 From
one canal extreme to another this time, from dusty nineteenth century
boatyard to sparkly twenty first century boat rally (- from the sublime
to the ridiculous some might say).
Hope springs eternal, but it doesn’t jump quite so
high as time goes by. The fate of the old Shropshire Union boatyard at
Chester has yet again come to the fore after over ten years of proposals
and prevarication about its future. This custom-built canal boat dock
has latterly become known as Taylor’s Yard since J. Harry Taylor took it
over from the canal company in the 1930s. Taylor’s became very well
known to the post-war pleasure boat fraternity as the builders of a
well-respected range of elegant mahogany canal cruisers in the 1950s and
‘60s, most of which still grace the waterways. Much of their other work
was maintaining river cruisers and fishing boats from the Dee and as
such most of their work and skills were eventually little different to
hundreds of other boatyards around the coasts of Britain. They carried
out much canal boat work in their early days but as cargo traffic
diminished it was the pleasure boat trade that kept them and their
successor David Jones going and has, by default, preserved the old canal
dockyard through to the present. It is this more historic aspect of the
yard – some of which dates back to the 1840s – that it is crucial to
preserve now. As ever, the main problem has been convincing the owners,
British Waterways, of the cultural value of this remarkable inheritance.
To them it has either been an increasingly shabby embarrassment or a
development opportunity. If only they would see it as the cultural gem
that it is and use it as a loss leader, or even as a flagship of their
role as waterway conservation managers.
Happily, or at least potentially so, things have taken
a lurch forward lately. BW have found a new tenant for the yard and on
that basis have agreed to spend some money on some significant repairs
to the buildings. This of course will mean some significant clearance
first, physically moving stuff out of the way. As a long term obsessive
about the importance of this yard I’ve become part of a small team
making an inventory of some of the surviving equipment and details for
future reference (and perhaps restoration.) As such we have now had
several meetings trying to work out how to do it and a couple of site
visits trying out the system. But it is going to be a mammoth task,
especially when we get into the oldest building, one that was originally
a steam driven sawmill, although it has been in use as a general
carpenters workshop for several generations now, with all the clutter
that that entails. Watch this space for progress reports and wish us
luck please.
Another of my waterway obsessions is the conservation
and restoration of the Montgomery Canal in Powis so a visit to the
Monty’08 campaign rally at the end of August was a must. It was actually
a shock to stand on the footbridge over the canal in Welshpool town
centre and find the canal basin full of boats. It was a shock to find
colour and movement, fluttering flags, balloons, barking dogs and
smoking chimneys on water that is usually empty except for rubbish and
urban ducks, a rather dull town improvement at the end of the municipal
car park. But it was a moment or two before I could decide whether it
was a pleasurable shock or an affront to my dull conservationist self,
all the predictable tat of a pleasure boat rally on this historic water,
usually so distinguished, if dour. But here suddenly was a lively scene
of movement and life and my doubts were pushed out of the way on a tide
of people having an interesting and pleasant time in the middle of town.
It was an accidental bonus of this particular event that the pedestrian
route from the car park to the festival site proper was along the
towpath, a pleasant walk at any time –over the aqueduct, under a bridge,
past historic warehouses and up past Welshpool lock. On this festive
occasion the scene was constantly animated by the passage of boats
through the lock -- canoes, small boats with steam and solar power and
big ones with passengers, and it proved to be an immensely popular
spectator sport all day. People were simply taking pleasure in the real
underlying magic of water, the ability of boats to float and rise with
the water levels and the ability of the stuff to stay flat. It was a
profound lesson being taught in the most accessible way, a perfect
introduction to the purpose of canals and the power of water. Magic.
After that the showground part of the event was a
little disappointing if predictable. It has become accepted wisdom that
any waterway based event has to broaden the base of its appeal to
include something for everyone, and that that something need have no
waterway connection whatever. The result is that most of what is on
offer is of little interest to most of the people but if you narrow the
range of activities to waterway related themes only you may end up just
preaching to the converted, which is not the idea at all. It may be more
fun for the few but it is hardly evangelical. Thank goodness I don’t
have to walk that policy tightrope but I find it difficult to see how
shooting with paintballs or watching a comic dogshow furthers the cause
of canal understanding or restoration. But the sun shone, the grass was
perfect, the beer was cold and loads of people seemed to be having a
lovely time. This isolated section of the waterways was once again alive
with people and possibilities.
©Tony
Lewery,
The Brow,
Ellesmere,
August 31 2008 |
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