navvies 192

Navvies

waterway recovery group

Volunteers restoring waterwaysNo 192 April - May 2002

BCN Cleanup reportand photos...

Contributions......are always welcome, whether hand-written,typed, on 3½" disk (please include hard-copy)or by e-mail. Photos also welcome: slides orcolour or b/w prints. Please state whether youwant your prints back; I assume that you wantslides returned. Computer scanned photos alsoacceptable, either on disk or as e-mailattachments, preferably JPG format. Send themto the editor Martin Ludgate, 35, SilvesterRoad, London SE22 9PB, or e-mail [email protected]. Press date forNo 193: May 8th.

SubscriptionsA year's subscription (6 issues) is available for aminimum of £1.50 (please add a donation if pos-sible) to Sue Watts, 15 Eleanor Road, Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester M21 9FZ. Cheques to"Waterway Recovery Group" please.Visit our web site http://www.wrg.org.uk for all the latest news or WRG's activities

In this issue:Editorial whinging boaters! 3-4Chairman BW are the good guys now! 5WRGWear sartorial elegance for WRGies 6'Best described as basic' accommodation 7Cleanup report from the Walsall 8-11Camps 2002 canal camps preview 12-15Bankside another episode of the serial 16Logistics meets 'Blue Peter' 17Diary camps and working parties 18-20Letters to the editor 21-25Progress on the Wilts & Berks, Basingstoke,Wey & Arun and Cotswolds 26-28Coming soon Training and Cavalcade 29ForestryWRG FT talk about pruning 30-32WRG BC our own boat club 33Bits & Pieces with the June Jubilee Camp 34Noticeboard horseboaters wanted! 35Backfill bridge-lifters anonymous... 36

And next time......reports and photos from the Easter Camp, theTraining Weekend, Droitwich locks opening andCanalway Cavalcade plus some forthcomingwork on the Caldon Canal, a final preview ofthis summer's Canal Camps... and whateverelse you send in (please!)...

Cover photo: a shopping trolley freshly plucked from its natural environment, the Birmingham CanalNavigations. (Alan Lines) Below: The first of what we hope will be a whole series of canal reopeningsthis year: the Anderton Lift sees its first boats for nearly 20 years. (Margaret Fletcher)

Contents

page 2

EditorialAre boaters a bunch ofwhinging sods or what?

"Anderton lift? No way, you won't see me tak-ing my boat through it!"

Actually as we go to press you won't see anyoneusing it: there have been some engineering prob-lems resulting in it being temporarily taken out ofuse until it can be fixed; we hope they are minor'teething troubles' and it can return to regular useagain soon.

But anyway, that's not what I'm on about. Let megive you another example...

"You won't catch me using the HuddersfieldNarrow Canal..."

Any wiser? Perhaps if I quote a few more wordsit might help...

"...not if I have to pay £35 a trip and book threedays in advance for the tunnel."

Yes, it's those whinging boaters again, and thistime they're moaning about having to pay a fewquid extra to use the canals we've spent the lastquarter-century restoring for them. More milesof canal are reopening than ever before, whichmost boaters have never lifted a finger to helprestore, and all they can do is complain! Ungrate-ful sods or what?

Well, as you probably expected - given that (a) I'ma boater myself and (b) I don't want to be lynchedby the WRG Boat Club - I have to say that to acertain extent I think they might have a valid point.

Yes, I realise that theAnderton Lift is a uniquestructure, that it will cost serious money to main-tain it so that it doesn't fall into disrepair again,and that it has always been subject to a toll sothe present charges aren't setting any new prec-edents. And once it's working properly, I andmany other boaters will be happy to spend £30on a return trip.

And yes, I realise that there are some boaterswho seem to simply enjoy whinging so much thatthey will whinge about anything - I remember a fewyears ago when there were simultaneously com-plaints about (a) the traffic jams and water short-ages caused by excessive numbers of boats at-tending the National Waterways Festival and (b)the way the National Waterways Festival cost somuch to attend and had so little in it for the boatersthat hardly any of themwere attending it anymore...It wouldn't surprise me one bit if I checked the In-ternet canals newsgroupuk.rec.waterwaysonedayand found a load of boaters moaning about howmuch more diesel they were having to buy, nowthat there were so many newly-restored canalsthat they had to go boating on...

But if you consider some of the recent reopen-ings, there might appear - especially to some-one not involved in the restoration movement -to be some kind of pattern emerging. A patternthat involves more and more waterways requir-ing pre-booking and extra payments; a patternthat runs contrary to the very thing that attractsmany boaters to the system: the free-and-easygo-as-you-please nature of the waterways, whereyou can go boating without having any real fixedplans at all, and stop for the night wherever youwant, depending on the weather, your arrival ata tempting canalside pub, or whatever takes yourfancy. Not really an option when you're duethrough the tunnel at 9am sharp the next day!

As alreadymentioned, theAnderton Liftwill costmoney and require pre-booking, as does Stand-edge Tunnel on the Huddersfield Narrow Canal.And the reopenedMillenniumLink canals in Scot-land aren't included in the standard BW licence, soany trail-boaters heading for Scotland will have topay more. And you have to book ahead to use therestored Frankton Locks on the Mont, and TuelLane Tunnel on the Rochdale. And it's likely thatthe Ribble Link will involve pre-booking and/orpaying more money on top of your normal licencefees to use it. Ditto the Foxton Inclined Plane,Falkirk Wheel... [apologies if I've got my factswrong about any of these - I can assure you I'veheard boaters whinging about all of them!]

And what have all these got in common?That's right, they're all restored waterways beingreopened. Small wonder that the above whingestend to end up with something along the lines of"That's not 'open' as far as I'm concerned. Thecanal won't be open until one can just turn upand navigate through it just like any other canal."Followed by "...and there's no point in spendingall this time and money restoring derelict canalsif they're never going to be properly open..."

While you're welcome to agree with me that any-one who whinges along those lines really is an un-grateful sod, think about what will happen if canal res-toration loses the support of the boaters. It's badenough when we find ourselves at loggerheads withthe nature conservationists, the cyclists, the anglersetc without the boaters taking against us as well!

Lest you think that putting-off a number of whatmight be seen as mean-minded boaters fromusing our restored canals is not a problem, andthe canals will be there for the greater pleasureof the smaller number who appreciate them... re-member that in many cases the major fundingfor restoration by local authorities etc. has beenlargely justified on the basis of the economicbenefits they will bring to the region thanks tothe large number of boats that will be using them.

While there is some individual justification for each ofthe restrictionsmentionedabove (although I'mslightlydubious of one or two of these justifications!) it's theimpression they collectively create that matters.

And when you look at all the waterways that havebeen restored, you find that most of them have toa certain extent suffered from problems that havemeant that they haven't simply ended up as partsof the waterways system with the same free ac-cess as is enjoyed on most of the canals that re-mained open. Some have had access restricteddue towater supply problems (Kennet &Avon, Bas-ingstoke); some have required extra licences due tohavingdifferentnavigationauthorities (Stratford,Avon,Rochdale 'nine'); some have been restricted due tothe requirement for staffing and limited capacity oflocks / tunnels / lifts etc (Anderton, Standedge).

In many of these cases the situation has been re-solved later by a BW takeover, a backpumpingscheme improving water supply or whatever. Butcan anything be done to ensure that future resto-rations do not attract the same 'not properly re-stored' whinges? Or are we to read in 'Navvies'300 that boaters are staying away from the Wilts &Berks because of the long booking times for theSwindon inclined planes, or that the high tolls onall the sump-locks are putting boaters off the Mont,or that the Oxenhall tunnel-tug system is causing abottleneck on the H&G? And that boaters are say-ing "why bother restoring the Kington Leominsterand Stourport Canal?" and "The Thames Berksand Andover will be a white elephant..."

Well, in some cases there is little that can be doneother than to explain the reason for the restriction.A long tunnel that's too narrow for boats to pass inis always likely to be a bottleneck;many of uswouldsay that a booking system (and possibly an elec-tric tug if the tunnel isn't adequately ventilated) ispreferable to the only alternative of enlarging oropening-out an original tunnel. And shoe-horninga new section of canal into a limited space betweenroads, rivers, railways, buildings and so on willsometimesmean that some exotic engineering so-lution like a boat-lift makes sense (just as it madesense in the 19th Century when Anderton wasbuilt), even though it has maintenance and staffingimplications that would not apply to a flight of locks.

In other cases, 'something' is already being done.Over the last few years, canal restorations havebeen taking more and more note of the need foradequatewater supplies,maintenanceagreementsand other precautions that will tend to make them'just like any other canal' to use once they're open.

But alongside this welcome trend is another onethat might tend to have the opposite effect. Notemy slightly flippant remarks above about sump-locks [a lock that lowers boats under a low-levelroad crossing and then raises them up on the otherside] and inclined planes. Both of these devicesrequire manned operation, meaning limited hoursof use and possibly tolls to cover staffing costs.

As I've already said, unusual engineering is finewhen it's a good engineering solution to an unu-sual engineering problem - as it was at Ander-ton, and as it is at Falkirk. I hope that future res-torations and especially newly-built canals willcontinue to come up with bold new solutions tothe challenges they face.

But I get the distinct impression that there maybe a tendency towards such exotic solutionspurely for the sake of creating a tourist attrac-tion, giving publicity to your restoration scheme,catching the eye of the funding bodies and so on -when a flight of locks would be easier and cheaperto build and maintain, be more in-keeping with therest of the historic waterway under restoration, andbe available for use at any time and at no cost be-yond that of the normal boat licence. For instanceI gather that a sump-lock is proposed on theMont,and an inclined plane on the new Bedford-MiltonKeynes canal. Are they really necessary?

I realise that there will be occasions where suchsolutions will make sense, or where the fundingimplications are so major that they outweigh anyother considerations - for example not only wasFalkirk a tricky place to put a canal through by con-ventional means, but it may well be that the entireScottish Millennium Link funding package wouldhave failed had it not been for the Falkirk Wheelcatching the eye of the Millennium Fund. (ouch!)

But I think that the proposers of these solutionsshould think long and hard about whether theyare really justified. Otherwise we might just endup with some magnificently-restored but under-used canals equipped with a surfeit of unneces-sary engineering gimmicks, and a boating commu-nity that avoids restored canals because they don'tsee why they should reserve their place on theAn-dover Water Slope three days in advance, whenthey can potter up and down the Oxford or theMacclesfield at will - which is why they took upcanal boating in the first place.

Martin Ludgate

ChairmanChairman's CommentIt has been rather an eventful Spring for the worldof waterways hasn�t it?I write this Comment on the day before I set off torun the Easter Camp at Droitwich. I have just comeback from a swanky do in London where BritishWaterways assembled "the great and the good"and said they were, in partnership with others, go-ing to restore £500million pounds worth of canals.Now these partnerships (and probable successfulrestorations) were already known about but to seeall nine of them in a list headed "To Be Completed(Real Quick)" was really quite breathtaking andmust rank alongside such events as the reopeningceremony for the Cheshire Ring.Now by tradition I should of course launch into atirade about how it was all a load of rubbish and howthey aren�t going to do it right but, quite frankly, I don�tthink I can. Because this was a rather "grown up" BWwhoannounced this. It is still a dangerous time todropyour guard because there are still pockets of BWthat aren�t playing the game but, in general:BW are the good guys now....and perhaps more to the point...BW now believe we are the good guys.That is the shock, here is the aftershock....Not one of these BWsupported schemes havesaid thatWRGdoes not have a place as a part-ner. Indeed most of them have asked for meet-ings to discuss making our input even more ef-fective. They still need our help.There are also a lot of other restoration schemesthat we work on are nothing to do with BW anddon�t have such support. They still need our help.Ourworkmight not possess the "purity and simplicity"of thoseearlycampaigningdigs.Wemightnotbefight-ing the faceless civil servants. Wemay not be able tosay "what I did last weekend saved the Nitts andStuffs". But we can say "what I did this weekend actu-ally brought its re-opening a lot closer".As mentioned above I am about to go to Droit-wich to help complete the restoration of threelocks, mainly funded by the IWA, while a majorpartnership publicly states it will complete therestoration. Does it make me want to not bother?NO - for two very basic reasons:(1) I know this is a very necessary contribution

to the completion of the Droitwich Canals(2) I will have fun while I�m doing it.So please understand that all ofWRG's work thisyear is valid, worthwhile and very necessary.(Note that I haven�t guaranteed the "fun" part -that�s still down to you)

I really do dream of the day when a chairman ofWRG can say in Navvies - "that�s it chaps, jobdone, lets go home". Well not yet, dear navvy,but I can say that day should be much closer nowwe have so many people helping us.And if you disagree, or think I have got it wrongthen please use Navvies to air your views.After all that a few simple notices...Regarding Droitwich, the opening ceremony forthe Junction Locks has been fixed for 31st May. Allarewelcome, theopening ceremonywillbeperformedbyarelativeofNeilPitts theIWAmemberwhoselegacyprovided the major funding for the project.The preparations for the Training Weekend arewell in hand. I�m pleased to say that Stewart Sim,the BW operations director, has personally au-thorised the use of the BW Training Centre atHatton for the weekend May 11/12th. This meanswe get to learn about stonemasonry and the likeas well as the traditional plant, surveying, firstaid, etc. More information is available on p29.Congratulations to Dan Evans for winning theWebsite Of The Month from Waterways Worldmagazine. Dan has tried hard to make sure thewebsite is a good mix of useful information andgood recruitment stuff. He deserves this award -well done, our thanks to you Dan.You will also have had time to read our CanalCamps brochure and hopefully booked on a weekor two. You should also have noted that this bro-chure was produced with support from Land andWater. L andW are a firm of contractors that spe-cialise in dredging. They are well known and re-spected amongst the navigation authorities andare very helpful. If your restoration scheme hassections of channel that require large scale dredg-ing then you could do a lot worse than contactthem. (via WRG Head Office initially)FInally whilst on the subject of generous supportwe also need to thank Oxford University Stu-dents Union who generously donated in excessof £500 to help us purchase the specialist herit-age tools that we seem to need more and morethese days.

Mike PalmerPSThe Chairman's Comment being the slow pro-duction that it is I am now finishing this off havingreturned from Droitwich. It was a blistering hotcamp (in March!!) with a really great bunch ofpeople. My personal thanks to you all and I hopeto see you all again this summer.

WRGwearBe properly dressed for yourCanal Camp...

Get kitted out for the summer and look greaton the many Canal Camps you book on!

I�ve done some analysis on what people haveordered over the past 18 months and here is yourchance to order the more popular items. Just fillin the number of each item you want - add up thetotal and send the form to me. (A photocopy willbe fine if you can�t bear to cut up Navvies).

[The t-shirts DO NOT have the list of camps onthe back - you order those from head office -seecampsbooklet orWRGwebsite for details.]

Please allow 4 weeks for delivery but if it takeslonger then please please contact me asap. Allitems are printed/embroidered with the standardwaterway recovery group logo.

Helen Gardner

Printed t-shirts £7

S M L XL XXLRed large logoRed small logoBlack large logoBlack small logo

Printed vest tops £6.50

S M L XL XXLBlack large logoBlack small logoNavy large logoNavy small logo

Printed polo shirts £9.50

S M L XL XXLRedBlackNavyWhite

Printed sweat shirts £12

S M L XL XXLRedBlackNavyGrey

Embroidered polo shirts £10.50

S M L XL XXLRedBlackNavyWhite

Embroidered sweat shirts £13

S M L XL XXLRedBlackNavyGrey

Embroidered rugby shirts £23

S M L XL XXLRed

Please make cheques payable to "WRG CanalCamps". Do not send cash.

Send completed form to: Helen Gardner,WRGWear Orders, NB Sussex, The Boatyard,Rowdell Road, Northolt, UB5 6AG

Total enclosed: Name:

Address (to be delivered to):

Contact phone Number: Email Address:

Enquiries / suggestions to: Helen Gardner 020 88457820 or email [email protected]

Chairman"Youhad tobeupby8.30or theWI sold your sleeping bag..."

"BestDescribed

As

BASIC"

"BestDescribed

As

BASIC"

Regular readers of the Canal Camps bookletwill recall that for many years the section on'Accommodation' included the followingwords:

"The standard of accommodation is best de-scribed as basic"

So here are somemore reminiscences - thist timeby Mike Palmer - from the good old days when'quality accommodation' meant the toilet had adoor on it, and 'luxury accommodation' meant itwalls and a ceiling too...

They don�t make 'em like they used to...

Anybody remember the accommodation at Li-chfield where a volunteer (a rather large German)tripped and literally fell through the wall?

I certainly don�t remember Sue and Roger'sboat at Little Venice...

...where a rather exhausted volunteer wasdragged by his feet all the way through the boatto the front bunks: "he won�t go round the cor-ner", "yes he will, pull harder" - yank - "oh yeshe did".

Also on the same boat...

...there was the famous incident regarding Suefeeding us curried sprouts safe in the knowl-edge that we were all sleeping in another hall -unfortunately Eddie Jones missed the taxi andso Sue had enjoy a night of Eddie's gentle per-fume.

Funny how some major world events still getintertwined with digging stories...

I can remember a rather unnerving weekend atLyneham during the Gulf War in 1991. We spentall night lying awake listening to Hercules aircrafttaking off from RAF Lyneham at 15 minute inter-vals and flying over the village hall.

A rather more relaxing time...

...was had by those of us who helped out atthe Cotswold Canal Trusts Beer Festival. Theaccommodation was (just) a shower block!Sleeping on the changing room floor was a lit-tle uncomfortable but not quite as strange aswe felt eating in the actual showers, especiallyas people kept on turning on the showers anddeluging everyone - what started as stew fin-ished as soup! [As I recall, it also made rathereasier washing-up than usual - simply leaveall the dirty dishes on the tables and turn theshowers on... ...Ed]

page 7

And on the BCN Cleanup...

We will have just completed a BCN Clean Up bythe time you read this. The Clean Up has givenus a range of accommodations but none sostrange as the office block in Walsall that had ametal shutter over the door that had to be keptdown even with us in! There was not a singlepane of glass that wasn�t lying on the floor anddrinking water had to be brought in in bottles.

Limited facilities also on a KESCRG dig at theWendover...

Anyone who has been digging will agree that aschool is a great accommodation - except whenit is an infants' school. The seats were so smallthat your knees were above your shoulders. Thisalso extended to the toilets - not a problem youwould think except for the fact that the doors wereonly 3ft high so anyone walking in could see yourpredicament over the top of the cubicle door.

Thank you Mike for the above stories. I thinkyou've already heard most of mine. (Although Idon't think I mentioned the one where the flatroof was covered in charred remains of seat-cush-ions as a result of attempts to burn it down by thelocal oiks - or maybe by the hall's owners whowere hoping to make an insurance claim and buya decent replacement... not to mention the occa-sion when we got a noisy reminder that it isn'tjust BW and the government that occasionallyget accused of moving the goalposts - one morn-ing we woke up to find the hall caretaker busymoving them through where we were trying tosleep, so that the football match could kick-off...)

But I'm sure the rest of you have lots moresimilar tales of dodgy places that we've triedto sleep in. Please send them to the editor.

Cleanup"Washing machines are anabsolute swine to drag out..."

BCN Clean Up Weekend 2002 � Walsall Canal

I�m still claiming that I only agreed to run the cleanup weekend �cos MKP said it more or less ran itself,Sue said BITM were all busy the following weekend,and I thought it would get me a trip to Poland. Well,as the song says, 'two out of three ain�t bad'.

Tempting as it is to write this in the style of anOscars acceptance speech � hey, it�s topical atthe time of writing � I shall try to restrain myselfto just a few thank you�s...

Firstly, (sip from what looks like water glass) toBrenda, Vaughan and the BCN crew and BWchaps for the provision of organisation, brews, andalmost innumerable grappling hooks. ToDr. Steve,ably assisted by Craig, for the cooking, particularlythe storming curry, and of course for the revengeblow struck for camp cooks everywhere, and finallyto everyone who turned up to help de-gunk theWalsall Canal. (Expansive gesture, glittery dress)

I won�t say that we pulled vast quantities of theusual garbage out of the cut, because I�m notsure its ever really usual in the BCN! This year'sspeciality was wheelchairs, leading to specula-tion as to whether the water had healing proper-ties and the occupants had walked out, orwhether it was so corrosive that there was notrace left of the bodies... (further, slightly unsteadysip at glass) Then there were the bikes, the mo-torbikes (some worth nicking for presumably asecond time) and themoremodern phenomenon,(yes pedants, I know) of those flashy metalkiddies' scooters.

The Birmingham Canal Navigations:BCN Cleanup sites and restoration projects

Stratford Canal to Stratford on Avon

Grand Union Canalto London

Staffs & Worcs Canalto Stourport

Shropshire Union Canalto Ellesmere Port

Staffs & Worcs Canalto Great Heywood

Coventry Canalto Fradley

CoventryCanal toCoventry

Birmingham &Fazeley Canal

LichfieldCanalunderresstoration

Hatherton Canalunder restoration

Lapal Canalunder restoration

Tame ValleyCanal

Dudley No 2Canal

DudleyNo 1Canal

StourbridgeCanal

Rushall Canal

Daw End BranchWyrley &EssingtonCanal

BCNMainLine

WalsallCanal

Old MainLine

NewMainLine

Worcs & Birmingham Canal to Worcester

1997 Cleanup

1998 Cleanup

1999 Cleanup

2000 Cleanup

2002 Cleanup

2003 Cleanup?

Some of this stuff could probably be re-used, but as Matt will tellyou, scooters work better with handles on, and if you choose to trythem without, it's probably best to keep your hard hat on, isn�t itdear?! (Sip of neat vodka disguised as water, stifled sob)

Note for future reference: I am assured that washing machinesare an absolute swine to drag out of the canal. I don�t know aboutswine themselves, I don�t think anyone found any of them. (Furtherexpansive gesture) We considered taking it to Jude and Mike�s sothey could trade it in for their new one (er, the washing machine, Idon�t think even Jude�s love of pigs stretches to non-existent deadones fished out of the canal) but who would believe that anyone hadthatmuchmud in their washingmachine? Apart fromeveryonewho�sever been on a canal camp, obviously. (Tearful mention at this pointof my mother, and my unfortunate discovery while I lived at homethat its possible to more or less �fire� Over mud in a boil wash...)

After a hectic Saturday in a selection of local hostelries, some ofwhom seemed to be celebrating St. Paddy�s Day early, a quieternight was held in the accommodation, broken only by the occa-sional dragging of H outside to play with his new toy (probably asclose to a stretched limo as we�re likely to get on a canal camp �even more expansive gesture, slipping of glittery dress, masspaparazzi photography...)

Sunday saw more garbage being de-canalled, or even more ca-nal being de-garbaged, howeveryou want to look at it. Then eve-ryone trundled off home to try torecreate that washing machinelook in their own houses.

Thanks again to those who or-ganised where I failed to,amongst other things I plead aknackered back and a WRGmeeting. Ta to Bungle for the ra-dios (sniff, mumble, sip) to MKP,

Rog, Martin and Jonathan for provision of vans, kit and cooker, tothose involved in random ferrying of things and stuff, (stifled sob,slurp) and of course, we couldn�t have done it without the littlepeople well, actually, we did - Kaye and Ralph weren�t there. (sob,gulp, whimper, discreet wiping of eyes, mention of primary schoolteacher, various deities and anyone else I�ve forgotten).

And a final warning for all those of you who�ve been taken in byCraig�s angelic grin and cookie making, ask Dr. Steve for a com-ment on his egg-boiling skills...

See you all soon, and a happy and snag free boating on theWalsallCanal to all, even if you don�t get as far as Poland (full blown de-scent into over the top hysterical sobbing, drunken tripping overmicrophone, followed by stumbling down steps onto onlookers andthree months in rehab)

Cheers all,

Lou �they servemy beer in the Pie Factory�Kellett(possibly only likely to be nominated for 'laziest slacker' award)

See overleaf for more photos of the Cleanup..."Have grappling hook, will grap-ple" (Alan Lines)

Another load of junk heads forthe rubbish skips, courtesy of theBW crane and the BCNSworkboat 'Phoenix'. (Alan Lines)

CleanupThe Walsall Canal yields upits treasures...

New for this year: shiny metal kiddy scooters.Easier to ride if they have handlebars, as Mattfound out 5 seconds later... (Martin Ludgate)

...together with some more traditional BCNCleanup fare, such as rusty old oil drums, with orwithout oil... (Martin Ludgate)

...and tyres of all kinds, from push-chair size up to tractor size... (Alan Lines)

..also concrete fenceposts, not to mention the ubiquitous supermarket trolley... (Alan Lines)

...plus the odd sofa or two... (Martin Ludgate)

...and a mortorbike that really did take seven people to pull it out of the cut! (Alan Lines)

Camps 2002A preview of all this year'sCanal Camps

Canal Camps 2002

By the time you read this, the start of the mainsummer Canal Camps season will be only abouteight weeks away, and we hope the bookingforms will be coming in thick and fast forwhat looks set to be an excellent pro-gramme of camps...

As I said, we hope they will - becausethe sooner you get your booking formsoff, the more we can do to prepare forthe Camps, match the available skills tothe available work, ensure that the ca-nal societies' commitment to hosting aCamp is matched by our commitmentto supporting it, and generally makesure that the canal restorationprogresses, you get to do some usefulwork, everyone has a good time and wemake it to the bar of the 'Railway Inn' inDroitwich in time for Last Orders...

But before you can send your form in,you need to decide which camps youwant to go on. So to help you decide(assuming you've decided youwant to go on one at all... go on,you do really, don't you?) here'sthe very latest details we haveas 'Navvies' goes to press of thework and the leaders for all of thisyear's camps.

Well, nearly all of them. Becausethere isn't much point in tellingyou what's going to happen onCamp 0201 at Droitwich as it'salready happened! A full reportwill appear in the next issue, butyou will see from the photos onthis page that we spent a thor-oughly productive week-and-a-bit over Easter putting very nearlythe finishing touches ontoHanbury Locks ready for theopening at the end of May.Thank you to leaders Mike andBex for a superb week of hardwork, good fun and ducks.

Easter Camp at Hanbury Locks, Droitwich:Top: installing cop-ing stones on the upper wing walls of lock 3. (Alan Lines)Above: your editor completes the nearside lower wing wall oflock 2. (Becky Parr) Below left: the last major job to be tack-led was the dismantling and rebuilding of ivy-damaged brick-work on the lock 3 offside lower wing wall, seen here withmostof the demolition done... (Martin Ludgate) Below right: ...andlater in the week with rebuilding in progress. (Martin Ludgate)

The main summer programme kicks off withCamps 0202 and 0203 running from 22nd Juneto 6th July on the Grand Western Canal: twoweeks to clear out 200 metres of 6-metre deepJays Cutting, and to build up, surface and edgea new towpath so that the restored length of ca-nal can be opened up to the public.

This will require excavators and a fleet of about8 dumpers, so plenty of opportunities for machineoperators and would-be operators, but there'splenty of manual work to do too.

Your leaders for the first week are Adrian Fryand IanWingfield, thenGavMoor andSally Nuttwill take over for the second week.

And incidentally, despite the Camps brochurestating that these camps will take place in Devon,they are actually just over the border in Somer-set. Not that it really matters - the scenery is justas good, and so is the local cider!

Overlapping with the second Grand Westerncamp is Camp 0204 at Saul Junction, where theCotswold Canalsmeet the rest of the waterwayssystem. Last year some of our volunteers spenta couple of days working on the Saul JunctionBoat Gathering; this year we've decided to spenta whole week's camp supporting the festival,which has grown into one of the largest regionalwaterways events in the country. The workwill include all the usual festival setup typejobs - marking-out the site, fencing, plumb-ing, signs, putting up the bar and the enter-tainments stage - plus laying 150 metres oftowpath on a nearby length of canal. Thenthere's looking after the car-park, the entrancegates and all the other jobs involved in help-ing to run the festival, followed by a couple ofdays taking it all down again.

As the Boat Gathering is held over a week-end, this Camp starts and ends midweek, run-ning from Wednesday 3rd to Wednesday10th July; the accommodation is in the nearbyWhitminster Village Hall and your leader isNick Coolican-Smith, ably assisted by MarkRichardson.

Running from 6th to 13th July, Camp 0205 isback at Droitwich again but this time on theDroitwichBargeCanal, hoping to finish rebuild-ing the enormous 18th century overspill weirthat we worked on a couple of years ago beforewe concentrated our efforts on Hanbury Locks.LeaderAndi Kewleywill be assisted by JudithGordon, and we hope that the King EdwardSports Pavilion will have finished being re-fittedand be ready to provide the usual excellentstandard of accommodation.

Meanwhile the same week on the Wilts andBerks, Rachael Banyard and Phill Cardy willbe leading Camp 0206 at the Seven Locks flight,where the complete rebuilding of Lock 3 shouldbe around the halfway stage, with backfilling tobe completed on the towpath side and bricklay-ing beginning on the other side.

Then we come to a slight change of plan: Camp0207 the following week 13th to 20th July willalso be on the Wilts & Berks, but on a differentsite. This camp, led and run by the NWPGgroup, was to have taken place at Valley Lockon the Cotswold Canals, but as explained inthe Dig Deep update on pages 26-27 work hashad to be suspended at Valley Lock for engi-neering reasons, so NWPG have chosen tomove their camp to Summit Lock, near WoottonBassett. Work on rebuilding the lock has beenmaking rapid progress recently, and it looks likethe work for the camp will involve some seri-ous construction work building a new lock-tailbridge.

And yet another Wilts & Berks site will be thevenue for Camp 0208 the same week. This is anew project to restore a stream culvert thatpasses under the canal on the outskirts ofMelksham. One end of the culvert needs repair-ing; the other end needs completely rebuilding.Richard Hignett will be leading this camp.

Venue for Camp 0206: Seven Locks on the Wilts &Berks Canal (Martin Ludgate)

Camp 0209 on 20th-27th Julywas also intendedto be at Valley Lock, where Ian Williamson andMartin Ludgate were hoping for a repeat of theirexcellent camp there last year. Well, this one'shad to be moved too, but those who like the ex-cellent Cotswold scenery (not to mention the ex-cellent Cotswold pubs!) will be glad to hear thatanother worksite on the same canal has beenfound, slightly further down the Golden Valley. Theworkwill include dismantling and rebuilding a brick-and-stone lock overflow structure, repairing a foot-bridge and probably helping the WRG ForestryTeam with some vegetation clearance work.

Meanwhile the same week on the BasingstokeCanal, a more machinery-based Camp 0210 willbe providing opportunities for dumper, digger androller drivers - but also plenty of manual work too- as the St Johns Locks backpumping projectprogresses towards its aim of giving the restoredcanal a reliable year-round water supply.

On 27th July to 3rd August we move to a newsite on a canal that hasn't seen much WRG in-volvement for some years, but which looks likeone that we're going to be doing a lot of work onin the not-too-distant future. The flight of 14 locksat Rogerstone on the Crumlin branch of theMon-mouthshire & Brecon Canal in South Wales area really stunning piece of waterway engineering,raising the canal over 160 feet up the valley side inless than half a mile. Camp 0211 will be concen-trating on the top lock, which is currently full ofrubble: removing it will be anexcavator-and-dump-ers job, but the clearance of the bywash weir andoverflow will be done by hand. Spencer Collinswill be the leader, assisted by Rob Daffern.

And the same week KESCRG will be runningCamp 0212: the second week of work on theBasingstoke Canal, extending the water supplybackpump pipeline all the way down the St Johnsflight of five locks. More work for both machineryoperators and manual workers.

The Bushbaby-and-Mole leadership team (oth-erwise known as Helen Gardner and PaulCattermole) are back in action the followingweek 3rd to 10th August with Camp 0213 onthe Ipswich and Stowmarket Navigation,where work at Creeting Lock is progressing.This year the work will be centred on demol-ishing and rebuilding the brick parapets andone spandrel wall of the tail bridge, and possi-bly also some rebuilding work on the paddleculverts.

Alternatively you might like to spend the sameweek in the Welsh borders where Camp 0214led by Liz Williamson and Ralph Bateman willbe continuing the work of rebuilding the largestormwater overflow and tail-race channel on theMontgomery Canal at Maesbury.

And down in the deep south, theWey and ArunCanal Trust team will be running Camp 0215 on(surprise surprise!) the Wey & Arun Canal onthe Surrey / Sussex borders, where the work willcentre around getting the strangely-named 'Bon-fire Hanger' section of canal back in-water, toprovide a water supply for the restored LoxwoodLink section and to provide for eventual exten-sion north of the navigable length of the canal.The work will include restoring original brick spill-weirs in brick and concrete.

Camp 0209 on the Cotswold Canals: we have toturn this rather derelict bywash...

...into something like this - the one we worked onlast year atValley Lock. Photos byMartin Ludgate.

Next it's the turn of the Sleaford Canal to re-ceive our attention, as Camp 0216 on August10th to 17th continues with the work begun lastyear at Haverholme Lock. This year the jobs willinclude laying concrete bases for the rest of by-wash channel and bywash weir base, carryingon with bricklaying on the bywash and possiblyinstalling stop-plank grooves at the tail of the lockchamber ready for work to begin on rebuildingthe lock itself. Izzy Gascoigne will be leadingthe camp, with Steve Davis assisting.

Meanwhile back on the Montgomery Canal, ina sudden flashback to the 1990s Camp 0217 willbe led by Jude Moore and Rachel French, withRachel's mum doing the catering. This is thecamp that will hopefully complete the Maesburystormwater overflow and tail-race channel: we'dbetter get it finished soon, as we've just heardthat there's a strong possibility that this sectionof the canal (including 'our' locks at Aston) will be opening to boats next spring.

The main summer Camps programme usually culminates in the Site Services Camp for the IWA'sNational Waterways Festival, and this year is no different. Two of our regular Festival camp leaders -Mick Beattie and Ali Bottomley - will be teaming-up to provide the leadership for Camp 0218 at Hud-dersfield, where there will no doubt be the usual festival fun: lots of marquees to erect, campsites tomark-out, fencing to put up and take down and put up again, traders, boaters and Joe Public to lookafter, and all the hundreds of other jobs that are involved in supporting the biggest inland waterwaysevent of its kind in the world. This camp runs for 10 days, fromMonday 19th to Thursday 29th August.

That's the end of the main summer season, but after only a week's break Camp 0219 from Septem-ber 7th to 14th on the Grantham Canal will be working on a new work-site, the flight of three locksat Cropwell Bishop. An initial investigation has revealed that one of the locks is in fair condition; theother two rather more the worse for wear. The camp - led by Rick Barnes - will be carrying on withthe investigation, chamber clearance and scrub-bashing that will form the early stages of whatshould be a major lock-rebuilding job over the next few years.

This year's autumn camp is on the Lichfield Canal and is led by Dave 'Moose' Hearndon andLeonie Greenhalgh. It is likely to involve tow-path work on the Tamworth road site, machineryandmanualwork, bricklaying and lots of cakes fromJan Horton! Note that this camp finishes a dayearly - it runs from Saturday October 26th to Fri-day November 1st - so as to give everyone timeto get to the reunion 'Bonfire Bash' weekend onthe Mon & Brec on November 2nd-3rd - aboutwhich there will be more in the next 'Navvies'.

Finally we round-off 2002 with a return to the Bas-ingstoke for the New Year Camp 0221 from De-cember 26th to January 1st, carrying on the im-portant job of trimming-back overhanging canal-side vegetation - and the equally important jobof burning it on big bonfires to keep us warm!2003 will no doubt be seen-in in fine style, withDave 'Daddy Cool' Worthington at the helm.

OK that's all from us about this year's camps -now it's over to you: let's have your booking forms!

Martin Ludgate

Initial clearance in February at Cropwell Bishop locks,the venue for this year's Grantham camp. (GNA)

Haverholme Lock on the Sleaford Canal awaitsthe attention of Camp 0216. (Martin Ludgate)

BanksideBankside BanksideMoorings

written byBruce Tunnelwritten byBruce Tunnel

Matthew 'BeerMatt'Young, landlord of the 'FounderingArms' at Chipping Sodbury gazed out of the front doorof his pub at the lively scene on the busy Kennet andBasingstoke Canal, grinned and made a mental note toincrease all his prices...All manner of boats were jockeying for the best posi-tion on the prime moorings outside his pub, as theirowners tried to out-bid each other with the cans of beerand sums of money that they were offering to two chapswearing 'Water Space' badges. Meanwhile at the nearbySoddingDeepLock, boaterswerebeating eachotherwithlock-windlasses as they argued about whose turn it wasto use the lock... and an enterprisingWRGie was sellingringside tickets and taking bets on who would win...The other side of the lock, a crowd of 35WRG volunteerswere trying to find enough space to stow all their gear on ahalf-derelict6-berthnarrowboatlabelled 'Accommodation'.In a field nearby, several groups of volunteers weretrying their hardest to turn what appeared to be a pileof scrap metal and some assorted scraps of cloth thatlooked like the left-behind clothing from the last au-tumn's Bonfire Bash into a trade marquee... and rap-idly coming to the conclusion that what they had reallywas a pile of scrap timber and left-over clothing, not amarquee at all. While canal societies complained thatthe "twelve by eight" pitches allocated for their dis-play-stands appeared to have been quoted in yards, al-located in feet and charged in metres...In a small portacabin in the distance, Mike Ruddlepeeled the backing off a sheet of high-visibility sign-making material and admired his handiwork...

He cursed silently, gave the signs to the operator of thesteam-boat 'Premier' to feed into his boat's firebox, anddisappeared back inside his cabin to start again.Meanwhile in the pub car-park, a boiler-suited OzCollingwood, Canal Camp leader, and his side-kick'Gordon-I-broke-my-nose-three-times' Drake werecrawling around inside amobile generator, pulling andpushing plugs, flicking swiches, replacing fuses andswearing volubly as the PAsystem crackled on and offand the gaudy strings of lights on the display standsflickered on and off like some kind of demented disco.

Andon the towpath, aTVcrewwere trying to interviewavery harrassed-looking Henry Banks, Chairman of theThames Berks and Andover Canal Society as he triedsimultaneously toyell at threeof his committeemembers,talk into two 2-way radios and answer hismobile phone.Yes, 'Sodding about on the Canal' - the annual waterwaysfestival held every spring -was about tobegin...Come the following afternoon, with the festival in fullswing, Henrywaswonderingwhat on earth he had beenfeeling so harrassed about. As usual, despite all thearguments, political wrangling, last-minute cockups,problems of communication and the 101 other thingsthat seemed to dog the festival every year, once it wasopen to the public almost everythingwent swimmingly.And even when it didn't go to plan, the public neverreally noticed - they just assumed itwasallpartof theshow.Like the couplewhohad just congratulated himon the re-enactmentof the famous fight in1893between rivalgangsof navvies who built the canal. (what they had actuallywitnessed was in fact a struggle between the WRG andSurrey &West BerksWaterway Restoration Group vol-unteers to be first into the beer tent when it opened).Or the chap who had praised the imaginative decision torun two pageants of decorated boats, one in each direction,andwith twodifferent themes to thedecoration -whichwassimply a near-inevitable result of having twodifferent com-mitteesbothofwhomthought theywere running theevent.EvenGordonDrake'slegendaryorganisationalability-namelythe facility to get anything that anyone was rash enough toentrust him with spectacularly wrong - hadn't spoiled theevent. After all, it wasn't every year they had aGnu displayfromthelocalzoo-everyoneagreedthatitwassomuchmoreoriginal than the Canoe display they had originally wanted.Whilethebunchofspaced-outhippiescompletewithguitars,wildclothesandflowers in theirhair certainlycontributed towhat was always a colourful event - even if it hadn't beenexactly the kind of 'trip-boat' that Henry had envisaged.And speaking of Gordon... Henry noticed him standingby the canalside,watching as a boat glided smoothly past,with an entire orchestra on board, giving a delightful andthoroughly appropriate rendition ofHandel's 'WaterMu-sic'. Henry didn't even rememberclassicalmusicfeaturingin the programmeat all - but he had to admit that it was abrilliant idea, and after all, he shouldn't be too surprisedat another last-minute change that hehadn't knownabout.He was slightly more surprised when a second boat-load of classical musicians passed a couple of minuteslater - especially as they were also playing Handel'sWaterMusic.When the third and fourth ones followedin quick succession, he began to suspect that even theusual level of cockups didn't quite allow for this.Finally, as the sixth and last performance of theWaterMusic died away, the Mayor of Sodbury strode up tothe microphone on the rostrum."I have great pleasure in announcing the winners of thisyear'sBoat-HandellingCompetition..."

To be continued...

Logistics"...computers are thework of theDevil and should be throttled..."

Ships

After having pre-empted my own report for thisissue of Navvies in a 'Blue Peter' style, it wouldhave been easy for me to do a "Here�s one I pre-pared earlier..." gag, but the truth of the matter isthat it was a cop-out and more importantly a bla-tant lie as 'prepared' is something this is definitelynot! [Can you tell?!]

It seems but a few weeks since I wrote the lastarticle... whatever happened to bi-monthly?

Ah, I understand! In a bid to get enough copy foreach issue of the magazine, The Editor has beenencouraging/coaxing/downright-forcing (OK, per-haps that�s a little harsh!) us to write by monthlyinstalments! The spelling was wrong! That mustbe it!! It�s the only explanation. So here is thismonth's:

In today�s programmewewill be looking at Easter,the culmination of our successful fridge freezerappeal, and the not-very-long-awaited �what youcan make with a shower curtain, piece of stringand some bottle tops�. But first we are going totake a look at the technological world:

In this day and age we take technology forgranted a lot of the time. That is, until it breaksdown and we are left with mountains of paper-work and no way to print off urgently needed files.This is because computers are indeed the workof the Devil and should be throttled at birth! Im-agine the simplest of tasks, e.g. printing off kitlists, is turned into a major hurdle because yourcomputer decides to blow raspberries and sticktwo fingers up at you. So why not return to thehumble pen and paper duo? A good questionand one that looks evermore appealing. It�s defi-nitely something to think about.

Well, many of you did actually rush to your com-puters to e-mail me about our fridge freezer ap-peal. And what a huge success it was. The re-sponse was overwhelming and we�d like to say abig "thank you" for your generosity. The appeal isnow over (Aargh! Not that place again!) and weare awash with fridge freezers. So many thanksto all contributors concerned.

Now it�s time tomake something.Youwill need:a shower curtain, a length of string, some bottletops, a pair of scissors and some double-sidedsticky tape. To find out what you can make you�llhave to visit a canal camp (and for those ofyou who support us from home if you�re thatintrigued write to me � postcard or e-mail - andI�ll let you know... I might even send you instruc-tions!)! Needless to say, these are new for thisyear!

And, last but not least, Easter is but a very heavyboulders-throw away. To celebrate we are goingto have no hot-cross Jens or Easter blunders (arewe now?!). Perhaps just a piece of chocolatecake.

Enjoy the �holiday�. See you in the next show.Goodbye. [Big TV smile and cheesy wave.]

And now for the out-takes (of the unfunny kind!):

Here is an important reminder that if you wantto use our vans for a digging weekend or a campyou need to talk to me but more importantly wedo need some notice and a week or less is notenough! A minimum requirement of a fortnight'snotice is the only way we can do it. Under a fort-night's notice and no van or kit - simple as that!And if you�re planning a weekend or camp withless than a fortnight to go, may Jehovah help you!

Logistics would like to point out something themore astute of you will have noticed. It appearswe do offer a bread and swimmy-things divid-ing service as regards our vans because onthe van schedule in Navvies 191, page 15, RFBand GCW are on both Saul Junction and theWilts and Berks camps. True, both vans areavailable at the start of Saul but then they con-tinue on to the Wilts and Berks at the week-end. I�m afraid that is an editing faux pas andnot a Logistics one as my list clearly states thechangeover. I would also like to disclaim the"note" at the bottom of page 15 � not mine ei-ther! [Sorry! ...Ed]

Thanks very much to Viv Thorpe for sending mesome of his dirty photos. I�m waiting for the hugebacklog of other peoples that are obviouslystuck in the post!

Suggestions for "Whose 'Navvies' is it anyway?"styles are still welcome. I�d best try and find somecontent for next month�s instalment...

Just [email protected]

Mobile logistics � 'one we made earlier' wouldbe a luxury!

Canal Camps cost £35 per week unless otherwiseBookings for WRGCanal Camps (those identifiedcamp number e.g. 'Camp 0202') should go toWRGCamps, PO Box 114, RickmansworthWD3 1ZY.Tel: 01923 711114. Email: [email protected]

page 18

DiaryApr 20/21 wrgBITM Wey & Arun Canal: Leader: Graham Hotham.Apr 20/21 LHCRT Lichfield Canal: Working party timed to coincide with LHCRT "Walk the line of t

WRG volunteers requested for site-work including bricklaying at Tamworth Roanight entertainment at Martin Heath Hall.

Apr 21 Sun wrgNW Lichfield Canal Walk: Assist with organising Walk (Sunday only)Apr 27/28 LondonWRG Hereford & Gloucester Canal: Installation of water supply at Over BasinApr 27 Sat wrgNW �Paper Chase� waste paper collectionMay 3/4/5/6 KESCRG Little Venice: Site Services for IWA Canalway Cavalcade rallyMay 4/5/6 NWPG Wey & Arun CanalMay 4/5/6 wrgNW Wilts & Berks Canal: Bridge foundationsMay 4/5/6 wrgBITM Little Venice Canalway Cavalcade: BITM Sales Stall only. Leader: Graham HoMay 4/5/6 SUCS Montgomery CanalMay 8 Wed Navvies Press date for issue 193May 11/12 wrgTrain WRG Training Weekend: Hatton, in Warwickshire. Cost £10May 11/12 Essex WRG To be arrangedMay 18/19 LondonWRG Droitwich Canal: probably the last chance to work at Hanbury Locks before theMay 18/19 KESCRG To be arrangedMay 18/19 wrgBITM Rickmansworth Canal Festival: Site Services, and BITM Sales stall. Leader: MMay 19 Sun WRG Committee & Board MeetingsMay 31 Fri DCT Official opening of Hanbury Locks on the Droitwic hCanalJun 1/2/3/4 Essex WRG To be arrangedJun 1/2/3 wrgBITM Wendover Arm Festival: Site Services, and BITM Sales Stall. Leader: Mike Pa

Open to public on Sun/Mon only.Jun 1 Sat wrgNW �Paper Chase� waste paper collectionJun 2-9 W&BCCo Wilts & Berks Canal: �June Jubilee� Camp. Brickwork at Lock 3 of Seven Locks

Camp organised by Wilts & Berks Canal Co, but please sned bookings via HeaJun 8/9 KESCRG To be arranged (Possibly Wey & Arun or Lichfield)Jun 8/9 LondonWRG Wey & Arun CanalJun 8/9 wrgNW IWA Chester Branch Rally: Sales Stand at Clifton, River Weaver.Jun 14/16 wrgNW Middlewich Folk & Boat Festival: Sales Stand.Jun 15/16 wrgBITM Cotswold Canals: Leader: Mark Gribble.Jun 15/16 NWPG Lichfield CanalJun 15/16 SUCS Montgomery Canal: Including Dinghy Dawdle, and Re-opening of BrynderwenJun 22-29 Camp 0202 Grand Western Canal CampJun 22/23 WRG/IWA 24-hour BCN Marathon Challenge Cruise: cruise the Birmingham Canal Navig

scoring points for every mile and every lock, and extra points for the more obscJun 29-Jul 6 Camp 0203 Grand Western Canal CampJul 3-10 Camp 0204 Stroudwater: Saul Junction boat gatheringJul 6/7 KESCRG Wilts & Berks Canal: Dig Deep project at Summit Lock. Joint dig with London W

e stated.by a

GCanal

uk

Please send updates to Diary compiler:DaveWedd, 7 RingwoodRd, Blackwater, Camberley, Surrey GU17 0EY.

Tel 01252 874437. e-mail: [email protected].

page 19

DaveWedd 01252-874437 [email protected] canal" guided walk.John & Jan Horton 01543-262466 [email protected] site and for assistance with marshalling the walk on Sunday. Accommodation and 'Race Night' Saturday

David McCarthy 0161-740-2179 [email protected] Lewis 020-8367-6227 [email protected] McCarthy 0161-740-2179Answerphone 01622-858329 [email protected] Hawkes 0118-941-0586 [email protected] McCarthy 0161-740-2179 [email protected]

tham Graham Hotham 01252-656087 [email protected] Munro 0121-561-5747 [email protected] Ludgate 020-8693-3266 [email protected] Bottomley 0191-261-5913 [email protected] Gale 01277-654683 [email protected]

e opening! Tim Lewis 020-8367-6227 [email protected] 01622-858329 [email protected]

ike Paice DaveWedd 01252-874437 [email protected] Palmer 01564 785293 [email protected]

John Gale 01277-654683 [email protected]. DaveWedd 01252-874437 [email protected]

David McCarthy 0161-740-2179s flight. Rachael Banyard 01249-892289ad Office quoting Camp number: "WBCC". Cost: £45.

Answerphone 01622-858329 [email protected] Lewis 020-8367-6227 [email protected] McCarthy 0161-740-2179 [email protected] McCarthy 0161-740-2179 [email protected] 01252-874437 [email protected] Hawkes 0118-941-0586 [email protected]

Lock on Sunday. Colin Venus 01974-272628 [email protected]

gations, Chris & Helen Davey 01730 814670 [email protected] bits. Boaters wanted, also scrutineers to check up on the boaters.

WRG. Answerphone 01622-858329 [email protected]

3rd Sunday of month BCNS Jeff Barley 01543-3732842ndSunday& followingWed. BCS Cosgrove Athina Beckett 01908-661217Anytime inc. weekdays BCT Aqueduct section Gerald Fry 01288-353273Every Sunday ChCT Various sites Mick Hodgetts 01246-620695Mon & Wed mornings CCT Cotswolds Dudley Greenslade 01453 825515Every weekend (Sat OR Sun)CCT Cotswolds Neil Ritchie 01452-8540571st Sunday of month CCT Cotswolds: summit MarkWelton 01453-872405Wednesday evenings CCT Cotswolds: East end Keith Harding 01451-8601814th Mon of month, 6pm CMT London Canal Mus. Martin Sach 020-7625-7376Every Saturday DCT Droitwich Canal Jon Axe 0121-608 0296Second Sun of month FIPT Foxton Inclined Plane Mike Beech 0116-279-26571st & 3rd Sundays GCRS Grantham Canal Colin Bryan 0115-989-22482nd Sat of month GWCT Nynehead Lift Denis Dodd 01823-661653Tuesdays H&GCT Oxenhall Brian Fox 01432-358628Wednesdays H&GCT Over Ted Beagles 01452-522648Saturdays H&GCT Over Maggie Jones 01452-618010Occasional Sundays H&GCT Overwharf house fitoutNigel Bailey 01452-533835Every Sunday if required IWPS Bugsworth Basin Ian Edgar 01663-7324931st Saturday&3rdWed. IWA Ipswich Stowmarket Navigtn. Colin Turner 01473-7305862nd weekend of month IWA SBC Maesbury, Mont. Barry Tuffin 01691-670826/492nd weekend of month K&ACT John Rolls 01189-6663161st Sunday of month LHCRT Lichfield John Horton 01543 2624663rd Sunday of month LHCRT Hatherton Denis Cooper 01543-3743702nd & last Sundays PCAS Paul Waddington 01757-6380272nd Sunday of month SCARS Sankey Canal Colin Greenall 01744-7317461st Sunday of month SCCS Combe Hay Locks Bob Parnell 01225-428055Most weekends SHCS Basingstoke Peter Redway 01483-7217103rd Sunday of month TMCA David Rouse 01474-362861Approx 15th of month WACT Mid-Week group Colin Gibbs 020-82417736Every Sunday & Thursday WACT Devils Hole Lock EricWalker 023-9246-3025Thursdays fortnightly WACT Maintenance Unit Peter Wilding 01483-422519or for general information on Wey & Arun contact their office on 01403-7524031st weekend of month WAT Little Tring Roger Leishman 01442-874536Every weekend WBCT Wilts & Berks Canal Peter Smith 01793-852883Every Sunday W&BCC Dauntsey / Foxham Rachael Banyard 01249-892289Please send any amendments, additions and deletions to Dave Wedd (address on previous page)

Abbreviations used in DiaryBCG Barnsley Canal GroupBCNS BirminghamCanal Navigations Soc.BCS Buckingham Canal SocietyBCT Bude Canal TrustChCT Chesterfield Canal TrustCCT Cotswolds Canals TrustCMT Canal Museum Trust (London)DCT Droitwich Canals TrustFIPT Foxton Inclined Plane TrustD&SCS Derby & Sandiacre Canal SocietyGCRS Grantham Canal Restoration SocietyGWCT Grand Western Canal TrustH&GCT Hereford & Gloucester Canal TrustIWA SBC IWA Shrewsbury & Border Counties

IWPS InlandWaterways Protection SocietyK&ACT Kennet &Avon Canal TrustKESCRG Kent & E Sussex Canal Rest. GroupLHCRT Lichfield &HathertonCanalsRest'n TrustLWRG LondonWaterway Recovery GroupNWPG Newbury Working Party GroupPCAS Pocklington Canal Amenity SocietySCARS Sankey Canal Restoration SocietySCCS Somersetshire Coal Canal SocietySHCS Surrey & Hants Canal SocietyTMCA Thames & Medway Canal AssociationWBCT Wilts & Berks Canal TrustW&BCC Wilts & Berks Canal CompanyWACT Wey & Arun Canal TrustWAT Wendover Arm Trust

Mobile groups' social evenings(please phone to confirm before turning up)London WRG: 7:30pm on Tues 11 days beforeeach dig. 'Jugged Hare', Vauxhall Bridge Rd,London, Tim Lewis 020-8367 6227 ore-mail [email protected]: 9:00pm on 3rd Tue of month at the'Hope Tap', West end of Friar St. Reading.Graham Hawkes 0118 941 0586

DiaryCanal society regularworking parties

Regular monthly or weekly working parties:

LettersCleanups on the BCN; cruis-ing on the HNC

Dear Martin

Re: National Canal Clean Up 2002. Joint organi-sation between BCNS, IWA, WRG & BW: WalsallCanal from the long pound on Ryders Green flightto Porkets Bridge, Moxley.

This was the 6th consecutive year that a big cleanup has taken place somewhere on the BCN. OnSaturday and Sunday 16th & 17th March well over100 volunteers came from 14 different voluntaryorganisations to help clean up this part of the Birmingham Canal Navigations. The weather wasreasonable to us and everyone who came was much appreciated, whether, they stayed all day, halfa day or just a few hours � every bit helped!

Eight huge skips were filled or in mathematical terms 340m3 was cleared from the canal. I would liketo thank all those from WRG who came and helped over the weekend. I know that the enthusiasmshown all your members makes a huge impression on other volunteers, whether actually takingrubbish out of the water or the support team supplying transport, food etc. A big THANK YOU to youall. It was noted that there was a large presence from London WRG!

RegardsBrendaWard

And a letter to Dave Wedd of WRG BITM concerning the Lapal Canal Cleanup the following weekend:

Dear Dave

Would you convey to all BITM bods our sincere thanks for their gallant efforts last week end. Al-though no actual "restoration" took place, they transformed the whole line from an overgrown tip toa very pleasant area, and gave us Brownie Points with the Council and the bottom line we needed totake to Sainsbury�s etc. - that the locals want their canal back.

Statistically, 103 volunteers booked in, and moved 350 cubic metres of rubbish, plus vast woodclearance. Actual costs were £3500 for Birmingham Council, and £1600 from our Trust for which wehad a £500 donation from Cadburys.

YoursStan Thomas

Lapal Canal Trust

Dear Sue

Please tell Martin not to be quite so despondent over the knockers of canal restoration - they are ina small minority.

We spent the last August Bank Holiday Monday cruising our boat up the Huddersfield Narrow Canalfrom Portland Basin to Wool Lane. The canal banks were thronged with people enjoying the sun-shine and at every lock the boat drew a dozen or more spectators interested to see how a lockworked. They waited patiently until we were on our way before strolling off leaving us far behind.

Many of those we spoke to were not aware that boats were once again passing through StandedgeTunnel and the HNC. All the comments we received were positive about the canal�s restoration.During the whole length of our HNC cruise - we took five days, about average - we had not oneadverse comment to the canal�s reopening.

No matter what you do there will always be those who see fit to criticise. Don�t waste valuable paperand ink defending yourself against them - they are not worth it.

All the best for 2002,Ken Johnson

Dear Editor

Only received this issue today (7th) and note thepress date is tomorrow! Not much chance ofgetting this to you in time then...

Must have missed the comment earlier about�armchair members� but I think it would be veryunwise forWRG tobelittle those, likeme,whohavespent a lifetime supporting waterways restorationwithout ever having been on a canal camp.

It�s not just the subs we pay; what is more important is the fact that without the sea-change in publicand political opinion that has occurred over the last ten years there would be little, if any, of theeffective restoration of which WRG is quite rightly so proud. There would certainly be no Hudders-field and Rochdale restorations, No Anderton Lift, no Ribble Link and no Falkirk Wheel!

It ill-becomes anyone in the restoration movement to risk alienating older, more influential, membersby jokes at their expense; or does WRG think the battle is now won and the support of those �arm-chair members� who may have spent the last 30 years quietly promoting the aim of waterways resto-ration to anyone who would listen is no longer needed?

Which leads me to another reason to write to you: deluxe camps. I�m 56, a skilled bricklayer, aqualified surveyor, have spent a lifetime in the construction industry and I can drive anything withwheels, but I�m too old, and too sybaritic, to sleep on the floor. The idea of a camp where I couldhave my own room, and bed, would probably tempt me out to give it a go. I�m not antisocial, just a bitlong in the tooth to bed down with 30 or so strangers young enough to be my children. But perhapswith a ready supply of young �uns you don�t want us oldies, especially as we might know more aboutbuilding, civil engineering and Health & Safety regulations than you do!

YoursEric Jackson

A few editorial comments on the points made by Eric Jackson in the above letter...

Firstly my apologies for the last issue being published so close to the press date for this issue. I'mafraid a combination of late-arriving copy that couldn't wait for this issue, work on the camps bookletand an untimely fault with the printing press meant that 191 was a couple of weeks late. Hopefullythis one will be nearer to on-time.

Secondly the subject of 'armchair members'. I have never knowingly belittled armchair members - infact I tried last time to make it clear that in WRG we greatly value the continued support of peoplewho are not active participants in canal restoration and we hope they will continue to support us.However, while we like to include a variety of articles of interest to all readers (and would welcomecontributions from readers who aren't involved in the physical side of restoration - for example somefactual articles about engineering or Health & Safety might well be of value), there will always be anemphasis on content that is written by and for (and in the preferred style of) the active volunteers -because they are after all the main reason for the magazine's existence.

And anyway, I'm not sure that I would class somebody who has been actively involved in restorationwork as an 'armchair member' just because they haven't been on a Canal Camp. I managed severalyears involvement in WRG and IWA without going on one!

I don't recall any jokes in 'Navvies' that I felt were likely to risk alienating 'older, more influential members'- just the usual light-hearted mickey-taking aimed at most people in canal restoration. (and in particularour chairman!) Apologies if I've missed anything - and please can somebody point it out to me.

Not that I particularly believe that influence and age are that closely-related or particularly deservingof respect compared to the younger and/or less-influential: there are volunteers that I respect in WRGwho are young enough to be my children and others that I also respect who are old enough to be myparents, and I am happy to exchange advice and knowledge in either direction with any of them.

LettersThe importance of armchairsupporters

And anyway 56 isn't what I'd call an 'oldie' - wehave plenty of regular WRG volunteers who areolder than that.

Finally on the subject of 'de luxe' camps: if thereis enough interest we will be happy to try and runone during next year's Canal Camps programme- expecially is there is some interest in volunteer-ing to help to organise it.

The Editor

Mr Ludgate:

Re Navvies No 191, page 9, bottom left hand corner. And I quote:

"All photo�s accompanying this article are by the editor - except the dodgy one of MKP in the showerwhich was taken by Alan �the pervert� Lines."

I am really pissed off with you for allowing such libellous comments to appear in a magazine whichis read by people who know me, and people that don�t...

Do I now:

(1) Stop taking photographs?(2) Take photographs mainly of male persons? (or would I then be called "Gay Alan Lines")(3) Kick some arse and then carry on as before?

A Really Pissed Off Alan.

Blam! Hop hop hop... That - in case you hadn't guessed - is the sound of your editor shootinghimself in the foot again... Having moaned repeatedly about the shortage of contributions arriving ontime for publication, I've only gone and hacked-off one of the few people who I can count on to sendme lots of pictures immediately from every WRG event he goes on. Drat! Well, I guess option (1)is out of the question, and option (2) might get me into all sorts of confusion when I ask for'camp photographs', so it looks like it's option (3) and a boot up the backside for me! In themeantime, I promise never to call Alan a pervert again. So what shall I call him in future? I know!Let's have a 'suggest an alternative nickname for Alan Lines' competition. Suggestions to the editorby the 8th of May.... ...Ed

Dear Martin,

In Navvies 191 you show a photograph of a scene at Ashtac, which you describe as "the Big Dig thatlaunched the restoration of the Ashton and Lower Peak Forest Canals..."

In the interests of historical accuracy, I write to point out that if a Big Dig did launch that restorationit was Operation Ashton, or "Opash", which I think took place in 1969.

I attended both Opash and Ashtac. Opash was in the central part of the Ashton, Ashtac at theDukinfield Junction end. They were both massive and highly successful digs. With the benefit of theOpash experience, Ashtac was probably the more slick in organisation and was more mechanised.For me, however, Opash was the more memorable.

This was partly due to its pioneering nature and partly due to the appalling weather, which of coursedid not dim by one jot the enthusiasm of those splendid Wergies.

My impression at the time was that Opash turned a number of important minds in high places, andthat Ashtac built on the success of Opash.

Yours sincerely,N.Q. Grazebrook

Letters...from Alan 'the what?'Lines...

Dear Martin,

I�m a 71 year old, somewhat creaky supporterand a fan of Navvies, because it gives me achance to read about a wonderful bunch of folks.My admiration for the groups who work so hardin restoring our Waterways is beyond bounds.They are an example to so many of the whinging�gits� that seem to be in the majority in societytoday.

As someone who spent most of his adult life involved in Trade Unions and Politics, I became fed upwith the constant question, �What are you going to do about it�, when really it was in the questionersability to do something his or her self.

There are other organisations such as BTCV and the National Trust that have Voluntary Workers.But, by a long chalk they do not approach WRG and the other Waterway Groups in their commitmentto the job in hand.

I have had one holiday on a hire boat, a week on the Stourport Ring. Report: Boat Superb, CrewMagnificent, Family, (i.e The Crew), B****y Awful. I don�t suppose I will ever have another trip on the�Cut�. The best bit was going through the Soho Loop and trying to explain to the family that this waswhere we did our �courting�, almost fifty years before.

So don�t bother with the colour, just keep plenty of reports and funny stories, I�m sure us �old un�s� willimagine the rest, after all we were all brought up with the �wireless�. Does anybody know what DickBarton and Snowy looked like?

More power to your elbows,

Ron Drewfrom the wilds of Cumberland, on the Scottish Border.

PS In a few weeks time we will own about a hundred yards of the Black Lyne, any chance of aworking party to make it navigable to Carlisle?. Well I can live in hope... R.D.

Dear Martin

At the time of the effort to clear the Ashton canal and establish a ring for cruising it was seen as amatter of national importance: if this went the system would cease to have any meaning. It hadbecome difficult to use those canals which had ceased trading and it wasn�t foreseen how the leisureindustry was going to take up the financial slack.

BW were, at the time, almost paranoiacally worried about the proportion of government grant toincome which was declining. On the ground it seems the staff were glad to see someone taking aninterest in their livelihood. In the office there was terror that it would all lead to greater liabilities.Letters from HQ warned about the expense of maintaining waterways for the sole use of pleasureboats.

It must have been a year or two later when the first intrepid sailors completed the circuit of theMacclesfield, T&M, Bridgewater, Rochdale, Ashton & Peak Forest. Boating people still like to tell oftheir experiences, how they worked 12 hours to avoid having to spend the night in a grim part ofManchester. At first there were stories of vandals and dry pounds, then there was thick weed, onanother occasion there was a recidivist official.

By the 1970�s adverts proclaiming the various rings now possible were appearing in the new Wa-terways magazines. My own trip through the area occurred some years later and there washardly a boat between Marple and the Bridgewater, that is the whole section of lower PeakForest and Ashton. It appeared that the natives were not friendly: those boats I saw were heavilyarmoured or damaged. I had to chase off some stone throwers. The circle remained something of anadventure.

LettersWhat did Dick Barton looklike?

Somewhere in the 1970�s BW must have recog-nised that it was no longer a commercial entityand they seem to have tried to remake the firmas a controller of a boating industry. Whateverthey aimed for that was the impression from thewaterlevel where I worked.

Now it projects as the kindly uncle watching over anational asset. It does seem clear that BW is nowwise to the potential of the boating fraternity, theycertainly charge me for the privilege of belonging.

My point in all this preamble is that boating is to be the central pull of the waterways and it needs itsrings to retain its adventure for people who have only a limited time to explore. It also needs its morechallenging routes.

Nowadays there is the biggest challenge of them all by narrow boat Huddersfield to Huddersfield viathe Trent (&Mersey), Macclesfield and Peak Forest. All the while this remains limited to craft lessthan 57ft x 7ft it's only half a job.

From Wakefield to Cooper Bridge there are seven locks to lengthen, others having been done morethan a hundred years ago. In order to reach a section of 70 foot locks it would be necessary toextend the 9 to Huddersfield or the 14 to Sowerby Bridge. This full length ring will come eventuallyand maybe the Navvies will do it.

Till then I would like to see far more of us using our boats throughout the year, a pleasant form ofcampaigning if ever I heard it. Each passage assists the powers that be to demonstrate that thedemand exists and therefore that the cash can be shaken down. People talk of opposing BW just tokeep them on their toes but I think the better course is to keep pushing to build a system that worksall year round and accomodates 70ft everywhere either x 7ft or x 14ft.

When the Thames & Severn is done the majority of southern England will be at 14ft or at least broadgauge. The Fenlands will be joined by the proposed Bedford link and all of it only separated from theNorth and East by the Leicester Summit which is at broad gauge already except for the locks at Foxton andWatfordasobservedbyH.RodolphdeSalisback in 1910. If youadd inaHigherAvon itwill beaveryextensivenetwork with wide possibilities for cruising routes. Who knows it may one day join on to the Broads.

YoursWilliam J Ashbery

I'm afraid I'm going to have to disagree with William Ashbery on the subject of lengthening theCalder & Hebble and Huddersfield Broad Canal locks.

I appreciate that there are other craft besides the go-anywhere just-under-60ft narrow boat, and Ibelieve that restoration should if at all possible be done without any reduction in the historic dimen-sions. Indeed I own a share in a 71ft 6in by 7ft 0.5in ex-working narrow boat, and get a bit annoyedwhen I hear that waterways whose restoration I have supported for years are going to be incapableof taking 'Fulbourne' because the locks have been rebuilt to tighter than original size.

I fully support plans to extend the canal system by construction of new waterways such as theproposed Bedford-Milton Keynes link. I would be keen to see more of these ideas come to fruition -such as the Higher Avon scheme, the Rother Link or the recently-announced proposal for a newconnection from the Leeds & Liverpool Canal to the Liverpool Docks. I would like to see the link tothe Broads happen one day. And it makes sense to build all of these new canals large enough totake boats from any of the adjoining waterways.

But I wouldn't like to see the fascinating (albeit sometimes inconvenient) variety of local styles, localmaterials and local dimensions that characterise much of our historic system lost, simply so that peoplewho have chosen to buy larger pleasure boats can get around more of the system. By all means extendtheir cruising range with restorations and new canals to bypass the bottlenecks, but let's keep the changesto our unique historic waterways to a minimum. That's my view: others' opinions may vary! ...Ed

LettersBW: the kindly uncle watch-ing over a national asset...

ProgressTheDigDeep initiative: progresson the Thames & Severn...

Dig Deep report: March 2002

TheDigDeep Initiative involves fivemobile work-ing party groups (London WRG, KESCRG, Es-sex WRG, NWPG and WRG BITM) committingthemselves to carrying out a certain amount ofvolunteer work (whether in the form of CanalCamps or weekend working parties) on certainrestoration projects in southern England that havebeen adopted as 'Dig Deep Projects'.

There are usually three or four of these projectson the go at any one time, and the idea is to co-ordinate the four groups' work on them so thatthey can be completed in a reasonable times-cale. This helps the local canal societies respon-sible for those projects to commit the necessaryfunding for materials from their usually limitedresources - something that we have found fromexperience in the past can tend to be more of aproblem if visiting groups' work-parties are organ-ised individually on an ad-hoc basis with noknowledge of when and whether the job is likelyto be finished.

My last report in September 2001 reported onthe woes of the Wilts & Berks project seriouslydelayed by Foot & Mouth and good progress atValley Lock on the Thames & Severn. How thingscan change in a mere six months!

Our star project at the moment must be SummitLock on theWilts & Berks, where the combina-tion of Dig Deep weekend work par-ties and local volunteer activity in theweek has produced excellent progress.By the end of last weekend (10thMarch) the eastern lock wall was com-plete with only the coping bricks to lay.These will await completion of the offside wall as the concrete will have tobe delivered from the finished side.

By the time you read this the concretebacking to the wall will also be done.Progress has also been made on thetop sill where the nearside paddle holeis heading nicely skyward and prelimi-nary work has started on the otherside.

The project has benefited from good local organi-sation, a clear plan of work, good sound scaf-folding and support equipment such as shutter-ing panels, new bricks and excellent access tothe work for workers and machines. There mustbe a real prospect of completing the lock re-buildin 2002 leaving the tail bridge for the local bridgebuilding team.

Valley Lock on the Thames&Severn has some-what hit the buffers. Whether this is permanentas far as Dig Deep is concerned is in the handsof British Waterways. There are however goodreasons, which centre around the precariousstate of the off-side chamber wall which has tobe entirely reconstructed.

Above: Dig Deep on theWilts & Berks: the nearsidechamber wall nearing completion, and work begin-ning on the offside ground paddle. Below: Dig Deepon the Thames & Severn: the head of Valley Lock iscomplete; thechamberawaits thecontractorsandBW.

Progress...and theWilts & Berks, Bas-ingstoke and Wey & Arun...

"Not normally a problem for most volunteergroups", you may say but in this case there is astrong possibility that the adjoining garden willhead lockwards as soon as the first demolitionstarts. BW are planning to survey the wall inAprilbut Cotswold Canals Trust feel that piling and con-tractors are the likely solution. So after work onthe culvert has finished, Dig Deep�s involvementwith this site will end, forthe time being at least.

Work has continuedthrough the winter onthe top end of the lockwhich with the doubletop gate recess ar-rangements of theselocks almost constitutesa lock on its own. Thecomplex paddle holeshave been rebuilt andcapped. Coping stoneshave been re-laid alongthe new wing walls andgate recessesand thebywash weir re-built. KE-SCRG have hand dug alarge hole to expose thefirst 5 metres of the by-wash culvert the brickroof of which has col-lapsed. This will be re-built on their April week-end at what will be thelast work party on thissite for the time being.

Of course this news came out just as the WRGcamps brochure had been finalised. Camps 07and 09 which were to be at this site will have torelocated. The NWPG camp (07) is likely to be atSummit Lock on the Wilts & Berks though thisvenue is still to be confirmed. Whatever site ischosen the Camp will go ahead.

On the Basingstoke canal we are trying to be-come expert pipe layers. Murphys, Clancys et alcertainly have nothing to worry about yet!! NWPGand LWRG managed to lay a total of four sec-tions of pipe between them on their last two vis-its. Since, KESCRG have set the industry stand-ard by managing 7 pipes in one weekend. (Easyones no doubt, which didn�t have to go aroundcorners!) Anyway we�re learning the hard wayas usual and no doubt progress will be muchfaster over the summer. The purpose of all this isthe St Johns back pumping project.

At Easter we start on a Dig Deep mini project onthe Bonfire Hanger section of theWey &Arun Canal. The plan is toconcrete the bases for three spillweirs across the head of the formerlocks of the SidneyWood flight andto start work on two footbridges toenable public footpaths to crossthe canal when work is finishedand the canal full of water � hope-fully!.

Each group has committed oneweekend to the work during thesummer months.

All participating Dig Deep Groups( WRG BITM, Essex WRG, KES-CRG, LWRG and NWPG) wel-come old and new volunteers totheir digs. Please check the Nav-vies Directory for contact details.

For general Dig Deep informationcontact Alan Cavender by phoneon 01628 629033 or by e-mail [email protected]

Bill Nicholson

Essex WRG putting the finishing touches on theValley Lock bywash weir chamber.

Dig Deep on the Basingstoke: LondonWRG installing the St Johns backpumppipe. All photos by Martin Ludgate.

WRGBITM and theWIlts & Berks Canal Trust:Progress at Bowd's Lane, Wiltshire

Foxham & Lyneham Branch of the Wilts & BerksCanal Trust organised a long weekend from 24-27 January, to include a BITM visit on 26-27, withthe intention of raising a concrete wall behind thetowpath chamber brick face wall at lock 3 andclearing lock 4 of its floral cover on the flight ofSeven Locks. The wall was begun during a WRGcamp last July from about 1 metre above the in-vert & finished to coping, 2.5 metres above, bylocal branchmembers. Both paddle chambers onlock 3 have also been rebuilt.

We had a slow start on Thursday, concrete notpouring until about 10:30, as first our dumper hadto be filled with ballast, 2.5 tonne plus, which isstockpiled in the farmyard of local farmer (andlandowner of locks 2-5) Janet Nicolls, using oneof her tractors for loading, then driven 200 me-tres by road, along 150 metres of towpath up toour concrete mixer, with bags of cement loadedon the way. Here the fun started !

After shovelling ballast straight from the dumperinto the drum, adding 2 bags of cement pluswater, mixing about half a tonne at a time, con-crete was poured onto a chute and pushed alonginto the void between brick & shuttering. We re-peated this five or six times per dumper load,averaging four dumper loads per day for fourdays. (Five loads on Friday & Sunday, despitethe tractor breaking down on Friday afternoonrequiring the dumper to be loaded by shovel un-til we were allowed to use a nice new tractor andonly two loads on Saturday as it drizzled all morn-ing, building up to heavy rain by afternoon, so,soaked through, we retired to our hall atBrinkworth for lunch & stayed there. Every radia-tor & hot spot was draped with wet clothing, boots& gloves.).

Periodically the mixer was heaved and leveredalong the chamber edge (it�s 20 metres long) asthe concrete level rose. With each passing of ourdumper, combined with drizzle & rain, the tow-path was transformed into twin trenches of runnymud & the work site into a slippery morass(sounds familiar ?). We had picnics here too!

Meanwhile, further on at lock four, with the ar-rival of BITM members en-masse (peaking attwenty one), scrub bashing, clearance & bonfires(after many attempts under rain and the arrivalof �pyrotech� Ray from Swindon), progress wasmade to a point where the chamber could be seen& its condition assessed for rebuilding during theWRG camp planned for July.

More of the structure remains than we had atlock three (just!), though much of the lock cham-ber may need to be demolished. The paddlechambers, however, are almost intact. Tony, BITMChairman, spent Saturday morning, with an as-sistant, digging in the mud to find a firm base forfootings to extend the upper wing walls. "Well Ican only get wet once".

Despite the rain & storms prior to & during theweekend, the soft, muddy ground & full watercourses (including the canal), we achieved a verysuccessful work programme, mixing about 50tonne of concrete using over 4.5 tonne of ce-ment (filling a space of almost 20 cubic me-tres) in 4 days with an average of 7 volunteersper day, including local branch chairman andweekend BITM work party leader Rachael, localworks organiser Luke, professional bricklayerRon, old hand Cliff & BITM extra duty volunteersIan, Deb, Dave & myself.

In addition, with the arrival of BITM Group onSaturday, the exposure & clearance of lock fourin preparation for the summer camp in July.

After the success of this weekend, we have nowarranged an Easter programme from 29 Marchto 1 April to begin pouring concrete behind theopposite chamber wall, continue raising its brickface & complete the upper wing walls plus anextra summer camp, organised by the Foxham& Lyneham Branch through WRG, runningfrom 2 to 9 June to begin rebuilding the lowerwing walls from the gate recesses. We will alsofinish any brickwork on sections already be-gun.

We need volunteers to complete these ambitiousschedules. Please contact Rachael Banyard on01249 892289 if you can join us.

Phill Cardy

Postscript:

For three days over the following two weekends,local members have completed concreting thetowpath chamber wall, mixing & pouring a fur-ther 30 tonne. Setting coping & back filling willcomplete this side of the lock to the lower gaterecess.

ProgressSeven Locks flight on theWIlts & Berks Canal

Coming soonThe training weekend andCanalway Cavalcade

TheWRG Training Weekend 2002The next event on the WRG horizon is the Trainingweekend on the 11/12thMay. This year I am pleasedto say that it will be based at BritishWaterways Her-itage Skills Centre at Hatton in Warwickshire. Thismarvellous place (as described in last Navvies) isalongside the Grand Union canal and possessessuch attributes as indoor bricklaying areas, lecturerooms and a large field to dig up and put back again!But some of you reading thismay bewondering whattheTrainingweekend is all about. Well it varies everyyear, but basically it is a weekend dedicated to train-ing volunteers in a range of skills such as bricklay-ing or surveying or demolition or dumper driving orsite first aid etc, etc. This really is open to anyone,be it someone who has yet to actually go on a CanalCamp or someone who has been digging on theirlocal project for years.So what is actually on offer? Well, mainly the de-mand from you the volunteer but we do try and fo-cus on the skills we think we will need our volun-teers to master to make them most useful for thecoming year. So, for example, we will definitely berunning courses in large excavator operation (neededfor the Grand Western Camps) and stonemasonry(needed for the Droitwich Camps). But don�t feelyou have to have a "reason" to learn about anything,training on everything is available to all (subject tothe usual legal/age limits).So how do you book on for this? Well you contactAlison Bottomley who is organising this event andshe sends you a form listing all the possible areaswe can train on. You fill in the areas you would liketo receive instruction on and send the form back(quickly!) Alison then frantically tries to align times,instructors, volunteers and kit and hopefully man-ages to squeeze everyone in. In a few cases wefind we don�t have enough trainees to warrant thecost of hiring in the kit, etc and so these are droppedbut this is fairly rare.The BIG ISSUE here is that all of this has to happenin the next few weeks so contactAlison Bottomleynow!!! Her address is 27 Claremont Road, SpitalTongues, Newcastle on Tyne NE2 4AN and herphone number is 0191 261 5913.Accommodation is provided and all for the bargainprice of £10. All can gain - all are welcome.

Mike PalmerLittle Venice Canalway Cavalcade 4-6 MayEvery year,WRG's parent body the InlandWaterwaysAssociation organises one of the most colourful andpopular regular waterways events in the country, theCanalway Cavalcade at Little Venice in London.As the name suggests, a cavalcade of decoratedboats (usually including a WRG boat) is one of thehighlights of a weekend that also includes craft stalls,entertainment, boat handling competitions, and 100-plus boats in the canal basin.Every year, a team of volunteers fromKESCRGhelpto set up, run and take down the Festival. Over toEddie Jones for a fuller explanation...

Sat here on a sunny afternoon tapping away at thelaptop mademe think back to the Litte Venice eventlast year and what a gloriously sunny weekend itwas. Lets hope the sameweather graces this year�sevent and helps carry on the success of what is un-doubtedly a fantastic event.KESCRG will be there supplying the site and serv-ice support in a similar role to last year and as everI am looking for volunteers to help.The main requirement for labour is from the Thurs-day through to Monday night/Tuesday morning al-though I will need some additional help fromWednesday laying in power. Accommodation hasbeen booked in the shape of the community boatsas used for the last couple of years. Those of youwhohavehelped previouslywill remember the strenu-ous activity of collecting and erecting the variousmar-quees and market stalls. You will be pleased to knowthis is no longer part of our remit as the hire companyare doing so instead to meet health and safety re-quirements. No slur on our abilities but we can�t signthe site off for insurance purposes in case of an inci-dent. Another chore gone for this year is supervisingthe pontoon bridge across the entrance to the Pad-dingtonArm as there is going to be a temporary foot-bridge in place further down the arm.We will be helping the traders move their stock, as-sisting waterspace with the boat movements, oper-ating the ferry boatOpportunity, keeping the site clearof rubbish and associated festival type jobs. TheKESCRG stand will be there and will need manningthroughout the weekend.It is not all work though, there will be a real ale bar tohelp relieve any aches and pains during the evening,the illuminatedboat parade, themarvellousStPancrasBarbecue to namebut a few.Take a look at the LVCCwebsite at http://www.london.waterways.org.uk/cavalcade/index.htm.All are welcome but because of the accommoda-tion setup I need to know in advance if you want toattend so PLEASE let me know. You can email [email protected], leave a message at home on020 8684 7741. If you want any further info call themobile 07850 889 249 but please don�t call the mo-bile to book on as my memory is awful and it oftenisn�t easy to make notes when out and about!Looking forward to another successful LV CC andhope you can join us to make it so.Cheers

Eddie JonesKESCRG

Introducing WRG Forestry Team

At your Chairman�s request - see last 'Navvies' -"a piece" by "Sparky", so if your editor prints it...here goes...

Off the ground: both the IWA Training AwardScheme andWRGForestry Team.As I write froma beach somewhere in the Tropics, may I thankthe IWA for my award and to the panel of judges- cheques will be in the post!

Seriously, (You want me to be serious? You�ll beasking me to wear a suit next!) the WRGTrainingAward is is an excellent scheme, so get thoseapplications in and let�s get more people certi-fied, sorry, qualified.

Over the last 10 years I�ve completed trainingcourses in basic chainsaw use, pesticide appli-cation, fencing, hedge-laying, tree planting,coppicing, charcoal burning, mensuration (alwayshandy at this time of the month!) and more, be-fore moving into the arboricultural courses all inmy own time and at my own expense - becauseI�ve always believed in professional training to doa job to a professional standard.

All of these skills have been put to good use oncanals up and down the country, mainly down asmost canals are from where I live way up North.

WRG Forestry Team was an idea that cameabout after being asked to undertake a tree sur-vey for the Cotswold Canals Trust on a 10 milesection of canal from Eastington to Chalford withsomewhere in the region of 300-plus trees forcomplete removal or renovation via pruning,coppicing or pollarding. I had to consult localauthorities, BW, etc, regarding planning and con-servation issues etc - so we had to have somesort of a �handle� for initial contacts. "I�m Sparkyfrom WRG" probably translated as "You�re whofrom where?"

After much discussion and much Boddington�sWRG FT was agreed on and now we have a nicelittle logo to go with the title. Feel free to join us ata tree near you, this is definitely clearance workwith a difference.

Courtesy of the loan of WRG van �RFB� for thewinter we�ve been seen at the Bonfire Bash, backto Basingstoke for Xmas, on the Cotswolds acouple of weekends and spent Easter on theWey& Arun. More news hot off the press next issue.

Graham "Sparky" Robinson

And having introduced the WRG Forestry Team,here's some practical advice from them...

A Simple guide to pruning

After my observations on the Bonfire Bash andBasingstoke Xmas Camp of volunteers pruningtrees and shrubs, some good and some bad, Ithought it may be helpful to produce a few noteson the correct method of pruning.

Trees are trained and pruned chiefly to keep themvigorous, healthy and - by forming a strong, well-balanced branch framework - stable. Pruning andtraining are most important in the early years,laying the foundations of a well-shaped maturetree. On established trees, pruning is more oftenthan not confined to the removal of dead, dis-eased, damaged or wayward growth.

These notes particularly refer to the subject mostrelevant to us, i.e. the pruning of trees, shrubsand specifically their laterals or side branches;these are the branches that sweep water cans,chimneys and mops off the roof of a boat if thesteerer is asleep!

The following information refers to cutsmade fromthe ground. You are advised not to climb into thetree however small it is: your safety is at risk aswell as the health of the tree concerned. Instead,used a pole saw if available or leave this type ofwork to the arboriculturists.

All cuts, large or small, should be cleanly madewith sharp tools so that plant tissue is not torn orbruised. Use secateurs for soft growth and woodystems up to 1cm (½") and loppers for branches upto 3.5cm (1½") depending upon the capacity of thejaws. Bow, pruning and pole saws can be used forbranches up to 7.5cm (3"), the more accurate cutsbeing made with the pruning saws. This is particu-larly important when making the final-target cut.

Go to a bud or stem as shown (Fig. 1), makingsure the secateurs are cutting the correct way.

Larger cuts are made as shown (Fig. 2), the un-dercut and top cut being collectively known as a�step cut�. You may need to make more than onestep cut if the branch is long so as to remove it insmall manageable sections. [continued on page32]

Fig 1: the wrong way and the right way to cut off a branch with secateurs.

Incorrect use: when secateurs are held normally (i.e. thinblade uppermost) this lateral (above left) cannot be cut offcorrectly: the thick blade is nearer the trunk and thus deter-mines the cut's position. The cut is made too far from themain stem (above right) leaving a stub that may die back.

Correct use: by turning the seca-teurs over (i.e. thick blade upper-most) the thin blade is nearer thetrunk and the cut can be madeprecisely where it is required.

Fig 2: cutting off larger branches with a pruning saw.

1:Reduce theweight of thebranch tomake the finalcut more con-trollable.

Some 30cm(12in) awayfrom the trunk,saw a quarter

of the way into the branch from the underside.

This partial cut stops the bark from tearingdown the trunk if the branch accidentallybreaks.

2: C u ts q u a r e l ydownwardsfrom the topof the branchabout 5cm (2inches) be-yond the un-dercut (fur-ther awayfrom the

trunk) until the branch falls away.

The undercut ensures that you do not needto support the weight of the branch, providedthe area beneath is clear.

3: if the re-maining stubis still heavyor awkward tosupport se-curely, makeanother un-dercut 5-8cm(2-3 inches)from thetrunk.

Then make the final cut following the lineof the branch collar from top to bottom.(see diagrams overleaf for where to makethe final cut)

4: FinishedCut: The finalcut down-wards mustbe complete-ly smooth; ifan undercutwas firstmade, en-sure that thefinal cut is ei-ther closer to the trunk or meets the un-dercut exactly.

Smooth any rough edges with a pruningknife without enlarging the wound.

The final cut is known as natural target pruningand getting this right is essential. You will need tolocate the branch collar and bark ridge to imple-ment this cut correctly. (Fig. 3a and 3b)

The general practice in the past was to removelarger branches with a �flush� cut against the stemthen apply wound paint, e.g. Arborex. This is nolonger recommended as it has been found thatwith careful pruning nature can heal a woundquite successfully.

The time at which a tree is pruned is important. Itis usually carried out once the sap has stoppedrunning, usually mid/late summer until late win-ter/early spring.

There are exceptions however (aren�t there al-ways!): birch should never be pruned when thesap is or is about to start rising from mid/late win-ter to mid-summer; cherry is usually pruned insummer to avoid the risk of silver leaf infection.More advice can be given if requested.

Dead or dying wood can be pruned at any time.

Finally, remember to check your tetanus jabs: itis easy to cut yourself on a sharp pruning saweven when wearing gloves.

Graham 'Sparky' Robertson

Natural Target Pruning

Correct pruning should bemade as closeas possible to the branch collar withouttearing the bark and to make the final cutwithout leaving a stub (but always stub-cut first before removal).

Do not injure or remove the collar.

Do not cut behind the ridge.

No set angle determines the position ofthe pruning cut: see diagrams below.

Aim for a complete circle 'doughut' ofcallus next growing season.

A

DC

B

Branch collars and angles of cuts:

Proper pruning of a living branch is a cutas close as possible to the branch collar.

There is no set angle for a proper cut - itdepends on the tree. Cuts A, B, C and Dbelow are all proper cuts.

Finding the branch collar:

If the position of the collar (and thereforethe correct position for the pruning cut A toB below) is uncertain, draw an imaginaryline from A to E and make angle EAD equalangle EAB.

A

B

C

D E

Ridge

Collar

Figs 3a and 3b: Branch collars and angles of cut

WRGBCNews from WRG's own BoatClub

WRG Boat Club

Well as I write this I see signs that Spring ishere. It has been pouring with rain ever sincewe removed the top cloths from the Lynx aswe prepare for the Easter pilgrimage toEllesmere Port. Is it a working boat or mobileswimming pool?

It is also time for the annual BCN Clean Up,and there is certainly a lot to be cleared upround here.

The AWCC

WRG boat club is affiliated to the AWCC (As-sociation of Waterways Cruising Clubs) andClaire and I had to forgo playing in the rubbishat the Clean Up weekend to attend their AGMat Stafford Boat Club.

Two questions that I have been asked are -�Why is it important for our club to be membersof the AWCC?� and �What�s in it for me?� This isthe AWCC�s �Statement�:

�The Association exists to secure the interests ofits member clubs, and their members, in all mat-ters relating to their enjoyment of the navigablewaterways of the United Kingdom. AWCC seeksto encourage a spirit of assistance and interde-pendence amoung its associated clubs and theirmembers. The Association seeks to make repre-sentations to all bodies exercising control of theuse of those inland waterways.�

I like to think that all of us are happy to helpother boaters and would provide informationand aid when asked.

As mentioned in the past it is essential thatmembers have a current membership card andask, in advance if possible, if they wish to usethe facilities at any AWCC club. Should yourequire the use of a mooring at a club then toASK in advance is a must, the club is notobliged to accommodate you!

We belong to the Midland region but remem-ber that we can attend any of AWCC socialactivities throughout the country.

AWCC also have stands at lots of the showsand those working on them will be pleased tosee you, especially if you can offer to help, evenif just for long enough to give someone a cof-fee break.

I really don�t want to go into details of all theBSS and mooring charges arguments/discus-sions here but they are all still going on.

After the AGM Roger Hanbury gave a talk aboutThe Waterways Trust. It�s seemed amazing howmany canal restorations �just happened� in thelast few years. What have WRG been up to allthis time? After a large hint he did give somecredit to WRG and say something nice about us!

Now to our own AGM....

It is usually held at BITM�s Bring-a-Boat weekend.

That is to be on the Basingstoke in Septemberand I hope to see many members plus boatsthere, BUT we are planning a change with theAGM this year...

We can also get boats to WRG NW�s dig onThe Mont in October: shall we have the AGMthere? Hands up who can get to that? Therewill be a special prize for any boat that attendsthe Basingstoke Bring-a-Boat Bash in Septem-ber AND The Mont in October.

Don�t worry about beating the closures to getback from The Mont as any boats, preferablywooden ones, that are there after 4th Novem-ber (when we expect the closures to start) canbe used on the bonfire on 5th...

Or can we hold the AGM at Huddersfield?There are usually lots of members at the �Na-tional�, but it is hard enough to arrange a timefor a social gathering let alone a business meet-ing, as most of us are there with a job to do.

Where else can we boat and �WRG�? The Wen-dover Arm �do� was very good last year. I wentby boat and was made most welcome.

If members think of any other suitable venuesor have AGM ideas please let me know.

XXX SADIE07748186867

[email protected]

PS Latest on the Bring-a-Boat on the Bas-ingstoke: those planning to go, please con-tact Peter Redway on 01483 721710 who hasoffered to help sort out your licence needs!

Bits & piecesincluding the Wilts & Berks'June Jubilee Camp'...The June Jubilee Camp......is an extra Canal Camp on the Wilts & Berks Ca-nal, mainly bricklaying and backfilling work on lock3 of the Seven Locks flight but also hoping to dosome initial investigation at lock 4, plus installing thedeck of the new Foxham liftbridge and removing thefarm crossing embankment that it replaces.

The Camp runs from Saturday June 1st to SundayJune 9th (that's right, it's called the Jubilee Camp be-cause it includes the Queen's Jubilee bank holiday!)andas lasts for ninewholedays, it will cost £45. Accom-modation is at FoxhamReadingRooms.ContactRach-ael Banyard on 01249-892289 for more details; pleasebookviaHeadOfficeusingtheusualCanalCampsbook-ing form but with 'WBCC' as the Camp Number.

Gift AidSome 'Navvies' subscibers have recently askedwhether WRG can take advantage of the Gift Aidarrangements, whereby for every £1 donated to acharity, the charity can claim back an extra 28p fromthe government in reimbursement of tax paid thatrelates to the £1 donated.

The simple answer is �No� - WRG is not a charity.However, The InlandWaterwaysAssociation,WRG�sparent body, is a registered charity and can claimGift Aid on donations it receives, provided that thedonor has signed a Gift Aid declaration.

IWAcannot claimGiftAid on behalf of WRG; it can onlyclaimGiftAidondonationsgiven to the IWAfor theAsso-ciation�sobjectives. However,eversinceWRGhasbeenaround, ithasbeenverywellsupportedby IWAandthereis every reason to believe this will continue.

Want to buy a boat?Well-knownWRGvolunteerAlisonSmedley is sellingher boat 'Shirley' and would be happy to sell it to an-other WRGie if anyone's interested. It's a convertedGUCCCo Big Northwich motor, built in 1936, with aNational DM2 engine, a fully fitted back cabin and aspacious conversion. Please phone her on 01538385388 or e-mail [email protected] ifyou're interested. And don't worry - she's not givingup boating, she's already bought another one!

Themystery accommodation.......in thepuzzle in 'Bankside' last timewas"StGregory's".

Want to buy a Land Rover?Series 2a short wheel base Landrover. 1971 Tax ex-empt, Petrol, 2 1/4 ltr. engine-unleaded. Cab roof-pick up style, ex forestery. Capston winch-runs offengine. New front types and spare. New petrol tank.Well loved, anyone interested? Looking for about£1000. Reading area, phone 07813 068481.

Dangerous Dumpers?Take care if you're working with a Pel-job (Volvo)750kg skip-loading dumper. Recent experience hasshown that even the most experienced WRG op-erators need to be aware that they not the most sta-ble of machines. Even when the bucket is not in theraised position, they are liable to tip over sideways ifnot on level ground. Please be careful.

Apologies for the late arrival......of the last 'Navvies'. This was due to a signallingfailure in the WRGPrint area, the wrong kind of ink,operational difficulties in Rowington and a personunder a car in East Dulwich...

Seriously, if you're planning on sending in anythingfor 'Navvies', please do try to get it in by the pressdate. Over the last few issues we've been gettinglater and later getting it to the printers - all very wellwhen you want to read up-to-date last-minute news,but then an unexpected problem with the printingpress meant we had no spare time to sort it, thewhole magazine was late out and the booking formfor the Cleanup very nearly didn't appear in printuntil after the event had happened!

Please, all you regular 'Navvies' contributors, sendthings in promptly and help to avoid this sort of thinghappening again. Thanks.

TheWRGWeb Site......www.wrg.org.uk has been AWOL for a while re-cently due to difficulties in moving it to a differentserver or something technical like that wot I don'tunderstand. (I assumed Logistics just loaded it intoa trailer when it needed moving!) Anyway it shouldbe back online by the time you read this, but just incase it isn't, in the meantime a limited amount ofWRG Canal Camps information is available on theIWA site www.waterways.org.uk.

When the main WRG site comes back, we hope tohave (a) some more photos from the Cleanup andthe Easter Camp and (b) some more pictures totempt you on the summer camps.

And finally, fromMike Palmer..."I must make one thing clear. In the last Navvies mycomment about WRG North West digs where 'thosethat were too slow had to buy their wellies back fromsome old dear' was not in anyway a reference to thefinancial acumenof our favouriteOBE fromCrumpsall.I apologise for any confusion concerned."

Directors of WRG:

John Baylis, MickBeattie, Malcolm Bridge,Roger Burchett,Spencer Collins,Christopher Davey,Helen Davey,Roger Day, RichardDrake, Neil Edwards,Adrian Fry, JohnHawkins, Jennifer Leigh,Judith Moore, MichaelPalmer, Jonathan Smith.

Secretary: Neil Edwards

VAT reg. no : 788 9425 54© 2002 WRGISSN 0953-6655

beconstruedaspolicy or anofficial announcement un-less so stated - otherwiseWRG and IWAaccept no li-ability for any matter in thismagazine.Waterway Recovery Groupis a division of InlandWater-waysEnterprisesLtd.,asub-sidiary of the Inland Water-ways Association (a regis-tered charity).Inland Waterways Enter-prises Registered office:3 Norfolk Court, Norfolk Rd.Rickmansworth WD3 1LTTel : 01923 711114Registered no 4305322

Navvies ProductionNavvies ispublishedbyWa-terwayRecoveryGroup,POBox 114, RickmansworthWD3 1ZY and is availableto all interested in promot-ing the restoration and con-servation of inland water-ways by voluntary effort inGreat Britain. Articles maybe reproduced in alliedmagazinesprovidedthat thesource is acknowledged.WRG may not agree withopinions expressed in thismagazine, but encouragespublicationasamatterof in-terest. Nothing printedmay

Editor : Martin Ludgate35 Silvester RoadEast DulwichLondon SE22 9PB020-8693 3266

Subscriptions / circulationSue Watts15 Eleanor RoadChorlton-cum-HardyManchester M21 9FZ

Printing and assembly:John &Tess Hawkins4 LinksWay, CroxleyGrnRickmansworth, HertsWD3 3RQ 01923 [email protected]

NoticeboardDirectory UpdateLapal Canal Trust new contact details:26 Loynells Road, Rednal, Birmingham B45 9NPTel : 01785 713862 or 020 8293 9744Full directory next time: please send anyadditions, delections or changes to the editor byMay 8th.

If you move house, please remember toask us to change your 'Navvies' subscrip-tion details: write to SueWatts (see below)Alternatively you can e-mail Edd [email protected].

Contacting the chairman:Mike Palmer, 3 Finwood Rd,Rowington, Warwickshire CV35 7DHTel: 01564 785293e-mail: [email protected]

Moving house...Chris andHelenDavey are in themiddle of a rathercomplicated house-moving process and are tempo-rarily living in both Oxfordshire and Yorkshire.They can be phoned in Hebden Bridge,Yorkshire on01756 753003, or in Adderbury, near Banbury on01295 812002, but if you're writing to them pleaseuse only the following address until further notice:6 Partridge Court, Round Close Road, Adderbury,Banbury, Oxfordshire OX17 3EP.KenWhapples has a new email address:[email protected] so doesDavid Penny, for H&GCanal matters:[email protected]

F r e e t o a g o o d h o m e :

...an A0 size drawing board. On stand, withparallel motion. Free to a canal-related or-ganisation, or £20 (with 50% toWRG) to any-one else. Buyer collects from Upton-upon-Severn. (by road or by water!)Contact Nick Wright, 14 Church St, Upton-upon-Severn, WorcsWR8 0HT.Tel: 01684 593821.

Market Stall

...available cheap, possibly free, to a suitablegroup. 24' x 8' market stall and, being of modu-lar construction, is reducible to 16', or even 8',

in length. Contact John Foley on01457-853582 for further

information.

Horseboaters wanted!Contact Sue Day on 01457834863 if you want to helptake a horse-boat roundthe South Pennine Ring this summer.

Backfill

page 36

Meanwhile, somewhere in theNorth...Uncle Mort: Now then, Carter.Carter: Eyup, Uncle Mort. What�s up? You look

proper fed up.UM: I am that, lad. Reading this "Grimthorpe

Evening Sentinel" has given me a right oldturn, I don�t mind saying.

C: Why, what�s it say? Let�s have a look. Is it thison�t front page? "Grimthorpe Flat Cap Millsto close. Unable to cope with the Americanbaseball cap scourge. 600 to lose jobs. Noprospect of re-employment for any of them."

UM: Nay, lad, that�s the sort of story you expect tosee in a proper Northern newspaper. A reas-suring bit of gloom and misery with your pig�strotter for tea is just what you want, and ex-pect. Nay, take a look at page 2.

C: "Anderton Boat Lift re-opens" What�s thatabout then?

UM: Afewyears back, that boat lift were just a heapof rusting scrap metal on the river bank. Justthe sort of thing you�d expect to find in a tradi-tionalNorthern post-industrial setting. The sortof neglected eyesore that let you know you�renot in Surrey or any other of themplaces downSouth. Now some meddler�s had the thingdone up and turned into a fairground ride forSoutherners in boats. I�ve nivver heared owt sodaft. They�ll becomingup fromLeatherheadandSevenoaks, spending their money, creatingemployment, and ruining the place. And that�snot the end of it. They�ve opened a canal fromHuddersfield to Manchester. Decent folk fromMytholmroyd and Cleckheaton, who�ve neverknown a day�s happiness in their lives, aregoing to be encouraged to get into boats andhave fun. It�s not natural, Carter, not naturalat all. There�s another canal going throughRochdale being messed about with. Whereare people going to put old bikes if the canal�sfull of boats, Carter? Answer me that. All thishappiness and employment will be the end ofRochdale. Can you imagine the place full ofhappy buggers with wage packets in theirpockets? Of course you can�t. The place�llnivver be t�sameagain. They�ll be turning tripeshops into them sushi bars next. If it carrieson like this, you�ll never be able to buy a piewith mushy peas and mint sauce again.They�re even on about a canal to Bolton andBury. Bloody Bury, Carter! I just don�t knowwhat�s going on any more, I really don�t.

C: I suppose you�re right, Uncle Mort. Eyup, It�ssix o�clock. I�ll put the telly news on for you.That�s usually good and miserable.

UM: You�re a good lad, CarterTelly: "Blackpool to be transformed into casino

capital of Europe. Hundredsof new jobs. Mas-sive growth potential..."

UM: Bloody hell, Carter!Richard Lucas

Best described as 'basic'...A couple of issues ago I appealed for 'world'sworst canal camp accommodation' stories, andthis time we've got another page of reminiscencesof staying in rat-infested dumps where the onlyrunning water was running down the walls...

But these stories are from long ago: these dayswe stay in much more luxurious accommodation.

Such as the King Edward sports pavilion in Droit-wich - famed for its proximity to the 'Railway' puband its excellent shower facilities (not to mentionits sizeable earwig population).

Well, about two years ago the local council decidedto strip out and re-fit the already-good King Edwardcentre to an even higher standard. Imagine ourdelight! Imagine our disappointment when twoyears later they still haven't finished - it looks in-creasingly like we're going to get Hanbury Locksfinished before the sports centre re-opens!

So how about a quick change of plan: we'll letWychavon Council finish restoring the canal forus - after all, it's a logical progression for any ca-nal restoration scheme to move on from the vol-unteer phase to the Local Authority stage - andmeanwhile we'll rebuild the sports centre for them!

While we're at it, we might even think of chang-ing our name - to King Edward Sports CentreRecovery Group...

Lift bridge lifted?My spies on the K&A tell me that while the mainroad liftbridge at Aldermaston was being repairedrecently, thenewly-refurbishedaluminium roaddeckweighing several tonnes was awaiting re-installa-tion when it disappeared mysteriously in the night,courtesy of person or persons unknown!

Rumours that it was spotted on the Essex WRGtrailer behind a Land Rover heading towardsEmerson Valley, Milton Keynes have been strenu-ously denied by the WRG Recycling Bank...

PSsorryno 'LastDitch' cartoon -backnext time! ...Ed

navvies 192

Documents

caldon canal

huddersfieldnarrow canal

milesof canal

diary camps

editorialare boaters

photos alsoacceptable

editorial whinging boaters

anderton lift