iwa bulletin mid august 2014

11
1 IWA Announces 2015 Northampton Festival of Water Following on from a successful Campaign Festival held in Northampton in 2011, IWA is pleased to announce that it plans to hold a major waterways event on the river Nene over the August Bank Holiday Weekend in 2015. The event, taking place Saturday 29th to Monday 31st August, will be centred around the waterfront at Becket’s Park. The Northampton Festival of Water is being organised jointly by IWA Events Team and IWA Northampton Branch, with the full support of Northampton Borough Council, the Environment Agency and the Canal & River Trust. The main aim of the event will be to celebrate the 200th Anniversary of the opening of the Northampton Arm in 1815, which connected the Grand Union Canal (or Grand Junction as it was then known) to the Nene in Northampton, creating a route to the East Anglian waterways and the Wash by water. The Arm replaced an earlier horse drawn railway between Gayton Junction and an unloading point at Far Cotton where a restored historic crane still stands. The Arm enabled ironstone and limestone to be carried to local blast furnaces, grain and flour to and from mills along the Nene, coal from North Warwickshire and timber from London’s Surrey Docks to Northampton. The Festival of Water also aims to promote Northampton’s riverside, to recognise the value of the waterway to the town and its people and to encourage more people to use the river for boating recreation and leisure. The Festival of Water will have an array of attractions on and off the water providing a fun day out for all the family. Up to 200 boats, including leisure, trade, heritage and working narrowboats, are expected in the marina and along the river front as well as a wealth of smaller craft such as canoes, rowing boats, sailboats, windsurfers and ribs. There will also be opportunities for visitors to get afloat on board trip boats and water taxis. Northampton is the gateway to Peterborough, Ely, Cambridge, St. Ives, Huntingdon and Bedford via the Nene, Middle Level and Fenland waterways and the Environment Agency are making special temporary licensing arrangements to encourage boaters to explore these little travelled waterways. Mid August 2014 BULLETIN Join IWA from £2.55/month - www.waterways.org.uk Contents IWA News Other News Waterway Events 2 7 9

Upload: the-inland-waterways-association

Post on 02-Apr-2016

218 views

Category:

Documents


2 download

DESCRIPTION

 

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: IWA Bulletin Mid August 2014

1

IWA Announces 2015 Northampton Festival of Water

Following on from a successful Campaign Festival held in Northampton in 2011, IWA is pleased to announce that it plans to hold a major waterways event on the river Nene over the August Bank Holiday Weekend in 2015.

The event, taking place Saturday 29th to Monday 31st August, will be centred around the waterfront at Becket’s Park. The Northampton Festival of Water is being organised jointly by IWA Events Team and IWA Northampton Branch, with the full support of Northampton Borough Council, the Environment Agency and the Canal & River Trust.

The main aim of the event will be to celebrate the 200th Anniversary of the opening of the Northampton Arm in 1815, which connected the Grand Union Canal (or Grand Junction as it was then known) to the Nene in Northampton, creating a route to the East Anglian waterways and the Wash by water. The Arm replaced an earlier horse drawn railway between Gayton Junction and an unloading point at Far Cotton

where a restored historic crane still stands. The Arm enabled ironstone and limestone to be carried to local blast furnaces, grain and flour to and from mills along the Nene, coal from North Warwickshire and timber from London’s Surrey Docks to Northampton.

The Festival of Water also aims to promote Northampton’s riverside, to recognise the value of the waterway to the town and its people and to encourage more people to use the river for boating recreation and leisure.

The Festival of Water will have an array of attractions on and off the water providing a fun day out for all the family. Up to 200 boats, including leisure, trade, heritage and working narrowboats, are expected in the marina and along

the river front as well as a wealth of smaller craft such as canoes, rowing boats, sailboats, windsurfers and ribs. There will also be opportunities for visitors to get afloat on board trip boats and water taxis.

Northampton is the gateway to Peterborough, Ely, Cambridge, St. Ives, Huntingdon and Bedford via the Nene, Middle Level and Fenland waterways and the Environment Agency are making special temporary licensing arrangements to encourage boaters to explore these little travelled waterways.

Mid August 2014BULLETIN

Join IWA from £2.55/month - www.waterways.org.uk

ContentsIWA NewsOther NewsWaterway Events

279

Page 2: IWA Bulletin Mid August 2014

2

IWA Bulletin - Mid-August 2014

Over 300 Volunteer Days Spent Restoring Inglesham Lock this Summer

Image: Scaffolding erected under bridge at Inglesham Lock, WRG Canal Camp

From the 19th July - 9th August, IWA’s Waterway Recovery Group ran three weeks of Canal Camps at Inglesham Lock on the Cotswold Canals. Volunteers from England, Wales, and as far away as Italy, made significant progress towards the restoration of the lock and contributed over 300 volunteer days to the project. The work will allow for a full survey of the chamber to be undertaken by one of IWA’s Honorary Consultant Engineers, once the rest of the lock

chamber has been cleared.

The work follows on from IWA’s fundraising appeal for Inglesham Lock, launched in 2010, which raised over £100,000 towards its restoration. The lock links the River Thames with the rest of the

Cotswold Canals.

WRG volunteers, working with Cotswold Canals Trust, cleared a large volume of silt and debris from around the wing walls, entrance to the lock and under the bridge, to allow for the stop plank

Find out about volunteering - www.waterways.org.uk/volunteer

Sue Cant Environment Agency Northamptonshire waterways leader said “We are delighted that IWA’s Festival is returning to Northamptonshire in 2015. We hope that visitors to the festival will not rush home at the end but take the opportunity to explore the Nene, which is one of the most scenic waterways in the country and a hidden gem of the county. The festival will help to secure Northampton as an inland waterway destination and encourage further improvement to the town’s waterfront and river corridor.”

Councillor David Mackintosh, Leader of Northampton Borough Council said “For generations the

Nene was a source of wealth as our town’s industries imported materials and exported products along the canal network. Today our riverside is a wonderful place to relax and the Northampton Festival of Water is set to be a wonderful celebration of our town’s connection with the Nene. The Festival is set to be a fantastic event with something for all ages, and well worth a visit to Northampton.”

IWA Events Team Chairman John Butler said “I have been impressed from the start by the level of commitment and enthusiasm for this event locally, and I have no doubt that we can look forward to a weekend to remember. As a

boater I am always excited by the prospect of visiting new waterways, and I intend to make the most of this opportunity to explore the waterways beyond Northampton. So put in in your diary now and come along to see what Northampton has to offer – you won’t be disappointed.”

There will be no admission charge although visitors will be encouraged to make a donation.There will be a market and fundraising stalls and the Events Team would like to hear from boaters, charities and local groups who are interested in having a stall and fundraising for their chosen cause and IWA. More information is available on IWA’s website.

IWA News

Page 3: IWA Bulletin Mid August 2014

3

IWA Bulletin - Mid-August 2014

grooves and damaged brickwork to be repaired. Once the grooves had been repaired, volunteers installed new stop planks and put in a sand bag dam as a second line of defence against the river Thames. In 2015 WRG hopes to run numerous Canal Camps to start restoration work in the lock chamber itself.

Canal Camps are unique week-long waterway restoration working holidays run by WRG on derelict waterways across England and Wales.

Bobby Silverwood, a WRG volunteer from Oxfordshire said

“I had a fantastic week at Inglesham Lock – plenty of mud, sunshine and laughter! We spent all week digging out silt by hand and eventually found the wooden cill (still intact) which was amazing! I’m looking forward to returning in 2015 and starting restoration work in the chamber.”

Over 150 Volunteers Take Part in IWA’s 2014 Himalayan Balsam Campaign

Photo: Himalayan Balsam banner on a bicycle. Leicester, June 2014 (photo by Alison Smedley)

IWA’s 2014 Himalayan Balsam Campaign has been a great success with over 150 volunteers joining work parties across the country.

Over the 2014 Himalayan Balsam pulling season, 169 volunteers joined IWA Branches on twenty work parties to tackle the invasive species across ten waterways. Including time to prepare for the

work parties, volunteers have given over 900 hours of their time this year to improve waterway habitats by removing this plant.

Himalayan Balsam is a non-native invasive species that grows along waterway corridors. The plant grows in dense patches and crowds out native plants over the spring and summer before dying

IWA AGM Weekend to Celebrate Caldon Canal Anniversaries

IWA’s 2014 Annual General Meeting will be held in the historic market town of Leek, Staffordshire, on Saturday 27th September.

A weekend of activities has been planned around the AGM including an archive film night hosted by the Caldon & Uttoxeter Canals Trust on Friday 26th September, a barbeque, music and beer festival on the evening of Saturday 27th September and a Waterway Community Day in Cheddleton on Sunday 28th September.

The Waterway Community Day will celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the reopening of the Caldon Canal by recreating the opening ceremony, with speeches at Cheddleton Top Lock. The event will also see an open air service, displays, stalls, refreshments, children’s activities and boat trips.

The 17 mile (27km) Caldon Canal runs from the Trent and

Mersey Canal at Etruria Junction, through the heart of the once-industrialised Potteries before heading up into the Staffordshire Moorlands, and terminating at the junction with the Uttoxter Canal at Froghall. The Leek Branch of the Canal runs from Hazelhurst Junction to the outskirts of Leek.

IWA members are encouraged to attend the open meeting prior to the AGM on Saturday 27th September. During the morning, groups will be discussing youth engagement, to support the future of the waterways. There will be two table discussions under the perspectives of restoration and navigation. A buffet lunch is available and can be booked online.

More about IWA - www.waterways.org.uk/about

Image: Caldon Canal (photo by Julie Arnold)

Page 4: IWA Bulletin Mid August 2014

4

IWA Bulletin - Mid-August 2014

Find out about volunteering - www.waterways.org.uk/volunteer

back in the winter to leave the ground bare. Where this happens along the banks of canals and rivers there is no vegetation to strengthen the integrity of the banks over the winter and they are left susceptible to erosion. This can cause navigation problems for boaters and an increase in the need to dredge as well as problems for ecosystems in the waterway.

This year, comments from volunteers have proved encouraging, as many have noticed a reduction in the quantity of the

plant at sites that have been visited in previous years. This includes sites on the Caldon Canal, Grand Unon Canal and the Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal.

The 2014 campaign has also seen a great engagement with younger volunteers, especially for IWA North Staffordshire & South Cheshire Branch. Volunteers from the Branch were joined by Light Seekers Youth Group at an evening work party, trainees from the Churnet Valley Living Landscape youth engagement project at its work party with

Caldon & Uttoxeter Canals Trust, and a number of families when it hosted a Family Volunteering Day in conjunction with Support Staffordshire. It was brilliant to see volunteers ranging in age from two and a half to eighty plus all taking part.

IWA would like to thank all the volunteers that took part in the campaign this year. Thanks also to everyone who has got involved via Facebook, Twitter and email by letting the Branch Campaign Team know where Himalayan Balsam has been spotted.

Lifeboat Parade at Saul Waterways Pageant

This August Bank Holiday weekend, sees the arrival of an exciting new three-day waterway event organised by IWA, which will take place at Saul Junction on the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal.

One of the highlights of the event will be a parade of historic RNLI lifeboats, spanning the last sixty years, brought to Saul by lifeboat enthusiast Phil Trotter of R W Davis & Sons, the well-known Saul Junction boat builders.

The lifeboats will form a convoy, leaving Sharpness on Saturday morning and arriving at Saul at about 11am, before parading past the Pageant site at Saul Junction. The Lifeboat Parade will be repeated on Sunday and Monday, and the boats will be displayed

at the event site throughout the weekend Saturday 23rd to Monday 25th August.

Two beautiful old steam launches and a steam traction engine will also be making an appearance on Saturday and Sunday.

Dozens of visiting boats will be there for the weekend, and boaters will be demonstrating their skills in a boat-handling contest. The less energetic will be competing for prizes for ‘Best Boat in Bloom’ and ‘Best Kept Engine Room’. On Saturday evening there will be an illuminated boat parade.

A variety of craft and market stalls will be trading all weekend, and on Monday boaters will be buying and selling boat parts, large and small, at the Boat Jumble.

There will also be a real ale bar for the adults and Wild over

Waterways activities for the children.

Admission to the event will be free on the day, and parking at Moor Street in Saul is also free.

IWA is holding the Pageant with the support of the Cotswold Canals Trust to celebrate the restoration work on the Cotswold Canals, which will eventually connect the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal at Saul Junction with the Thames near Lechlade.

The public are invited to go and see restoration work by IWA’s Waterway Recovery Group on the Sunday and Monday at Bowbridge Lock, which is close to the pageant.

IWA Events Team would like to thank Cotswold Canals Trust and Canal & River Trust for their support for the event.

Page 5: IWA Bulletin Mid August 2014

5

IWA Bulletin - Mid-August 2014

IWA Campaigns Page - www.waterways.org.uk/campaigns

Consultation on Proposed Gating of the Piccadilly Undercroft to be Launched

Photo: Rochdale Canal Lock 84 (photo by Gerald England, Creative Commons Licence 2.0)

Manchester City Council is to hold a consultation on the proposed gating of Piccadilly Undercroft on the Rochdale Canal.

The section of the Rochdale Canal that is below ground level between Lock 84 and Canal Street in Manchester City, commonly known as the Undercroft, has caused problems over the years. In the last year, five people have died in the area with many more victims of criminal activity, an increase on previous years.

CRT is clear that the causes of these problems are largely social issues, which are not for them to resolve. It is, however, also of the opinion that incidents of this kind cannot continue on CRT land unchecked. The Watersafe Partnership, consisting of CRT, Manchester City Council, Police and Fire & Rescue, has, over the years, helped to introduce a number of initiatives to improve the situation. Initiatives to date have included provision of

public rescue equipment, improved warning signs, enhanced police/ community warden operations, improved lighting and CCTV monitoring. Unfortunately, none of this has had a significant long-term impact and it is in this context that CRT regards the proposal to provide overnight exclusion gates, which would be locked between 7pm and 7am, as a last resort to solve the problems in the Undercroft.

Some canal users have expressed concerns about the proposals. This includes the worry that towpath users, including lock operators and boat passengers, could inadvertently be locked in the section over night. Although this is primarily a public order matter the inclusion of CRT in and the opening up of the consultation to the public so as to develop the most appropriate plan has been welcomed by many.

IWA Manchester Branch has already engaged in preliminary consultation with Manchester & Pennine CRT area management on this topic and they, together with IWA North West & North Wales Region, will actively participate in this consultation with Manchester City Council. Manchester City Council plans to launch the consultation later this year. IWA Manchester Branch is encouraging other members to get in touch with their comments and opinions to include in their response. Please email [email protected]

IWA Shrewsbury and North Wales Branch Lock Wind Boosts Canal Restoration Funds

Image: Fly-boat Saturn and motor Plover arriving at Hurleston Junction

IWA Shrewsbury District & North Wales Branch held another very successful annual lock wind at Hurleston Locks on the Shropshire Union Canal on the first weekend in August, raising several hundred pounds towards the major canal restoration projects in the branch’s area.

Over twenty volunteers, including some members of neighbouring IWA branches and some non-members, helped almost 85 boats to transit the locks at the junction of the Llangollen and Shropshire Union canals. A highlight of the weekend was the passage of the 108-year old restored Shroppie fly-boat Saturn, bow hauled through the flight and preceded by her motor, the historic working boat Plover.

Although boat movements were less than at last year’s event, perhaps due to heavy rain on the Saturday, boaters again contributed generously and both donations and sales of produce, books and the

Page 6: IWA Bulletin Mid August 2014

6

IWA Bulletin - Mid-August 2014

IWA Volunteers contributed 10,000 days in 2013

branch’s 2015 pictorial calendars raised more funds than in previous years.

“This was another great result for the canal restorations on the

Montgomery and Shrewsbury & Newport canals” said branch chairman Michael Limbrey. “We are very grateful to all who supported us so generously, and also to our enthusiastic team of volunteers,

who kept smiling through rain and shine and made the whole weekend possible.”

Tony Harrison

IWA is saddened to report the death, on 31st July, of Tony Harrison, former IWA consultant engineer and trustee.

Tony had been an IWA member for over fifty years. In the 1950s, when based in Birmingham, he canoed on the then about to be abandoned Southern Stratford-upon-Avon Canal. He gained a postgraduate Diploma in Hydraulics at the Delft University and moved to work at the Wallingford Hydraulics Research Station. At this time, he was an active member of IWA Oxfordshire Branch, eventually becoming its chairman. Later he continued to live in Goring when commuting to Watford where he developed best practice for civil and building contract administration at the Building Research Establishment.

Soon after IWA’s then Honorary Consultant Engineer Philip Ogden retired in 1989, Tony offered his services in this

role. He was appointed jointly with Roy Sutton, and was simultaneously co-opted to IWA’s then fledgling Restoration Committee. His contract administration experience was especially valuable at that time as a large number of waterway bodies, including IWA, were commissioning consultancy contracts with rather loose terms of reference that allowed firms producing poor work to still be paid. Tony instituted good practice in this area, not without opposition, and his paper ‘Managing Consultancies on Inland Waterway Projects’ (now in the IWA Technical Restoration Handbook) is referred to by many other bodies. Tony subsequently promoted and managed the production of the entire IWA Technical Restoration Handbook, over a period of two years, with twenty papers (some by several authors) going through an exhaustive revision and peer-review process overseen by Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions.

Tony’s expertise in hydraulics and hydrology benefited numerous restoration projects and navigable waterways alike. Water supply to the Basingstoke Canal was an area where he gave advice over many years, enabling the managers of the canal to estimate when they would need to close it

based on data from the aquifers and advising on alternative water sources in an area that is very short of water. Tony’s detailed knowledge of the intricacies of water distribution and abstraction in the waterways around Denver led to his appointment to a working group that oversaw how the Environment Agency and the water companies controlled flood discharge and water abstraction in the face of environmental requirements.

Tony served on IWA’s Restoration Committee for twenty years and chaired it for five years. His period at the helm coincided with a flurry of millennium and post millennium major projects and was very busy. Tony also served as IWA’s representative to the Wilts and Berks Canal Trust and represented IWA on the Cotswold Canals Partnership and a variety of other working groups and bodies.

Tony was a nationally elected trustee of the Association for fifteen years and a member of IWA’s Navigation and Finance committees. His expertise also spread into successfully managing stocks and shares, chairing the investment group that was tasked with making sure IWA’s funds were invested securely yet profitably.

Page 7: IWA Bulletin Mid August 2014

7

IWA Bulletin - Mid-August 2014

2014 Waterway Events - www.waterways.org.uk/events

CRT Announces £3m Additional Investment in Improving the Nation’s Waterways for Boaters

CRT has announced a £3m package of additional investment in the waterways to improve the experience for boaters and other visitors. CRT has said that around £2m of this additional investment will fund dredging projects on the Erewash Canal, Trent & Mersey Canal and a number of sections of the North Stratford Canal. This would complete the full £7m dredging programme that CRT has planned to deliver this year, as part of its ten year, £80m dredging commitment. In addition, CRT has said, just over £1m of new money will go into a variety of other customer service improvements such as further vegetation management, repairing waterway walls and towpaths, improving sanitary stations and mooring locations and making lock operation easier. This additional investment is available because CRT has anticipated that it will exceed its revenue target for the year. Planned additional work will include:

• The improvement of sanitary stations on the North West and Midlands canals, the Kennet &

Avon Canal and in London.

• Lock operation improvements on the Calder & Hebble Navigation and Huddersfield Narrow Canal.

• Offside vegetation management in the South West, London and on the Shropshire Union Canal.

• The provision of better

visitor moorings in Chester, Macclesfield, London, Birmingham and the East Midlands.

EA Investing £1.8 million in the River Thames

The Environment Agency is to invest nearly £1.8 million this autumn and winter as part of a programme of works to maintain and replace navigation structures on the Thames.

From November, 11 lock sites are set to benefit from capital investment work thanks to the Environment Agency’s Investment Programme. Work will be carried out to refurbish lock gates and make structural repairs.

The following locks will be affected by closures:

Grafton Lock (3rd November 2014 to 19th December 2014)Replacing the tail lock gates

Rushey Lock (3rd November 2014 to 19th December 2014)

Replacing the lock riser piles and timber fenders

Abingdon Lock (3rd November 2014 to 19th December 2014)Inspecting and re-sheeting the lock gates

Caversham Lock (3rd November 2014 to 19th December 2014)Repairing the lock gate hollow quoins

Marsh Lock (3rd November 2014 to 19th December 2014)Repairing the lock gate seals

Marlow Lock (5th January 2015 to 20th February 2015)Replacing the lock gates

Cookham Lock 3rd November 2014 to 19th December 2014)Refurbishing the lock gates and sluice gear

Boulters Lock (3rd November 2014 to 30th January 2015)Refurbishing the lock chamber and repairing the lock gates and head layby

Romney Lock (3rd November 2014 to 22nd December 2014)Replacing the lock gates

Penton Hook Lock (3rd November 2014 to 19th December 2014)Refurbishing the tail lock gate pintols

Sunbury New Lock (8th September 2014 to 19th December 2014)Lock chamber refurbishment and replacement lock gates

Other News

Page 8: IWA Bulletin Mid August 2014

8

IWA Bulletin - Mid-August 2014

Shop with us - www.iwashop.com

CRT Introduces New Initiatives to Help Manage London Moorings

In August, Canal & River Trust (CRT) plans to begin a range of initiatives to help manage the ever-increasing number of boats in London.

CRT has announced that it is recruiting a number of enforcement personnel and starting a programme of text-messaging reminders to overstaying boaters as well as bringing in some changes to central London visitor moorings, which include the recently announced changes to central London visitor moorings.

CRT plans to start sending text messages to London’s boaters this August. The messages will be sent when boaters have reached the maximum stay time on a fourteen day towpath mooring. These reminders are already sent to boaters on parts of the Kennet & Avon Canal. CRT has said that its teams will continue to speak face-to-face with overstaying boaters and leave notices on boats.

CRT has recently recruited an enforcement supervisor and an additional enforcement officer for London. Another enforcement officer vacancy is also being advertised.

The Trust’s programme of new casual moorings progressing with new mooring rings to arrive soon at Camden (Camley Street) and Haggerston (Acton’s Lock) after

the completion of a technical assessment and appropriate timetabling of the work. Moorings are also being planned along the Lee Navigation next to the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. CRT has said that in August a number of changes will also be made to the visitor moorings in Paddington Basin. The plan includes installing a new water point, updating signage and new bookable moorings at Rembrandt Gardens.

Newark Dry Dock Open Day

CRT has planned an event at Newark Dry Dock on Sunday 31st August, that will offer the public the opportunity to explore inside the largest inland dry dock in Britain, as part of a series of Summer Open Days.

The dry dock is still one of the busiest boat maintenance facilities operating on the inland waterways today and visitors will be able to learn all there is to know about this local landmark, see some maintenance being carried out and speak to specialists at the dock.

The workshop is located at Mill Lane, Mill Gate, Newark, Nottinghamshire, NG24 4TT and the event will run between 10-4pm. No pre-booking is required.

CRT also organised an Open Day at Tees Barrage for 30th August. It has proven very popular and tickets sold out in 24 hours.

Further details on CRT’s Summer Open days are available at CRT’s website.

Number 8 Swingbridge on the Pocklington Canal Re-opened

Photo: Richard Parry re-opens Number 8 Swingbridge on the Pocklington Canal (photo by Pocklington Canal Amenity Society)Photo: Richard Parry re-opens Number 8 Swingbridge on the Pocklington Canal (photo by Pocklington Canal Amenity Society)

Richard Parry, Chief Executive of CRT, formally re-opened Number 8 Swingbridge on the Pocklington Canal on Friday 1st August.

The occasion marked a further stage in the restoration of the canal. Originally provided as an accommodation bridge for the local farmer, and also carrying a public footpath, the original swinging structure was replaced by a fixed one soon after the canal ceased to be navigable in 1932.

A new steel structure was installed by the Pocklington Canal Amenity Society in the early 1990s, but without a pintle, the bearing on which the bridge swings, as there was no immediate prospect of navigation being restored. With the help of funds donated to the Society by the Pocklington Canal Boat Club, the pintle was installed in 2013, and further works were undertaken to comply with CRT’s safety requirements.

Page 9: IWA Bulletin Mid August 2014

9

IWA Bulletin - Mid-August 2014

Major IWA events in 2014

23rd - 25th August 2014 - Saul Waterways Pageant

26th - 28th September 2014 - IWA’s AGM Weekend, Leek

Branch Boating Events in 2014

6th - 7th September 2014 - Maesbury Canal Festival (joint arranged by IWA Shrewsbury, District & North Wales Branch along with Friends of the Montgomery Canal)

Upcoming Volunteer/Clean-up Events

August16th August Work Party - Lapworth (supported by IWA Warwickshire Branch)

19th August Work Party - Trent & Mersey Canal (IWA North

Join IWA from £2.55/month - www.waterways.org.uk

Historic Bank Hall Dock to Re-open

Bank Hall Dry Dock on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal is set to re-open this Autumn.

The historic dock in Burnley is to be brought back in to use after restoration work is completed by two retired couples, Les and Angela White and Brian Denison and Jane Garnett. The site was closed in 1971 but will now be re-opened and used by the couples’ new canal boat repair and painting business.

Bank Hall Dry Dock was once owned by the nearby colliery and was one of the most important working docks in the North West at the height of the coal and textile era.

Development Plans for Neptune’s Staircase Progress

Plans to develop at Neptune’s

Staircase, the string of nine lock gates designed by Scottish engineer Thomas Telford, on the Caledonian Canal at Banavie have progressed.

Development plans, which Scottish Canals hopes will turn Neptune’s Staircase on the Caledonian Canal into a top tourist attraction, have been granted planning permission and listed building consent by Highland Council. Permission has been granted to turn the former Saw Pit into an interpretation centre for Neptune’s Staircase, the Caley Bears shop into a Scottish Canals shop and for the maintenance bothy to be used as a centre for providers of outdoor pursuits.

New Book Saving the Derby Canal Now Available

A new book documenting the campaign to restore Derby Canal has been published.

Saving the Derby Canal (The one

that got away) by John Wain, has recently been published and tells the story of the campaign led by enthusiasts to save the Derby Canal. It starts in the 1940s, when the Swarkestone Boat Club was formed and recounts canal surveys, a protest cruise, public meetings, the financial implications and the ultimate failure of the campaign.

The story is told through a series of letters sent to and from Government departments, Derby Canal Company and other interested parties.

John Wain writes from personal involvement with the campaign as he was involved in the early years from around 1953 and from 1956 was honorary secretary of Swarkestone Boat Club.

Mr Wain’s book, priced at £5 or £7 including postage, is available direct from his address at 23 Woodminton Drive, Chellaston DE73 6RZ, telephone 01332 702423.

Waterway Events

Page 10: IWA Bulletin Mid August 2014

10

IWA Bulletin - Mid-August 2014

More about IWA - www.waterways.org.uk/about

Staffordshire & South Cheshire Branch)

19th August Work Party - Northampton Arm (IWA Northampton Branch)

20th August Work Party - River Gipping (supported by IWA Ipswich Branch)

21st August Work Party - Lapworth (supported by IWA Warwickshire Branch)

22nd August Work Party - Congleton (IWA North Staffordshire & South Cheshire Branch)

27th August Work Party - River Gipping (supported by IWA Ipswich Branch)

September1st September Work Party - Hatton Locks (supported by IWA Warwickshire Branch)

3rd September Work Party - River Gipping (supported by IWA Ipswich Branch)

3rd September Work Party - Hatton Locks (supported by IWA Warwickshire Branch)

6th September Work Party - River Gipping (supported by IWA Ipswich Branch)

6th-7th September Work Party Weekend - Chelmer & Blackwater (IWA Chelmsford Branch & Essex WRG)

6th September Work Party - Chester (IWA Chester &

Merseyside Branch)

7th September Work Party - Northampton Arm (IWA Northampton)

10th September Work Party - River Gipping (supported by IWA Ipswich Branch)

10th September Work Party - Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal (IWA Birmingham, Black Country & Worcestershire Branch)

11th September Work Party - Caldon Canal (IWA North Staffordshire & South Cheshire Branch)

17th September Work Party - River Gipping (supported by IWA Ipswich Branch)

18th September Work Party - Lapworth (supported by IWA Warwickshire Branch)

20th September Work Party - Lapworth (supported by IWA Warwickshire Branch)

20th September Work Party - Trent & Mersey Canal (IWA North Staffordshire & South Cheshire Branch)

21st September Nottingham Canal Clean-up (IWA Nottinghamshire & Derbyshire Branch)

23rd September Work Party - Northampton (IWA Northampton Branch)

24th September Work Party - River Gipping (supported by IWA Ipswich Branch)

25th September Work Party - Banbury (IWA Oxfordshire Branch)

26th September Work Party - Congleton (IWA North Staffordshire & South Cheshire Branch)

Upcoming Towpath Walks

August17th August Waterside Walk - Enfield (IWA Towpath Walks Society)

28th August Waterside Walk - Wey & Arun Canal (Wey & Arun Canal Trust)

September2nd September Waterside Walk - Alvecote Pools Nature Reserve (IWA Lichfield Branch)

2nd September Waterside Walk - Basingstoke Canal (Railway & Canal Historical Society)

7th September Waterside Walk - King’s Cross to Camden (IWA Towpath Walks Society)

21st September Waterside Walk - Stratford (IWA Towpath Walks Society)

25th September Waterside Walk - Wey & Arun Canal (Wey & Arun Canal Trust)

30th September Waterside Walk - Basingstoke Canal (Railway & Canal Historical Society)

Page 11: IWA Bulletin Mid August 2014

11

IWA Bulletin - Mid-August 2014

Find out about volunteering - www.waterways.org.uk/volunteer

IWA Member Discounts and Special Offers

The following special offers are now available exclusively for IWA members:ABC Boat Hire - 15% discountAiredale Cruising - 10% Discount off skippered day cruisesBoatshed Grand Union - 10% discount on brokerageCalcutt Boats - 5% DiscountCanal Boat Magazine - 6 Issues for £6CanalCruising.co.uk - 10% discountChannel Glaze - 10% discount on double glazing for boatsCotswold Outdoor - 10% discountEuropcar - Special hire rates to IWA membersFrangipani SUP Ltd - 10% discountForge Studio - 10% discount

Grand Union Diesel Services - 5% discountIceGripper - 20% discountKing’s Lock Chandlery - 5% discountLee Sanitation Ltd. - 10% on orders over £100Marine Megastore Ltd. - 15% discountMidland Chandlers - 10% discount throughout August (normal discount is 5%)Paper Wizard - 15% discountRiver Canal Rescue - up to 15% discountRoadPro - 5% discountUltimateBerths.com - Free ListingWillowbridge Marina - 10% discount on chandlery purchases and services in the yard Worcester Marine Windows Ltd - 5% discountWyvern Shipping Co. Ltd - 10%

discount on published pricesZead - Free postage and accessories

Please note: All discounts and offers are entirely at the organisers’ discretion.

For IWA members who receive a printed copy of this bulletin in the post, please contact the membership team on 01494 783453 for the details of the offers.

Contact Us

IWA Head Office, Island House, Moor Road, Chesham, HP5 1WA01494 783 453www.waterways.org.uk/about/contact_usBulletin is edited by Stefanie Preston

Get Involved!Volunteers are involved in every aspect of IWA’s governance, campaigning and activities. Without them IWA would simply not be able to work towards the greater use, further restoration and better maintenance of Britain’s inland waterways.

Find out how you can get involved by visiting www.waterways.org.uk/volunteer