Navvies 230

Issue No 230August-September

2008

Issue No 230August-September

2008

waterwayrecoverygroup

waterwayrecoverygroup

navviesnavviesvolunteers restoring waterwaysvolunteers restoring waterways

First of thesummercampreports

Book now for theBonfire Bash

Beware theWendover Bee!

First of thesummercampreports

Book now for theBonfire Bash

Beware theWendover Bee!

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, Roger Day, NeilEdwards, George Eycott, John Fletcher,Adrian Fry, John Hawkins, Jennifer Leigh,Judith Palmer, Michael Palmer, JonathanSmith. Secretary: Neil Edwards

ISSN: 0953-6655© 2008 WRG

all the latest news of WRG's activities

Chairman is MKP in a hole digging mud, orslinging it at British Waterways... 4-5Coming soon autumn and winter CanalCamps and Christmas digs 6-7Camp reports from the Chesterfield Canaland the Ipswich & Stowmarket 8-14WRGBC The Boat Club goes to Saul 15Diary canal camps and weekend digs 16-18Directory WRG and canal societies 19-21Letters on Cookers and Campers 22Progress roundup of what�s happeningaround the restoration projects 23-26London WRG the dig that never was 27Navvies news a new cooker, a lesson inWelsh and some unusual ice-cream! 28Noticeboard job vacancies in WRG 29Infill dangerous animals on the cut 30-31

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 231: September 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, keptlow so that everyone can afford to subscribe.Please add a donation if you can.

ContentsIn this issue...

Above: Chesterfield Canal: London WRGvolunteers shuttering up ready to pour theconcrete foundations for the footbridgenarrows at Renishaw. See pages 8-11 for areport of what the subsequent canal campgot up to. Left: Wilts & Berks: Lock 4 atSeven Locks nearing completion: see nextissue for a full report and photos from theKESCRG camp there. Front cover: Workstarts on clearing the Droitwich Barge LockBack cover main photo: Cotswold Ca-nals: taking down damaged brickworkready for rebuilding on Gough�s OrchardLock during Camp 0808 - full report nexttime. Inset (upper): Ipswich & Stowmar-ket Navigation: bricklaying on the �bendywall� during camp 0806 - see camp reporton pages 12-14. Inset (lower): Chester-field Canal: Camp 0804 volunteers buildingthe Renishaw footbridge narrows - seereport on pages 8-11. (Photo by Miccy Jay)All uncredited photos by the editor.

And speaking of Canal Camps:don�t forget, the press date forissue 231 is September 1st, so let�shave all your camp reports andphotos in by then, and we�ll make ita bumper issue!

ChairmanMKP gets deep down �n� dirty

�As anyone who has triedto deal with BW will tell

you, their entire culture isbased on trying to push

the risk onto anyone else�

Chairman�s comment

I�m writing this as I recover from the firstDroitwich Canal Camp of the summer. It wasreally, really great. It was like the last twentyyears had never happened � a big lockchamber full of wet, sloppy s**t, lots ofshovelling and a barrow hoist!

Top that off with a cracking good teamof volunteers and, thanks to Jenny at HeadOffice, a fantastic accommodation and youcan probably imagine my smile. There is stillrather a lot to do but we managed one im-portant bit, namely clearing enough of thestructure for British Waterways to measureup for the gates. Which really does give us abit of a spur as they will be coming to fitthem on the last day of our last camp (i.e. asyou read this). So by the time we all meet upat the IWA National Festival it should becomplete. What�s more they have actuallystarted building the channel and locks to getfrom �our� Junction locks (the ones we fin-ished restoring back in 2001-2) down, underthe motorway and into Vines Park.

So by the end of this year it will betechnically possible to take a boat down fromthe Worcs & Brum Canal down into the cen-tre of Droitwich. Obviously you won�t actu-ally be allowed to do it as the hydrology andecology of the Droitwich junction make itone of the most complicated schemes in thecountry and they will still be tweaking it andchecking the mitigation has all worked butsometime in the following year thechance to boat to The Railway PublicHouse will be very real.

I saw quite a lot of the cruising ringthat the DCT restoration will create whenMartin, Jenni, Eddie and I did our sponsoredcycle ride to raise funds for the Barge Lockappeal. In a spirit of openness and honesty Ihave to admit a deviation from what wepromised. The actual event was on the Sun-day. As Camp leader I was a bit busy onSunday (as were Eddie and Jen) so we did iton the Saturday (but we did stick to theproper route and didn�t cheat nor nothing),

whereas Martin who was busy on the Ipswich& Stowmarket on Saturday did it on theSunday. The downside of the three of usdoing the ride a day early is that we got todo it in the pouring rain. You can see photosof it on www.justgiving.com/wrgbikes.

So an update on the Barge Lock Appealwould seem to be in order. The actual figureis tantalizing close to the magic £100k figureso if you have any donations hanging aroundthen now would be a very good time to sendthem. I reckon that sometime during ournext three weeks at Droitwich we shall hit thetarget which gives a new meaning to �just intime� funding. But, of course, it�s not raisingthe funds that countsit�s the actual work andso I am pleased to saythat such is the level ofconfidence in the worksbeing complete that thedate of 26th Sept hasbeen picked for thecompletion celebra-tions. It�s another Fri-day ceremony I�mafraid but that is theconsequence of thework we do beingappreciated by peoplewho have big walletsbut don�t work week-ends. So if you canmake a weekday thenpop the date in yourdiary.

One thing that hasbecome obvious thisyear is a feeling amongmany of the volunteers(especially those who get involved as lead-ers) that we could do with a nice big project,where you don�t spend all week setting it upthen taking it down again. (These things areof course cyclical and no doubt soon we willbe bored with always going to the same siteand want a bit of variety�) Anyway the pointis that, thanks to several generous legacies,

�A big lock chamber fu

Mik

e Pa

lmer

we are actually in a position where we mightbe able to help fund and run a big project.At this point in the year we normally writeout to all the canal societies to see whatprojects they may have for next year. So this(next!) year we are also in the market forbigger projects that need a bit of fundingand planning to get them going.

More details to follow but here is one bigtip: these are legacies that have been left toWRG not anyone else. Which implies that�

. they wanted to show what volunteers can do. they appreciated the way WRG do it

So don�t think of this as just anotherfunding application, as you would apply toIWA/HLF/Esme Fairburn/[insert name of any ofthe other funds that have helped canal restora-tion]. This has to provide a genuine showcasefor volunteers and what they can do. We will bejudging them critically - and if it is just somethingthat a contractor could do for a bit more moneythen we are not interested. This should focuson the extras that volunteers bring and maxim-

ise this. It may not cometo pass in 2009, butmaybe 2010�

Just to contradictthe opening paragraph,which might seem tosuggest sweetness andharmony with BritishWaterways (at least onthe Droitwich), I wasrather amused by re-cent press coverageconcerning the Govern-ment Select Commit-tee�s report on�Whether to give BW abig spanking aboutpulling out of the Cots-wolds� (I think theactual title was slightlydifferent). The selectcommittee concludedthat it was not fair thatBW has to take all ofthe risk of restorations

when it was the whole of society that reapedthe benefits in the long term. UnsurprisinglyBW agreed with this, and I thought to myself�that�s a bit rich�. Because, as anyone whohas tried to deal with BW recently will tellyou, their entire culture is based on trying topush the risk onto anyone else. Which is fineif it�s a contractor being paid a million quid to

build a marina but when you are a volunteertrying to help out with a restoration thenwhy should you assume all of the risk? WhenI refer to �risk� I�m not talking aboutHealth and Safety for once - just thebasics such as �what are you going to do ifyou don�t complete all the work?� �Er� Idon�t know mate, I�m doing you a favourhere.� It�s often impossible to get the infor-mation you need out of BW because they arescared it might be used against them. It�s notthe individuals, as they are (often) lovely -one of them even sponsored our bike ride -it�s the culture/management regime that justdoesn�t allow any element of risk to be takenunless it�s by someone else. Let us hope thatnow BW have officially raised the issue fromtheir side, they are able to understand how itfeels to be on the receiving end of it.

Finally my regular update on the WRGjobs list. I�m pleased to say that we have hada few offers to deal with some of the jobs(see www.wrg.org.uk) but there are still afew up for grabs. In particular one job hasjust come up, as my wife has now got her-self a job covering the whole country oververy irregular hours and also Mandy Morleyis taking on some other responsibilitiesoutside of WRG. Both have looked after WRGPublicity for ages but are now having to stepdown from that task. So we really do needsomeone (or ideally several someones) tohelp with this. You may have noticed thatpreviously I have been keen to stress thatvolunteering to take on one of these jobsdoesn�t mean you are stuck with lots ofcommittee meetings and being tied up forparticular weekends. And it must be said thattraditionally the job of publicity has involvedboth of these things. However, just becausewe have traditionally done things this way isno reason to keep doing so. If you can thinkof ways of raising our profile and gettingnew members by any other technique thenwe would like to hear from you. And if youfancy doing things the old fashioned way bygoing to rallies, etc. then we would also liketo hear from you.

We also need somewhere to store theWRG display stand (currently housed withMandy and Steve in Milton Keynes) so ifpeople can help out there than that would besuper. Contact me or Jenny Black at HeadOffice (01923 711114) for further info.

Anyway, back to the digging � it�s whatsummer was made for, you know�

Mike Palmer

full of wet sloppy s**t�

Coming soonFestival, Bonfire Bash and (gulp!) Christmas...IWA National Festival canal camp, Autherley Junction August 18-28

By the time you receive this the National Festival will be just a few days away - and the siteat Autherley Junction near Wolverhampton will already be well into the early stages of trans-formation from a field into the largest inland waterways festival in the country. But there�sstill time for you to offer your services for a few days to help make it happen. Just email theleader Dave Worthington on [email protected] or his assisant Jenny Black viahead office on 01923 711114 (they�re in the process of moving office so you may get aredirection message) or email [email protected]. Alternatively if you want tocontact them after the camp�s actually started, use either of the camp phones 07850 422156or 07850 422157 - but whatever you do, please tell them you�re coming, especially if you�rehoping for any camping space because there isn�t a great deal of it available.

Barge Lock completion ceremony, Droitwich Canals, September 26

Not a work party, but a celebration to mark what we hope will be the completion of one ofour major projects for this year: complete restoration of the Barge Lock in Vines Park, Droit-wich. Afraid it�s on a Friday, but if you can get the day off do come down and help us cel-ebrate our achievements. Contact Mike Palmer for details.

Autumn Camp, Grand Western Canal, October 11-18

This year�s autumn camp takes place at Nynehead, where we�re carrying on our work touncover and conserve the remains of the best surviving example of a whole series of boatlifts on this fascinating and little-known waterway. Your leaders for this week are Jenny Black(again!) and Adrian Fry, and Mitch Gozna will be cooking. Please book via the website orusing a camps booking form.

Bonfire Bash, Chelmer & Blackwater Navigation, November 1-2

This is our annual reunion get-together for everyone from the summer canal camps, theWRG (and other) regional groups, and anyone else who wants to come - the more, themerrier. But by way of a change, it isn�t a big scrub-bash on a derelict canal, it�s a majorpush to improve the state of a waterway that�s actually open to boats, but which we nearlylost a couple of years ago when the original canal company went bust and IWA took it overto save it from closing down. As you might imagine it was in a bit of a state, and IWA sub-sidiary Essex Waterways Ltd has been doing its best to put it back in good order on a limitedbudget - and we�re going to help them. That doesn�t mean there won�t be scrub-bashing andbonfires - but they�ll be spread along the 12 miles of the banks of the navigation from Chelms-ford to Heybridge near Maldon. And we�ll all get together for a party on the Saturday night asusual. More details next time; in the meantime fill in the form opposite and send it off.

London WRG / KESCRG Christmas dig, Wilts & Berks, December 6-7

Yes, it�s the c-word already - Christmas! And although we aren�t sure which site(s) we�ll beworking on yet, it�s definitely on the Wilts & Berks Canal - so put the date in your diary andlook out for more information in the next issue. And as usual, it isn�t limited to London WRGor KESCRG regulars - everyone is welcome irrespective of who they usually go digging with.

I would like to attend the 2007 WRG Bonfire Bash on the Chelmer &Blackwater Navigation on November 1st-2nd

Forename: Surname:

Address:

email:

Phone:

Any special dietary requirements?

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

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

(cost is £12 for the whole weekend)

How will you be travelling to the Bonfire Bash?

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

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

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

Name: Phone:

Signed:

Please send this form to:

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

waterway recovery group

Reunion Bonfire Bash 2008

New Year Canal Camp, December 26 - Jan 1

This is another one to note down in your diary, rather than anything definite. But rest assured,there will be a New Year Canal Camp, it will almost certainly involve scrub-bashing and bigbonfires, 2009 will be welcomed-in in the traditional manner, and there will be more next time.

For details of all forthcoming events see www.wrg.org.uk

The Summer Canal Camps2008 programme gets

under way with a week offun with concrete blocks

on the Chesterfield Canal

Camp reportChesterfield Canal

Chesterfield camp report 0804

The Chesterfield camp this year all startedwith a begging plea from Adrian Fry needingleaders ASAP. As the locals were so helpfullast year I couldn�t sit back and let them seetheir camp being cancelled so Mike Chaseand I were signed up. �I wonder if the Ches-terfield curse would strike again?� I thought...

The curse? Let me explain... It beganon last year�s camp when minibus RFB (theold one) had the clutch start to slip. Then thebeginning of May this year came and WRGNorth West had a dig on the site to be ourcamp, so I joined them to see our site. Itwas my birthday too and on the way homemy �trusty� Land Rover decided the M1 was agreat place to over heat - and got takenhome on a low loader. So the end of Maycame and London WRG had a dig there. Anideal chance to see how progress was goingand do my site visit. I had a WRG van thistime. �Nothing can go wrong, can it?� I gotthe biggest piece of metal in the tyre on theway back from site. Oh well bad luck strikesin threes...

Saturday June 21st arrived. I had RFB(the new shiny one) to take to the camp.Remember the bad luck!!!?? Yes it came backwith the lights on the van wiring shorting out300 yards from where I picked the trailer up.I thought it was going to be one of THOSEcamps. But thankfully that�s where the campproblems ended.

Everyone arrived, most people withsleeping bags and bedding. James (not me theother one) had had a thieving postie take hiscamp instructions away from him so he didn�tknow about needing to bring a sleeping bagetc. By chance I took a spare and a pillow.

Sunday came and people were stirringquite early. (That changed by the end of theweek!) We arrived on site - a concrete block-lined narrowing of the canal which will formthe base for a footbridge - to find the localchavs from last year still hadn�t grown upand had destroyed the fencing. It made iteasier for us to get in I guess! We had plentyof locals turn up and train a few people inconcrete block laying. Now if a duck takes towater easily, then Chris and Frank must havebeen ducks in a previous life. They graspedthe block laying really quickly and becamethe experts all week and the teachers forother people fancying the idea of laying ablock or two.

We also had a slight �puddle� to fill intoo. There is a natural spring under the siteso an area of low land in the main walkwaythrough the site had filled up with water. Ourtask was to put earth in and stomp. We hadthe Renishaw Stomp dance going on a treat.A bit like Riverdance but classier! I thenthought that to compact it further the locals�Transit van might be a good thing to try. Thefront wheel went on and sank. I backed outquick and left it alone!! That night some wentto the pub upstairs whilst the rest of usheard the bad singer from our beds throughthe ceiling.

Monday came and the first job was tobackfill the wall with clay and stomp it in.Then onto the block laying. We also trimmedback some trees that were overhanging thetowpath. We got a bit carried away and Mickthe local asked us to trim back the trees toget a line of sight through to make sure thebridge narrows were in the right place. �Toolate now�, I thought... Maz got taught by thetwo experts and she was found to be a bornnatural too. Terry the local came on siteevery day and mixed some mortar, then a bitBlocklaying in progress

Mic

cy J

ay

more, then a bit more� he was just a mixingmachine. ReadyMix, be careful! We also put aconcrete slab down as the foundations hadmoved slightly when London WRG filledthem.

That evening we went bowling whereRachel who said she was rubbish at it provedto be fibbing - she scored more bowling oneball at a time than the rest of us bowlingtwo. For this we gave her the �Lobbit and see�award at the end of the week.

Tuesday arrived and people weren�tgetting up nearly as early as on the Sunday. Iwas slowly wearing them out!! Captain Chris,Frank and Maz with their teams were gettingon so fast with their blocklaying that weorganised a delivery of more blocks at9:15am. This was great but it did mean wehad to shift 2 pallets worth into the containerin the evening. 1 pallet = nearly 100 blocks.1 block = approx 15kg and getting heaviereach time you pick another block up! So afterlast tea-break we all set out to move them.

We were very pleased to see Louisewith our dinner that night!!! Some peopleagain went up to the pub but the rest of usstayed in the accommodation and listened tothe line dancers hammering away at the floorabove! No need to count sheep, we tried tocount the beat but failed!

Wednesday saw more blocks laid, moreclay backfill, and then a new toy turned up -a Tirfor winch! Emma and Rachel wanted ago so I showed them how to use it. Emmabeing Emma and liking a challenge wantedto go for the biggest root first. A bit ambi-tious as the Tirfor wasn�t man enough to pullit out. Or should that be Emma, Rachel andmyself weren�t strong enough to move thehandle any further? James came over to lend

a hand but by then we had moved on tosmaller roots. He did a grand job moving thehandle and the phrase for that day was �it�smoving, nearly out, keep going.�

Tonight�s entertainment was organisedby Mike. Not Mick or Mick. Yes confusion didset in by then in my head as Mick not thelocal joined us from now on. We went for amagical mystery tour, including a walk alongthe re-opened section that I boated on on NBAugusta a few years ago, at the Kiveton Parkend of Norwood Tunnel. It was lovely to seeit all again and two cargo boats moored upfor the evening. Mick the local recommendedthe walk to us. �Oh yes� he said �there is alovely walk going back along next to thecanal feeder stream.� Lovely walk? More likea scrub bash site prior to a Reunion dig...The plan was to have a picnic which Louisehad organised for dinner. This wasn�t theplace for it. So Mike guided us to Kivetonreservoir. That closed in 10 minutes time. Sohere wasn�t the place either. About turnagain. Next he led us to Mill Green inStaveley. This is the end of the other re-stored section which will be hosting theNational Trailboat Festival next year. It wasvery beautiful and tranquil and the ideal spotfor dinner.

Thursday saw another delivery ofblocks and sand. This arrived slightly laterthan the last lorry leaving us not much timeto lay blocks that day. We got to a pointwhere we were 1 row away from completionon the off side and 2 rows away on thetowpath side.

Friday again we laid, we back filled, weTirfored, and a new job - counting kit in! Thelocal project planner came to site and he saidit was the best half hour of his week and was

amazed by what weachieved, Mick the local wasworried we weren�t going toleave his Sunday crew anywork for that weekend andwas impressed by howmuch we achieved too. Ialso got given a presentfrom Mick and Louise (thelocals not the WRGie ones)- my very own Derby Coun-cil T-shirt to be worn out-side of Derby. I�m startingto get a collection of councilT-shirts beginning with Dnow! We had something-and-chips to let Louise haveDoing the Renishaw Stomp

Mik

e Cha

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Camp ReportChesterfield Canal

The editor makes themistake of asking both

the leader and theassistant for a canal

camp report...

a night off and then silly party gamescommenced. Emma�s �playing card into ahidden envelope� game was great but themost laughs was her �hit a potato up arounda cup and back by swinging another potatoin a pair of tights� game. Nina who joined usto travel down to the Ipswich camp the nextday probably thought we were a bunch ofnutters. We were nutters, happy worn outnutters!

My thanks go to: Mike for being myassistant, Louise for cooking all week, Emmafor being MUP (most useful person) Chrisand Frank for expertly training others up onblock laying and to Terry, Mick and Louisethe locals who came along and helped every-day and everyone else who made the weekgo so smoothly

From what looked to be one of �those�camps at the start (and with Wimbledonstarting we thought the weather wouldn�t beon our side) it turned out to be fantastic allround. Here�s to Chesterfield 2009!

James Butler

The Assistant�s Perspective

The WRGNW visit over the early MayBank Holiday weekend took delivery of thesite container (which only just fittedbeneath the road bridge inRenishaw), and erected the fencingaround the site (later to be trashedby the locals). At this time, excava-tions by the local team were of anexploratory nature, trying to findthe clay bottom in order to site thefoundations.

By the start of the LondonWRG dig at the end of May the holehad been dug to full size, and athird of the offside base had beencast. We completed the remainderof the concrete on both sides, aswell as having chance to clear someof the rubbish that had beendumped in last year�s site up by theroad bridge.

The start day of the camp arrived, andso did the rain. After unloading the cateringkit, Louise and I did the station pick-ups andshopping, whilst James welcomed thosecampers arriving by car.

Sunday dawned dry, but very windy(the journey along the M1 was �interesting� tosay the least). Whilst James took a van loadto site, shopping kept me away until lunch-time, when I joined the throng digging outthe huge mound of clay for backfill � fillingbehind both the blocks that had been laid,and the quagmire area above which was ahazard when wet.

After cleaning off the tools, I led a teamscrub bashing the canal bed southwardsfrom site � by the end of the day, a largeclearing had been made.

The weather improved on Monday. Theprevious day�s blockwork was backfilled byEmma and Rachel, whilst Chris and Franktaught Maz to lay blocks. My scrub-bashingteam continued to wreak destruction southfrom site, though they were commandeeredto help with the back-filling around lunch-time. In the afternoon, Emma and Rachelinfilled one end of the wall with concrete, asthe base had been found to not be level,making block laying rather awkward.

Louise serves �WRG pie� Painting the container

Mik

e Cha

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Mik

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Evening entertainment was bowling in Mans-field.

Tuesday was my first full day on site,arriving to shouts of �Camera!!� � Sarah, onseeing the mud had jumped in, not realisinghow glutinous it was, and was now stuck,with everyone else looking on. EventuallyJames and Ian freed her, though a separatewelly rescue needed to be undertaken. Afterbackfilling the previous day�s blocks, block-laying recommenced with two teams, led byChris and myself. Meanwhile, scrub bashingcontinued, with much being cleared to be-hind the towpath fence. Casualty of the daywas Emma, so worn out she was almostasleep as the trailer was being packed. Aftersite, a mini-tour ensued, when the two vanswere driven up the Trans-Pennine Trail toview potential work sites.

Wednesday saw much progress on theblock laying � 1½ courses being laid beforerunning out of blocks. The trust�s Tirforappeared, Emma, Rachel and both Jamesesmaking use of it to pull stumps from thecanal bed. After showers, we started a sight-seeing tour of canal sights at Kiveton Park.Following a couple of changes to plan, ourpicnic dinner was eaten at Mill Green,Staveley, site of canal trust work parties forthe previous few years, and limit of naviga-ble canal from Chesterfield. However, Chriswas missing site, and proceeded to build ablock wall out of carrots and coleslaw!

On Thursday, the girls were finally ableto paint the container, whilst everyone elsebackfilled the block work. After taking deliverof blocks at midday, block laying recom-menced, though with an early finish, we onlycompleted the previous day�s incompletecourses. From site we headed into Sheffield tothe Ponds Forge Sports Centre to go swim-ming, during which the heavy rain set in.

Friday was the last day on site, andthere was little evidence of the previousnight�s heavy rain. The blocks went up an-other course either side, after backfilling, andthe scrub bashing was completed down tomilestone 7. Louise was allowed on site forthe day, the evening meal being supplied bythe Barlborough Chippy. I had the honour oflaying the final block of the week, to the tuneof �Land of Hope and Glory�, performed byChris, James and Frank. After checking thetools back in, and packing the trailer, therewas just time for a group photo before head-ing off to the showers, then the hall for thelast night party. Fun and games continuedinto the early hours.

This was my first camp as assistantleader, and it was a pleasure to have Jamesas a leader, and such a wonderful mix ofcampers, who gelled and excelled at what-ever task was given to them. Louise, cookingfor the first time on a camp did well, afterthe initial learning curve of the first meal.Her chocolate brownies were to die for �several campers begging for more.

Mike Chase

Block Levels: Offside Towpath Side

Start 1 course 1/3 courseEnd Sunday 2 1/3 courses 1/2 course, outer face completeEnd Monday 2 1/3 courses 1 1/3 coursesEnd Tuesday Almost 3 courses 1 2/3 coursesEnd Wednesday 3 1/2 courses 2 2/3 coursesEnd Thursday 4 courses 3 coursesEnd Friday 5 courses (complete) 4 courses (2 remaining)

Number of blocks laid: about 550, which were on average at least double handled, priorto laying. All that remains now is to lay the final two courses on the towpath side, backfill,then lay the brickwork on top and backfill that, then the footbridge can be installed.

Just two more courses needed on the right

Mic

cy J

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Camp reportIpswich & Stowmarket

�We compared Spain�sEuro 2000 victory to

Team Dambuilders�successful foiling of the

River Gipping�

Camp 0806: Baylham LockIpswich & Stowmarket Navigation

WRG Liz: Come in Cook 1. Requestingdistance from target. Over.Cook 1: This is Cook 1. Just leaving Tesco.ETA a bit later than we thought. Out.WRG Nina: Come in van and trailer. Re-questing notification of tea o�clock and loca-tion of Burco. Over.Logistical officer: Digger here. En route. Itmay be beer o�clock before destination isreached. Out.

And so the camp began: the volunteersarrived, there was tea (eventually), lots ofdinner, a beer run, introductions, the safetytalk, and a trip to site where the secret loca-tion of the WRG dam was finally revealed tothe Dambuilders team. This team of volun-teers had been recruited from across thecountry to carry out the task of building adam across the river Gipping. The new damwould divert water away from Baylham Lockto enable further restoration work to be

carried out. At least, that was the plan�On Sunday morning the team arrived

on site and leapt into action. Steel piles weredriven into the riverbed by a muscular teamincluding Andy, Sir Clive and Sleepy Dave.Rapid progress was made and the dam-building target was met by the end of theday. Meanwhile, several volunteers learnedbricklaying skills working on the curvy wall atthe top of the lock, and Laurie and Martin Rfixed handles to the stop planks ready forinsertion later in the week. After a productivefirst day on site we retired to the pub towatch the Euro 2008 Football final, where we(perhaps outrageously) compared Spain�svictory to Team Dambuilders� successfulfoiling of the River Gipping. Score: WRG 1 �0 River Gipping.

Monday�s work moved along similarlines. There was progress on the wall, somescrub clearance, and pumping began on the�dry� side of the dam. However, the RiverGipping had crept to a stronger positionovernight and the Dambuilders were called

into action with reinforcements: saw-dust to float into the joins betweenthe piles, more piles, and Acrowprops. Jack, Laurie and others battledhard for victory, while Sir Clive led themotivational singing: Daaah daa dadaaah dada daa da� Score: WRG 2 �1 River Gipping.

By Tuesday enough water hadbeen pumped out of the area at thetop of the lock for more jobs to begin.A 1950s effort at rebuilding the curvywall from concrete without founda-tions had led to an unsurprising col-lapse, leaving a very large block ofconcrete in the cut. Team Peckermade it their mission to remove itwith the help of a pneumatic breakerand err� a bit more muscle and sev-eral inappropriate jokes. Sarah reallygot the hang of bricklaying and wasjoined by Martin R and Gerry, andsome local volunteers to make furtherprogress on the wall. Elsewhere onSarah bricklaying on the curvy wall

Nin

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site, David masterminded theremoval of two large copingstones from the top of the lockwall and Jenny made mixingher speciality. In the eveningwe took a boat trip down theRiver Stour from Sudbury(courtesy of the locals � thankyou!). The boats took us to apub where most people had abeer, apart from one volunteerwho rapidly regretted choos-ing the girly drink with thepink label.

On Wednesday our riverdefences were declared suffi-cient for concreting to com-mence. The first job was toshutter the area of the stopplank groove to enable us toseat the first stop plank inconcrete. Once the shutteringwas in place, the concreting team began mixing, barrowing, shovelling and bucketing inearnest. Even the leaders did some work! Pecking and bricklaying continued and a missionto rescue fish stranded by the dam began, led by the D of E-ers (Alex, Laurie and Jack).With our heads turned to other tasks, the River Gipping took its chance to eat away under-neath our dam, so Colin, Matt, Alex and others were redeployed to create reinforcementswith plastic and sand bags. Jenny, Sarah and co. provided back up by replenishing stocks ofsand bags. The end of the day saw the scores edge to WRG 3 � 2 River Gipping in a thrillingstruggle for supremacy (accompanied by bursts of the �Dambuilders� theme tune). The com-petitive spirit extended to our evening activities where most of us discovered we were dis-tinctly average - but stylish - at bowling.

Thursday was another concrete day� as in, it happened, and we did some more con-creting. Pecking, repairs to thedam, bricklaying and fishingcontinued and the teamworked like a well-oiled ma-chine. Martian Floodgatesarrived on site bringing withhim the only weather of theweek: torrential rain just asthe concrete was going in. Helater redeemed himself bylaying at least twelve bricks.The concrete team, includingAndy, Pete and Martin R com-pleted their task with determi-nation and we left site crossingour fingers that the RiverGipping would not level thescores. The evening activitywas a fantastic BBQ at thelocal football club with impres-sive catering from Chris andChad, and less impressivegames of cricket and rounders,where one of the leaders Boat trip at Great Cornard Lock on the Stour

Fish rescue Clive breaks concrete

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Camp reportIpswich & Stowmarket

Nina reports on a�thrilling struggle

for supremacy�between WRG and

the River Gipping...

learned that using her not-quite-emptybeer can as a rounders post was likely toresult in her clothes smelling of beer for therest of the night. We may have played somedrinking games.

Returning to site on Friday, the teamwere disappointed to note that the RiverGipping had made it 3 � 3. All hands to thepumps and it was soon WRG 4 � 3 RiverGipping. Sarah and both Martins made aserious impact on the bricklaying, more fishwere rescued, and by the end of the daythere was substantially less concrete left inthe cut � well done Team Pecker! And so thestop planks went in at the top of the lockleaving a more permanent obstacle to theriver and removing the need for the high-maintenance dam. Final score: WRG 42 � 3River Gipping.

Thank you to everyone who came onthe camp, to the locals for their supportduring the week, and to Geezer Chris andChad for their fabulous cooking and enter-tainment.

Nina Whiteman

The end of camp awards

Award for fishing JackAward for good banter LaurieAward for vibration PeterAward for mixing JennyAward for attention to detail GerryRight tool for the right job award Martin RAward for stories Matt

Above: Would you trust these two not topoison you? Liz obviously does!Below: concreting in progress

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WRG Boat ClubWRG BC at Saul Festival

Strange goings on at Saul:a disappearing gazebo, anunexpected birthday and amooring official with someodd ideas...

�Pon my Saul!

There was a good gathering of club mem-bers at the Saul Festival in early July. I usethe words that way as I�m not sure that itwas a gathering of GOOD members. Am Ibeing paranoid when I suspect it was afiendish plot, by those that were there early,that caused Pinvin to be one end of themoorings and Lynx at the other while all theothers were moored close together some-where between.

There were lots of good things goingon at the festival, and despite the lack ofsunshine there seemed to be a reasonablenumber of visitors. I hope we will hear offinancially successful results later.

We were on the Gloucester and Sharp-ness canal for a while and had an interestingtime exploring some of the bits of the Cots-wold Canals. The funding for the restorationof these is the whole point of the festival.

The clubhouse was erected on theFriday, near to where most of the memberswere moored. In the evening we had aninformal social gathering. Members broughtchairs, glasses and various baffles and po-tions.

Important topics were discussed, such as:What did the mooring officer mean,

when replying to a boater�s observation thatthey couldn�t get their boat into the specifiedmooring, he told them to �You will if you goat it hard enough!�

How come, at a past event, David had hisfingers trodden on as he was leaving the bar?

And, perhaps most important, can wehave the AGM at �The National� as the threeclub officers that were at Saul won�t begoing?

PLEASE let me know if you are at-tending The IWA National WaterwaysFestival & Boat Show August 23rd -25th at Pendeford Park aka Cut Endor Autherley Junction so we can sortthings out.

With these imponderables on our mindswe returned to our boats for the night.

The Mysterious incident of theGazebo in the night

It was a bit windy in the night.While dog walking in the morning we

noticed some peoples� gazebos had col-lapsed.

As we approached the spot where theclubhouse had been erected, there were thechairs but no sign of the gazebo. Had somekind person packed it away for safety?

On closer examination we saw that thefeet were still there so we started to huntround. There was a very tall hedge which wecouldn�t see over.

But on instruction, we went back to alower bit and from there we could see somelegs in the air and bits of canvas that werecognised. We couldn�t access the cornfield(in which they lay) from that point so had tomake a detour to reach it. We managed todismantle it and wrap it all up without losingany bits, and pass it over the lower bit ofhedge. We really tried hard not to disturb thegrowing corn!

Once back we did an inventory check -one pole bent/broken and one foot stillmissing despite extensive searching.

So that was the end of the clubhousefor the Festival.

We will try to get it sorted, but with twoboats booked on dock for attention to theirbottoms (one involving new planking), I�mafraid it is not top priority.

The weather may not have been sea-sonable warm but what a surprise, especiallyfor one club member, when going to theaccommodation on the Saturday night to finda Christmas Party had been organised. It wasto celebrate Father Christmas�s birthday. Welldone and many thanks to those that not onlyorganised it but managed to keep it as asurprise for Roger (How Old?!!) Burchett

I am STILL having troubles with tech-nology in the communications department soplease be patient

xxx Sadie Dean07748186867

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

Navvies diaryYour guide to all the forthcoming work partiesAug 18-28 Camp 200821 IWA National Festival at Autherley Junction - site services Canal Camp. Le

Sep 6/7 London WRG To be arranged

Sep 6/7 NWPG Droitwich Barge Canal

Sep 6/7 Essex WRG Lichfield Canal

Sep 6 Sat wrgNW �Paper Chase� waste paper collection

Sep 13/14 KESCRG Thames & Severn Canal: Dig Deep project

Sep 13/14 wrgSW Thames & Severn Canal: Joint dig with KESCRG

Sep 13/14 wrgNW To be arranged

Sep 14 Sun WRG Committee & Board Meetings

Sep 20/21 wrgBITM Cotswold Canals: Eisey Lock, Dig Deep project. NOTE NEW VENUE. (Wendover A

Sep 27/28 London WRG Thames & Severn Canal: Dig Deep project

Oct 4/5 KESCRG Basingstoke Canal: Dig Deep project

Oct 4/5 Essex WRG Foxton Inclined Plane

Oct 4 Sat wrgNW �Paper Chase� waste paper collection

Oct 11/12 wrgSW Grand Western Canal: Joint with first weekend of Camp

Oct 11/12 wrgNW Lancaster Canal

Oct 11-18 Camp 200822Grand Western Canal Camp: Nynehead Lift

Oct 18/19 London WRG Ipswich & Stowmarket Navigation

Oct 18/19 wrgBITM Wilts & Berks Canal: Dig Deep project at Seven Locks

Nov 1/2 WRG Reunion Bonfire Bash on the Chelmer & Blackwater Navigation: see page

Nov 1/2 London WRG WRG Reunion Bonfire Bash on the Chelmer & Blackwater Navigation

Nov 1/2 KESCRG WRG Reunion Bonfire Bash on the Chelmer & Blackwater Navigation

Nov 1/2 wrgSW WRG Reunion Bonfire Bash on the Chelmer & Blackwater Navigation

Nov 1/2 Essex WRG WRG Reunion Bonfire Bash on the Chelmer & Blackwater Navigation

Nov 1 Sat WRG Committee & Board Meetings: on Saturday at the Bonfire Bash

Nov 8/9 NWPG Basingstoke Canal: Dig Deep project

Nov 8 Sat wrgNW �Paper Chase� waste paper collection

Nov 15/16 wrgBITM Wey & Arun Canal

Nov 15/16 wrgNW Hollinwood Canal

Nov 22/23 London WRG Basingstoke Canal: Dig Deep project

Dec 6/7 London WRG Joint Christmas Party Dig with KESCRG

Dec 6/7 KESCRG Joint Christmas Party Dig with London WRG

Canal Camps cost £49 per week unless otherwise stated. Bookingsfor WRG Canal Camps (those identified by a camp number e.g.'Camp 200821') 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].

eaders Dave Worthington and Jenny Black 01923-711114 [email protected]

Tim Lewis 07802-518094 [email protected]

Graham Hawkes 0118-941-0586 [email protected]

John Gale 01376-334896 [email protected]

David McCarthy 0161-740-2179

Eddie Jones 0845-226-8589 [email protected]

Mitch Gosna 07768-525469 [email protected]

David McCarthy 0161-740-2179 [email protected]

Mike Palmer 01564-785293 [email protected]

Arm dig cancelled) Dave Wedd 01252-874437 [email protected]







[email protected]


Dave Wedd 01252-874437 [email protected]

s 6-7 for booking form and information 01923-711114 [email protected]





Mike Palmer 01564-785293 [email protected]

Graham Hawkes 0118-941-0586 [email protected]


Dave Wedd 01252-874437 [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 Tony Clear 01903-774301Saturdays 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 576037www.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

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

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

ESSEX WATERWAYS LTDColin EdmondPaper Mill Lock, North HillLittle BaddowEssex CM3 4BT01245 [email protected]

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]

DirectoryCanal societies and WRG

DirectoryLAPAL 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

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 WRGJohn Gale24 Longleaf DriveBraintree, EssexCM7 [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 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

A job well done atRenishaw and Baylham.

But sometimes a jobslightly less well done on

cleaning the cookers...

Dear MartinMay I express through your columns our thanks to the leaders (Liz and Nina) and crew

of the Canal Camp at Baylham Mill last week. They had a major battle erecting the damacross the cut as most of our waterway runs on gravel with a 3 foot topping of silt! Ham-mering 2 metre piles into that and making it reasonably watertight was no mean achieve-ment. The next task of breaking up several tons of reinforced concrete that lay in the cutwas another major mile stone.

After the heavy work we also found some new brickies among the team and they�vevirtually completed our wall at the head of the lock despite the fact that the most famousbrickie of them all still only managed to lay twelve bricks all Thursday afternoon. No names,no pack drill but YOU know who it was, don�t you?

There seemed to be one or two fragile heads and stomachs most mornings whichsuggests to my untrained eye that some of the beer must have been �off� the previousevening but that didn�t slow them down (well not too much anyway).

Their hard work means that the old men they�ve left behind (Ipswich Branch, IWA) canfinish off the wall and it�s associated work in the next two weeks rather than the next twoyears!

We�ve got even more work next year and that will involve demolition with some �boystoys�, more concreting and more bricking. Our plans are somewhat ambitious, involving twofull week camps and three weekend camps for some travelling WRGies so book early toavoid disappointment!

Once again, thanks to everyone involved.Spencer Greystrong

Treasurer, Ipswich Branch Inland Waterways Association

Letter to WRG Chairman Mike Palmer from Martin Bloomfield of Chesterfield Canal Trust:

Dear MikeJust a quick line to say many thanks for all the hard work put in by your red army. Yet

again they did us proud and made a real difference to our rate of progress on the Renishawsection.

The rest of the summer will see us finishing off the bridge hole narrows and myself usingup several pens, papers and nerve ends trying to get a set of build drawings out of the countyengineers. I have started to look for funds to finish building the bridge, but this takes time.

Hope to see you all at Wolverhampton for the National. Could you please pass on ourspecial thanks to James Butler who again did a brilliant job.

RegardsMartin Bloomfield

Chesterfield Canal TrustDear Martin

In reply to the letter from Nick Wilde in Navvies 229, as one of the people who werethere when the cookers got unloaded on their return from the National, I agree that theyshould be thoroughly cleaned before leaving site. Harry Watts spent a long time scraping theburnt on muck out of the KESCRG cooker before we returned it to them - they would havebeen pretty unimpressed if we had handed it back in the state it was left!

HOWEVER, a pressure washer is not the answer. Using one will mean the cooker is leftdamp for some months, which means you end up with a rusty cooker instead.

George �Bungle� Eycott

ProgressStarting with Lichfield & Hatherton

Would you like yourproject to feature inthese pages? Whynot send us aprogress report?

Lichfield and Hatherton Canals

The Tamworth Road site on the Li-chfield Canal continues to be the main focusof activity. Our regular team has been com-pleting the brickwork on the bywash of Lock26 and this will be completed soon. They willthen move on to the long towpath wall ofpound 27 down to the A38. This was builtusing the concrete blocks purchased underthe aggregates levy grant. It will now befaced in suitable bricks to produce a pleasingand appropriate finish. The environmentalteam has also continued work in this area.Planning work has started for the building ofthe lock 25 bywash which may include acircular feature modelled on the Staffs &Worcs weirs.

Discussions continue on the status andownership of the culverted watercoursewhich runsthrough the trackof the canal overmost of its routethrough Lichfield.This will have tobe removed andproper provisionmade for thewater flow beforefurther majorworks can beconsidered. This isa possible route torewatering a smallsection. A smallgroup has beenset up to recom-mend ways ofrestoring Pound26 through MrsAttwood�s garden.

Considera-tion is also beinggiven to furtherwork at DarnfordLane so that workcan move forward

as soon as the land becomes available. Ex-ploratory work has been carried out in thegarden of the Ogley Cottage to establish thefootprint of the lock. This is the first stagetowards separating the lock from the cottage.

The Trust has drawn up a short list ofconsultants to undertake a feasibility studyfor the whole Lichfield Canal. This is vital tofuture funding applications and to safeguard-ing the line in the Local Development Frame-work currently in preparation.

On the Hatherton Canal routine main-tenance work continues. The latest newson the M6 motorway crossing suggests thatmajor road widening (which it had beenhoped would facilitate reinstatement of thecanal) is not now contemplated and thatany work may be limited to the hard shoul-ders.

Brian Kingshott

The pound between locks 25 and 26, Tamworth Road site

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Progress...Mont, Wendover...

Shropshire UnionCanal Society are

rebuilding thewharf wall at

Redwith...

Montgomery Canal

The May working party is the onlythree-day one of the year, and fifty five vol-unteers took part in it. 83 metres of thewharf wall at Redwith are now finished,about a fifth of the total. 43 metres of batterwall and 15 metres of vertical wall werecompleted during the three days, and an-other 17 metres of batter wall started. Theemerging pattern is that the lower course ofthe batter wall is done first, followed a daylater by the upper part of the wall. The back-fill is �limecrete�, a version of concrete whichhas lime instead of cement. This has all theworking properties of concrete but, impor-tantly, also has the same rate of expansionand contraction as the lime mortar in thewalls.

A delivery of sorted stone also helped,since an increasing proportion of the remain-ing reclaimed stone is either the wrongshape or too heavy to move by hand.

An unusual feature of the site is thatthe towpath is open and remains so duringthe work party � the goodwill of visitors isapparent when we talk to them.

Mike Friend

Wendover Arm

At the May work party a further 36 metres ofpipe capping (a concrete cover being cast toprotect pipe through which the canal water iscurrently culverted, so that the channel canbe reinstated above it) was laid, all now inStage 2 but leaving a temporary gap for themanhole. The second base of the mooringbay was poured, the formwork strippedready for the third base and the formworkfor the first wall erected � well done KESCRGwho did all the work after the base pour onthe Friday.

The August work party is a nine-dayeffort and the aims, in order of priority are:

1) To complete lining both banks as far asthe new mooring bay.2) To excavate and blind the second halfof the mooring bay.3) To pour the first length of wall forwhich the formwork is already in position.4) To complete the formwork ready foranother base pour and another wall pour(ready for KESCRG in October!).5) To continue with Stage 2 pipe capping.

We are hiring two excavators one 5tonne (needed for bank profiling) and one 8tonne (needed to reach Bentonite rolls on thebanks) as well as two 6t and one 3t trackeddumpers for transporting spoil and materials.

Operation �FLOODWATCH�: JonKelly is leading this investigation and stillrequires volunteers to complete the six towork in 3 pairs adjacent to the 3 knownbenchmarks at Wendover Basin, Perch Bridgeand Halton Bridge. Their job will be to meas-ure and note water levels at 15-minute inter-vals as well as observing the banks and thepath adjacent to their position. Ray Orth andI will be working at the inlet to the pipe con-trolling the level increase in a measured way.Please contact Jon at [email protected] on 07974855712 if you can help.

Roger Leishman, Restoration DirectorRedwith Wharf Wall: SUCS training WRG

volunteers for last year�s Canal Camp

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Wey & Arun Canal

First it was the breakthrough (literally!) in thecrucial Loxwood road crossing project on 2nd

June when the Trust�s contractors, CJ Thorneof Uckfield, joined the excavated sections onthe east and west sides of the B2133 road,so reinstating a link that has been broken formore than 100 years.

There is still a lot of work to do beforethe new bridge (technically a tunnel because ofits length) is ready for canal boats, but you cannow definitely see its final shape. The totalcost of the B2133 crossing project is estimatedat £1.5 million, which the Wey & Arun CanalTrust has raised by its own efforts. During thelast week of June the final precast beam has beenlowered into place. For the latest news andpictures of the Loxwood bridge/tunnel con-struction, please see www.weyandarun.co.uk/loxwoodbridge-05.php.

Then we heard that Eric Walker, projectmanager for the B2133 Crossing in Loxwood(and before that for Drungewick aqueductand canal bridge) was appointed MBE in the

Queen�s Birthday Honours this year. Eric�saward was for �voluntary services to the Wey& Arun Canal� and everyone will surely agreethat it is no less than he deserves.

This year�s Poddle (the Trust�s sponsoredwalk) on June 8 attracted 251 walkers, whichwas the highest number for some years, andalthough we are still receiving sponsorshipmoney in, £11,000 has been pledged.

Heritage Open Days this year are on 13and 14 September. Brewhurst Mill, Loxwood,will be open to the public from 2pm to 4.30pmon both days. On Saturday 13 September,there will also be a steam rally based on theOnslow Arms in Loxwood � proceeds will bedonated to the Trust (although this event isorganised by a Trust supporter, not by theTrust itself). So if you are steam fanatic as wellas a canal one, do come and visit.

The annual boat rally at Dunsfold is onSunday, 5th October and part of the siltbarhas been removed to aid navigation. Formore information, please look on ourwebsite or email [email protected].

Sally Schupke

Progress...and Wey & Arun

...while on the Wey& Arun Canal, thenew B2133 Loxwoodroad crossing takesshape...

The new Loxwood bridge (or is it a tunnel) under construction

WA

CT

Progress...in picturesAbove right: as our volunteers began workon the Barge Lock in Droitwich, contractorswere getting started on building the diver-sionary route that will link the DroitwichJunction Canal from the bottom of the re-stored Hanbury Locks via an existing naviga-ble-sized (just!) culvert under the M5 to anew junction with the River Salwarpe aboveDroitwich, Two of the four new locks neededare in the form of a staircase, seen underconstruction. Right: Contractors at work onthe restoration of Hyde Lane Lock, one ofonly two on the Grand Union Canal Bucking-ham Arm. Below: Ireland�s newest restora-tion scheme. A proposal to restore theCorbally Extension of the Naas Arm (itselfrestored in the 1980s but sadly under-used)of the Grand Canal was launched this spring,with an Inland Waterways Association ofIreland rally at Naas and a campaign cruisein small portable craft to the original termi-nus at Corbally Harbour.

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Not digging the Mon & Brec

London WRG recently enjoyed a weekendnot digging the Mon and Brec. It should bepointed out that our decision to pull out atthe last minute from the planned dig didn�towe ANYTHING to the bad weather and thatLondon WRG laugh in the face of severeweather warnings.

Hardcore WRGies Martin, Tim, Ed andSophie were all set for the weekend but withonly 2 days to go the dig hard to be can-celled when Ed pulled out muttering some-thing about Land Rovers.

Initially unsure what to do with the vastexpanse of weekend stretching before me, Idecided to try and recreate so far as possiblethe experience of being on a dig, whilstactually spending the weekend in an unfash-ionable part of North London.

Being quite friendly with our upstairsneighbour, who is a builder, I managed toget a ride in a Ford Transit van stuffed full oftools, whilst listening to music that wasconsidered crap even back in the 1970�s.

Arriving back at my flat at 10pm disori-entated and hungry, I hastily ate toast madefrom sh***y white bread before rushinground the corner to my local, where I pre-tended not to know anyone and talked loudlyabout tractor engines and my plan for up-grading my Landie whilst downing pints untilthe landlord tapped his watch and sent mehome.

Dragging myself home down the dark-est path I could find, I laid my Therm-a-restdown on the bedroom floor and settleddown to sleep. It wasn�t easy to recreate thesound of a dozen men snoring but in the endI settled for paying my housemate to standin a corner of my bedroom sawing wood allnight.

With no work to do the next day, Iwasn�t sure how to pass the time until Idiscovered I had relatives still living andwent off to make their acquaintance (�Mum�and �Dad� they call themselves). It was anovel experience being mud-free right

through the weekend but I can�t say I missedthe exhausted Sunday night clothes and bootwash ritual.

Meanwhile the rest of London WRGwere also coping well. Ed Walker took thetime to get to know the woman he lives with�apparently her name�s Suzie and she�s mygirlfriend!� he exclaimed delightedly over thephone to fellow WRGies on Sunday evening.Tim and Martin discovered a local salon wereoffering a free manicure with every beardtrim and hastened off to take advantage.Delighted with their new clean fingernailsand debonnaire appearances, they decided totake in an arthouse movie after a few cock-tails at Mahiki�s. Tim highly recommends Unchanson d�air (in Arabic with subtitles) whichhe says is a really beautifully shot epic abouta young Afghani deaf mute boy�s relationshipwith an elderly blind poet, told against thebackground of the Cuban Revolution.

We all enjoyed the experience so much,we�re planning to not go on a dig sometimeagain in the future.

But seriously folks...

Our apologies that this is a slightly thin issueof Navvies, due mainly to a slight lack ofcontributions having been sent in. Not onlydo the regional groups all seem to be takinga break from weekend work (and thereforefrom writing about it) but we only managedto get a couple of camp reports from the firstpart of the main summer canal camps seasonwritten and sent in time for this issue.

The rest of the camps will have hap-pened in plenty of time for the next pressdate on September 1st so you�ve got noexcuse for not getting them in. So let�s havesome interesting contributions, let�s havesome originality, but above all let�s just havesome camp reports!

And let�s have some regional groups�weekend dig reports too.

And let�s have some more �amusing� contri-butions like the anonymous one above too.

The editor

London WRG...not digging the Mon & Brec

...in which LWRG don�tlet the minor matter thatthe dig was cancelledstop them from writingit up for Navvies...

Navvies newsTrailers, cooks and ice cream!

â

Attention trailer-operators

The Kit B trailer now has a �springy� lighting lead: although it is plugged into a socket on thetrailer, this is only to enable the lead to be changed quickly so PLEASE DO NOT UNPLUG IT!It should be left plugged into the trailer at all times in normal use.

The Kit A trailer will receive the same modification sometime this season.Bungle

...and cooks too

Regular National Festivalcooks (whether full timeor breakfast only) will bepleased to hear that the�Sue Burchett Special�cooker has been retiredfrom service and will beshortly turned into thenext batch of Ford cars.

It has been replacedby a shiny new stainlesssteel version with wheels!See picture on right.

Also Bungle

Camlas Maldwyn

...is Welsh for Mont-gomery Canal, as I�mreminded by an attractivebilingual brochure givingdetails of Monty 08, awhole series of eventstaking place on one ofour long-standing favourite restoration projects the Montgomery Canal all this summer.Many of the events have already happened, but there�s still time to get along to theWelshpool Festival on the isolated restored Welsh length of the canal on 30-31 August andthe Maesbury Festival on the navigble English length of the canal accessible by boat fromFrankton Junction on 5-7 September. See www.monty08.com for more details.

The brochure also contains a lot of information about the canal and all the organisa-tions involved in restoring it including ourselves - and remember, the whole thing�s in Welshas well as English. So for those who really wanted to know, the Welsh for Waterway Recov-ery Group is Grwp Adfer Dyfrffyrdd.

And finally...

I see that the Waterhouse Restaurant by the Regents Canal in London is offering �Canalflavoured ice cream�, in honour of Carlo Gatti, �Britain�s first ice cream man�. Hmmm....

Taking delivery of the new cooker to replace the Sue Burchett Special

Do you know whatthe Welsh for

WaterwayRecovery Group is?

Well you do now!

Bung

le

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

Don�t forget!

Droitwich Barge Lock celebration ofcompletion of restoration on September26th. Contact Mike Palmer for details.

So we�d better get it finished!

Moving houseGeorge �Bungle� Eycott has moved to:

4 Lewendon Road, Newbury RG14 1SP

If you move house, remember to tellNavvies your new address

Sits. Vac.Wanted: volunteers to join the WRGPublicity team.

For more details see Mike Palmer�sChairman�s Comment on pages 4-5 andcontact Mike - see below

Dear Deirdre

Our very own Agony Aunt says thatshe is sorry but she�s away on CanalCamps for a few weeks so hasn�tfound time for a contribution to thisissue.

But she will be back next time, so inthe meantime if you have any per-sonal questions (the more embar-rassing the better) please email themto [email protected] or post themc/o the editor and she will do herbest to publicly humiliate you inprint sorry provide helpful answersto your most intimate problems nexttime.

Photographs wanted!Been on a Canal Camp this summer?Take any good photos? Don�t forget tosend some to the Editor for Navvies,and to Head Office for the WRGwebsite and next year�s publicity

Congratulations...

...to Eric Walker ofWey & Arun Canal Trust

on getting an MBEin the Queen�s Birthday Honours

InfillImportant safety notice

As head of Waterway Recovery Group, MikePalmer has appealed to WRGies to PLEASEremember to wear safety gear when cominginto contact with canal water.

Volunteers are reminded that canals andtheir environs harbour a number of stingingand biting animals which is why proper equip-ment is essential for anyone working in ornear water. Remember too that sturdy gum-boots and/or waders are essential kit if youneed to enter water, however shallow.

You should of course have already receiveda guide to these creatures in your Volunteers�Health and Safety Guide. In case you need arefresher, please study the information below:

Wendover Bee

Until recently it was hoped these were extinctfollowing a recent DEFRA elimination cam-paign, but the dreadedWendover bees haveunfortunately beenspotted on severalweekend digs in theTring area re-cently. It canonly be hopedthat no furthercamps have to becancelled due toinfestations ofthese nasty little creatures, which bring mostpeople out in hives and can kill with one sting.

Behaviour: Thankfully exclusive to theWendover area, the Wendover bee is not asociable animal like every other bee in theworld. This curmudgeonly insect lives out itsshort life by hiding in the cracks in beech trees.It especially hates the sound of brushcutters.

Treatment: There is no treatment. Ifyou�re unfortunate enough to get stung thenit�s pretty likely you�ll die. Bad luck!

Toblerone Salamander

It�s a common misconception that this am-phibian was named after the popular choco-late snack: in actual fact the Toblerone Sala-mander is the original namesake for distinc-tively-shaped bar and not the other way

around. Although rarely seen in the wild,WRGies tending bonfires are in with agood chance of seeingthe youngof thisspecies asthey hatch in the heart of bonfires.

Behaviour: Eggs are laid by adults inthe bark of trees. When forest fires occur (orhumans incinerate the logs) the eggs hatchand the young swarm out of the hot ashes,often in great numbers. It then retreats tothe chilly mud at the base of canals andrivers to cool off and stays there for mostlythe rest of its life cycle. Normally a rarecreature, there is some evidence that recentWRG activity is leading to a greater prepon-derance of these creatures, especially in theWilts & Berks area.

Treatment: Although not in itselfdangerous, the young have been known toswarm over people standing close to bon-fires, causing agonising burns.

Pigfish

New to British waters, the Pigfish is originallynative to Poland and it is thought the specieswas recently introduced in the country byaccident when a lorry carrying a tanker full ofthe fish (a delicacy in Eastern Europe) collidedwith a red ford van on the Paddington flyoverwhilst on its way to a Polish deli inNorth London, spillingthe cargo into theRegent�s Canal. Thisalien species hassince thrived in theBritish canal systemand is driving otherspecies to extinction,most notably the Lesser Spotted Gnarlgrab(although I doubt anyone will much miss it).

Behaviour: Basically homesick (but that�sno excuse for its behaviour) the Pigfish likes tolurk resentfully in the deeper parts of lock cham-bers. This large fish requires a high concentrationof pollution in the water to survive, so it is espe-cially found in inner city areas.

Treatment: Really the worst thing thePigfish can do is flick water at you resent-fully. However imagine that the water it flickscontains a Chattering Gobsnipe, or a Venom-ous Katydid. Seems a bit more serious now,doesn�t it? Never underestimate the Pigfish.

Cooking notes: 180C for 20 minuteswrapped in tinfoil, also barbecues well.

WRGieotypes No 5: The work-shy WRGie

Infill

Midge likes to think he�s well-liked around the camp (heisn�t). Always the last to bed, he confuses WRG with aholiday camp and uses the daylight hours to recover fromhis monstrous hangovers. In winter you�ll find him �keep-ing an eye on the bonfires� � full of useful advicefor people tending them. In summer he�s moreinclined to be working on his tan or standingaround by the cement mixer, commenting onthe dryness of the mix.

Midge has a dream: a dream of leading his owncamp. He sees himself the benevolent dictator givingorders from a deckchair, adoring D of E girls withblonde ponytails bringing him cool drinks. It�ll neverhappen. The WRG community forgives eccentricity,tolerates cross-dressing and doesn�t bat an eyelid atbed-hopping that would make a Frenchman blush �but the one thing it won�t stand is a slacker.

Harcourt�s Drudge

Affectionately known as the �Welsh Haggis�,this small, amphibious creature is Britain�sonly egg-laying mammal. The Drudge hasgreat historical importance in Wales, where it isheld in great affection as it has sustained thepopulace through many atime of famine. The fleshis gamey and tastes veryslightly of parsnips androtting mackerel. Rather anacquired taste, it is however rich inOmega 3 and potassium.

Behaviour: Although originally a gentleherbivorous animal according to historicalsources, the Drudge has over the centuriesbecome suspicious of man and at times ofpolitical turmoil and bad harvests these animalscan become bitter and aggressive.

Lives: in damp grass on steep slopesin Monmouthshire and the Rhondda valley,descends to drink and bathe in inland water-ways during dry periods.

Diet: sucks milk from the udders ofsleeping cows, otherwise an herbivorous dietof beech bark, conkers and dandelion flowers.

Treatment; WRGies digging the Monand Brec can take comfort from knowing aDrudge can easily be fended off with a rub-ber glove (just avoid the sharp poisonous

spur on the hind foot as any contact is in-stantly fatal).

You are all responsible for youown safety, so please take the neces-sary precautions!

And speaking of unusual species...

...some �traditional� boatmen and boatwomenseen at Gloucester during the Cotswold camp.

Ethe

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Navvies 230

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Transcript of Navvies 230