Navvies 227

Christmasand

New Yearcamp

reports

Eastercanal camps

preview

Issue No 227February-March

2008

Issue No 227February-March

2008

waterwayrecoverygroup

waterwayrecoverygroup

navviesnavviesvolunteers restoring waterwaysvolunteers restoring waterways

Christmasand

New Yearcamp

reports

Eastercanal camps

preview

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 Recovery Group is part of TheInland Waterways Association, (registeredoffice: 3 Norfolk Court, Norfolk Rd. Rick-mansworth WD3 1LT). The Inland WaterwaysAssociation is a non-profit distributing com-pany limited by guarantee, registered in Eng-land no 612245, and registered as a charity no212342. VAT registration no 342 0715 89.

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

ISSN: 0953-6655© 2008 WRG

Mar

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all the latest news of WRG's activities

Chairman Droitwich needs you! 4Coming soon Training, Cleanup, Easter 5-7Camp reports W&B, Grantham St Ives 8-14Dig report latest newts from Droitwich 15-17KL15 Bungle�s still fixing his crane... 18-19Logistics Paperwork matters! 20-21Diary camp and working party dates 22-24Directory canal society and WRG contacts25-27Letters how it all began 28-29Progress restoration news roundup 30-33Print how your Navvies gets to you 34-35NorthWest roundup and dig report 36-39WRGBC Boat Club news 40News and the missing back page captions 41Noticeboard Save your stamps for WRG! 42Infill mice, dogs and trailers 43

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 228: March 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: Xmas on the Grantham: Juand James on the pull (photo by MartinLudgate) Above: book now for the Cleanup- see p6 Left: the KL15 finally goes backtogether - see p18-19 Below: NW concretingon the Lichfield - see NW roundup, p32-34Back cover main picture: we�ll be busyhere this summer - MKP and others visit theBarge Lock on the Droitwich Junction Canalfor a site inspection prior to the 2008 camps.Inset top: also on the Droitwich, LondonWRG and KESCRG spent a weekend in Decem-ber removing hedges ready for construction ofthe diversion below Hanbury locks, while(inset below) Bungle and Eddie honed theircatering skills (photos by Martin Ludgate)

Mik

e Cha

se

ChairmanBW thinks we�re OK!

Chairman�s Comment

This years Canal Camps flyer has been wellreceived and huge thanks to Jenny and Andyat Head Office for the all the hard work regard-ing design, proof reading and getting theprinting sorted all within the usual impossiblytight schedule. If you know of any person ororganisation who should receive a few copiesthen please let Jen at head Office know.

A few people questioned why weslightly changed things this year and so hereare the answers for all of you:

The Easter camp is split into twoweeks � simply because we had work forfourteen days rather than a �long week incor-porating the Bank Holiday� By making it twodiscrete weeks we hope to encourage firsttimers who are put off by the concept (andcost) of a 10 day camp. For those who wouldlike to attend for the long weekend in themiddle, that will probably be fine, subject tothe leaders not getting swamped. And we dohave leaders for both weeks already � A pairof cuddly Martins to be precise: Buckland isleading week one and Thompson leadingweek two (or it may be the other way round)

The National Festival doesn�t fea-ture in the flyer � we got a bit of feedbackfrom people who, having read the CanalCamps flyer, were surprised to find themselveson a boat emptying toilets. Seems half of themwere hoping for a restoration camp and theother half were hoping for Glastonbury! Sodon�t take the date out of your diaries � we willbe there this August and it looks like the sitewill be just as dependant on our skills, deter-mination and impermeability as ever.

The price has gone up - by a quid aday. We have been trying to avoid this but in2007 most camps only just broke even. Thisis the first increase for many years and wepromise not to make a habit of it.

Our parent charity the Inland Water-ways Association has been doing a lot ofnavel gazing recently to ensure it is a charitythat is �fit for purpose�. As part of this theyasked us to think about how our committee

is run. We thought for a couple of minutesand concluded that if we have one teensy-weensy fault it is that we don�t get enoughnew blood in. Now this is usually due to thevicious circle of a volunteer seeing someonealready doing the job and so not putting theirhand up, whilst the person doing the jobsees no-one to take over and thus continueson. Whilst this is lovely for stability we haveto face the fact that if you stick in a job longenough other things start to distract you �paid work, owning a boat, producing ba-bies, etc. and the energy and enthusiasm youcan put in diminishes. So if you are inter-ested in helping out with the way WRG oper-ates then please talk to us. The WRG Commit-tee has never really had a fixed format, it�salways been a jigsaw comprised of the avail-able pieces and, you never know, we may wellhave a gap that is exactly you-shaped!

About 12 months ago British Waterwayscame to the conclusion they were not showingdue regard to ensuring that volunteers workingon their patch were safe and competent. Sothey implemented that ultimate Health & Safetytool - the questionnaire! Actually that is ratherflippant, even for me: it was a proper investi-gation into how volunteer groups managethemselves. In blunt terms: do they actuallyhave the resources to safely deliver what theysay they will?. So this has been a two wayeducation session. Some of the questions didmake us think quite hard and we have made afew small changes, but equally we got to putover some of the ways in which volunteersdiffer from employees and hence need therisks managing in a different way. I think it hasbeen beneficial on both sides.

So just before Christmas I am pleased tosay that WRG got �self supervising� status. Thismeans WRG management has been judgedadequately resourced and competent to run theorganisation in a safe manner. Now there aretwo big riders at the moment: firstly, it onlyapplies to centrally organised events such asCanal Camps. The regional groups do not havethis status yet, but we are now going to workon that. Secondly it does not include mecha-nised plant yet, but again we are working on it.

So just to clear this up: this doesn�t ex-empt anyone from producing all the usualpaperwork of Risk Assessments etc. But it doesmean that the support structure for leaders andvolunteers that WRG puts in place has beenconsidered acceptable by BW. Which is nice.

Hugs and Kisses,Mike Palmer

Coming soonTake your camp leader by the hand...

Book now for the 5th annualWRG and KESCRG BarnDance - and the canalcamp leaders�training day

Last call for the Barn Dance: March 1

By the time you read this it will be just a week or two till the annual Navvies� Barn Dance, soyou need to book NOW to avoid disappointment as tickets are limited. The details are asfollows:

When: Saturday 1st March 2008, 7.00 - 11.30 pm Where: Benson Parish Hall, Ox-fordshire, directions on www.wrg.org.uk How much: £12 including Sausage & Mash supper(veggie sausages available); overnight accommodation in nearby scout hall for another £2and breakfast for a further £2 Tickets: Send cheques (pay KESCRG) plus name, address,whether you want overnight accommodation and/or breakast and whether you are vegetar-ian to Bobby Silverwood, The Old Post Office, Kiddington, Woodstock, Oxfordshire OX201BE For info: email [email protected]

Leader training day: also on March 1

Once again we have arranged a day of training for WRG leaders to co-incide with theWRG / KESCRG Barndance, and once again we will be sharing the same venue Benson ParishHall, Oxfordshire (see the wrg website) . The training is aimed at everyone, from thosewho think they might be interested in becoming an assistant leader and are keen to findmore out about what it is involved through to those who have been leading canal camps foras long as our chairman (or perhaps even longer).

The event will be very informal and try to cover a number of topics. Basically we tryand solve some problems by exchanging ideas and utilising everyone�s experience. We�ll talkabout what those there would like to discuss to help them lead Canal Camps. One of thebig things about leading Canal Camps is that there is no one correct (or perfect) way run toa camp: what we hope is that based upon the experience of others, all who attend can takesomething away that they can try on their Canal Camp.

There will be a nominal agenda, including the following topics:

(a) 2007 - That was a really good year, according to our questionnaire. Whywas it so good, and what can we all do to make 2008 even better?

(b) Supporting our leaders, what is available, what else do you need / want.

(c) Group Discussions

(d) �We�re not all the same�

(e) We have new vans (The WRG vehicle fleet will all be new and shiny by thesummer)

(f) �We get some really good volunteers...�

(g) 2008 - What is happening this year

We aim to start about 10:30, with refreshments available from 10.00. Lunch will beprovided and we�ll be finished in plenty of time for everyone to go to the barn dance. If youare interested in attending or have any ideas or suggestions to add, or feel that 10:30 is justtoo early to start please contact us by the 26th February at: [email protected] (please letus know of any speical dietary requirements). Note: Booking for the barn dance is com-pletely separate to booking for the leader training.

Adrian Fry

waterway recovery group in association with BCNS, BW and IWA

I would like to attend the 2008 National Canal Cleanup on Apr 5-6 on the BCN

Forename: Surname:

Address:

email:

Phone: Any special dietary requirements?

I require accommodation Friday night / Saturday night / both nights

I enclose payment of £ (pay 'WRG') for food (£10 for whole weekend; £2.00 for each meal)

Do you suffer from any allergy or illness, such as epilepsy or diabetes, about which we shouldknow, or are you receiving treatment or under medical supervision for any condition? YES / NO(If yes, please attach details)

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 National Cleanup bookings, WRG, PO Box 114, Rickmansworth WD3 1ZY

Easter Camps on the Wilts & Berks: March 15-22 and 22-29

This year�s Canal Camps programme kicks off with two consecutive weeks work on the Wilts& Berks Canal. The main site will be Steppingstones Bridge, a traditional brick arched bridgewhich had collapsed but is gradually being completely rebuilt to original standard.

Leader for both weeks is Martin Thomson and the main work will be bricklaying, but thereshould be plenty of other work for those who can�t bricklay and don�t want to learn. Book forthese camps in the usual way using the booking form or online via www.wrg.org.uk.

BCN Cleanup: April 5-6

What? A weekend spent throwing grappling hooks into the murky waters of the Birming-ham Canal Navigations, dragging out old bikes, prams, shopping trolleys, and anything elseyou�d care to name. And one or two things we�d rather not name. (But how about �Fido�?)

Where? On the Wednesbury Oak Loop (otherwise known as the Bradley Branch) of theBirmingham Canal Navigations - and the Wolverhampton section of the BCN Main Line too.

When? On April 5th and 6th - we�re holding it a little bit later than usual this year be-cause Easter is early and we want to avoid clashing with either of the Easter camps.

Who? Anyone who wants to help. The event is run jointly by WRG (with London WRGproviding most of the organisation), the Birmingham Canal Navigations Society and TheInland Waterways Association, supported by British Waterways who provide tools, glovesand workboats to take the junk away. But absolutely anyone is welcome to attend. Overnightaccommodation (at the Willingsworth High School) and food is available - please book usingthe form below and you will receive joining instructions - but if you just want to come forthe day that�s fine, and we can provide lunch. See www.wrg.org.uk for directions to the site.

Why? Because it helps to keep open these canals, which might be underused andoverabused now, but without which some of the restorations we support (such as the LichfieldCanal) would lose much of their purpose in the future. Oh yes, and because it�s great fun!

And then what?Training and Little Venice

Do you want to learn someuseful skills? Then tell Alinow, not in April when it�stoo late for her to organiseany training for you!

Training Weekend May 10-11

It is that time of year again when some of us start to think about the training weekend (orweekends apparently) and the sorts of skills that will be needed for the coming camps sea-son and local projects. The usual suspects should be on offer � vans, trailers, dumpers,excavators, loading and securing plant, levels and possibly the popular �First Aid,� �Banks-man,� �Scaffolding� and �Preparing for Bricklaying� sessions that were run last year if needed.

There are no doubt many other useful skills that we could add to this list and possiblyarrange � such as catering for a camp, using digital tachographs or chippers but if nobody re-quests these things until late April, I�m afraid it is unlikely to happen. All of the training invari-ably costs money, so if no-one books on or shows any interest in the courses, there is little pointin us arranging for an instructor to turn up. So please don�t leave it until the last minute to findthat your course has been cancelled due to insufficient numbers � phone/e-mail now!

Training will take place somewhere in the middle of the country as the accommodationis likely to be at Rowington Village Hall, Warwickshire (now completed and lovely) � when Iknow anything about a site, I will let you know! All are welcome, regardless of prior experi-ence - you might want to drop in for one of the days or make a weekend of it. Accommoda-tion will be available from Friday night. Hope to see you there!

Bookings, suggested courses and enquiries to Ali Bottomley, telephone: 07719 643870or 0191 422 5469 and e-mail: [email protected].

Canalway Cavalcade at Little Venice, May 3-5

It�s that time again. Doesn�t seem like a year already, but it is. Time to book your space forthe Canalway Cavalcade extravaganza at Little Venice in London on the May Day Bank Holiday.

Plans are coming together for this year�s event. But as normal I need volunteers fromabout May 1 to 7 to help with the general setting up and breaking down of the festival site, aswell as help over the weekend. Those who know the site will understand the words �cramped�and �short of space�. Unlike the National Festival over the August Bank Holiday, which uses sev-eral farmers� fields, Cavalcade is set around office blocks and flats near the centre of Londonwhere the Regents Canal and the Paddington Arm of the Grand Union meet in BrowningsPool. This gives it a special atmosphere all of its own, but makes organisation interesting...

Over the weekend, we are expecting 100 boats, (93 are already booked in) and duringthe event they will be decorated in bunting and flags. Normally the merry band of ruffiansfrom London WRG can be found aboard an old working boat called Fulbourne, usually up tono good, probably beavering away at making a disguise for the boat, so it can enter thepageant of boats. I don�t believe they really have any idea what they are doing!

The volunteers� accommodation for the �Moose camp�, as our team of site servicesvolunteers has become called, will hopefully be on several boats.

The idea of the Cavalcade is to make people in the vicinity aware of what they have ontheir doorstep, and to help them we will have traders and exhibitors coming from all over theplace - everything from the herb man to the IWA stand to the London Canal Museum. And theywill all need looking after: there is fencing to be done, our Bungle will need help (people havebeen saying that about Bungle for a long time) to fetch and carry cables to set up power suppliesand lighting, then there�s putting out stalls and tables, running the rubbish boat and lots more.

Accommodation space is at a premium so YOU DO HAVE TO BOOK IN. If you areinterested let me know on email [email protected] or tel: 07961 922153.

Dave �Moose� Hearnden

.

Camp 0718: IWA National Festival

The �National� this year will be rememberedas one of the wettest on record, but I�massured by older (and wiser?) bods that itdoesn�t compare with Wakefield...

Anyway, as assistant leader I arrived onthe Saturday before to find that the pre-campteam (ably directed by Mr Moose, the campleader) had done their usual fantastic job ofgetting most of the fences up and services inplace. There was a hardcore track (theYellow Brick Road) which had been laidbefore we arrived, with a metal track runninground part of the outside perimeter, withplenty of marquees in place. The site alreadylooked completely different to the open fieldI�d seen on our site visit a few weeks earlier.

The two accommodation marqueeswere up, but due to a minor cock-up some-where along the line, someone had forgottento order a floor for the catering marquee.That was quickly rectified by a combinationof the marquee people and the chippies.

As more people arrived over the next

couple of days, the work of erecting thefences continued, as did the rain, so the fieldwas getting more and more churned up.However, as we kept being assured that theweather was about to improve, we weren�tworried (Have you ever seen a worriedWRGie?). We were also assured that when itdid stop raining, the site would drain veryquickly. No problem then.

The fences were finished and most ofthe cables and pipes that needed to be bur-ied were done, so everything was going alongswimmingly (almost literally). This was helpedby a certain person (remaining nameless � butwe know who you are!) putting a mattockthrough a water pipe when she was supposedto be burying an electric cable on the otherside of the fence! This incurred the severewrath of Plumb Bob when he was asked tocarry out emergency repairs, although it�samazing how harmony can be restored bythe judicious donation of a bottle of port.

As the main camp started on Monday, itwas still raining, so the mud was staying as itwas and we kept the work to a minimum. It

was going to stop rain-ing tomorrow, wasn�t it?

Tuesday came andwent, it was still raining,and we kept the work toa minimum. It wasgoing to stop rainingtomorrow, wasn�t it? Wehad the get-together forred and blue shirts, witha wine and cheese partyand a quiz. Rumour hasit that the assistantleader was found on thefloor of the catering tentslightly the worse forwear during the earlyhours of the morning,but I wouldn�t knowanything about that. AllI can say is thanks to thechippies for making surethe floor was installed.

Camp reportsSt Ives Festival Camp

Much of the traders� gear had to be delivered by hand

�...one of the wettest onrecord, but I�m assured by

older and wiser bods that itdoesn�t compare with

Wakefield...�

Wednesday arrived, and we were allready for the craning to begin. Ah the cran-ing. Happy memories � not!! It had beenscheduled for all the boats to be offloadedand in their allocated places by the end ofWednesday. However, with a lot of re-posi-tioning of the crane, taking up a lot of timefor each re-position, we were only half waythrough at the end of Wednesday. It hadbeen raining all day, so we�d delayed the restof the work again. It was going to stopraining tomorrow, wasn�t it? (This wasn�thelped by the fact that everyone arriving wastelling us that the rest of the country wasdry, and the rain was only starting about 20miles away).

Despite some sterling work by somemembers of the team using pumps andwheelie bins to transport water from theworst affected parts of the site, the mudwasn�t getting any better. Unfortunately, thehigh river level meant that there was nowhere for the water to drain to.

Thursday came and it was still raining.Oh s**t. Time to start thinking about gettingthe signs up, erecting the market stalls etcetc. However, we still needed people aroundthe crane to assist/keep members of thepublic away, so now slightly short-handed.In addition, traders and campers were start-ing to arrive. The site team had decided notto allow any vehicles on to the site, to avoidchurning up the mud too much, so now wewere handballing goods for them and push-ing/towing vehicles outof the mud on top ofeverything else.

Just to put a finaltouch to the day, thecraning finished and asthe driver was reversingup the yellow brick road,he missed the cornerand drove off it into themud. The sight of acrane stuck in mudlisting at about 30 de-grees is not a prettysight! Instead of stand-ing down the craningteam, we had to put in asafety cordon while itwas recovered. A localheavy recovery companydid a fantastic job ofpulling the crane out ofthe mire, and we carried

on as normal.Friday. Is it my imagination or did it

finally stop raining? The traders and camperswere now arriving in their droves, so lotsmore pushing & towing of vehicles andhandballing of goods. The car park teamwere giving advice to �just go for it� in thehope that vehicles wouldn�t get stuck. Thatseemed to work, although as they had towait for a space in front, it meant traffic wasbacking up on to the main road, and as usualsome of the traders were getting a bit hotunder the collar. Life wouldn�t be the samewithout them.

On Saturday, there were still one or twothings to be done before the festival openedat 10 am. The site was still a mud bath, butwe did get opened on time and we allbreathed a sigh of relief. Because of the mud,it had been decided that we weren�t going toset out chairs in the theatre and bar areas,which saved us some time. Of course, mem-bers of the public put out chairs themselves,and these promptly sank into the mud. Thewellie stall near the main gate did a roaringtrade, and apparently several people weresurprised by the conditions underfoot, so leftbut then returned with suitable footwear. Anattempt was made to roll some of the sitewith a heavy roller overnight, but this failedas it just resulted in heavy clods of mudbeing thrown into the air.

By now, we�d had some wood chippingsand rolls of membrane delivered. This was to

Still a little muddy on site when it opened on Saturday

be laid in the heavily trafficked areas, so the tractors and Bradshaws were put to good usetransporting it from the Tardis onto site, and the teams were kept busy laying it.

It didn�t rain at all over the weekend, and by Monday the site was finally starting to dryout. At last! Time to relax before the start of the clean up at close of play on Mondayevening. There was still some pushing of vehicles out of the mud, but not nearly as many asduring the set up.

As usual, the bulk of theclearing up was done on Tues-day, moving things back to theTardis, starting to take downthe fences, and taking up allthe membrane which had beenso carefully laid. The cranearrived, and the driver got anironic round of applause whenhe successfully reversed downthe yellow brick road to takethe boats out again. Werounded off the camp with aparty on the theme of Saints,and a good time was had byall (I hope).

Things (and people)continued to disappear overthe next couple of days, andall in all we had a successfulNational.

I�d like to thank everyonewho was there � you all did afantastic job � but in particularthe chefs, Jude & Alice, and theteam leaders Alex, Maria, Sheila,Lucas & Louise. We couldn�thave done it without you.

Paul Shaw

Moose�s bit

As Paul so rightly saysthe weather was always against us. But as always it all went so well.

I can honestly say that I had not been so knackered for a long time, and the amount ofwork Wrgies and Blue shirts put in to make the Festival such a success was amazing. I al-ways try to wear out Wrgies and I think I succeeded this year.

Paul has already thanked the team leaders and cooks, I would like to say a big thankyou to Paul, as my assistant he made the task of leading so much easier.

Not sure how many Blue shirts get Navvies, but I would like to thank them, it wasgood to see both teams i.e. Reds and Blues working in the conditions side by side.

Moose

Camp reportsSt Ives Festival Camp

One of the main jobs: pushing traders� vans out of the mud

�It was good to seeboth teams ie �reds�

and �blues� working inths same conditions

side by side�

CROPWELL CHRONICLE26 Dec 2007-1 Jan 2008

Bishop Bash BeginsGrantham Goes for Former Glory!!!

I report to you dear reader, live from outsidethe memorial hall, Cropwell Bishop. Usuallythis village sits quietly close to the Vale ofBelvoir content with its two pubs, one shopand one Stilton creamery. Today however,the peace has been disturbed by the arrivalof something unusual and unpleasant. Whilstinitially looking �normal� the evidence sug-gests quite the opposite. Firstly there is anunusually high Land Rover to Other Vehicleratio in the car park. (Not to mention the 5big vans the tallest of which was an ambu-lance!)

On entering the hall itself I notice morepeculiarities. There is an apparent passionfor sleeping on wafer-thin foam and wearingred t-shirts with spurious messages anddates from the last century.

I have identified the leader � �Phil theBeach� seems to be his name. This ties upwith some early signs of a beach themeincluding a bucket and spade. �Mr Beach,could you tell the readers thepurpose of this invasion,what can the villagers expectwhilst you are here?�

�Our mission, which wehave accepted is to clear amile stretch of the Granthamcanal (33 miles long, con-necting Grantham to theTrent at Nottingham, com-pleted 1797 and abandonedin 1936) of brush, hawthorn,brambles and small trees �so break out your bow saws,locate your loppers! To yourTirfors be true! Slash welland rake reasonably. Burnthat bush. Go well �Wergies�young and old!!� (WinstonChurchill he is not)

Loos Lean LeftLouise Late

Luscious Lips Lacerated

From not so early in the day I have beenamong the �wergies�. Mostly spirits appearhigh, bushes are being trimmed, somethingis being extracted, logs are being dealt withand I swear the ones they call �the tweedles�will get a fire going sometime!

Fashion is high on the agenda it seems.Everyone is resplendent in a combination ofyellow hi-vis vest, red hard hat and boots(safety, one pair for the wearing of). Glovesare in this season and muddy brown from theknees down seems to be especially popular!

Those without their own Land Roverlike to arrive late by train. Not that this is thefault of Virgin (other train companies areavailable!). �Wergies� clearly have a sense offun. Games such as �guess which station Iam getting off at� and �I�ll stay in Londonwhilst you wait at the station�. �Digger� wasnot amused!

A lip splitting completion seemed tohave broken out. Firstly the leader took ablow from a young female in a nasty �I amhaving the last slice of pie� incident. Sec-

Camp ReportsGrantham New Year Camp

�...and I swear theones they call �thetweedles� will get afire goingsometime...�

The Grantham Canal emerges from the undergrowth

ondly, a most responsible and dedicatedteam member was hit in a freak, low flyingsoft centred chocolate accident. Thirdly a Dof E�er went for glory and bit his own lipbiting into a cheese sarnie. (later he wasdisqualified)

More Mince MinimisesMid-camp Melancholy!!

Whilst sleep doesn�tfeature high on theagenda, �an armymarches on its stom-ach� so it is said. Andthe same is true forcanal restoration.Menus have been asfar reaching as Chilli,Lasagne and Shep-herds pie � and let itbe said that not onemorsel went uneaten!In addition to mains,there has been arepertoire of sweetsto tempt even the hardiest of health nuts.The evenings have been completed with localStilton and port. Pure class!

As if this weren�t spectacularenough, there have been wheatfree, nut free and vegetarianoptions to boot. GordonRamsey, eat your heart out!

Either side of eating,the more technically ad-vanced �wergies� gather toswap tales of Land Rovermodifications and heavyplant exploits. Theyshare �magazines� with

titles such as LandRover Weekly andEarthmovers whoseheadlines can be as ex-treme as �Cat Road Rangeshows off GPS�. A warmand musky atmospheresurrounds thesecontented fellows.

Bowling Beats BeerSome Say �Southern Softies�

On occasions so far yours truly has joinedvarious �wergies� for some sociable gather-ings in the village watering hole. Here itseems they like to recount tales of the day,recite poetry, tell tall stories and muckyjokes. Not to mention sipping the local brew.

There are tales ofsinging and dancingamong the brush cut-ting. Songs about ba-nanas and beavers ap-parently. I am guessingthey are similar to therugby songs of myyouth but tomorrow Ishall seek out moredetails.

However, this wasthe night for ten pinbowling. Two teams of 7battled it out late intothe evening where thescore sat tantalisingly at

1-1. Sudden death air hockey to split theteams and Phil�s Philanderers crashed out toAlan�s Ablemen 6-5. A fitting result! But wasit an early sign of a major sporting injury to

the �Digger�? And the closing question ofthe day. Is a sleepingDigger a Dozer?

Of course thereal hardened�wergies� went offto a �real ale�pub for moretraditionalactivities.

Scrub-bashing the old-fashioned way

Bishop Bashing BenefitsBody, Brain and Bottom

To date we have worked on our physi-cal strength. Muscles have been exercised onthe Tirfor, (see Ju�s biceps if you don�t be-lieve me!) with chopping, sawing and dig-ging. With the work areas convenientlyplaced up to a mile from the �facilities� theaerobic function has been given a thoroughgoing over. At times a brisk walk turned intoa jog �when needs must�, as they say.

Adequate lubrication is a must as anyLand Rover specialist will tell you and wehave worked on that in the pub, at the halland even at places between. Co-ordinationhas been tested with bowling and air hockey.

This camp has also been an opportunityto develop communication. But tonight wasthe big one, a chance to stretch the mentalcapacity and test the grey matter to its full-est. Tonight is quiz night. Of course Ithought this was the case. How-

ever it turns out that there are ringersin the midst and the result was pre-deter-mined. The trick to winning this is gettingon the same team as a certain people whoshall remain nameless but their initials areMF and DC.

Party Poppers Poop �Clive Creates Chaos!

So the big night has arrived and the campersare eager to display their various beach wear.A small but productive team have decoratedthe hall and invented some impressivesounding cocktails, the most amusing ofwhich is �screaming tirfor � a great drink to

pull with�. There are garlands and grassskirts, shirts and shorts in a way that mostpeople would find especially uninviting. Thebar-b-queue is a resounding success.

As the beer flows, Ms Black Productionsthrows together an impromptu stage event.Words cannot quite capture this momentadequately; however I understand DVDs areavailable from certain disreputable sources.

At the approach of midnight the throngmoves to the local church (even the soul getsa workout at these gigs!) where bell ringingsees in the New Year. Some hardy souls go onto the pub and continue thefestivities well into the night.Alas my memory fails me at thispoint so we shall have to assumea good time was had by all.

Check, Clean, Count -Final Fond Farewells!

It has been a week toremember for this tired and weary soul. Theobjectives were met, and other than a sport-ing injury and a couple of split lips, no onewas hurt. The canal base should in future beeasier to maintain. And for sure, those whowanted to have fun managed it.

The clean up complete, the kit stowed,all that remains is to thank the local co-ordination for their help; Phil and Martyn forleading the project; Bungle and James forfeeding us; and to promise Mr Lines suffi-cient funds to lose the DVD and photos!

PS Digger says can he have his copy ofEarthmovers back, he knows who you areand isn�t afraid of sending the Tweedles torecover it.

Clive Knight

Bungle caramelises the pudding Appropriately named cocktails The editor�s costume

Camp reportsNew Year on the Wilts & Berks

Rachael Banyardreports from the

Wilts & Berks CanalTrust�s own Festive

Season camp

Wilts & Berks Christmas Camp 2007

Once again, our happy band of friendsachieved a fantastic amount over the camp,and in fact they apparently enjoyed them-selves so much that six of them stayed on towork a large part of New Year�s Day beforethey staggered off home!

Rob stayed with us from the Saturdaybefore Christmas, and he and Di and myselfgot quite a bit of scrub and trees cleared, cutup and burnt on our bonfire at Lock 4 at SevenLocks before the camp proper got under way.

Di was mainly hedgelaying over thewhole period (as well as cooking), because Ihad managed to get a hedging grant ar-ranged for the landowner, who is generousenough to donate all that is left over aftershe has erected fencing, which is very usefultowards our branch funds.

Most our usual Christmas campers wereable to make it, as well as Steve Moody (whowas a new wrgie this year, and is becoming oneof our regulars), and also Bernd Schimansky. Wehad not seen Bernd for about three years, duringwhich time he has been home in Germanyprocreating with his English wrgie wife Daphne,resulting in two new offspring. With all the recentbabies born in WRG, and two or three moreexpected shortly, we discussed whether we oughtto consider having a WRG creche alongsidecamp sites, complete with sand pit, miniaturespades, mattocks and buckets, brick kits (legobricks of course), and some small hard hats.

It was good to catch up with AlanSimister and find out what he has beendoing with the RNLI at Eastbourne.

Unfortunately, Jeremy was unable tocome, as during the cold spell before Christ-mas a pipe burst on his boat forcing him topaddle in 2� of water, so he had to spend theweek sorting it out. Welsh Alan was also con-fined to barracks with a trapped nerve in his neck,so we hope he�ll be better soon. Taz had beenhoping to spare a day or two, but probably theimminent Tarrant addition kept him at home.

A major target at Foxham over thecamp was to stop a leak in the Rosemary

Valve Chamber. We had the use of Blue todrive in some piles, and Luke had been giventhe free use of a piling hammer from AldridgePiling Equipment. This turned out to be ex-tremely noisy, so Ray - bearing in mind thesensitive nature of a dog�s ears - tied Mina to atree some distance down the towpath untilthey had finished. This slowed the leak down,but we then had to puddle quite a lot of claybehind the piling to seal it totally, which tookmost of a second day. I had been lent twowacker plates from Rapid Hire of WoottonBassett, who are very sympathetic to our causeand usually manage to find some piece ofequipment to lend us over Christmas camps.The water levels are already rising in the canal.

By Saturday we were all back at SevenLocks, cutting down more trees and scruband burning, hedgelaying, block laying andpuddling, and all this continued until the endof the camp. We have made excellentprogress on Lock 4 over the last year.

When Bernd first arrived, he enquiredwhat the ground was like underfoot. He wasfirst informed that it was not suitable forbedroom slippers, but one comment wasthat that depended what sort of bedroom hewas used to. He had not met two-year-oldMina before, so he politely enquired of herwhether she bites? The reply came insteadfrom the washer-up: �No, but I do!�

Most of us were jigsaw addicts, and wehad two new 1,000 piece ones for Christmas,so this was the preferred occupation for theevenings rather than going out to cinema orpub. We actually managed to complete bothof these, which had been quite challenging,and a final 500 piece one during the twohours leading up to midnight on New Year�sEve before Martin opened the champagne.Rob selected from the new camp brochureabout eight of the 2008 camps he could goon, fitted between his National Trust camps.

We worked hard, ate well, and becamejigsaw experts, and Mina got covered in clay,and my thanks to everyone. I, for one, thor-oughly enjoyed the camp.

Rachael Banyard

Have I got Newts for you?

I don�t think you were convinced. Maybe I�dgot over-confident about my motivationalabilities, maybe you were all hungover, ormaybe you were just never going to getexcited about newts. There was a definitelack of excitement around the breakfast tableas we described the weekend�s work as being�the creation of Newt Hibernacula and ReptileHabitats�. But look at it like this: Swindon is asizeable obstruction in the way of the routeof the of the Wilts & Berks canal. In the sameway, the newts were in the way of the resto-ration of this part of the Droitwich Junctioncanal, but in this case WRG is in a muchbetter position to do something about it.Hence the newt mitigation works.

Eye of Newt and Toe of Frog

Ed and I (and a reluctant Suzie) went to visitthe side at the start of November. I washardly enthusiastic myself, being as we weresans accommodation, despite the fact that itwas supposed to have been �sorted outmonths ago�. We were greeted by the friendlyBW rep Lucy Bowles who is the volunteercoordinator for theDroitwich Canalsrestoration, and Imust say I waspleased to see anice hedge on thesite which wouldneed some seriousbashing and chip-ping. We pleadedthe case for bon-fires � as a sourceof heat, pride andnapalm-stylemarshmallows theyare an importantfeature � but Lucy�sanswer didn�t pro-vide much hope.She said she�d ask...

No Newts is good Newts

Two weeks later... accom still not con-firmed. �Gosh how annoying!� I thought.�Now I won�t have to write that Newt Mitiga-tion Risk Assessment that I was so lookingforward to.� But I didn�t get off the hook soeasily. Ed started a hasty �Save the ChristmasDig� campaign and The Chairman came toour rescue by managing to secure Rowingtonvillage hall for us. So off to Droitwich we alltrundled. We had a minibus full from Lon-don, all the KESCRG regulars, all the non-group specific floaters, and... er... wrgSWprovided a committed representative in theform of Sleepy David.

10 O�Clock Newts

No such luck! Ed the slave driver had us onsite by 9am, and considering the accom wasa 40 minute drive away, that�s pretty impres-sive. A BW excavator driver was already on site(which consisted of a large wind-swept field)and was proceeding to mangle the topsoil witha finesse that I�d never before witnessed. Fora one-armed man he was doing a fantasticjob. Unfortunately he had 2 arms.

Dig reportLWRG & KESCRG at Droitwich

Liz Wilson reportsfrom a Christmas digwith KESCRG,London WRG and alot of amphibians...

First demolish the fence and hedge (without waking the newts)...

Mar

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Let Sleeping Newts Lie

While he got on with that, a rambunctiouscrew of wrgies set their sights on the hedgeand began dismantling the fence and coilingthe barbed wire with great aplomb. Thedesignated chipper operators (i.e. those withCITB certification) started chipping all theother branches lying around, and we wereprogressing nicely. The hedge we wereworking on was on the proposed route of theJunction Canal, hence its removal � remov-ing it in the winter prevents the nesting ofbirds in the spring. We were asked to useloppers rather than saws, as the excessivevibration might disturb hibernating newts.

Olivia Newt-on John...

...was the star of the hit musical film�Grease�, which was released in 1977. Strangethen, that nobody dressed up as her or anyother character from the film for our fancydress party on Saturday night � the themebeing �1977� or �the year Ed Walker arrivedon this earth�. But I must say, there weresome commendable fancy dress ensembles,notably Bjorn Borg (Martin Ludgate), thePink Panther (Ian Williamson), and a Manfrom Mars (a very green Helen Gardner). Thewinners were James Butler and MelanieParker, who were spectacularly transformedinto a Fireman and Green Goddess, in hon-our of the Firefighters� Strike in 1977.

Pissed as Newts

Our 3-course Christmas dinner was expertlyprovided by Ellie and her catering assistants,including the aptly named �Pregnant Ladiesand Nic�, who had also made the lunches andlooked after the accommodation. Thanksalso to Nic for sourcing some welcome bev-erages for us all, and ensuring the partyticked along nicely. Martin arranged a quiz,including music rounds, a dancing competi-tion, and some questions which required fartoo much brain-power. Well done to what-ever team won.

Newt-on�s Law...

...states that for every action there is anequal and opposite re-action. It thereforefollows that the digging of a hole must befollowed by the subsequent filling of a hole.By Sunday morning, apparently following anall-night stint, the excavator driver had cre-ated some shallow depressions in the field,ready to be lined with clay (in the case of thereptile habitats) or filled with rubble (in thecase of the newt hibernacula). Myself, WelshPhil and Mel were let loose on the wackerplate for the purpose of puddling clay, but itwas difficult to get anyone else interested.Apparently cutting down the remains of thehedge, and laughing at James� driving abili-ties were far more appealing. Yeah ok... itwas pretty funny...

Breaking Newts

Tempting... but no that WASN�T ourjob. So we created a nicehibernaculum for the loveable littlecritters. This consisted of a shallowhole, filled with clean rubble (be-cause we wouldn�t want them to getdermatitis now, would we...) inamongst which the newts can sleep/frolic/sunbathe, or whatever theylike doing. This rubble would thenbe covered over with organic mate-rial i.e. branches, leaves or turf, tokeep them warm and snug. Atsome point in the future, the newtswill all be transferred individually,by hand, from their current snooze-pad (the soon-to-be-restored Lock)and deposited in their new home. Ifanyone wants to volunteer to helpthen you need more friends....then put the fence back together

Kate

Pen

n

That�s Newts to me

I�m afraid I must take this opportunity to havea slight whinge. Despite the jocular tone of myarticle thus far, I hope you all appreciate that alot of time and effort goes into the organisingof a dig � this one in particular required anextra bit of effort not only because it wouldhost 60 wrgies, but also because we wereworking directly for BW. So it was a tad disap-pointing when less than 20 people made it tosite on the second day. The sign of a goodparty? � perhaps. But it meant that rather thanstruggling to find work for everyone, we weresuddenly struggling to undertake the work wehad committed to. As with every dig, someonesomewhere is paying for the use of accommo-dation, tools and materials, and it doesn�treflect too well on wrg if that money and effortis used inefficiently. I would never discourageanyone who wants to come on a dig purely forthe social element, but I would ask that theytell the leaders in advance whether or notthey�ll be on site, to make planning easier.

Newts of the World

That said, I must conclude this reptilianadventure by thanking everyone who con-tributed to what was actually a very successfuldig, which very nearly didn�t happen. Hope tosee you on one of several camps planned atDroitwich this summer, and I�m told they don�thave anything to do with newts...

Liz Wilson

�Hope to see you on oneof several camps atDroitwich, and I�m toldthey don�t have anythingto do with newts...�

Dig reportLWRG & KESCRG at Droitwich

The author clearly enjoying her stint on the wacker plate

Costumes for Saturday night�s 1977-themed party included the firemen�sstrike, the Pink Panther and Star Wars

Dav

id M

iller

Mar

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artin

Lud

gate

Mar

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Reassembly begins

In the last exciting(?) episode, we hadstripped the crane back to a bare chassis andsuperstructure. New king post bearings hadbeen made and fitted. All that remained wasto bolt it together.

The first job was to lower the super-structure back onto the base. This was doneusing Clavertons gantry that was used to liftit off originally. Once lowered back onto thebase, the next thing was to check that thenew bearing functioned correctly, at thispoint we hit a problem.

One step forward, two tyres back-wards: Longer term readers of this seriesmay remember the saga of obtaining tyresfor the crane. It had been an 18 month longprocess and the result was a set of aircrafttyres that were close enough, or so we had

KL15 CraneThe rebuild goes on...

been told. Once the superstructure had beenfitted with the counterweight it fouled thenew tyres (which are a slightly larger diam-eter than the originals). Interestingly, pic-tures of other KL15�s show them fitted withthe same tyres as we now have, but thecounterweight is slightly different. Possiblythis is due to our having had a petrol engineoriginally which would have been lighterthan the diesel and thus could use a lightercounterweight.

Many solutions were considered, includ-ing shaving an inch off the tyres (beingaircraft tyres they have a lot of rubber inthem, but not that much), lifting the entiresuperstructure (which would have meantmodifying the new king post bearings thathad just been fitted), spacing out the wheel(this could have put excessive strain on theaxles and bearings), spacing the axles down

from the chassis (thiswould have meant modify-ing the drive, brakes andsteering). Eventually werealised that it was onlythe counterweight that wascausing the problem so weconcentrated on movingjust the counterweight.Initially we thought ofmilling out two slots wherethe counterweight boltedup to the support channelswhich would raise theweight, but also reduce itsmass. The we hit upon theidea of simply lifting thechannels up by spacingthem with steel bars. Witha slight modification to theframe the superstructurethen slewed with ease.

In the next epi-sode: The reassemblycontinues with the slewgears and clutches and thedrivers platform.George �Bungle� EycottThe superstructure is reunited with the base

�Many solutionswere considered,including shaving

an inch off thetyres...�

KL15 Crane...and on... and on...

Top: Whoops! The larger size tyres fittedduring the rebuild get in the way of thecounterweight, preventing the superstructurefrom slewing. Middle: To increase the clear-ance, steel bars are inserted to raise the chan-nels that support the counterweight. Bottom:This raises the counterweight so that it easilyclears the tyres. All photos by Bungle

A Trivial Pursuit?

Happy New Year to you all� Well, it is NewYear as I write this (just!) although it willprobably have faded fast in your busy sched-ules. Blink and it will be March! There will besome who think I�ve disappeared off the faceof the planet � and probably some whowould like to think I had � because of thecomplete lack of all articles logistical in re-cent Navvies. The reason? Time� or ratherthe lack of� and therein lies the theme ofthis article.

It�s all a question of time.Have you got time to go digging? Have

you got time to re-shaft the stacks of ham-mer heads you have sitting in a box? Haveyou got time to do �that job� that has been onThe List for the last five years which neverseems to be important enough to be donebefore other things as it isn�t essential butwould aid day-to-day volunteer life?... Thelist is endless.

And unfortunately in a world of volun-teering where the �day-job� has to take prior-ity (cos you can�t live on satisfaction or grati-

tude� little of whichyou get here) theanswer is, moreoften than not,�No�.

Maybe thoseof you out regularlyon camps andweekends think wedon�t like comingdigging so don�tbother. But thetruth is that thereare a lot of us whowould love to godigging but don�treally have time todo it becausesomething else hasto take priority. Myraison d�etre for mywrg-related life isdigging so it�s hardto feel enthusedwhen I�ve not beenout in a good while.

Now I canhear cries of �Well,you just have tomake time!� and ifanyone out therehas the formula orrecipe for that itwould be a mostwelcome item of

LogisticsThe importance of kit lists...

Just Jen tells us whywe really do need to

fill in those annoyingand trivial-looking

kit list sheets

An important job: checking the kit against the Logistics list

correspondence (probably for a lot of otherpeople too�) � I may even have a go myselftowards the end of this. Making time goesback to the priorities of your life though andso the vicious cycle continues.

(Brief pause for the thoughts and im-ages in my head of vicious cycles� if onlycheese was to blame!)

If there�s one thing I�ve learnt lately it isthat your life (not necessarily your actualphysical life) can be plucked from you at anymoment with no or little warning and it istoo precious to waste on ridiculously trivialthings.

Now many of you will think �Exactly!Why do we need to bother filling in logisticspaperwork (correctly) because it really is verytrivial?� To you, perhaps, but the reason itisn�t trivial to me is because it is supposedto help me with keeping on top of what�sbroken or missing in the kits without mehaving to do a full kit check every monthto find out� But then that�s the key � trivi-ality is incredibly subjective! If kits don�tget checked then things go missing, whichleads to wasted time in replacing them �time that would be better spent on mend-ing the broken stuff or on countless otherthings.

So at the end of the day, the kit lists area time-saver as long as they aren�t the stuffof myth or legend. Huge thanks to Harri Twho is so very helpful when she fills the listsin � always! That�s not to say there aren�tothers who fill them in helpfully either.

Don�t assume I�m being negative � I�mactually in quite a positive frame of mind.And there�s always a chance that this yearwill be different.

�so sorry if you thought you wereabout to read some light-hearted banter andyou�ve found yourself wading through whatfeels like the clay and mud in the Fastbridgesection of the Wey & Arun canal circa1991BD, i.e. Before Dredging. No, this articlereally isn�t that deep!

This year I am going to strive to do atleast some of the things on The List, go

Logistics...and a recipe for TIME!digging (even on a camp!), further improvethe kits and generally dodge the sword thatbegs to impale me! That is not to say I�llmanage all of them but I�m going to try andthat has to be worth something!

Here then is Just Jen�s...

Recipe for TIME

. Take 3 heaped shovelfuls of �Someoneelse will do it� and throw in a really gooddollop of �can�t be arsed at the moment�.Cream together thoroughly until mixture islight and fluffy.

. Break an angle grinder and beat it.

. Sieve 2 quotes for new Hard Hats andgradually add to mix with beaten anglegrinder. Toss in a pinch of �expensecode rethink�.

. Beat to within an inch of its life to fill withas much (hot) air as possible.

. Place in a pre-heated trailer, gas markhigh, for a week.

. Ignore the engraver even if it flashes it�sdiamond tip at you.

. Finish with a generous sprinkling of�couldn�t care less what state the kits arein� (found at all bad Logistics outlets)through a wrg doily* if you should wish fora patterned topping.

And there you go... You�ve miracu-lously made yourself some time. Now whatcould I use to dig with?

Just Jenwrg logistics

[email protected]�Everything but the Kitchen Sink� **

* I�ve gone and added something else to TheList now haven�t I?! Anyone interested?** But we can supply one if you ask nicely!

Next time: The WRG Board play �TheWeakest Link� � Goodbye.

�Take 3 heaped shovelfulsof �someone else will do it�and throw in a really gooddollop of �can�t be arsed atthe moment�...�

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

Navvies diaryYour guide to all the forthcoming work partiesFeb 16/17 wrgBITM Droitwich Canals

Feb 16/17 wrgNW Hollinwood Canal

Feb 16/17 wrgSW Grand Western Canal

Feb 23/24 London WRG Wilts & Berks Canal: Dig Deep project

Feb 23 Sat wrgNW �Paper Chase� waste paper collection

Mar 1 Sat WRG Leaders Training event

Mar 1 Sat WRG/KESCRGBarn Dance: Sat 7pm to 11:30pm. Benson Village Hall.Tickets £12 inc live band and Bangers & Mash meal. Bobby Silverwood, �T

Mar 1/2 Essex WRG Wilts & Berks Canal

Mar 2 Sun WRG Committee & Board Meetings: at Benson, the day after the Barn dance an

Mar 8/9 wrgNW To be arranged (maybe Cromford Canal)

Mar 8/9 KESCRG Wilts & Berks Canal: Dig Deep project

Mar 8/9 NWPG Wey & Arun Canal

Mar 15/16 wrgBITM Grantham Canal

Mar 15/16 London WRG Mon & Brec Canal: Dig Deep project

Mar 15/16 wrgSW Cotswold Canals

Mar 15-22 Camp 200801Wilts & Berks Canal Camp: Steppingstones Bridge

Mar 22-29 Camp 200802Wilts & Berks Canal Camp: Steppingstones Bridge

Mar 29 Sat wrgNW �Paper Chase� waste paper collection

Apr 5/6 WRG/IWA BCN Cleanup: led by London WRG plus BCNS and local IWA but everyone

Apr 5/6 London WRG BCN Cleanup

Apr 5/6 NWPG Thames & Severn Canal: Dig Deep project

Apr 5/6 Essex WRG Buckingham Arm

Apr 12/13 KESCRG Thames & Severn Canal: Dig Deep project

Apr 19/20 wrgNW Hollinwood Canal

Apr 19/20 wrgBITM North Wilts Canal: Hayes Knoll lock

Apr 26/27 London WRG Thames & Severn Canal: Dig Deep project

Apr 26/27 wrgSW Wilts & Berks Canal: Steppingstones Lane Bridge

May 3/4 KESCRG Wendover Arm

May 3/4/5 wrgNW To be arranged

May 3/4/5 Essex WRG Wilts & Berks Canal: Joint dig with wrgNW

May 10/11 NWPG Wilts & Berks Canal: Dig Deep project

May 10 Sat wrgNW �Paper Chase� waste paper collection

May 10/11 WRG WRG Training Weekend

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

'Camp 0801') 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]

David McCarthy 0161-740-2179 [email protected]

Mitch Gosna 07768-525469 [email protected]

Tim Lewis 07802-518094 [email protected]

David McCarthy 0161-740-2179

[email protected] Old Post Office�, Kiddington, Woodstock OX20 1BE

John Gale 01376-334896 [email protected]

nd Leaders Training Mike Palmer 01564-785293 [email protected]


Eddie Jones 0845-226-8589 [email protected]

Graham Hawkes 0118-941-0586 [email protected]



Rick Barnes [email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]


e welcome: see p7 and book using form 01923-711114 [email protected]








Adrian Fry [email protected]






Jenny Black [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 01483-7217102nd Sunday of month SNT Sleaford Navigation Mel Sowerby 01522-8568101st 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 01483-422519Thursdays WACT Winston Harwood Grp Laurie Wraight 01903-721404Saturdays WACT Conservation Group David Jessop 01403-269384Various 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

ASHBY CANAL ASSOCRod Smith4 Ashby Road, SinopeCoalville LE67 3AYTel: 01530 833307

BARNSLEY, DEARNE &DOVE CANAL TRUSTJune Backhouse, 39 Hill St,Elsecar, Barnsley S74 8EN01226 743383www.bddct.org.uk

BCN SOCIETYJeff Barley, 17 SunnysideWalsall Wood, W Midlands01543 373284www.bcn-society.org.uk

BUCKINGHAM CANAL SOCAthina Beckett2 Staters PoundPennylandMilton Keynes MK1 5AX01908 661217email: [email protected]

BUGSWORTH BASIN (IWPS)Ian EdgarBrowside Fm, Mudhurst LaLyme Handley, Whaley BrHigh Peak SK23 7BT01663 732493email: [email protected]/iwps/index.htm

CALDON & UTTOXETERCANALS TRUSTJohn Rider1 Dainty Close, LeekST13 5PX01538 [email protected]

CHESTERFIELD CANALTRUSTMick Hodgetts31 Pottery LaChesterfield S41 9BH01246 620695chesterfield-canal-trust.org.uk

CHICHESTER SHIP CTLinda Wilkinson,1 Chidham LaChichester PO18 8TL01243 576701www.chichestercanal.co.uk

COTSWOLD CT4 Black Jack StCirencester GL7 2AA01285 [email protected]

FRIENDS OF THECROMFORD CANALTony Brookes07770 [email protected]

DERBY & SANDIACRE CSDoug Flack23 Thoresby Crescent,DraycottDerby DE72 3PH01332 874239www.derbycanal.org.uk

DIG DEEP INITIATIVEAlan Cavender10 Vicarage RdMaidenhead SL6 7DS01628 [email protected]

DORSET & SOMERSETCANAL SOCIETYDerrick Hunt43 Greenland MillsBradford on AvonBA15 1BL01225 [email protected]

DROITWICH CTVaughan Welch29 Dice Pleck, NorthfieldBirmingham B31 3XW0121 477 [email protected]/dct/home.htm

EAST ANGLIANWATERWAYS ASSOCDavid Revill, 43 Kings RoadColtishall, NorfolkNR12 7DX01603 [email protected]

EREWASH CANAL P&DAMick Golds73 Sudbury AvenueLarklands, IlkestonDerbys DE7 5EANotts (0115) 9328042

FOXTON INCLINED PLANETRUSTc/o Mike BeechFoxton Canal MuseumMiddle Lock, Gumley RoadFoxton, Market HarboroughLeicestershire LE16 7RA0116 279 [email protected]

ROLLE CANAL AND NTHDEVON WATERWAYS SOCAdrian & Hilary WillsVale Cottage, 7 Annery KilnWeare GiffardBidefordEX39 5JETel: 01237 [email protected]

RIVER GIPPING TRUSTLewis Tyler, Church CottThe Street, Capel St MaryIP9 [email protected]

GRAND WESTERNCANAL TRUSTDenis Dodd, Wharf CottageNynehead, WellingtonSomerset TA21 0BU01823 661653

GRANTHAM CANALRESTORATION SOCIETYColin Bryan113 Hoe View RoadCropwell BishopNottingham NG12 3DJ01159 [email protected]

HEREFS & GLOUCS CTc/o The Wharf House, OverGloucester GL2 8DB01452 332900www.h-g-canal.org.uk

KESCRGEddie Jones�Altamount�, Coventry RoadFillongley, Coventry CV7 8EQ0845 226 [email protected]

LANCASTER CTPaul Shaw12 Malham CloseLancaster LA1 2SJ01524 [email protected]

Navvies DirectoryCanal society and WRG contacts

LAPAL CANAL TRUST26 Loynells Road, RednalBirmingham B45 9NP01785 713862www.lapal.org

LICHFIELD & HATHERTONCANALS REST'N TRUSTSue WilliamsNorfolk House29 Hall Lane, HammerwichBurntwood WS7 0JP01543 671427 [email protected]

NEATH & TENNANTCANAL SOCIETYIan Milne16 Gower Road, Sketty,Swansea SA2 9BY01792 547902

NWPGGraham Hawkes27 Lawrence Rd, TilehurstReading RG30 6BH0118 941 [email protected]

POCKLINGTON C.A.SPaul WaddingtonChurch House, Main St.Hemingborough, SelbyN. Yorks YO8 7QE01757 638027 (eves)01405 763985 (days)www.pocklington.gov.uk/PCAS

SALTISFORD CANALTRUSTBudbrooke RoadWarwick CV34 5RJ01926 490 [email protected],www.saltisfordcanal.co.uk

SCARS (SANKEY CANAL)Colin Greenall16 Bleak Hill RdEcclestonSt. Helens WA10 4RW01744 [email protected]

SHREWSBURY & NEWP�TCANALS TRUSTTam [email protected]

SHROPSHIRE UNION CSRichard Hall, 35 Tyrley CottsMarket Drayton TF9 2AH01630 [email protected]

SLEAFORD NAV TRUSTSteve Hayes10 Chelmer CloseN HykehamLincs LN8 8TH01522-689460email: [email protected]

SOMERSET COALCANAL SOCIETYBob Parnell, 34Wedgewood RoadTwerton, Bath BA2 1NX01225-428055rtjhomepages.users.btopenworld.com/CC2.html

RIVER STOUR TRUSTJohn Morris2 Stockton CloseHadleighIpswich IP7 [email protected]

STRATFORD ON AVONCANAL SOCIETYRoger Hancock1 Tyler StreetStratford upon Avon CV376TY01789 [email protected]

SURREY & HANTSCANAL SOCPeter Redway, 1 RedwayCottagesSt. John's Lye, WokingGU21 1SL01483 [email protected]/society

SUSSEX OUSERESTORATION TRUSTPaul Morris, FarmcoteNettlesworth LaneOld HeathfieldHeathfieldTN21 9AP01453 [email protected]

SWANSEA CANAL SOCClive Reed17 Smithfield Road,Pontardawe, Swansea,West Glam. SA8 4LA01792 830782

THAMES & MEDWAYCANAL ASSOCIATIONJohn Epton, 45 Vinson CLoOrpington BR6 0EQhomepage.ntlworld.com/john.epton/tmca

WENDOVER ARM TRUSTRoger Leishman7 Hall ParkBerkhamstedHP4 2NU01442 874536www.wendoverarmtrust.co.uk

WEY & ARUN CTThe Granary, Flitchfold FarmLoxwood, BillingshurstWest Sussex RH14 ORH01403 [email protected]

WILTS & BERKS CTGeorge Eycott36 Grange Court, Boundary RdNewbury RG14 7PH01635 [email protected]

WOODEN CANAL BOATSOCIETY3 Beauchamp StAshton under Lyne OL6 [email protected]

WRG:GENERAL ENQUIRIES,CANAL CAMP BOOKINGSAND DRIVERAUTHORISATIONPO Box 114,Rickmansworth WD3 1ZY01923 [email protected]

WRG NORTH WESTMalcolm Bridge3 Heather BankLittleboroughLancashire OL15 0JQ01706 [email protected]

WRG NW - ENQUIRIES/PAPERCHASESDavid McCarthyWoodstock,14 Crumpsall LaneManchester M8 5FB0161-740 2179www.wrgnw.org.uk

Directory

WRG BITM & 'NAVVIES'DIARYDavid Wedd7 Ringwood RoadBlackwaterCamberleySurrey GU17 0EY01252 [email protected]

LONDON WRGTim Lewis5 Herongate Road,WansteadLondon E12 5EJ07802 518094 [email protected]

LONDON WRG:ENQUIRIESLesley McFadyen(as per Martin Ludgatebelow)

WRG EAST MIDLANDSJohn Baylis (see below)

ESSEX WRGDave Dobbin130 Ashingdon RoadRochford, EssexSS4 1RR01702-544096email: [email protected]

WRG SOUTH WESTGavin Moor54 Kiln CloseCalvert, BuckinghamMK18 2FD07970 [email protected]

IWA/WRG STAMP BANKSteve & Mandy Morley33 Hambleton GroveEmerson valleyMilton Keynes MK4 2JS01908 [email protected]

CANAL CAMPS MOBILES(A) 07850 422156(B) 07850 422157

'NAVVIES' EDITORMartin Ludgate35 Silvester RdLondonSE22 9PB020 8693 32660777 947 8629 (mobile)[email protected]

'WRGWEAR' CLOTHINGHelen Gardner33 Victoria RoadNorthwichCW9 5RE07989 [email protected]

WRG FORESTRY TEAMGraham RobinsonSpringwellSpark BridgeUlverstonCumbria LA12 7ST01229 861317

WRG BOAT CLUBSadie Dean236 Station RdWhittleseyPeterboroughPE7 2HA01733 20450507748 186867 (mobile)[email protected]

WRG DIRECTORSCHAIRMANMike Palmer3 Finwood RoadRowingtonWarwickshire CV35 7DH01564 [email protected]

TREASURERRoger Day,5 Merton Road, SloughBerks SL1 1QW

WRG SECRETARYNeil Edwards,c/o IWA, PO Box 114Rickmansworth WD3 [email protected]

WRG PLANTMalcolm Bridge3 Heather BankLittleboroughLancashire OL15 [email protected] 378582

SITES GROUP &PUBLICITYJudith Palmer3 Finwood RoadRowingtonWarwickshire CV35 7DH01564 [email protected]

WRGPRINTJohn & Tess Hawkins4 Links Way, Croxley GrnRickmansworth WD3 3RQ01923 [email protected]

IWA CHAIRMANJohn Fletcherc/o IWA, PO Box 114Rickmansworth WD3 [email protected]

TRANSPORT MANAGERPlease contact Mike Palmer(see above) until furthernotice

WRG LOGISTICSJen Leigh45 Glebe RoadSheffield S10 [email protected]

OTHER DIRECTORSGeorge Eycott36 Grange Court, Boundary RdNewbury RG14 7PH01635 [email protected]

Mick Beattie22 Bridgewater AveAnchorsholmeBlackpoolFY5 3NA01253 864034

Adrian Fry89 The CausewayQuedgeleyGloucesterGL2 4LD07976 [email protected]

Spencer CollinsThe Boatyard,5 Hammond WayTrowbridge BA14 8RS07976 [email protected]

Chris Davey / Helen Davey6 Partridge CtRound Close RdAdderburyBanburyOX17 3EP01295 [email protected]

Jonathan Smith23 HardingsChalgroveOxfordOX44 7TJ01865 891 [email protected]

John Baylis,215 Clipstone Rd WestForest TownMansfieldNotts NG19 0HJ01623 633895

Rick Barnes103 Boakes DriveStonehouseGloucestershireGL10 3QW07976 [email protected]

Letters...to the Editor

New Year thanks,musings on some

possible new southernlinks, and Harry Arnold

tells it like it really was...

Letter to Phil Rodwell, Grantham Canal New Year Camp leader:

Dear PhilI have returned to your worksite today and I must say how impressed I am by the

efforts of your team. You have really made a difference to the canal length and set an exam-ple which, I hope, our local groups can emulate.

The work represents a good example of the practical difference that is required toconvince the authorities that we are �serious about the Grantham Canal� Will you pleaseconvey my thanks to everyone for their hard work on behalf of the Canal?

I enjoyed meeting you and I hope you enjoyed your stay at Cropwell Bishop. Whenmay we see you again? If there is a chance of some of you returning before the closed sea-son we would be most appreciative.

My best wishes for 2008Mike Stone

Chairman, Grantham Canal Restoration SocietyDear Martin

Jeremy Frankel�s letter in issue 226 prompts me to add some comments and furtherinformation. One future possible use for canals is in balancing water supply. Some areashave too much ground water, some too little. Canals may also be linear reservoirs.

The potential for restoration & recreational use is the focus for the Somerset WaterwaysDevelopment Trust. See their website www.somerset-waterways.org

The area around Bridgwater and Taunton in Somerset has the potential for approxi-mately 240 miles of navigable waterways. A network would link the Bridgwater & TauntonCanal, Grand Western Canal, Chard Canal; rivers Parrett, Ivel, Brue, Axe, Tone. (Not forget-ting the Pillrow, Galton, Brown�s & Glastonbury Canal). I have looked at the King�sSedgemoor Drain from the M5 and thought �It needs boats on it, tell WRG about it !�

If the Parrett & Ivelchester navigation is restored it would require a short link to theDorset & Somerset Canal near Wincanton, Somerset.

If the Dorset & Somerset Canal is finished from the Kennet & Avon to Poole then a linkto the Salisbury & Andover could be next. Then a link to Portsmouth & Chichester?

There is another 200 years of work for WRG, but as Paul Morris may suggest �one dayat a time�.

Derrick HuntDear Martin

I would like to send my thanks to all those members who came to Latton Basin as partof the November �Bonfire Bash� held on the North Wilts Canal.

Although it is not planned for the restored North Wilts Canal to use this section of thecanal as part of the full restoration (due to the expansion of Cricklade), we are determined topreserve these historic structures at Latton. The excellent work over the weekend exposedmore of the canal to public view, and we get nothing but praise from visitors. Apart fromthe obvious structures (the basin, lock, aqueducts and bridges) this site is also unique in thatwe know a great deal of the last family resident at the basin. Our initial aim is to preservewhat exists, although full restoration is the ideal conclusion.

You can follow our progress at http://lattonbasin.gentle-highway.infoOnce again, many thanks to everyone and I hope we can entice you back in the near

future.Regards

Doug Small

Dear MartinIt was interesting to read Tim Dodwell�s letter. However, it does seem to imply that

there was a sort of �drift� into WRG from the IWA London & Home Counties Working PartyGroup, rather than a positive idea or effort to form, or found, it.

This is far from the case as I was very much involved (with others of Graham Palmer�sclose friends) in discussions about the founding of the group. It was agreed that thereshould not be a formal membership, which is one reason by the word �group� was chosen -rather than something like �society� or �association� - and that it should be based on subscrib-ing to Navvies Notebook.

The other main reason for �breaking away� from L&HCWPG was that Graham, withothers, did not agree with what was happening in IWA and wanted the new group to beindependent of the Association. (When was there ever a time when somebody didn�t agreewith what was going on in IWA?) A situation that remained until for financial reasons therehad to be a formal WRG Board operating under the IWA umbrella. He also felt that WRGshould have a separate campaigning voice.

I can clearly remember my particular recorded contribution to the founding, which waswhen Graham rang me at a very late hour (this was one of his regular habits) and asked meshould the name be Waterway or Waterways Recovery Group. I said the former, as thelatter sounded like a double plural. So, to all you who have over the years have got itwrong by adding an �s�, blame me!

A particularly memorable weekend, when there was much discussion about the futureof WRG, was that of the 11-12 July 1970 when the IWA national AGM was held at its usualLondon venue.

Three of us from the old IWA Midlands Branch committee - Tom Henshaw, RussGodwin and myself - headed south to ask a few awkward questions and do a bit of stirringabout what we perceived as a lack of IWA campaigning. For newer readers, Tom Henshawwas (and is) of Ashby Canal and Ashby Canal Carriers campaigning fame and Russ Godwinwas to become my partner in Waterways World and is one of the few enthusiasts to everpersonally buy a length of canal.

We kipped on the floor at 4 Wentworth Court, Finchley - soon to become one of themost famous addresses in waterway restoration - and known among some as �Palmer Tow-ers� or among Graham�s intimates as �The Piggydrome�. Graham�s mother Edie took all thiscatering for itinerant waterway enthusiasts in her stride and was to become one of the keyfigures in the distribution of Navvies and in WRG. Graham�s dad, Arthur, had little choicebut to go along with all this.

John Liley, Editor of Motor Boat & Yachting (there were no commercial waterwaymagazines then) asked me to write about the AGM and my critical report is a matter ofpublished record. A.P. Herbert chaired the meeting, at which - although he is one of myfavourite writers - can I tactfully say that he was past his public best. My report didn�t godown too well and was one of the subjects of an IWA Council meeting held at the GuildfordNational Rally - where, as Tim says, WRG was �officially launched�. Later - on Graham�ssuggestion - I was put up for IWA Council, effectively on a WRG ticket, and duly elected.But that�s another story.

On the Sunday after the AGM Graham, Russ, Tom and I went off to inspect the work-ing narrow boats dumped the Wendover Arm, which led to us being involved in the found-ing of The Narrow Boat Trust. 1970 was a significant year in that, further north, a group ofus were also involved in founding the North West Museum of Inland Navigation; to becomeThe Boat Museum at Ellesmere Port. Something that Graham also offered much encourage-ment to.

There is much yet to be written about the founding of WRG and the many talents ofGraham Palmer - including as a writer, photographer, artist and traditional painter - andsometimes a pain-in-the-arse! When somebody has the time. I have some of Graham�sfiles and his original set of Navvies, which I have kept up to date. It would be good to hearthe early recollections of Graham�s other close friends and WRG lieutenants of the early dayssuch as Meg and Mike Day, John Felix and Colin Butler.

RegardsHarry Arnold

ProgressWilts & Berkss

Our regular roundup ofrestoration progress

around the countrybegins this time in the

Deep South

Wilts & Berks Canal

A great thank you to all those who turned upand made the Bonfire Bash such a success atvarious locations.

The water levels at Purton Road on theNorth Wilts have come up significantly, andwe are sorting out the new leaks as we findthem. The Cricklade Branch have completedthe puddling at Hayes Knoll Lock, and areabout to start to excavating the silt from thelock chamber to carry out an investigation ofthe invert of the lock. Meanwhile, DougSmall and his team at Latton Basin are con-tinuing to extend the clearance of the canalsouthwards, and the plan in the Spring is toput scaffolding up at the aqueduct to repairthe masonry.

On the main line, between DoubleBridge and Pewsham Locks, Doug Harris�sgroup are finding more and more culvertsfor Rob Brotherston to get his teeth into.

At Seven Locks, work continues apaceon the offside wall of Lock 4, and hedgelay-ing and towpath clearance is continuingbetween Locks 4 and 5. We also hope toclear vegetation around Lock 5 prior to in-vestigation into its condition. At Lock 2, wehave carried out traffic and level surveysprior to consultation with Highways for asolution to the Bowds Lane crossing � origi-nally a liftbridge over the chamber.

Chaddington Spillweir made remarkableprogress in 2007, and John Bower and histeam are now working on a method to getthe towpath over the culverts. He is also

Piling at Foxham completed on the New Year Camp has hopefully cured a serious leak...

Luke

Wal

ker

hoping to excavate beside the oldChaddington Road Bridge which is nearby todetermine the position of the towpath walland invert prior to design work being carriedout to reinstate the bridge.

Our Chief Executive Ken Oliver andEngineer Eddie Thomas are in constantdialogue with the developers of the �FrontGarden� development area (between the M4and Swindon) to ensure that the variousstructures are in the right place and theirinverts allow for a full navigable depth ofwater.

Meanwhile, the new leader of SwindonBorough Council is very keen to see the canalreinstated from King�s Hill to the BrunelCentre and connecting with the North WiltsCanal.

At Steppingstone Lane Bridge, MartinThompson is running twice monthly workparties to continue the rebuilding of thisbrick arch bridge. I would mention here thatwe have two weeks of camps on either sideof Easter to push the project forward.

At the East End, Roy Murrell is continu-ing to work at various sites in his patch,repairing wharf walls, fences, clearing scrub,etc. It is anticipated that work will start atKing�s Lift Bridge in the Spring, after accessproblems and ownership have now beenresolved.

If any individuals or regional groupsfancy a weekend working at any of the sites,please contact me, on 01249-892289 [email protected].

Rachael Banyard

ProgressWIlts & Berks

�The new leader of SwindonBorough Council is verykeen to see the canalreinstated and connectedwith the North Wilts Canal�

...and with the canal seen in water a couple of weeks later it looks like it�s been successful

Luke

Wal

ker

Wey & Arun Canal

At Loxwood the contractors for constructionof the bridge/tunnel carrying the B2133 overthe canal, CJ Thorne, arrived on site in De-cember and the total closure of the road (forone week) started on 7 January. This ena-bled drilling and casting of two rows ofconcrete piles across the road which willform the basis for the abutments of the newbridge. This will be constructed in sectionswith the road open to one-way traffic con-trolled by temporary traffic lights.

Sankey Canal

Well, we finally made it back to the WorkParties after a break of 13 months. Ourproject for the day was to clear vegetationand litter from in and around Winwick DryDock. Once on site things soon got going asvolunteers arrived, the tools were sorted out,and wheeled across to the Dry Dock.

The first task was to remove a sectionof fencing to allow access to the dock. Thenall the brambles and other types of vegeta-tion were removed from around the top edgeof the dock walls. Soon the top surroundingarea was beginning to look good with thevegetation we had cut back being hidden inthe under growth which abounds therea-bouts.

The interpretation board was given agood wash and the growth that was threat-ening to engulf it was also cut back.

After the tea-break work got going inthe dock Two members cleared under thefoot bridge, and another went round doingthe litter pick while three began the laborioustask of scraping the grass and weeds fromthe walls.

When clearing under the bridge hadbeen finished one member went on to thewalls and two began to repair the missingsection of fence. First we dug out the oldpost from its concrete block, found a replace-ment in our wood pile, and then refitted it inthe original hole. Two of the fence rails were

Above: drilling rig cutting holes in theB2133 for concrete piles to form the abut-ments of the Wey & Arun Canal bridge.Below: reinforcing for the first pile goes in

WA

CT

WA

CT

ProgressW&A and Sankey...

Contractors finally start onthe long-awaited

construction of theLoxwood A2133 bridge

over the Wey & Arun Canal

found in the vegetation nearby, but for thetop rail it was back to the wood store to finda length to fit.

After dinner work continued on theclearing of vegetation from the walls while astart was made on clearing the floor of thedock.

The floor of the dock was very wet dueto the drain appearing to be blocked. Allattempts at trying to clear it failed - I evenput on the waders and went in the ditchwhere the drain comes out, but vigorousprodding it from this end made no differ-ence. Eventually we realised that the level ofwater in the ditch was the same as that in thedock!

By late afternoon we reluctantly decidedto call it a day, the tools were gathered to-gether and the site checked to make sureevery thing was in order then we replace thesection of fence we had removed for access.Then all the tools had been cleaned and putback in the shed or trailer.

Sussex Ouse

With winter now with us and with accessrestraints to the site, work has ceased atIsfield Lock until April or May next year. Ithas however been a successful year and wehave achieved the main target set for 2007 inthat the lock chamber has been completely

cleared despite our share of set backs mainlydue to the wonderful English summerweather.

We have already set targets for 2008.Once we are able to access the site scaffold-ing will be erected on the east wall in prepa-ration for the repairs necessary to the brick-work, a task that will dominate the summerwork schedule. KESCRG will make a verywelcome return visit over the weekend of 7th

and 8th June to assist mainly in the repair ofthe east wall. Prior to that visit damagediscovered to the invert below the lowergates will be repaired.

Sussex Ouse Restoration Trust willhope to once again achieve their targets setfor the forthcoming year. For more informa-tion � or to offer assistance � contact me on01342-315786 or [email protected]

Terry Owen

Meanwhile on the Manchester Bolton & Bury,reinstatement of the first quarter mile as partof Salford�s Middlewood development contin-ues, with opening scheduled for September.Lock 3 is seen under restoration, with thenewly lined channel beyond and the remainsof former Lock 4 in the distance

SC

AR

SM

artin

Lud

gate

SCARS volunteers clear Winwick dry dock

Progress...and Sussex Ouse

Meanwhile in Sussex,SORT are planning thefirst lock restoration onthe Sussex OuseNavigation at Isfield Lock

WRG PrintHave you ever wondered...

John Hawkins of WRG Printrecalls how the printing of

Navvies has changed over theyears since the days of�pasted-up hardcopy�...

John

Haw

kins

The new A3 WRG printing

WRG Print through the ages

When we first took over the printing of thismagazine quite a few years ago the onlyequipment that we had was an A4 desk-topmounted, friction fed off-set printing ma-chine and several long-arm staplers. Themaster plates were produced from �a pastedup hard copy� sent by the then Editor. Whenall was printed it was collated, stapled andfolded - all manually, at some superb facili-ties in a factory near Finchley, North London.During the evening about two dozen peoplewould help with this operation. With anyluck all would be completed before midnight- after lots of envelope and stamp licking.

Unfortunately, as time went on we hadto vacate the premises in Finchley andstarted to use the London Canal Museum.We did manage to obtain a collating ma-chine. This took a lot of the boredom out ofthe operation, but still meant that the sta-pling and folding was done manually. Ofcourse it also still entailed the licking ofenvelopes and stamps.

However, we had now purchased an A4,freestanding, air/suction fed press. And thensometime after this a stapling and foldingmachine was bought, which helped to tidy thepresentation of Navvies. But there was still theneed to lick envelopes and stamps.

Time marched on and it was decided tobuy an A3 off-set machine, complete with a�second colour head� in order to producebetter quality two-colour covers and then, inthe longer term, to produce our own fullcolour covers by two passes through themachine. An added advantage of an A3machine was that it would considerablyreduce the cost of plates and reduce the printrun times by printing two sheets at once.However like everything else, there haveproved to be some downsides to this idea -more about this later.

We now possess the following machin-ery: an A3 print machine, an A2 electricpowered guillotine-which will cut through aream of paper at the touch of a button, a

small friction fed leaflet folder, the �bargainbuy� collating machine and to complete thelist the folding and stapling machine. Quitean increase over the years.

The production process for me startswhen Martin electronically sends the nextedition to the platemakers in Watford. Asmentioned before I now use A3 paper andplates (the plates are recycled via a canalsociety to raise money for their work), but atpresent I am having problems finding apaper that runs well through the press.The press should detect any doublefed sheets, but not always; thismeans that, unless I notice whathas happened when I print thereverse side the occasional blankcopies result. In an attempt to

WRG Print...how Navvies gets printed?

�It would be good tosee some other peoplehelping with thisimportant part of theNavvies process...�

keep the production costs at a reasonablelevel I am still trying to use the standardcopier type paper. I am told that ideally Ishould be using �long grain� paper: no, notPatna, pudding or Uncle Ben�s. If anybodyhappens to know of a paper merchant in theWatford area that could supply this type ofpaper at a reasonable cost, then please letme know.

Another new problem seems to beoccurring during the collating process.

During its operation the ma-chine should detect if a

sheet has not beencollated, but does

not detect ifmore thanone sheethas beenaccepted.

If more than one sheet has been accepted Iwill often notice this when the collated setsare put through the folding and staplingmachine.

Thus the two down sides, at the mo-ment, of using A3 paper are the sheets ofpaper not feeding properly through the pressand because of the guillotining process mak-ing some of the sheets �grip� together whenthey are collated.

A very welcome advance for recentissues has been the very good offer fromChris Griffiths of Stroudprint to print thecovers for us - hence the full colour outercover on every issue these days.

Another advance is that there is nolonger the need to lick stamps and enve-lopes. Over the years we have progressedfrom tearing stamps from their sheets, tobuying them on rolls, hand franking theenvelopes with a rubber stamp and now Iput the envelopes through the printing ma-chine, so that we also get the �Navvy Man� (agood idea Jenny) as well as the frankingstamp and even the envelopes are self seal-ing.

Over the years many aspects of WRGPrint have changed considerably, but onefactor still remains - the need to put thingsinto envelopes. This we still do at the Lon-don Canal Museum - and we still rely on ateam of volunteers to help. I try to get tothe Museum by about 7pm; if all goes toplan we are leaving by about 9.30pm. Itwould be good to see some other peopleassisting in this important part of the Navviesprocess. Just phone me on 01923 448559or e-mail [email protected] and Iwill inform you of the date for the next edi-tion. These are generally about the middleof the �even� months.

Many thanks as usual go to those fewpeople who help during the evenings at theMuseum and to the Museum for the continu-ing use of their excellent facilities.

Finally, if it�s not too late, can I wishyou all a very happy New Year.

John Hawkins press in action in John�s shed

WRG NorthWestA year in the life

All

phot

os b

y M

ike

Chas

e

WRG North-West in 2007: theyear of the two Christmas parties

We started off 2007 with our Christmasparty and 30th birthday party in January. TheHollinwood Canal Society kindly organised ahall in which to host our party. Some con-structive (as well as the usual destructive)work was carried out, including fence-build-ing in the middle of a hailstorm, proving thatWRGNW work in all weathers.

February saw us at Lichfield, workingon the near-arctic tundra that was theTamworth Road site. The weekend saw ourregulars joined by our furthest flung mem-ber, Ozzie Jim, who directed the plant op-erations with skill and finesse.

The March dig was scheduled to be onthe Lancaster Canal. However, events forcedits cancellation, although an unofficial digwent ahead on the Sunday supporting theLancaster Canal Trust carrying out towpathrepairs at Garstang.

April saw us working on the ManchesterBolton & Bury Canal at Ringley, clearing

several years� growth from the towpathbetween Ringley Top Lock and AppleyardBridge. Ju got muddy... for the first time.

Over the early May Bank Holiday, wevisited the Wilts & Berks Canal on a joint digwith Essex WRG, working on Seven Locksnear Lyneham. Another section of lock wallwas back-filled with concrete, and more oldwall demolished on the offside. An extraweekend was held on the Hollinwood Canallater in the month, when several tree stumpswere removed with help from �Blue�, the WRGexcavator.

June saw us at the Middlewich Boat andFolk Festival where we had to bail the standusing a saucepan despite a nifty drainagesolution. Fortunately for Izzy we managedto acquire some essential items for her henparty from the stand as well � who says it�stat? We also sold some books and valuablemerchandise - the rain/marquee combo is abrilliant way of trapping potential punters.Oh and Ju got covered in mud.

Crumpsall Park � Mr Mac went thereand sold more valuable merchandise.

As normalwe made it to theNational Water-ways Festival....Ju got covered inmud... again.

Septembersaw us on theMont. We metup in a pub inLlanymynech andall was fine untilthe singingstarted and halfof us lost oureardrums. Thework was on thedry Pant sectioncontinuing thework from thesummer camp.Some got towork installing

You wait ages, then two come!Not one but two reports from

WRG North West, startingwith Helen Gardner on behalf

of the �Youth Sector�...

Laying coping stones on the Mont

coping stones that Harry�s camp hadmoved. Others of us transplanted Irises,reeds and other watery plant life from thePant dry (-ish, obviously) section andmoved them to the newly built section justafter Gronwen Wharf. Ju got covered inmud. We also had to remove some reedsfrom the nature reserve at Aston due tothere actually being too many. The reserveis flourishing and it was lovely to be able tosay �we helped with that�.

Stephen Lees gave us a guided tour ofthe new section from Gronwen Wharf toRedwith Bridge that contractors had builtincluding the new lift bridge. By now it willall be in water � always exciting to see a newstretch of canal � even if it�s not navigableyet. This was also the dig when we ser-enaded Mr Mac as we took him morning teain his camper van. He wasn�t even dressedfor us � really a man with an MBE whodoesn�t know how to receive visitors.

October saw us at the Manchester,Bolton and Bury helping the locals on one oftheir weekends. We continued the workclearing the cobbled towpath. As restorationis starting down at the River Irwell it is im-portant to show that other areas are beingworked on as well.

Some people went to the Bonfire Bashon the Wilts and Berks near Swindon...... agood weekend and guess what - Ju gotcovered in mud.

For November we joined the Hol-linwood Canal Society on their workingweekend clearing some of the pounds ofreeds, general scrub clearance and clearing out

one of the bywashes. Jean didn�t fall in thewater but Paul did. Ju got covered in mud.

As we write this we�re at our ChristmasParty on the Lichfield � once again freezingbut we managed a massive concrete pour tolay the foundations for the new canal wall.We also did lots of tidying up for the canalsociety. Too wet to bricklay.

Our paper chases have continued prettymuch as normal and we don�t think we�velost anyone in the container yet � we�ve nowdone over 300. In July Mr Mac wore aPhrygian Cap to celebrate Bastille Day. Onemonth we got so much paper we decided tobury Woodstock in it but then decided asecond collection would be a better idea.

The standard of fish & chips wentdown a little but we are pleased tosay it has recovered. The price hasremained a constant £1 (free forfirst timers).

We�ve also run some ad-hocmeetings, the most importantdecisions we�ve really made arewhen the next meetings are (andsometimes we change that later).

Next year sees us on theChesterfield and Hollinwood canalsfor starters. Anyone who wouldlike to join us on a dig or on takeup the free chips offer on a paperchase should give Mr Mac a call andhe can tell you all you need toknow and probably quite a bitmore too.

Helen �Bushbaby� GardnerBackfilling chamber wall at Seven Locks, Wilts & Berks

�Ju got covered in mud...�

WRG NorthWestA year in the life

...and now let�s hearfrom Mr Mac on

behalf of WRGNorth West�s

Golden Oldies...

Whilst there have been occasional refer-ences to North West in recent issues ofNavvies, readers can be forgiven for thinkingthat, maybe, some of the Golden Oldies in thispart of the empire have fallen off their perches!

But rejoice and give thanks: this isNOT the case because N.W. made the con-scious decision (is this a first I wonder -N.W. making a decision?) not to plan anyworking parties for the summer monthssimply because (a) some members had boatsand wanted to sail on those damned canals (b)we would be taking the Sales stand out tovarious events and/or (c) holidays and flittingswould deplete the volunteer strength.

However, on looking back over 2007,all was not slumber & sleep. We held theusual Ten �paperchases�, the backbone of ourfinancing activities for the last 30 years witheach Saturday outing seeing us collect anaverage of ten tons of waste paper.

Our planned outings saw us workingfor one day on the Lancaster canal (menialwork as allowed by B.W.), twice to Lichfieldfor some proper sfuff and a very satisfyingBank Holiday weekend on the Wilts &Berks at Dauntsey with our friends fromEssex WRG. We had two bashes on the Man-chester Bolton & Bury near Little Leverand three times with the Hollinwood CanalSociety at Daisy Nook.

June was quite a busy month with aPaperchase followed by helping feed the

delegates to the International Canals Confer-ence who took a day away from Liverpool tovisit sites in the Manchester area. A day or solater and we gave the Sales Stand an outingto the Middlewich Boat & Folk Festival whichhas become a regular on our calendar. Thefollowing weekend saw the Stand attend thelocal Carnival in the area of our Paperchases- it�s good to keep in with the locals!

This year we hadn�t planned to go toSaul Festival which was perhaps providen-tial but very sad for them due to the floods.The �National� saw not only our SalesStand but several members arriving early toassist with the setting up of the site.

The first working party of 2007 at Hol-linwood enabled us to celebrate our 30th birth-day with a splendid meal & convivial evening forabout 60 North Westers, old and new.

The 29th September saw us hold our300th paperchase bringing the total we havecollected over the years to around 3,300TONS of paper.

Who says we�re past it?Finally on a personal note, I wonder if

our �high level concepting� Chairman had me inmind when he called for helpers to run thepublicity stand at the NEC. I quote: �If youthink you are an attractive, engaging, convinc-ing sort of person who can talk preferablyintelligent (?) well-meaning souls into spendinga weekend with WRG - then step forward!.�

David �Mr Mac� McCarthy

The WRG North West Paperchase in full swing

Mik

e Cha

se

Here is (half) the North West News

Only half because it is being written on theSaturday evening of a weekend dig, our first of2008 (at Renishaw on the Chesterfield Canal)and we have been told (by the Editor, whosecruise on The Haybay barge we interrupted toask) that if we don�t get it in IMMEDIATELY itwill be too late for the next edition. [Well,actually it wasn�t quite a cruise - see p41. ...Ed]

Despite snow in the Peak District andfloods in Chesterfield itself, Friday night saw15 of us gather at �The Den�, the scout hut inInkersall. This has acquired an extensionsince our last visit and now boasts asecond main room, an extendedkitchen, a new central heating boilerand smart tiling in the loos. How-ever, traditionalists will be pleasedto learn that the door to the Gentsstill has no lock, not that one wouldbe of any use as it still won�t close.

The work was mainly scrub-bashing on a site just south of the2006 Christmas Camp�s in prepara-tion for a bank-based clearance by�a large machine� and an examina-tion by engineers from DerbyshireCounty Council. Oh, and there wassome very hard concrete infill toremove from a spillway which haddefeated the camp,. A specificinstruction was to pollard only treeswhose roots we could removebefore leaving so our two Tirfors (bothcertificated!) were busy all day. Fortunatelythe ground was quite light and shaley somost came out relatively easily, only onerequiring a double Tirfor pull and, by thetime that advancing cold and darkness forcedus reluctantly back to the hall, about 100yards of offside bank was clear. Meanwhile,Lynne and John (Foley), with occasionalassistance from others, finally managed tocreate a floating bonfire, there being about6� of water in the bottom of the �dry� channel� and John (Chase) and Barry got close tofinishing the concrete removal.

WRG NorthWest...on the ChesterfieldWith 4 of us unavailable tomorrow,

progress will be slower � which is why wewant to get into print. Chesterfield CT needto clear about another 600 yards on thissection before the nesting season starts and,though they have a dedicated workforce oftheir own, they need help. Work parties takeplace every Sunday from about 10:00 to16:00 and Mick Hodgetts, their WPO, wouldbe delighted to hear on 01246-620695from anyone who can help � even if onlyonce. The site is a couple miles from Junc-tion 30, M1, so is eminently accessible.

Malcolm Bridge

WRG NW clearing the Chesterfield spillway

�Like mother, like daughter�

�We have been told by theeditor that if we don�t get it inimmediately it will be toolate� - could someone passthe same message on to MKP?

WRG BCNews from our boat club

wrgbc news Jan 08

Well here we are in 2008 and both New Yearcelebrations and the Straw Bear Festivalbehind me, so the detoxing can start! It wasgood, if somewhat unexpected, to see a fewboat club members in Whittlesea for the festi-val. Tony and Barbara even came by boat!

Here are the AGM minutes as promised.Ian has done a great job considering I pressganged him into it at the last minute, andhad probably forced glasses of wine downhim beforehand to lower his resistance.Should you find any fault with them, pleasefeel free to offer to do the job this year.(Writing the minutes not drinking the wine!)

Minutes of the AGM held at the Na-tional Waterways Festival, St Ives on 26/8/7

Apologies: Heather, Edwina, Sue & Roger,Ann Hughes, Malcolm Bridge, Claire Moynihan.

Minutes of last AGM: agreedMatters arising: The Commode Door

was indisposed for the start of the AGM asshe was assisting in the illuminated parade.

Commode Door/ WRGBC repre-sentative�s Report: The Commode Doorhad attended the AWCC AGM where therewas much talk of the DEFRA cuts and �Saveour Waterways� campaign. She also attendedmeetings at Wolverhampton and Soar andwill attend the Tamworth Boat Club meeting.

Treasurer�s Report: Once again theTreasurer confirmed that we had money inthe bank (£376) and subs are now due. Itwas decided that subs should remain at £10.Several members present paid up immedi-ately and some others signed standing ordermandates. (What commendable actions)

Secretary�s Report: The secretaryadvised that AWCC and WRG Burgees wereavailable for sale. There are now 40 mem-bers in the Boat Club. The secretary askedmembers for ideas for improvements for theWRGBC clubhouse, such as where the club,being a peripatetic club, could situate thenoticeboard. Ideas were not forthcoming atthat point. It was decided that we would notbother with a block booking for the 2008

Waterways Festival, as members had notbeen allocated spaces together this year. Itwas noted that some of the information in theAWCC list of clubs was out of date and alsonoted was the importance of having a mobilenumber for members arriving at another boatclub in case there was no-one there.

Election of Officers: All officers hadno objection continuing in their posts and ashow of hands confirmed this was acceptable

Future Plans: The 2008 AGM will takeplace at the 2008 Waterways Festival. The Secre-tary was anxious to see if there are any WRGdigs/works that members of the boat club couldattend by boat, mentioning in particular Saul inJuly and the Mont gathering in September.

Allocation of Funds/Donations: Itwas decided that once subs had been re-ceived, and we had above £500 in the bank,a donation of £500 would be made to theCotswold Canal Trust as the Saul Boat Festi-val had been cancelled due to flooding onthe site. A member of CCT was at the meet-ing and declared an interest in this donation.

Presentation of the WRG Bowl:The bowl was presented by the CommodeDoor to Aileen Butler for all the work onvarious restorations since 1991, in particularthe BCN cleanups and others with LondonWRG including Blow up Bridge*.

Any Other Business: A number ofmembers from WRGNW and the Peterbor-ough Branch of the IWA were asking for apetition to be signed for the restoration/reopening of Welches Dam Lock. A bottle ofwine was generously (but unintentionally)donated by Maureen. Meeting closed 22.15

*Note: this was in notes but notetakerby that time under the influence of�

Any comments, questions, or clarifica-tions please address to the secretary ASAP.

Now it�s not like me to �miss the boat�but I did. I sent out a list of members boats,so we all know who we are and can �meetand greet� should we pass on the cut. Well Imissed some out and included a member whohad left. Sorry. The next list will (maybe) beperfect. Remember the club motto! Fly theflag then we will know each other.

I got quite a bit of news, regarding mem-bers� travels, with the Christmas cards I received.News is a two way thing so please keep meinformed. Details and photos would be great.

I wish you all happy boating in 2008 andlook forward to seeing you out and about.

xxx Sadie Dean07748186867 / [email protected]

Navvies NewsThe Chelmer needs you!

Do you fancy aweekend work partywith floatingaccommodation? (well,at high tide anyway)

Droitwich upate

Good news regarding the DroitwichBarge Lock appeal � it�s already raised inexcess of £60k and we have still got quite afew months to go. A lot of this is down toIWA members and Navvies readers so TheWaterways Trust have asked me to thank youthrough these pages BUT (and there is al-ways a but isn�t there?) we still need towiden out the appeal to what we might callthe non-aligned fringe � all those waterwaysbusinesses and cruising clubs. We hope torun a rather high profile event in late April totry and attract some support from thesegroups. If we can get the details sorted intime then there will be an insert with thisNavvies, if not then keep an eye on our website www.wrg.org.uk.

Mike Palmer

Back cover photos

Apologies for the lack of captions to the backcover pictures in the last two issues. Captionsare as follows...

Issue 225: the main picture showedrebuilding work in progress on Lock 4 atSeven Locks during the KESCRG camp, theinset upper photo showed volunteers push-ing one of many vehicles out of the mud atthe National Festival, and the bottom insetpic was taken on the Grand Western camp.

Issue 226: the upper photo shows thenewly built liftbridge on the recently re-watered section of the Mont from Gronwento Redwith, while the lower photo showsKESCRG at work on the Wendover arm.

Captions for this issue�s back cover areon page 2; I�ll try to remember to includethem in future issues.

Sit(e)s. Vac.

A couple of sites that you might like to con-sider visiting if you�re involved in one of theregional groups and find yourselves with aTBA or two in your dates list...

The Chelmer & Blackwater Navigation:since the takeover by Essex Waterways Ltd (anIWA subsidiary) the new authority is doing itsbest to put this Essex navigation back intogood order, but there�s a lot to do - miles ofbanks to clear of overgrown vegetaion, andplenty of other work. And if you�re lucky youget to spend your nights in real beds in areal BOAT - the Haybay barge! (see below)

And the Chesterfield is an old favouriteWRG site where volunteer work has taken offrecently and visiting groups are more thanwelcome. with work concentrated on theRenishaw area.

If you want to offer your group�s serv-ices on either of these sites, see the Directoryfor contact details.

London WRG on the Chelmer & Blackwater:work (above) and accommodation (below)

Contacting the chairman:Mike Palmer

3 Finwood Rd,Rowington, Warwickshire

CV35 7DHTel: 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 arrivalsThe WRG/KESCRG breeding

programme continues...

Congratulations toRachel Parr and Danny French

on the arrival ofCoco Josephine French

also toClare and Ian Nelson

on the arrival of William

Apologies for a slight error last time:Emma and Dan Evans�s son is called

Charlie William Evans

Sadly, despite repeated pesterings fromthe Editor the Williamsons and theTarrants failed to produce their off-spring before Navvies went to print.(Thinks: might we have a new WRG

Chairman on the way here?)Seriously, best wishes to Liz & Ian, and

to Smudge & Taz

Bonfire Bash 2008...

...is looking like it might well be onthe Chelmer & Blackwater Navi-gation. Put the date November 1-2in you diary and �watch this space�for confirmation and more details

Thanks...

to Neville Orton and SpencerGreystrong for their gift of some SmartMedia cards for the WRG cameras � weshould see another year or two out.

Coming soon...Coming soon...Coming soon...Coming soon...Coming soon...Navvies� very own agony aunt deals

with your most personalproblems...

Correction: Digital tachos

Apologies for giving an incorrectphone number in the last issue apply-ing for the digital tachograph card thatyou now need if you want to tow withany of the WRG vans (apart from RFBwhich will be replaced within weeks). Itshould be 0870 850 1074.

WRGieotypes No 2: The WRG dog

Always on the lookoutfor his natural prey:dropped Quavers

Diet: Quavers, sand-wich crusts and what-ever gets dropped onthe floor of the foodtent at the National

Gammy leg

Ancestry: uncertainIntelligence: limitedSex: yes please!

Roger�s Mummy and Daddydon�t believe in collars.Instead they let him expresshis individuality with agreasy red neckerchief.

�Glass half-full�attitude to life

Roger�s a Battersea special but he doesn�t let it affect his self esteem. In fact, you�d almost believe heowned the place, from the way he strolls around camp greeting people and demanding his share of theirlunch. Although they deny he�s a baby substitute, his Mummy and Daddy Ruth and Mark recently invested ina caravan as Roger just wasn�t settling in the dormitories. He�s sensitive to draughts, bless him.

Roger�s demeanor occasionally hints at a difficult childhood, pre-Battersea. In actual fact he lived inFinchley with a devoted elderly lady, until she moved to Australia to be with her daughter.

Roger�s self-confidence is absolute but soon he�s in for a serious shock. WRG babies are coming, andRuth and Mark are on the list.

Infill

�I say, you�ve made a rightdog�s breakfast of packing thistrailer!� - or can you suggesta better caption?

And speaking of dogs...

New Twist to Traditional Rhyme...

When working recently on �Sea Lock� on Lord Rolle�s Canal, withfriend and volunteer navigator, Trevor Fordham, he stoppedwhat he was doing in order to brew some tea for the two of us.

He filled the kettle stored in the shed and switched it on.Pouring the water onto the teabags, he was disconcerted toobserve some black bits coming out. On closer inspection of thekettle he discovered the remains of three perfectly cooked mice!

Not being a fan of exotic, oriental cuisine he was not accus-tomed to drinking his tea in this fashion. I dared him to accuseme of not providing him with sufficient to eat when helping meout. We had a good laugh about the incident although I supposethe mice didn�t find the experience quite so amusing. Trevorrinsed the kettle out before making us a fresh brew.

Now we have a new song to sing whilst waiting for thekettle to boil...

Three boiled micethree boiled miceCooked perfectlycooked perfectlyTrevor boiled them in the tea

One for him and two for meThey taste very niceand they�re free!Three boiled mice,three boiled mice.

I�m sure the tea doesn�t taste quite the same any more!Adrian Wills

Navvies 227

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Transcript of Navvies 227