Topical

Horses inspire canal sculpture

THE country's largest art sculptures of horses heads to form part of the boat lift mechanism at the entrance to the Falkirk Wheel on the Forth & Clyde Canal.

Andy Scott is the artiste the man behind the sculptures and will base his work on Baron and Duke, horses on loan from Glasgow City Council.

The 35 metres high 'Kelpie' heads will form part of the £25 million Helix Project on land between Falkirk and Grangemouth.

The initiative is a collaboration between the artist and British Waterways.

The giant heads, complete with flowing manes, would be the same size as the Falkirk Wheel visitor attraction and would form an integral part of the boat lift mechanism at the eastern entrance to the Forth and Clyde canal.

The two heads would rock back and forwards to displace water from a lock chamber allowing boats to move to and from Scotland's lowland canal network.

The Kelpie theme was chosen not only for the role the water horse played in waterway folklore but also to pay respect to the role of the heavy horse throughout Scottish history.

Andy Scott studied the two Clydesdale horses to finalise his drawings for the projects and to make sure the anatomy of his horses were accurate and to scale.

The Helix project received the £25 millions funding from the Big Lottery Fund's Living Landmarks programme. 04/07

Good weekend at Anderton

HUNDREDS of people attended the Canal & River Festival at Anderton over the weekend of the 21st & 22nd June, despite the unseasonably chilly and windy weather, Gillian Bolt tells us. Fortunately forecast winds of 65 mph on the Sunday did not materialise although committee members were called from their boats in the early hours to rescue 'fly away' tents!

Photo: John Fletcher

Brian Phillips, Inland Waterways Association Chester Branch Chairman, opening the event

80 visiting boats had booked in—with many lining the Trent & Mersey Canal, adjacent to the Anderton Boat Lift, with flags flying and flowers to celebrate the Cheshire Year of Gardens celebrations. More boats, including the historic working boats Saturn and Gifford, were moored on the Weaver itself, alongside the Festival site and made a great show for visitors to the Country Park and those cruising the river.

The VIP’s were brought to site on the River Princess and the Mayor of Vale Royal, Councillor Malcolm Gaskill, was very generous in his opening address—welcoming the Festival to the area and hoping we would return soon.

Photo: John Fletcher

Lots of historic boats on the Weaver

On the Saturday afternoon visitors were entertained with music from the Wierdstring Band—a very talented trio from Cumbria who have also appeared at Glastonbury and of course the Lyceum Brass Band who are well known throughout the North West, particularly having played at the opening of the Commonwealth Games in Manchester.

On Sunday the local Bostock Brass Band proved very popular too along with country music from Hartford West, a quartet who have played with the great Chet Atkins in Nashville.

The musical entertainment was interspersed with dancing by the Mersey Morris Men, chainsaw wood carving which resulted in superb flower sculptures and dramatic chip pan fire demonstrations by the Cheshire Fire Brigade.

Children were especially catered for with the Circus Sensible Group who had all the circus equipment for children to try and the Wild over Waterways Passport where children could do brass rubbing, knot tying, first aid, dry land rowing with Northwich Rowing Club and other activities.

The Grand Fun Pet Show on Sunday morning attracted a good entry with proud participants strutting around the site afterwards—showing off their rosettes !

The weekend was voted a great success, highlighting the Weaver as a great tourist destination. However, it also enabled the Inland Waterways Association to draw VIP’s attention to the overdue maintenance works that are building up— due to lack of funding. The committee members who accompanied VIP’s on their trip up the river were keen to point these out to the civic party and to stress the advantages that improved maintenance and additional facilities would bring to the river and the area generally. 02/07

Tactile maps and audio trails on the Grand Union Canal

BRITISH Waterways have produced two tactile maps and audio trails for visitors to the Grand Union Canal, making a day out at the waterside easier for the visually impaired.

The new maps and audio trails, produced in partnership with the Fieldfare Trust, are available at Stoke Bruerne and Hatton Locks, and have been developed with advice from local people who are blind or visually impaired.

The tactile maps reveal the layout and features of each site, while the audio trails guide visitors around the historic waterways, with a lively commentary on the fascinating heritage and present day use of the canal. The audio trails follow surfaced towpaths and have occasional resting points. The maps and trails can be used together or independently.

Visitors can enjoy the audio trails as they walk along the towpath or take a virtual tour in the comfort of the café or shop using the tactile map. Cassette players and tapes are available free of charge from the Stoke Bruerne Museum shop and the Hatton Locks café.

Annette Simpson, interpretation manager for British Waterways explained:

“Stoke Bruerne and Hatton Locks are great places for a wonderful day out. There is always something happening on the canal, with the hustle and bustle of people taking their boats through the locks, and the sounds of canalside wildlife.

“It is important that the heritage of these wonderful waterways is open for all to enjoy, and I hope that visually impaired people will find the maps and trails contribute to a great experience of the waterways.”

Accessibility at both Stoke Bruerne and Hatton Locks is good with designated car parking close to the start of each trail as well as toilets, cafés and picnic tables for those who want to bring their own food.

The marina with no boats—only houses!

A MARINA opened at Frenches Wharf on the Huddersfield Narrow Canal is claimed by a residents' association to be nothing more than an excuse to erect apartments and houses.

It was opened last Friday by the Minister of the Environment, Phil Woolas, MP for Oldham East and Saddleworth, but does not have any boats, and only a rough idea of how many it will hold, figures of 16 to 20 being stated.

Members of the residents' association have branded the scheme as a farce, being nothing more than a site for apartments and houses, most of which have now been built, but plans submitted for more around the marina.

The marina itself is now fenced off, with 'health and safety' given as the reason, with no access into the canal.

The VIP guests travelled to the opening ceremony at the marina from Saddleworth on the narrowboat Pennine Moonraker, operated by John Lund.

Greenfield and Grasscroft Residents’ Association members declined to attend, with Mike Rooke, Secretary of the association, claiming it was a condition of planning approval that the marina was completed before the phase two housing scheme could begin, remarking:

"The canal basin has no canal-side facilities and on the developer’s own admission there is no intention of opening this stretch of water to tourists and boat users for at least a year, if ever.

"At this stage, it seems that a premature launch serves no other purpose than furthering the interests of the developer’s house building plans for the adjoining site." 01/06

Help for Chesterfield restoration

THE Inland Waterways Association’s National Campaign Festival for 2009 is to be held at Kiveton Park on the Chesterfield Canal, which is by the derelict Norwood Tunnel, one of the major obstacles to its restoration.

The Festival will be held over the Spring Bank Holiday Weekend 23rd to the 25th May 2009.

The association wants to build support for the work of the Chesterfield Canal Partnership in its plans to replace the collapsed tunnel with a surface route and thereby reconnect Kiveton Park to those parts of the canal that are already restored, and the parts of the canal that are currently under restoration on its western side.

The Inland Waterways Association also hopes to spur on the Partnership’s plans for a new navigable link between the Chesterfield Canal and the Sheffield & South Yorkshire Navigation in Rotherham.

Locks on the attractive reopened Chesterfield Canal

The Festival organisers also hope to encourage visiting boaters to use the beautiful Chesterfield Canal and other lesser frequented waterways of the lower Trent.

The Festival location is at the limit of British Waterways’ ownership of the Canal, and within a few yards of Norwood Tunnel whose collapse caused the closure of the Canal beyond this point in 1908. It is being jointly organised by Inland Waterways Association together with the Chesterfield Canal Trust, The Chesterfield Canal Partnership, and the Retford & Worksop Boat Club.

The Chesterfield Canal is one of the county’s earliest canals, and was the last to be designed by James Brindley. Within its 46 miles it traverses widely different urban and rural landscapes and has a wide range of heritage features, many unique to the waterway.

Substantial progress has been made towards full restoration. In addition to the physical works carried out on the ground, there has been major progress on the range of studies required to support a major funding bid. The importance of this canal was confirmed by The Inland Waterways Advisory Council in their December 2006 report, which classes the Chesterfield as being of ‘national importance’ and in ‘Category 1’ (i.e. ready for funding).

Failing lock could derail Grantham Canal restoration

IT WAS late last year when is was discovered that Woolsthorpe Top Lock on the Grantham Canal started to show signs of cracking on the off-side wall, with British Waterways installing steel props between the walls of the chamber to prevent the off-side wall collapsing completely into the lock.

After a short while, British Waterways decided that, owing to financial constraints and the Grantham Canal being a Remainder Waterway, its cheapest option was to fill in the lock with aggregate or stone until it had sufficient money to carry out a full repair. The Grantham Canal Partnership and Grantham Canal Society opposed this and subsequently had meetings with British Waterways to discuss alternatives to infilling, but neither organisation could afford to meet British Waterways requirements, who would only pay for the propping until the end of the financial year and then fill in the lock.

Photo: Pam Pickett

Woolsthorpe Top Lock that was restored

Fortunately, the Inland Waterways Association had been advised of a potential legacy, which although restricted in its purpose could be spent on restoration work on the Grantham Canal. Early in 2008, John Baylis, the association's representative on the Grantham Canal Partnership and East Midlands Region Chairman, met the executors of the legacy and discussed options for spending the money and both agreed that it should be spent on a major project rather than on routine maintenance.

An approach was made to British Waterways at Newark to discuss the spending of the bequest. British Waterways expressed interested but needed more details as to how the work might be done and what the estimated cost would be. Inland Waterways Association suggested that it would be better to demolish the wall to remove the props and start partial repairs, with a view to raising more money to complete the rebuilding. British Waterways was, however, adamant it wanted to see sufficient money available to complete the work, but agreed to leave the props in until after the deadline of 31st March provided that the volunteers could pay for them. That money is now coming from a private donation by a member of the Grantham Canal Society.

Great deal of work needed

However it was discovered that a great deal of work is needed to secure the lock, even demolishing its wall, which British Waterways will not allow volunteers to do but insists contractors must undertake.

Unfortunately all this extra work will cost money and, despite some promised contributions from British Waterway, there is still a shortfall of the total cost of re-building of about £50,000. If the funds cannot be raised within the next six weeks the lock will be filled in.

Inland Waterways Association's view is that it would be extremely unfortunate to allow British Waterways to fill in the lock, as it will cost much more to remove the infill and then rebuild at a later date. It could put the restoration of the Grantham Canal back by 10 or 20 years and could nullify much of the work funded by the East Midlands Development Agency’s grant of £350,000 spent on dredging and tree cutting on the top pound in 2006-7.

Inland Waterways Association is trying to acquire grants for doing the work, but the granting timescale is months and there is a need to get the work done before the bad weather this coming winter. It has had promises of approaching £20,000 but is still well short of the target.

Mooring tenders update

AT ROUGHLY the half way point in the mooring tenders trial, just over 200 British Waterways long term mooring vacancies have been advertised for tender. Whilst some moorings have been allocated for more than existing contracts, others have been secured by boaters at less than current prices. On average there has been just under a 16% increase in prices using the trial tender system, a spokesman for British Waterways tells us.

A formal 12 week consultation on the allocation and pricing of long term directly managed moorings is about to get underway. The full consultation paper and associated questionnaire will be sent to waterway interest groups and anyone who has taken part in or provided feedback on the trial. This will be one of the topics that British Waterways Chief Executive, Robin Evans, is keen to discuss with boaters as part of his nationwide summer schedule of customer meetings.

The moorings consultation will cover a range of options for allocating vacancies. As British Waterways’ Head of Boating Development, Sally Ash, explains:

“This consultation is not about how high or low mooring prices should be but about how the prices for all long term British Waterways moorings customers should be set and the best way for vacancies to be allocated. The consultation is the formal opportunity for boaters to register their views, considering the pros and cons of each option and pinpointing where their assessment may differ from ours, and why.”

Tony Hales continues as chairman

TONY Hales has been reappointed as chairman of British Waterways after three years in the job, and tells us:

"British Waterways has an immediate and challenging business plan for the next three years and whilst there are many calls on limited resources, I am clear about our priorities and have agreed these with Government.

"The first priority is to ensure our existing historic waterway network is maintained in a safe and attractive way, both now and long into the future. Second, we will continue to grow our commercial income to spend on network maintenance and we'll aim to work with partners to deliver a wide range of other public benefits in areas as diverse as promoting health and wellbeing, protecting biodiversity and stimulating waterway regeneration and restoration.

"Looking into the future, the British Waterways Board will be overseeing the development of a strategy for the waterways creating a vision for 2020, and seeking to address the issue of long-term funding. This recognises that the current situation, whilst adequate for the short to medium term, does not meet the identified likely long-term funding needs of the waterways.

"As the main cruising season gets underway and as the canal towpaths welcome increased numbers of visitors, we'll all be kept busy in one way or another. I hope you enjoy the summer season ahead. I am personally going to enjoy my birthday on a boat on the canal with my family over the holiday weekend."