1405 museum matters w

Newsletter of The Friends of The Canal Museum, Stoke Bruerne

MUSEUM MATTERS MAY 2014

© Friends of The Canal Museum 2014 Registered Charity No 1121146

www.friendsofcanalmuseum.org.uk

ell! It has certainly been a busy

spring this year! Not everything

has gone as smoothly as we would

normally expect in the world of the

Museums & Attractions Partnership

and here at Stoke the huge task of

overseeing the refurbishment,

relighting and rewiring of the

Museum has largely fallen to Louise,

who, it must be said, has done a

superb job. Starting with the

unexpected loss of David Henderson

in January, the M&A Partnership has

been beset with a sea of unforeseen

personnel troubles, but it does

appear that things are now turning

the corner. The latest weekly update

from CRT not only gives an account of

the Museum reopening ceremony on

30th April, but also has a picture of

Louise at the start of a short video

presentation about the revitalised

Museum. This last stars Louise, Richard

Parry, Chief Executive CRT and Mike

Constable, our Honorary Curator, and is

well worth a look. It can be found on

CRT’s website under the title ‘News’.

Our volunteers and honorary curators

and the CRT’s own staff worked like

trojans in order to get the displays up

and in position before the final opening.

As I said at the opening ceremony, my

part in it was merely to say ‘well done

chaps’, but I say it again with full

sincerity.

Anyway the reopening ceremony went

very well. Richard Parry was most

complimentary about our input, Louise

was given full recognition of the part

that she has played and, most

interestingly for me, the Grand

Junction Canal Company’s Roll of

Honour, 1914-18, recently

rediscovered in Brentford, was

installed in a case with due ceremony.

W

Volunteers, from left, Lorna York, Rose Grahaghan, Brian Mayland and Olive Minney with CRT’s James

Clifton at the Museum reopening (Photo; KD)

In this Issue

Chairman’s Jottings 2

The Original Idle Woman 7

Jack James 10

Council Matters 15

Canal Family Festival 16

FoCM Diary 17

Museum Reopening 18

Flagpole Recomissioning 20

Village at War 22 A personal memory of Robin Smithett 23

Cover Picture: Richard Parry (Chief Exec CRT), Louise Stockwin, David Blagrove and Lorna York on Sculptor at the reopening . (Photo: SD)

CHAIRMAN’S JOTTINGS

David Blagrove

‘

http://www.friendsofcanalmuseum.org.uk/



The interest for me is that Lorna York

and I have been working for some

months on a project to rediscover those

men and women of the canals and

of Stoke Bruerne who played their

part in the Great War. Bearing in

mind that the population of Stoke in

1911 was 331 and Shutlanger was

smaller, at 323, the fact that at least

102 men and women from the two

villages served in that War would

have meant that the male

population between the ages of 17

and 45 was reduced to virtual non-

existence, while many women were

also engaged in war work. For

much of that war the two villages

must have been virtually populated

by the very young and the very old, at

least during the day. All classes were

affected and one of the most

remarkable results of the war was a

dinner held in July 1919 at Stoke Park

and given by Colonel Vernon, the then

owner, for every man who had served

and survived the war. Vernon himself

had been awarded a Distinguished

Service Order for his gallantry in leading

his battalion during the Somme battles

and he and his wife duly entertained

some 80 men at Stoke Park House.

One of the surprises of the

Reminiscence Day (see below) was the

emergence of a printed menu card

produced by the grandson of one of the

men concerned.

Similarly the effect upon the canal was

severe. From my researches into

Braunston’s records it is plain that

before 1914 quite a number of boating

families had settled in the village and

had homes ‘on the bank’ with their

children attending the village school

while the menfolk, unmarried or older

women worked the boats. All this

changed as men rushed to join up, and

the ensuing shortage of labour caused

many women to leave their homes and

work on the boats bringing their children

with them. Fellows, Morton & Clayton

Ltd, then the main carriers on the Grand

Junction Canal, were forced to pay a

war bonus in order to keep men at work

(and also to compensate them from

being awarded white feathers by

civilians who thought they should be in

uniform). It was not until after the

slaughter of men on the Somme in

1916 that the Government took action

to organise the canal system to cope

with wartime. Although the railways had

come under Government control from

the 4th of August 1914, the canals were

not so controlled until 1917. Many

boatmen who had joined up in the early


David Blagrove

The Roll of Honour (Photo: LS)




stages of the war, including our own

Jack James, were ‘combed out’ from

the front line and sent to work on the

French and Belgian canals or to the

cross-Channel barging services based

at the new port of Richborough in Kent,

or even to such exotic places as the

Tigris and Euphrates. The reasoning

was that such men were far more

valuable doing these skilled jobs than

being shot at or sent ‘over the top’. In

the meantime, at home, the GJCC’s

Roll of Honour, now in the Museum,

shows how the administration of the

canal as well as its traffic labour force

suffered. Lockkeepers, engineers, traffic

clerks, carpenters, bricklayers, tug

drivers and even noble Directors, such

as Viscount Churchill, were away

serving, so the increased traffic of

wartime merely served to exacerbate

maintenance problems. It is our

intention to produce a display

commemorating the efforts of all the

men and women that we can identify as

the tribute of a later generation to those

who so willingly went to serve their

country, and of course to

those who never made it

back home after the war.

There were eighteen men

and one woman from Stoke

Bruerne and Shutlanger

who gave their lives and a

similar number of GJCC

workers. They should not be

forgotten.

In other ways this has been

a busy time. The Museum

refurbishment was sparked

off by our obtaining, through

the efforts of Lynda Payton,

a substantial Arts Council

Grant for overhauling the lighting; now

the efforts of Lynda and Helen

Westlake on behalf of the Stoke

Bruerne Canal Partnership are

beginning to bear fruit as the

Interpretation Project gets under way.

During April a Reminiscence Day was

held in our marquee on the Museum

Green, and this was a remarkable

success. Many persons came forward

with useful recollections and

mementoes, including the menu card

mentioned above. Since then the

project has moved towards finalising the

design of the Interpretation Panels and

a seemingly endless stream of e-mails

has been flying into my computer from

the consultants and others concerned.

It is early days to be making much

comment, but the results of all this

Volunteers and local councillors enjoying the reopening of

the Museum on a lovely spring day (Photo: KD)


David Blagrove




should begin to be apparent later on

this summer. It is hoped that all will be

completed by the time of the Village at

War event in September.

Readers will recall that the

editorship of this journal

changed during the winter

when Kathryn Dodington

took over from Lynda

Payton, who had been in

the editorial chair since our

foundation. Kathryn bought

No 2 Canalside last year

and since her arrival has

entered into the life of the

village and the Friends

alike with gusto. One of her

first actions was to take in

hand the matter of the

flagpole by top lock, which

has been without halyards for many

years and furthermore could not be

lowered to replace these because

someone at BT had strung wires across

the canal in such a manner as to

prevent this in the meantime. It

happened that soon after her arrival at

No 2 Kathryn was asked, in the course

of a courtesy call from BT, whether

there was anything more they could do

for her and her answer was ‘yes’. The

upshot was that after some little

persuasion BT’s engineers eventually

turned up in early April and removed

the offending wires, a result that the

Canal Partnership had been trying to

achieve for some years. On St George’s

Day a ceremonial recommissioning took

place with the Rose & Castle Morris

side performing a special North

Western-type clog dance, children from

the village school singing and the

Secretary of the Royal Society of St

George, Rodney Wardlaw presenting a

St George’s flag to the Morris side to be

duly hoisted. Rain and a chilly evening

failed to dampen spirits and about 150

people were present to see the

ceremony. Kathryn has now taken upon

herself the guardianship of the pole and

flags and has instituted a custom of

raising an appropriate flag on certain

important days. The first such occasion

was, appropriately enough for Kathryn,

who originally hails from New Zealand,

on Anzac Day, 25th April, when the New

Zealand flag was hoisted.

Work on Sculptor continues apace.

Since the New Year volunteers have

replace rotten panelling in the cabin and

rubbed the woodwork down for

repainting, the inside of the drawers,


David Blagrove


David Blagrove

The New Zealand Flag flying from the recommissioned flagpole to commemorate ANZAC Day (Photo: KD)




table etc. undercoated and the area

round the cabin doors grained and

varnished. At the time or writing rewiring

is greatly advanced and should be

completed shortly and at last

completion of all the cabin works is in

sight. On 1st May the boat left for her

first lengthy voyage of the season,

having been loaded with all manner of

gear for the IWA Gathering at

Braunston Marina. The next outing will

be to the Crick Show at the second May

Holiday, at which CRT have asked for

the boat to be present. She should be in

first class order by then. Several new

volunteers have joined us during the

winter and our thanks are particularly

due to Iain Dunkley for expert carpentry

work in the cabin and Mike Gardner for

work on the electrics.

Finally, although not part of the Friends

organisation (most of its members are

our members), I might mention the work

of the Volunteer Group. These meet

once a month (as from May this year on

the first Wednesday of the month) and

the current task is tidying up the area

round locks 14 and 15 (the two top

locks) ready for the Family Festival in

June. New volunteers are always

welcome; all that you need do is to turn

up on a volunteer day at 9.30, or either

ring me on (01604) 862174 or e-mail

[email protected]. There is plenty

to do; the next date will be 11th June.


David Blagrove

A DAY OUT WITH THE FRIENDS?

A day trip by coach is planned for members and friends to visit

the Kennet and Avon Canal for the Crofton Beam Engine Gala, together with a stop at the Devizes Canal Museum.

See the Crofton Beam engine at work

Enjoy all the other attractions over the Gala weekend.

Visit Devizes Canal Museum

Refreshments available at both sites

Normal parking charges will apply at the Museum.

Coach from Stoke Bruerne on Saturday 27th September

Depart 9am, return 7pm approx.

Cost approx. £22 per person

There are 53 places available. If you would like to reserve a place to go on what promises to be a very special trip, please email Denis Atkinson

[email protected] with number of places required. First come first served!


David Blagrove


mailto:[email protected]




As Della is indisposed at the

moment, in place of the next article

about Sister Mary I thought you

might be interested in an article

written for her Oxford College by my

aunt who was the original Idle

Woman.

hen I started boating in 1941 the

snow was deep on the ground

and there were no women skippers.

When I left the water for the bank this

summer, practically the whole system of

inland waterways had been covered by

amateur boatwomen trained by two of

my early ‘mates’. An advertisement for

the first of these brought applications in

a number and variety that surprised me;

they ranged from ballet-dancers to

moneylenders and from sailors to

‘service-dodgers’.

It was two years before I attained the

competence and social standing of a

professional boatwoman, and my

experience was gained at the cost of

long hours, some spent in the heavy

work of handling cargoes, anxious

moments at the tiller, and exposure to

all weathers.

The romantic features of boating have

already had their share of publicity, but

details of the work done by boats and

boat people are usually left behind the

curtain of obscurity which veiled the

canals and everything to do with them

until AP Herbert published his Water

Gypsies. In four years our Heather Bell

carried more than 7,000 tons of cargo.

She took slack to Worcester, spam to

Nottingham, sugar to Wolverhampton,

and flour to Tipton, sauce to Wigan,

coal to Oxford, copper and aluminium to

Birmingham, shell-cases to the

Potteries, grain to the Mersey, and RAF

stores to the Bristol Channel. Each

cargo had its own peculiarity, and each

canal its rule of the road. On some

‘cuts’ boats keep to the right, on others

the left, on some empty boats must give

way to loaded ones, and on others

uphill takes precedence over downhill

traffic.

Our usual round trip started with loading

352 sacks of flour at Worcester for

Tipton. In the first fifteen miles there are

36 locks. If these were against us, we

had to draw them off as well as fill them,

which meant double work for us both.

Novices used to complain of having

been made to run half way to

W

Stowing the cabin strings at Tipton Green – April 1941 (Photo: IWM)

THE ORIGINAL IDLE WOMAN

Kathryn Dodington




Birmingham. At the top lock we would

thankfully take the shining handles or

‘windlasses’ from our belts where we

carried them and stow them in the cabin

for ahead of us stretched a 15-mile

‘pound’, with three tunnels, the last 1¾

miles long. There is no lighting in these

tunnels, so we carried a headlamp. If

another boat had just gone through, her

smoke reduced visibility sometimes to

15 feet, which made steering difficult, as

the boat is 71 feet long.

At the Bar Lock we would give our

tickets to the toll-clerk, hear the latest

boating news, fill the water-can and

perhaps stop for the night at a tie-up.

These recognised stopping places

which usually boast a lock, a shop, a

village inn (the ‘boozer’) and a stable,

are often called after lock-keepers,

some still alive, some living in the

memories of old boatmen, and others

long since forgotten: at Gill’s,

Parkerses, Dick’s, Denny Merril’s

Mother’s lock live the families who have

given their name to the place, but

‘Ammonses’ is no longer kept by a

Hammond.

At Tipton the flour was unloaded in a

couple of hours and then we set off for

Cannock Chase for slack. Here we

made friends with the day or ‘Joey’

boatmen who have homes ashore, and

never go far from the collieries. I have

been glad to know the Black Country,

which looks at its best from the water,

and its inhabitants – kind people

with a good sense of humour.

Another trip we often did was to

go empty to Sharpness for grain.

We locked down into the Severn

at Worcester, keeping a good

look-out for the petrol tankers

which ply up and down the river,

and whose crews are always

ready to give us a tow: their 160

horse-power was a big help to

our 10 if we were trying to reach

a tie-up before dark. In the

summer the river is lovely, though

you have to be careful to avoid the

shallows: in the winter there is

sometimes too much water for comfort,

especially if you run across the tide as

well, because the Severn is tidal as far

as Tewkesbury.

At Gloucester we locked up into the

Docks and Berkeley Ship Canal with its

low white bridges rather like those over

Dutch canals. Sixteen miles further on

in Sharpness we loaded bulk wheat


Kathryn Dodington

Heather Bell at Tipton Green Top Lock – April 1941 (Photo: IWM)




from the silo, and if we had time we

would brush up our French,

Norwegian, or Dutch with the sailors

there. In Sharpness before D-day

there was a grand array of ships, all

flying the B flag: ‘I am loading or

discharging explosives’. We were

glad to hear that of the sixteen ships,

which went to Normandy sixteen

came safely back.

Fog, wind and ice were our worst

enemies. It was on a foggy

December evening in 1941 that the

Darleydale – the biggest tanker on

the river – ran into us. We sank in 8

feet of water in 8 minutes, having

luckily salvaged enough blankets to

spend the night in moderate comfort

on the floor of a Gloucestershire

cottage. ‘Fishers History of Europe’

stood up well to its three days

immersion.

At Whitsuntide or in August we used to

go down the Shropshire Union Canal. If

locks had to be repaired, they were

generally done then, and boat after boat

took her place in the queue waiting for

the work to be finished. Those were

blissful days with time to paint, shine

the brass, scrub the cabin, or de-

carbonise the engine at one’s leisure,

and afterwards to yarn with the boat

people or play the accordion, knowing

for once that there was no more work to

be done. Then when the ‘stoppage’

was over, everyone set off again in a

mad hurry, often going all night to make

up for lost time. Twice we went ‘fly’ like

that from Ellesmere Port to

Wolverhampton: thirty-three hours non-

stop, with about an hour’s sleep each.

Day and the fields of Cheshire changed

slowly into night and the sandstone

cuttings of Shropshire. Dawn came at

the top of Audlem locks, and the first

boat we’d meet would say: ‘What, you

two girls been night-‘owlin’ again?’

I shall miss the cut and all my friends

there, but it is a community that does

not change and it is nice to know that

Big-Mouthed Bella, Sam and Flo,

‘Stickemup’ and Soapy Joe, young Ada

and all the rest of them will probably be

about when I go back every now and

then.


Kathryn Dodington

Heather Bell unloading flour at Tipton – April 1941 (Photo: IWM)




t would be about this time that Jack

had two mates, one called George,

who kept an ancient muzzle-loading

shotgun for the replenishment of

the boats’ supplies, the other

known as ‘Sailorman’ or

‘Sailorboy’, since he had been a

merchant sailor. The Ashby Canal

was notorious for the weed that

grew on the bed. It rolled up

underneath a boat forming what

the boaters called ‘rolls of oakum’.

George would stand on the

foredeck as the boat went along

armed with a spear on a long

stick. Between Hinckley and

Shackerstone the canal was well-

stocked with fish, tench, perch and

pike particularly. George would

harpoon the rolls of weed in which

fish had managed to get themselves

entangled. On arrival at the colliery

basin at Moira he would lay the fish out

on an old washing tray and sell them to

the miners, which would give him a ‘few

coppers’ pocket money for his evening

drink. Sometimes the boatmen would

go to nearby Swadlincote, where there

was a pub, or else Jack, if he had a ‘few

coppers’ to spare would, in his own

words, catch a tram ‘across the fields to

Burton-on-Trent and have a night there,

then finish up in the pub on the way

back with the miners and have a sing-

song and a bit of step dancing.’ Like

many boaters of the time, Jack could

play a melodeon, which was always a

useful accomplishment, since a pub

musician would rarely have to buy his

own beer. The ‘tram’ was the Burton

and Ashby Light Railway, which was

similar to an American ‘inter-urban’

railway, running as Jack said across

fields between Burton-on-Trent and

Ashby de la Zouch. It closed following

the General Strike of 1926.

Sailorman was, Jack once told me

‘breasted like a woman’ and was ‘stout

and stocky, a good swimmer and a

fighter too’. In other ways Sailorman

was quite a character. Jack was told by

several Fellows, Morton & Clayton

steamboat crews who knew him that he

had once swum through Braunston

Tunnel for a bet. This was when there

was a pub called ‘The Anchor’ at the

top of Braunston locks where horse

boats waited their turn for the tunnel

tug. The story went that Sailorman met

the tug in the tunnel, which must have

caused some consternation. The pub

closed in 1916, so the swim must have

been before then. He was only with

I

JACK JAMES A serialised biography by David Blagrove – Part 8

High Bridge Wharf c1924 (Image courtesy David Blagrove Collection)




Jack two or three months before he

joined another boatman to run three

boats to the Oxford Portland Cement

Company, then based near

Bletchingdon on the Oxford Canal. This

job involved taking coal southwards to

the cement works, where it was

unloaded into the boiler house with

shovels and wheelbarrows, and then

loading with bags of cement which were

delivered to a warehouse near the ‘top

o’ the old thirteen’ (Farmers Bridge

locks) in Birmingham. The unloaders

were refreshed with beer, brought in

one or two gallon stone jars in a cane

basket from the ‘Three Pigeons’ pub,

some distance down the canal. The

unloaders betted Sailorman that he

could not swim along the canal to the

‘Three Pigeons’ with an empty two

gallon stone jar for filling. He stripped

off his shirt, strapped the jar on his back

with a boatman’s belt and set off. On

the way he met Jack James’ boats

coming back from Oxford empty and

told him about the wager. Later Jack

learned that Sailorman had completed a

round trip with the beer and won the

bet.

In 1923 Jack married Emma

Bray, then aged twenty,

daughter of Joseph Bray, a

boatman from Yiewsley, near

West Drayton in Middlesex.

The Bray family worked boats

from the Coventry coalfield

down the Grand Junction to

the London area and so their

routes would have coincided

with Jack James’ regular runs

in the section between

Braunston and Marston

Junction. Boat people’s

courtship in those days

tended to be circumscribed by

the routes that the parents’

boats took and meetings were

frequently confined to the odd

occasions that the respective families’

boats were tied up together, although

other stratagems, such as catching

trains, and later buses, to meeting

places were often brought into play. Not

surprisingly courtship was sometimes a

prolonged affair. Jack’s apparent

regular tying at Marston Stop Lock

might have had something to do with

the matter. Suffice it to say the couple

were married at Bedworth Parish

church on 2nd April 1923. The curate,

John Thomas Owen would appear to


The Simonds Brewery in Reading shown in an old brewery advert showing the K&A passing through the

brewery centre c1920. Note the narrow boats in evidence (image courtesy of David Blagrove Collection)




have been familiar with the ways of

boat people, for the certified copy of the

marriage certificate is evidently

completed in his handwriting. Both

Emma and Fanny Jackson, who were

witnesses have crosses and ‘her mark’

by their names, but the signature of

Jack duly appears, although the copy is

in the curate’s handwriting.

Jack’s new married status meant that

he now reverted to a single boat,

appropriately named Jack, which

Hubert Hawkins dispatched to Reading

with a load of coal. This was

presumably loaded at Moira, for a

photograph of the boat in Blakes Lock,

Reading, apparently shows it loaded

with large housecoal. His sister Amelia

(‘Milly’) appears in the picture on the

towpath leading the horse, Emma is

steering and Jack is sitting in a

proprietorial manner on the cabin top,

his legs partially obscuring Hubert

Hawkins’ name on the cabin side. By

this time narrow boat traffic on the River

Kennet was not common and the arrival

of the boat seems to have caused a stir

locally, for a number of local boys and a

girl are also to be seen in the

background looking on curiously. Barge

traffic still passed from the Kennet to

the Thames, but the one-time

common coal traffic from the

Midlands to industrial plants in

Reading and the Kennet

Valley had ceased. Exactly

where this load went to is not

known, but Jack evidently

made some useful contacts at

Reading, for he was

eventually to return there on a

permanent basis.

For the meantime Jack seems

to have returned to the Oxford

Canal and taken on another

boat with the assistance of

Milly. His first child, John, was

born the following year, his

birth being registered at Foleshill (north

of Coventry and the parish that includes

Hawkesbury Junction) and thereafter

the couple produced another five:

George born 1925, Doris and Thomas

both born 1928 but not twins, Noel born

1932 and Christine born 1938. All the

latter children’s births were registered in

Reading. By 1928 Jack had saved

sufficient to achieve the ambition of all

independently-minded boatmen, the

ownership of his boats. He appears to

Jack, his wife Emma and sister Millie (on towpath) at Blakes Lock, Reading c 1924 (Image courtesy of David

Blagrove Collection)





have acquired two boats from his father,

for Jack had two boats registered under

the Canal Boats Act in that year. The

Two Brothers was registered at

Banbury on 20th February 1928

presumably named for Jack’s first two

sons and Thames Valley on 23rd April

1928. If they were indeed bought from

his father they must have been formerly

Doris and George Henry, but which is

which is not certain, although Doris was

formerly called Two Brothers. George

James changed it to Doris, so Jack may

have merely changed the name back to

its original one. It would appear that

Jack had based himself in Reading from

1925 onwards. In 1928 his name

appears on business correspondence

as ‘The Wharf, Bridge Street, Reading’.

This was in fact sited on a backwater of

the Kennet, once a mill headstream and

known as ‘The Jack o’Newbury stream’.

It was entered from the Kennet

immediately above County Lock (No.

106) and from Bridge Street by a lane

running west immediately south of the

bridge over the

main river. Today

the Reading Inner

Distribution road

runs above the

site, but it is still

partly visible. The

entry to the ‘Jack

o’Newbury

stream’ meant

dropping the

boats stern first

from immediately

above County

Lock. A shoal had

built up by the

entrance to the

stream making

the approach

difficult for loaded

boats. There was

however a railway siding on the

opposite bank and sometimes a friendly

engine driver could be persuaded to

drop a long towline over his coupling

hook and pull a loaded boat over the

shoal. Although there was a good

towpath on the Kennet above Reading,

the river through the town had none

between Bridge Street Bridge and High

Bridge about a quarter of a mile

downstream save for a short, isolated

length of about a hundred yards. This is

still the case today but the stream has


The Brewery Gut plan shows the same area in more detail, including

the tortuous path that the boat horses had to follow through the centre of Reading (Image courtesy of David Blagrove Collection)




been considerably widened and an

awkward bend above High Bridge has

been eased. The Kennet is a stream

that is fed from chalk country and also

has a considerable hydraulic gradient,

which means that although it takes a

good deal of rain to raise the water

level, it flows much faster than the

Thames and when the stream becomes

strong it does so for much longer than a

river draining clay country.

Consequently the ‘Brewery Gut’ or

‘Gullet’, as this stream is called, is a

very dangerous stretch of water for

novices. In former times it was even

more dangerous for horse-drawn boats.

These had to negotiate the ‘Gut’

downstream by drifting with a ‘log’ or

weight over the stern, and in times of

strong current by winding below County

Lock and drifting stern first with the

weight off the fore end. Coming

upstream a very long line had to be

floated down from above Bridge Street

Bridge, using a float kept nearby for this

very purpose. There was a snatch block

cemented into the wall of a building on

the south side of the bridge and another

on the bridge abutment close to the

spandrel of the arch; the towline was

run through these and the horse set off

along Bridge Street at right angles to

the river. The towline passed in front of

house doorways imprisoning the

occupants until the boat had come up

through the bridge. Jack Garner, who

married Amelia, told me how his father

had lost a boat loaded with plaster of

Paris when the towline parted in a flood

and the boat was swept backwards

against a wall at the foot of the ‘Gut’

and broke its back. This was in 1904

and in 1950 the motor boat Columba

narrowly escaped a similar fate. In the

1920s matters were no easier when the

navigation was controlled by the Great

Western Railway, who had no

inclination to do anything to assist a

rival form of transport, although obliged

by law to keep the navigation open.

Because of the difficulty of approaching

his new premises from downstream,

Jack acquired a tug to move craft

through the ‘Gut’. This was not a

particularly grand vessel, being no more

than an ex-ship’s clinker-built lifeboat

fitted with a single cylinder water-drip

Bolinder semi-diesel engine, but it

certainly did the job. Moreover both

locks between his wharf and the

Thames were long enough to accept

two narrow boats abreast and a tug.


The Friends of The Canal Museum at

Stoke Bruerne may not agree with the

opinions expressed in this newsletter,

but encourages publication as a

matter of interest. Nothing printed

may be construed as policy or an

official statement unless so stated.

Latest - Welcome to Mat

On Friday 16th May, Mathew (Mat) Bradley joined The Canal Museum team to manage the day-to-day operation at Stoke Bruerne with Louise, working alongside Anna, Becca, Charlotte, Emi, Grace, Sarah and Shivani. Mats origins are in Australia where

he predominantly worked within

the tourism industry so, it’s an

exciting time for both Mat, me and

the Museum & Attractions team.




Financial Matters

ollowing the recent serious illness

of our Treasurer, Rick Thake, I

have temporarily taken control of the

finances of The Friends. This is not a

satisfactory position and it would be

appreciated if another member would

be prepared to take this matter on,

possibly permanently.

In the meantime I can report that the

finances of The Friends are in

reasonable shape and the position, as

at the 20th May 2014, is as follows:

Balance at Bank on behalf

of the Charity account

£26,119.54

Balance at Bank on behalf

of the Company account

£13,859.67

Business reserve account £1,051.71

Cash in hand £0.00

Total liquid assets £41,030.92

Additionally the Friends

have assets of

£4,227.99

The sum in the Trading Company's

account is to cover setting up expenses

for the Family Festival and Village at

War events and to provide a float. This,

plus any profits from the events, will be

returned to the main Charity in the form

of a donation from the Trading

Company after the events concerned.

David Blagrove, Chairman

F

David Blagrove, Jenny Copeland and Denis Atkinson at the award presentation

(Photo: LS)

At a meeting of Council

last November it was decided that

an annual Award should be made to

a member of The Friends who, in

the opinion of Council, had

performed outstanding service on

behalf of the Friends during the

preceding year. It was subsequently

unanimously decided that the

current award should go to Jenny

Copeland, who initiated the idea of

our most successful Village at War

event back in 2008 and who has

continued to play an important role

in the organisation of the event each

subsequent year. Since Jenny was

out of the UK at the time of our

AGM, the award was made to her at

the first Council meeting after her

return, in January last. The Award

Trophy consists of a turned wood

bowl, which is held for a year, with a

miniature version for keeps. The

Award is open to all members

COUNCIL MATTERS David Blagrove




2014 FAMILY FESTIVAL

Lynda Payton

FAMILY FESTIVAL Lynda Payton




CAN YOU BAKE A CAKE, MAKE A PROMISE OR DONATE AN ITEM FOR OUR AUCTION?

At the Stoke Bruerne Family Festival this year we are having a Boaters Auction combined with an Auction of Promises

so as well as donations of boaty bric-a-brac, we need promises of all sorts of things we can auction to raise funds to help The Canal Museum.

These could be a service you can offer or couple of hours of your time, for example gardening, decorating or boat servicing, or you might be able to offer a boat trip, a meal or a weekend away in your holiday home.

We will also have a Sales, Cake and ‘Find the Wine’ stall – and could really do with cakes and help for an hour or two running them.

If you can volunteer an hour or two of your time or can donate something - please contact Sandie Morton (01604) 858294 or Lynda Payton (01604) 861205

We look forward to seeing you there Thank You!!! For full details please see www.friendsofcanalmuseum.org.uk/sb-family-festival

FAMILY FESTIVAL Lynda Payton

June

1st Canal Museum Sunbeam Motor Cycle Club 08:00

14th / 15th FoCM Canal Family Festival 10:00

22nd Mikron Theatre ‘Troupers’ - Museum Green 14:00

August

7th Canal Museum Heritage walks for Grandparents / Grandchildren

14:00

16th / 17th Canal Museum Pirate Weekend 10:00 28th Canal Museum Wildlife Safari 14:00

September

13th / 14th FoCM Village at War 10:00 20th / 21st

Canal Museum Roses and Castles

Painting 10:00

December

6th FoCM Illuminated Boats and Christmas Carols

16:00

FOCM 2014 DIARY


http://www.friendsofcanalmuseum.org.uk/sb-family-festival



Jack James’ two daughters Christine Ratledge and Doris Osborne at the Museum reopening

Richard Parry, David Blagrove and Louise Stockwin reopening the Museum

MUSEUM REOPENING Both photos: SD




Visitors on the Museum Green for the reopening

Richard Parry (CRT), David Blagrove (FoCM) and Wendy Capelle (CRT)

MUSEUM REOPENING Both Photos: KD




Steve Bignal (Squire of Rose and Castle Morris) receiving the flag of St George from Rodney Wardlaw (Royal Society of St George)

Children from Stoke Bruerne Primary School providing entertainment

THE FLAGPOLE Both Photos: JR




THE FLAGPOLE

Rose and Castle Morris side dancing at the flag raising (Photo: JR)

Rodney Wardlaw (Royal Society of St George) with Rose and Castle Morris men and David Blagrove (Photo: SD)




VILLAGE AT WAR




ehind the photograph of this tree

lies a story of which few people are

aware. Since meeting Robin in 1994,

each year he would wait for the ideal

opportunity to take a photograph of this

tree. I was given the task of informing

Robin when it was at its best and in full

bloom. As the buds began to open

each year, I would call Robin and inform

him they were on their way. Eventually

the tree would be in full bloom and I

would tell Robin, as he would have to

drive from Hereford.

Unfortunately each year an obstacle to

prevent Robin securing an image of this

tree occurred. Robin would either be

too busy photographing in other areas

and missing the moment, the strong

winds would sometimes get there

before Robin and on one occasion I had

telephoned Robin, he was on his way, I

was arranging lunch for us both; he

planned to take the photograph before

lunch, unfortunately on his journey we

experienced a tremendous

thunderstorm, coupled with strong

winds and hail. I looked out of my

window to find all the blossom had

disappeared from the tree; a soggy

Robin was standing amongst the fallen

blossom like confetti at a wedding. He

looked at me, chuckled to himself and

enquired as to whether I had the kettle

on.

This tree is my abiding memory of

Robin.

B

The flowering cherry at top lock, Stoke Bruerne (Photo: KD)

FOND MEMORIES OF ROBIN SMITHETT Mike Partridge




Chairman David Blagrove (01604) 862174 also member of the Curatorial Group & Trustee Vice-Chairman Lorna York (Trustee) Treasurer Rick Thake ([email protected]) Minutes Secretary Denis Atkinson Membership Secretary Jenny Copeland ([email protected]) Publicity & Website, Grant Funding & Awards Lynda Payton (01604) 861205 ([email protected]) Newsletter Kathryn Dodington ([email protected]) Museums & Attractions Partnership John Alderson Volunteer Co-ordinator Trevor Allum Other Museum Manager (ex-officio seat) Jenny Copeland (Trustee) Bill Mann (Catering) Michael Butler (Village at War) Events Sub-Committees Trevor Allum, Dennis Atkinson, Michael Butler, Jenny Copeland, David Daines, Bill Mann, Sandie Morton, Museum Manager, Mike Partridge, Lynda Payton, Victoria Powell, Terry Richardson, Graeme Scothern, Laura Sturrock, Rick Thake, Helen Westlake, Liam Whitby. Non-Council Posts Roger Hasdell Assistant Newsletter Editor Terry Richardson Assistant Publicity Officer Brian Collings Curatorial Group Rose Granaghan Winter Talks Organiser Laura Sturrock Trustee

FOCM COUNCIL 2014

Photographic Credits

LS Louise Stockwin CRT KD Kathryn Dodington FoCM JR James Rudd NN12 SD Steve Dean IWM Imperial War Museum




1405 museum matters w

Documents

canal museum

museum reopening ceremony

revitalised museum

bruerne museum matters

museum reopening photo

picture of louise

war work

great war