossing the bridge over the river and the freight barge shares the track with a leisure narrow boat in the distance. The pamphlet illustrates that water transport uses less fuel, therefore creates less pollution and green house gases and is able to reduce road congestion. The photographs make the point that while dry bulk may be a main traffic (on the Trent and Thames) there is containerised wine on the Manchester Ship Canal and containerised waste materials from the Olympic site, steel sections to Leeds and

even a sea-going ship loading pulverised fuel ash at the Drax power station on the Ouse for direct export to southern Ireland. Nor are loaded narrowboats forgotten. For waterborne freight to realise its full potential it will be necessary for it to be given the fullest consideration at the feasibility stage for all major construction and industrial development projects alongside waterways; planners must impose conditions on project approval in favour of water transport and safeguard strategic wharves; manufacturing and service industries must maximise their ‘green’ credentials; and logistic managers and transport providers must include water options in their supply chain appraisal. Certainly government must pay more than lip service to the ‘green’ mode and, at this time of

ple pment in London is a shining exam The Blackfriars station redevelo r construction projects. majo ice serv to t spor tran r wate of the use of

financial stringency, appreciate that a small investment in water transport could well increase transport capacity far more than much larger investments in other modes.

IWA members who accept this logic are invited to help us. Please try to get the new pamphlet widely distributed, especially amongst decision makers.

TWO HUNDRED YEARS LOOKING TO THE FUTURE

hen of ornate design, a ‘Salt’ on the table distinguishes between those ‘above’ who have made the grade and the lesser mortals, those ‘below’. Vivian Bulkeley-Johnson was a banker and canal enthusiast with his own cruiser, the Willow Wren, and for a period in the 1950s was treasurer of IWA. He was interested in promoting waterborne freight, invested in a carrying company which took the name of his cruiser and presented to IWA an attractive ‘Salt’ to be awarded annually to an individual or company for outstanding furtherance of waterway transport in the UK. The award is made by IWA’s trustees on the recommendation of its Freight Group and for 2009 went to Branford Barge Owners, a Yorkshire firm able to claim

five generations of involvement in water transport. The present head of the family is John Branford, his great grandfather had a boatyard in Knottingley and he has a son, Jonathan, now captain of the Farndale-H. John Pomfret, chairman of the IWFG, presented John Pomfret (right), chairman of the ‘Salt’ to John Branford on IWFG, presenting the ‘Salt’ to John Branford of Bran ford Barge Owners. the after deck of the Farndale-H, appropriately fully dressed for the the three 500-tonne occasion, and in the company of barges converted from tanker Branford family members. The to dry-bulk use with the aid of a Yorkshire Waterway Museum at Freight Facilities Grant. They are Goole were welcoming hosts for the in use mainly in the movement of occasion. Trent aggregates. The company has always The award of the ‘Salt’ was in enthusiastically promoted recognition of all that the Branford family has done, and is doing, to waterborne freight, had a barge demonstrate the real potential of open to the public at last year’s freight by water – truly a family Leeds Waterside Festival and has moved with the times – the 90-tonne which over 200 years has looked to the future. craft of some years ago gave way to

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waterways Keeping Our Waterways Alive

Good and bad news on the Droitwich Canals

MIKE HADDON

The lock to nowhere – the lower end of Lock No 7 on the Droitwich Junction Canal leads into a bank of earth.

View of the newly restored entrance lock (No 8) of the Droitwich Barge Canal, looking south to the River Severn. Droitwich Barge Canal Lock No 5 looking north from Potter’s Mill Bridge.

MIKE HADDON

he two Droitwich Canals are being restored by volunteers, including Waterway Recovery Group members, local councils, British Waterways and The Waterways Trust at a cost of £12m. The broad, six-mile Barge Canal connects the River Severn to Droitwich, from where the narrow Junction Canal continues for 11/2 miles to the Worcester & Birmingham Canal at Hanbury Wharf. The four waterways will together form a new cruising ring, 22 miles long, which is expected to prove very popular. Progress on the project has been slowed by the economic downturn. The problem section is a short length of the River Salwarpe, which is to be deepened and widened from Lock 7 on the Junction Canal to the Barge Lock in Vines Park, where the Barge Canal begins. BW is keen to begin canalisation work, but is unable to gain access to the river. Both the necessary land and a contribution to restoration costs were due to be provided as part of the redevelopment of a former Land Rover dealership, between the Junction Canal and Salt Way road, but this fell through following the downturn in the housing market. It is now hoped that the Junction Canal will open during 2011. Meanwhile, new moorings are being provided along the Barge Canal in Vines Park, Droitwich, in anticipation of an influx of visiting craft once both canals are open next year. In a further development, an interpretation board has been installed at the Coney Meadow Reedbed, which has been established to provide a safe location for the large quantities of reed habitat displaced when the Barge Canal was dredged two years ago. In just two years the Coney Meadow site has thrived and already supports a wide range of plants, birds, mammals and insects.

MIKE HADDON

The Droitwich Barge Canal is scheduled to open by the end of the year – but the Junction Canal is to be delayed

MIKE HADDON

Interpretation panel at Coney Meadow Reedbed.

Newly restored Lock No 7 of the Droitwich Barge Canal looking west towards the River Severn. The old lock gate has been erected alongside as a feature of the lock.

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MIKE HADDON

AUTUMN 2010 | NEWS | FREIGHT | RESTORATION

Waterway restoration thriving

n summer 2009, IWA’s Restoration Committee distributed a survey questionnaire to voluntary bodies concerned with waterway restoration and construction schemes in the UK, the vast majority being IWA Corporate Members. The questionnaire was in three sections: one seeking factual information about each restoration scheme and its voluntary body, another seeking opinions on IWA’s assistance and relevance to each scheme, and a further (new for 2009) asking about the training needs of the bodies. Over 90% of restoration bodies responded. An analysis of opinions expressed has been circulated within IWA and will be considered by IWA’s Restoration Committee when making future plans and changing procedures. The responses to the training questionnaire will be used in developing a skills training scheme for waterway restoration. The analysis of the factual information provided gives some useful information about the scale and growth of waterway restoration as well as indicators of which policies might be of benefit and of ‘what the others do’. An analysis of the factual information has been distributed to every restoration body that responded to the survey. The survey questionnaire and factual analysis are available to download from IWA’s website at www. waterways.org.uk/waterways/waterway_restoration/ about_waterways_restoration. The survey factual analysis is intended to enable voluntary restoration bodies to identify those general characteristics of restoration bodies that lead to success and to enable them either to apply those characteristics to their own schemes or to compare their progress. The survey also provides accurate indicators of the current scale of restoration. Perhaps the most significant of these is that the membership of restoration bodies responding to the survey has grown from 17,400 in 1995 and 27,400 in 2002 to 32,700 now (excluding IWA and voluntary labour provided by IWA’s Waterway Recovery Group). Other headline indicators of the growth of waterway restoration are that 1,179 miles are now under active restoration, compared with 1,039 miles in 2002 and 770 miles in 1995, with 555 miles of navigation fully restored and reopened since IWA was founded in 1946.

New slipway at Gravesend

brand new slipway has been completed on the Thames & Medway Canal as part of the regeneration of Gravesend. Work is also underway to supply a new source of water for the canal to enable boats to once again use this section of waterway, which extends into the North Kent marshes - an area of international wildlife importance. Originally constructed in the early 19th century, the Thames & Medway Canal provided safe passage for ships plying between the Thames and Medway rivers, during a period of instability due to the perceived risk of attacks by the French.

Today the Thames & Medway Canal, and the canal basin in particular, is the focus for Gravesend’s new waterfront regeneration areas including the promenade, New Tavern Fort historic sites, and the Riverside Leisure area. To the east of Gravesend the rural part of the Thames & Medway Canal was partly restored in the 1990s and recent studies have explored the design issues and cost of further restoration. The Saxon Shore Way runs alongside the River Thames here and the Sustrans National Cycle Route No 1 follows the canal.

Bernard Snell

Gravesend’s regenerated waterfront features a wide range of craft, from narrowboats to sailing vessels.

New passenger boat on the Grantham Canal

enton Wharf was the scene of much activity in late April when a new passenger boat arrived on the Grantham Canal. Constructed in Oxfordshire, the craft was lowered by crane into the canal in front of a crowd of well-wishers. An invited group of VIP’s then joined the boat for its first cruise along the canal to Woolsthorpe. The boat is available for charter by groups ranging from family parties to school children for cruises along the canal between Woolsthorpe and the A1 at Grantham. It is equipped with comfortable seating, a kitchen and a toilet. Booking details are on the society website www.granthamcanal.com.

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waterways MIKE HADDON

Keeping Our Waterways Alive

Restoration work underway at Cottingwith Lock on the Pocklington Canal.

ritish Waterways’ £136,000 restoration of Cottingwith Lock on the Pocklington Canal has been nominated in the annual East Riding of Yorkshire Council’s ‘Chairman Awards’. The project was commended in the Chairman’s Built Heritage Award for Commercial Developments and Major Schemes Category, which celebrates “individuals, companies or organisations that own buildings within the East Riding of Yorkshire in recognition of their achievements towards enhancing the built heritage of the area.” Having been closed for just over two years following the failure of the heel post on one of the old lock gates at the Grade II Listed Cottingwith Lock, both sets of gates were replaced and brick work repairs were carried out in the lock chamber before it was reopened for navigation. Special consideration was also given to the heritage of the lock such as matching the new bricks to the original brickwork and removing metal railway tracks, which were used as a crude repair to balance beams many years ago. Commenting on the award nomination, Judy Jones, heritage advisor for British Waterways, said: “We’re delighted to be nominated for this award and to be recognised for the quality of work that went into this project. As the third largest owner of listed structures in the UK, we work hard to help conserve and promote the canals as they’re a living part of the nation’s heritage. “We got great help from the Pocklington Canal Amenity Society who provided replicas of the original wheel paddle gearing for the Cottingwith Lock top gates – a key heritage characteristic of the canal when it was used as a commercial navigation.”

Dredgings being deposited on the north bank of the navigation, just west of the lock.

Stroudwater Progress Good progress is being made on the Stroudwater Navigation, an integral part of the exciting Cotswolds Canals project, as illustrated by these photos taken at Ryeford Double Lock in early spring. The cleared chamber of the lock seen looking east. In early April the Cotswold Canals Trust received listed building consent for the lock’s full restoration to navigable condition. MIKE HADDON

Pocklington Project Nominated

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AUTUMN 2010 | NEWS | FREIGHT | RESTORATION

New Bridges on the Chesterfield

he currently isolated ‘new’ section of the Chesterfield Canal at Staveley, recently completed as part of a road scheme, incorporates three new bridges over the revived waterway. The length of canal between Hall Lane and the Northern Loop Road is due for further development shortly to create the Staveley Town Basin, which will have berths for twenty narrowboats. Immediately beyond this new facility will be a new lock, to be named Staveley Town Lock (No 5A), and a further bridge giving access to the basin. Of course, none of the above features can come into use until the remaining in-filled section to the current head of navigation, just beyond Mill Green Bridge, a distance of approximately 300 metres, is excavated. Once the project is complete it will form a focal point at the northern end of the ‘Chesterfield Section’ until such time as further restoration can be carried out in the direction of Norwood Tunnel, and the ‘breakthrough’ link-up with the main navigable section of the canal.

Mike Haddon

View looking north-east to the newly-created section of the canal at Staveley. In the foreground is Hall Lane Bridge.

View from Hall Lane Bridge to the short section of canal restored as part of the adjacent road construction scheme.

Wey & Arun Appeal

The current appearance of the bridge…

he Wey & Arun Canal Trust has launched an appeal to raise funds to replace the railings on the new bridge at Loxwood, West Sussex with a more aesthetically pleasing brick wall. A longstanding obstacle to restoration of the canal, the bridge was reopened last year but the high metal railings have proven universally unpopular. The Trust is now proposing to replace them with a reinforced concrete parapet, faced with brick on both sides and a light rail along the top. Its ‘Buy a Brick’ appeal is asking local residents and Trust members to buy a symbolic, numbered brick for £5 each. Donations may be sent to Buy a Brick, Wey & Arun Canal Trust, The Granary, Flitchfold Farm, Loxwood, Billingshurst, West Sussex RH14 0RH.

… and how the W&ACT would like it to be.

The 300 metre gap between the newly excavated canal bed near Hall Lane and the navigable waterway at Mill Green Bridge, just visible in the background.

Looking north-east from Hall Lane Bridge towards the Staveley Northern Loop Road. Staveley Town Basin is to be created in the left foreground of the picture.

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k c a r t n e beat

Off the

The Grand Western Canal’s popular horsedrawn trip boat.

Keith Goss recommends some lesser known waterways in the Deep South of England and Wales Built as arteries of trade in by-gone years, the navigable rivers and canals are primarily located in the Midlands and the North. This is where you spend your hire-boat holidays, moor your narrowboat or go towpath walking and cycling. But what if you live way down south, far from the epicentre of the inland waterway network? Fear not, for there are plenty of lovely canals and rivers to be discovered here too. And, whisper it quietly, you can even go boating… We take a look at just five waterways well worthy of exploration.

When it comes to boating, the Grand Western is utilised by electric boats, Canadian canoes and rowing boats. But it is best known, perhaps, for its traditional horsedrawn boat, which has become the iconic image of the canal. It is operated in the summer months by Tiverton Canal Company from the wharf at Tiverton, where there is also a gift shop and café bar. Trailboating is also popular, and the waterway was the venue for the highly-successful IWA National Trailboat Festival in 2008.

GRAND WESTERN CANAL

More Info

The Grand Western Canal was envisaged as a part of trading route between the English and Bristol Channels. Like many grandiose projects, this major link never came to full fruition. What we have today though is an entirely rural, 11-mile waterway, owned by Devon County Council and referred to as the Grand Western Canal Country Park. Rich in wildlife, the canal is enjoyed by nature lovers, walkers and cyclists – the towpath forming a vital link in the BristolLand’s End long distance cycle route. Fishing is especially good, with a good stock of bream, carp, perch, roach and tench.

Lowdwells to Tiverton: 10.8 miles Navigation Authority: Devon County Council (01884 254072, www.devon.gov.uk) Boating: Horse-drawn trip boats, day boat/rowing boat/canoe hire – Tiverton Canal Company (01884 253345, www.tivertoncanal.co.uk); Moorings and standard facilities – Mid Devon Hire Boats and Moorings (01884 252178) Slipway: Boehill Bridge near Sampford Peverell Walking: Towpath excellent throughout Map: Ordnance Survey Landranger 193 (Taunton & Lyme Regis) Society: Grand Western Canal Trust (01884 849255, www.grandwesterncanaltrust.org)

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ABOVE: One of the planet sculptures on the Somerset Space Walk.

BELOW: Remote countryside on the Grand Western Canal.

PETER BROWN

BOTTOM: Crossing an aqueduct on the Grand Western Canal.

BRIDGWATER & TAUNTON CANAL Like the Grand Western Canal, the Bridgwater & Taunton was intended to form an integral part of the Bristol-English Channel link. Today it exists as a peaceful, isolated waterway, the haunt of a small number of resident cruisers and visiting trailboaters. Even sea-going boats are unable to gain access to the docks at Bridgwater, thanks to a bund which prevents water from the River Parrett silting up the basins. Maunsel Lock Canal Centre, situated halfway between Bridgwater and Taunton at the heart of the picturesque Somerset Levels, is the focal point of the waterway. With its pleasant waterside cafĂŠ, it is a great place for gongoozling, and boat trips are available too. The Somerset Space Walk is unique: a series of planet sculptures spaced out along the towpath in proportion to their orbit around the sun. It is astronomy brought to life in a canalside setting. The towpath is in good condition throughout and is well-used by walkers and cyclists alike. For the reasonably fit, the canalâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 14 miles constitute an excellent one-way walk, with good train links between Bridgwater and Taunton for the return to the start point.

More Info Bridgwater to Taunton: 14.2 miles Navigation Authority: British Waterways, Gloucester (01452 318000, www.waterscape.com) Boating: Trip boat from Maunsel Lock Canal Centre at weekends and Tuesdays and Thursdays during school holidays (01278 663160, www.maunsellock.co.uk) Slipways: YMCA Bridgwater, Bathpool and Firepool Lock, near Taunton Walking: Towpath excellent throughout Maps: Ordnance Survey Landranger 182 (Westonsuper-Mare) and 193 (Taunton & Lyme Regis)

Pleasure boats on the Bridgwater & Taunton Canal.

KINGDOM TOURS

ROBIN SMITHETT

Off the beaten track

KINGDOM TOURS

Taking a trip on the Bridgwater & Taunton Canal.

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Boating on the Neath Canal between Neath and Tonna. HUGH POTTER

NEATH & TENNANT CANALS

More Info

Built as entirely separate waterways and still in private ownership, the Neath & Tennant Canals have come to be regarded as a single entity today. Both are under restoration, and both traverse splendid South Wales countryside. The Neath Canal once ran for 13 miles from Glynneath to Briton Ferry. Today several miles have been restored between Neath and Tonna and the Neath & Tennant Canals Trust operate their trip boat Thomas Dadford on this section in the summer months. Restoration has also taken place further north at Resolven, where a slipway is sited; this is to be the site of IWA’s 2011 National Trailboat Festival. Most of the Neath Canal’s towpath is well maintained and the waterway can be explored on foot throughout; some sections are even suitable for cycling. Distinctive canal architecture enhances the canal’s appeal, with an 18th century lengthsman cottage at Resolven and stables and workshops at Tonna all recently restored by the Trust. The Tennant Canal was built by George Tennant between 1817 and 1824, to link the Neath Canal at Aberdulais with Port Tennant, Swansea – a distance of eight miles. Restoration work has been concentrated on re-establishing the link with the Neath Canal at Aberdulais. In the meantime, the canal can only be enjoyed on foot; much of the towpath is in reasonable condition, although some diversions are required in places.

Neath Canal – Gynneath to Briton Ferry 13 miles; Tennant Canal – Aberdulais to Port Tennant, Swansea 8.4 miles Navigation Authority: Neath Canal - Company of Proprietors of the Neath Canal Navigation (01639 635282); Tennant Canal – Port Tennant Navigation Company, c/o Leeder Property Management, Swansea (01792 644699) Boating: Trip boat operates from Neath town centre in summer (01792 426449) Slipway: Resolven Walking: Towpath mainly good (Neath Canal), variable on the Tennant with some diversions necessary Map: Ordnance Survey Landranger 170 (Vale of Glamorgan) Society: Neath & Tennant Canals Trust (01792 547902, www.neath-tennant-canals.org.uk)

Arundel Castle dominates the town.

RIVER ARUN The Arun is a delightful river, flowing through the some of the finest scenery in West Sussex with splendid views of the shapely South Downs never too far away. Although tidal, it is a popular boating river and at certain states of the tide it is possible for small craft to cruise upstream from Littlehampton to Pallingham Lock (junction with the Wey & Arun Canal), a distance of 25 miles. It should be noted, however, that the tidal flow is strong and navigators should exercise great care at all times. Scenery aside, the Arun has plentiful attractions for allcomers, not least several

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HUGH POTTER

Off the beaten track Phillip C at flickr.com CC-BY-SA

LEFT: The slipway at Resolven on the Neath Canal. BELOW LEFT: Small boats on the River Arun at Arundel.

Phillip C at flickr.com CC-BY-SA

Y-SA Jim Linwood at flickr.com CC-B

RIGHT: The Harbour Office at Rye on the River Rother.

good riverside pubs – don’t miss the Swan Inn at Pulborough. A superb tearoom overlooks the water at Houghton Bridge, which is the closest point to Amberley’s renowned Museum & Heritage Centre (01798 831370, www. amberleymuseum.co.uk). But the jewel in the Arun’s crown is, of course, Arundel. This historic town, with its hilltop castle and countless antique and craft shops, is the best place for casual visitors to enjoy the river. A convivial tearoom is located right by the river, boat trips and day boat hire are available in season, there is a thriving local boat club and good riverside paths offer excellent walks by the water. Just upstream is the Arundel Wildlife & Wetland Centre (01903 883355, www.wwt.org.uk) where 26 hectares of naturalised landscapes and wetland habitats are open to the public.

Nigel Wilson at flic

Bodiam Castle is a spectacular highlight of the River Rother.

kr.com CC-BY-SA

More Info Littlehampton Harbour to Pallingham, junction with the Wey & Arun Canal: 25.5 miles ‘Navigation Authority’: Littlehampton to Arundel - Littlehampton Harbour Board (01903 721215, www.littlehampton.org); above Arundel – Environment Agency, Southern Region (08708 506506, www.environment-agency.gov.uk) Boating: Trip boats and self drive motor boats from Arundel Boatyard (01903 882609, www.riveraruncruises.com; Arundel Boat Club (www.arundelboatclub.org) Map: Ordnance Survey Landranger 197 (Chichester & the South Downs)

RIVER ROTHER (EASTERN) The River Rother (referred to as Eastern because there is another, smaller, Rother in West Sussex) flows through quiet countryside on the borders of Kent and East Sussex,

linking two major tourist attractions: Bodiam Castle and the ancient and picturesque port of Rye, with its atmospheric cobbled streets, historic inns and genteel tearooms. There are junctions with the un-navigable River Brede and the Royal Military Canal. The latter was once accessible by way of Iden Lock, but this is now derelict. There are a number of moorings for small craft in the lower reaches of the river, which can be quite busy at weekends in the summer. The public can see something of the Rother courtesy of the Bodiam Ferry Company, which operates a trip boat from Newenden Bridge up to Bodiam Castle in season. You can enjoy a cream tea riverside while you wait for the trip to begin. Fourteenth century Bodiam Castle is one of the most famous and evocative castles in Britain, with ramparts rising dramatically above the moat. Furthermore, the towers offer the most wonderful views of the Rother valley. It is possible to explore parts of the river on foot, particularly north from Rye and east from Newenden Bridge. Wild and often windswept, the landscape is richly rewarding for walkers and nature lovers – if you are extremely lucky you may even spot an otter!

More Info Rye to Bodiam Bridge: 16.4 miles Navigation Authority: Environment Agency, Southern Region (01903 820692, www.environment-agency.gov.uk) Boating: Trip boat from Newenden Bridge in summer operated by the Bodiam Ferry Company (01797 253838, www.bodiam-ferry.co.uk) Walking: Limited riverside paths, liable to be muddy after heavy rainfall Maps: Ordnance Survey Landranger 188 (Maidstone & the Weald of Kent) and 189 (Ashford & Romney Marsh)

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GRAHAM BOOTH

Best of the Rest

s A flotilla of Wilderness trailboat on the River Medway.

More Info Wilderness Trailboats: Bridge Street, Walton-on-Thames KT12 1AP. 01932 227836, www.wildernesstrailboats.co.uk Wilderness Boat Owners’ Club: www.wilderness.org.uk Sea Otter Boats: Adelphi Way, Ireland Industrial Estate, Staveley, Derbyshire S43 3LS. 01246 470005, www.seaotterboats.co.uk The Caravan Club: 0800 328 6635, www.caravanclub.co.uk Slipway locations: www.boatlaunch.co.uk; www.waterscape.com

4x4s are ideal for towing trailboats.

ILBOATS

It is an undeniable fact that trailboaters can reach parts of the waterway network out of bounds to the average narrowboat owner – including several of the waterways featured in this article. Trailboats offer the ideal means of escaping the crowds on the busiest canals. There are other advantages too of owning a small, trailable boat: you can spend your whole holiday on a new canal or river every year, without taking lots of time just to reach it; trailable boats generally need less maintenance than narrowboats; they normally cost less to buy and licence; and if you are able to keep your boat at home you can avoid paying expensive mooring fees. There is less choice of trailboats today than twenty or so years ago, such glass fibre cruisers as the Microplus Explorer and the Norman Conquest being long since confined to history. Today the main manufacturers are Wilderness Trailboats, based in Walton-on-Thames, whose craft have established what amounts to a cult following as illustrated by the establishment of the thriving Wilderness Owners’ Boat Club; and Sea Otter Boats, situated in Staveley and builders of aluminium boats suitable for trailing since 1990. Towing a boat on a trailer is fundamentally similar to towing a caravan, and should hold no terrors for the competent driver, although anyone who passed their driving test after 1996 has to take a further practical exam if the combined weight of the towing vehicle trailer they plan to use exceeds 3.5 tonnes. Due consideration must of course be given to the size of the car doing the towing: standard family cars such as the Ford Focus cope OK with towing small to medium sized craft, although Volvo Estates and 4x4s are better suited to the task. Driving a car and trailer forwards presents relatively few difficulties, but reversing can be altogether more problematical. It is perhaps advisable to get some practice in, and the best option may be to enrol in one of the handling courses organised by the Caravan Club. Launching and recovering the trailboat becomes easier the more times you do it – in the early stages you may be able to enlist the help of other experienced trailboaters or boatyard staff.

WILDERNESS TRA

TRAILBOATING

GRAHAM BOOTH

Peace and relaxation – off the beaten track.

Space prevents us from including the many other southern waterways where boating is popular. Foremost amongst them is Kent’s River Medway, which some thirty years ago boasted hire fleets and is still home to plenty of resident boats. But there are others too: including the Chichester Canal in West Sussex, under restoration, where you can enjoy short public trips on summer evenings and at weekends; the magical River Frome in Dorset where you can hire small motor boats or take birdwatching trips from the historic quay at Wareham; and the wonderful River Tamar, which forms the border between Cornwall and Devon and attracts sailing craft and motor cruisers alike. In South Wales there is, of course, the Brecon & Abergavenny Canal which has a number of hire fleets but is nevertheless quieter than most waterways on the main network. Peace and relaxation are the key attractions when boating or exploring off the beaten track – so enjoy!

Acknowledgement: Grateful thanks to Graham Booth for original research and updated information.

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WILDERNESS TRAILBOATS LTD

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ALL PHOTOS BY ROY CHANDLER

Interview THE

Keith Goss: How did you first become interested in inland waterways? Colin Edmond: Well, I wasn’t really an inland waterways man. I started sailing on the Blackwater as a boy and then was offered the chance to serve as a mate on one of the motorised sailing barges for my school holidays, when I was aged 16. After a brief flirtation with accountancy I returned to the sea which became my job for the next twenty years. I spent some years as a skipper of aggregate dredgers in the North Sea. During this time I kept my yachts at Heybridge Basin and got very friendly with George Clark the lockkeeper. I often looked at his laid back life style and thought, yeah, when I’m about 40 that’s the life for me. When I was 35 George announced he was retiring. He was over 70 by then and he said he thought I’d make a good lockkeeper. This was earlier than my idea of taking the job at 40 but as George pointed out he had been there 15 years and the next incumbent would probably stay the same length of time. I would be 50 and too old to be considered by then. I decided to apply anyway. I was not the first choice. The man who was appointed declined the job because his wife didn’t like the accommodation. It just goes to show, it takes all sorts.

Keith Goss talks to Chelmer & Blackwater Navigation Manager Colin Edmond

ABOVE: Colin Edmond taking delivery of the new workboat at Paper Mill Lock.

KG: When did you first start work on the Chelmer & Blackwater Navigation?

CE: I was asked to attend an interview but I was in Invergordon at the time. However, the company agreed to wait until I came on leave and I had an interview with the chairman of the Proprietors, Colonel Cramphorn, and company secretary Bill Spall. I was offered the job on the spot but asked for the weekend to think about it. After discussions with my wife and family I agreed to take the job and we moved in on the 14th November 1985. The day we moved in the company removed all the windows from the house, to replace them, apart from the one in the bedroom we were using and we camped in the house for about three weeks.

KG: What position did you hold initially? CE: The original job title was Superintendent Lockkeeper. I have to admit that the job then was very easy going, we locked when required and cut the grass around the lock and did a bit of greasing and painting. The job was hard work in the summer but very easy in the winter. We also did the accounts for the boats moored at Heybridge Basin, all hand written.

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The Interview KG: So it was OK then, working for the previous owners of the waterway, The Company of Proprietors of the Chelmer & Blackwater Navigation? CE: Yes, the old company was very laid back, maybe in view of what happened it was too laid back. In January 2004 I returned from holiday in New Zealand to find a note on my desk saying I should call a number in Norwich. That was my first introduction to the administrators who said they wanted me to run the company. New landing facilities under construction at They had made all the other staff h. Beeleig redundant while I was away. So, as the only employee, I was now running the 14 mile navigation and supervising the Old Ship pub.

KG: How did things change when Essex Waterways Ltd – a subsidiary of The Inland Waterways Association – took over in 2005? CE: IWA/Essex Waterways Ltd was a breath of fresh air, really enthusiastic about the waterway. I know there were people in IWA who were very wary of the Extensive works underway at Beeleigh.

‘poacher turned gamekeeper’ syndrome, but I hope that we have, in the last five years, allayed their fears. One of the things that happened was the pub was sold off by the administrator so IWA had the core business to concentrate on and something that they knew a lot about. From a personal point of view, the biggest change was job security. It was great to work for people who had the same aims and the drive to achieve those aims, whether by grantaided projects using volunteers or the use of our own income to enhance the business.

KG: What are IWA like as employers – do you report directly to the chief executive?

CE: IWA is a very good employer. I report firstly to the chairman of Essex Waterways Ltd, Roy Chandler, with whom I work very closely, talking virtually every day, which when you consider he is a volunteer shows amazing dedication on his part. On some matters I report to the chief executive but with the use of e-mail we all keep in touch on the important issues.

KG: Are you pleased with all the improvements that have been made on the Chelmer & Blackwater over the past five years? CE: I think what has been achieved over the last five years is amazing. I have a couple of pictures which I show during my talks to local organisations that illustrate the state of Cuton Lock when we started. This is now refurbished and we have done major work at four other locks and replaced a bridge. The list is endless and it is easy to pick out the big jobs. However, the small regular maintenance jobs are just as important and we have a long way to go.

KG: Which do you think are the most impressive of these improvements?

CE: Stonhams Lock is probably the most

Being a navigation manager is not such a glamorous job!

impressive although most of the work is invisible as it is beneath the surface. Hall Bridge must be one of the best jobs as we used just about everyone on it. Waterway Recovery Group knocked it down, our regular contractors built a beautiful wooden deck and replaced the parapets in traditional red bricks, and the county council paid for it - how’s that for working together. The other big improvement is in the administration of our customers’ accounts which are really kept up to date efficiently and this helps with planning because we know our income is sound. Also Head Office does a marvellous job watching our expenditure and keeping us under control.

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KG: What major tasks remain to be done? CE: Well, how long have you got? There will always be something and in the current financial climate grants are going to be much harder to obtain. This summer we are re-piling the weir at Paper Mill, that is our major job as we do not want to have a further closure this season. Our customers have been very supportive and we feel it is time for them to enjoy the canal for a couple of seasons so we are concentrating on off-line maintenance. The next big job is sheet piling work on the north side of Heybridge Basin where we have a leak. This job will probably cost £200,000 and we have started saving up, but hope to get some partners on board to help with the funding. We also need to replace the lower gates at Hoe Mill; these are the biggest on the system apart from the sea lock gates. Thirdly, below Hoe Mill Lock there is a length of 400 metres of bank that is very weak and needs repiling and the towpath re-instated.

KG: Much of the work over the past five years has been done using volunteer labour. Has that brought with it any particular problems? CE: We are very grateful for all the volunteer help we get. The only problem is knowing what skills are going to be available and making sure that we plan work they can do and keeping everyone busy so they are not standing around getting bored.

KG: Do you have any other full/part time employees to assist you?

CE: When Essex Waterways started there was just me. After about 18 months I explained to the board that doing the locking at 0400 hours and then going to sort out a lock at the other end of the navigation, and then being back for locking at 1600 on a Sunday was starting to wear a bit thin. It was decided to take on a new lockkeeper which meant we had to leave the cottage and we now spend our summers on our wide beam boat at Heybridge and our winters at our house nearby. Obviously when we first started there was no idea of what we could afford, but we took on Martin the new lockkeeper and recently we have taken on a full time lengthsman. We also have residential caretakers at each of our mooring sites so the feedback about maintenance is much better. In addition we also have a moorings officer on the navigation and a part time administration assistant at Head Office.

KG: How is the willow trade doing? Does that take up much of your time?

CE: The willow trade is fine at the moment

although I am wary that a lot of local farmers appear to be planting willows in set aside fields and headland management areas. So I suspect there may be a glut in a few years time and we may look to other species if this looks as though it might affect the price we get at the moment. I personally don’t spend that much time doing willows, our contractors do the replant and our new lengthsman will be doing the husbandry. My role is mainly walking the navigation in the spring selecting which trees are mature and valuing them.

KG: Is there any such thing as a typical day for you? Can you tell us, for example, how you spent yesterday? CE: Yesterday, well I remember saying to my wife I must catch up with my e-mails. Then the volunteers came along and said one of the mowers was smoking badly. It turned out that the sump had been over-filled and 2stroke mix had been put in a 4-stroke engine. I quickly changed the oil and said it should run OK, keep diluting the fuel and eventually it will be back to plain petrol. That reminds me I must change the oil again before the volunteers come again. So back to the e-mails. My mobile rings: “Do you know you’ve got a dead horse on the towpath at Barnes Lock?” Off I go to Barnes, it has apparently been there three days. The local dog warden had declared it to be a goat and the police and ambulance service had investigated as they had been told it was a body. Despite all these organisations having our emergency procedures policy, no one had informed us. Roy spent the rest of the morning contacting the relevant organisations only to be told it was “not their job”, we resolved the situation by dealing directly with the nearest knackers yard. This took our lengthsman away from what we had planned for half a day. From Barnes I went straight to an advisory committee meeting where I arrived a few minutes late to comments about flogging a dead horse. After that two Environment Agency representatives came to look at Heybridge Basin with Roy and myself. E-mails will have to wait, now it is time for a marathon training run.

KG: Is there much administration work to be done, or is there someone who takes that on for you? CE: As I said earlier, most of the administration is done at IWA Head Office in Chesham - very efficiently too. My administration work is more concerned with liaising with the local authorities.

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The Interview KG: Do you ever get time to go out boating on the Chelmer & Blackwater? CE: I rarely use the navigation for my own leisure but we use our various work boats to move materials around so I am often afloat in these. For example, last week we towed the Susan, the last timber built lighter, from Sandford to Heybridge, using the weed cutter. I think it is imperative for me to use the navigation by boat, it is after all what our customers have to do so we need to understand any difficulties they face.

ABOVE: Colin Edmond (right) with IWA National Chairman Clive Henderson. LEFT: Approaching Paper Mill Lock with the Buddy Buster workboat

KG: You mentioned that you have your own boat. CE: Yes, when we left the lock house we decided that a boat on the navigation would make ideal accommodation for when I was needed to work as a relief lockkeeper at Heybridge. It was funny really. I knew that Mary Seacole, a 55ft wide beam Avon barge was for sale and tried to get my wife Margaret to come and look at her. Her answer was that she didn’t want a narrowboat. We went on a trip to New Zealand and while we were away I persuaded her that if Mary Seacole was still for sale when we got back she would at least come and look at her. Well we walked aboard and Margaret said “when can we buy her?” So we now own the Mary Seacole,

built around five years ago and fitted out in a contemporary style. I also inherited my father’s 22ft sailing yacht built in the 1930s.

KG: Have you boated anywhere else around the canal system?

CE: Not yet. That is something for our retirement, hence the purchase of Mary Seacole. Having said that, I know the Thames very well from my dredging days. I have delivered yachts to and from the upper reaches as well. I have also competed in the Great River Rowing Race (22 miles down the Thames), four times winning the mixed trophy, three times in a row. Other rivers I know from my trading days are the Humber/Ouse up to Selby and the Trent to Gainsborough.

KG: As one marathon runner (3 hours 6 minutes in 1986) to another, how many marathons have you done and what is your best time?

CE: Well you’re a lot quicker than me although I didn’t run my first until I was 57. That was London in 2008 - it was freezing! I then went to Berlin where Margaret has family. In the spring of 2009 I thought I don’t want to do London again, let’s go somewhere warmer. We went to Madrid which is held on the same day as London. It rained for the first two hours and was just as cold, in fact colder than London that day. In the autumn we went to Dublin and this spring I completed the Paris Marathon which was probably the best one so far. I am off to New York in November for my 60th birthday and would love to run under five hours.

KG: What other hobbies do you have? CE: I am a rugby union referee and also do the refereeing appointments for my local society. I also assess new younger referees.

KG: Finally, do you have any unfulfilled ambitions? How about ending up as Chief Executive at British Waterways? Or even at IWA? CE: Well I’m nearly 60 now so I doubt that I’ll leave the Chelmer & Blackwater. I am very much a hands-on manager and would get very frustrated with all the politics at BW and even within IWA. Here on the C&B we get on with the job and hold the post-mortem when the job is done.

LEFT: Hall Bridge – rebuilt with a wooden deck and traditional red bricks. This project involved Waterway Recovery Group, who demolished the original structure, Essex Waterways’ regular contractors who built the new bridge, and the county council who paid for it.

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IWA National Festival & Boat Show Beale Park, Pangbourne, Reading, River Thames

Saturday 28th August – Monday 30th August

f you have ever wondered what it would be like to walk on water – come and try it at the National Festival & Boat Show at Beale Park during the August Bank Holiday weekend. ‘Water Zorbing’ is the new craze and puts people into a giant, transparent hamster ball. Once inside, you are launched out onto the lake – thoughtfully attached to a long piece of rope – and you really can walk on the water. This provides excellent entertainment for all concerned, especially the spectators. As many IWA members will know from previous years, the Beale Park site has a fine lake and in addition to the ‘Water Zorbing’, a full programme of activities has been arranged for the festival weekend, including the popular Horsham Newfoundland Dog Team, who will be demonstrating their water rescue skills each day. Adventure Dolphin, based in Pangbourne, will be offering ‘come and try canoe’ sessions, whilst the fine steam launches from the Steam Boat Association will be parading, Wilderness

Boats will be ‘twirling’ and there will also be demonstrations of launching and recovering an aluminium Sea Otter narrowboat. The Mid Thames Model Boat Club will also be featured along with a display by the Model Hovercraft Association. The festival’s ‘Grand Opening’ will be performed by the lake at around 12 noon on the Saturday.

Sea battles, theatre and crafts On Sunday a ‘sea battle’ will be staged by the Portsmouth Model Boat Display Team, with pyrotechnics and a sinking, whilst Monday will see two very large models on the lake – a warship and a nuclear submarine. Youngsters of all ages will also be able to try their hand at driving a model boat – which is not as easy as it looks. The lake will also host the well turned-out exhibition boats which are, of course, for sale, and a flotilla of over 40 members of the Dutch Barge Association with their lovely craft – suitably decorated with colourful bunting.

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National Festival Preview Other attractions during the weekend include the replica wharf with historic narrowboats ‘waiting for orders’, performances by Daystar Theatre Company, live music and dancing at the bandstand, and falconry displays. Suzanne Austin is scheduled to present her popular cookery demonstrations again, whilst the craft workshops will be offering some interesting new courses this year. You can still learn to make your own rope fenders or try sign writing if you have a steady hand – but this year you can also sign up to make Victorian Christmas decorations. Booking before the festival is strongly recommended for the workshops - full details are on IWA’s website.

Entertainment galore For visitors staying on site, either on a boat or on the campsite, the evening entertainment arrangements have been altered slightly – in response to popular demand. The main bar area will no longer host the live bands, but will be kept as an area where people can meet their friends with only limited musical entertainment at certain times. Instead there will be an alternative entertainment venue marquee nearby. On the Thursday night this will host the showing of “Painted Boats”, followed by the popular boater’s & camper’s quiz. On Friday evening there will be the folk club guest night with renowned fiddler Tom accompanied by guitarist Gren Bartley. On Saturday there will be presentations by the Residential Boat Owners Association, a talk by Tony Hirst on the life of Tom Rolt, a performance by Daystar and, in the evening, swing music from the BBO Big Band. Sunday will see another play from Daystar and then an ‘open mic’ evening with the folk club. Monday morning is time for the awards presentation ceremony, whilst the evening will bring “The Trends” – a band originally formed in the ‘60s who have accompanied such artists as Jet Harris, Tony Meehan, Johnny Kidd, Joe Brown and others. Children will be well catered for as ever, with lots of WOW activities, a funfair and numerous lake activities.

Boats, camper vans and caravans With over 450 visiting boats already booked in, and over 200 camping units (at midJune) taking advantage of the attractive riverside campsite, plus hundreds of exciting exhibitors, the 2010 National Festival & Boat Show promises to be a huge success. Campers can also have electric hook-up this year and many are taking advantage of the early camping offer by arriving on the 23rd August and staying for the week.

Both campers and boaters receive additional value including £3 off adult entry to Beale Park’s animal attractions and 10% off Didcot Steam Railway admission, plus entry to the free waterways holiday prize draw, courtesy of UK Boat Hire. The whole package offers great value to festival visitors coming by boat or with a camping unit. Don’t forget – advance ticket purchasers also get the Didcot Steam Railway discount, entry to the prize draw as well as saving £2.50 per ticket on the gate price. Other offers for festival visitors include 10% off all food and accommodation at the Swan at Streatley Hotel, just five minutes up the river from Beale Park. With a delightful riverside, conservatory and terrace, it is the perfect place for lunch or evening meal. River Canal Rescue is also offering free breakdown cover for boaters coming to the festival from mid July to midSeptember, full details on IWA’s website.

Why not volunteer? IWA National Festival is organised and run by IWA’s volunteers, all of whom have paid the full festival fees to come and work for the weekend. The festival team is grateful to all its loyal supporters/volunteers, including those from Waterway Recovery Group, many of whom come year after year. If you would like to help the team, please contact sandy.jones@ waterways.org.uk.

Show information Opening times: 10am-6pm (Monday 5pm) Ticket prices: adults £12 (£9.50 in advance); over 60s/students £9.50 (£8.00 in advance; children under 16 go free Ticket sales: www.iwashop.com General enquiries: 0844 800 6583 Exhibitor enquiries: 0844 800 6552

Gillian Bolt

Tom Rolt - The 2010 Festival is dedicated to Tom Rolt, one of IWA’s founders, who was born in Chester in 1910. Tom was a great engineering enthusiast and to celebrate his passion in that sphere there will be vintage cars and steam vehicles on display during the weekend. In addition there will be a showing of the 1945 film Painted Boats on Thursday evening, for which Tom was a technical advisor. On Saturday afternoon, a talk entitled “LTC Rolt – a portrait of his life” will be given by Tony Hirst, former Director of the Ellesmere Port Boat Museum. Meanwhile, Sonia Rolt will be signing copies of Tom’s books in the IWA marquee throughout the weekend. Many of the titles have been newly reprinted for his centenary year – some of which have not been available for some time. The Illuminated Boat Parade on the Sunday evening too will be themed ‘The Rolt Years’, which gives plenty of scope for those taking part.

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36 p036_iwa.indd 1

| IWA waterways - Autumn 2010

20/7/10 12:21:27

IWA at WORK

IWA at Work News from around the branches compiled by Jim Shead

WATERWAY IMAGES

WOWING THEM AT STOKE

Stoke-on-Trent Branch took part in the Wild Over Waterways (WOW) Passport activities at the Etruria Festival in June, providing ten free activities all around the site, hosted by IWA, British Waterways, teams from city museums, and other waterway volunteers and museum supporters. 419 WOW passports were given out to children taking part. IWA provides advice and materials to any branch wishing to include WOW as part of an event. WOW is a proven method of both retaining children and their parents at an event and in encouraging circulation of these visitors within the site. Julie Arnold, Wild Over Waterways Coordinator, IWA Stoke-on-Trent Branch with Morgan (12) and Roman (4) Chamberlain, of Woolstanton, Stoke- onTrent and Tristram Hunt, MP.

NORTH RIDING START-UP BRANCH

While some branches decline and fade away, others emerge from the enthusiasm of IWA members in a local area. The North Riding Start-up Branch is a case in point. On Saturday 1st May they took part in the Open Day at Castle Mills Lock, which is the entrance point to the River Foss close to its junction with the Ouse in York. They shared a borrowed gazebo with the River Foss Society. Two boats cruised up and down the River Foss from about 10am to 2.30pm: the cruiser Samantha and the broad beam Moonriver. 35 members of the public enjoyed the hour and a half cruise up and down the river.

BANK HOLIDAY SOS STOKE-ON-TRENT As part of the SOS campaign to Save Our System of unique inland waterways, Stoke-on-Trent Branch invited people to a Waterway Community Day by Lock 51 of Trent & Mersey Canal at Church Lawton - to enjoy a walk along the Trent & Mersey Canal, discover more about the project to improve the Cheshire locks for all, and tell IWA how they value the canal at the heart of the community. Visitors were able to watch boats go through the locks and see displays about the local canals and their traditional art, whilst children enjoyed the free activities of designing their own boat ‘livery’ – naming and designing a narrow boat, in the style of the boats that carried cargo through the locks at Church Lawton, to and from Stoke-on-Trent. The event also attracted Fiona Bruce, Member of Parliament for Congleton, who had tea with branch members beside the canal.

BRIDGES AND MONEY – BOTH TIGHT!

When the BW River Class (blue top) boat Kew got stuck under a bridge on the Stratford upon Avon Canal it seemed that the bridges were getting smaller. Members of IWA Warwickshire Branch were soon on the scene to investigate and found that some of these narrow split bridges had indeed become more narrow as the brickwork had deteriorated, allowing the split span walkway to come together as the brickwork supports moved closer together.

BANK HOLIDAY SOS-IPSWICH IWA Ipswich Branch enlisted the help of The River Stour Trust teddy bear for their May Day Bank Holiday SOS event. The combined Stour Trust teddy bear trip day and IWA event persuaded 70 plus visitors to sign up to the SOS petition. The Lib Dem and Labour candidates for South Suffolk accepted the invitation to come and meet IWA and were given full details of the national and local concerns and activities.

The Warwickshire Branch story is typical of the work that branches undertake which go unreported – this incident did not even appear in the local IWA regions magazine. Is your branch doing something that demonstrates the great work that our members do? If so let us know - send your story and pictures to story@jim-shead.com.

IWA waterways - Autumn 2010 | IWA@Work.indd 37

20/7/10 12:34:56

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38 p038_iwa.indd 1

| IWA waterways - Autumn 2010

20/7/10 12:24:45

Cuttings Please

Whilst I don’t deny a certain propensity to moan at things as they stand today, nostalgia not being what it used to be, sometimes an unexpected development can bring unwonted amusement, if not exactly pleasure. Such a development has recently appeared in the shape of advertisements in the national media for what old-fashioned me still thinks of as the Halifax Building Society, now rebuilt, reconstituted and rebranded as Halifax. These have lately appeared in all the nationals as well as various hoardings,

one version of which shows what appears to be the approach to Black Jack’s Lock on the Grand Union (with the towpath and lock mysteriously airbrushed out from beneath the bridge), and a fully-cabined boat in the middle of the cut bearing the message on its cabin top “BETTER DEALS for customers”. Obviously a fair amount of photoshopping has been done, but it is definitely a canal scene and definitely a canal boat (although rather top-heavy), and it most certainly puts the waterways in the public eye.

NEWS FROM THE WEB Last time I mentioned another unexpected source of information, being none other than the BBC Website. “Canal find returns Hinckley church’s stolen silver” ran one item recently, which then went on: “A church has been reunited with its silverware after it was found in a canal seven years after being stolen. The safe at St John’s Church, Hinckley, was broken into in June 2003 and two silver chalices and a communion plate, then worth about £3,500, were taken. Last month, workers clearing debris from the Ashby Canal at Higham on the Hill discovered the silverware inside a bag. Leicestershire Police had it cleaned and then traced the original owners using inscriptions on two of the items.” Well, that’s got to be good news, not least for navigators of the Ashby Canal who might otherwise have ended up with the bag in the blades. And how about this item for sensationalism? Canal boat used in Nottingham newsagent raid. Burglars have used a stolen canal boat to break into a newsagents in Nottingham. The boat was taken from its moorings outside the Canal House pub in the early hours of Wednesday morning. The raiders used the boat to get to the back of S&A News on Carrington Street, which backs on to the waterway, and then stole cash and cigarettes. Police confirmed they were looking for four suspects who had also attempted to cut their way into a cash machine. … The shop’s owner, Ron Patel, said: “Things like this are not just thrown together. Maybe they came in the shop before, while I was trading and had a quick look around. “They did quite a lot of damage, cutting the wires to the alarm system and I found one till on the back room floor and the other in the cellar.” He added: “It puzzles me, it is something unusual. How often does someone use a canal boat in a robbery?” The boat, which is believed to be owned by the city council, was later found drifting on the canal.” Since the last issue my attention has been drawn to similar items from all over the system, and I commend this website to members.

Cutings.indd 39

Waterway

CUTTINGS

DAVID BLAGROVE TAKES A LIGHTHEARTED LOOK AT WHAT THE PAPERS HAVE HAD TO SAY

LEEDS WIN AT CHELSEA

The Yorkshire Post picked up a great piece of publicity for the waterways, which was the prize-winning entry by Leeds City Council at the Chelsea Flower Show which comprised a mock-up of a set of lower gates of a Leeds & Liverpool Canal lock. The picture published in the paper’s preview in late May said “Sizzling temperatures at the Chelsea Flower Show…made the cool waters spilling from the lock gates…an added attraction for visitors enjoying a sneak preview. More than 150,000 people [were] expected to visit the show…” The picture showed a lady seemingly dressed in 19th century garb, but it may have been a fashion item on which I have somehow missed out, leaning on a rail regarding the leaking gates.

MEMORABLE VOYAGE REPORTS

The Sunday Telegraph presented us with a review of a book called Cool Canals: Weekend Walks by Philippa Greenwood and Martine O’Callaghan. Max Davidson, who wrote the review, was most enthusiastic, his piece being entitled “Every canal tells a different story”. This was followed by the statement that “Waterways can lead us on historical and picturesque journeys all over the country.” Well, of course, we all know this, but the Sunday Telegraph’s readers maybe don’t, so it was useful to see Mr Davidson recommending not only the Regent’s Canal (“The surroundings veer between the verdant and the graffiti-covered grimy, but there is some fine architecture to admire…as well as some fascinating insights into London’s industrial past”) but the Brecon Beacons (“take a leisurely stroll along the Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal, admiring the scenery, communing with the sheep, before stopping for a pie and pint at the Royal Oak in Pencelli”). His admiration extends from the Caledonian Canal to the “tattered remnants of the Bude Canal in Cornwall”. He concludes with the following sentiment: “Canals may attract little public funding – the British Waterways budget has just been slashed, disgracefully, by 16 per cent [and this was before the recent General Election - DB] but they are in tune with the shifting priorities of an eco-conscious generation.” And so say all of us! The Monmouthshire & Brecon

ROBIN SMITHETT

HALIFAX ON THE GU

Send all your waterway cuttings to David Blagrove at IWA Head Office, Island House, Moor Road, Chesham HP5 1WA

Canal at Brynich – highly praised in the Sunday Telegraph.

20/7/10 12:20:08

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p041_iwa.indd 1

41 21/7/10 15:38:23

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20/7/10 13:40:00

Letters

inbox

The Winter 2010 issue of Waterways will be published in November 2010. Editorial copy closing date is 1st October 2010.

Do you have something to say about IWA or Waterways? It’s your magazine so please write and tell us your views. We will aim to publish responses to letters that ask questions about any aspect of IWA policy or decision-making. Please write to The Editor, Waterways, c/o IWA, Island House, Moor Road, Chesham HP5 1WA or e-mail k.goss@wwonline.co.uk.

M Star Letter M Towpath cycling…for In response to the item on cycling and walking in the last issue of Waterways, fellow cyclists may be interested in my and two other 50 somethings’ experience of towpath cycling. Our first trip was in 2007 when we cycled along the K&A from Bath to Reading, with no detour from the central section as suggested in the article. Yes, this middle section was a bit arduous for long distance beginners like us, but none the less extremely enjoyable. Although the route can be completed in two days, we decided to take it steady and had overnight stops in Bradford-on-Avon and Hungerford. In 2008 we went from the Thames just south of Oxford then on to the Oxford Canal and stayed overnight in Banbury. The second day was supposed to see us arrive in Leamington Spa sometime mid afternoon but we only got as far as Napton as the towpath was practically impassable for most of the route due to BW Contractors not cutting back the thorns, nettles and brambles. Our arms and legs really suffered but it had been too hot to wear additional layers.

Last year we cycled from Bletchley to Foxton Locks. The towpath had been well maintained but unfortunately the cut brambles had been left to rot away. No criticism from us but four punctures on the Saturday meant we didn’t arrive in Daventry until 7.30. We could have got there much earlier but the day was too pleasant not to stop at a few of the excellent pubs along the way. We rejoined the Grand Union at Long Buckley on Sunday and continued our way without major incident although the longish grass on the towpath made it slightly harder for my weary legs. We also had a day cycling though London via Little Venice and Camden and out to Bow Backwaters where the Olympic development restrictions meant it was time to turn around. This was in total contrast to the rural routes but other than around Camden market we didn’t need to dismount unless a hostelry beckoned. This year we shall be cycling a disused railway from Guildford to Shoreham but maybe 2011 will see us return to Napton for the stretch to Coventry.

Alan Bulpin Countesthorpe, Leicestershire

…against I was aghast at the article “No Boat…no problem” by Mark Bradley and Keith Goss, which totally misrepresents the position of bicycles on the towpath. While lock wheeling has a long tradition, it involves slow-moving bicycles on a footpath ridden by people with an intimate connection with the waterway. This is a far cry from fast commuters on a purpose-built race-track with no interest other than to reach their destination. Mooring next to a busy cycle-path is an unpleasant experience as many boaters will testify, not only because of the continual noise and disturbance, but also the danger of being knocked flying every time you get off your boat. Walkers and cyclists do not mix easily, and where footpaths have been upgraded to a cycle-path, they tend to be taken over by cyclists and walking

Three Cheers for WOW The Summer 2010 issue of Waterways contained an article about the Wild over Waterways (WOW) project. This made interesting reading, but beyond that it is good to know that so much is being done to encourage the next generation of waterway enthusiasts. I would like to offer my thanks to all those volunteers who are prepared to give their time to this important activity – I’ll look out for them at the National Festival on the Thames in August.

Michael Barrington Aylesbury

…and neutral! The more people who use our canal network the better, so I’m always pleased to see our local towpath at Rugeley being used by walkers, runners and cyclists. I would, however, urge some of the latter to exercise a little more care at times – and so would my King Charles spaniel who has nearly been mown down on more than one occasion!

becomes a far less pleasant experience. It is also not true to suggest that encouraging cyclists onto urban towpaths make them safer, in fact the opposite can be the case, as easier access and an upgraded surface prove inviting to anti-social elements. An example is the Caldon Canal, where we were warned by locals that the cycle-path has proved an enticement to some of the less desirable elements in the Five Towns and that the area is no longer safe. In our experience, the increase in cycling on Armitage, Rugeley towpaths is not regarded with IWA ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION RATES favour by many boaters. Adult, single £27.00 Joint/Family £34.00

Amanda Goddard

Clive Brown Chesterton, Cambridge

Details of all other rates are available from IWA Head Office – see the Directory on page 44.

IWA waterways - Autumn 2010 | Letters.indd 43

20/7/10 12:20:33

Directory HEAD OFFICE

Island House, Moor Road, Chesham HP5 1WA. Tel: 01494 783453 e-mail: iwa@waterways.org.uk Website: www.waterways.org.uk Vice Presidents: Harry Arnold MBE, David Blagrove, Chris Coburn MBE, David Court OBE, Brian Dice OBE, David Fletcher CBE, Illtyd Harrington JP, David Hilling MBE, Tony Hirst OBE, John Humphries OBE, The Viscountess Knollys DL OBE, The Earl of Shannon, Sonia Rolt, Audrey Smith OBE, David Suchet OBE, Sheila Suchet, Paul Wagstaffe MBE, David Wain OBE All Trustees and National Committees can be contacted via Head Office. Board of Trustees: Clive Henderson (Chairman), Doug Beard, Chris Birks, Ray Carter, Alastair Chambers, Les Etheridge (Deputy Chairman), James Kennerley, Alan Platt, John Pomfret (Deputy Chairman), Paul Roper, Peter Scott, Paul Strudwick, Vaughan Welch (Deputy Chairman), Ian West Finance Committee: Les Etheridge (Chairman). Contact via Head Office. David Carrington, Mike Dyer, Gordon Harrower, Nick Parker, Gillian Smith, Ian West, Alan Wiffen, Kerry White Navigation Committee: Roger Squires (Chairman). Tel: 0207 232 0987. roger.squires@waterways.org.uk John Baylis (Deputy Chairman), Alastair Chambers, Steve Connolly, Ian Fletcher, Peter Kelly, John Pomfret, Paul Roper, Peter Scott, Vaughan Welch Restoration Committee: Vaughan Welch (Chairman). Tel: 0121 477 9782. vaughan.welch@waterways.org.uk Chris Birks, Ray Buss, Geraint Coles, Edward Gittins, Tony Harrison, Tony Hinsley, Martin Ludgate, Keith Noble (Deputy Chairman), Paul Roper, Martin Smith, Mike Valiant, Luke Walker (Deputy Chairman) Promotions and Communications Committee: Jerry Sanders (Chairman). Tel: 01283 716 158. jerry.sanders@waterways.org.uk Julie Arnold, Helen Bedingfield, John Bedingfield, Ivor Caplan, Ray Carter, Madeline Dean, Elizabeth Payne, Jim Shead, Vaughan Welch, Helen Whitehouse Waterway Recovery Group: Mike Palmer (Chairman). Tel: 01564 785293. mike.palmer@waterways.org.uk Inland Waterways Enterprises Limited Board of Directors: Les Etheridge (Chairman). Contact via Head Office. Neil Edwards, Clive Henderson, Ian West IWA Festivals Division: Ian West (Chairman). Tel: 01564 230104. ian.west@waterways.org.uk Inland Waterways Freight Group: John Pomfret (Chairman). Tel: 01788 891027. john.pomfret@waterways.org.uk Hon. Consultant Engineers: Roy Sutton, BA Hons MICE, Tony Harrison, BSc (Hons), DHE, MICE. Tel: 01491 872380 Hon. Consultant Planners: Bob Dewey BA (Hons), MBA, MRTPI, Martin Jiggens IWA Committee for Wales: General secretary, Gerallt Hughes. Tel: 01341 250631 Essex Waterways Limited Board of Directors: Roy Chandler (Chairman), Colin Davis, Neil Edwards, Jim Jenkins, John Pomfret. Navigation Manager: Colin Edmond

Regional Contacts

East Midlands Chairman: John Pomfret. Tel: 01788 891027. john.pomfret@waterways.org.uk Eastern Secretary: Nigel Long. Tel: 01733 553782. nigel.long@waterways.org.uk London Chairman: James Kennerley. Tel: 01473 603127. james.kennerley@waterways.org.uk North East & Yorkshire Chairman: Peter Scott. Tel: 0114 2301870. peter.scott@waterways.org.uk North West Chairman: Alan Platt. Tel: 01352 720649. alan.platt@waterways.org.uk

South East Chairman: Paul Roper. Tel: 0118 9813381. paul.roper@waterways.org.uk South West Secretary: Peter Kelly. Tel: 01752 843556. peter.kelly@waterways.org.uk West Midlands Chairman: Vaughan Welch. Tel: 0121 4779782. vaughan.welch@waterways.org.uk

Branch Contacts

Avon & Wiltshire John Gornall. Tel: 0117 962 4644. avonandwilts@waterways.org.uk Birmingham, Black Country & Worcestershire Dave Pearson. Tel: 01299 404273. birminghambcw@waterways.org.uk Cambridge Stephen Foote. Tel: 01763 838936. cambridge@waterways.org.uk Chelmsford Jan Thurston. Tel: 01702 529553. chelmsford@waterways.org.uk Chester & District Gillian Bolt. Tel: 0151 678 9300. chesteranddistrict@waterways.org.uk Chiltern Melville Errington. Tel: 01494 678056. chiltern@waterways.org.uk East Yorkshire Mrs Chris Stones. Tel: 01482 875894. eastyorkshire@waterways.org.uk Gloucestershire & Herefordshire Martin Turner. Tel: 01291 650605. gloucandhereford@waterways.org.uk Guildford & Reading Gareth Jones. guildford@waterways.org.uk Ipswich Charles Stride. Tel: 01728 831061. ipswich@waterways.org.uk Kent & East Sussex Roy Sutton. Tel: 01342 317569 Lee & Stort John Shacklock. Tel: 01992 465643. leeandstort@waterways.org.uk Leicestershire Peter Dand. leicestershire@waterways.org.uk Lichfield Phil Sharpe. Tel: 01889 583330. lichfield@waterways.org.uk Lincolnshire Penny Carnell. Tel: 01469 530138. lincolnshire@waterways.org.uk Manchester Steve Connolly. Tel: 01942 679310. manchester@waterways.org.uk Merseyside & West Lancs Andrew Lawton. Tel: 01695 572389. merseyside@waterways.org.uk Middlesex Robin Bishop. Tel: 020 8452 2632. middlesex@waterways.org.uk Milton Keynes Peter Caswell. Tel: 07702 668924. miltonkeynes@waterways.org.uk North & East London Roger Squires. Tel: 020 7232 0987. roger.squires@waterways.org.uk North Lancashire & Cumbria Tony Dunning. Tel: 07730 113894. lancsandcumbria@waterways.org.uk Northampton Andy Timms. Tel: 01327 830381. northampton@waterways.org.uk Nottinghamshire & Derbyshire Mike Snaith. nottsandderbys@waterways.org.uk Oxfordshire Ron Heritage. Tel: 01869 277400. oxfordshire@waterways.org.uk Peterborough Nigel Long. Tel: 01733 553782. peterborough@waterways.org.uk Shrewsbury District & North Wales Dawn Aylwin. Tel: 01691 830403. shrewsandnwales@waterways.org.uk Solent & Arun Brendan Whelan. Tel: 01903 816012. solentandarun@waterways.org.uk South London Lesley Pryde. Tel: 07787 372408. southlondon@waterways.org.uk South Wales Margaret Gwalter. Tel: 01792 851271. southwales@waterways.org.uk South Yorkshire & Dukeries Mavis Paul. Tel: 0114 2683927. southyorks@waterways.org.uk Stoke-on-Trent Alison Smedley. Tel: 01538 385388. stokeontrent@waterways.org.uk Warwickshire Sue Roy. Tel: 01926 497845. warwickshire@waterways.org.uk West Country Chris Jewell. Tel: 01288 352298. westcountry@waterways.org.uk West Riding Alastair Furniss. Tel: 0113 2539401. westriding@waterways.org.uk

| IWA waterways - Autumn 2010

Directory.indd 44

20/7/10 12:20:55

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Diesel, Pump Outs, Water, Calor Gas

Stourport Basin Marina York Street Boat Yard Moorings available at Stourport Basin Marina with electricity points and water on site. Phone Stourport for details

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Classified Directory ACCESSORIES

BOAT HIRE

CHANDLERY

SOUNDEX DAE 302 Digital Aerial Be ready for the switch over This high gain aerial gives outstanding performance on Digital, Analogue TV and FM/DAB Radio. The soundex DAE 302 Aerial gives exceptional gains in poor reception areas.

Special Offer Price £30.00 + £7.50 p&p

Camping Accessories 12 Highfields, Bentley, Ipswich, Suffolk IP9 2BP

Phone: 01473

310845 or 077 936 41 960 Web: www.ca-la.co.uk

BOAT BUILDING

BOAT STOVES

Paul Widdowson Boats Trad, cruiser, semi, narrow beam, widebeam, Dutch barges, shell or sailaway. For the boat you want call Paul on 01623 835777; Mobile: 07754 483949 Email: widdowsonboats@aol.co.uk Web: www.paulwiddowsonjnr.moonfruit.com

COURSES BOATS WANTED

We BUY any BOAT www.waterways.org.uk

BOAT HIRE

Tel: 01327 341111 or 07790136641

CANALIA REACH THE IWA’S MEMBERSHIP EFFECTIVE, AFFORDABLE ADVERTISING Call Tony Preston on 01283 742965

ENGINEERS Anglian Diesels Ltd UK & International Business Over 50 Years Hydraulic Systems Experience

For the widest choice of canal holidays visit www.ukboathire.com You can choose from 11 different start locations and more than 200 boats. We operate Viking Afloat, Alvechurch Waterways Holidays, Red Line Boats and Wessex Narrowboats. So go online today or call 0330 3330591 (local rate) for a brochure.

We offer lock free cruising on our well appointed 2-7 berth narrowboats. Boatyard services include: Diesel • Gas • Solid Fuel Pump-out • Moorings For a free colour brochure Tel/fax: 01772 769183 Website: www.arlen-hireboats.co.uk

or call in and see us at Ashton Basin, Tulketh Brow, Preston, PR2 2SD

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Innovative Hydraulic Propulsion Systems for • Inland Water Crafts, Narrowboats, Dutch Barges, Floating Restaurants, Entertainment Boats & Sea-Going Vessels • Bow & Stern Thrusters • Engine Packages • Hydraulic Hoses & Fittings including Mobile Piping facility & Commissioning

CHANDLERY Stone Boat Building Co Ltd Large range of chandlery for all your inland and offshore requirements. Calorifiers • Calor Gas • Diesel • Pump Out

Tel: 01785 812688 Fax: 01785 811317 stonechandlery@aol.com www.stoneboatbuilding.com Mail order catalogue disc available on request

All our systems can be standard build or configured to a bespoke specification to meet our customer’s needs. A Parker Distributor, holding probably the largest stock of Parker Hydraulic pumps & motors in the UK. Service and after sales department manned by Parker trained engineers.

ARS Anglian Diesels Ltd, Unit 9c, Headway Business Park, Denby Dale Road, Wakefield WF2 7AZ Tel: 01924 332492 Fax: 01924 332493 Email: enquiries@arsangliandiesels.co.uk Website: www.arsangliandiesels.co.uk

PLEASE MENTION IWA WHEN RESPONDING TO ADVERTISEMENTS

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To advertise here please contact Tony Preston

☎ 01283 742965 a tony.preston@wwonline.co.uk

Correspond to: Tony Preston, IWA Waterways, 151 Station Street, Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire DE14 1BG | Next issue deadline: 8th October 2010

INSULATION

EQUIPMENT

Extinguish Fire Solutions Ltd

Protecting you, your home or your business Tel/Fax: 0116 2258511 Mobile: 07834 760640

www.extinguish-fire.co.uk

INSURANCE

NATIONWIDE MOORINGS

SERVICES

HANBURY WHARF ENGINEERING SERVICES - FOR ALL YOUR MAINTENANCE NEEDS. • On-Site Crane • Blacking • Engine Servicing • Mechanical Repairs • Electrical Installations and Repairs • Charging Problems • Steelwork Repairs • Anodes • Plumbing and Heating • Solid Fuel Stove Guards. Call 01905 771018 for a quote or visit Hanbury Wharf, home of The New & Used Boat Co.

MOORINGS AVAILABLE - Great Haywood Marina, Trent & Mersey Canal and Tattenhall Marina, Shropshire Union Canal. For more details call 01889 883 713 (Great Haywood) 01829 771 742 (Tattenhall) or visit www.gjp-marinas.co.uk

INSURANCE VISIT OUR ONLINE SHOP FOR GREAT GIFT IDEAS Books & Guides • Videos & DVDs Jigsaws & Models • IWA Merchandise Chandlery • Cross stitch Kits Kitchenware • Novelty Brass Signs

Christmas Cards now in stock!

www.waterways.org.uk

SURVEYORS

SERVICES - ELECTRICAL

MCH Marine Electrics KEEPING YOUR DREAM AFLOAT

Independent Mobile Marine Electrician Covering the Canals and Rivers of the Midlands and the South to South West Services include: • Fault Diagnosis • Charging Systems • Batteries • Inverters • Starters

• Alternators • Eberspacher Installation & • Engine Ignition Systems Diagnostics • Shorepower • Lighting • Generators • Audio & Visual Equipment • Power Management Systems • Webasto Installation & Diagnostics ...and More

Contact Mike on 07834035002 or 01386 423543 www.mchmarineservices.co.uk mike.hancox@mchmarineservices.co.uk Lineage adverts cost £1.35 per word (inc. VAT), minimum 12 words. Box adverts start from as little as £33 per issue (plus VAT)*. A copy of our terms and conditions is available on request. (*4 series booking)

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WORCESTER & TARDEBIGGE DRY-DOCKS FACILITIES SERVICES • Pressure wash • Scrub Wiremop & Black • Shot Blasting & Epoxy-Pitch coatings • Anodes fitted • Stern tubes & Shafts replaced • Engine servicing Over-plating STOKE PRIOR WORKS SLIPWAY PAINT BUBBLE The same services as the dry-docks PLUS RE-BOTTOMING AND EXTENSIONS We also undertake complete re-paints and re-fits THE LITTLE SHOP OF CHANDLERY We also have this “Little Shop” full to the brim with all manner of Chandlery • Fender • Ropes • Paint • Oil & grease • Most service items for canal boat engines • COAL • GAS • Diesel

J.L PINDER & SON Est 1953 Phone 01527 876438 Fax 01527 576435 www.jlpinderandsons.co.uk sales@jlpinderandsons.co.uk

Discover The Beauty Of Wales with Castle Narrowboats Cruise the Monmouth and Brecon Canal, through the Brecon Beacons National Park. Visit our website for up to date availability www.castlenarrowboats.co.uk Or call 01873 830001 for a brochure Day boats also available Castle Narrowboats, Church Road Wharf, Gilwern, Monmouthshire NP7 0EP

• Breakdown and Call Out Service • Gas service and repairs – Gas Safety Registered • Plumbing service and repairs • Refits and refurbishments • Heater service and new sales

• Marine equipment sales, service and repairs • Dry dock and blacking – undercover • Electric service and repairs • Repaints full or partial – undercover • Engine service and new sales • Bespoke boat building

WATERWAYS ADVERTISING Autumn 2010 Waterways is distributed free to all members of the Association with a readership of over 20,000. Advertising in Waterways offers a precisely targeted medium for businesses in all fields connected with inland waterways, such as boating, hiring, insurance, building, publishing, catering, chandlery or brokerage. To advertise in IWA Waterways please contact Tony Preston, Advertising Manager, 151 Station Street, Burton-Upon-Trent, Staffordshire, DE14 1BG. 01283 742 965 or tony.preston@wwonline.co.uk

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Index to Advertisers AB Tuckey ........................................................... 38 ABC Leisure ......................................................... 33 Adverc BM Ltd ..................................................... 33 Axiom Propellers ....................................................6 Barclays Marine Finance .........................................3 BC Boat Management ......................................... 21 Blisworth Tunnel Narrowboats ............................. 20 Boatshed Grand Union ........................................ 48 Braunston Marina ................................................ 38 Caldwells ............................................................ 32 Canal Boat Cruisers of Riley Green ....................... 36 Canal Cruising Co ................................................ 32 Canal Junction .................................................... 48 Canvas Man ........................................................ 32 Castle Marinas ..................................................... 41 Castle Narrowboats ............................................. 48 Colecraft Engineering ......................................... 20 Craftmaster ........................................................ 27

Debdale Wharf ................................................... 36 Driftwood Joinery ................................................ 21 Flush It ................................................................ 21 Fox’s Boats .......................................................... 38 JL Pinders & Sons ................................................. 48 Kuranda .............................................................. 20 Lee Sanitation ..................................................... 38 Limekiln Ltd ........................................................ 45 Maestermyn Group ............................................. 32 Marine Injection Services ..................................... 45 Mel Davis ............................................................ 20 Mercia Marina .....................................................IBC Midland Chandlers ............................................ OBC Ocean World Leisure Wear .....................................3 Orchard Marina ................................................... 41 Pennine Cruisers ................................................. 38 Powercell Batteries .................................................3 PRM Marine Ltd ................................................... 32

Riversdale Barge Holidays .......................................6 Rose Narrowboats ............................................... 27 Saul Junction Marina ........................................... 45 Shobnall Boat Services ........................................ 20 Swanley Bridge Marina ........................................ 36 Tattenhall Marina ...................................................6 Taylors of Fenny .................................................. 48 The New & Used Boat Co .......................................7 Tingdene Marinas ..................................................2 Towergate Mardon ............................................. 33 TR Boat Handling ................................................ 36 Video Active ....................................................... 48 Websters Insulation ............................................. 36 Wharf House Narrowboats .................................. 20 Whilton Marina ................................................... IFC Wilderness Trailboats .......................................... 27 Worcester Marine Windows ................................ 36

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