 EVENTS
2010 (send details of events to
services@canaljunction.com
) |
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Kidderminster Canal Festival
19th to 21st August 2010. Kidderminster's first ever canal
festival! As part of the town's ReWyre Regeneration Initiative the
District Council, in partnership with Weavers Wharf shopping centre and
British Waterways, are organising a canal festival to celebrate this
important feature of the town. A range of attractions will be centred
around the canal at Weavers Wharf and beyond to celebrate the town’s
canal and help to bring it to life.
More details. |
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The Folly Charity Folk n Boat n
Beer Weekend, August 20th, 21st and 22nd at The Folly,
Folly Lane, Napton in aid of JJ's Memorial Fund, a locally based charity
dedicated to raising money to help injured paratroopers and to support
the families of those killed in action. Full details of the event at
www.follyfolk.co.uk. |
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Maesbury ’10 Canal Festival
-4th & 5th September 2010 - Canal Central, Maesbury Marsh, Nr Oswestry
SY10 8JG (alongside the Montgomery Canal)
Enjoy a great day out for all the family including narrowboats, crafts,
competitions, children’s entertainment, great food and drink, live
music, steam railway, landrover exhibition & much more! Entry and
activities free during the day.
www.canalfestival.co.uk |
An Inland Voyage: Life on the
Coventry & Oxford Canals - Coventry Herbert Art Gallery &
Museum from 26 June until 30 August. New FREE exhibition
displaying a snapshot of local heritage through photography from years
gone by from the remarkable photographic archive of Coventry factory
worker, Robert Longden.
During the late 1940s and early 1950s he documented an intimate
history of a working life now long gone. The photographs record the
narrow boat people he encountered at Sutton Stop canal junction near
Hawkesbury. These images catch forever the moment of transformation
which saw the canals change from being industrial thoroughfares to
locations for leisure. More information at
www.theherbert.org
. |
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NEWS
July 2010 |
 |
Chesterfield
Canal Festival - *Chesterfield Canal Trust news release |
The Chesterfield Canal Trust held their Festival at
Worksop on Saturday and Sunday 17th and 18th July. Despite unhelpful
weather, there was a healthy turnout to see a very wide range of
attractions.
Besides a fun day out, the purpose of the Festival was to bring
attention to the glorious Chesterfield Canal and the Trust’s campaign to
restore the nine mile gap between Staveley and Kiveton Park. There was a
reception on the Saturday morning for politicians and other decision
makers at which the canal’s Development Manager, Dr. Geraint Coles,
outlined Next Navigation – a thousand page document that gives
every detail of the restoration plans. |
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Flood
defence sell-off? |
|
Denver Sluice on the River Ouse |
A recent report in The Times suggests that the government
is considering selling Britain’s flood defence network to the private
sector in one of what could be the one of the biggest shake-ups of the
industry in decades. Apparently the Treasury is exploring ways to
drastically cut the annual flood defence bill of £713 million, one of
which would mean selling off the Thames Barrier and flood defence
structures on the rivers Ouse and Severn. Private companies would be
able to acquire and operate these defences; passing the charges on to
consumers, either directly or through a levy on council tax. But
some of these defences incorporate navigation structures and are
operated by the Environment Agency. The Waterway Minister has twice
recently stated that within this transfer of the management of British
Waterways into a Third Sector trust the government is considering
incorporating EA waterways; raising hopes that we might have something
like a national navigation authority at last. Yet the sell-off any flood
defence incorporating a navigation structure to a private company would
again fragment this proposal. |
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BW
closes half of Leeds Liverpool Canal - *BW news 13 July |
 |
With some of the worst drought conditions for 100 years
British Waterways has today announced that it is taking the highly
unusual step of partially closing a canal in the North West. The planned
closure of almost half of Britain’s longest man-made waterway – the
127-mile long Leeds & Liverpool Canal – will take effect from Monday 2
August, and will close for boating for 60 miles from Wigan in Lancashire
to Gargrave in North Yorkshire. The remainder of the canal will stay
open for navigation, however there will be a restricted lock schedule to
minimise impact on neighbouring waterways. Operations manager Vince
Moran said 'We anticipate the restrictions continuing through the
current drought but will reopen the canal as soon as sufficient water
supplies become available.' |
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IWA
continues to back Cotswold canals restoration (unlike BW!) |
 |
IWA has launched a national appeal to raise funds for the
restoration and re-commissioning of Inglesham Lock, at the junction with
the Thames & Severn Canal and the River Thames, just above Lechlade, and
the eastern gateway to the Cotswold Canals project. The plan is to both
restore the lock – which was gifted to the Cotswold Canals Trust by
British Waterways - and to fund the purchase and restoration of a
415-yard stretch of the canal above the lock. It also creates new
project on the Cotswolds Canals that IWA’s volunteer restoration arm
Waterway Recovery Group can wholly own from start to finish and will
also encourage more participation by locals and waterway supporters.’
IWA also wants to open a new front in the Cotswold Canals restoration
campaign and encourage momentum and engagement with local residents,
which will complement the current work in the Stroud valley. It also
wants to force further movement on the full realization of the Cotswold
Water Park where it links to the Wilts & Berks Canal restoration and the
possibility of reconnecting Swindon with the national waterways network. |
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Braunston
Historic Narrowboat rally breaks records |
 |
A record-breaking 92 historic narrowboats gathered at
Braunston Marine for the recent Braunston Historic Narrowboat Rally; the
largest attendance of such ex. carrying craft at any rally since the end
of the working days on the canals. Coming from all parts of the
waterways to this eighth annual rally, 22 boats were moored in the
marina’s old Oxford Arm and the remaining 70 on the Grand Union Canal
outside; six abreast in some places. Some of the 7,000 or so visitors
came from as far afield as Canada, the USA, South Africa and Australia
especially for the rally. All profits, which exceeded £6,000, were
donated as usual, to canal campaigning causes by Tim Coghlan, owner of
Braunston Marina and the main sponsor. The main recipient were the
Friends of Raymond which received £2,000 for the restoration work on
their motor Nutfield. A donation of £500 was also made to Braunston
church. |
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British
Waterways reports record number of boats and waterway users |
 |
The latest British Waterways’ 2009/10 Annual Report &
Accounts show continued growth in the total number of boats on English
and Welsh waterways - up from 33,831 to 34,944. In Scotland boats
licensed also rose from 3,354 to 3,722, mainly reflecting increased
usage of the Caledonian and Crinan canals. The report says that a record
number of people visited BW waterways and their towpaths is up by 26% to
13 million adults and that 91% of people now think that the waterways
are an important part of the nation’s heritage. The report highlights
the growing momentum for the creation of a ‘national trust’ to care for
the country's historic canals, rivers and docks and says that the
proposal has won widespread stakeholder support and interest from the UK
government as an example of delivering Big Society principles. |
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Vandals
close Birmingham & Fazeley Canal |
|
 |
Vandals tampering with paddles at Minworth Locks on the
Birmingham & Fazeley Canal on 2 July caused the pound between the second
and third locks to overtop the banks and flood the adjacent main A.38
dual carriageway road into central Birmingham. Although the canal banks
held, the resulting surge washed away the supporting embankment and
caused the immediate closure of the canal between Curdworth Bottom Lock
and Perry Barr Top Lock: adjacent main lock flights at Curdworth, Perry
Barr, Saltley and Aston also had to be closed. BW engineers assessed the
situation and rebuilding of the embankment began almost immediately,
resulting in this main route into and out of the Birmingham canal
network from the east being opened reopened again on 6 July. Refilling
of this and surrounding canals took a little longer because of the lack
of feed from the temporarily closed Chasewater Reservoir. |
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Plans
to reopen Llangollen Canal links |
 |
A local group is lobbying to reopen the historic Plas
Kynaston Canal – originally built in about 1830 – which ran from the
present Trevor Basin of the Llangollen Canal, by the Pontcysyllte
Aqueduct, for just over half-a-mile to a works in the village of Cefn
Mawr. The canal also served the Plas Kynaston Iron Foundry where William
Hazeldine cast sections of Pontcysyllte Aqueduct. The area – on the
other side of the valley to the canal and the famous aqueduct, now a
World Heritage Site – has been hard hit by closure of local industry;
but because of this it is now clear for the restoration of the waterway.
One of the keys to the project is to build a 60-berth marina on a
disused industrial site by the Queens Hotel in Cefn Mawr.
Further down the Llangollen Canal the Whitchurch Waterway
Trust has announced a new proposal to extend the restored section of the
Whitchurch Arm to a newly constructed mooring basin. |
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NEWS
June 2010 |
 |
Harry
Arnold gets MBE for his services to waterways. |
|
Harry Arnold, renowned waterway journalist and
photographer, has been rewarded for over 50 years service to inland
waterways with an MBE in the Queen's 2010 birthday honours list. Harry
is the author of a number of books, including his great loves, the
Montgomery Canal and Llangollen Canal. He has been passionately
involved with a range of restoration projects, from the setting up of
the Boat Museum at Ellesmere Port to the very successful
Saturn
Project which restored and now operates the Shroppie Fly Boat
Saturn. He is probably best known publically for his ever increasing
collection of waterways images, widely used in waterways publications.
He runs
Waterways Images and is the authoritative source of most of the
reports & images in this Canal Junction News Section.
Congratulations Harry, well deserved! |
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Lottery
Funds more traditional boat building trainees |
 |
In a partnership with National Historic Ships the
National Waterways Museum at Ellesmere Port has received a grant of
£110,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund’s ‘Skills for the Future’
programme to help to expand its recently established Heritage Boatyard
operation. The funding will enable the museum to employ more trainees,
vastly increasing its ability to conserve its collection of historic
canal boats. Trainees will develop skills in traditional boat building
through this programme whilst helping to conserve waterway craft listed
on the National Register of Historic Vessels, a number of which are
based at the museum. In addition to working at Ellesmere Port the new
trainees will be able to broaden their skills and extend their
experience of historic vessels by gaining short-term experience at a
range of other sites including, Windermere Steamboat Museum, Harker’s
Yard Pioneer Skills Centre, Essex, Project Boleh, Portsmouth, and
Brinklow Boat Services. |
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Dry Spring causes
water supply worries again |
 |
The current lack of rainfall is causing some concern
about water stocks and supplies, even in some generally wet areas such
as the Lake District. BW introduced restricted passage and reduced
operating hours (9am till 4:30pm) on most of the lock flights on the
Leeds & Liverpool Canal, from Monday 24 May until further notice,
because it has had to rely on reservoirs to feed the canals earlier in
the season than normal. On Thursday 27 May 2010 the River Severn was
placed in drought regulation, which means that BW had to minimise lock
movements to reduce water use. All boaters were asked to plan ahead and
wherever possible to share locks at Gloucester and Sharpness. In South
Wales, the Environment Agency advised BW that low flow levels are
currently being recorded in the River Usk, which is the main source of
water for the Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal. Water usage and losses have
had to be minimised as far as practicable and all boaters have been
asked to cruise carefully to avoid pushing water over waste weirs and to
operate locks carefully. Again no restrictions were imposed. |
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BW
experiments with canal 'National Trust' |
 |
British Waterways (BW) and the Kennet & Avon Canal Trust
(KACT) are setting up a Waterways Partnership Board as what is claimed
to be an innovative approach to managing the Kennet & Avon Canal; as
part of BW’s plans to establish a ‘national trust’ for their canal and
river network. It follows discussions which also included
representatives from IWA. Members of the partnership will be drawn from
the highest level from the five local authorities and other key
stakeholders who came together and led on the canal’s restoration. . The
launch of the initiative will apparently give the people that use and
waterway and the communities that live alongside it a much greater say
in how the canal is managed. It is hoped that the pilot will provide BW
with valuable information and experience on how to put waterways on a
'more sustainable footing' and ensure the lessons are incorporated into
the consultation on the setting up of a new third sector body. |
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Moira
Canal Festival pulls in crowds despite shortage of boats |
 |
It seems that boats are not necessarily a major
ingredient of a successful waterway event, as the 2010 Moira Canal
Festival proved by packing in the crowds to the Moira Furnace site, on
the currently detached section of the Ashby Canal, over the weekend of
22nd and 23rd May. The hot weather helped but there was again much to
see, do and buy on the land site at this tenth annual event; very
efficiently organised by the Ashby Canal Trust. A big attraction was the
Sealed Knot – represented by a division of Lord Say and Sele’s Regiment
- re-enacting The Battle for the Ashby Woulds; an appropriately local
English Civil War skirmish. But larger boats were few: one Sea Otter,
and two Wilderness trailboats, the attractive steam launch, carrying the
mini Karl’s Bavarian Brass band, which usually entertains and the local
trip boat which operates from the Furnace site. The Wilderness club was
due to the fact them supporting the IWA National Trailboat Festival in
South Wales on the following Bank Holiday weekend. One of the difficult
choices for boat owners among a number of events that clash, or are
close, this year. |
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NEWS
May 2010 |
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Severn
Trent pours cold water on Bratch Steaming Event |
 |
Following a ruling by plant owners Severn Trent the
popular Wombourne Summer Steam Festival – centred around an open
steaming weekend at the Bratch Pumping Station has had to be cancelled.
The festival – located near The Bratch Locks on the Staffs & Worcester
Canal – has been successfully mounted by the Friends of the Bratch group
for over 10 years, and last year attracted more than 2,000 visitors to
see the historic pumping engines steamed. Severn Trent has refused
permission for this year’s event without new and extensive safety plans
in place which the organisers cannot possibly comply with. They claim
that so many people at the working water plant could cause contamination
and also put visitors at risk. The Friends of the Bratch Group say that
these issues have never been raised before and that last year a Severn
Trent safety inspector came down and gave the event a glowing report.
They say that solicitors would have to be employed to draw up the
required safety plans and it would cost the volunteers hundreds of
pounds of their own money. It is hoped that a compromise can be reached
with Severn Trent but it will still be impossible to hold this year’s
event. All monies raised from the events go to restoring and maintaining
the Grade 2* steam pumping engines Victoria and Albert, which were
installed in their elegant brick pump house in 1895. |
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OwnerShips
sinks into Administration* Editor 4/5/2010 |
|
Ownerships managed boats at Braunston Show in
February. |
OwnerShips, the company which provides management
services for 104 shared ownership waterways craft with over 1000
owners, has debts of £1.8 million and is to be wound up.
Managing Director Allen Matthews, who set up the company 20 years
ago, died recently and reports suggest examination of the accounts
shows the company to be insolvent, and that monies taken from owners
to be held on deposit were used for other purposes. The company
recently built two expensive and controversial boats, a Dutch barge
which had to be bought back from owners because it was too high and
deep, and a luxurious motor yacht which resulted in the resignation
of the then General Manager because of his concerns about the
viability of the project. Yet OwnerShips recently held its 20th Boat
Show at Braunston which resulted in the sale of 29 new shares, a
record for the annual event. It is suggested that because existing
owners own their boats, not OwnerShips, their investment will be
safe, but annual monies paid for moorings, servicing and insurance
to OwnerShips may not have reached suppliers. |
OwnerShips
Meeting 8th May: Share owners and investors involved in the
failed OwnerShips boat share scheme packed the Stevenage Arts & Leisure
Centre on 8 May to hear the company’s financial director, Anthony
Trueman explain the current situation within the organisation and to
explore possible ways forward. Although each group’s ownership of their
boat remains secure, Mr. Trueman explained that anyone who had invested
in various optional projects run by the late managing director Allen
Matthews had probably lost everything. These projects included Marina
Investment, Free Management, Buy Back Insurance and the Fradley Boatyard
Investment scheme. It should be explained however that the boatyard at
Fradley Junction had already been purchased independently by a single
investor – although under the OwnerShips banner – so the investment
scheme promoted to buy it was somewhat dubious to say the least.
Therefore the Fradley boatyard remains operational as a separate entity.
Mr. Trueman went on the explain that the main business of maintaining
the fleet of 104 shared ownership narrowboats was financially sound,
providing some efficiencies were made, and – although it couldn’t be run
under the present name – a new company could be formed to operate it.
The new company would be totally financially transparent with the owners
as shareholders; with the allocation of shares reflecting the percentage
of total loss from schemes promoted by Allen Matthews.
There were many questions from the floor and mandate forms were
distributed to those present (and later sent to all other owners) asking
for their opinions. We understand that if sufficient owners are in
agreement then a formal proposal regarding the launching of a new
company will be made. Meanwhile, we understand that other companies who
provide facilities for managing shared ownership and timeshare
narrowboats – such as BCBM of Nantwich, who took on a lot of Challenger
Syndicateships’ craft, and the multi-based ABC Leisure – are offering
their services to OwnerShips’ customers. We also hear that some marinas
where OwnerShips’ boats are based have made management offers to
syndicates located at their premises. |
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Chasewater
Council looks for support as
repair costs escalate |
 |
The total repair estimated cost for the urgent repairs
required to the eastern dam of Chasewater Reservoir has escalated from
£3.5 million to £4.479 million. This estimated expenditure has now been
approved by owners Lichfield District Council which also says that it is
in the middle of the tendering process to appoint a contractor and it
expects the approved contractor to start on site in June. There have
been attempts – including a Parliamentary question by Lichfield MP
Michael Fabricant – to obtain Government funding to assist LDC with the
cost, and leaked LDC internal papers have revealed secret discussions
about the transfer of ownership to Staffordshire County Council which
already owns the Chasewater Innovation Centre, the main on-site visitor
centre. Although the reservoir is largely drained, some remaining water
has had to be pumped out. Preparatory work has also been undertaken,
including fish rescue, borehole drilling, removal of trees and shrubs
removed and the relocation of rare habitats. |
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More
waterways now under restoration |
 |
A recent Inland Waterways Association survey shows
that 1,179 miles of once navigable waterway are now under active
restoration, compared with 1,039 miles in 2002 and 770 miles in
1995. 555 miles of navigation have been fully restored and re-opened
since IWA was founded in 1946. The survey is the result of a
questionnaire compiled and distributed by IWA’s Restoration
Committee to voluntary bodies concerned with waterway restoration
and construction schemes in the United Kingdom; the vast majority
being IWA Corporate Members. Membership of restoration bodies
responding to the survey has grown from 17,400 in 1995 to 27,400 in
2002 and currently to 32,700 - excluding IWA and voluntary labour
provided by IWA's Waterway Recovery Group. The survey questionnaire
and analysis are available to download from the
IWA website. |
 |
Volunteers
working on BW mainline |
|
Volunteers of the Waterway Recovery Group (WRG) are
not normally seen working on a British Waterways’ main line canal,
but over the weekend of 24-25 April a team removed vegetation, silt
and rubbish from the derelict lock chamber at Church Lawton; one of
a number of ‘paired’ parallel locks on the Cheshire Locks flight of
the Trent & Mersey Canal. It is part of a campaign by IWA
Stoke-on-Trent Branch and the Trent & Mersey Canal Society (T&MCS),
in co-operation with BW, to improve the use of this heavily locked
section between Middlewich and Stoke-on-Trent – nicknamed
‘Heartbreak Hill - for boaters and other waterway users. In the
canal’s commercial heyday traffic was so heavy that extra parallel
locks were built, some of which have now fallen out of use. |
 |
Fradley
Interpretation Scheme |
|
A new project to improve the interpretation of
Fradley Junction and its nature reserve for the increasing numbers
of visitors to this popular site has recently been completed.
Entitled ‘It all ties up at Fradley’ the scheme mainly consists of
new audio points with sensory aids, marked trails, resource boxes,
interpretation panels and seating; linked with which there will be
events and guided costume walks around the site. Perhaps the most
interesting feature are the audio points, by the café, the junction
itself and in the nature reserve around the pool, from which – at
the press of a button – the voices of local experts tell you about
Fradley Junction’s two canals, buildings, history and wildlife.
|
|
NEWS
April 2010 |
|
Chasewater
works cause further canal restrictions. |
|
Rushall locks, one of the affected flights |
British Waterways has been forced to introduce
further restrictions on the use of canals in the Birmingham and
Black Country network because of the lack of water resources from
Chasewater Reservoir whilst it is drained down in May for repairs by
owners Lichfield District Council. Following further consultation
with users, BW West Midlands Waterway is putting in place a regime
of more controlled water management for the Wolverhampton Level of
the BCN from 19 April which will mainly focus on the closing down
and locking of major flights of locks overnight. The measure will
reduce overnight lock usage and allow the level to recover from the
previous day’s activities and pumping. It will also help to reduce
the possibility of vandalism on lock flights which currently suffer
from regular run offs over the summer period. Chasewater Reservoir
is one of the main water supplies for 198-miles of canal which
attracts thousands of boaters each year and supports a number of
waterside businesses including boat repair yards, hire boat
operators, trip boats, marinas, moorings and cruising clubs. |
 |
Heritage
Boatyard opened at National Waterways Museum |
A heritage boatyard – specifically created to repair
and overhaul historic craft – at the National Waterways Museum,
Ellesmere Port, was officially opened by BW Chairman Tony Hales on
19 March. Mr Hales has made a personal contribution to the £100,000
funding package required to finance the project.
A supervising boatbuilder has been employed along with four young
boatyard assistants who will be assisted by volunteers working at
the yard. The first job of the boatyard assistants was to construct
a replica coal container for the museums Bridgewater Canal Box Boat’
- an 18th century example of containerisation – which explains why
Tony Hales is smashing a bottle of champagne over what appears to be
a wooden box to perform the official opening! |
 |
Anderton
Boat Lift mural unveiled. |
The Anderton Boat Lift Trust – set up to facilitate
the restoration of this famous waterway feature – has been
dissolved; as all its objects have been achieved and its residual
activities discharged. To mark the occasion the trustees have
erected a large mural (32ft long by 8ft high) at the Lift which was
recently unveiled by Frances Done CBE, chairman of The Waterways
Trust.
Painted by local waterway artist Diana Bernice Tackley and entitled
“Anderton Boat Lift – The People Who Made It Happen”, the mural
acknowledges the skill and efforts of the engineers who designed and
constructed the Lift and the work of the volunteers who played such
a vital role in its restoration and reopening.
Left - Unveiling the Anderton Boat Lift
mural – (l to r) artist Diana Bernice Tackley, Frances Done CBE,
chairman of The Waterways Trust and Richard Drake, chairman of the
Anderton Boat Lift Trust. |
|
NEWS
March 2010 |
 |
I.W.A
launches new insurance scheme |
|
IWA has launched an insurance scheme mainly aimed at
boaters on canals and rivers which it believes is unique in this
market. The association has teamed up with major insurance company
Navigators & General and also River Canal Rescue; the latter company
providing the additional security of an inclusive breakdown service.
The added benefit to all waterway users is that every policy taken
out and subsequently renewed through IWA helps to fund its
charitable work in campaigning for and restoring canals and rivers. |
 |
NEC
Boat & Caravan Show 2010 |
Being based in the Midlands one expects the annual Boat &
Caravan Show at Birmingham’s National Exhibition Centre to be popular
with inland waterways’ companies although, like London, the number
exhibitors was down this year, with some regulars notably absent and
spaces in the boating hall taken up with catering. We also heard from
exhibitors that quite hefty discounts were being offered to fill space.
Nevertheless it was a good show with some excellent examples of both
narrow and wide beam steel craft and glass-fibre cruisers to be seen. |
|
NEWS
February 2010 |
 |
L.T.C.
Rolt Centenary |
The Inland Waterways Association (IWA) and other
groups involved in historic transport, such as railways and
motoring, are celebrating 2010 as the centenary of the birth of
author L.T.C. Rolt. Tom Rolt’s first successful book Narrow Boat –
the account of a waterway voyage aboard the Cressy in 1939 and
published in 1944 – led to the founding of IWA in 1946 and the
subsequent boom in pleasure boating on the main canal and river
network. Although by the 1930s there was leisure use of the Broads
and the Thames and a few pre-World War II boatyards on the rest of
the waterways, it was Rolt’s writing – along with fellow IWA founder
Robert Aickman – that directly inspired a number of enthusiasts go
into the canal business; examples being Randal Wyatt of the Canal
Cruising Co. at Stone, Holt Abbott of Canal Pleasurecraft at
Stourport and Michael Streat of Blue Line at Braunston (now
Braunston Marina).
Rolt went on to save the Talyllyn narrow gauge railway in Wales, the
pioneer preservation scheme of the now massive steam railway
heritage industry and to write many more popular books on railways,
famous engineers, engineering and industrial archaeology; plus more
books on waterways.
IWA members are re-enacting his original cruise aboard Cressy, which
started at Banbury on the Oxford Canal, with a diversion to a
celebratory Rolt Centenary Rally in Chester on 26 and 27 June where
Rolt was born. |
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Chasewater draining causes event
cancellations |
 |
The draining of Chasewater Reservoir has started and
- apart from the effect on water sports on the lake itself – has led
to the cancellation of events planned on the Black Country canal
network by the Birmingham Canal Navigation Society (BCNS). After
extensive discussions with the British Waterways Region Manager
which - established that there will be no feed of water from the
reservoir to the canal from May to October – BCNS has decided to
call off the major canal festival planned to be held at Pelsall on
the Wyrley & Essington Canal on 12 and 13 June. It has been
rescheduled for 11 and 12 June 2011. Holding the event would have
put further pressure on the limited water supply and would have
restricted BW’s ability to keep these canals open for the remainder
of the summer. The society is also reconsidering its programme for
the reminder of 2010 in the light of this situation and has also
cancelled its annual BCN Marathon Cruise and is holding discussions
with BW regarding a revised version of its popular annual Explorer
Cruise. |
|
Thames Passenger Boat Service
Proposals |
 |
London’s River Thames passenger boat services should
be developed to carry an extra 12 million passengers per year says
the think-tank Policy Exchange – a group of leading politicians and
academics. In a recent report it says that the capital’s river is
woefully underused for commuting.
Robert McIlveen, editor of the report, says that the river is like a
huge motorway running through the heart of the city, but until now
has been left empty, whilst Brisbane, Hamburg, Bankok and a dozen
other cities have successful transport systems on water. There would
have to be improvement to existing piers and new services would link
directly with adjacent tube stations, providing an integrated
high-speed passenger transport system as an alternative to existing
road and railway routes. The problem is that the scheme would
require an initial outlay of £30 million, money that is not
currently available. However, with relatively little extra
investment, passenger numbers on the existing Thames Clipper boats
have doubled since 2007, which demonstrates the demand for an
expanded service. |
|
NEWS
January 2010 |
 |
New
BW Welsh Advisory Group |
|
During a fact-finding tour a new group formed to
shape the future of waterways in Wales has found that business
confidence is high on both the Llangollen and Montgomery canals. The
Waterway Advisory Group comprises committed individuals from a wide
range of professional backgrounds, each of whom can make a
significant contribution to ensuring the waterways of Wales
contributes fully to the national economy. They looked at existing
tourist attractions, such as Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, recent
developments such as, Llangollen Mooring Basin, voluntary
restoration work on the Montgomery Canal and met with local
entrepreneurs. Group chairman and BW Board vice-chairman John
Bridgeman said – “7.5 million people visit the waterways of Wales
annually, generating around £33m in visitor spend for just a tenth
of that cost in maintenance. Add to this a World Heritage Site,
three scheduled ancient monuments and 206 listed buildings, and the
contribution our waterways make to the culture and economy of Wales
is clear.” |
|
Taylor’s
Boatyard, Chester, developments |
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British Waterways is looking to partner the revival
of the historic Taylor's Boatyard in Chester on the Shropshire Union
Canal. The half-acre, with its side slips once employed over 200
people building and servicing the Shropshire Union Railway & Canal
Company’s huge fleet of working boats. The Grade II listed site is
probably the best surviving example of an original boatbuilding yard
on the canal network and BW will ensure the site is sustainably
restored to provide traditional boat repair facilities and that it
will play a part in the sustainable development of Chester’s
heritage. This will also include provision of moorings adjacent to
the premises. BW is already working with a group of partners,
including Chester City Council and waterway voluntary groups, to
protect the yard as both an historic site and a commercially viable
enterprise and is looking to obtain funding to invest in the
sympathetic restoration of the buildings, subject to a suitable
commercial partnership being established. |
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Ex
Shropshire Union steam tug to operate from Cruise Liner Terminal
- DAPS Media Release 14th January 2010 |
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Britain's last steam tug tender, Daniel Adamson, has
got the crucial go-ahead to operate from Liverpool Cruise Liner
Terminal. Previously the province of 3,000 passenger mega liners
like Queen Mary 2 and Crown Princess, the 106-year-old Daniel
Adamson can carry just 100 passengers. This is a major turning point
for the Daniel Adamson Preservation Society (DAPS) charity. DAPS
recently passed the initial stage towards getting an £830,000 grant
from the Heritage Lottery Fund, and can now develop its grant
application for the final second stage with the assistance of HLF's
mentoring scheme. If successful, the HLF grant will cover much of
the tug tender's restoration, including vital boiler refurbishment,
plus educational outreach programmes. The HLF previously awarded two
project planning grants in 2006 and 2008. It is hoped Daniel Adamson
will undergo trials next year and return to her former stamping
grounds of the River Mersey, Weaver Navigation and Manchester Ship
Canal in 2012. |
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BW
reduces licence evasion by almost 50% in two years. |
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The total number of unlicensed boats on the British
Waterways’ network has fallen by a further 1.5% during 2009. Despite
the credit crunch, 94.7% of the 31,400 boats on BW’s canals and
rivers are now fully paid up licence holders. BW’s annual National
Boat Check took place over two weeks during November. Adverse
weather meant that some navigations, including the River Avon and
River Ouse, were inaccessible to enforcement teams. However, in a
year which saw 70 boats seized from their owners as the final
outcome of enforcement action, evasion rates were reduced from 6.8%
to 5.3% and is down from 10.4% in 2007. The biggest reductions in
the number of unlicensed boats was in the West Midlands, Wales &
Border Counties and the South East area – the latter seeing an above
average 3.3% drop in evasion rates. BW enforcement teams have
achieved a fall in the evasion rate of almost 50% in two years.
Left - BW officer with bike and computer. |
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FEATURE |
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New
book on Leeds and Liverpool paintwork |
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Brightwork is the subject of a recent book
by Mike Clarke and Sam Yates. It was was the term used at boatyards
in East Lancashire for the decorative paintwork used on Leeds &
Liverpool canal craft. The
painted decoration of working boats on the Leeds & Liverpool
Canal was one of the most colourful of Britain’s folk
traditions. It was last used in the early 1960s, but despite
being less than fifty years ago, no record of its origins and
styles had been written until now. The two authors could not be
more suitable — Mike Clarke has already written extensively
about the canal’s history, while Sam Yates served his time as a
boat builder at Hodson’s Boatyard at Whitebirk, near Blackburn,
and undertook the decorative painting for several years before
boat repair at the yard ceased in 1964. You can
order a copy
direct from Mike Clarke here online. |
