May 2014 West Riding Branch - Inland Waterways Association

Do you recognise the man? Or the bridge? See page 22
May 2014
West Riding Branch
Contents
Chairman’s Thoughts
Region Chairman's Thoughts
Volunteers 2013—2014
Thank you to our MPs
Destination Leeds
Skipton Festival
In case you missed it
AGM Minutes
Welcome Stations
The Most Interesting Apology for the AGM
Boston or bust!
Quiz
Another sort of volunteer work for IWA
People who help run the Branch 2014 / 2015
Directions and Location map
List of Open Meetings
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4
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10
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12
14
18
21
22
24
28
29
30
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Chairman’s Thoughts
Hello again,
As I am writing this it is misty and raining hard. There is a lot
of scope for improvement in the weather before we next go
boating (tomorrow — late bank holiday Monday).
Those of you who were at the AGM in April will have heard me
ask for more help to run the Branch. Yes, I know I go on about it, but at the
next 2015 AGM, all but two members of the committee complete their terms of
office. At least two do not wish to volunteer for more years on the committee,
and the others have yet to decide whether to stand for re-election.
This could leave us with a problem: the rules say we can remain as a Branch
with only two committee members, but with fewer people we would have to
curtail what we do. Volunteering is the theme for this edition – on the towpath, at waterway events, as well as the work done by the committee and its
members. Our Branch does well, and we could do better with more help.
The Open Meetings are important for how the branch is seen by the waterways public. We run eight meetings each year, including the AGM and
Christmas social at which we do not usually invite outside speakers. Thanks to
the generosity of the South Pennine Boat Club, the enthusiasm of our speakers and the loyalty of those who regularly attend, we usually break-even in
financial terms, and sometimes have some profit for the funds. The meetings
need to be organised, including inviting speakers, checking beforehand what
they need, and welcoming them to the Branch on the meeting evening. We
already have volunteers to organise a raffle and its prizes, welcome members
and do the coffee tea and biscuits; as Branch Chairman, I usually introduce
the speaker and invite any questions at the end. We do not have any volunteers to arrange the speakers. It is straightforward to (at least initially) choose
speakers from the IWA website list, invite them and advertise the arrangements. We have speakers for all the remaining meetings in 2014.There will be
open meetings in 2015 (only) if we have a volunteer to organise them.
There have been some thoughts about what we could do instead. Arrange
meetings in different parts of the Branch, in hope of meeting more of our members. Maybe this would be more attractive for a new volunteer to organise. We
could take the Christmas meeting to another location. It could be in a pub
somewhere, and not necessarily on a Friday. We just need a willing volunteer
to offer to do the organising ...
And many thanks to those who have done some volunteering and written parts
of this newsletter.
Enjoy the summer months in the good(?) weather .Hope to see some of you in
September . Elaine Scott, Branch Chairman
3
Well Done That Region
"Pleased to say we have exceeded our annualvolunteer-days target". Well Done. After two years of
a new enthusiasm for volunteering, it's a good time for
the (equally-new) Canal and River Trust to review how
well volunteering has progressed. I'm quoting here
one of the (employed-and-paid-by-CRT) volunteer-coordinators at a Customer Forum meeting: that's a renamed, refocussed User Group.
We (we CRT and we IWA) have a vision of volunteering, and part of its plan is
CRT employing people to encourage volunteers: this shows a real commitment
to the new approach, and recognises that having volunteers doesn't just happen
by itself, it's not necessarily money-saving (certainly not initially), and overall, will
expand community involvement and increase public appreciation of our waterways. All good, so far. We want to know how well it's going, so we will measure
something, and then to give those employees a target for the 'something', and
to inspire a bit of healthy competition we will have a something-league-table.
Then we can discuss their 'somethings' in their annual appraisals, maybe award
extra pay, ...
And the 'something' can take us over as the important-thing-to-achieve. In practice we chase volunteer-days – for that is the 'something' we decided to measure rather than good-of-the waterways or community-involvement or publicappreciation, or volunteer-group-sustainability all of which are harder to evaluate. It's lazy management to count days instead of looking at what those days
actually achieve. A gardening-guru in a radio interview this morning suggested
that plants have been doing-their-thing for 300-million-years and unnecessary
mollycoddling in a modern garden isn't likely to change their essential behaviour:
"Create the right environment and leave them to get on with it" was the recommended recipe. Waterway volunteers need the right balance of a welcoming
environment and detailed management for our new approach to have long-term
success.
Like the National Trust Of The Waterways
Often heard from politicians explaining what the proposed Canal and River Trust
was to be, the NT-comparison was a persuasive comparison with an existing
successful enterprise. Of themselves, the NT say on their website "3.7million
members, 61,000 volunteers, over 17 million visits to pay-for-entry properties,
estimated 50 million visits to open-air properties" That includes visits to the River
Wey Navigation in Surrey, which is itself a small part of the NT estate.
A visit to one of the NT's Grand Houses earlier this month (£16 for the after4
noon, thank you) emphasised how many people can be used watching over
each room, dissuading visitors from touching things which are not-to-betouched, and perhaps answering questions and being generally helpful. Overall,
I hated the opulance-for-the-few created out of the efforts of working people,
and that disquiet probably contributed to a dislike of being continuously
watched-over. That volunteers were doing it just enhanced my negative feelings. Let's not assume that our volunteers, just by being by the canal, enhance
the visitor-experience ...
A helpful volunteer lockkeeper
... at an iconic location, with lots of non-canally visitors around, approached the
front of Copperkins waiting-turns above the lock, and without wave to the
steerer Pushed-Out-The-Front. Which was supposed to be helpful but completely messed-up the careful inch-perfect positioning while the lock had been
filling, and the intended nonchalant lock-entry with minimum fuss and minimum
gap behind the ascending boat.
Which begs a question: are volunteer lockkeepers exercising the rights of the
Navigation Authority to instruct boats, or are they acting on behalf of boatmasters in assisting crews in lock operations? The teeshirt, the lifejackets, the
dangling rescue-line, the insurance arrangements, the need of prior-training all
suggest the former, while a twitter-exchange with Customer Services says that
lockkeepers will desist from helping if asked.
From this customer's perspective: the delight of the waterways is to be part of a collection of heritage structures combined as an operational, navigation network which we are
privileged to work for ourselves, and which is (for the most
part) a Turn-up-and-Go-Service. It needs a fair amount of
self-reliance, and once I have the hang of doing it, I am left
to my own devices; I'm just too old to appreciate being told
what other people think I should be doing, and it's tiresome
to have to arrange for the Navigation Authority to be in attendance to be able to go somewhere (as necessary with,
for example the Anderton Lift, Liverpool Link, Lancaster Link, Tinsley Flight,
Standedge Tunnel, tidal locks). It's always excellent to meet other users and
work together to make the navigation easier. But it is the navigation that's the
fun: I don't need and wouldn't welcome someone insisting on steering my boat
as a condition of using some part of the canal – and working the locks is similar. I enjoy the experience, and enjoy doing it well. If there are willing helpers
available, I will ask for assistance if I need it. And if they would like to do my
washing-up while I wind the paddles, so much the better.
Volunteers will volunteer to do what they find most interesting or most enjoyable.
5
Let's not give away to them the bits that attract visitors to do for themselves. It
still leaves plenty for volunteers to do. We are all keen for boats to share wide
locks, and in the Midlands there are signs asking boaters to wait for half-an-hour
for another boat to arrive. Really good would be the information that a moving
boat is ten minutes' behind, and with good mobile communications, volunteers
could be observing, collecting information and passing it on to help navigators.
At busy junctions (Middlewich and Fradley come to mind) it would be useful to
know which oncoming boats intend to go where and some help with where-bestto-wait would be valuable at busy periods.
Navigation in the North East
We don't have busy junctions or busy locks in our part of the network, and so
there are no volunteer lockkeepers who could keep up the Region's league-table
position for volunteer days by helping boats through. Earlier in the year some
boaters whom we had met in the Midlands were daunted by the Huddersfield
Narrow locks, and invited us for an afternoon winding paddles so they could
meet their booking for Standedge. This was good fun, and maybe we could expand the idea by having a list of volunteer helpers who could assist boat crews
when they request it. We would need the lock-winding volunteers, as well as a
volunteer to organise, publicise and administer the scheme.
And there another issue that a boat-centred volunteer scheme could avoid. I
think that canals are safe places for visitors: we need them to take commonsense precautions by being aware of lockbeams being moved, and avoiding
standing too close to lock walls. We shouldn't be conveying the message that
we need a lifejacket to visit the canal, and in situations that experienced boaters
have assessed the risks as not requiring a lifejacket, it doesn't help our image to
have everyone in a blue teeshirt wearing one. Let's allow volunteers and visitors
to make their own decisions about it: we don't need bureaucratic rules.
All the CRT regions have been asked to organise Welcome Stations at convenient locations on their waterways, primarily to speak to large numbers of passing
visitors. Little Venice and Foxton seem obvious locations, and judging from the
seven-thousand winter-weekend visitors to the 2012 Bingley lock-maintenance
open-day, that's also a good location to meet the
public. The North East Region has chosen
Fearns Wharf CRT office as its base, but the
number of passing visitors there seems to be
very limited, even if it's just a base for volunteers
spreading the word in Clarence Dock. Shouldn't
we be finding a way to speak to visitors in York?
Peter Scott, Region Chairman
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Volunteers 2013 and 2014
In 2013 we held five enjoyable working parties in Leeds and Salterhebble. We
estimate that this used about 32hrs of CRT-paid time and about 11hrs paid by
IWA. Five of our committee members volunteered about 50hrs of working-party
time and another 65hrs in travelling and preparation for the events. We attracted
about 20 additional people volunteering about 75hours of working-party time and
using about 15hrs in travelling. There was another 50hrs used by another 6 people is bringing boats to the events. We collected many-bags of rubbish, restored
large areas of cobbles to plant-free condition, bashed some balsam, cleared
floating logs from the canal and painted a mile of mileposts and did other oddjobs that came to hand.
Saturday 21 June to Saturday 13 July
Rochdale Boat Gathering
Volunteers are needed to help with the planned
boat gathering on the Rochdale Canal between
Hebden Bridge and Mytholmroyd. If you feel
able to offer some time during that period,
please contact Diana with expressions of interest at
[email protected]
There is no need to commit to a specific time or
task at the moment, however, Diana will need to know if you are interested in
being a volunteer lock keeper during that period because some training will be
available, provided by Canal and River Trust.
Friday 28 June to Sunday 30 June
Thwaite Mills Boat Gathering
as part of the Leeds Waterfront Festival
This is our third year in helping with this event. And those
who have helped before will know it is a good event. We
need people to help erecting marquees and market stalls
on Friday after which you can stay for the barbeque, manning the stand and helping with children’s activities on Saturday and Sunday and dismantling the stalls and marquees
on Sunday. You are welcome to turn up at any time, and
invited to stay to the quiz on Saturday night.
As well as the fun at Thwaite Mills there is are free boat
rides and a free bus to the other sites in Leeds.
To help please contact me on [email protected] or 07980953880
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Dewsbury Canal Festival
Savile Town Wharf, Mill Street East,
Dewsbury, WF12 9BD
Saturday 26 July to Sunday 27 July
10am - 4pm
Fun family friendly activities including best
dressed boat, the town crier, boat trips,
pond dipping, stalls and much more! Take
part in the first Dewsbury ‘Try’athlon on
26 July - try your hand at lots of different
activities. The fun fair will also be on site from Friday 25 July.
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Brighouse Canal and Music Festival and Summer Market
Saturday30 August to Sunday 31 August
Celebrating the Calder and Hebble Navigation as it winds it’s way through Brighouse, there will be boat rides, live music, fairground rides and a two day Summer Market with over 80 stalls of locally produced food and crafts with plenty of
tempting street food. Our stand will be there.
But that’s not all,
CRT have some different sorts of things to volunteer to do.
http://canalrivertrust.org.uk/volunteer for more details
Welcome Stations (see page 21)
Leeds, around Clarence Dock based at Fearns Wharf
Apperley Bridge, Leeds and Liverpool Canal
Towpath Task Forces
Sowerby Bridge, Rochdale Canal and Calder & Hebble Navigation.
Hazel Mayow, [email protected], 07920 466237
Skipton Leeds & Liverpool Canal
Monthly on alternate Wednesdays and Sundays
[email protected] or phone 07825 196 365
Knottingley, Aire & Calder Navigation
First Thursday of the month, 10am until approx. 1pm
Lucy Dockray, [email protected] Tel. 07767383736
Huddersfield Broad Canal
Second Friday of the month, 10am until approx. 3pm
Claire McDonald, [email protected], Tel 07920295943
Selby, River Ouse and Selby Canal
Third Saturday of the month, 10am until approx. 3pm
Lucy Dockray, [email protected], Tel 07767383736
And of course, there is the work we mentioned ln the last issue
Mirfield Promenade
Greenwood Lock to Cooper Bridge in Mirfield, West Yorkshire
http://mirfieldpromanade.blogspot.co.uk/
Don’t forget, if you don’t like any of the opportunities on offer, start your own!
9
Our Local MPs
Last year the IWA Trustees asked all the branch committees to write to their
Members of Parliament, to express our concern about the postponement of
the transfer of the Environment Agency navigations to Canal and River Trust
announced by the then Waterways Minister, Richard Benyon. The new Waterways Minister, Dan Rogerson, met the NationaL Chairman early in 2014.
There are 25 MPs that cover our Branch area.
We would like to thank those who responded to Ian Moore about the issue.
Hilary Benn (Labour, Leeds Central)
Greg Mulholland (Liberal Democrat, Leeds North West)
Stuart Andrew (Conservative, Pudsey)
Philip Davies (Conservative, Shipley)
Mike Wood (Labour, Batley & Spen)
Jason McCartney (Conservative, Colne Valley
We are grateful both for the responses, and confirmation that MPs across the
Destination Leeds – further developments
Following on from our last report things have been happening in Leeds. With
the backing of the NE and NW waterway managers and staff the following visitor moorings have been identified or confirmed and will be or have been
signed (in direction of travel upstream):
Knostrop Lock (left bank, above the lock)
Above...
Knostrop Lock (below the lock, alongside the
old lock in the basin) – not yet available
pending dredging
10
...and below
Fearns Wharf pontoon
(no longer short stay)
Fearns Wharf
New Dock (former Clarence Dock) existing visitor moorings to be increased in number by using
finger pontoons
Brewery Wharf (left bank)
River Lock upstream, left bank below Kirkstall
Fly Boat
River Lock upstream, Granary Wharf, right
bank (nb moorings in the arms attract a small
charge which includes electricity)
New Dock ( Clarence Dock)
Office Lock (upstream, both banks).
Facilities pontoon below Leeds Lock (half the
pontoon, upstream end)
Leeds Lock (lock landing below the lock, half
the landing, downstream end )
Duration at the sites varies from 48 hours to 14 days and all are free of charge
except the moorings off the main line at
Granary Wharf.
At Brewery wharf it is intended to offer water,
electricity and rubbish disposal and also discount vouchers for adjacent businesses,
courtesy Rushbond plc.
It is hoped Kirkstall Fly Boat will be able to
provide pump out, water and rubbish disposal
on the berth immediately below its mooring. It
is also hoped to increase further the number
Brewery Wharf
of visitor moorings on the river in central
Leeds by working with waterside businesses,
and also opposite Thwaite Mills, in due course. The arrangements described
are subject to review and comments from users will be most welcome.
11
Skipton Waterway Festival
Rainbow Spirit in the dark
And in day light
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Skipton Waterway Festival
The 2014 Skipton Waterway Festival was held over the first Bank Holiday in
May, the weather was kind this year with only a little rain one night and no wind.
Over 50 boats were registered for the event but there were many more moored
outside the town plus the passing hire boaters. The theme this year, not surprisingly,
was the visit of the Tour de France to Yorkshire in July: on day one it passes through
Skipton. The good weather brought out the
crowds and as well as the boats there was
a good selection of stalls and activities ,
together with continuous entertainment on a
stage in the basin area by the Freddie Trueman statue.
Freddie
The West Riding IWA stand featured Chris
creating his usual interest demonstrating the
art of knot tying for fender manufacture.
The Leeds & Liverpool Canal Society had
their boat Kennet on display and reported a
record number of visitors, in excess of two
thousand. At the “Boaters Bash” on the Saturday evening we enjoyed a hog roast and
music by Jive Express.
Chris, fenders and the stand
The winner of the Best Dressed Boat was also announced and this year there
were joint winners with boats "Jupiter" & "Titus", Jupiter is owned by David &
Ruth Crane and Titus is owned by Dave & Bev Grice.
Sunday Afternoon saw the raft race with a record 10 entries, one sank at the
start but all of the others finished the course with the winner being the Rubber
Dubbers in just under 3 minutes.
Sunday evening saw the illuminated cruise when 15 boats went about 1 mile out
of Skipton and as dusk fell returned in procession with a vast selection of lights.
It was a warm, windless evening making controlling the boats in convoy at tick
over speed somewhat easier than in other years. The good weather also
brought out the crowds again with hundreds lining the tow path and bridges into
Skipton. The winner of the Best Illuminated Boat was Rainbow Spirit, owned by
William & Eileen Jowitt
This event would not happen without the hard work of Ian, Pam and Zoe of Pennine Cruises and all their helpers so a big thank you to them. Here’s to 2015.
William Jowitt
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Skipton Waterway Festival
On Sunday, while Liz and Chris Pinder, assisted by Tim Field manned the stand,
some of the rest of us found other things to do.
Elaine and Ian talked to
Paul House of CRT
We all resisted the temptation to go above
ground caving S.
..but the Region Chairman
and Trustee didn’t resist
the ice shaves
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In case you missed it
January
Apollo Canal Business David Lowe
At our first meeting of 2014, David Lowe spoke about his
Apollo Canal business, which he ran for many years. A bus
stop, he said, has to look like a bus stop, with the usual pictogram of a bus on it. Even more so if it's advertising a waterbus. And a good waterbus service has to have a timetable
and keep to it - even if it does travel at walking pace.
There were many more gems and insights into the business
which David shared with us in his excellent and informative
talk.
Something to live up to—received after the January meeting
To the Committee
Although we have been IWA members for several years, last Friday was the
first meeting we have been able to attend, having moved from Essex to West
Yorkshire.
We did not know what to expect! What we found was an interesting venue, an
extremely kind and pleasant welcome from both the committee members and the
general membership, a very interesting talk, and a nice cup of coffee!
We look forward very much to the next meeting, and getting to know more IWA
members etc.
Yours sincerely
Shirley and Don Ward
February
Seesaws, slopes, slides and structures”
- the principles behind canal science and engineering by Geoff Auty
On Friday 14 February Geoff Auty once again gave a fascinating talk about how
some of the canal engineering we take for granted actually works. He was ably
assisted during the evening by Ellen and Ailsa Sayles in a number of different
demonstrations.
Starting with the basics of the seesaw I was wondering whether I had come to
the wrong group but then it all started to fall into place with the seesaw principles
being linked to the workings of lift bridges; from the picturesque bridges of the
South Oxford to the magnificence of Tower Bridge.
15
Moving on from bridges, Geoff covered the
workings of different sorts of paddle gear
and how the gearing mechanisms were vital
in making it possible for boaters to move
these incredibly heavy structures using just
wooden handspikes and windlasses. He had
produced a number of beautifully made and
fascinating little models to demonstrate how
all these principles worked.
Calder and Hebble Paddle Gear
After the break he went on to focus on the
Falkirk Wheel. To be honest I hadn’t really
given much thought to the scientific principles behind this beautiful piece of engineering but when Geoff started covering each in
detail it was quite fascinating to understand
how all the parts of the structure worked
together so efficiently.
Once again a thoroughly enjoyable and
unpredictable presentation from Geoff and
we look forward to his next instalment.
The highlight from Ailsa was that “she liked
the seesaw”.
Falkirk Whell
Ellen really enjoyed the evening too “All the things on the waterways revolve
around science. It is fascinating. I have always wondered how lift bridges work
and Geoff has taught me things that I will need in the future. There is always a
way to make learning fun and Geoff does that every time”
Alastair and Katy
March
“The Work of the RNLI” by Colin Senior
Colin was giving his 153rd volunteer
presentation on the work of the RNLI.
He told us how the work is funded then
showed us some short videos on the
work they do. There was the usual
amazing stories and pictures of recues
at sea—I find in wonderful that anyone
will put to sea in weather like that!
16
A more unusual video was the sinking of an inflatable boat under a highway
bridge over a river in flood. This incident led to the introduction of a special
training course for RNLI volunteers based on inland flooding. The accompanying training video showed how difficult it is to keep your feet in fast flowing water
and pointed out the problems of navigation on a flooded street. At least at sea
someone has charted the rocks for you. On the high street you have little idea
if you are boating over a post box or a parked car.
Friday 11 April
Back to the Beginning by Denise Spence from the South Pennine Boat Club
The evening started with a presentation on the transform of the site with many
illustrations showing what a marvellous job the Club has done, using volunteers.
Since 1984 the Club has transformed an area of dereliction into the great facilities that we see today.
Pictures from the
AWCC web site
Garth Robinson gave us a brief talk on the AWCC (Association of Waterways
Cruising Clubs). The AWCC was created in 1965 to protect boaters interests,
facilitate visitor moorings between clubs, and provide a boaters rescue service.
http://awcc.org.uk/
17
Minutes of the 2014 AGM
held at 9pm on Friday 11th April at South Pennine Boat Club.
Present 18 members
1. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE: Peggy Furniss, Malcolm Braine, Paul Jowitt
Katie, Alastair, Ellen and Ailsa Sayles, Tim Field
2. MINUTES OF THE 2013 AGM held on Friday 12th April at South Pennine
Boat Club, as published in May 2013 MilePost are accepted as a true and correct record of the meeting.
Proposed by Peter Scott Seconded by Liz Pinder
3. MATTERS ARISING: None
4. BRANCH CHAIRMAN’S REPORT
Committee members:
Chairman:
Elaine Scott
Secretary:
Ian Moore
Treasurer:
William Jowitt
Membership:
Chris Pinder
Minutes:
Liz Pinder
Members:
Peter Scott
Mike Tucknott
Assisted by:
Meeting co-ordinators:
Badges, stamps and raffles:
Web Master
Alistair and Katie Sayles
Ellen and Ailsa Sayles
David Mack
Alastair Furniss, Elaine's father, who had been the branch telephone-contact,
died in February (post now vacant). Elaine thanked all the committee for their
work during the year, all our speakers who have entertained us, all the members
who have supported these meetings and the South Pennine Boat Club for making availabe to us their excellent facilities.
Elaine reported on Branch activities, mentioning a selection of meetings attended, including CRT User Groups, Aire Action Leeds, Rochdale Canal Linear
Park Group, Leeds Voice Environment Forum, Leeds Waterfront festival, CRT's
NE Partnership Workshop, Destination Leeds, Boaters' Meeting with Richard
Parry CRT Chief Executive) and then our seven monthly Open Meetings
The branch stand and displays were taken to Saltaire (“A Bit of a Do” organised
by Leeds and Liverpool Canal Society). Skipton Water Festival, South Pennine
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Boat Club Rally / Open Day, Leeds Waterfront Festival at Thwaite Mills, Leeds'
Sea Cadets Open Day, Working Parties in Leeds & Salterhebble
MilePost (branch magazine) is now printed in colour and distributed directly by
Head Office with the help of volunteers local to Chesham
The branch has planned attending Skipton festival (Sat. Sun. Mon 4-6 May)
with the Gazebo, the Thwaite Mills Boat Gathering (Fri. Sat. Sun. 27-29 June)
and would welcome help putting up market stalls on the Friday, with a barbecue
on Friday evening, a Boaters and helpers’ quiz on Saturday and clearing up on
Sunday evening; we will also attend Brighouse (Sat. Sun. 30-31 August) with
the Gazebo, and Wild-over-Waterways activities.
5. TREASURER’S REPORT
Income and Expenditure Account
Capitation
Donations
Social meetings & working parties
Events and fund-raising
activities
Magazine
Trading
Lotteries & raffles
Bank interest & charges
Officers' expenses
Other
TOTAL
Surplus/(deficit) for the
year
Balance at 31 December
2013
ExpendiIncome ture
639.00
0.00
299.00
275.00
2012
ExpendiIncome ture
776.93
0.00
209.78
235.00
0.00
155.00
0.00
50.00
0.00
0.00
507.57
226.00
30.01
0.00
159.13
1860.7
1
63.54
534
221.71
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
540.71
234.00
21.48
0.00
20.00
1,696.0
1
45.00
564.71
107.81
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
1,249.25
611.46
£3,082.81
1,846.72
800.38
£2,471.35
William Jowitt noted that accounts are kept by IWA Head Office, and the meeting does not need a resolution to accept the accounts. William presented these
figures for information
19
William noted that Capitation is the monies we receive from IWA to fund the
magazine; that under “Donations Expenditure”, the main donations were to Skipton Waterway Festival. There had been a good level of income and donations at
both Skipton and the Thwaite Mills Boat Gathering.
6. ELECTION OF COMMITTEE
Proposed (Tim Field seconded by Mike Tucknott) that Ian Moore be appointed
until 2017 AGM: and that Liz Pinder (Tim Field seconded by Ian Moore) until the
2015 AGM: (the shorter period was at Liz's request). This was unanimously
agreed.
7. REGION CHAIRMAN’S REPORT
Peter Scott invited any questions on national or regional issues, and a disussion
followe, including the national appeal by CRT to support repairs of flood damage, the progress of the Leeds Flood Alleviation scheme, and local volunteering
work in Mirfield.
8. MEETING CLOSURE With thanks to those providing nibbles, Elaine closed
the meeting at 9.50pm
A different aspect of volunteering—Elaine talking to Richard Parry, Chief
Executive of CRT, at Little Venice
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Welcome Stations
(an invitation from CRT)
VOLUNTEERS TO OFFER A
WARM WATERWAY WELCOME
The Canal & River Trust is opening the doors at Apperley Bridge, Leeds and
other locations around the country, for local people who want to share their passion and knowledge of the waterways with others. New Welcome Stations are
part of a plan to give local people and towpath visitors better access and information to some of the best-loved waterway beauty spots in the country.
The Trust already have a growing team of friendly and informative volunteer
lock keepers around the country but soon you'll be able to call into our new welcome stations to pick up a local leaflet and find out more. The aim is to open
them at the busiest times, relevant to the local need. It's always useful to be
able to ask someone about where the nearest cafe is, how far you can walk
down the towpath and where it goes to, and if there are ways to support the
canal or river that you're stood next to.Volunteers are currently being recruited
to help make this happen. Appropriate training will be given (we're not looking
for canal experts) but we are looking for friendly, approachable people. If this
appeals to you get in touch with the Canal & River Trust's volunteering team to
find out more.
Ed Moss, national volunteering manager for the Canal & River Trust, explains:
“Our towpaths are alive with visitors who want to know more about the waterways and the rich heritage behind them. No-one knows more about their local
area than local people so we want to work with volunteers to create friendly
‘waterway information centres.’
The idea is to offer more local knowledge to visitors, but also a rewarding, social space for our volunteers. We’re open to ideas, so if people would prefer to
do this on their own, in couples or as small groups of friends we can work together to help make this work for everyone.”
If you are outgoing, love meeting people, are passionate about your local area
and would like to share your knowledge with visitors then the Canal & River
Trust would love to hear from you.
To find out more contact us via
www.canalrivertrust.org.uk/welcome-stations,
email [email protected]
or call 0303 040 4040.
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The Most Interesting Apology for the AGM
Dear Elaine
Thanks for the email. I’m based in Edinburgh, so can’t get to meetings! I
opted to be a member of the WR group since that’s where I hail from. My boat
– The Smeaton Stanley is in StokeS. I did attempt to get it from Cheshire to
Yorkshire in August 2012. Up through the Macclesfield Canal to Marple and
then to Dukinfield. Dilemma – the Huddersfield Narrow or the Rochdale. In
the end I opted for the Rochdale – didn’t fancy 3 hours in the Standege and
emerging with a battered – but fairly new (2011) narrow boat! Wrong choice!.
At the start of the trip up the Rochdale Canal I fell off the boat just after Lock
82 and broke my femur rather badly – smashing it against the underside of the
boat as I came out of the water. Sevens ops later (the latest and I hope the
last was 6 weeks ago). So I’m afraid I’ve moved the boat south to Stoke.
My reason for wanting to take it to Yorkshire was that I worked on the Calder
and Hebble Canal around Mirfield, Dewsbury, Brighouse and Wakefield as a
young engineer on a survey of BWB’s canal bridges in 1969, and wanted to
re-visit some of my old haunts. We worked off an old BWB boat with a cabin
reached down a hatch at the back and with the rest of the boat being a hold for
rock, spoil etc. The “Skipper” was an old BWB man called Frank York. There
was a stove down below where we mashed up. Frank had a jar of loose tea
leaves, sugar and powdered milk for his brew! Most of our work was on the
cut, but occasionally we looked at bridges on the Calder. Including the old
Stanley Ferry Toll Bridge with its wooden decking. We discovered the baulks
of timber between the iron columns and the steel joists supporting the deck
were completely rotten. Brian Hutchinson (the Husband & Co engineer I
worked for) hit one with a club hammer and it shot straight out and into the
river! The bridge was closed forthwith! We also worked on a masonry bridge
not far from the chantry chapel in Wakefield, where there is a short stretch of
canal that avoids the weir. It was a long time ago and I can’t remember the
exact locations in Mirfield etc.
More recently, and up here in Scotland, I unveiled a plaque on the Caledonian
Canal in Inverness to commemorate the role of Telford in the two great Coast
to Coast canals in Scotland and Sweden (the Gota Kanal). I unveiled an identical plaque in Motala last year.
Paul
Professor Paul Jowitt CBE
Past President of the Institution of Civil Engineers 2009-10
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23
Boston or bust!
Andrew Brett, Rieger
Having lived in East Yorkshire for 28 years; with family in Norfolk, we usually
broke our journey back and forth in the Boston area. Using the Wheatsheaf at
Hubbert’s Bridge, the Barge Inn at Swineshead or the Bridge Inn at Langrick.
About four years ago we were surprised to find IWA and other canal literature
at the Wheatsheaf. For those who do not know the Wheatsheaf approaching
from the north you cross the A1121 road, a railway line and the South Forty
Foot Drain and the pub is immediately on your right.
On enquiry we found that a new lock had been constructed at the end of the
Drain where it discharges into the Boston Tidal Harbour, there had been a lock
there until the 1960’s but this had been abandoned. The Drain was now to be
known as the Black Sluice Navigation, which gave us the idea that, to bring
our boat down from Goole to the excellent mooring constructed near the
Wheatsheaf should be added to “things to do before you die.”
Boston
Black Sluice Lock
People who know me will confirm that I am cautious by nature and so I started
to make enquiries as to how this could be achieved. I have never met so many
people with doom and gloom as I found as I asked around for advice.
Firstly our planned route out of Ocean Lock into the Yorkshire Ouse through
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Trent Falls around Apex Light and
into the Trent met with much head
shaking.
Next at Lincoln we would have to
negotiate The Glory Hole, the
barge which moors next to ours at
Goole bares evidence to a problem in the large dent in its steel
wheelhouse at a level not much
above the height of our hull. Information on the exact measurements of the bridge aperture are
impossible to find but what I did
“The Glory Hole “
discover was that the depth of water was also limited. Then there is the weed, “we tried to get through but just
could not cope with it” was a regular comment.
Finally there was the Grand Sluice Lock at Boston, only 40ft long (our boat is
55ft long) which attracted lots of negative comments.
At the end of 2012 we decided that
to moor and eat at the Wheatsheaf
would be our goal for 2013, we
would go early in the year before
any weed had been able to get established.
So at 9.20am on Saturday 4th May
we found ourselves exiting Ocean
Lock Goole approximately 2 hours
before low water having paid £47.49
the charge to use the lock at this
time in the company of our friends
Ron Shaw and his wife Janet. Ron
“the excellent mooring constructed near the
had been a Trent Pilot before he
Wheatsheaf “
retired. We arrived a few minutes
early at the Apex light so carried on past it before turning and moving into the
Trent; otherwise the trip up to Torksey went without a hitch and we were tied up
in the Foss Navigation at 5pm, a quick meal at the Swan Inn and Ron and Janet
left in their car for home.
The next day we made our way leisurely down Fossdyke to Lincoln where we
met friends who helped us dismantle our wheelhouse before crossing Brayford
Pool cabriole style to get through the Glory Hole. The underside of the bridge
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reminded me of a church crypt, though more properly described as a barrel
vaulted span of Norman origin, it was widened in 1540. Interestingly a bridge
after the Glory Hole has a lower air draught but we were able to negotiate both
without a problem at very slow speed. At Washingborough we reassembled the
wheel house dropped off our crew and moored for the night at Fiskerton nature
reserve.
Our journey down the Witham was without incident and certainly there was no
sign of weed. We did stop at Dogdyke and made a very worthwhile visit to the
nearby Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.
At Boston we met the Grand Sluice Lock Keeper Mike and his assistant Sam,
we were left with no doubt who was in charge of the lock, but to get our boat
through the lock could only take a few
minutes as the tide on the salt water
side passed the level of the Witham.
Any delay could make it difficult to
close the gates.
We were handed a piece of paper with
the estimated time of departure 16.01
hours and given instructions when the
lock lights changed from Red, to Green
and Red we were to cast off and hover
Boats in Boston tidal basin new and old
and immediately we saw two green
lights proceed through the lock, which
we did and as soon as our stern was
clear the gates they were shut behind
us.
The navigation through the tidal harbour was uneventful as we kept in the
centre of the channel and immediately
after passing a disused railway bridge
we saw the new lock structure with Andy Woods the Environment Agency Lincolnshire rivers officer waving to indicate we should make a wide arc to approach the lock.
The new lock is a magnificent structure with sector gates at the tidal end and
conventional mitred gates to the Black Sluice Navigation. We had to drop down
into the Navigation which was a relief as the red light at the exit inside the lock
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was below our bow to start with. When the mitre gates opened a second glory
hole was revealed which we just managed to get through with the wheel
house up. Outside were magnificent moorings where we tied up and went
back to the lock and pay our licence fee, £11 for two days. Andy Woods
proved to be most helpful and informative with a full range of booklets and
guides.
We left the lock and proceeded to Hubert’s
Bridge moorings again a magnificent Environment Agency standard floating pontoon,
arriving two hours after leaving The Grand
Sluice.
Black Sluice Lock
Exit from Black Sluice Lock
So our journey completed we made for the Wheat sheaf for a meal washed
down with a pint or two of Bateman’s XB, to make an entry in their visitors
book and have an enjoyable evening putting the world of waterways right with
mine hosts Sue and Gary Hall.
On a subsequent visit by Road to the Wheatsheaf we learnt that only two
boats had visited the pub this year including our own. This is even worse than
2012 when I understand 6 boats visited the Black Sluice Navigation.
The Black Sluice Navigation is the start of the proposed Fen Waterways Link
to create an Inland Navigation between Boston and Peterborough; it would be
a great pity if this fails for lack of support. IWA is an organisation that campaigns for waterways to be kept open surely we should be supporting the prospect of new waterways.
Our experience is that it is fairly straight forward to visit the Black Sluice Navigation, there was always several feet of water under our keel, and the tow path
rumours of the difficulties are untrue. If you are fed up with congested waterways and would like to have a river to yourself visit Boston.
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January Quiz
Did you get it?
Looking along the Market Weighton Canal from the entrance lock
May Quiz
It is still in our region, but again it is unlikely you will have gone through it.
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Another sort of volunteer work for IWA
Acheman Challenge team complete 50 miles, from left Stephanie Pay, Jenny Black,
Toby Gomm and Gemma Bolton (photo by Katharine Thivessen)
On Saturday 5th April four members of staff from IWA Head Office completed a
50 mile quadrathlon along the Grand Union Canal. The team has successfully
raised £13,530 towards the cost of a new excavator for IWA’s Waterway Recovery Group (WRG), although there is still time to donate.
Toby Gomm, Stephanie Pay, Jenny Black and Gemma Bolton cycled, worked a
boat through Marsworth locks with the kind support of IWA Chiltern Branch, ran
and canoed the 50 mile stretch along the towpath from Harefield to Wolverton as
part of the Acheman Challenge. Despite some running pains, the team successfully completed the 50 miles in under 11 hours and enjoyed a warm welcome
from IWA Milton Keynes Branch at the finish line, along with a free meal and a
drink in the Galleon Pub. The team was also presented with a surprise Acheman
Challenge cake by IWA Milton Keynes Branch Chairman, Peter Caswell.
The West Riding Brach made a donation in support of the appeal .
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People who help run the Branch 20134/ 2015
Chairman *
Secretary *
Treasurer *
Elaine Scott
3 Moorbank Drive
Sheffield S10 5TH
0114 230 1870
07980 953880
elaine.scott@
waterways.org.uk
Ian Moore
2 Eric Street,
Bramley
Leeds LS13 1ET
07989 112581
westriding@
waterways.org.uk
William Jowitt
35, Lowfield Crescent
Silsden
BD20 0QE
01535 657256
Membership Secretary *
NE&Yorks Region *
Minutes Secretary*
Chris Pinder
152 High Street
Yeadon
Leeds LS19 7AB
01132 509371
Peter Scott
3 Moorbank Drive
Sheffield S10 5TH
0114 230 1870
peter.scott@
waterways.org.uk
Peter Scott
(temporarily)
Committee Member*
Committee Member*
Telephone Contact
Mike Tucknott
4 Royds Avenue
Birkenshaw
Bradford BD11 2LD
07885 951099
Liz Pinder
152 High Street
Yeadon
Leeds LS19 7AB
01132 509371
Volunteer needed
Speaker Finder
Badges, Stamps &
Raffle
Website
Volunteer needed
David Mack
Ellen & Ailsa Sayles
Committee member indicated by *
Other things to do—take your pick and let us know
Navigation things
Arrange adverts for MilePost
Check Planning Applications
Welcome new members by phone
Attend Open Meetings
Liaise with Canal Societies and Trusts
Assemble MilePost
Find Speakers
Publicity
Organise working parties
Write for MilePost
Create and run a facebook page
Etc.
30
Directions to South Pennine Boat Club – information from the web site
http://www.southpennineboatclub.co.uk/
By Road:
Follow the A644 from Junction 25 of the M62 towards Dewsbury and Wakefield. Just before the Pear Tree Inn, turn right over the bridge labelled Battyford Toll bridge. The SPBC is on the left, through the gates before the second
Bridge
Buses:
The 278 from Wakefield, Dewsbury and Mirfield for Brighouse & Halifax, stops
outside the Pear Tree Inn. The 278 Bus from Halifax and Brighouse for Mirfield, Dewsbury & Wakefield stops across the road from the Pear Tree Inn.
Buses to Leeds & Huddersfield (203) or Bradford (253) run from Mirfield town
centre.
Trains:
Mirfield Station is about 1 mile from the club on the Huddersfield Line. It provides direct connections to Manchester, Huddersfield, Brighouse, Sowerby
Bridge, Hebden Bridge, Leeds, Dewsbury and Wakefield.
By Water:
The SPBC is on the Calder & Hebble navigation by Battyeford Lock
Taxi:
Station Cars Tel 01924 490 444
Mirfield Cars Tel 01924 490 999
Central Cars Tel 01924 490 000
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Programme of Open Meetings for 2014
All meetings take place at 8pm on the second Friday of the month
In the clubhouse of the
South Pennine Boat Club, Wood Lane, Mirfield WF14 0ED.
2014
Friday 12 September
Historic Narrow Boat Club by David Lowe
Friday 10 October
River waterways of north-east England
By John Pomfret
Friday 14 November
Community Boats
Friday 12 December
Christmas Social
2015
Friday 10 April
AGM
Any other meetings in 2015 needs
a volunteer to organise them.
See page 3
All the meetings organised by the West Riding Branch are Open and
everyone is invited. We are delighted to welcome any member of the general
public and members are encouraged to bring their friends. To find out more
about the waterways or the IWA come and join us at one of our meetings or visit
the website http://www.waterways.org.uk
Closing date for contributions for the next issue 25 August 2014
Contributions can be hand written, typed or in electronic format.
Pictures can be prints or digital.
The views expressed in this publication are published as being of interest to our members and readers and are not necessarily those of
The Inland Waterways Association or of its West Riding Branch.
The Inland Waterways Association
Registered in England no 612245 Registered as a Charity No 212342
Registered Office: Island House, Moor Road, Chesham, HP5 1WA
Tel: 01494 783453
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