Inland Waterways Association East Yorkshire Branch - Wolds Waters April 2019

WOLDS WATERS The newsletter of the East Yorkshire Branch of the Inland Waterways Association

April 2019

This is a special Birthday Year for Syntan See inside

waterways.org.uk/east_yorkshire

Inland Waterways Association East Yorkshire Branch Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held on Friday 15th March 2019 At Cottingham Methodist Church, 8p.m.

Present: Roger Bromley (Chairman), Jack Wootton (Treasurer), 16 other members and 5 non-members.

Apologies: Alex Gymer & Chris Stones Special Item: It was announced that Dave Stones, long-term member, committee member and loyal volunteer, had died the previous day. A period of silence was held for all present to remember his outstanding contribution to the branch.

Minutes of previous meeting (Friday 16th March 2018): These had been issued before the meeting and were accepted as a true record.

Report of the Chairman: These had been issued before the meeting. The report was accepted unanimously.

Report of the Secretary: These had been issued before the meeting. The report was accepted unanimously.

Report of the Treasurer and presentation of the accounts for 2018: A copy of these had been circulated before the meeting. Jack Wootton went through the 2018 accounts. A surplus of £22.21 for the year was made making the balance at the year-end of £1,950.87. During 2018 a grant of £200 2

was made to the Scarborough Canoe & Kayaking Club to help them purchase safety equipment for their members.

Acceptance of the accounts was proposed by Howard Anguish and seconded by Paul Waddington.

Election of Committee Members: Paul Waddington was due to retire and Alex Gymer had been co-opted onto the committee during the year. Both had put themselves up for re-election which was approved by all present.

A.O.B: It was announced that the Branch now has a Facebook page which had already obtained a good number of visits.

Date of Next Meeting: Friday 20th March 2020.

The meeting closed at 8.30p.m.

Address of Region Chairman: Peter Scott gave a short talk about IWA matters after the closure of the AGM. -0-0-0-0-0-0The Branch Committee Chairman, Membership, Social events Roger Bromley Deputy Chairman and Planning Officer Iain Campbell Secretary Chris Stones Treasurer Jack Wootton Wolds Waters Editor Barry Robins Website Manager Alistair Anderson Other members Howard Anguish, Paul Waddington, David Hamilton, Alex Gymer

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David (Dave) Stones Memories of a good friend and keen and loyal member of the East Yorkshire Branch Committee My first encounter with Dave in a waterways situation was when he and Chris helped to staff one of the boats on a Hull school’s Easter canal holiday. He had experience of working with young people and got on well with the pupils on his boat. Like most times spent cruising with a crew of twelve patience and a good sense of humour are essential and Dave had these in abundance. This was the first of a number of such holidays and the canal bug had really got him.

Dave soon got involved with IWA, attending East Yorkshire branch social meetings and then joining Chris on the committee, serving as Membership Secretary. They worked hard together with this with greetings to new members and greetings to members known to be unwell.

When the committee decided to reach out to the community through attendance at local events with publicity material Dave was there with his cheerful demeanour, a good advert for the joy waterways can bring.

During his years of illness, Dave always tried to be at committee meetings and social events and his cheerfulness showed through. We will miss Dave, for the work he did and also for his warmth and friendship.

Our thoughts and love go out to Chris and the family.

Barry Robins

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EVENTS DIARY (see also back page)

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Proposed Programme for Beverley Barge Preservation Society Spring / Summer 2019 The season starts with a celebration of 70 years since the Humber Barge Syntan, now operated by the Society, was launched at Hepworth’s yard in Paull. This will take place on the weekend of 13th and 14th April, when there will be visiting boats, music and a chance to look round the vessels belonging to the Society as well as the sailing barges belonging to the Humber Keel and Sloop Preservation Society. A number of Charity and other stalls will also be at Beverley Beck and the event will be between 10 a.m and 4 p.m. on both days.

The Society will also be operating a number of “open” trips going up the River Hull from Beverley towards Driffield on the following dates:  8th May  7th June  6th July  22nd July  5th August  3rd September Please see the Society Website at www.syntanbarge.org.uk for further details and how to book. The Society will also undertake charters for up to 12 passengers going up river.

It is also hoped to do a limited number of trips downstream during the year in Syntan, dates yet to be agreed. These may have to be shorter than previous years due to the flood works on the River in Hull. Again please see the website for details.

The Society is hoping to take Syntan to Hull Marina for the Folk and Maritime Festival at the end of July, where the stage on the top of the vessel will be used for performances.

The Society will consider other events during the year, and updates will be posted to the website.

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The season will finish with the World Championship Barge Pulling Event at the end of September. This year’s event will have a number of teams entered in conjunction with the Yorkshire County Cricket Foundation.

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SUMMER TRIP ON MV SUN. FRIDAYJUNE 21ST 9.00 AM TO 4.00PM (APPROX) We will again be offering the chance of a trip on one of our local waterways.

Departing from Beverley Beck and travelling up the river Hull to Struncheon Hill Lock The cost for the trip is £20 per head.

Sun is equipped with a chair lift for any less mobile passengers and has an onboard toilet.

Teas & coffees will be available all day but please bring your own lunch.

Spaces are limited to 12 so early booking with a £10 deposit each is advisable.

Please book with Roger Bromley. (contact details in magazine)

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SPECIAL SOCIAL MEETING Our May social meeting on Friday 17th is to be a special event with a performance of Sea Shanties from well-known local group ‘Spare Hands’ For this event, the entrance fee will be £4 per head and will of course include teas, coffees & biscuits as usual.

The capacity of the hall is limited so do please come well in time for the 8.00pm start.

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Your Branch needs YOU Following a request for retirement, we need a new Editor for Wolds Waters which is produced three times each year.

What is required?

A computer with access to the internet and having email address A recent version of Word A printer for producing draft copies A creative or artistic mind to improve and enhance Wolds Waters An interest in the waterways A little free time for producing the newsletter An ability chase up copy from the usual contributors.

Please do not let us down. Contact Roger Bromley as soon as possible.

We need the new editor to produce the September issue of Wolds Waters The retiring editor will give any support needed.

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OUR BRANCH QUESTIONNAIRE There was a superb response with 24% of members responding to the questionnaire, so thank you for surprising our sceptics who thought we might be wasting our time!

We wanted to know what members would like from their branch, and what involvement we should have with our local waterways. Our main way of keeping in contact with members is through our monthly social meetings so several questions were to find out if you agreed with what we currently do.

8 people said the venue was not easily accessible 11 said the day was not very convenient 6 said the time was not ideal with 4 suggesting an earlier start.

Regarding the content of our meetings an overwhelming 92% like talks from/about other waterway societies.

41% would like a quiz night 2 people were in favour of a dinner/dance evening and 1 person wanted a meeting about practical issues such as engine repairs.

As well as our social meetings your branch tries to keep involved in events held at Goole, Driffield, Beverley and at the Pocklington Canal. 71% of you agreed we should be involved with these local waterway groups.

68% supported the idea of litter picks and 57% wanted to see us involved in vegetation clearance. 64% could be interested in guided canal walks.

Responding to the suggestion of having a weekend of various events such as a social meeting followed by an overnight stay and either a walk or canal trip on the second day. 13% said yes to this and 53% said maybe.

Finally we asked you about future involvement in our committee. As we know it is the committee that organises everything to do with meetings, 10

events, outings etc. and we need new people to join, bringing new ideas forward, and to give continuity to the branch.

1 person said they would join, and a further 7 said maybe. This is very encouraging and we will be making contact in due course!

So, what do we do now?

Obviously we cannot please everybody! We will however, discuss the findings and see if any changes should be made. We will look at our meetings to see whether they could be on a different day or an earlier time. We could consider trying again with a more northerly venue for the occasional meeting. We do seem to be pleasing most of you with the content of our meetings but could look again at a canal walk as this was popular in previous years.

Although the questionnaire is now ‘closed’ please contact us if you have any suggestions or if you did not get the chance to fill in the forms. Your views are extremely important to us so once again a huge thank you for a magnificent response.

-0-0-0-0-0Canals, plants and people; a Yorkshire perspective We don’t normally publicise books in Wolds Waters but the author, Ray Goulder, has written this from observations made by him while working as a volunteer for the Canal and River Trust. There is material on the Pocklington Canal, Leven Canal, Driffield Canal and Beverley Beck.

There are 222 pages including colour photographs. It is priced at £10.50 + £3 p&p. Available from Dr Margaret Atherden, PLACE Office, York St Johns University, York YO31 7EX. PLACE is an educational charity.

Unfortunately we have been unable to review the book but felt we should pass the information on.

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East Yorkshire Branch Social Meetings Starting at 8-00 pm at the Methodist Church Hall,Cottingham,HU16 4BD

***Please note that we have been asked to enter the Church Hall via the front doors from now on*** These new arrangements do improve accessibility as there are now no stairs to climb.

Friday April 26th

‘Elvington Air Museum’ presented by Ian Richardson The fourth Friday because of Easter

Friday May 17th

An evening of sea shanties and boating songs by the well-known group ‘Spare Hands’

Friday June 21st

Branch Trip on the Sun from Beverley Beck (Details inside newsletter)

Friday Sept 20th

Shipyards and Barges of the Humber by George Robinson

The East Yorkshire Branch publicity material will be on display at these events, do join us:13th and 14th April Beverley Beck Syntan birthday 26th May Pocklington Canal CRT/PCAS Open Day 13th and 14th July Driffield Canal Weekend 4th and 5th August Goole Folk Sail Weekend 14th and 15th Sept Pocklington Canal PCAS Boat Rally 29th Sept Beverley Beck Barge Pull For further information contact Roger Bromley 01482 845099 roger.bromley@waterways.org.uk

Note: The views expressed in this newsletter are not necessarily those of the Association & should not be construed as such unless otherwise stated.

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