Aegre March 2015

Aegre 141 - Mar 2015

from the East Midlands Region of

Aegre No. 141 March 2015

In this issue - River Welland Special,Boston Update, and Trent Boating


Aegre is published © 2015 by the East Midlands Region Committeeof the Inland Waterways Association for members of Leicestershire,

Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Branches.

The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the Inland Waterways Association or ofthe East Midlands Region. They are published as being of interest to our members and other readers.

The inclusion of any advertisement does not imply endorsement of the product or service by the IWA EastMidlands Region or any of its Branches.

Editor for Aegre: Peter Hill, 7 Lock Keeper’s Way, Louth, Lincolnshire LN11 0GQE-mail: [email protected]

Advertisement Manager for Aegre: Ian Mc Donald, see above.E-mail: [email protected]

This is the web edition, with lower definition colour pictures.Picture credits: Front cover: River Welland, see page 29. Page 3: Welland below

Fosdyke, Ian Paterson. Back cover: Stefanie Preston. Other credits, page 26

Chairman David Pullen, 16 Church Street, Scothern, Lincoln LN2 2UA. Tel: 01673 862278

Vice-Chairman Dave Carnell, Conifer Cottage, North End, Goxhill DN19 7JX Tel: 01469 530138

Leicestershire Ian McDonald, 1 Goodheart Way, Thorpe Astley, LeicesterBranch Chairman LE3 3RX. Tel: 0116 3321534

Lincolnshire Dave Carnell (as above)Branch Chairman

Nottinghamshire Mike Snaith, Hawthorne Cottage, 70 Main St,& Derbyshire Gunthorpe, Nottingham NG14 7EUBranch Chairman

Secretary & WRG John Baylis, 215 Clipstone Rd West, Forest Town, Mansfield NG19 0HJ Tel: 01623 621208

The Inland Waterways Association: Registered Office; Island House, Moor Road,Chesham HP5 1WA. Registered as a Charity No: 212342.

Tel: 01494 783453. Website: http://www.waterways.org.uk


March 2015No. 141

Next issue probably to be published inJuly 2015. Contributions to the editor(see page 2) by the end of May 2015please.

The space on the right is for localcontact information.

ContentsCanal Societies and Trusts in the EM Region..............................4The Editor’s Flotsam and Jetsam.................................................5From David Pullen, Chairman.......................................................6A Cruise to Spalding May 2015....................................................7Cromford Canal work at Ironville...................................................9News from Leicestershire...........................................................10Boating on the Tidal Trent...........................................................13The Shardlow Crane...................................................................15Lincolnshire Happenings............................................................18News from Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire..............................21Around the Societies and Trusts.................................................24Journals Received......................................................................26Picture Credits............................................................................26By all means - visit the Welland..................................................27Notts & Derby Branch Meetings.................................................30

AEGRE

River Welland below Fosdyke


Canal Societies and Trusts in the EM Region

Derby & Sandiacre Canal Society Chris Madge, c/o 62 Broadway, Duffield, DerbyDE56 4BU Tel: 07827 946444 www.derbycanal.org.uk

Erewash Canal P & DAssociation

Howard Smith, 1 Millfield, Kimberley, NottinghamNG16 2LJ Tel: 0115 9384129

Foxton Inclined Plane TrustFoxton Canal Museum, Middle Lock, Gumley Road,Market Harborough LE16 7RA Tel: 0116 2792657www.fipt.org.uk

Friends of the Cromford Canal Ad interim John Baylis, see page 2.www.cromfordcanal.org.uk

Mike Stone, 7, Crow Park Drive, Burton Joyce,Nottingham NG14 5AS; Tel: 0115 931 3375www.granthamcanal.com

Grantham Canal Society

Melton & OakhamWaterways Society

Richard Booth, Sysonby Knoll, Asfordby Road,Melton Mowbray LE13 0HP Tel: 01664 503330www.meltonwaterways.co.uk

Steve Hayes, 10 Chelmer Close, N. Hykeham,Lincoln LN6 8TH Tel: 01522 689460www.sleafordnavigation.co.uk

Trent and Mersey Canal Society 10 Long Lane, Middlewich, Cheshire CW10 0BL.Tel: 01606 834471www.tamcs.org.uk

Paula Hunt, Navigation Warehouse, Riverhead,Louth LN11 0DA Tel: 01507 605496www.louthcanal.org.uk

Louth Navigation Trust

Sleaford Navigation Trust

www.erewashcanalpreservationanddevelopmentassoc.org.uk

Friends of Charnwood ForestCanal

Mike Handford, 1 Sheepy Close, Hinckley, LE10 1JLTel: 01455 611508 [email protected]


The Editor’s Flotsam and JetsamLast time in Aegre we were runninginto winter, with not a great deal toreport apart from indoor meetings.This time we are running into spring,and a great deal seems to be happen-ing. From the Canal and River Trustthere are two major new initiatives toaddress problems which have beendeveloping for some years. They arethe mixed usage of towpaths, and thequestion of “continuous cruisers” whoare not really cruisers but move just afew yards from spot to spot every fewdays or weeks. There is no change inthe actual rules, which were con-firmed in a High Court hearing lastyear, but new techniques will beadopted to “encourage” those fewwho are cheating the system.

The document on towpath usage isalso strong on encouraging all users toshow consideration to others. Howthis will go down with the few whosadly don’t care may become clearwith time.

While some of our waterways are a bitover-used and over-moored (as inLondon and the Bath area), some arerather neglected. If there is a bit oftide or river current, people seem verycautious and don’t try. While care andplanning on tidal stretches and riversis always good, a little bit of informa-tion can help. Several initiatives arereported in this issue. C&RT are plan-ning to encourage boaters to lookmore widely with training sessionsand information (see page 13) and

IWA East Midlands is planning a“cruise in company” from Boston toSpalding (see page 7). To supportthese we have a special article on theWelland (page 27), which is tidalbelow Spalding.

On Boston and the Haven, and look-ing back on past issues of Aegre, it isfascinating to see the cover of theJune 2008 issue, which showed anartist’s impression of a dramaticallyimproved Boston Haven waterfrontwith people strolling in sunshine, andsitting in cafés and restaurants. Per-haps not Cannes or or even Middel-burg but better than the muddy tidalditch. Optimistically this had a head-ing “Boston 2013?” Well perhaps notquite. Recent decisions of Lincoln-shire County Council now give realhope of progress with both the FloodBarrier and the associated waterwayimprovements - but see David’s noteson page 6.

Recently I have received several pressreleases from C&RT about wild lifeon our canals and rivers. While I amof course pleased to see them, I had torestrain myself some time ago watch-ing a water vole nibble carefullythrough some marsh marigolds whichmy wife had bought and planted.

A reminder that we are now able toaccept advertisements in Aegre. Forinformation and rates please contactIan McDonald; details on page 2.

Peter


From David Pullen, Chairman

Since Dave Carnellpenned his Lincoln-shire round-up, theEnvironmentAgency and Lincoln-shire County Coun-cil (LCC) havedecided that, whenthe Boston Barrier isbuilt (due for com-pletion in 2019), itwill now NOT beused from the outsetto maintain the waterlevel of the Withamoutfall in Boston between tides. Theproposal, known as “Water LevelManagement (WLM)” within the Bar-rier project team, was to manage thewater level on every daytime tide overthe summer boating season at thesame height as the River Withamupstream of Grand Sluice – typically+1.4m ODN. This would have createda long window of over 12 hours perday for boats to navigate on the levelthrough Grand Sluice Lock and toBlack Sluice Lock irrespective of thetide in The Wash and The Haven(Witham Outfall).

The policy now is to work towardsWLM, but aligned more with progresson the Fens Waterways Link thanwith construction of the barrier. Toinclude WLM at this stage would cost£13.2M, including re-locating the

fishing fleet and a by-pass outfall for BlackSluice drain. To include anavigation lock (sealock), which is beingdemanded by sea-goingyachts and the fishingfleet based at Boston isanother £6M.

LCC have neverthelessindicated that the £11Min their economic regen-eration budget they hadearmarked for the Bar-

rier, from 2015/16 onwards, willremain in place. LCC now plan tospend this money to “…bring eco-nomic benefits (to Boston) sooner andwith greater certainty”. The LCCappraisal also mentions a “floatinghaven” and lengthening Grand SluiceLock. In the short term the floatinghaven would be provided downstreamof the barrier, and when WLM isimplemented would provide mooringsfor the fishing fleet, initially for theconstruction phase of the sea lock andpossibly also in the longer term.Lengthening Grand Sluice Lock iscertainly an improvement for inlandwaterways boaters and would increasethe present window for lockage ofboats longer than 13.7m (45ft). Wemust press for the improved lock to beable to pen both up and down onto theHaven. 16 February 2015

Boston Haven

Waterside

-A future dream?


We now have a positiveresponse from EA about navi-gating to the Welland in mid-May. We are constrained tothis weekend as it is only thehigher "springs" that make alevel at Fulney. This is notreally a navigation lock at all,rather just a flood or tidaldefence structure that can beused for navigation at certainstates of the tide.

Sue Cant of the EnvironmentAgency, has said: “I have dis-cussed your proposed boatingevent for the River Welland with thelock/sluice keeper at Fulney and I ampleased to be able to say that:

1. Locking through times.15th to 17th May - the suitable tideswill be afternoon/evening.18th May - suitable on both tides.19th May - locking through is possi-ble on both tides but is dependant onhow much daylight is available asthere is no lighting on site.

2. There is inevitably a build up oftidal siltation downstream of the tidalgate. I have therefore arranged withthe sluice keeper to initiate a routineof flushing through. Barring anymajor event such as a drought, whichcould prevent the flushing routine,this will keep the area clear and allowboat passage for your event.

3. We will need to know how manyboats will be attending and their vari-ous lengths and widths. This will ena-ble the lock/sluice keeper to plan themost efficient way of getting every-one through. It goes without sayingthat his instructions must be followedat all times. Will it be possible for youto provide this information at least sixweeks before the event?

4. All boats participating must holdvalid registrations for our EA water-way.“**********Fulney has two pairs of outwardpointing (tidal) doors which keep outthe high tides. The inner set are theoriginal pair, with the newer pairadded more recently to provide betterprotection. There is also one pair of

A Cruise to Spalding May 2015

Fulney Lock in action -

From the Tuesday Night Club


upstream pointing doors which main-tain the retained water height in theriver through Spalding when the tide-side level is lower. EA operating pro-cedures only allow passage when thetide is level and falling, and they willnot allow all the gates to be fully openeven when the tide makes a level.I'm hoping that we can get three nar-row boats per tide through Fulney (asthe "lock" structure is 9m wide).Therefore it appears we can take up tonine boats up as follows :Friday 15 May: 3 up pm tideSat 16 May: 3 up pm tideSun 18 May: 3 up am tide.And back down:Sun 18 May: 3 down pm tideMon 19 May: 3 down am tideMon 19 May: 3 down pm tide

This would still allow up to nine boatsto make a "presence" all together inSpalding for about 10 hours on Sun-day 18 May, depending on numberswe can muster at Fosdyke YachtHaven. So perhaps up to two convoyscoming out of Boston to turn up theWelland on the previous rising tide.We need at least one boat in each con-voy with marine band VHF radio. Idon't think we can make it from Bos-ton to Fulney on one tide and getthrough the lock. We will need an EAshort term licence possibly to com-bined with a Black Sluice licence.

This proposed trip is not a “first”. In2001 a group of boaters known as the“Tuesday Night Club” did just such a

trip, but before Black Sluice Lock wasbuilt, with the mooring pontoons, andFosdyke Yacht Haven was still acommercial port. These two now bothoffer possibilities for mooring overtides to ensure getting to Fulney at theright tide time.

Please can you let me know (07766714650) as soon as possible if youintend to join this cruise. There is noguarantee that it will actually be pos-sible though, due to possible adverseweather. I will take advice on thehighest winds that would be safe fornarrow boats to make the turn roundTabs Head. However both BostonHaven and the Welland outfall aremarked and constrained by stonetraining walls and marker buoys orbeacons so it is only a matter of fiveminutes or so actually making the turnwith the open sea on one side!

It is usually possible to "rehearse" partof the cruise, nearly up to the Fosdykeyacht haven, aboard Boston Belle. Idid this in 2012 before having toabandon the planned cruise. Rodney,the skipper of Boston Belle, is veryhelpful, but at present the "rehearsal"trip on Boston Belle is doubtful astheir first normal scheduled cruise islate May. However I'm wonderingwhether we might be able to organisea private charter in say April if wecould get enough people who wouldlike to do it - an East Midlands IWAcruise!? Again call me if interested.

David Pullen


Some useful references:Environment Agency -

The Rivers Welland & Glen A guide for river users. Rivers Welland and Glen: locks and facilities.Or via https://www.gov.uk/rivers-welland-and-glen-locks-and-facilities

Imray Laurie Norie &Wilson, St Ives, PE27 5BTChart Y9, The Wash. November 2014, one correction.

Tidal Havens of the Wash & Humber. 6th Edition. 2011

The Tuesday Night Club, cruise 2001 http://www.tuesdaynightclub.co.uk/Tour_01/fen8.html

Fulney Lock from shore - From Kate Jewell

Cromford Canal workat Ironville

Through concerted efforts byits members, the Friends ofthe Cromford Canal sold themost tickets in the 2014 IWAraffle, and have been awardedthe highest amount of £1,200.This will be used to buy toolsand equipment for use at theIronville site, shown left.


News from Leicestershire

Since the last edition we have enjoyedtwo social meetings. Our Christmasparty was held at the home of ourSocial Secretaries where they createda wonderful selection of dishes for thebuffet supper and gave those present avery good mental test with the quiz. Iwas delighted to be acting as the ques-tion master as it saved me from dis-playing my ignorance. It was anothergreat evening and we all enjoyed thegolden prizes.

In February our AGM was held at TheGate, the expected refurbishmentsbeing delayed, and we welcomed theRegion Chairman and our NewsletterEditor, as well as our speaker SirPeter Soulsby, elected Mayor ofLeicester and a fellow Branch mem-ber. We also welcomed a full house ofmembers and friends with peopleperching on tables, all seats havingbeen taken! AGM matters were dis-pensed with simply, sadly with us los-ing another member to our committeeand with no new volunteers.

After our refreshment session the rea-son for the great audience was anaddress by Sir Peter, assisted by AnneProvan, talking about the plans for thefuture of the waterways throughLeicester. He started with a review ofthe workings of the River Soar &Grand Union Partnership and howthis is linking plans for what he con-siders a vital North-South corridor

through Leicestershire. With a seriesof slides to illustrate points about theexisting assets, he then showed detailsof how the City of Leicester has over-all plans to improve the water-spacein Leicester dramatically.

He reported that the City Council hadsucceeded in gaining funds from UKand European sources to transform thearea, bringing new vibrancy to a partof the city that has been too longneglected, mainly between AbbeyPark and Castle Gardens. He stressedthat a key ingredient will be toimprove the attractiveness of the cityto boaters and others that use thewaterway and adjacent paths. Theprovision of facilities for boaters willbe achieved (Hoorah, at last!) withplans for mooring both alongside Fri-ars Mill, north of West Bridge and theexisting secure moorings, and also atMemory Lane Wharf. The work atMemory Lane will be part of thedevelopment of a new Basketballarena and is planned to include a newfootbridge over the navigation intoAbbey Park. Some of the funding forthe overall work is through the Envi-ronment Agency, with the works theyare starting to undertake to reduce therisk of flooding to significant areasnear the city centre.

Should others wish to look at theplanning outline, a link on our webpage will find the details. It will be


too late to comment when you readthis, but you should find it interesting.Picture above courtesy of LeicesterCity Council.

A really significant part of the wholeset of plans is the way that the CityCouncil, C&RT and EA are all work-ing in the area towards the same goal,though the goal will achieve differentobjectives for each organisation. Ameasure of this is that Simon Papprill,Enterprise Manager for Canal & RiverTrust, travelled to our AGM fromFazeley in the afternoon before driv-ing home to the outskirts of Manches-ter that night. Simon had been with uspreviously at the Open Weekend forLime Kiln lock, where he introducedme to Richard Parry, C&RT ChiefExecutive, before I then ensured thatRichard met and had an extended talkwith Sir Peter. I understand from bothof them that they found the meetingvery useful, and Richard told Simonthat if there was anything that C&RTwas seen to be putting in the way of

successful conclusions,Richard was to be advisedat once. Am I being toooptimistic to hope that wemight at last give Leicesterwaterside attractions thatwill encourage boaters toventure into the city andstop!!

Our next meeting is onApril 9th where we willprobably hear some contro-

versial points from Steve Haywood,award-winning current affairs TVproducer, journalist, author and long-time boat owner. A provocative talkcan be anticipated! Venue is to beconfirmed subject to the aforemen-tioned refurbishments commencing atThe Gate Hangs Well. The meetingwill start at 7.30 and please check ourweb page for final details. All indoormeetings are on the second Thursdayof the month. For more information,please contact Andrew [email protected]: 07710 362 952.

Hopefully all boaters reading thisunderstand that the dire tales of thebandits in Leicester are totallyunfounded. Presently the last C&RTfacilities that can be used to the northof the city are at Barrow, whilst to thesouth they are at Kilby Bridge. This isachieved easily in two days so every-one could and should plan to spend atleast one night in Leicester. There aresecure moorings currently at Castle


Gardens, and just south of there byKings Lock they are good, as they arein Birstall. In all the years we haveboated through and stopped in Leices-ter we have never experienced anytrouble whilst mooring, not evenwhen mooring on the towpath on theMile Straight. There is a great deal ofhistory to see in Leicester, as well asthe new, large Highcross retail centreabout 200 metres from Castle Gar-dens. The Richard III exhibition andtomb is even closer, along with largeexpanses of Roman brickwork andancient churches.

The branch has been represented atand participated in meetings of theRiver Soar & Grand Union Partner-ship as well as in the Catchment AreaPartnership, and several of us assistedat the Lime Kiln lock open day, andalso assisted in trying to clear thedebris from the invert of the lock. Iunderstand C&RT reckoned around50 tons were removed, much of it byhand and shovel, with getting it clearstill in doubt only 24 hours before vis-itors arrived.

The Branch is also assisting with theplanning for Leicester Riverside Fes-tival on June 6 and 7 from 10 till 5each day. The event gets bigger eachyear, and this year welcomes backDragon Boat Racing on the Saturday.Western Boulevard alongside theStraight is again traffic free and aswell as the usual range of stalls thereis a large free music event. There is

no charge for anyone and I do hopeboaters will come along in large num-bers to fill the towpath. People love tosee all the boats, especially those thatare decorated, please go along andenjoy the weekend. It is encouragingtoo that C&RT are going to be veryactively present; BW occasionallycame along in the past but the newenthusiasm of the Trust is very wel-come. Don’t forget also the FoxtonCanal Festival on June 20-21.

So Leicestershire Branch is alive andkicking with some good meetings thathave attracted some new membersalong. We would be delighted to havenew members for our committee, butfailing that we really welcome feed-back and comments; my contactdetails are published on page 2 inAegre. I look forward to hearing fromyou, especially if there is somethingthat the Branch should take actionupon.

We are very fortunate in having sucha tremendous editor of Aegre, he cre-ates a really good read in each issueand puts up with some contributorswho are very careless at keeping tocopy dates and he also travels greatdistances to meetings. So Peter, I startwith this appreciation of you.......but Ibet you will edit it out!

Ian

No, but I did move it to the end, Ian.Thank you. All contributions to Aegregratefully received. Peter


Boating on the Tidal Trent

The Canal & River Trust is developing asurvey to try and understand what can bedone to encourage more boaters to ventureout onto the nation’s rivers.

This is being prepared by the Trust’s EastMidlands waterway partnership along withthe Boating Association and Inland Water-ways Association. Together they are keen toattract more boaters onto the tidal Trent, butit’s hoped that the findings will provide use-ful insights for other rivers across the coun-try.

The aim is to understand current trends ontidal, non-tidal and canalised rivers and toidentify possible barriers which may preventboaters from exploring their nearest one.The partnership will then use the findings to develop a package of measureswhich could include training courses, instructional videos, more readily-availa-

ble information, or informal boating con-voys.

Danny Brennan, chair of the Trust’swaterway partnership in the East Mid-lands, said; “We firmly believe that everyboater should experience the River Trentat some point in their lives but we alsorecognise that there are some issues thatmay currently prevent them from doingso.

“Whether it be a degree of fear or a sim-ple practicality, such as not knowingwhen locks will be open, we want tounderstand why some boaters don’t ven-ture onto the Trent – and the other riversthat the trust cares for.


“Once we’ve identified all the issues we can then start to look at ways inwhich they can be addressed. We want to make it easier and more attractivefor boaters to venture onto our rivers so that they can really get out there andexplore a different aspect of life on the water.”

Possible areas of discussion and, in due course, support include: Convoys witha lead boat; Pilotage by experienced volunteers; Wider availability of chartsand the Trent Vale Guide (currently out of print); VHF training and guide togetting a licence from Ofcom; Tide tables.

Much of this material could be made available by newer methods such asYoutube for training videos; apps for phones and tablets; a real time appincluding GPS; a web site with the associated information and maybe a forum.

Actual training topics could include the range of items needed to plan a trip,such how to gain advantage of the tides:-Planning a journey; Using tides; Strong streams and floods; River bed profiles;Journey times, speeds, speed limits; Entering and leaving locks; Anchors andwhat to do with them; How to meet oncoming vessels and their wash; Com-mercial traffic; Navigation signals; Contact with Lock Keepers; Safe mooringin emergency; MOB recovery.

Signs and Portents on the Trent:

Sunken Island


The Shardlow CraneText and pictures from John Baylis

From the early days of the canal sys-tem in the late 18th Century a fewprimitive timber cranes were used toload and unload heavy items fromboats. Smaller cranes were swivelwharf cranes probably lifting aboutone ton but there were larger cranesor hoists fitted inside buildings overan internal canal basin. Then with thecoming of railways and their take–over of canals in the 1850s, many dif-ferent types of small crane wereinstalled on wharves, station goods yards and at warehouses. These often hadcast iron bases and gear mechanisms but the jibs were probably originally oftimber with later models using wrought iron or lattice girder jibs.

There are numerous photographs of old Shardlow with various types of cranebut the only one remaining in the village is outside the old warehouse justbelow Derby Road Bridge. This crane in particular is not shown on the earlyphotographs and the Shardlow Heritage Society doesn’t believe that it is thefirst crane on this site. From a photo of about 1960 it had probably beeninstalled there for some years, although that may not have been its originallocation, and its foundation work looks fairly old. It is probably a “RailwayCompany” crane and may have been installed by Messrs. F.E. Stevens Ltd.when they owned most of the warehouses in Shardlow. However, on the cranebase is a brass plaque with the following text.

THIS CRANE WAS DONATED BYJEFF CLIFTON DECEMBER 1989

RENOVATED BY THETRENT & MERSEY CANAL SOCIETY

UNVEILED BYNITA COOK (NEÉ STEVENS)

19 MAY 1990THE CRANE WAS ERECTED IN 1870 BY ZACCARIAH

SMITH FOR BEER HANDLING AT THE BOTTLINGSTORES EACH SIDE OF THE ADJACENT CANAL ARM

IN 1974 BERNARD DE STEVENS GAVE THE CRANETO MR. CLIFTON REQUIRING HIM TO ENSURE

SAFE KEEPING ON THE ORIGINAL SITE


Zaccariah Smith’s Brewery wasopposite the Malt Shovel and wasdemolished in the late 1960s.By 2006 the timber jib was becom-ing badly affected by rot and AlanBates, work party leader of theTrent & Mersey Canal Society,decided to lower and remove the jibin order to obtain a replacement.The jib was measured and thetapered octagonal shape was drawnout with a view to getting quota-tions and possible grant funding; but nothing happened in over three years.Then, in 2011, I was getting some old British Waterways timber stop plankscut up for the Erewash Canal Preservation & Development Association for useon the swing bridge at Langley Mill. Phillip Gregory, of Charles Gregory &Sons Ltd. at Tansley, made the cutting look such an easy job with his largeband saw that I asked him for a quotation for cutting a new jib.

Phillip’s price was £200 less than the previous estimate so I asked him to cut anew 22 foot long tapered octagonal jib for the crane, starting from a larch logabout 14 inches in diameter. After the cutting we left it to dry out under coverin his timber store. Following this, Alan Woodhouse planed and sanded thepost prior to it being “Tanalised”. After delivery by lorry to Langley Mill,Dave Turner carried it on his boat to John Cooke’s garden. Alan then shapedthe ends to take the cast iron sockets at the base and top of the jib. Followingthis the jib had several coats of special water based paint which allows the tim-ber to breathe. Modern gloss paints form an impervious sheath on timberwhich traps water in the timber and accelerates decay; hopefully this will beprevented by the new paint.

When he first took the jib down Alan Bates had made several new 1.5 inchdiameter bolts for the base and the top pulley wheel, and had painted most ofthe gear wheels. I obtained a piece of 16 mm thick laser-cut steel to bolt over acrack in part of the base side casting. To satisfy English Heritage this has asmall plate fixed showing “WRG 2012”. I also made new tapered gib keys tolocate and lock the gear wheels on to the spindles. Then on a Friday ErnieBoddy, Mac Lambert and myself refitted the repaired side plate, fixed thegears and recovered the 20 foot iron tie rods from Shardlow Marina wherethey had been stored.


A date was fixed for thefinal erection and on Fri-day, October 17th lastyear members of theECP&DA working partymoved sufficient scaf-folding and equipment toShardlow and loaded it,along with the jib andother parts, on to Daveand Izzy Turner’s work-ing boat “Bath”. The fol-lowing Friday morningDave moved the boat to

the crane site ready for the ECP&DA working party, augmented by a fewmore from WRG. The jib was swung into position and a new bolt fitted to fas-ten the jib to the cast iron base; the tie bars were also fitted to the top end ofthe jib. A large scaffolding tower was erected round the jib and the jib slowlyraised using a geared chain block.

Part way during the lift the chain and hook were fitted and the spare chainwrapped round the drum on the base. The lifting continued until the tie rodsreached the top of the base when they were bolted on to the cast iron top plate.The cast iron base was touched up with paint as necessary and the spare chainbolted on to the crane base. The total cost of the work was just over £600,more than half of which came from the Trent & Mersey Canal Society, theremainder being from donations and Waterway Recovery Group (East Mid-lands).


Lincolnshire Happenings

I am pleased to be able to report thatthe Black Sluice entrance lock to theFenland Link is again usable for navi-gation. Many trials and tribulationswith its complex operating softwarehave been overcome following flooddamage early in 2014.

The Link, in common with the BostonNavigable Drains, is open for naviga-tion May to September inclusive. Suit-able times for passage over the tidalBoston Haven can be checked with theBlack Sluice Lock Keeper on 0120536486 or 07712 010920. Before leav-ing Black Sluice or Grand Sluice locka check should be made with the Portof Boston Harbour Master (Tel 01205362328) that no commercial shippingmovements are taking place. An IWAvoyage out of Boston to the Wellandis planned for May. See our specialarticle on page 7.

Other good news is that the GranthamCanal Partnership has succeeded inobtaining an HLF grant of £830.000towards restoring locks 14 and 15 onthe Woolsthorpe flight. A further two,12 and 13 in Lincolnshire, also requirerestoration, taking the waterway to theLincolnshire boundary. The works areto provide Heritage Skills Training forvolunteers and the Grantham CanalTrust will be pleased to hear of anyone who can help, tel. Ian on 01159892128 or 07789 383266. See alsopage 24.

Last year the Waterways RecoveryGroup visited to prepare a site com-pound for the works planned this year.They will be holding three morecamps there this year during theperiod August 22nd to September12th. Volunteers are always welcome,and enquiries should be made to JennyBlack tel 01494 783453 ext. 604 [email protected].

The Branch Committee were pleasedto be able to help an appeal from theNewark Heritage Barge project,”Leicester Trader”, with a donation of£500. Details of their work can befound on newarkheritagebarge.com orby contacting Les Reed on 07971589612. They are holding a sea-shantyevening in Newark, at the StaythorpeSocial Club in King’s Road,NG24 1EW on Friday evening 27thMarch. Tickets £10, also from Les.

The River Ancholme Trust are work-ing with North Lincolnshire Councilto purchase a weed cutting and

Volunteer with WRG!


removal boat. This will notonly be used on theAncholme but on other lei-sure waterways within the“Unitary Authority” bytrained volunteer operators.Works continue with creat-ing a multi-user path alongthe river northwards fromBrigg to CastlethorpeBridge, the first of severalphases intended to reach theRiver Humber at South Fer-riby..

Louth Navigation Trust have nowlocated a copy of the AbandonmentAct and are investigating the owner-ship of structures along its course. Tohelp their efforts they have created ane-petition and are inviting enthusiaststo show their support by registeringon the e-petitions part ofwww.gov.uk. It is petition 70914.

In Lincoln a planning application hasbeen made for another “over thewaters” commercial building at Bray-ford Pool at the site of the presentviewing point. This continued devel-opment over what is said to be the“Jewel in the Crown” of the Cityraises concern over where Heritagesits with the planners?

Sleaford Navigation Trust continue towork for the provision of mooringsand canoe launching facilities inSouth Kyme. Fishing stances are nowin place. The provision of a windinghole using an IWA design is subjectto Land Drainage Consent. Hopes of

funding other projects using LandfillSite monies have received a set-backin that the local site has closed. All itswaste is now being incinerated to pro-duce electricity.

A further set-back to Sleaford TownRegeneration of the Navigation is thatTesco have decided they are not goingto build a large new store, meaning aloss of funding from section 106 mon-ies for benefits to the Community.

Volunteer workers have been busyremoving tree roots from the lockchamber at Coggleford Mill Lock inthe Town (pictures here).

Members of the SNT and IWA repre-sent waterways interests on the Sleaf-ord Urban Opportunities group andalso on the Lincolnshire Rivers Trustwhich concentrates on protecting,enhancing and restoring the Withamand its tributaries for all to enjoy.Details of their work can be found atwww.lincsrivers.co.uk.

Cogglesford Tree Roots


Diary. The Boaters’ Gath-ering at South Kyme willtake place on May 2, 3,and 4, 2015. All are wel-come to participate andenjoy this local villageactivity. For visiting boat-ers this would provide anideal opportunity toexplore the Witham Navi-gable Drains and FenlandLink.

An archive question

The archives of EA in Lincolnshire have revealed some old, glass platephotographs, but without identification. Can anyone help with ideas? If so,please contact me. They are called 27-2, 31-2, 34-2, and U1.

Dave Carnell

Cogglesford Cleared


It has been relatively quiet over thewinter season but the longer days arecoming and the warmer weather is onits way. On that buoyant note I canthink back to some good social eve-nings during the dark nights. At theNovember meeting we had an inter-esting presentation from Robert Neff,General Manager of Mercia Marina,perhaps the UK’s biggest inlandmarina. The trials and tribulationsthat went into building the marina aremuch more complex than you mightimagine. Robert’s photographs andanecdotes of his waterways experi-ences kept the audience enthralled.The site was a former gravel pit and alot of the current shape is derivedfrom that challenge. However theoccupants feel that the layout, remi-niscent of a grouped series of lagoons,is inspired. It feels like living in asmall village-like community butallows the facilities to be providedwith the economies of scale of a largeenterprise. The effort and thoughtfulplanning that went into the construc-tion were something to behold. At thesame time all the environmental andwildlife planning activities are onlyjust beginning to be seen but will havea long term positive influence.

Our Christmas meeting was inDecember and it never ceases toamaze me how a plan comes together.It comes down to forward planningand hard work by the organisers. Wehad a great evening of food, good

company and a testing quiz, puttingeveryone’s waterways and generalknowledge well and truly to the test. Idid think it was a particularly eviltwist to have the picture round inblack and white thumbnail style pho-tographs and it certainly courted somecontroversy. At the end of theevening though everyone had had agreat time and went home with happysmiles.

Into the New Year and January sawPeter Toon of the Mikron TheatreCompany give a great presentation onthe history and operation of thefamous travelling theatre group. Ittakes a particular type of person tolive and work with a small group oforiginally unknown other people on anarrow boat travelling the canal net-work and performing art in a field orbeer garden. But the performancesare very special and the organisationand planning that goes on behind thescenes is mesmerising and often veryentertaining to boot. Mikron continueto face very difficult funding prob-lems but we all hope they succeed, asthey are an integral part of whatmakes our waterways so special. Ifyou get the chance, do go to a per-formance and support them; it is trulygreat entertainment that you can’texperience anywhere else.

On the planning applications frontthere is an application from BrettAggregates to create a gravel extrac-

News from Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire


tion site at Shelford adjacent to theRiver Trent, midway between StokeBardolph and Gunthorpe Locks, aboutto be put to the planning authorities.The proposal is to extract 500,000tonnes of gravel per annum from thesite for a period of 8 years, with180,000 tonnes pa leaving the site bywaterborne freight and the remaining320,000 by road. Not surprisinglythere is huge resistance from all thevillages along this section of the RiverTrent corridor owing to the massiveincrease in road traffic along the con-gested A6097 around East Bridgford,Gunthorpe bridge and Lowdham. Ifthis goes ahead it will see 250 tonnebarges back on the Trent plying theirtrade between this site at Shelford andthe Colwick Industrial estate in Not-tingham.

There has also been a revised outlineplanning application submitted for theStanton Ironworks site adjacent to the

Erewash canal. Compared to the orig-inal the applicants have decided toswap the previous sites of the playingfields and housing as that fits in betterwith the overall layout. In terms ofthe Erewash canal there is no impactas the adjacent layout remains thesame. If this application goes aheadusing the newly proposed layout itwill see a nice area of public openspace adjacent to the Erewash canaland a footpath connecting the openspaces only a few metres away. Itcould well be a good result.

Readers who live near South EastNottingham or Grantham may haveheard a huge cheer in late Decemberwhen the Heritage Lottery Fundawarded the Grantham Canal restora-tion £830,500 to restore locks 14 and15 on the Woolsthorpe flight and trainvolunteers in conservation skills. Thisis the culmination of almost threeyears of effort following a previous

Branch team last year at Meadow Lane. From Alison Smedley


preliminary award that has entailedextensive community involvementactivities and surveys coupled withengineering investigation and designwork.

A key stipulation of the award is thatit is largely carried out and led by vol-unteer labour with an emphasis onteaching heritage and conservationskills to younger generations. Whichmeans that a training college for herit-age and conservation skills will be setup and this will enable locks 14 and15 to be restored. At the same time itwill also lay the groundwork for res-toration of the remaining two locks ofthe Woolsthorpe flight (12 and 13)and raise awareness of the canal viaan array of educational and commu-nity involvement activities. Overall itis expected to take five years to com-plete with much of the time taken upin training volunteers. What a hugesuccess in the current environmentand congratulations go to all thoseinvolved in gen-erating and writ-ing the extensivebid documents.

Looking for-ward, it is com-ing up to thetime of year toget physical withcanal clean-ups.We are therefore

planning a clean-up on the Erewashcanal. Final planning has still to becompleted as I write but C&RT haveagreed to provide work boats andcrew to transport and finally disposeof the rubbish. Erewash Canal Preser-vation and Development Association(ECP&DA) will also be heavilyinvolved. We hope to get a large sec-tion cleaned over a two day period.The dates for the clean up are Fridayand Saturday 28th and 29th March.ECP&DA are concentrating theirefforts on Friday and therefore IWAare concentrating effort on the Satur-day but everyone is most welcome toparticipate on either day. Once plansare finalised it is expected that weshould meet up at Sandiacre Lock,Lock Lane, NG10 5LB at 9.30 a.m.on Saturday 29th March where towingpath litter picking and grappling thecanal bed will commence and thenhead south towards Long Eaton. Forfurther information please contactJohn Baylis on 07889 444190.

Branch bicycle collection last year.

From Alison Smedley


If the Friday date suits better, the clean-up should start at 9.30 a.m. at GallowsInn car park and then proceed south towards Sandiacre. See our back cover.

Later in the year there will likely be a further clean up on another section ofthe Nottingham canal to continue the good work of last September, so watchfor announcements in future editions of this magazine.

Looking ahead to the Social calendar, on Friday 20th March author and Ches-terfield Canal restorer John Lower will give an illustrated talk “Narrow Boat-ing on the Trent from Nottingham to Keadby”. So if you have questions orever wanted to know more about boating on the tidal Trent now is your oppor-tunity. On Friday April 17th Bob Williams of the Lichfield and HathertonCanal Trust will give an illustrated talk “The Lichfield Canal” regarding thelatest developments of the canal restoration. Many will already know of thegood work being done but then along come the HS2 planners wielding theirpens and slicing through the countryside and canal track. In May we ventureout from our usual venue with a walk and guided tour of the historic inlandport of Shardlow along with its heritage centre, on 15th May. So put theevening of the third Friday in the month in your diaries and see the calendar ofevents at the back of this magazine. Do come and join us, everyone is mostwelcome, I look forward to seeing you there.

Mike Snaith

Around the Societies and Trusts

The Grantham Canal Society has the enviable task of preparing for theimplementation of plans submitted to the Heritage Lottery Fund to set up askills training centre and the associated restoration of locks on theWoolsthorpe flight. They say “We need volunteers for the new restorationwork, which includes major rebuilding tasks, so our top priority is to recruitanyone willing to volunteer. Your time, no matter how much you may haveavailable, is very precious to us and we will do our utmost to ensure that youfind a job that satisfies you”. If you can spare some time to volunteer yourskill, ability or sheer brute force, then they have just the thing including workexperience … please contact them at www.granthamcanal.org.


Melton and Oakham Waterways Society (MOWS) had a good AGM at the endof last year. They are now moving forward with the formation of a Melton Water-ways Partnership, on the model of other such successful groups in other areas, andare getting positive reactions from local statutory bodies and voluntary groups.. Itis hoped to extend this work to promote the Syston Hub proposal, described in theAegre of March 2014. This would form a sixth hub to the five already identifiedby the River Soar and Grand Union Canal Partnership.

The Derby and Sandiacre Trust work parties continue at Draycott and Borrow-ash. Indoor meetings are planned to continue on the fourth Tuesday of the monthat the Wilmot Arms, 49 Derby Road, Borrowash DE72 3HA.

Cromford Canal. See page 9.

Sleaford Navigation Trust continue with their work parties (usually secondSunday of the month, call 01522 856810). .

Louth Navigation Trust is included in Dave Carnell’s report on page 14.

The Chesterfield Canal Trust announces a major effort to refurbish the workboat Python, an 86 year old ex-British Waterways working boat. It is on theRegister of National Historic Vessels. It was acquired by the Trust in 2009 andis used as a floating promotional vehicle at boat rallies across the canal systemin the summer. In the winter, the Trust’s volunteers use it to help the Canal &River Trust with maintenance tasks on the Chesterfield Canal.Over a year ago, it sprung a leak. Upon detailed inspection, it was found thatmuch of the hull was very seriously corroded and would need major repairs.Unfortunately, a bid for help to the Heritage Lottery Fund failed, but theInland Waterways Association stepped in with a major grant, just beforeChristmas, of £15000 from the Keith Ayling bequest..Python has been stored at Paul Barber’s boatyard on the Erewash Canal forover a year. The crew is now busy preparing it for the repair work, which willtake place in the summer. It is hoped that Python will return to the Chester-field Canal in the autumn ready for its maintenance role.The Chesterfield Canal Trust’s Jan Warsop said “We are very grateful for thisgenerous grant. We are delighted that this well loved vessel can now receivethe love and attention that she deserves. We can’t wait to get her back on thewater, helping C&RT and visiting boat rallies where she has many friends.”

Picture on next page.


Journals ReceivedWe are very pleased to acknowledge copies of journals from various canal andriver societies and trusts. They include “The Portal” from Friends of the CromfordCanal; “The Packet” from the Derby & Sandiacre Canal Society; “The Cuckoo”,from the Chesterfield Canal Trust; “The Bridge”, from Grantham Canal Society;“Sleaford Navigation Trust” journal; the “Melton and Oakham Newsletter”; and“The Wharfinger”, from Louth Navigation Trust, as well as “Navigation” fromour neighbours at West Midlands, the “Easterling” from our Eastern neighboursthe IAWA, and “Endeavour” from Northampton Branch. Anyone interested inreceiving a copy of one of these journals should contact the relevant address givenon page 4. For “The Cuckoo” contact the editor John Lower at 92a Tapton ViewRoad, Chesterfield S41 7JY.

Picture CreditsWe are most grateful to all of the following, who have contributed photo-graphs or other illustrations to enhance this edition of Aegre: Ian McDonald;Dave Carnell; Rod Auton; Shirley Rogers, John Baylis, and as noted for spe-cific articles. Some photographs in this issue are licensed under the CreativeCommons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic Licence. To view a copy of thislicence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/. The authors con-cerned are acknowledged in the relevant articles, and for page 14, GrahamHorn.

Python under repair, from Jan Warsop


By all means - visit the WellandOne of our rivers running out to the North Sea via the Wash, some dismiss itas a dull affair, as being mainly for drainage, straight and with high banks. Butit has a multitude of faces, and has had an exciting history - though we hopenot too exciting nowadays, and no serious floods of the kind seen in the past.Here is a short survey, from source to mouth, and we hope it will encouragevisitors to come and see - by all means; foot; bike; boat. There is scope for all.

This is especially to encourage members and others to join in an unusualcruise from Boston to Spalding in May, when the tide serves. Spalding wasonce a seaport, and deserves more visitors by water. Details of that on page 7.

To start in the far West, the river risesas barely more than a field drainbetween Husbands Bosworth, Welfordand Sibbertoft. It soon becomes theboundary between Leicestershire andNorthamptonshire and meandersthrough pleasant English countrysideeastward. Even here, many of themeanders have been straightened toease agriculture, and this can easily bespotted by comparing the county boundary - the original course - with thepresent course. At several spots the river has also been re-routed to allow forthe construction of a railway - itself now dismantled. Some work has been

started by the new Welland Rivers Trust toreverse these changes and improve the environ-ment for fish such as trout. The area is well pro-vided with footpaths and cycle routes to allowexploration, including the Jurassic Way, theMid-shires Way, Hereward Way, LeicestershireRound and the Macmillan Way. There is noconvenient continuous riverside path in theupper reaches, but several interesting bridgesand causeways cross the river and are noted byEnglish Heritage.

Passing through Market Harborough the river isonly a few hundred yards south of the CanalBasin. It then passes under the railway and the


A6 to tend northwards past Corby. Amajor feature of the landscape here isthe railway viaduct at Harringworth,built in 1879. A BCU note says theriver has been paddled downstreamfrom here, with a couple of awkwardportages at Tinwell and South ViewFarm, but the current position is notclear. Tixover church, isolated fromits village, is one of many interestingsights. Approaching Stamford - too well known to include much visitor infor-mation here - the village of Tinwell once had a weir and sluice to keep theStamford Mill Stream supplied with water. This was modified during work on

a pumped supply to Rutland Water anda smaller Mill Stream pump later fellinto disuse. A voluntary group, theStamford River Care Group, was set upin 2004 to care for the Stamford stretchof the Welland. They have managed toget the flow of water re-instated andalso cleared vegetation along the MillStream, so that a very pleasant area forwalks now exists on the Meadows tothe west of the town.

Stamford once had a canal to allow trading vessels to reach the sea. This wasfirst authorised in 1571, one of the ear-liest such consents. In the 1660s it wasactually built through the Deepings. Adescription of the work was publishedby the Deepings Heritage Group a fewyears ago and gives a good account ofthe route and a map.

Below Stamford the river parallels theold canal for some miles to belowDeeping St James, but the Maxey Cut,a flood relief channel, cuts off the northerly loop to pass south of Maxey andNorthborough. Deepings rail bridge east of Northborough is the head of navi-gation for powered craft in the Environment Agency current guide to theWelland, with Stamford for canoes and kayaks.


Below Peakirk the river is thoroughlyembanked with wash lands either sidefor possible flood relief. Boaters needto be careful about air draught. Formany years a major obstacle was FourMile Bar footbridge, but this wasreplaced in 2007 by an elegant newbridge thanks to the efforts of the Lin-colnshire Waterways Partnership. TheEnvironment Agency issues a list ofBridges and “Headways” for Glen and Welland, with Surfleet Iron Bridgeshown as the lowest at 1.8m. Of course these heights vary with water level, butit is slightly confusing that they also quote heights as 5’90” , for example.

At Crowland, but not on the present river, is the famous three-way TrinityBridge where the channel used to split into two, one branch going to Spaldingand the other to the Nene near Wisbech. Spalding further down, was a majortrading port in early days, and claimed to be on the sea. It still has handsomemerchants’ houses to recall those days. Now, a lock at Fulney is the limit oftidal flow (see page 7). Between here and the mouth a nearby feature is the

Pinchbeck Engine, built for drainage in1833 as a steam powered scoop wheelpump from the Butterley company.Continuing NE, a straight channelpasses Fosdyke Bridge, fixed since1988, and the new Fosdyke Marinabelow it, replacing old wharves. A finalstretch leads to Tabs Head, where a bea-con marks the division between WellandMouth and Witham Mouth.

Pictures for this article:Front cover; Medbourne Bridge by Richard Williams; Four Mile Bar Bridge byMichael Trolove; Tabs Head by Christine Johnson. Previous pages here: Riverat Gretton by Oliver Dixon; At Market Harborough by Hilofoz; Harringworthby Oliver Dixon; Stamford Meadows by Row17; Bridge over former StamfordCanal and Spalding by Richard Croft; Fosdyke by Mat Fascione.All of these are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike2.0 Generic Licence. To view a copy of this licence, visithttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/.


Notts & Derby Branch Meetings

The Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Branch of the IWA organises a series ofpublic meetings. We are hoping to attract lots of new faces to the meetings andhave arranged a very interesting and varied group of speakers. Non IWA memberswill be very welcome to attend.

Meetings are held on the third Friday of the month throughout most of the year.Indoor meetings are held at 7.45 pm at Rushcliffe Arena, Rugby Road, WestBridgford, Nottingham NG2 7HY. This is not far from the A60 (LoughboroughRoad) and the Arena entrance road is roughly opposite Greythorn Drive. Don’t bealarmed by a barrier at the entrance - they will let you out again.

It would take about 25 minutes from M1 Junction 24 up the A453, Clifton trafficand road-works speed limit permitting. For SatNav equipped vehicles try52° 55.328’ N, 01° 08.673’ W, or SK 57610 36424. Note that Rushcliffe LeisureCentre is a different place. Further information about meetings can be obtained byemail :- [email protected]

Friday, March 20th 2015“Narrow boating on the Trent from Nottingham to Keadby ” - an illus-trated talk by John Lower (Chesterfield Canal Society)

Friday, April 17th 2015“Lichfield Canal” - an illustrated talk by Bob Williams (Lichfield &Hatherton Canal Trust) on the progress of the Lichfield canal restora-tion.

Friday, May 15th 2015Guided tour of the historic port of Shardlow and Heritage Centre. De-tails still to be confirmed but likely meet at Shardlow Heritage Centre7.30 pm. Small charge applicable for entry to the Heritage Centre.

Friday, June 19th 2015Guided walk along the Grantham Canal, hosted by Grantham Canal So-ciety. Details to be confirmed.


Other Coming EventsIWA Promotions and Communications Committee plans to arrange a

Recruitment Workshop on Saturday March 28th 2015 in Peterborough,at the Museum and Library, which is not far from the station. Anyone

from our region who is interested is welcome. Timing 10 to 4:30, lunchprovided. This is a change from the original proposal, and it is hoped the

venue will prove more accessible to members from a wider area.Anyone interested in understanding IWA’s needs in growing member-

ship and strengthening our image will be welcome.

For more information please contact Jerry [email protected]


Contact Stefanie Preston, IWA Branch Campaign Assistant

01494 783453 [email protected]

Join Us on a Canal Clean Up

Nottinghamshire &Derbyshire Branch

Erewash Canal Clean UpFriday 27th and Saturday 28th March 2015

Join the Erewash Canal Preservation & Development Association, Canal & River Trust and IWANottinghamshire & Derbyshire Branch for a canal clean up.

Friday 28th March; meet at 9.30am at the Gallows Inn pub car park (DE7 5BN). Work willprogress towards Sandiacre Lock for about 3pm.

Saturday 29th March; meet at 9.30am at Sandiacre Lock (Lock Lane, NG10 5LB). Work will becarried out down to Trent Lock for about 3pm.

Return to the start point will be arranged. Please wear stout shoes and old clothes and bringwaterproofs and a packed lunch if staying all day.

Aegre March 2015

Documents

Transcript of Aegre March 2015