Navvies 225

navviesnavvies

waterwayrecoverygroup

Issue No 225October-November

2007

Issue No 225October-November

2007


volunteers restoring waterwaysvolunteers restoring waterways

Visit our web site www.wrg.org.uk for

NavviesProductionEditor: Martin Ludgate, 35 Silvester Road,East Dulwich London SE22 9PB020-8693 3266

Subscriptions: Navvies subscriptions, POBox 114, Rickmansworth WD3 1ZY

Printing and assembly: John & TessHawkins, 4 Links Way, Croxley Green, Rick-mansworth, Herts WD3 3RQ01923 448559 [email protected]

Navvies is published by Waterway RecoveryGroup, PO Box 114, Rickmansworth WD31ZY and is available to all interested in pro-moting the restoration and conservation ofinland waterways by voluntary effort in GreatBritain. Articles may be reproduced in alliedmagazines provided that the source is ac-knowledged. WRG may not agree with opin-ions expressed in this magazine, but encour-ages publication as a matter of interest. Noth-ing printed may be construed as policy or anofficial announcement unless so stated - other-wise WRG and IWA accept no liability for anymatter in this magazine. Waterway RecoveryGroup is a division of Inland WaterwaysEnterprises Ltd., a subsidiary of the InlandWaterways Association (a registered charity).

Inland Waterways Enterprises Regis-tered office: 3 Norfolk Court, Norfolk Rd.Rickmansworth WD3 1LT. Tel : 01923 711114Registered no 4305322

Directors of WRG: Rick Barnes, JohnBaylis, Mick Beattie, Malcolm Bridge, SpencerCollins, Christopher Davey, Helen Davey,Roger Day, Neil Edwards, George Eycott,John Fletcher, Adrian Fry, John Hawkins,Jennifer Leigh, Judith Palmer, Michael Palmer,Jonathan Smith. Secretary: Neil Edwards

VAT reg. no: 788 9425 54ISSN: 0953-6655© 2007 WRG

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all the latest news of WRG's activities

Editorial Chichester disagreements 4-5Chairman he hasn�t sent it yet so who knows? 6Coming soon Autumn and Xmas digs 7-9Camp Reports Grand Western,Chesterfield, Stowmarket, Mon & Brec 10-18WRGBC Boat Club AGM report 19Diary camp and working party dates 20-22Letters Chichester; St Ives, Lapal 23-27Camp Report Wilts & Berks 28-29Obituary farewell to two old navvies 30-31Newland A furnace in Furness needs help 32Plant Bungle�s still fixing his crane 33-34Progress L&H, Wey & Arun, Ouse 35-36News Sale of the century (which one?) 37Noticeboard It�s sprogging time! 38Infill moose and noose! 39

Contributions...

...are always welcome, whether hand-writ-ten, typed, on CD-ROM, DVD or by email.

Photos also welcome: digital,slides, prints. Please state whether youwant your prints back. Digital pics arewelcome as email attachments, preferablyJPG format, but if you have a lot it is pref-erable to send them on CD-ROM or DVD orto contact the editor first.

Contributions by post to the editorMartin Ludgate, 35, Silvester Road,London SE22 9PB, or by email [email protected].

Press date for issue 226: November 1st.

Subscriptions

A year's subscription (6 issues) is availablefor a minimum of £1.50 to Sue Watts, 15Eleanor Road, Chorlton-cum-Hardy,Manchester M21 9FZ. Cheques to "Wa-terway Recovery Group" please.

This is a minimum subscription whichdoesn�t even cover postage costs but is keptlow so that everyone can afford to subscribe.Please add a donation if you can.

ContentsIn this issue...

Front cover: Traditional mud-shovelling inthe wing wall foundation trench at CreetingLock, Ipswich & Stowmarket Camp (photo bythe editor) Left: progress on the same site atthe London WRG dig six weeks later Above:Launching the Barge Lock Appeal at DroitwichBelow: Steppingstones Bridge on the Wilts &Berks benefits from another Canal Camp

Subscriptions queries

Until further notice please contact our headoffice on 01923 711114 or [email protected] if you have anyproblems or queries regarding Navviessubscriptions. Sue Watts (see right) will stilldeal with new subs and regular renewals.

John

Haw

kins

EditorialAnother colour Navvies...

Another colour cover?

Yes, that�s right � two Navvies in a row with colour! And that�s not all � in future it will becolour covers every time, thanks to our old friend Chris Griffiths of StroudPrint whose supernew machine and very reasonable rates enable us to do this at very little extra cost.

So there�s even more reason for you to send me lots of photos from your canal campsand weekend work parties. Make them at least 3 megapixels, remember to make some ofthem vertical ones (�portrait� rather than �landscape� format in technical-speak), try to avoidgetting to much detail in the area that will be obscured by the title, and you�ll have a verychance of breaking the stranglehold on the front cover that the Editor and David Miller seemto have at the moment.

And if your camera won�t go as high as ? megapixels, please do keep sending them inas they�re fine for elsewhere in the mag.

Chichester

On our letters pagesyou will see an ex-change of opposingviews on the futuredirection of the Chiches-ter Ship Canal Trust.

The Trust hasalways concentrated allits efforts on reopeningthe �Chichester ShipCanal� section of thePorstmouth & ArundelCanal from ChichesterHarbour to Chichestercity basin � this being arelatively achievable (ifnot easy) section. But itsofficial aims have al-ways included the muchmore difficult remainderof the original main linefrom Hunston throughto Ford near Arundel on the River Arun � which could ultimately (at least for craft suited tothe tidal Arun) provide a link to the Wey & Arun and the rest of the network. However at therecent AGM the Chairman and Committee asked the members to accept a change to theaims of the group, dropping all mention of the remainder of the canal and leaving only theShip Canal section � on the grounds that (a) it�s what they�re actually working on, as evi-denced by their name (b) the rest of the canal would be impossible to restore and (c) havingan impractical restoration as an official aim could put potential funders off supporting themore attainable aim of opening the Chichester Ship Canal section.

Others in the society disagree, saying that now is not the time to drop a potential linkto the W & A, and that nobody has demonstrated convincingly that and aim of reopening to

Portsmouth &Arundel Canaland connections

Welcome to anothersuper-duper colour issue

of Navvies - and welcometo another of Martin�s

provocative editorials...

Ford is either impractical or likely to deter funders from supporting the Chichester length.A majority supported the change, but not the necessary 75 per cent. A similar proposal

may well be submitted again next time.I�m not getting into any claims and counterclaims of skullduggery but on the basic principle

I�m unconvinced by the committee view. I will be the first to admit that I am not familiar with theHunston to Ford length having only explored a little of it some years ago. But looking at thecatalogue of �impossible� restorations over the years � the Huddersfield (�If ever I saw a hopelesscase, this is it...�); the Wey & Arun (�Englishmen love a lost cause��); the Hereford & Gloucester(�Nobody is going to restore it...�) I�d be very wary of dismissing any restoration as �impossible�without at least an initial pre-feasibility study. (and thanks to the IWA�s new Power Family Award,grants for such studies are now more easily available) And those studies have a habit of comingout with something along the lines of �Yes � but at a price�.

And if it�s a price that there�s no way you can afford, no problem. It can remain a longterm aim until somebody can afford it, and I don�t see why that should detract from theprospects of the more achievable shorter-term aims � it might even enhance them.

Take the Caldon Canal. Pretty much from the start of work on the �Destination Froghall�project the stated aims were to restore the historic lower basin and lock at Froghall not onlyto create a splendid new terminus for the Caldon, but also as the very first step of restora-tion of the old Uttoxeter Canal. It didn�t seem to harm the prospects of what turned out tobe the ultimate �quick win� restoration that its promoters� ultimate aim is to reopen 17 milesof canal abandoned over 150 years ago and used for a railway (part of which might still beneeded by a railway society) at a cost that will probably exceed £50m. Indeed, the CaldonCanal Society even changed its name to Caldon & Uttoxeter Canals Trust to reflect this.

Similarly, in 2000 reopening the whole Hereford & Gloucester still seemed a very opti-mistic idea to many, but having it as an ultimate goal if anything helped the much moreachievable and shorter-term Over Basin Project. We could have said �We�re reopening this asa non-tidal basin off the Severn� but we didn�t, we said �This is the start of a 35-mile canalthat will one day return to Hereford.� And looking back a few years, did the thenStroudwater Canal Trust suffer when it added reopening the �impossible� Thames & Severnto the �difficult� Stroudwater? Or the Wilts & Berks Canal Amenity Group when it moved fromaiming to preserve what was left of a canal flattened by expansion of Swindon, Abingdon,Cricklade and Melksham to include reopening the whole lot to boats? I don�t think so.

Sure, I�m an optimist. I wouldn�t be in canal restoration if I wasn�t. Maybe it needs afew doubters to keep us optimists in check.

But the saddest thing would be if CSCT tore itself apart with internal disputes. I re-member when the original Cromford Canal Society went into self-destruct mode in the1980s, and the restoration was put back maybe twenty years. And I�ve seen outbreaks ofcivil war threaten several other restoration groups around the country.

If there�s a serious debate to be had, it�s good to have it in public � and where betterthan in Navvies? But come on folks, isn�t some kind of compromise possible? Something onthe lines of adopting a resolution to concentrate on opening the Ship Canal section firstbefore committing resources elsewhere? Or changing the aims to something that looks lesslike a commitment, such as �where practical, at a later date to investigate, preserve or re-store such other sections as are feasible�� Surely a wording can be found that will please allparties before their views get too entrenched. (Or am I being optimistic again?)

Because nothing is likely to piss off potential funders more than watching their poten-tial beneficiaries disappearing in a welter of infighting.

Martin Ludgate

Editorial...and the Chichester Canal

�It didn�t harm the prospects of a�quick-win� restoration that itspromoters� ultimate aim is to open17 miles of canal at a cost thatwill probably exceed £50m�

ChairmanYour own Brindley Post!

Chairman�s comment

It�s that difficult time of year again. All thebig, exciting things have just happened andthe next lot of big, exciting have yet to beplanned. Now the good news about this isthat it gives me a chance to comment on afew lower profile things and it gives all of usa chance to do the little things that remindyou why you do this sort of thing. Go on �go digging with a weekend group, attendyour local canal society�s social evening, re-read your old copies of Navvies, maybe evengo boating!

One prediction I am able to make aboutnext year is that, so far, there don�t appear tobe many �pie in the sky� projects queuing upfor our attention at the moment. The projectsall seem to be existing ones, which may wellsignal that 2008 will be a little more definiteand dependable. That�s not to say they willbe at all boring � they are all at interestingand important stages. I�m just saying there isless chance that the first words you will hearyour Canal Camp leader say are �Well firstlet�s find the lock shall we��.�

One project that will see a quite a bit ofus is the Wilts and Berks and our next visit isthe Bonfire Bash. This is a chance to meet upwith all the people you worked with over theyear and think about where you could workin 2008. Not only will there be representa-tives of all the regional groups there withtheir 2008 working party dates but by theSaturday night we will have the Canal Camps2008 schedule done and dusted. Anotherreason to attend is that by then we will haveplaced the order to replace our last old stylevan RFB and so it may well be you lastchance to see the old workhorse before itbecomes a restoration project of its veryown. (Don�t worry, the replacement van will,of course, still be called RFB.).

One high profile thing that did happento me recently was I addressed the BritishWaterways national safety conference. OK it�snot exactly a rock and roll gig but it wasquite exciting. It was a big old affair with

about 150 BW peeps (including a significantnumber of the BW directors) and the twistthis year was that pretty much all the presen-tations were from third parties on the trialsand tribulations of working with BW. Thepurpose was to highlight where BW couldmake improvements when working withpeople other than their own staff be theyvisitors, volunteers, etc. There was certainlya clear message from the top that BW needto grasp this nettle and that it won�t be doneby just throwing regulations at us. Which isencouraging to hear.

Whilst on this subject a few local socie-ties have been asking about whether ourleader training sessions could be expanded/modified to suit their needs. A few of themhave changed/gained new working partyleaders and they feel a bit overwhelmed. Wehave been looking at this quite seriously andthink we might be able to put somethingtogether in January. If your society is inter-ested then please contact me.

One of the other speakers at the BWconference was Edd Moss, who gave a crack-ing presentation that showed a real under-standing of volunteers. This is very goodnews, not just because 149 BW employeeslistened to what he had to say but becauseEdd is the project leader for our work nextyear on the Droitwich Barge lock.

Talking of which, you will have noticedthat this edition of Navvies has got a leafletfor the Barge Lock Appeal with it. Now I�mnot going to try and convince you to giveyour money to this yet (that�s probably forNavvies 226). The point I want to make isthat this appeal does include the opportunityto become a bronze, silver or gold patron.This is really aimed at organisations such ascruising clubs, but they don�t have to beformal organisations; it can groups of boat-ers, pub quiz teams, digging buddies, Inter-net chat groups, whoever.

For £120 a bronze patron gets theirname dedicated on a �Brindley post� by thelock for all to see. So have a think about whoyou know who does deserve recognition andnever got it. This is a chance to get even. Wewill be working on the Droitwich in just 10months time and need this funding urgentlyso rush the appeal leaflet to your club, bankmanager, society treasurers, etc. and sign upto become a bronze patron and carve yourname on history.

Hugs and kissesMike Palmer

What�s next?Christmas, that�s what - very soon!

But first, there are a couple of autumn events coming up...

October Camp on the Grand Western Canal

By the time you read this you should just have time to book for the camp on October 20-27which has been moved from the Chard Canal to Nynehead on the Grand Western. The workis clearing trees and vegetation plus some mechanical earthmoving, aimed at preserving theremains of the Nynehead Boat Lift. The leaders are Jenny Black and Adrian Fry, and accom-modation is Burlescombe Village Hall - with excellent pub. Note the camp ends on Friday soonly costs £36. Please book via head office 01923 711114 or the WRG website as usual.

WRG and KESCRG reunion Bonfire Bash on the North Wilts Canal

Our friends in KESCRG are leading the Bonfire Bash. Over to Ian Williamson for the latest...The accommodation is booked at Kingsdown School (which, please note, is NO SMOK-

ING anywhere in the grounds), NE of Swindon just off the A419. Please don�t arrive before6.30pm Work will be a selection of things with the main site being at Purton Road wherewe�ll be doing some offside clearance, plus some work at Hayes Knoll nearby, some concret-ing at Lock 4 on the Seven Locks flight on the W&B main line, and possibly also some workat the old junction with the Thames & Severn at Latton basin and at Stepping stones bridge.

See the WRG website for directions. And fill in the form overleaf and send it in asap!

London WRG and KESCRG Christmas Party Dig

See page 9 for the latest news and a booking form for the first big Christmas event.

WRG Christmas Canal Camp on the Grantham Canal

Time to escape from your relatives and work off some of those extra pounds you�ve put onover the Christmas holiday with a week�s work on the summit level of the Grantham Canalnear Harlaxton. The work is likely to include bank protection and landscaping as well as theusual scrub-bashing, concentrating on creating an open area by the side or a restoredlength of canal for local folks to enjoy - as well as continuing clearing the feeder we startedat last year�s Bonfire Bash. Leaders are Phil Rodwell and Martyn Worsley, and George �Bun-gle� Eycott is in charge of catering (assisted by James Butler), so to be honest you probablywon�t actually lose that much weight. Please book via the website or head office as usual.

Wilts & Berks Christmas Camp

The Foxham and Lyneham Branch of the Wilts & Berks Canal Trust will be holding theirusual Boxing Day to New Year�s Day camp again this year. Let�s hear from Rachael Banyard...

We expect to be working mainly at Seven Locks, and depending on weather we shallbe bricklaying, hedgelaying, and any other kind of laying that occurs to us at the time, plusa few bonfires to keep us warm. We shall be staying at the Foxham Reading Rooms, whichis nice and cosy in winter, with the Foxham Inn round the corner with their usual choiceselection of guest beers, Di has promised to produce some tasty cakes and keep us all wellfed. If anyone would like to join us either for the whole camp or for a day or two, pleasering me on 01249 892289 or 07767 895244.

I would like to attend the 2007 WRG and KESCRG Bonfire Bash on theNorth Wilts Canal on November 3rd-4th

Forename: Surname:

Address:

email:

Phone:

Any special dietary requirements?

I require accommodation on Friday night / Saturday night / both nights

I enclose payment of £ (please make cheques payable to �WRG�) for food

(cost is £10 for the whole weekend, based on £2 for each meal.)

How will you be travelling to the Bonfire Bash?

Do you want to work with volunteers from one of this year�s Canal Camps or from oneof the regional groups? If so, which camp or group?

Do you suffer from any illness, such as epilepsy or diabetes, about which we shouldknow, or are you receiving treatment or under medical supervision for any conditionYES/NO If yes, please attach details on a covering letter.

In the unlikely event that you should be injured, who should we contact?

Name: Phone:

Signed:

(parent�s signature also required if aged under 18):

Please send this form to:

Bonfire Bash Bookings, WRG, PO Box 114, Rickmansworth WD3 1ZY


INASSOCIATION

WITH

Reunion Bonfire Bash 2007

I would like to attend the London WRG / KESCRG / WRG South WestChristmas party dig on the Droitwich Canals on December 1st-2nd

Forename: Surname:

Address:

email: Phone

Any special dietary requirements?

I require accommodation on Friday night / Saturday night / both nights

I enclose payment of £16 (please make cheques payable to �WRG�) for food

How will you be travelling to the Christmas party dig?

Do you suffer from any illness, such as epilepsy or diabetes, about which we shouldknow, or are you receiving treatment or under medical supervision for any conditionYES/NO If yes, please attach details on a covering letter.

In the unlikely event that you should be injured, who should we contact?

Name: Phone:

Signed:

Please send this form to:

Droitwich Christmas dig bookings, PO Box 114, Rickmansworth WD3 1ZY

London WRG KESCRG and WRG SW

Droitwich Christmas party dig

KESCRG / LWRG/ WRG SW Christmas Dig, December 1-2

The annual joint Christmas Party Dig this year is happening on the Droitwich Junction Canal. Theexact task list is in the process of being confirmed but will involve work on the section belowHanbury Locks, where we are to be doing some hedge removal and nature reserve building.

A crack team of cooks will be cooking up the usual roast dinner for Saturday night andthe usual real ale bar and silly games will be happening. To coincide with the 30th birthdaycelebrations for KESCRG the theme for the Saturday night party will be �1977�. That�s right -the year of Saturday Night Fever, the Queen�s Silver Jubilee, the death of Elvis, Star Wars,punk rock, and a British winner in the Wimbledon Women�s Singles. (Oh yes, and CanalCamps on the Droitwich and the Mont, the Deepcut Big Dig on the Basingstoke, and Navvieseditorials concerned about what we could do to save the waterways from Government cuts...)

Bookings this year will be through head office using the form below. Cost is £16 for thewhole weekend. Tickets will also be available at the Bonfire Bash. Alternatively you can bookonline via the WRG website www.wrg.org.uk.

Further details of the work and accommodation will be on the WRG website as soon aswe know them�

Ed Walker and Liz Wilson

Camp reportsGrand Western Canal

Reporting from the second halfof this summer�s WRG Canal

Camps programme. Andbeginning with a rather terse

contribution from Ms Bayston...

Heaven in Devon 07:Grand Western camp 7 � 14 July

Saturday

Everyone arrived, site visit and then food andthe introduction to the pub 200 yards downthe road

Sunday

First day on site, including pointing the oldlimekilns by the canal, bonfires, and workingon the culvert.

Monday

A normal day on site. More pointing of oldlimekilns.

Tuesday

Cinema in Taunton in the evening � saw

Shrek 3. Do not test me on this film, as Islept through most of it.

Wednesday

Mitch joined us from her trip to Iceland andBobby arrived. BBQ - an amazing evening offood, including curry from the pub.

Thursday

Evening�s entertainment was a pub quizwritten by Mitch.

Friday

End of camp celebrations. An amazing lasa-gne cooked by Mitch. We then went to thepub for end of camp presents. This included MrLines getting a Cow to commemorate his Willygetting licked by a cow in the week (That�s thename of his car, by the way). A few people -not including myself - stayed in the pub most

of the night andhad slightly toomuch fun.

Saturday

The vans and trailerwere packed andthen we took themto the KESCRGcamp. Cleaned thehall.

I would like tothank everyone whocame on the camp -it was a great week.A special thanks tothe local canalrangers and localpeople (specificallythe pub) who madeus feel very wel-come.

Alice BaystonAssistant leaderLimekilns under restoration by the Grand Western Canal

Camp reportsChesterfield Canal

Chesterfield Camp 13/14/15:�A Moving story�

Well where do I start? At the beginningwould be a good idea!! After doing prepara-tion work for a different camp which gotcancelled for various reasons, three campswere merged into one huge fun camp. Somove number 1 happened.

First day of the camp and Rob, Louise(a newbie who is now hooked on WRG) andmyself arrived at the accommodation, whichcan only be described from the outside as aderelict prison - but inside was a delightfullypleasing shock. The kitchen put a huge smileon Mitch�s face as it had a KESCRG sizecooker and there was a back room full ofcomfy seats for us to drink Pimms in. Oohdid I say drink Pimms in the hall. Well, thelocal wildlife, (wildlife equally being theteenagers / chavs) couldn�t see us drinking inthere so all was good. The one rule aboutthe accommodation was �no drinking wherethe local kids could see us inside the hall� andall alcohol had to be smuggled in, in ruck-sacks etc. Anyway everyone arrived exceptone person and we all got to know eachother and started to chill out.

All of a sudden LadyEssex (aka Naomi Harger,aka Marjh) burst throughthe doors. She�s arrivedthen!!! No one is going toforget her name in a hurry.We all sit down to dinnerwhen we get a visit fromMitch�s colleagues (the localbobbies) giving us theircard along with �You mayneed this�. They were right,we did. The local Chavslater that evening tried tothieve our food away, thenkick the doors in and shoutverbal abuse at us. Thenthey went, and all wasgood. The dawn chorus ofwrgies snoring and Cookie

Craig and Mike Chase enticing us to a deli-ciously prepared breakfast was welcomed inthe morning.

Off we went to site. First job on sitewas to delicately pick up the porta loos thathad been pushed over during the night andwere now lying in front of the gates. Ishowed everyone the sites we would beworking on. Our main job for the week wasto dig the silt out of the gauging chamber (abit like a lock but with no gates and thewater doesn�t change level) and to uncoverthe bottom and find out if it was clay or bricklined. I asked for desperate people wantingto hop in the mud. Mike�s hand went up likea diesel powered Golf. It was fast. So Mikeled the way!!

Soon the delicate pushing of silt-filledwheel barrows was happening, and theloading of buckets to tip into the barrowswent smoothly too. I have never known abunch of mainly newbies to get on with thejob in hand so fast. �Phil-the-female-type-of-dog� led a small and delicately picked crew todemolish a few courses of bricks off an over-flow weir that was built too high a few yearsback. At lunch I was told it would be doneby the time we departed promptly to the

...followed by a tale of toilets thatare rather more portable than theyshould be, and accommodationthat doubles up as a climbingframe for local kids...

Clearing silt from the gauging chamber

showers. Once you think that, it doesn�thappen. The Stihl saw gave a good fight onthe in filled concrete but even so, the con-crete still won by the end of the week.

That evening we shocked the localswimming baths with the distinct perfume ofsilt on our clothes and bodies and then backto the accommodation. Mitch made a wonder-ful roast dinner and the wildlife made them-selves heard again and even showed us whatthey were drinking by throwing their cansthrough the open windows!!! They went awayafter a while but they came back later at 1amto use the hall as a climbing frame! The roofwas their designated play area this time.

Monday arrived and we all felt a bittired due to the happenings during thecourse of the night and drunken party gamesweren�t to blame this time! On site we had anextra little treat for us in store. The chavs haddecided to make it easier for those working inthe silt to go to the loo. They thought it wouldbe helpful to push one of the loos into thechamber, to save us having to climb out of themud. A portaloo on its side isn�t that useful sowe opted to lift it back out of the chamber andchain it to a tree every night. Chavs 1;wrgies 1! (Something moving number 2!)

Darren promptly arrived on site with apump to get the water out the chamber asthe levels had risen to just below wellie bootdepth. (This wasn�t from the toilet�s contents,I hasten to add!) Darren is the man incharge from Derby county council country-side services. We told him our story aboutour sleep and lack of it! He set to finding usnew accommodation. Within half an hour wewere looking at new places. It was like mov-ing house, choosing where we wanted to go!Everyone ate lunch and Mitch, Darren and Ilooked at a brand new conference centre.Spot on, jobs a good�un, we�ll have it! Siteended early to pack up and move to our newaccommodation. (Moving number 3)

Here we had our �local� directly aboveus so not far to walk and there was a noisyroom the opposite end of the centre andeven a shower for those wanting it in themornings. It will even have off road parkingnext year and there is a basketball court toplay on. Superb. Well done everyone at thecouncil.

Tuesday came and went with no hic-cups. The dirtiest person that day was prob-ably Lady Essex. She liked demonstratingproudly how well her Telly Tubby wadersworked at keeping silt stuck to the outside ofthem! In the evening we went bowling andsome went to the cinema. The cinema goerscaught up with us after their film and thenthey found the dancing machine. (Go CookieCraig, go!!!) At the end there was a leadersgo. Now, I am no ace at dancing� in fact Ican�t dance to save my life� and those ma-chines� well, I just blagged my way throughon one foot!! It worked!

Wednesday we continued with thedigging pleasures of silt and gave up withextracting the concrete from the overflowweir. At about 4pm there was a distinctpause in Lady Essex�s work and she dashedpast me at high speed to find the ice creamvan. Sure enough she bought an ice cream.Her decibel percussion tuned ears didn�t lether down!!!

We were then treated to the biggest

Camp reportsChesterfield Canal

�Monday arrived andwe all felt a bit tired

due to the happeningsduring the course of

the night...�

Lady Essex�s ears detect an ice cream van...

Camp ReportsChesterfield Canal

�We even had a WRGwedding... it was a short-livedmarriage due to the Daffernpatent wedding certificateonly lasting 24 hours�

barbecue I have ever seen. It was all su-perbly cooked by Darren and Martin (Martinbeing the Chesterfield Canal Trust man incharge). We even had burgers left over forlunch the next day.

Thursday we had a new task on site.We started clearing the old pointing out ofsome of the brick work and cleaning thebricks ready for the Pointer Sisters to point inthe afternoon. Emma was straight in like aduck to water. The fastest pointer in Ren-ishaw!! We still had silt to dig out though!That evening a group of us went swimmingat the big pool in Sheffield. Built for theOlympics a few years ago, It has 2 slides anda rapid and a wave machine and no signsanywhere. We had to ask 3 people on how toget back out to the car park! Note to Shef-field council: you need more signs up every-where please!

Last day on site and we completed mostof the pointing and the digging out wasfinished. At lunch time Lisa, who some ofyou may remember from the Xmas camp,showed up to say hi to us all and we evenhad a WRG wedding with our very own LadyEssex and Rob Hughes being the lucky cou-ple. I was the Dad, Rob Daffern was the vicar

and we had a few beautiful brides-maids too (Lauren and Louise Roberts).(All very moving, number 4). It was ashort-lived marriage due to the Daffernpatented style wedding certificate onlylasting 24 hours.

Back to the accommodation whereit was dinner and �Oscars� time. (TheEckington Chavs won the Most Annoy-ing Local Award, but they weren�t thereto receive their certificate!!) And thenparty games central, organised byCookie Craig.

Saturday morning came far tooearly for me as I couldn�t sleep andsaw the sun rise from a park bench bya stream admiring the views. We wereaway from the accommodation dead onthe time we had planned. A first forRob and me!!!Thanks to Craig for all the work organ-

ising games and the other little bits and bobsyou did, all the people who made breakfastand lunch during the week, Mitch for yourwonderful dinners as usual and everyoneelse for making it such a brilliant camp evenwhen times were hard. Last but no waysleast a massive thanks goes out to Darren,Martin and Mick the Derby council / Chester-field canal group guys. You were extremelyhelpful and a pleasure to work with. I hopeto see you all at the Bonfire Bash.

James Butleraka Dad to Lady Essex and the scary

father in law to Lord Rob Hughes Essex

The �WRG Wedding� must take the prize for �most bizarrecanal camp entertainment� - unless you know better!

�Come on in - the water�s lovely!�

Camp reportsIpswich and Stowmarket Navigation

Liz Wilson reports fromthe first ever camp at

Baylham Lock

1 lock, 20 canal-campers, 2 cement mixers, 2transit vans, 12 tons of ballast, 3 tons ofcement, 380 barrow-loads, 8m3 of concrete,280 sandwiches, 140 pints of beer...therecipe for a great camp...?

It was back in June that Mr Ludgate andI went to have a look at Baylham lock for asite visit. It seemed then like there was ahuge expanse of time in which tounderstand, prepare and �psychemyself up� for running a campthere 3 months later, but it dis-appeared bloody fast. Suddenly Ifound myself waiting at Readingstation on the first day of thecamp (funny how a journey fromLondon to Ipswich can involvewaiting for a train at Reading)thinking, �Oh God, why am Idoing this...again!�.

Luckily, I knew I had agreat team of people to back meup. In fact, the 20 volunteerswho turned up were almost theperfect mix of �old-hands�, DofErsand sometime-campers. The age rangepushed the limits, with Young Chris celebrat-ing his 18th birthday on the first day of thecamp, and Ian in his 60s representing theupper end. We were pretty broad in terms ofexperience too, with Ed and Martin bringing35 years of london-wrg experience betweenthem, Assistant Leader Chris and I well intoour 9th year of camps, and 4 newbies whocould just about identify a canal.

Not that Baylham lock looked muchlike a canal. A mess of trees, silt, dams,weirs and a river flowing the wrong waymeant you had to stop and look at thesite and wonder for a moment how it allfitted together. But that said, it scoredtop marks for being post-card pretty.Weeping willows, running water of theRiver Gipping, swans, a mill and a brickarch bridge made it a gorgeous andshady place to work, which was good, aswe did actually see some sun during ourtime there.

The two main jobs for the week were1)clearing and cleaning the lock of vegetationand silt to enable a survey to be done,2)pouring a concrete foundation for a retain-ing wall. Easy peasy. Except the remotenessof the site and a bridge with a weight limitruled out a readymix. So 8m3 of concrete hadto be mixed and moved the old fashioned

way � with cheap labour.Luckily, Young Chris wasperfectly happy to be ourchief mixer. In fact, therewasn�t any other optionbecause you couldn�t gethim away from the mixerwith a crowbar. His zealmeant we often had the firstmix ready by 9.15am. Great,except for the day when wedidn�t actually need it til 4.

Pouring the foundationwas going to be an impor-tant step forward in repair-ing the lock and showing theEnvironment Agency and the

landowner that the newly formed �RiverGipping Trust� was serious about restorationof the canal, earning them their place as aforce to be reckoned with. Some 40 yearspreviously, a botched repair job to the lockhad seen a new concrete retaining wall in-stalled. Unfortunately, the repairers had notpaid much attention to the need for founda-tions, or noticed that a sneaky spring was

The editor on piling duty

Tirfor gang celebrate getting the last bit of lockgate out

Liz

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located somewhere in the depths of the lock,waiting to undermine their hefty chunks ofconcrete. The hefty chunks are still therenow. Unfortunately they�re lying in the water,at 90 degrees to the position they wereoriginally built. They gave us a great workingplatform to stand on whilst building the newwall, but i feel sorry for whoever gets the jobof breaking up and moving that concreteaway. We pretty quickly realised that ourweedy little pneumatic hammer was notreally up to the job.

That said, the hammer did sterling workin pile driving, except for a few stubbornpiles, where twatting them with a sledge wasthe only way forward. The piling team, ledmainly by Sleepy David and Martin, produceda fabulous curved line of piles in just theright place - the formwork for what was tobe our new foundation. Unfortunately someover-enthusiastic baling from inside theformwork meant the pressure on the outsideof the piles was starting to make them go abit wonky. David Patey jumped in with a car-jack and some bits of wood to remedy thesituation, but we had to get some concrete inthere p.d.q.

And so on day 3, the barrowingbegan. And it never ended. It wasn�tmy intention to be a tyrant of a camp-leader, but taking lunch in shifts wasthe only way forward once the con-creting started. The barrow run was aproper treacherous one, complete with30 degree slopes, 90 degree turns,fallen trees, ankle-deep mud, and astrict one-way system! We kept thebarrow-loads to a minimum to make iteasier, but that meant doing the jour-ney twice as many times. However, theformwork and reinforcing kept appear-ing, the barrows kept coming and thevibrator kept vibrating...slowly ourfoundation started to take shape.

The other main job, clearing thelock, was also well under way. Thetirforing team relished the challengesof winching trees, lock gates, paddlegear and random junk out of the lockchamber. The pumps worked overtime(except when they didn�t) and youngColin found a new calling as a jet-wash operator. There was a steadystream of Joe Public wondering pastour site, so it was great to have asteady stream of progress for them toadmire. The appearance of the lock

changed dramatically over the course of theweek � as Chris pointed out, a great site forthe all-important �IDT* Factor�.

Colin Turner, our knowledgeable andeternally cheerful local rep, was pleased withthe progress we were making, despite hisslight amazement at the amount of ballast/cement we were getting through and theresulting dents appearing in his credit card.

As the week went on it became clearthat finishing the foundation and getting thelock clear was well within our capabilities andit provided a fantastic motivational drive oncewe could see what we were aiming for. I wascontinually impressed at everyone�s hardwork and dedication to getting the job done.

You�ll notice in my introduction that Icite only �140 pints of beer�. If you do themaths, that�s not actually very much over thecourse of a week for 20 people, but probablyfairly accurate. We had a fantastic site, greatlocals and a clean, shiny village hall to sleepin. But we were sadly deprived in the pub-stakes. The only pub in the village ofSomersham didn�t seem to quite understandthe concept of customers, and duly shut at9.30pm each night. Even on the night we

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managed to get there before closing, it wasobviously at great inconvenience to the staffwho were most annoyed at having to dosomething as menial as selling beer.

That said, we did manage to fit in a fullsocial calendar including a trip to AquaSauna (jacuzzui/sauna/steam-room haven inColchester) and a visit to the beach for fishand chips. This unfortunately turned into �fishand chips huddled in a transit� but er...thesea-air was bracing! Our barbecue at therugby club up the road was thankfully gracedwith slightly better weather � necessarily soas we�d been kicked out of the accom forindoor bowls-related reasons.

Comedy moments of the camp, whichwere highly un-amusing at the time, but nowprovide utmost hilarity included the combina-tion to the car-park padlock mysteriouslychanging overnight, with all our vehicles

locked inside.We remediedthe situationwith a wreck-ing bar, butnot before all20 of us had ago at enteringthe combina-tion and stat-ing �ooh yes,there�s defi-nitely some-thing wrongwith that!�.Chris� sense-of-humour-failure atfalling waste-deep intofreezing

muddy water was also decidedly un-funny atthe time (well, at least to him!).

Our last day on site was never going tobe an easy one. We still had some trickyconcreting to finish, reinforcing to cut andbarrowing to be done. A perfect time for thepumps to pack up. Ed and I set out on afruitless adventure to hire another pumpfrom somewhere in Ipswich, only to be calledan hour later with the news that they�d got theother one working again. Never mind. It meantwe could press on and finish! Meanwhile Martinhad managed to start some brick-laying on thefirst part of our new foundation, and Sarah andPaul did a great job of sorting, cleaning andchecking off all the kit, as well as returning the

Before and after views of the lock chamber

site-hut (complete with gold taps) to itsformer pristine state.

Was there an end of camp party? Ihonestly don�t know. I mustered up enoughenergy to tell everyone how wonderful theyall were and collapsed into bed at 10pm. Ihope the rest of you guys had a party any-way � you deserved one!

Liz Wilson x* �I did that�

�Hands off - it�s mine!�

One of 380 barrowloads of concrete poured

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Camp reportsMonmouthshire & Brecon

Summer Camp RetrospectiveNWPG in South Wales: July 2007

Although it�s now almost two months sinceour annual summer camp, it should not gounrecorded. The photographs give a flavourof the work, but perhaps not the weatherwhich was mixed to say the least. This wasWales after all. We had two days of prettycontinuous rain: the first Sunday was so badthat we couldn�t even start work; the lastFriday (the 20th) was bad but not as bad asbeing experienced just across the SevernEstuary and we managed to do some work.

Our work was centered around Lock 3on the Crumlin Arm of the Mon & Brec Canaljust to the north west of Newport. Sand-wiched between the M4 and a steep hillsideto the south, the canal climbs steeply upfrom the city centre (actually from a WickesRetail warehouse) following parallel to themotorway before diving underneath it. Itthen reaches a spectacular flight of 14 locks, known by the same name, which take the canalalmost vertically up onto the south west facing hillside of the valley that runs up to Crumlinand Ebbw Vale. It then follows this valley until a place called Cross Keys where it gives upthe fight with the road builders. This, incidentally, is the venue for our accommodation, a

spacious hall at the back of the Cross KeysMethodist chapel.

It was a well supported week and wehad the right team for the job that we�d beenasked to do. The WRG camp under JamesButler had made good progress on the re-building the stone walls of the lock by-wash.Our tasks were to keep going at this (per-haps completing it), to demolish the concretedam at the head of the lock and to clear thelock chamber. The stone-layers persisteddiligently with their task � hindered on occa-sions by the ingress of water running off thehillside, rain from above washing out themortar (the wettest summer since recordsbegan etc..) or a lack of suitable stone. Thisis a task for the lovers of jigsaw puzzles �unlike brick laying, it is the selection of thecorrect piece that takes the time, not theputting it into place.

The supply of stone was soon to beaugmented. The less patient amongst theTight squeeze: 5 tons into 9 feet will go - just!

�Stone-laying is a task forlovers of jigsaw puzzles -it�s the selection of thecorrect piece that takes thetime...�

party were allocated the task of clearing thelock chamber. The main purpose here wasnot to remove the usual dumper loads ofglutinous mud but to salvage stones whichover the years had been deposited by fairmeans or foul into the chamber. Being 9ftwide, the extra two feet compared to astandard narrow lock allowed us to operate athree-tonne excavator in the chamber to loadmaterial into the dumpers. Not wide enoughto rotate the machine, it was necessary tomanoeuvre in and out of the chamber on aregular basis. However, this was still quickerthan shovels and buckets.Other delays were causedby the need to pump outthe chamber every morn-ing as the flow down thecanal was such that thedams had to be brokenevery evening.

Once loaded thedumper was reversed outof the lock where the siltwas washed out firebrigade style with theoutlet hose of a three inchpump. The remainingstone was then taken upto the lock ready to beput back from whence itcame. As usual with cham-ber clearances there is theexcitement of what youfind in it that othersthought would never befound. This time we recov-ered a pistol � lookedrather like a Colt 45 (gunnot drink), many glass bottles from differentlocal breweries of the early 20th Century andthe cast iron lock number�3�. No bodies andno safe to accompany the gun though.

The final job � in this list anyway as itwas actually one the first � was forheadbamgers only. This was the removal ofa very well-made reinforced concrete damthat had been placed above the lock to re-

place the top gate. We spent two days withour brick saw (no diamond disc) and the DigDeep Bosch electric breaker removing aboutnine square feet of concrete. This was goodexercise but wasn�t doing the drill a lot ofgood and it was eating cutting discs at £4 atime. The Trust had hired a hydraulic breakerbut this seemed even more ineffectual.Thinking further on the matter we came tothe not so surprising conclusion that weshould go and change the breaker to onethat worked properly. Duly done the nextone worked and the remaining 27 square

feet of slab was dis-patched in a few hours.The sill and forebay arenow ready for RichardDommett�s new top gatethat he and his teamspent the week assem-bling in the car park.

We left the site onFriday, tidy but with thebywash still only abouttwo thirds complete. Thechamber was cleared �hopefully not to be re-filled with stone and gunsbefore the scaffoldinggoes up to repair the topthree feet of towpath sidewall. During the week weentertained ourselves withthe usual diet of cinemaand bowling trips and theless usual trip to a mine,picnic by a reservoir anda walk over the top of awobbly, rusting, but very

impressive transporter bridge.Thanks go out to the team, including of

course our chef Sue (who had the pleasureof exploring the Cwmbran rather thanGodalming branch of Sainsburys this year)and to the local team who made us feelwelcome and ensured that we had work,accommodation, showers and fun.

Bill Nicholson

Now you see it, now you don�t: theconcrete dam meets its nemesis

Camp reportsMonmouthshire & Brecon

�The final jobon the list was

forheadbangers

only...�

WRG BCWRG�s own boat club

�A number of us worked onrestoring Weches Dam lockwhich, after being in use forsome years, is now closed.It�s very depressing...�

WRG Boat Club News

I do hope you get to read this as I will besending it in to Martin for Navvies rather late.

The trouble is, we are always off boat-ing and not doing paperwork! I just can�tresist wanting to go to another place on thesystem. As I try to get this article started weare at the head of navigation on Reach Lode.What an exciting trip to get here. The lode isVERY weedy, not good for boating but justthe place to collect oxygenating weed foryour pond. We are the only boat here so feelwe are doing something to keep it navigable.Will we brave any of the really difficult lodesthat branch from the Ouse and Cam? Theseare under threat of closure. Something mustbe done!

A number of us including wrgNW andPeterborough branch of IWA worked onrestoring Weches Dam lock which, afterbeing in use for some years, is now closed.EA haven�t a timetable or plans for it to bereopened.* It�s very depressing.

Not so the �National�. Despite all thedifficulties nobody was, or seemed to be,downhearted. I enjoyed it no end, thoughsometimes feel I was at another festival as Imanaged to miss seeing so much includingpeople that I know, who assure me theywere there.

The boat club�s AGM was held at StIves. Did you miss that? Lessons werelearned. Ian learned that if you sit near thesecretary you will get landed with a job.Maureen learned the mistake of leaving abottle of wine within grasp of the club offic-ers. I learned that problem of the timing andlocation for the meeting is insoluable or ifthere is a perfect answer we haven�t hit on ityet. At least this year it didn�t clash with wrgsupper!

What went on at the meeting? Well theminutes will become available sometime,remember the club motto. Things of notewere...

A wonderful speech by theCommodeDoor presenting the boat club

award to Aileen Butler who has been at �TheSharp End� of BCN clean ups and made note-worthy contributions in other areas of resto-ration. Congratulations to you Aileen andthank you for all you do.

Money was discussed and it was agreedthat as soon as we have £500 it will be do-nated to Cotswold Canals to help a little to-wards paying for the great loss they sufferedbecause of the cancellation of the Saul festival.

We nearly have the money and membersare paying their subs as I write (I live in hope).

The club officers remain the same, sothere is no escape!

We have about 40 memberships.Annual subscription remains great value

at £10 and is due now!It was agreed that the block booking

system for moorings at the National hadn�tworked, so we wont bother next year. Getyour forms in ASAP to stand a chance ofgetting a good mooring.

Well, as things are settling down for thewinter, our thoughts stray towards next year.Let�s hope all goes well for the Saul festivaland lots of members get there. It would benice to gather on the Mont in late August andearly September for the goings on there too.

Any other ideas?xxx Sadie Dean (07748186867)

* Peterborough branch have a petition to tryto get EA to do something about it.

Aileen with her trophy

Please send updates to Diary compiler: Dave Wedd, 7 Ringwood Rd, Blackwater,

Navvies diaryYour guide to all the forthcoming work partiesOct 20/21 wrgBITM Wey & Arun Canal: Stump removal. Accom: Plaistow

Oct 20/21 London WRG Cotswold Canals: Joint dig with WRG South West.

Oct 20/21 wrgSW Cotswold Canals: Joint dig with London WRG

Oct 20-27 Camp 0719 Canal camp on the Chard Canal, Somerset.

Nov 1 Thu Navvies Press date for issue 226: including Canal Camps brochure

Nov 3/4 WRG Bonfire Bash - North Wilts Canal: (led by KESCRG to mark their 30th anni

Nov 3/4 KESCRG WRG Reunion (Bonfire Bash): KESCRG 30th Birthday party

Nov 3/4 NWPG Wendover Arm

Nov 3/4 wrgSW Bonfire Bash - North Wilts Canal

Nov 3/4 Essex WRG Chelmer & Blackwater Navigation: plus AGM

Nov 3/4 London WRG Bonfire Bash - North Wilts Canal

Nov 3 Sat WRG Committee & Board Meetings: on Saturday at the Bonfire Bash

Nov 10 Sat wrgNW �Paper Chase� waste paper collection

Nov 17/18 wrgBITM Chichester Ship Canal: Chainsawing and tirforing. Accom: St Johns Chape

Nov 17/18 London WRG Hereford & Gloucester Canal

Nov 17/18 wrgNW Hollinwood Canal

Dec 1/2 KESCRG Droitwich Canal: Joint Xmas Party dig with London WRG

Dec 1/2 London WRG Droitwich Canal: Joint Xmas Party dig with KESCRG

Dec 1/2 wrgSW Droitwich Canal: Joint dig with KESCRG and London WRG

Dec 1/2 Essex WRG Foxton Inclined Plane: Christmas Dinner weekend

Dec 8/9 wrgBITM Xmas Work Party, venue T.B.A.: NOTE date changed from 15/16 to 8/9.

Dec 8/9 NWPG Wilts & Berks Canal: Dig Deep project at Seven Locks flight (Lock 4) Xmas party, p

Dec 8/9 wrgNW Lichfield Canal (provisional)

Dec 15 Sat wrgNW �Paper Chase� waste paper collection

Dec 26-Jan 1Camp 0720 WRG Christmas canal camp on the Grantham Canal. Leaders: Phil Rodwel

Dec 26-Jan 1WBCT Wilts & Berks Canal New Year Camp at Seven Locks. See p7 for details

Jan 1 Tue Navvies Press date for issue 227: including Canal Societies directory

Jan 6 Sun WRG Committee & Board Meetings

Jan 12/13 wrgNW To be arranged (possibly Lancaster Canal)

Jan 12/13 London WRG Chelmer & Blackwater Navigation: To be confirmed

Jan 19/20 wrgBITM To be arranged

Jan 19 Sat wrgNW �Paper Chase� waste paper collection

Canal Camps cost £42 per week unless otherwise stated. Bookingsfor WRG Canal Camps (those identified by a camp number e.g.

'Camp 0720') should go to WRG Canal Camps, PO Box 114,Rickmansworth WD3 1ZY. Tel: 01923 711114.

Email: [email protected]

Camberley, Surrey GU17 0EY. Tel 01252 874437. email: [email protected].

Dave Wedd 01252-874437 [email protected]

Tim Lewis 07802-518094 [email protected]

Rick Barnes 07976-748345 [email protected]

01923-711114 [email protected]

Martin Ludgate 020-8693-3266 [email protected]

iversary) Please book using form on p8 01923-711114 [email protected]

Eddie Jones 0845-226-8589 [email protected]

Graham Hawkes 0118-941-0586 [email protected]

John Gale 01376-334896 [email protected]

Mike Palmer 01564-785293 [email protected]

David McCarthy 0161-740-2179

el Hall. Dave Wedd 01252-874437 [email protected]


David McCarthy 0161-740-2179 [email protected]

Eddie Jones 0845-226-8589 [email protected]


Rick Barnes 07976-748345 [email protected]

John Gale 01376-334896 [email protected]


probably Devizes Graham Hawkes 0118-941-0586 [email protected]



l and Martyn Worsley 01923-711114 [email protected]

Rachael Bantard 012490892289

Martin Ludgate 020-8693-3266 [email protected]

Mike Palmer 01564-785293 [email protected]





Canal Societies� regular monthly orweekly working parties

Please send amendments to DaveWedd (address on previous page)

3rd Sunday of month BCNS Jeff Barley 01543-3732842nd Sunday & following Thurs BCS Buckingham area Athina Beckett 01908-661217Anytime inc. weekdays BCT Aqueduct section Gerald Fry 01288-353273Every Sunday ChCT Various sites Mick Hodgetts 01246-620695Every Saturday DCT Droitwich Canal Jon Axe 0121-608 0296Last Sunday of month EAWA N Walsham & Dilham David Revill 01603-7386484th Sunday of month ECPDA Langley Mill Michael Golds 0115-932-8042Second Sun of month FIPT Foxton Inclined Plane Mike Beech 0116-279-26572nd weekend of month GCRS Grantham Canal Colin Bryan 0115-989-22482nd Sat of month GWCT Nynehead Lift Denis Dodd 01823-661653Tuesdays H&GCT Oxenhall Brian Fox 01432 358628Weekends H&GCT Over Wharf House Maggie Jones 01452 618010Wednesdays H&GCT Over Wharf House Wilf Jones 01452 413888Weekends H&GCT Hereford Aylestone Martin Danks 01432 344488Every Sunday if required IWPS Bugsworth Basin Ian Edgar 01663-7324931st Saturday & 3rd Wed. IWA Ipswich Stowmarket Navigtn. Colin Turner 01473-7305862nd Sunday of month LCT Lancaster N. Reaches Paul Shaw 01524-356851st, 2nd, 4th Sun + 3rd Sat LHCRT Lichfield Sue Williams 01543-6714273rd Sunday of month LHCRT Hatherton Denis Cooper 01543-3743702nd & last Sundays PCAS Paul Waddington 01757-6380272nd Sunday of month SCARS Sankey Canal Colin Greenall 01744-7317461st Sunday of month SCCS Combe Hay Locks Bob Parnell 01225-428055Most weekends SHCS Basingstoke Peter Redway 01483-7217101st Sunday of month SNT Haverholme Lock Dave Pullen 01673-8622781st weekend of month SUCS Newhouse Lock Mike Friend 01948-880723Every Tuesday morning TMCA Brian Macnish 01732-823725Every Sunday & Thurs WACT varied construction Eric Walker 023-9246-3025Mondays (2 per month) WACT tidying road crossings John Empringham 01483-562657Tuesdays WACT Tickner's Heath Depot Colin Gibbs 020-8241-7736Wednesdays WACT maintenance work Peter Jackman 01483-772132Wednesdays WACT Loxwood Link Peter Wilding 01483-422519Tues, Thurs & Sats WACT Winston Harwood Grp Laurie Wraight 01903-721404Various dates WACT Hedgelaying (Oct-Mar) Keith Nichols 01403-7538821st w/e of month (Fri-Mon) WAT Drayton Beauchamp Roger Leishman 01442-8745362nd Thursday of month WAT Drayton Beauchamp Pete Bowers 01255-504540Every weekend WBCT Wilts & Berks Canal Rachael Banyard 01249-892289

Abbreviations used in DiaryBCNS Birmingham Canal Navigations Soc.BCS Buckingham Canal SocietyBCT Bude Canal TrustChCT Chesterfield Canal TrustCCT Cotswolds Canals TrustDCT Droitwich Canals TrustEAWA East Anglian Waterways AssociationECPDA Erewash Canal Pres. & Devt. Assoc.FIPT Foxton Inclined Plane TrustGCRS Grantham Canal Restoration SocietyGWCT Grand Western Canal TrustH&GCT Hereford & Gloucester Canal TrustIWPS Inland Waterways Protection SocietyK&ACT Kennet & Avon Canal Trust

KESCRG Kent & E Sussex Canal Rest. GroupLCT Lancaster Canal TrustLHCRT Lichfield & Hatherton Canals Rest'n TrustNWPG Newbury Working Party GroupPCAS Pocklington Canal Amenity SocietySCARS Sankey Canal Restoration SocietySCCS Somersetshire Coal Canal SocietySHCS Surrey & Hants Canal SocietySNT Sleaford Navigation TrustSUCS Shropshire Union Canal SocietyTMCA Thames & Medway Canal AssociationWACT Wey & Arun Canal TrustWAT Wendover Arm TrustWBCT Wilts & Berks Canal TrustW&BCC Wilts & Berks Canal Company

Mobile groups' socials(please phone to confirm before

turning up)London WRG: 7:30pm on Tues 11 days beforeeach dig. Usually at 'Star Tavern', Belgrave MewsWest, London. Tim Lewis 07802-518094NWPG: 9:00pm on 3rd Tue of month at the'Hope Tap', West end of Friar St. Reading.Graham Hawkes 0118 941 0586

Navvies diary

Lettersto the editor

�I get the greatest buzz out ofleading IWA at the NationalFestival � every year without fail.But this year it really wassomething super-special�

Dear Martin

The National Festival (or St Ives on in Mud)

Can I once again use your pages to express my thanks to all the wrgies who did not hearthem in the arena at the national festival closing ceremony [pitched battle]?

I get the greatest buzz out of leading IWA at the National Festival � every year withoutfail. But this year it really was something super-special. I know wrgies are renowned fortheir dirty weekends, but 2007 will go down in the annals of both IWA and WRG as one ofthe dirtiest. And yet it must have been one of the happiest.

Being on site was near a religiousexperience, which was about the abilityof the massed volunteers to both walkon mud and then set about turning wineinto water with similar determination!

All through the preceding week,whether I was sliding diagonally off theWRG camp car park, or watching you allman-handle the stock across the sitefrom the nearest point of tracking oryellow brick road, I really wonderedwhether we would open to the public atall. And even though we opened ontime Saturday morning � I still had thegravest doubts.

But the public came in great num-bers, and appeared to thrive on theconditions as much as you all did.

The feeling of tremendous pride inyou all is just overwhelming. �Thank you� seems so inadequate.

John Fletcher, IWA National Chairman

Dear MartinJust a short note to say how impressed I was with the huge amount of work carried

out by Liz, Chris and their team of navvies a couple of weeks ago. Getting the steel workhammered in, the rebar installed and the concrete poured was a big enough task on it�s own.The fact that they also cleaned out the lock, removed all the old timber and steel,

pulled out stumps, lifted coping stones and even got some amateur to lay a few bricksbefore they all went home was truly magnificent.

I suppose I should be used to this by now as it always seems to happen on camps thatI�m involved in but we really must get out of the habit of starting a big concrete pour at4.30pm on Friday!

It was great to meet up again with some old faces (yours among them) and note thatdespite the tabloids� attempts to denigrate everyone under the age of 21 we still have young-sters who are prepared to do a good day�s work for no pay and a bed on a village hall floor.

Once again, thanks to you and them for giving us a great start on the restoration ofBaylham Lock on the Ipswich and Stowmarket Navigation.

Spencer Greystrong

The Festival site on Saturday morning


�The rubbishing by those at thehelm of the Chichester Ship

Canal Trust of the restorationfrom Hunston to Ford - prior toany in-depth study - continues�

Dear Mr LudgateAt the Chichester Ship Canal Trust�s AGM on 16th August, the Special Resolution to

delete all mention of (inter alia) the Portsmouth and Arundel Canal from the Trust�s Objectswas very narrowly defeated (the Resolution needed 75% of the total votes cast: it onlyachieved 70.1%). This was a good result, given the following factors:-

(1) The Chairman, Rick Travis, and his allies, control the flow of information to mem-bers to accord with their own views. The ballot paper posted to members (members couldeither vote by post, or at the AGM) was little more than a propaganda sheet for the SpecialResolution. The Board�s recommendation for a �yes� vote was printed right next to the boxeswhere members had to place their crosses; and the ballot paper stated that �it is the Board�sjudgement that.....any suggestion that the derelict Portsmouth and Arundel Canal (Hunstonto Ford) may be a viable restoration project is unrealistic�.

(2) The Special Resolution was sprung upon members in the height of the summerholiday season, without any membership-wide discussion or consultation (any discussion orconsultation was confined to the Trust�s nine Trustees, a considerable minority of whomoppose the Special Resolution, in any event). The only (unsubstantiated) explanation of theBoard�s reasons for proposing the Special Resolution appeared on the ballot paper itself.

(3) Any attempt by members to debate or discuss the Special Resolution at the AGMwas forbidden: the Chairman brusquely informed members that the Special Resolution wasnot open for discussion.

(4) My election statement (submitted by myself) printed on the ballot paper (I wasstanding as a candidate for the post of Trustee, largely to publicize opposition to the SpecialResolution on the ballot paper) was edited in a way that presented me in a less favourablelight, compared toother candidates. I had stated that I was standing �to support the Trust�,but this statement was omitted from the ballot paper. Other candidates with word countslonger than mine had similar statements included. [This is a comparatively minor point; butI set it out, just to demonstrate the manner in which the Trust is being run. The Chairmanhad told me that my �name will appear on the ballot paper as a candidate who is standingsolely to oppose a resolution which is recommended by the Board�: I protested to Mr Travisabout this threat, but his threat was carried out, nonetheless.]

(5) To the best of my knowledge, the Chairman has failed to provide any evidence toanyone (including Robin Higgs, founder Chairman of the Southern Canals Association) tosupport and substantiate Mr Travis�s claims that, if the Trust�s Objects aren�t more focused,and don�t delete all mention of the Portsmouth and Arundel Canal, then the Trust may loseout on donations. Mr Travis has declined to enter into any proper two-way debate, or toprovide members with sight of any documents supporting a case for the Special Resolution

Mr Travis has not responded to the representations made to him, which havepointedout that:-

(1) It is highly unusual for a charity�s Objects to be �focused� (i.e. made more narrow)as it increases the risk of legal challenges that the Trustees are operating outside their remit.

(2) If particular stretches of the Portsmouth and Arundel Canal prove not to be tocertain donors� liking, donations can easily be ring-fenced for specific projects.

The rubbishing by those at the helm of the Trust of the restoration from Hunston toFord (prior to any in-depth engineering study) continues, as I�m informed that Mr Travis isplanning to re-present the Special Resolution (or something similar to it) for approval bymembers at the next AGM of the Trust, in seven months� time.

Yours sincerelySimon Couzens

We invited the secretary of the Chichester Ship Canal Trust to respond...

�Simon Couzens stating that the Canal trust is steering the wrong course is so far off beamthat it needs a response. Although I am a member of the Board of Trustees, these are mypersonal views.

The name of the Trust is The Chichester Ship Canal Trust and it seems entirely appropriateand necessary that the objectives of the Trust reflect this. The Wey and Arun Canal Trust arelooking at restoring the Wey and Arun Canal and are doing an excellent job. The Chichester ShipCanal Trust is restoring the Chichester Ship Canal and we have made great progress. It is how-ever taking all our resources and the dedicated help of our fantastic volunteers particularly in thetrading company to add to the funds to maintain and restore the Chichester Ship Canal. Al-though it is the West Sussex County Council that will determine the ultimate success of therestoration to the sea and I know the Trust is very grateful for their continuing support.

Anyone who has attended one of the Chairman of Trust Rick Travis�s talks will know thatrestoration of all the Portsmouth and Arundel Canal is impossible and the Portsmouth part of thecanal has disappeared completely under development. I think it is misleading to have restorationof the Portsmouth and Arundel Canal in the objective of the Trust. There are no plans even inthe distant future and our aim should be focused on the reason why the Chichester Ship CanalTrust was set up in the first place: that is to restore the Chichester Ship Canal.

There was just a the narrow defeat at the AGM, remember that 70.1% were in favour ofthe change and it was only defeated because a 75% majority must pass the motion for the newobjectives. I think you must ask the question: is Simon Couzens� view a minority one?

As for the claims that the process for motion was in some way manipulated by theTrust board and �steamrollered through�: they are completely unfounded.

In fact Simon Couzens did have an opportunity to put forward his views in the local news-paper prior to the AGM but he failed to attend the AGM or get elected to the Board of Trustees.

Kind regardsRichard Plowman

Dear Martin,It�s strange how looking back foreshortens history. In David Howarth�s report of Martin

Grundy�s death in Navvies 223, there is a reference to the �Ashtac� (not Ashtec) digs of theearly 70s predating the formation of WRG.

While it�s true that the first �big dig� � Operation Ashton or OpAsh � preceded WRG,this was in 1968, and the Waterway Recovery Group first appeared on the scene at theGuildford National Festival in 1970, and was consequently very much involved in Ashtac andthe big Dudley Digs of that period. Even with the help of the recent CD-ROM to save megoing all through my collection of Navvies Notebook and later Navvies, I can find no directstatement of the change of title from Working Party Group to Waterway Recovery Group. Itseems to have happened very subtly with reference to the WPG Bank in Issue 24 of June1970, and to the WRG Bank in Issue 25 of July of the same year. By Issue 26 in September,the magazine was stated to be published by Waterway Recovery Group!

David Howarth also mentions Martin Grundy�s devotion to the western end of the Leedsand Liverpool. He was certainly a great encouragement and mentor on our cruise, in a smallplywood cruiser, through there and out through the Stanley Dock Branch and LiverpoolDocks in 1971. From there we crossed the Mersey to the Manchester Ship Canal and thenup the locks at Ellesmere Port onto less adventurous waters.

All best wishesTim Dodwell


�Anyone who has attended oneof the Trust Chairman�s talks willknow that restoration of all ofthe Portsmouth & Arundel Canalis impossible�

Lettersto the Editor

The Lapal Canalrestoration: �Is it really

sensible to undertake sucha massive project mainly

to provide a marina?�

Dear MartinI was interested to read in the latest Navvies of the feasibility study into restoration of

the Lapal Canal. I recently walked the course of this waterway, including following as closeas possible the tunnel line overland, and it is clear that any restoration is going to be amammoth undertaking and hugely expensive- there is virtually nothing left. Although thecanal line seems to be available for most of the canal�s length, as well as the significanthurdle of Lapal Tunnel (which is to be bypassed by an overland route, which will necessitatea crossing of the M5) the junction with Dudley No. 2 Canal would seem to be built-over by alarge engineering works and it is difficult to see a way round.

Whilst I would obviously like to see waterways restored, one of the main justificationsin this case from a reading of the piece seems to be to provide badly needed marina space inBirmingham. Is it really sensible to undertake such a massive project mainly to provide amarina, couldn�t it go elsewhere at a fraction of the cost? How many other waterways in the

West Midlands could be restored for the same money? And surely a decision not torestore the long tunnel removes the major potential attraction of this canal? I find the argu-ment for providing multi-user opportunities to be spurious. The canal line is already wellused by pedestrians and cyclists, withdiversion onto existing roads onlyrequired for a short length in Selly Oakand over the tunnel top. It would befar cheaper for the highway authoritiesconcerned to formalise this use byusing their powers to create either apublic right of way or cycleway, providea multi-user surface and signage, alongwith promotion. No-one needs torestore a canal for this. In some casesderelict canals are not easily accessibleto the public at large and total restora-tion has the useful spin-off of providingtowpath opportunities. In this case Ithink it is a tenuous argument.

One thing I would say from my visit is that it was extremely disappointing to see asection of the canal near its terminus in Halesowen, which had obviously been restored inthe not-too-distant past, already suffering from major neglect. A modern channel had beenconstructed of pile-driven sheeting capped with concrete coping, with excellent canal side pathspopular with the public, but the waterway was choked by high bullrushes. It seems a shame togo to all this trouble and expense only to let things fall so soon into disrepair and one has towonder if a sight like this will adversely influence those holding the purse-strings of funding.Restorations must be sustainable and care of work done has to feature. It didn�t look like the siteof an active restoration drive to me and in fact I thought the push must have collapsed. I�mafraid it reminded me of one of the many Manpower Services Commission schemes of the1980s which provided amenity space in local areas, so many of which have reverted to naturebecause no-one thought to budget for their upkeep, and which must be a constant reminder tothose who worked on them that they really were, as they feared, wasting their time.

Best wishesAndy Overton

Any comments from Lapal Canal Trust or anyone else will be welcome ...Ed

Worth putting a canal through here? The route forthe proposed Lapal Canal restoration

Dear Martin

I would like to takethis opportunity to thankall of people who contrib-uted to the best everNational Festival for theKESCRG Bhaji stand. Wetook over £5000 over thethree days which is notonly far above expecta-tion but has covered ourlost revenue from theWendover washout andsecured the group�s fi-nances for the comingyear.

The people I wouldlike to thank are:. The crew (stars)without which nothingwould have been cooked,some old hands but alsomany new ones wholearnt a lot of new skills. The hundreds ofhappy customers, new, repeat and those now sporting themost sought after mugs at the event. Moose and his team for helping us out through out the weekend, not least of whichwas giving us a friendly, out of the way place to retire to that didn�t smell of onions.. The site team who all together enable the event to go ahead in the first place. The catering managers who set us up right!. Box Bears who very kindly donated the bear for us to raffle � last chance to get a win-ning ticket at the Bonfire Bash!!!

I am sure there are others in the midst such as Waterways World who had Liz�s photoand some words in the post-event write up in this month�s magazine, the festival news teametc etc thank you to all and see you for more of the same next year!

Ian WilliamsonDear Martin

Please could I say a �thank you� to all the navvies at the IWA National Festival for theirhelp, understanding and kindness during my stay. I couldn�t say this personally as, when Icame to leave after lunch on Wednesday, the only person around was that slave-driver�Moose� who had sent every man, woman and child down to the field to dismantle the lastfence panels.

So THANKS TO EVERYONE - despite the rain and mud, it turned out to be a JOLLYSUCCESSFUL �DO�

David �Mr Mac� McCarthyWRG North West

THe KESCRG onion-chopping team in action at St Ives


More St IvesNationalFestival thanks- from KESCRGand Mr Mac

Camp reporton Wilts & Berks...

...reporting from a verywet and muddy but

ultimately productiveweek rebuilding the

walls of Lock Four

�Is it deep enough to swim in?�

It was not an auspicious start to the second oftwo weeks on Lock 4 of the Seven Locks flight.

The last day of the previous week�sKESCRG camp was a washout with torrentialrain all day. By the next day several roadswere impassable for ordinary cars and therailway was flooded. On the arrival day ofthe camp, Rob Brotherston and Di had totake long detours coming from the southwest, and Luke was held up for an hour ortwo coming down from Warwick. Threeothers phoned to say they�d leave it for a dayor two as trains were cancelled, and fourwho had booked on the camp never made it.However two who hadn�t booked managed toturn up so we still finished with 19 includingtwo Spaniards, one French and one Slovak.

Luke got up at the �crack of sparrows�on Sunday on got two pumps going but bythe time our troops arrived it was still asoggy mess. Four locals turned up as usual,and two of them joined Martin Thomson�steam to start digging out gooeyclay at the bottom of the offsidewall and shovelling it into thedigger bucket to be lifted outonto the spoil heap. T heother two locals, both experi-enced bricklayers, joined JohnHawkins and Rob, and got towork on laying the first threecourses of old brick. The rest ofthe team were mixing mortar,moving bricks up the field andlowering them down into thelock on the towpath side. By theafternoon we were able to putdown a dry lean mix onto theclay to at least give a firm sur-face to stand on. After a longday we had transformed the siteback to how it was the previousThursday! We then got back tothe Reading Rooms, got cleanedup, ate a scrummy meal from Diand adjourned to the FoxhamInn for a well-earned sample ofreal ale.

While the heavy rain from the previousweek wasn�t repeated, we continued to haveshowers nearly every day, but work stillprogressed apace. Two courses of brickworkwere completed on Monday while Martin�steam had the unenviable task of continuingto dig out sloppy clay and putting down ablinding layer of dry concrete. Blocklayingwas started at the top end of the lock, andEvelyne (our French visitor) trimmed backthe towpath hedge to make it easier forpeople and machines to get up and down. Inthe evening 11 of us went to Devizes to our�local� folk club, the others being offered (anddeclining) a trip to the cinema so a startcould be made on Rob�s 1000-piece jigsaw.On Tuesday the bricklaying team achievedanother two courses, while Martin led an-other teak putting in the blockwork backwall, the hollows being filled in by Robin andEvelyne. Jesus (one of our Spaniards, not themiracle-worker) and Mike kept the brick and

Camp report...at Seven Locks

�It was a very tiring week but allthe team pulled their weight,which meant that the vital aim ofbringing up the walls to abovewater level was achieved�

blocklayers suppied with materials.We finished a little early on Tuesday

because the whole camp had been invited todinner by neighbouring farmers Philip andAnn Smith who own a strip of the canal,including Lock 1 of the Seven Locks. It was alovely sunny evening after the showers of theday and we were able to sit outside to eatand enjoy the view.

The �laying� team excelled themselveson Wednesday, completing three courses ofbrick (about 630 bricks) and five ofblockwork, with most of the hollows filled.Max, who had been involved with mixingmortar the previous three days, had thechance to try his hand a bricklaying, joiningElisa (Spanish) and Zuzanne (Slovak), butonce again we were dodging the showers.We had a restful evening boat trip on theKennet & Avon, with Di serving a buffet mealon board.

The forecast was not promising forThursday, and as it turned out six volunteersretired to the Reading Rooms after lunchwhen the rain started to get really unpleas-ant. The rest braved it out and managed tofinish filling the concrete blocks and cleaningthe whole area between the walls ready forthe concrete pour arranged for Friday, settingup the chutes for moving the concrete towhere it was needed. After a scrumptiousmeal a skittles evening had been arranged atthe Trotting Horse pub in Bushton.

The whole week had been exhaustingmoving soggy clay about � not least on yourboots which doubled in weight and mademoving about hard work, being also ex-tremely slippery. Friday was nonethelessprobably the hardest of all. We had re-quested four lorry loads of readymix con-crete, but due to a shortage of drivers theyonly managed three. Each delivery had to betransferred into a fleet of four dumpers,manoeuvred up the towpath, and then shov-elled down the chutes, and then a furtherteam with shovels to transfer and spread themix along the length of the area between thewalls and vibrated to get the air out. It was

extremely hard work, even if we did get ashort rest between deliveries. We eventuallygot off site at 7pm for quick showers whilethe BBQs were fired up.

It was a very tiring week but all theteam pulled their weight and worked incred-ibly hard, which meant that the vital aim ofbringing up the walls to above water level,after KESCRG�s start the previous week, wasachieved. The pumps had had to run day andnight throughout the week to make it possi-ble to work at all. Even Mina the dog onlywaited for her lead to be removed beforecollapsing in a small black heap in her bed atthe end of each day. She even kept hermoose quiet, she was so tired. Yes, there is a�Moose II� on the WRG circuit, the differencebeing that this one is furry and squeaks. Onsecond thoughts perhaps it�s just that thisone is smaller...

Rachael Banyard

Brick wall on the left, blockwork on the right,then backfill between them with readymix...

ObituaryHoward Williams

Howard Williams 1945-2007

It is with great sadness that I have toinform you that Howard Williams, that crazyold Welsh navvy recently passed away on 31st

July.For those of us who knew Howard, the

news of his unexpected death came as agreat shock as he was such a great characterand will really be missed. Many of our volun-teers may not recall his name, but will havemet and remember him. This is becauseHoward, being Welsh, was infamousthroughout WRG for his association withsheep and judging by the amount of stick hetook extremely well about sheep and thejokes he always made about it, I am surethere are those that will only remember himfondly as �The sheep man�, as he was greatfun to be around.

I first met him in 1989 on our firstWRG camp. This was on Howard�s belovedMontgomery canal, where we were restoringthe lock flight and constructing the Naturereserve. There he was on site dressed inarmy boots, shorts and a white anorak, whyI thought would anyone be daft enough tocome on a canal camp dressed in white, allwill be revealed later. Incidentally it was atthat camp that the sheep saga began, startedby another volunteer (who shall remainnameless) on his first camp, but those whoknew Howard will know the joker well.

Howard was born in Cardiff in 1945 onthe day the Japanese surrendered. He grewup there, married and moved to his wife�snative Ireland where he worked in the Belfastshipyard. They had a son and a daughter butsadly their marriage failed and he returned toCardiff alone and for many years managed abar. He was plagued with ill health for muchof his life, but despite his failing eye sight,diabetes and epilepsy, he never complainedand just got on with life, doing far more andmaking much more effort than most ablebodied people do.

In his fifties he lost his bar job andrather than do nothing, he went back to

college embarking on several years ofcourses in countryside management, horti-culture and arboriculture. It was somethinghe had a passion for because of the enjoy-ment he gained from his canal restoration.He was known affectionately as �Grandad� onhis courses.

In Belfast he was an active member of adiving club. Then, despite having poor sight(registered as blind), he participated in manythings through the Cardiff Institute for theblind. He kept allotments and was a bee-keeper, making honey and candles from thebeeswax. Most surprisingly he produced themost amazing calligraphy which he did usingan enormous magnifying frames with hispoor eyes only centimetres from the paper.

Conversations with him were alwaysinteresting as he was obviously quite wellinformed, but he wouldn�t mind me sayinghe could talk the hind leg off a sheep! Healways had time for anyone and would al-ways take first time volunteers under hiswing and offer them advice and support.

He would often say �On the Mont� (itwas his equivalent of Uncle Albert�s �Duringthe War� from Fools and Horses), but we didfinally persuade him out of Wales and heattended all but one of the five camps Iorganised at Bosmere and Creeting Locks onthe Stowmarket Navigation in the 1990�s. Hethoroughly enjoyed those together withothers including the Wilts & Berks and atTring with BITM. He attended many NationalFestivals and all the reunions. The last fewyears I persuaded him to come to weekendswith BITM and Essex WRG. No mean feat forhim as it often meant one or two trainchanges carrying all his kit and medication tomeet me at the local stations. I could alwaysring him up even the night before and say�do you want to go-sorted the trains foryou,� and he would have no hesitation inanswering �Yep�. I think the last dig he at-tended was at Foxton with Essex WRG atChristmas, and together with those he hadwith BITM really made his (otherwise veryquiet) Christmas, particularly as he lived onhis own.

Howard died on 31st July and I onlyfound out late on Wednesday 15th August.

The sad thing was he had been waitingfor two years for a guide dog and only re-ceived one about two months ago and wasquite jubilant about it. The trainer had beencoming round every day and called at his flaton 31 July only to hear the dog barking.

s

When he went in Howard was on the bed butthe ambulance crew could do nothing forhim; his heart failed. I think it was aroundthat date that I last spoke to him on thephone.

I only found out because I tried to ringhim to wish the old boy happy birthday.

His phone was not accepting incomingcalls which was strange, so I called his mo-bile which was also switched off, so I rangthe operator and she said he was no longer acustomer. I always had Howard�s brother�snumber on my mobile (just in case he wastaken ill on any canal weekend/camp) andgave him a call. As soon as he said �you arehis old canal pal, I have been trying to con-tact you, you better sit down� I knew whathe was saying. Quite a shock coming out ofthe blue like that.

Jeff, his brother didn�t know my nameand had been trawling through his addressbook trying to find a clue.

He was cremated on Monday 20 Augustat Cardiff crematorium. It was a simple nonreligious service with his sister speakingabout his life. There were far more therethan they expected with many from his blindclub. WRG was represented by three of us,

RIP Jack Walker

which was good given such short notice. Topmarks to Ralph Bateman who flew in fromSan Diego the day before and didn�t knowthe location until the morning of the funeralon his way to work in Winchester; he justkept driving to Cardiff! The service endedwith Fleetwood Mack�s Albatross whichHoward liked, quite fitting really.

Howard will be greatly missed by all hisfriends (that includes the sheep), he wassuch a good laugh and a real mate, digs willnot be the same without him and as JudePalmer said �he certainly lived life to the full�.

What of that white anorak? Well thatwas another string to his bow, it was his oldarchery one, he was a Longbow expert andblind archer and they all wear white on theranges! Being a snappy dresser, it contrastedhis dark glasses which protected his eyes andhis identity as he was actually in the SAS!(Sheep appreciation society!)

Bob Kearney.

Any donations to Cardiff Institute for theBlind (See their web site) with a note to sayin memory of Howard Williams from a WRGcanal friend, or if you prefer to donate toWRG.

We are sorry to also have to bring you the sad news that Jack Walker has died at the age of79. He was a regular volunteer for a number of years, working on the Pocklington, Wey &Arun, Cotswold and Grantham canals among others. He was born and lived all his life in theRipley area of Derbyshire, where he worked for the Coal Board as a draftsman. Besidescanals many his interests included aircraft and Computer Aided Design. Retiring early, hespent time with his family: he leaves a wife Joyce, son Robert and daughters Patricia andJacqueline. He is pictured (left) with regular members of his team (left to right) DaveWalters, Horace Edwards and Phil Sparham. As Dave puts it �Some of you will remember usas a team of hard-working funsters, and this was our leader.�

No Such thing as a free tirfor

A friend asked if we could do with a tirfor atNewland Furnace. I said no, but WRG mighthave it, and that would have been that exceptthat Jen asked if we wanted anything for it.

The penny was slow to drop. Thereare many things the Newland Furnace Trustmight ask for. Two ton of gritsand and 30bags of NHL2 would be nice. Ten builders tostick the furnace walls together using theresulting lime mortar would be better. Wewould like five archaeologists to remove therubble from the furnace stackscientifically, or failing that,two strong men with pick-axes. Or we could ask forsomeone who knew how tochange the drum on an Alkocement mixer.

More realistically, can Iput a request for volunteersin Navvies?

Newland Furnace wasbuilt in 1747 by the companythat would eventually becomeHarrison Ainslie. When therest of the world converted tousing coke to smelt iron,Harrison Ainslie stuck withcharcoal into the 20th century.

Newland ceased produc-tion in 1891, but the furnacestack is almost complete, andit is our intention that it willnot be left to fall down. Thework to be done includessealing the top of the furnacestack to prevent water perco-lating through the structure,then pointing the stoneworkwith lime mortar

What has this to do withcanals? Well the leat thatdrove the waterwheel atNewland was the feeder forthe Ulverston canal. Untilabout 1860 the company

survived by sending ore from their own minesin their own ships to Ellesmere Port, and fromthere by narrow boat to the Black Country.Their pigiron from Newland, Backbarrow andBonawe took the same route.

The Newland Furnace Trust hasworkmeets most Fridays at 7pm and mostlast Saturdays of the month at 1pm. Thereis more information about Harrison Ainslieon the Lindal and Marton website and aboutthe trust at http://www.cwaas.org.uk/newland/.

P Sandbach

The tap hole of Newland Furnace

Newland FurnaceIs there such a thing as a free Tirfor?

A historic iron furnacethat once helped to

supply the UlverstonCanal needs

volunteers

The story so farIn the last episode, we had discovered thebottom king post bearing had excessive play.In order to access this the superstructureneeds to be removed and so the crane wouldneed to be moved from its position on thebank of the millpond at Claverton PumpingStation on the Kennet & Avon to the hardstanding on the other side of the bridge. Thecrane has been in this position for a coupleof years....

Getting ready for the move

First job was to jack the crane up and re-fitthe wheels. Also one of the tyres had apuncture already so this required fixing.Remembering the job of dismantling and re-assembling the wheels was hard work, thewheel was taken to a tyre company who didpuncture repairs for a fixed price - bet theyregretted that!

As the slewing gear was missing therewas no slew brake, so the counterweight waswedged to stop the superstructure fromslewing. The steering gear was refitted andgreased, the tyres on the crane were boughtup to pressure and theaccumulated clutter(mainly wooden blocksthat had been used tohold the crane up when ithad no wheels) wascleared out of the way.

There were somehousekeeping tasks aswell: as the engine wasnot fitted, it would benecessary to move thecrane using a pole andLand Rover. The �pastywagon� (the WRG boxbody Land Rover) beinga 130 was too large andfar too heavy for use onthe soft soil of the millpond bank. When we hadput the crane into posi-

tion I had used my 110 with front hitch, butI had been most inconsiderate and sold it.My replacement vehicle (a series 3 soft top)had no front hitch, but that was soon recti-fied after a quick session on Ebay.

Moving day

The fence was removed and the Land Roverattached to the front of the crane with thepole ready to drag it out of the corner whereit had been resting for the past couple ofyears. Following a false start (note to self,forgetting to engage the freewheel hubs onthe front axle can be embarrassing) the cranewas soon on the move. Once the crane hadbeen dragged forward and lined up with thegap in the fence, we moved the Land Roveraround to the back of the crane to drag it outonto the main track.

Again the Land Rover was coupled upand began to drag the crane up the slopeonto the track. This involved the crane goingonto a slight side slope, and suddenly thewedges stopping the superstructure movingslipped, the superstructure slewed downhilldue to the weight of the counterbalance and

PlantThe KL15 Crane

Bungle is still rebuilding aKL15 crane - will there stillbe any canals left to restoreby the time he finishes it?

Easy does it! The crane is moved for the first time in years

PlantThe KL15 Crane

�Next time the crane getsinvolved in a lifting

operation for the first timein years. It�s the crane

that�s being lifted...�

the crane ended up balancedon two wheels at a precariousangle. The only thing stop-ping it sliding down the bankwas the tow pole with a 35year old Landrover on the endof it!

After giving the situationcareful thought, a chain pulllift was used to slew the su-perstructure back around.This allowed the crane to sitback on an even keel and themove continued with nofurther incident. Once thecrane was on the main track itwas plain sailing, one thingthat was noticed was howmuch easier the steering wascompared to when the crane was last moved, but then as it is almost all new or refurbished,that is hardly surprising really.....

Next time:

The crane gets involved in a lifting operation for the first time in years as the �Goliath� atClaverton gets to grips with removing the superstructure. Yes, it is the KL15 being liftedrather than the other way around!

George �Bungle� Eycott

Not what was meant to happen - the crane on two wheels

The crane arrives safely in its new home across the bridge. Bet you can�t wait for the next episode!

ProgressLichfield & Hatherton and Wey & Arun

Our regular lock atrestoration progressaround the countrybegins in theMidlands...

Lichfield & Hatherton Canals

The Trust�s own volunteers have continuedwork at the Tamworth Road Locks site on theLichfield Canal. They are currently recon-structing the bywash below Lock 26 inpreparation for further work by visitinggroups in September. Care has to be taken toensure that there is provision for all possiblefuture flow requirements if the Severn TrentWater storm drain that is currently laid in thecanal bed is diverted into the canal.

A large consignment of dressed stonesfrom the contractors reconstructing the nearbyWest Coast Main Line railway is currently storedin Pound 25 and a stone cutter will be pur-chased to ensure the best use of these. Thework container has been relocated to thecompound below Lock 26 and materials arenow stored, by arrangement with the owner, inthe outbuildings. Discussions continue on bestpractice to rebuild the wall from Lock 26 to theA38 road crossing. Hedge planting has beenauthorised on the boundary with the A38.

We have welcomed groups from LandRover and the Environment Agency. Both haveundertaken site tidying work with the EAvolunteers concentrating on Fosseway Lane.The Land Rover Team are booked to return inSeptember and we hope they will paint the liftbridge at Darnford Lane, design a system forraising the grille on the culvert under thebridge and possibly work on the site of theformer flashflood breach by the golf club.

Our partnership with Great Barr Schoolhas resulted in visits by pupils who haveundertaken environmental work and carriedout their own surveys.

Meanwhile the construction of the navi-gation culvert under the Birmingham Road bycontractors as part of the Lichfield SouthernBypass construction work is now complete.

We are in cordial discussions with Staf-fordshire Highways on their plans to extendthe Southern bypass and to tunnel under thefreight railway close to former Lock 19.

Regular maintenance work continues onthe Hatherton Canal under the direction of

Denis Cooper. There are good prospects thatthe future widening of the M6 motorway willenable the Trust to resolve the major block-age where it crosses the canal.

Discussion continue with landownersand developers to secure the best route eastof Churchbridge for the canal to be divertedaround the demolished Churchbridge Locksand Cannock Extension section of the route.

Brian Kingshott

Wey & Arun Canal

One by one, we are knocking down theremaining obstacles to starting constructionof the B2133 bridge/tunnel at Loxwood. Wecan now be very optimistic that building willhave begun in October.

It has taken longer than we hoped, butwe now have full clearance to distribute theCanal Completion Strategy produced byAtkins, the international consultants. Thesummary of the report (the ImplementationPlan), a document of about 20 pages, is avail-able for download at www.weyandarun.co.uk/rest_strat_rpt.php. The Trust can�t emphasisetoo strongly that the Atkins report is the workof independent consultants. The Wey & ArunCanal Trust were only one of the stakeholderswho commissioned the report. So it is not astatement of Trust policy, although it will cer-tainly guide some of our thinking about futureplanning. The full report will be available onCD for a nominal charge.

Many have commented that, followingthe lowering of Brewhurst Lock, the tradi-tional short boat trip from the Onslow Armsto Brewhurst Bridge and back has become alittle too short. It is already possible to expe-rience the complete navigable section atLoxwood on a long trip at 3pm on Saturdays(booking with the office is advisable). Now,for an experimental period, there will also bea �Sunday outing� at 3pm on Sundays.

This Sunday trip will go from the Ons-low Arms to Baldwins Knob Lock and back,which will take just over 1 hour.

Julian Morgan

ProgressSussex Ouse Navigation

Reporting from a five-day dig at Isfield Lock in

West Sussex where noteverything went entirely

to plan...

Sussex Ouse

Over the week-end June 23/24, we had avisiting work group from KESCRG and sub-stantial progess was made. With two diggerson site we were able to excavate around theremains of the original lock gates and liftthem clear of the chamber for storage to beused as patterns for future replacement.

Also, the upper cut was �attacked� bythe chain saw boys and supporting crew andwe now have a clear view of the originalprofile of the canal almost to where it joinsthe Ouse above the weir. A big thank you toKESCRG members for your efforts which hassignificantly advanced our work.

I planned our own �Big Dig� from Thurs-day 19 - Monday 23 to try to complete theremaining chamber excavation at one hit tomaximise the cost advantage of a week�s hireof a dumper over a daily rate.

Day 1 was fine apart from a track be-coming detached from the digger in thesludge of the lock invert, but two hours laterwe were up and running again.

Day 2 started by sitting in cars until 12noon due to thunderstorms and heavy rain-fall, but then the sun came out and every-thing was rosy again although the groundwas too wet for safe excavation and so were-arranged and tidied our tool container andthen proceeded to explore the walls of thelock approach and discovered a barge lay-bywhich was certainly the wharf of the longgone paper mill.

By now the river level was risingquickly, and upon the advice of the farmerwe stopped work and prepared to leave thesite, but as I drove the digger up the accessramp from the top cut, the law of sod de-scended upon us and the track came off.With water now rapidly approaching thedigger from two directions, I donned thighwaders and proceed to wade through rapdlyrising water to where my Land Rover wasparked, drove back to the digger and aftermuch manouvering and skidding was able todrag the digger up the bank with the winch

to a presumed high position. That done, theidea was for all to ride back from site in theLand Rover, but alas upon turning the key anasty metallic sound was emmitted and nostart.

As the vehicle was broadside across thepublic footpath, although now flooded, itwas necessary to move the vehicle to a safeposition and the hired-in dumper was dulyattached but failed to move the vehicle. Itwas now a desperate situation with the lockchamber full to the top and overflowing theconcrete dam which replaced the top gatesinto the upper cut.

I had on site my own very ancientBenford dumper which due to its numerousand varied deficiencies that I alone under-stand, is an �owner/driver only�. I waded overto where it was parked, inserted the crankhandle, prayed and turned simultaneouslyand behold she responded with the usualcloud of black smoke.

I dove though 2-3ft of water and at-tached a chain to the Land Rover and withher unladen weight of 2.5 tons and goodtyres she dug in and moved the vehicle to ahigh ground position, after which I gunned itthrough about 3 ft of water to a relatively dryfield and thence to the cars.

Day 3 cancelled as site flooded.Day 4 Sunday afternoon, I visited the

site and with the water now receeded, I wasable to re-fit the digger track and returndigger to the safety of the compound. Also,I investigated the Land Rover and discov-ered that only one bolt was holding thestarter motor in place and that was loose,so by tightening this I managed to start theengine and remove the vehicle for furtherattention.

Day 5 saw 4 members on site and weused the time to pump out the camber with 3pumps in action and also to clear a fallenwillow tree from across the river.

Needless to say, I am now awaitingdelivery of a new digger track - what do theysay about putting off what needs doing?

Paul Morris

Do you want to buy a statoinaryengine? Or a roll of chestnutpaling? Or a KESCRG mug thatyou already have? Or a Christmaspint to cheer the editor up?

Navvies newsWhere are our mugs?

The National: a mugs game?

A question for all those at the National, now youhave got home and unpacked ( I hope). Howmany of you have suddenly found that you are aproud owner of a green KESCRG anniversarymug, BUT you cannot remember how exactly youcame by it?? Jogging some memories?

Well KESCRG were asked to bring mugsetc for the Camp to use, but on tidying upwe find poor KESCRG are down a lot ofmugs which they do not seem to have re-ceived any money for...

They would like to either have themoney or the mug back.

If you are coming along to Bonfire Bash(which you should be and already bookedin!), please deal with Ian, Eddie or myself.

Moose

New on the web...

A new website about Lord Rolle�s Canal, alsoknown as the Torrington Canal, in Devon.

See www.therollecanal.co.uk.Webmaster Adrian Wills weelcomes yourcomments on the site.

Plant for sale

�Welsh Phil� Scott has what he describes as �a listof classic tat� which is available for a suitabledonation to the Droitwich Barge Lock Appeal...

A c.1950s(?) Ransomes Ajax 12 inchmk2 cylinder lawnmower.

A Thwaites Tusker Digger Dumper.complete with digging arm, dumper skip anda quantity of spare parts. Rough runner,needs work.

A c.1952 Petter type A1 stationary engine,on trolley, restored. Single cylinder 4-stroke aircooled petrol engine, 2hp@1000 rpm.

Plus another item probably not really de-scribed as �plant�: Nokia 5500D mobile phone, stillin box with all the bits & car charger, unused.

All located South Wales. Contact Phil byemail to [email protected] orphone 07780518984.

And from North West...

...we have an even finer assortment of junkon offer to raise funds for restoration...

WRG NW�s old 20ft by 10ft gazebo(used at IWA National Festivals 2002-6),consisting of two �concertina� stell frames,two tops, six side panels, centre gutter, guyropes and pegs. Very solid, not a lightweightjob. Also usable as two separate units. Pricenegotiable.

Three long wooden (not plywood)tables with folding legs. Free to waterwaysgroup.

Ten rolls of chestnut paling fencing 1mhigh, total length 80m+. Free to waterwaysgroup.

1970s historic canal slides transferredonto CD-ROM at £1 each inc p&p. Cheques -pay �WRG (North West) - to John Foley at 1Ridge Close, Hadfield, Glossop SK13 2EA. Tel01457 853582.

And finally...

In theory the next issue including the CanalCamps 2008 brochure will be with you bymid-December and you can ponder whichcamps to go on next year while you arestuffing the turkey (if you�re a New Yearcamps cook), stuffing yourself (if you�re avolunteer) or stuffing the waterways (if youhappen to work for DEFRA).

But we all know what will happen,given that it�s now five weeks past the pressdate as I try to finish this issue, I�m owedthree canal camp reports which I was prom-ised but which never turned up, and I�ve justseen a pig fly past the window going �Oinkoink, the Chairman�s page is on its way now,oink oink�...

So rather than wait till the next issuewhen it will be too late, I�ll take the opportu-nity now to wish all the readers and con-tributors a happy Christmas and all the bestfor 2008. And thank you to everyone whocontributed - especially if you sent it on time.

[exits muttering: �bah humbug...�]

Contacting the chairman:Mike Palmer

3 Finwood Rd,Rowington, Warwickshire

CV35 7DH

Tel: 01564 785293

email: [email protected]

Online Navvies subscriptionsDon�t forget: You can now take out or

renew Navvies subs online atwww.waterways.org.uk/Restora-

tion/index.htm or atwww.iwashop.com/ecommerce/

products.asp?cat=126

Stampswanted

Send used stamps,petrol coupons, phonecards, empty computerprinter ink cartridges toIWA/WRG Stamp Bank,33 Ham-bleton Grove,Milton Keynes MK42JS. All proceeds tocanal restoration.

Dial-a-camp

To contactany WRG

Canal Camp:07850 422156(Kit �A� camps)07850 422157(Kit �B� camps)

NOTICEBOARD

New arrivalsCongratulations to

Kaye & Ralph Bateman on the arrivalof Jack Charles on September 11th

and toRachel and Tom Jeffries on the arrival

of Henry Edward Kendrgickon September 29th

Meanwhile the patter of tiny feet threatensto become a mighty rumble of tiny feet:

Our best wishes to Emma & Dan Evans,Liz & Ian Williamson, Ruth & Steve Davis,Claire & Ian Nelson, Jo (�Smudge�) & Dave

(�Taz�) Tarrant, Rachel Parr & DannyFrench, and anyone else I�ve forgotten.

There should be one hell of a bunch offirst-timers on rhe first camp of 2026... Moving house...

Steve and Ruth Davis have moved to 15Guest Road Bishopstoke EastleighHampshire SO50 6AP

If you move house don�t forget to tellNavvies Subscriptions about it!

And so to 2008...

Barn Dance March 1stBCN Cleanup April 5th-6th

More next time

Directory updateThe following entries were omittedfrom the Directory last time:

Rolle Canal and Northern DevonWaterways Society:Adrian & Hilary Wills, Vale Cottage, 7,Annery Kiln, Weare Giffard, Bideford,EX39 5JE. Tel: 01237 477705Email: [email protected] [email protected]

River Gipping TrustLewis Tyler, Secretary, Church Cottage,The Street, Capel St Mary IP9 [email protected]

Friends of the Cromford CanalTony [email protected] 07770 350853

The next full directory will be inissue 227. Please send additions,deletions or updates to the editor

Infill...which is like �backfill� only inside the mag...

�Anyone who deliberately disobeys the campleader�s instructions will be given one firmwarning...�

...or can you suggest anything better?

...and I�m afraid it�s all pictures this time, as nobody sent in anything else amusing.Come on folks, I�m sure you can write (or crib) the odd snippet for the back page. Please!

Why is Suzie trying to winch Ed�s Land Roverbackwards into a ditch. Was it something hesaid? Note the fiendish grin on her face....

Sorry but the true answer is infinitely moreboring: they were using the Land Rover toanchor the cable while they shifted copingstones at Baylham. But feel free to ignorethis disappointment and suggest what eitherEd or Suzie might have been saying...

...and it wouldn�tbe a real Navvieswithout at leastone reference towell-known campleader Mr Dave�Moose�Hearnden. Here�sa photo sent in byJohn Hawkins...

The pic last time of Bungle and lot of waterat the abandoned Saul Festival site produceda couple of suggestions from John Hawkins:

�I think that pump gland must still be leaking��You did turn the tap off, didn�t you?�

Navvies 225

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