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Sept 2009

The Magazine of theWest Riding Branch

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Contents

Branch Chairman’s Musings...................................................................3My First Year’s Training To Be a Boatman............................................5The Mile Post.........................................................................................11Festival News........................................................................................12River Foss..............................................................................................16Castle Mills Lock, York .......................................................................17Swallow Visits the Rochdale Canal.......................................................18Events....................................................................................................21‘A Warm Welcome!’.............................................................................21Advertising in ‘The Mile Post’..............................................................21Map showing location of meeting venue...............................................22Committee Members 2008 / 2009.........................................................23Programme of Events for 2009/10.........................................................24

IWA Headquarters .Registered OfficeThe Inland Waterways AssociationIsland HouseMoor RoadCHESHAMHP5 1WATelephone - 01494 783453 Web site www.waterways.org.ukNOTE: The views expressed in this publication are not necessarilythose of The Inland Waterways Association or of The West RidingBranch. They are, however, published as being of interest to our mem-bers and readers.

Front cover.Leeds Waterfront Festival

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Branch Chairman’s MusingsWe are now on our way back (via the Chesterfield Canal) from theIWA National Festival over the August Bank Holiday at Red HillMarina on the River Soar; the best bit was the lack of a St Ives(2007)-style flood. Another highlight: the IWA marquee was an extra-large transparent-fronted construction, dominating the large site andbranding it as ‘our’ IWA festival. The bookshop inside was open-planwith a till by the door, there was a large children’s play area and aWRG display on the other side. Congratulations to the author of thatbrilliant idea, and let’s hope we retain it for the 2010 festival at BealePark near Reading.

Clive Henderson, IWA National Chairman, opened the festival with alaunch of the SaveOurSystem-2010 campaign, to highlight the practi-cal effects of cutting £10m from BW’s government grant: this willundoubtedly dominate IWA activity in election–year 2010.

Another delight was the BW directors’ meetings, open to all festival-goers, at which their directors fielded questions about BW’s ‘2020vision’, their ‘third-sector’ plans, and many other issues such asfunding, licences and fishing. One of our West Riding branch mem-bers told Vince Moran (BW’s Customer Operations Director –which includes Bollards-and-that sort-of-thing) that the directorsshould take a substantial pay cut in recognition of the reduced govern-ment-funding next year; this idea had more support from the audiencethan from the platform. It really wasn’t me-in-disguise; I enquired ofSimon Salem (Marketing and Customer Service Director) whether athird-sector-BW would pay its Chief Executive more than the PrimeMinister, to which the response was that the transition would bephased over ten years, with plenty of opportunity for a new team at thetop over that time. “If it were done when ’t is done, then ’t were wellIt were done quickly” said the Bard.

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In these cash-strapped times, we all want to avoid talking-down thewaterways cause. After all, we can expect another bit of new naviga-tion to be available soon: and one which we have supported with somesmall West Riding donations, the Droitwich. This project has reliedheavily on volunteer effort, and BW now recognise that they have notbeen as welcoming of volunteers as they might have been. Last year,launching its volunteering consultation, Robin Evans said that BWwouldn’t compromise safety with increasing friendliness to volun-teers: whether he thought ‘safety’ and ‘safety paperwork’ are the samething, he didn’t say. But you can’t force volunteers to do daft things‘because the boss says so’ and they need the payslip to continue toarrive. I suggested to Vince Moran that if he had put his million-poundsquare-bollard scheme out as a volunteering opportunity: “Supportyour local narrow lock: build a bollard here”, maybe common-sensewould have prevailed and we could spend the money on somethingactually useful to the waterways.

There is a lot of enthusiasm, expertise and energy within the water-ways community; many of our people spend a lot of time on andaround the waterways; a commitment of, say, two hours per week, on‘lengthsman’ activities, that navigation authorities could rely on beingdone, would be a valuable contribution, and might well be fitted-inwith walking the dog. It does need organising though. Contributionsto the debate would be most welcome. I challenged Vince Moran tofind a way to encourage volunteering from a tricky direction, the‘bridge-hopping’ canal users. These are people who often have apermanent job, live on their boat, but have no permanent mooring andtry to fit in with ‘continuous cruising’ rules, which BW has no enthu-siasm commitment or resource to enforce. I didn’t get an answer:maybe I shouldn’t have mentioned those bollards …

Peter Scott

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My First Year’s Training To Be a Boatman

Part 3.

The trainee’s job on board Lincoln, which was mainly cleaning, wouldstand us in good stead later in life on the tankers, for it was the mate’s jobto keep the boat clean. But of course we had to learn to steer a boat andto do so safely. I was not entirely green in this respect when I joinedLincoln, because during my life as office boy, a skipper of one of thebigger tankers used to take me with him on Sunday mornings. This wasmy introduction to getting up at 04.00 hrs, for those not familiar with the24 hour clock, that is 4 o’clock in the morning. This was in accordancewith the old boatman’s mantra of, and I quote, “an hour at morning iswuth two at neet” unquote. This tanker was 127 feet long, and even at thislength was not too difficult to steer in calm weather conditions whenlight, (empty). These tankers drew five foot aft when stationary and ifsent on a bit when under way their sterns quickly sucked down to sevenfoot. They would then start to shear about a bit and with a novice at thewheel, who may be inclined to over steer, they could lead one a merrydance. The tankers were loaded to about seven foot round, that meansthey would draw about seven foot forward and aft, if anything down a bitat the head, they were handier in this trim. A strong wind when underwaycould be a nightmare, although according to a member of SIBC(Strawberry Island Boat Club – Ed.) that I was talking to, the wind didnot affect them as they were too big and heavy. If only that was true. Iwill give you one example of the power of wind. Ennerdale, the tankerthat I finished up skipper of, and you will now know as Waddington’sProgress, she of the beautifully flared bows, was going down towardsNew Bridge in a gale of a wind. The then skipper was holding her up tothe wind so much that she was coming down the canal almost sidewayswith her flared bows overhanging the hauling bank. Parked on the bankwas a crane which Ennerdale’s great bow smashed into causing a greatdeal of damage. I’ll bet there aren’t many boats that have stemmed up acrane and, as the actor Michael Caine is reputed to have said, “There’snot many people know that”.When I was allowed to steer Lincoln, the skipper would stand a little toone side and slightly behind me giving me instruction, when they were

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needed like, and I quote, ease her down a bit, send her on a bit, let herlook up a bit, steer into the wind, and the opposite, let her come this waya bit.It was during this short probationary period, when he was in the wheel-house with me, that the skipper gave me a snippet of information that Istill act upon to this day. The advice was given to me on my insistencethat, as soon as I saw a boat coming to meet us, no matter how far it was,I would start to ease Lincoln ready to pass the approaching craft port toport. The skipper would say to me, not always in a conversational tone,quote “Don’t try to pass ‘em, ‘til tha’ gets to ‘em” unquote.The worst thing I had to do, even with the skipper in the wheelhouse withme, was to have to overtake one of the strings of loaded dumb bargesbeing towed towards Goole. Such tows were a common feature to beencountered on the Aire and Calder up until the mid 1950s. When I cameout of the army after completing my National Service in November 1956,such tows had disappeared forever. During times of war, being a boatmanbecame a reserved occupation and one need not go for military service.When I started work in 1951, many things were still on ration, and incommon with other boatmen I was issued with a seaman’s ration cardwhich allowed my mother to buy extra cheese, butter, meat etc., for me.But I digress! Back to the overtaking procedure. A good length of clearcanal ahead of one was essential before such a manoeuvre could even becontemplated. A sound signal would be blown to the towing vessel to letthem know which side we intended to pass them on. This was usuallyacknowledged by a wave. The towing vessel would ease down, the bargeswould gradually move out of the middle of the canal and the performancewould normally begin. If the tow was not too long and with a little luck,we, the overtaking vessel, might just slip by without too much trouble.But as often as not when the towed barges began to lose steerage way,they would drift aimlessly about until they ran aground. If this happenedto a barge at the front of the tow, then obviously all the barges behindwould start to catch it up, until they too were run aground in an effort tostop them. Then not only would the barges be laid higgledy piggledy allover the canal but their huge bass towing springs would be floating on orjust below the surface waiting to be snatched up by a propeller. Duringsuch times the skipper would be in the wheelhouse and he would workthe gear change and throttle, we never did pick up any towing springs. No

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doubt due to him stopping the propeller when danger threatened. At thattime during my training, I had my hands full keeping Lincoln steady.With the engine more out of gear than in, Lincoln would eventually losesteerage way and would drift down into the bank. There she would haveto lie with her propeller stopped until the tow was straightened up by thetowing vessel and the overtaking procedure could be attempted again.Please indulge me a while longer whilst I regale you, dear reader, withthe tale of another misfortune that may befall one, as one attempted theseungainly tows. With the overtaking vessel creeping past the towed barg-es, one of them would sometimes begin a slow, almost sideways move-ment towards the overtaker. It was no good trying to outrun it, forattempting more speed only sucked the barge faster towards you whichresulted in a much harder blow when it hit your boat, and hit it mostcertainly would. By now the steerer of the barge would be wavingfrantically to the tug trying for more speed to give him steerage waywhich, in my experience, never came. The barge’s bluff bow would hitLincoln, shoving her bodily sideways through the water until she broughtup against the bank.. Hard up against the bank as she now was, Lincolnwould receive a second much harder blow which made her shake andrattle from end to end. If she had gone to the bank in deep water then, assoon as the wayward barge had been hauled clear, Lincoln could againtry to overtake. If however she had been shoved aground, all the towwould have to be pulled clear before her engine could be used to breakher off. With these difficulties and other lesser ones, occurring in myworking life, one would not be blamed for thinking that I had enough,alas not so. The bane of my life during the first several weeks of mytraining was Rawcliffe Bridge. Or to put it more correctly, steeringLincoln safely through, coming up loaded. By coming up, I mean leavingGoole heading for Pollington and all points west. The first time I took herthrough, the skipper was with me and told me of the problem that mayarise and the measures to take to try and overcome it. I was also told, atmy peril,I must learn to steer her safely through. The first rule was, asLincoln approached the bridge, she was to be eased down, engine revstaken off. Anyone who has handled long, narrow beamed, finely builtboats (not the narrow boats you all know), will know when you ease onesuch boat down it will run on for long enough before it begins to loseway. Not like dumpy, short boats that drop dead in the water as soon as

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the engine revs are taken off. On my first attempt to get her through thebridge whilst alone in the wheelhouse, had I eased her down in time? Or,as her head entered the bridge, was she travelling too fast to be steered atlow engine revs facing the rush of water through the bridge caused byLincoln entering it? Something was to blame for what was about tohappen this time and for several times after. As Lincoln entered thebridge her head began to swing to starboard, I dispensed with using thewheel’s spokes to turn the wheel, put one hand within it and spun thewheel hard over to port. No response whatsoever from the boat, she wasstill shearing away to starboard. As I had been told I increased the enginerevs to full in an effort to make her twist. Much, much too late. Herstarboard bow hit the wall of the bridge hard and with the wheel hard overto port and the engine running full ahead she started to come alongside. Ilet go of the wheel which flashed around with such speed and power, thatit would have broken any bodily bone that had the misfortune to get inthe way, until the rudder came into the middle. Knowing worse was tocome and the verbal abuse that would be heaped upon me, I struggled toget the wheel hard over to starboard to stop her coming alongside toohard. Alas my skinny sixteen year old arms had no chance of doing thiswith the engine running at full. Lincoln came alongside with a resoundingcrash, water trapped between her and the wall shooting up as high as theunderside of the bridge. Other than serious damage that can occur aftersuch a hit, things both topside and in the cabin and engine room would behurled about in disarray. I would ease down the engine, knock it out ofgear and with Lincoln rocking gently in the massively disturbed water, Iwould stand passively in the wheelhouse as the skipper, standing in thecabin hatch, tore not one strip off me but several. This performance wasrepeated several more times, until one wonderful, never to be forgottenday, I slotted her through without even touching. It’s just as well that Iwasn’t expecting any praise for I got none. The skipper never even lookedout of the cabin. I wasn’t the only lad to have difficulty with RawcliffeBridge, all before me had the same problem.With my confidence given a massive boost, it wasn’t long before, whenI was in the wheelhouse alone, I would increase the engine revs by justone notch. I should have known better, for the skipper in the cabinforward, could tell and he would pop up and give me a rollicking, besidestelling me to ease her down again.

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I think that’s about all. Please do not think that every trip we were tangledup with ungainly tows and Tom Puddings and me trying to knock downRawcliffe Bridge, because we weren’t. But it is from such experience thatyou learn boating skills. You would learn nothing, boating about on anempty river or canal in perfect weather conditions. The skipper wasn’talways in a foul mood and in one such moment of brevity, he explainedand showed me how to make a temporary repair to a small leak in a boat.The following may seem a daft thing to say, but the job could only bedone if the water was finding its way into the boat, but then in the case ofa tanker the cargo could be leaking out, in which case the repair could notbe carried out. You also need the proper material with which to effect therepair, this needs to be anything with a fine consistency. Ash from a solidfuel stove is ideal, and was the medium that we used. Lincoln, as a carrierof tar, had a solid fuel stove as had the fleet of black oilers, part of thelarge fleet owned and operated by John Harker Ltd. The large number ofgeneral cargo barges using our waterways at that time, all had coalburning stoves, so there was no shortage of material to be used, if a boathad the misfortune to spring a little leak and the boatman knew of theprocedure to follow. Having located a leak, a draw-bucket, (one with aloop of material at the top of the handle to which a length of line could bespliced) would be filled with ash. The bucket would then be loweredoverboard until the estimated depth of the leak was reached, the lineholding the bucket would then be lashed to and fro, hopefully causing thebucket to disgorge its load. If all went to plan then, some of the fine ashwould be picked up by the water finding its way inboard and would blockup the hole. I’ve known such a stop gap measure last for several hoursuntil we got to Knottingley and pumped off the cargo. It wouldn’tsurprise me if the origin wasn’t lost in the mists of time.The job also offered me almost endless opportunity to indulge in aninterest of mine, bird watching. The only thing I regret not doing, is notkeeping detailed records of my observations. All the lock keepers duringthis period and for some years after, wore their uniforms with pride andcalled themselves company men. One such, Stanley Grubb who hadWoodlesford Lock, saved all the pennies thrown off by the boatmen, theamount collected paid for him and his wife’s annual week’s holiday. Hewas as keen as mustard over his pennies and if for any reason the boat

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steerer forgot to give him one going up, he would be reminded of thisomission, in no uncertain terms, coming back down.In closing could I please point out the differences between the nineteencompartment long trains commonly known as Tom Puddings and thethree compartment plus tug Push/Tow unit, known by boatmen asPush/Pulls. They had two things in common, both usually carried coal,although rarely a part train of a Tom Pudding would be made up ofcompartments loaded with pitch at Knottingley Tar Works or a similarworks at Stourton near Leeds.Both sorts of compartments were lifted bodily out of the water and upended to be emptied, the contents of pudding compartments at Goolegoing straight into the holds of ships, the much larger compartments ofthe Push/Pulls at Ferrybridge “C” Power Station, this coal, I think, goingusually out to stock.When the Push/Pull units, consisting of three compartments, pans wecalled them, and the tug, were introduced onto the Aire and Calder, at onehundred and ninety feet long, they were the longest rigid length workingon this canal. They were usurped in this respect when the huge tankerssuch as the Humber Princess, made their appearance.Each of the three pans when loaded, had to hold one hundred and sixtyseven tons, a combined load of five hundred and one ton. For every otherton we could squeeze in above that we were paid six old pennies, two anda half new pence, bonus. The pans were usually pulled when light,although they could be pushed. If we chose to push them, the unit had tobe swung when leaving the power station, then swung again on arrivingat the pit, wasting time. The pans when underway, were held together bythe links of a stout chain which was made fast to a length of wire rope ofone pan being placed on the hooks of a special bootle screw of the pannext in line. When the bootle screw was tightened up, using a hollow baron the handles, the chain/wire could be got very tight indeed, making theunit rigid. In the unlikely event of a pan seen to be sinking when loaded,the crewman not steering would have to take a big felling axe (supplied)and sever the constraining wire rope that would be stretched very tightaround a big bollard. This step would hopefully prevent the whole unitbeing dragged down.The nineteen compartments of a Tom Pudding were always towed, thepans being loosely chained together which allowed the train to go

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smoothly around sharp corners. Each pan was loaded with up to fortytons, if each pan held that amount the total load would have been sevenhundred and sixty tons. Seventeen pans made up the usual train for theNew Junction Canal, due to length of Sykehouse Lock. The function ofthe jabus, one of which was a part of each compartment train, I explainedin an earlier instalment. The steam powered tugs were replaced by dieselpowered ones in the late 1950s. A compartment train underway in thedark, never showed a white stern light, the powers that were deciding thatas the train was moving at the official speed limit, no light was needed.STOP PRESS. A contemporary of mine on both tankers and Push/Pulls,has just brought me a book from which I have learnt that Tom Puddingswere at one time pushed. Allow me to quote, “originally, the pans werepush towed in steerable trains of up to twelve units but were pull towedfrom about 1900.” Unquote. Of course one cannot be sure but it seemshighly unlikely that much of a comparison could ever have been drawnbetween this early effort and the sophisticated Push/Tow units thatappeared a century later.

ReferenceTaylor, M. (2003) The Canal and River Sections of the Aire and CalderNavigation. Wharncliffe Books.

By Kenneth Burden.

**********************The Mile Post.

Is there anyone out there who could help the branch by writing some-thing for inclusion in the Milepost. Have you been on an interestingboating trip? Tell us about it.. Is there something waterways related youfeel strongly about? Write us a letter about it.. Any amusing stories? Tellus all! E-mail us at boblaing@blueyonder.co.uk , hand it to one of us, orpost it to any committee member before the end of December. We lookforward to hearing from you.

We would like to give a big thank-you to all the people who havealready sent us articles for inclusion in the Mile Post. You have madeour job much easier and our magazine more interesting.

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Festival News.The branch display stand has had another very busy year and has attend-ed events at Skipton, Kiveton, York, Leeds Waterfront Festival, Dews-bury and the IWA National Festival at Ratcliffe on Soar. In all a total of13 days.Thanks to all who have helped to man the stand at these events. Wehave talked to lots of people and encouraged them to visit Yorkshire andits waterways.

The Leeds Water-front Festival tookplace over the weekendof 11th and 12th Julyon three waterfrontsites - Brewery Wharf,Clarence Dock andThwaite Mills.It was a free event or-ganised under the ban-ner of Aire ActionLeeds but involvedmany other volunteers,organisations and spon-sors, with the mainsponsor being LeedsCity College.

Clarence Dock duringthe festival, which waswell attended.

We have received this report about the Festival, from the perspective ofThwaites Mill, from David Lowe Secretary of the Commercial Boat Op-erators Association.

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“By arrangement with British Waterways and the Inland WaterwaysAssociation , CBOA members Branford Barge Owners  agreed to bring500 tonne capacity aggregate barge 'Farndale H' to the Thwaite Millsfestival site where she was a great attraction!  Over 100 members of thepublic and pleasure boat crews  were able to look over the vessel, in-cluding cabins, wheelhouse and engine room, through the kindness ofJohn and Pat Branford, and their  son,  skipper Jonathon Branford.   Infact the whole Branford family were in attendance, clearly proud oftheir vessel, which, newly painted and decorated with flags and buntingwas in immaculate condition even though she had just delivered 500tonnes of aggregate to the Lafarge Whitwood Wharf.

The small CBOA display was also provided and Secretary David Lowewas on hand to provide information and assistance to the many interest-ed visitors, one of whom was a Leeds City Planner.  Weappreciated  David Cox, Group Operations Manager of ASD MetalServices,  visiting on the Sunday.

Our thanks go to the Branfords, and it is hoped that CBOA can organisesimilar displays at future events on the larger waterways, mirroringthose which have been a regular feature on the leisure waterways formany years.”

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Farndale H at Thwaites Mill during the Leeds Waterfront Festival.

IWA Campaign Festival at Kiveton on the Chesterfield Canal.

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IWA National Festival

The Inland Waterways Association  2009 National Festival & BoatShow was held on 29th, 30th and 31st of August at Red Hill, nearRatcliffe on Soar, on the Soar Navigation, close to its confluence withthe river Trent, and the junctions with the Erewash, and Trent & Merseycanals, just south of Nottingham.IWA hoped to encourage boaters visiting the Festival to try the Erewashand Chesterfield canals and other lesser frequented waterways of theEast Midlands. The Festival was also intended to raise the profile andgive support to waterway societies in the area, including the Derby,Cromford and Grantham canals all of which are currently underrestoration.The festival was on a large site in the shadow of the cooling towers ofthe Ratcliffe Power Station. Access to the site was excellent both byroad and rail, and the car parking was plentiful and in close proximity tothe show ground. Even the weather was kind with none of the mud wehave experienced at some recent festivals.

The 2009 National Festival was held on this site in the shadowof the cooling towers of Ratcliffe Power Station.

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River Foss.We hear from the Ouse and Ure section that there has been an increasein boats wishing to pass through Castle Mills Lock and explore the at-tractions of the River Foss. This may be due in part to the publicity giv-en to the visit of the barge Syntan during the York Festival of Rivers.Syntan became the first large vessel to navigate the River Foss basin,into Castle Mills Lock and onto Rowntree’s Wharf since the wharf wasclosed over 25 years ago.

Syntan, which was built in 1949, is 61ft 6ins long and 15ft 6ins wide.She originally carried cocoa beans for Rowntrees from Hull to York.For 20 years she was laid up near Doncaster power station where shewas allowed to decay. She was eventually rescued by members of theBeverley Barge Preservation Society in 1999, and by 2005 Syntan hadbeen restored to her former glory.

The barge Syntan

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Castle Mills Lock, York-booking information

The Inland Waterways Association (IWA) Yorkshire Ouse Section oper-ates Castle Mills Lock, in the centre of York, on a voluntary basis .Thereare no navigation fees.

If you would like to visit the River Fossplease telephone Tony Martin on 07588-236-597 OR

E-mail: tonymartin451@yahoo.co.uk.

Two days’ notice is desirable. When leaving a message, please give yourmobile telephone number, your name and the name of the boat, plus theday and the time at which you would like to navigate the River Foss.

Narrow boats travelling up the River Foss

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Swallow Visits the Rochdale Canal.Ex Cowburn & Cowpar motor narrow boat Swallow (1934)  has travelledover much of the available waterway system but the Rochdale Canal, 32miles and 91 (originally 92) locks, with shallow sections, a reputation forbeing full of rubbish in the urban areas, and lack of water,  remained adaunting challenge to be met!  With the Historic Narrow Boat Owners'Club Easter Gathering arranged for Ellesmere Port this year it providedan opportunity to take Swallow from there to Manchester (via the Man-chester Ship Canal, River Weaver, Anderton Lift, Trent & Mersey andBridgewater canals) to begin the assault on the Rochdale.The Canal had closed in 1952 (apart from the 9 locks linking the Bridge-water and Ashton Canals) but through the efforts of the Rochdale CanalSociety the canal was re-opened in sections between 1983 and comple-tion on 1st July 2002, when the whole canal was re-opened from Man-chester to Sowerby Bridge, where it joins the Calder & Hebble Navigation. Shortly after re-opening the first full length historic narrow boat to passacross was Grand Union ‘Town’ class ‘Fulbourne’ in August:http://www.fulbourne.org.uk/rc0802/Index.html

  closely followed by Richard Booth with his motor boat and butty‘Squire’ and ‘Ditton’,   and Martin Jiggens with ‘Denebola’.  Shorthistoric narrow boats ‘Spitfire’ and ‘Elizabeth’ also passed over the canalat this time, and more recently Roger and Stef Lorenz had taken over theirwide beam boat 'Neptune' - this being the final inspiration for me to makethe trip.    No other full length (ex) working narrow boats are known tohave passed over until Swallow’s trip!Passage has to be pre-booked with British Waterways through the 18locks from Manchester (Ducie Street), and also over the summit, whilepassage through the new lock at Tuel Lane, Sowerby Bridge (20ft deep –replacing locks 3 and 4) has to be supervised by a lock keeper.  This isnot a trip for the faint hearted and a good, active crew of three (at least)with a bicycle is recommended - although Richard Booth saidhe managed to travel at least part way with his pair single handed - anastonishing feat!The journey east was fraught with problems, including a late (09.20) startwaiting for BW at Ducie Street,   low water levels and rubbish at the

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western (Manchester) end making for slow progress, lock delays, and alarge carpet wrapped round the propeller. We battled on to Moss that day,reaching the top lock at 21.50 - 12 miles and 34 locks.    An early(04.30hrs) start from here was necessary to reach the west summit lock at08.30 on day two, where Ray (lock keeper) travelled over the summitwith us - in pouring rain. (I later learned that Ray is flexible and we couldhave set off and arrived later by arrangement).It has to be said that there were times during these first two days when Iasked myself if I was completely mad attempting this trip,  but the suncame out and we enjoyed the glorious and spectacular scenery arriving atTodmorden at 15.50 - and this included a 3 hour stop below the summitwhile we rested and dried off.  On day three we were joined by severalfriends and   had a comparatively easy run from Todmorden down toSowerby Bridge where we passed through Britain's deepest lock , at TuelLane. The lock keeper was delighted to be using the additional set ofgates to make a 70ft lock, for the first time.   We  were welcomed into thebasin by Nigel and Susan Stevens of Shire Cruisers who made us feel athome right away.While in Sowerby Bridge opportunity was taken to travel along theCalder & Hebble Navigation as far as the first lock at Salterhebble, whichat 57 ft precludes further movement east - though we did enter the lockby arrangement with the lock keeper, just to make sure. (One onlookerwatched us go into the lock and said, quite seriously,  'that'll be a tight fit',and he wasn't wrong!).  In fact Swallow continued along what had beenthe Halifax branch as far as the site of the  bottom lock and turned there,right at the limit of navigation for a 70ft boat!Crew varied over the two periods, but was a minimum of two, and, withmyself,  included the indefatigable Steve Hales (ship's engineer) for mostof the trip,  and guest crew members John  ( for much of the trip eachway), Rachel (on loan from Network Rail!), Malcolm, and Richard (withsons Stanley and Sidney), plus help from passenger boat and bargeskipper Phil Kennedy  in Hebden Bridge.    Nigel from Shire Cruisersjoined us for the trip back from Sowerby Bridge to the Summit (thanksNigel), along with one of his hire boats for part of the way, while TomStewart joined me from the 9 locks in Manchester back to Dudley.  Muchhas been said about local yobs, bandits and such.  In fact we had noproblems at all, and the locals were generally quite friendly and helpful.

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At Grimshaw Lane Lift Bridge one resident said he had lived nearby fornine years and never seen it raised!Thanks to all for a huge effort to enable Swallow to traverse this spectac-ular waterway.  The journey was achieved in three days each way, a mostcreditable achievement for a deep drafted boat of maximum length, andthe return trip was virtually trouble free down the 18 locks back intoManchester thanks to excellent assistance from British Waterways staff.Would I do it again?  Would I recommend others?  The short answer is'’yes'. However, without doubt the canal is not in as good condition as itwas when re-opened, and it is hard work.  Some bottom gates have onlyone paddle operable to prevent flooding (eg in the Littleboroughflight)  and it can take 20 minutes to get a level, and there are sectionswhich are very shallow with a narrow channel.  But it's worth the effort!For photos see:http://mbswallow.freehostia.com/index.php?page=manchester-to-sowerby-bridgeBy David Lowe.

Photo by Nigel Stevens - Steve steers away from Lock 30.

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EVENTS

IWA North Lancashire & Cumbria Branch are having 2 meetings closeto our area. They extend a warm welcome to anyone who wants to at-tend them. For further details contact Madeline Dean.Tel: 01257 231861 or e-mail lancsandcumbria@waterways.org.uk

Both events take place at Foulridge Village Hall, Parkingson Street,Foulridge, Colne, Lancashire, BB8 7PS.

Wednesday 30th September 2009 at 7.30pm at Foulridge Village Hall.The latest changes at BW by Debbie Lumb - BW North West Manager.

Wednesday 25th November 2009 at 7.30pm at Foulridge Village Hall.The View from the Top by Clive Henderson IWA National Chairman.

‘A Warm Welcome!’

The West Riding Branch extends a warm welcome to members who havejoined us since the last Mile Post. We look forward to meeting you at oneof our monthly meetings or to hearing from you.

Advertising in ‘The Mile Post’.

If your organization would like to advertise in a future edition of ‘TheMile Post’ please contact Bob or Tricia Laing on 01274 581800 or e-mail boblaing@blueyonder.co.uk

A full page advertisement is £40 and a half page is £20. Over 500copies of the magazine are posted to IWA West Riding Branch mem-bers and are also distributed at various waterway events throughout theyear.

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Map showing location of meeting venueCentenary House, North Street, Leeds LS2 8AY

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ChairmanPeter Scott3 Moorbank DriveSheffield S10 5THHome 0114 230 1870

SecretaryIan Moore2 Eric Street,BramleyLeeds. LS13 1ETMobile 07989 112581E-mail westriding@waterways.org.uk

TreasurerWilliam JowittOak Lodge1 Oakridge CourtBingley BD16 4 TAHome 01274 567950

Membership SecretaryChris Pinder152 High StreetYeadonLeeds LS19 7ABHome 01132 509371

Minutes SecretaryLiz Pinder152 High StreetYeadonLeeds LS19 7ABHome 01132 509371

Mile Post EditorBob Laing25 Bankfield RoadShipley BD18 4AJHome 01274 581800E-mail boblaing@blueyonder.co.uk

Mile Post EditorTricia Laing25 Bankfield RoadShipley BD18 4AJHome 01274 581800

Committee memberElliott Mosley23 Glenholm RoadBaildonShipley BD17 5QBHome 01274 581413

Web EditorElaine Scott3 Moorbank DriveSheffield S10 5THHome 0114 230 1870

Non Committee Posts

Meeting Co-ordinatorsKatie & Alastair SaylesHome 0113 393 4517E-mail: kandal@btinternet.com

Telephone contactAlistair FurnissHome 0113 253 9401

Northern Rivers Officer(Tyne, Wear & Tees).John Reeve10 Perth GroveStockton-on-TeesCleveland TS18 5BFHome 01642 580350

Committee Members 2008 / 2009

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Programme of Events for 2009/10.All meetings take place at 8.00pm on the second Friday

of the month, in the top floor Social Club,Centenary House, North Street, Leeds, LS2 8AY.

11th September 09 ‘Get Outdoors and Dirty!’ by Helen Gardner .

9th October 09 ‘The Traditional Boat Decoration of the Leeds & Liverpool Canal.’ by Mike Clarke.13th November 09 ‘The Training Of a Dogs body, My First Year As A Boatman.’ by Ken Burden.11th December 09 Christmas Social and Members’ slides.

8th January 10 Talk by the New Chairman Clive Henderson .

12th February 10 ‘Canalside Pubs.’ by Mike Lucas.

12th March 10 AGM

9th April 10 ‘30 years of Jubilee Venture, introducing young people to the waterways through the scout move ment.’ by Geoff Auty.

Talks arranged by Alastair and Katy Sayles, 32 Pymont Drive,Woodlesford, Leeds LS26 8WA. Tel 0113 393 4517

Email: kandal@btinternet.com

All the meetings organised by the West Riding Branch are open and eve-ryone is invited. Any member of the general public is allowed to attend

and members are invited to bring friends.The Inland Waterways Association campaigns for the Conservation, Use,Maintenance, Restoration and Development of the Inland Waterways,which are part of our heritage, and are there for the benefit of everyone.