Navvies 226

Issue No 226December-January

2007-8

Issue No 226December-January

2007-8

waterwayrecoverygroup

waterwayrecoverygroup

navviesnavviesvolunteers restoring waterwaysvolunteers restoring waterways

Bonfire Bash report and photosHelp the Droitwich Appeal

Canal Camps 2008

Bonfire Bash report and photosHelp the Droitwich Appeal

Canal Camps 2008

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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all the latest news of WRG's activities

Editorial Help the Droitwich Appeal 4Chairman Camps �08 and wine tasting 5Coming soon Barn Dance and BCN Cleanup 6Bonfire Bash on the Wilts & Berks 7-11Camp reports on the Cotswolds, Wilts &Berks and Grand Western canals 12-19Diary camp and working party dates 20-22Vans A chance to own a bit of WRG history! 23Letters Chichester again! 24-25Progress Restoration news roundup 26-30Plant The crane starts going together! 31-33Dig report LWRG on the Mon & Brec 34-35WRGBC Boat Club news 36Camp report September on the W&B 37Noticeboard Save your stamps for WRG! 38Infill introducing WRGieotypes! 39

Contributions...

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

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

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

Press date for issue 227: January 1st.

Subscriptions

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

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

ContentsIn this issue...

Front cover: BonfireBashing on the Wilts &Berks - see report on p7(photo by Mel Parker).Above: Book now forthe Barn Dance - see p6.Left: WRG NW on theHollinwood. Far left:what�s happening? Seep17 and find out

Subscriptionsqueries

Until further noticeplease contact ourhead office on 01923711114 or [email protected] you have any prob-lems or queries re-garding Navvies sub-scriptions. Sue Watts(see right) will stilldeal with new subsand regular renewals.

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EditorialThe return of an old friend

Can you spare £120to help keep ourvolunteers out of

mischief thissummer?

Barging into Worcestershire

Look at the list of sites for this year�s camps(right), and at the more detailed list in theCanal Camps flyer which should be includedas an insert in this magazine, and you maynotice a name from the past that�s beenabsent from the last few years of CanalCamps. And that name is �Droitwich�.

Yes, we�re going back to a canal that alot of us remember fondly from five years(or in some cases much longer) ago. Follow-ing several years of waiting while majorfunding was finalised to pay for the bulk ofthe remaining work on the canal, we aregoing back to Droitwich to carry out one ofthe important jobs � restoring the BargeLock in the centre of Droitwich where theBarge Canal meets the Junction Canal.

But before we start we need to raisefunds to pay for the materials and equipmentneeded. You will (hopefully) already havereceived a leaflet in your last Navvies encour-aging you to support the Barge Lock Appeal.And clearly some of you have been encour-aged to support it, because the good news isthat around £25,000 has been raised. But thenot-so-good news is that another £75,000has still to be raised � by next summer.

Those of you who remember the vari-ous appeals for WRG equipment that wehave run in recent years will recall somesplendidly wacky bits of fundraising � WRGPantos, people sitting in baths of mud orabseiling off boat lifts for sponsorship, andso on. And we hope to come up with somenovel ideas this time too � see MKP�s pageopposite for one suggestion � all of whichwill feature in Navvies in due course. But inthe meantime, don�t wait for us to announcethat we�re painting the Pontcysyllte red orplaying football on the top of the AndertonLift or whatever before you hand over yourdosh. Just dig out that form from last timeor follow the link to �Droitwich Barge LockAppeal� from www.wrg.org.uk. If you canfind enough friends to raise £120 betweenyou can become a Bronze Patron and get

your name on a commemorative plaque inVines Park. But if you can�t raise that muchdon�t worry � you will still be giving money tocanal restoration in one of the most cost-effective ways possible: by helping to keepvolunteers working productively. And you justmight be helping to ensure you get a fewenjoyable camps to work on next summer too!

Martin Ludgate

Canal Camps 2008: the sitesCotswold CanalsDroitwich CanalsLord Rolle�s CanalChesterfield CanalBasingstoke CanalMontgomery CanalWilts & Berks Canal

Grand Western CanalStowmarket Navigation

Monmouthshire & Brecon CanalsChelmer & Blackwater NavigationIWA Festival at Autherley Junction

Awaiting our attention - and some money:

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Chairmanon Camps �08 and wine-tasting

�It looks like at least onecamp will actually be aproper lock chamberclearance � with propermud and stuff...�

Chairman�s comment

It�s that time of year again where we publish�what we are going to do on our summerholidays� for next year. Now there are somecynics that reckon that if the planning for acamp is a complete cockup then the actualcamp will be fine. If the reverse of that is thecase then we are set for serious chaos nextyear because the planning session at theBonfire Bash went very smoothly. There�s apretty good spread of camps with somegood work on all of them and best of all itlooks like at least one of them will actuallybe a proper lock chamber clearance � withproper mud and stuff. Obviously I�m notgoing to tell you which one it is until I�vebooked on but here�s a clue � it rhymes withLarge Dock. So that�s all the more reason tohave a good read of the enclosed flyer andbook on a couple of camps right away.

Now it wouldn�t be an edition of nav-vies without some comment about Trans-

port. I was going to write a long impas-sioned plea about how these new vans rep-resent a huge investment but I think I�ll justquote Bungle when he saw the state of oneof them. �people should treat them like 25grand�s worth of very new kit � becausethat�s what they are�. So keep them clean,don�t go taking them off-road and don�t dentthem!

Coming soon...

A couple of up and coming events thatI have been asked to push, obviously noactual useful details here as I�m just a highlevel concepts sort of guy but I�m sure thepeople in charge will have something moreinformative soon. Firstly we will be runninga publicity stand at the Outdoors Show atthe NEC in March again so if you think youare the sort of attractive, engaging, convinc-ing person who can talk perfectly intelligent,well-meaning souls into spending weekendsin mud then we would like to hear from you.Secondly the Barn dance is a good way toraise some restoration funds but we also runour Leader Training day before it. This lookslike being a bit of a bumper session as yourcommittee has had some really top classnavel-gazing of late and so we look forwardto some interesting debate. Finally there isthe Training weekend, which actually mightspan across two weekends this year as wehave had a lot of requests for chipper train-ing (and maybe chainsaw refreshers) andthis usually requires a rather different siteand time so we may run two events.

And finally...

And possibly a first? Does anyoneknow it we have ever done a WRG winetasting evening? Just one of the ideas thatpeople have come up to promote theDroitwich Barge Lock Appeal. Maybe see youthere for something soft and fruity with anunpretentious nose.

Mike Palmerthe Barge Lock in Vines Park, Droitwich

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But first, what�s happening in what�s left of 2007...

By the time you read this it will probably be mid-December and you will be looking forwardto stuffing yourself with turkey, opening your pressies, watching all those repeats on TVand... trying to escape from your relatives as soon as possible afterwards! So what betterway to do that than on a New Year canal camp!

We have a choice of two, running from December 26 to Jan 1 (but you�re welcome tojust come for part). The WRG camp is on the Grantham Canal, with Phil Rodwell and MartynWorsley leading and with Bungle and James Butler in charge of catering. The work will includescrub-bashing, bank protection and carrying on clearing the feeder we started on at the 2006Bonfire Bash. Best to book via Head Office or www.wrg.org.uk but for last minute bookingsjust phone the leaders on camp phone �A� 07850 422156 to tell them you�re coming.

The second New Year Camp is the Wilts & Berks Canal Trust�s week at Seven Locks,with the work (weather permitting) including bricklaying, hedgelaying, and scrub-bashing.Accommodation is at Foxham Reading Rooms, Di Smurthwaite is cooking, and if you wantto come you should contact the leader Rachael Banyard on 01249 892289 or 07767 895244.

The 2008 Barn Dance: March 1

The annual Navvies� Barn Dance returns to Benson Parish Hall on Saturday 1st March 2008for a night of fun, fundraising and Bangers & Mash (yes you did read that right). It�s being organ-ised jointly by KESCRG, London WRG and WRG SW and will raise funds for all these groups, buteveryone is welcome. No dancing experience is necessary, as the fabulous live band Tumble-down Dick comes equipped with an equally fabulous and very persuasive caller, who will get youon your toes even if you haven�t yet reached the real ale bar! And all of this comes wrapped upin one reasonably priced £12 ticket. The details of the evening are as follows:

When: Saturday 1st March 2008, 7.00 - 11.30 pm Where: Benson Parish Hall, Ox-fordshire Food: Sausage and Mash Supper included (veggie sausages available) Plus: Raffleand fundraising games. For info: please email me at [email protected]

Tickets are available now from myself at The Old Post Office, Kiddington,Woodstock, Oxfordshire OX20 1BE. Please send a cheque payable to �KESCRG� alongwith the names of those attending and their preferences for meat/veggie sausages. Direc-tions are available on the WRG website, if you would like a hard copy, please let me knowwhen buying tickets. Accommodation will also be available in usual WRG style in a nearbyscout hall at an extra £2 per person, and Sunday breakfast will be available back in the mainhall for a further £2. Please include payment if required when buying tickets.

I look forward to seeing you all there!Bobby Silverwood

BCN Cleanup: April 5-6

This is our annual effort aimed at keeping the Birmingham Canal Navigations clear of oldbikes, trolleys, prams and whatever else we can haul out - one year we found a coffin! Thisyear we�re clearing the Wednesbury Oak Loop, and also the bridgeholes on the Main Linenear Wolverhampton - both of which we hope will see some boats in the run-up to the sum-mer�s IWA National Festival at Autherley so our efforts should be appreciated soon. Andwe�re reliably assured the quality of junk there is up to the usual standard. More details andbooking form in the next Navvies, but in the meantime put the date in your diary.

What�s next?What�s happening in 2008

Whether it�s hackingdown willows or strippingthe willow that you fancy,

we�ve got somethingsuitable for you...

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Bonfire BashReport from the Wilts & Berks

�Although at the weekends,I�m known as �Basher�...�

Kes Wordie presents his round-up ofthe KESCRG 30 Bonfire Bash, with alittle help from his friends...

The annual WRG re-union � wherethose for whom summer Canal Camps justweren�t enough can meet up again and ask�which one were you?� � took on a specialresonance this year; we said �Happy 30thBirthday, KESCRG!� And, of course, �whichone were you?�

The place was the North Wilts sectionof the Funky Wilts �n� Berks, the accomm wasthe less shiny-and-new part of a sprawlingschool right on the outskirts of GreaterSwindonia. There were two sleeping dorms;as ever, those in �noisy� room crashed outdrunk at 3am and slept deeply and those in�quiet� went to bed at 11pm and lay awakeuntil 4am thinking �wish he�d stop snoring soloudly�. There was a large mess hall and asuper school kitchen with everything exceptbuilt-in dinner ladies. But we had Alice tosort all that out for us and sort it she did,with a little help from her friends. In fact, it�sall in The Bonfire Bash Plan, written byIan & Liz Williamson (our leaders) two weeksafter the event and reproduced here:

The Bonfire Bash Plan

Having agreed, nearly a year ago, to run theBonfire Bash as part of the KESCRG 30th

birthday celebrations, it was fairly obviousthat in order to ensure a successful weekendwe would need A PLAN!!! With 6 sites and150 people, it would have to be a good one,in fact, the best. And as we all know, havingwatched the example of WRG leadership, thebest plans are written after the event. So, 2weeks after the event, we have THE PLAN!

Site visit � realise that locals would likeus to restore the whole of the North Wilts ina weekend. Spend the next few months,including the Friday night of the weekend,trying to make the amount of work and

number of sites sensible! Thrash out detailsof the various sites, and find a MUP (MostUseful Person) to run each. Phone starts toring in August with volunteers!

The Sites:

. Purton Road � the big one. Main job �off side scrub bashing, including a lot ofstrimming of reeds in the bed & brambles.Chuck everyone at this one, point RichardCool at co-ordinating it. Other �just-jobs�include tree and hedge and fence planting� a perfect job for Bush Baby to lead. Theunder bridge stop plank job � this in-volves mud, construction, frustration andmachines... Ideal MUPs seem to be Eddie,Steve & Daddy Cool. The clay bund job �Nic will do it but we�ll have to bribe him �with girlies on his team and the experi-enced Adam �Digger� Morris! Chainsawteam � guess what they have to do?. 7 Locks � Saturday only � concrete pouron the offside wall of lock 4. Needs confi-dent dumper drivers and folks who knowthe site. Ed Walker & team to lead this.. Stepping Stones Bridge � continue thework in progress � Martin Thompsonknows the site well, give him some brick-layers and let him get on with it!. Hayes Knoll Lock � fixing leaks withclay, after digging a lot of mud out. Sug-gest BITM Dave and team � and anyoneelse who wants to get really, really muddy!. Latton Basin � small area needing someheavy duty scrub bashing. Sounds like asmall but hardy crew led by Welsh Phil.

The other stuff:

Find Accommodation � and then find alterna-tives, twice, when it falls through. EventuallyRachael finds fantastic school in Swindon.Make sure we have someone to check peoplein, and folks to turn up early and organisethings. Talk someone into being cook �actually, get talked into letting Alice do it!And we didn�t even have to buy her drinks!

...in which we find out whatgoes into running a weekendfor 150 people... and themeaning of �cavillous�and �contumacious�...

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Remember that with 5 sites you need 5sets of lunch, 5 brew kits, 5 first aid kits,transport, water, and the right tools in theright place! Also, check that folks who youthink can drive vans and trailers actually havetacho cards and are sober in the morning!

Spend a lot of time emailing Bungle &Just Jen writing plans about van and trailerlogistics. Locate all that extra kit that reallydoesn�t �just turn up� like boxes of bowsawsand spare tirfors. Note to self, never assumethat Aldermans turning up in Land Roverswill actually have a working tow hitch be-tween them! Have a vague idea where thevans need to end up afterwards! Ensure thereis no rain for at least two weeks before eventand fabulous sunshine for Saturday, thengrey Sunday am to make sure everyoneappreciated Saturday�s weather.

Most importantly get Nic to order andbring the beer! Organise evening entertain-ment � slides from Roy & Martin, PA kit byEddie Jones, WRG song book and other folksongs led by Bungle & Eddie & Mk2.

And afterwards...

Try to make sure vans, trailers and peopleget home OK. Reject the more ridiculousideas of vans loaded onto trailers and trailerson other trailers but dumpers on trailers areOK � however make sure tyres are at properpressure: 100psi! Get home, have bath, havecurry, wash hundreds of t-towels. Writethank you�s. Finally, write THE PLAN.

Some thank you�s: To all our MUPS �Alan Wiffen, Dave Worthington, Mitch, WelshPhil, Dave from BITM, Martin Thompson, Nic

Bennett, Eddie Jones, Ed Walker, JamesButler, Bungle, Geezer Chris, Jenny Black. Tothe locals � Rachael, Ray, Dave Warren,Doug Small, Luke Walker. Accommodationteam � Alice, Eli, Cath, Jude, Izzy and therest of the kitchen crew, and WRG committeeand others who made lunch. To KingsdownSchool and their caretakers for looking afterus. And finally, to all of you who turned upand made it a highly successful weekend.So what was it like, out on site?

Yours truly, Mr. Wordie, trogged off early onthe Saturday in a team led by Dr. Ed Walkerto do some serious concreting at SevenLocks. This is an ongoing thing down there,as the locals work quickly to build up thebrick facia and concrete block perma-shutter-ing so that the likes of us can fill the spacebetween them with lots of luscious ready-mix. We saddled-up our dumpers and ac-cepted the readymix straight from the lorriesout in Trow Lane, drove up the towpath toLock 4, crossed the bund to The Other Side,and emptied the concrete into the diggerbucket. It was then swivelled �round by acepilot Jimmy B and popped into the backfillspace. At the bottom of all this was banks-man Nigel and Kate, who spent most of theday lying over a wall pointing the VibrateyPoker into the gloop. Later, we, did a littlelight scrub-bashery to prepare for hedgingwork, and Liz put on a little small-and-con-trolled number, next to which we sat andmelted, wondering what was happening backon the North Wilts and what was for dinner.

Well, the answer to the first questioncomes from �Marshmallowman� Nic, whotakes up the story...

Once again the full force of KESCRGrecruitment came into play after several pintsof beer and cider had been consumed. Dr. Lizhas become so well honed at this skill that Ididn�t realise I had agreed until well after theevent. Some key players were recruited;there was talk of using an excavator, soneedless to say it would have been rude notto have Digger amongst the team. ThanksDigger for the excellent work � we won�tmention the blade ever again!

Our brief given on Friday, (again afterseveral pints had been consumed so I�m gladit was written down) was, (1) Investigate aClay Bund just before the aqueduct to findsuspected leaks, said leaks then to be re-paired and then to pile in front of the bundand backfill with clay between the bund and

The concreting job at Seven LocksKa

te P

enn

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the pile to make it watertight. (2) if timepermits, there was an uphill overflow pipewhich needed re-educating to become adownhill overflow pipe. We started off onSaturday morning. We found site, wefound machines, I had the job explainedthe night before so just needed to sort thematerials and get an on site description ofthe job. A very good explanation of thejob... then the penny dropped - the job wewere having explained, while bearing aremarkable resemblance, was not actuallyone we had a written brief on... �Are yousure there isn�t another bund?� �Oh, wellthere is the one the other end of site...� sooff we trekked.

There then followed a short phase ofheel kicking while waiting for the fine details,despite trying distraction therapy with a briefspell of Sloe Picking, Cookie Craig couldn�tbe held back any longer so we unleashedhim on some scrub. Meanwhile we alsoneeded to get the piling so upthe long path we trekked,stopping briefly for a coffee asit was conveniently placed bythe piling. Digger had nowfreed up the excavator fromdoing other jobs, so he got aride and we all walked, Diggergot the short straw though asafter tracking down the path,all 30 miles of it (or so itseemed), he needed most ofhis fillings replaced. There wassome exploratory excavation to find the claybed of the canal, a bit more humming andharring, then lunch. We looked over thesuspected leaks, explored the area and tookan executive decision that excavation of theexisting bund was (a) going to take a verylong time indeed (b) excess to requirements(as we were doing a significant repair infront anyway) (c) going to make an �orriblemess and leave the bund unusable even asan informal crossing and walkway for quite along time.

The afternoon was a lot more produc-tive, with a great team effort from all, Louise& Shantelle (great boot work), Jenny the Vet& AJ (great footwork and er... massage),Craig, Ernie and Digger, Steve B, SleepyDave (great everything), and not a blondeamongst them Liz! (If I left anyone out it�snot because you were not valued, just that Iwrote this at 1.30am, sorry). We all pulledtogether with positioning the piling, it was

like a well oiled machine, with Digger per-suading the piles into the clay with... erm... awell oiled machine! The result was a line ofpile as straight as an arrow - in betweenpiling there was puddling to backfill with clayby foot. There was definitely no clay fightingas I imposed strict discipline at all times - asyou can imagine. Fun, frolic and any form ofinnuendo or smut were swiftly and harshlydealt with. Anyway, by the end of the firstday, we had the piles in and had puddledsome, but found the foot technique to beinadequate despite some very deep thrustingdown the gap at the back of the line of piles(I just know that should be edited out... asshould be the video footage), the gap beingtoo narrow for the clay to get down effec-tively and seal. The decision was taken touse the machine to trench out behind the pilebut it was late in the day and time to retirefor a hot shower [how did he manageTHAT? KW] and refreshment.

The next morning offwe walked, and walked, andwalked... Digger tracked andlost the rest of his fillings.Then we walked we walked,and walked, and walked toget the Brick Saw to trim thepiles that had not driven in asdeeply and used the off-cutsto complete the line. Thetrenching went very wellindeed, giving more of arealistic space to backfill and

a more reliable seal. A combination of ma-chine and foot were used (not at the sametime). Digger jumped out the cab to helpand we discovered he didn�t actually havetracks for legs as we had come to believe!The incredibly straight piling was an art formand one which all the team contributed to,unfortunately by the time the machine hadbeen used for compacting the clay it wasslightly more abstract than linear.

We levelled off the existing bund to afirm ground and took more clay/earth fromthe bed behind to build up the level of thebund edge to the top of piles (to ensure thesafety of anyone should they be daft enoughto fall onto them). Being fairly late in the dayand as the overflow pipe was cast iron it wasdecided that there was inadequate time to dothis careful work without significant risk offracture so we had to content ourselves withthe main job well done. Well that�s my ver-sion of what happened...

Reed-bashing at Purton Rd

Dav

id M

iller

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Or as Louise put it: �We poked withmachinery to give it some extra force, thingsgot sticky for a while but we all worked hardtogether and achieved something beautiful.After that we also repaired some CanalThingy.�

According to AJ: �Great time had by all, abit of waiting around for equipment to arrive,eating sweets (courtesy of Craig) and clayfights! [er, I must have been away at thatpoint!! ...NB] but once the equipment arrivedwe got a lot done! Good job everyone!�

The final result was something wecould all walk (or track) away from and feelproud of. It just goes to show a good timecan be had while getting the job done well!

But that wasn�t all that was happening onthe N Wilts. There was �Bonking & Whippingwith Bush and her Scrubbers� as Viv reports...

The Location: Above the newlyformed embankment at Purton Road Bridge

The Team: Bush � she was in charge;Sophie � she didn�t know any better � it wasDr. Liz�s fault; Viv � otherwise Bush wouldn�ttalk to her ever again otherwise (eventhough she disappeared to a wedding*);Chris � was told there were girls there; Steve� still grateful for chocolate �bling� puddingfrom the summer camp; Harri T � likeshawthorn plants; Paul � wanted an easy day!

The task:. remove heras fencing. plant hawthorn whips in a line in front ofwhere fencing was. work out where hawthorn whips are to go. bonk scaffold poles into ground. reinstate heras fencing by attaching toscaffold poles. plant more hawthorn whips in a control-led, yet random, pattern. sandbags�we�re not going to talk about itbut well done Steve!. Pick sloes. Take arty photos of teasels

Equipment:. A piece of string � howlong is a piece ofstring? The samelength as a piece ofheras fence of course!. A bonker. A scaff spanner. Traffic tape. Ingredients for concrete

The verdict: Tasksuccessful with no minor ormajor injuries.

* Note to WRG Girlies � just in caseyou have to attend a wedding as a guest andhappen to have forgotten your outfit �scarily, one can easily be put together fromthe collective girls � I was too scared to askthe boys even though they offered�.

And the answer to the second questionwas lasagne (hooo, yesss!), but not beforesuch delights as discovering that there wasn�tany hot water and there was yet another fineselection of fine ales and ciders, victualled byNic, the previous night provision havingtaken a bit of an, er, bashing. The evening�sents began with Roy Sutton�s slideshow �thirty years of KESCRG, wonderful stuff �and continued via stewed apple and custardinto Martin Ludgate�s slideshow of the year�sLondon WRG activity. The Hon. Pres. ofKESCRG and star of quite a few of Roy�sslides, Ken Parish, visited us to socialise andQA the beer. Out in the corridor, it was theNon-Stop Accordion Party Mix, and back inthe �quiet� dorm, it was Pass Out In A Pud-dle, a kind of one-man party game, I believe.

Sunday was spent Dealing With Diffi-cult People, according to Sophie, whobrings us her ever-unique take on things...

What is it about canal restoration whichattracts the cantankerous, the curmudgeonly,and the crazy? A person usually has to geton a night bus to meet the kind of nutterswho show up at your average dig. Anyonewould think social maladjustment and a keeninterest in inland waterways went hand inhand (but which is cause and which effect?)WRG�s approach to marshalling their contuma-cious army? To give them sharp-bladed toolsand send them into a situation in which theyneed to co-operate with each other. It�s a mira-cle no-one is murdered. Luckily I�ve been on acourse on Dealing With Difficult People, soyou didn�t see me smacking the CavillousLocal round the head with a scaff spanneralthough many of us were sorely tempted.

There reachesa point in every digwhere you justhave to turn awayfrom the bickeringand contradictoryinstruction and geton with the task inhand. Possibly witha bit of grumblingabout �peoplestanding staring atthe bonfire for

�Digger� pushes in a nice straight line ofpiles under the watchful eye of Nic

Dav

id M

iller

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hours when honest folk are doing somework�. Such as planting the remaining 972out of 1000 Haw twigs. At 3.45 on Sundayas the light begins to fade. Sterling work wasdone by a small group, many of whomhadn�t had a tea break for hours, getting thefragile little whips into the ground as theLocal helpfully told us how we were doing itwrong. It�s often forgotten that we�re doingthis as volunteers, rather than as communityservice for a driving offence.

Poor H1, who�d hadn�t had a tea breakfor several hours, went a bit loco and had tobe restrained from planting a row of emptyplastic sheaths2 �to fool the Local�. We re-sisted the urge to dump his wretched whipsbehind a hedge and go see if there were anybiscuits left. I did find some release in throw-ing one of the bloody things into the canalthough. Wilts & Berks Canal Trust, I�ll sendyou the 17p if you like. It was worth it.

Extreme behaviour witnessed at the Bash:. Cheese-hungry chavs breaking into thekitchens to steal the vegetarian sandwichfillings. [But they can�t have been veggieas they also nicked some meat. ...KW]. One couple (who weren�t working or drink-ing hard enough during the day, as they stillhad the energy) getting up to some mischiefon a thermarest in one dorm whilst honest,hard-working folk were trying to get somekip all around them.. Two lots of personal equipment (not thesafety kind) flapping about in the dorm forall to see. A dog with separation anxiety howling theplace down as its owner nips inside togreet her friends. Accordion-playing

GlossaryContumacious - stubbornly perverse orrebellious; wilfully and obstinately disobedient.Cavillous � fond of raising irritating andtrivial objections

Footnotes1 Names have been changed to preserve identity

but I might as well tell you it was Helena.2 Plastic cladding to protect young trees. Shame

on you if thought it was anything else.Erudite, as ever, Sophie. But what of

Helena, of whom you speak?I note that the fact [writes Helena] that

I had to plant the tube because of yoursecond fit of sapling rage is not mentioned!!The summary of my work would go as fol-lows. Saturday AM: Look for scrub to bash.Find a canal full of water, inaccessible scrubbelow the towpath level (the level to whichwe were allowed to bash) and some accessibletrees painted blue. Saturday Lunch: Discover�blue� means cut down. Saturday PM: With�elite� group (those that could be bothered toleave the fire) begin to cut down blue trees.Sunday AM - Continue to cut down blue trees.Get told by local that this is not the priority, gettold to go help Di. Di not really in need of help,clear out some previously felled trees then withthe elite group, and extras, declare tea break.Sunday PM: Haven�t had lunch yet. Di sets usto planting saplings and leaves us to it, obvi-ously assuming that we were intelligentenough to accomplish this task. Other localarrives, he assumes we aren�t, first words are�Is there a reason that they are all at 45degrees?� Yes, they are saplings and the plastictube is heavy for them to support. Later re-turns to tell us where we should be putting thesaplings, exactly where we were digging theholes until he stopped us doing work.

Also on Sunday, I found myself assist-ing (in a dumper-piloting capacity) the StopPlank Crew led by Mr. Jones and featuringthe Aldermans, Stephen Davis and Mrs.Jones. There is a navigable culvert under thePurton Road bridge which has gates at eitherend. The plan was to bolt metal stop-plankgrooves to the walls and drop gurt big oakplanks into them and then do a fair bit ofpuddling around them and this was achievedby the very, very end of play on Sunday,after a fair few digger and dumper move-ments to ensure the right kind of clay wentinto the right hole! All this happened whilstthe Western Daily Press took pictures of it.

Final words must go to Ian & Liz:�might do another one in 6 years or soÖ.�You heard it here first.

Contributions from Nic Bennett,Helena Howarth, Sophie Smith, VivWatson and Ian & Liz Williamson, ed-ited by Kes Wordie.

Extreme accordion-playing

Ian

Will

iam

son

page 12

Camp reportsCotswold Canals

...reporting from aweek at Eisey Lock and

Rucks Bridge on theThames & Severn

Canal...

pers also proclaimed of the existence of �thelegend�. A couple so fearless they took onthe porcelain polishing and won! The siteloos would now look at home in the finestLondon hotels � or at least the whiteness ofthe bowl would!

Day 2 started with a cup of tea in bedfor all, courtesy of the �co-leader� who isclearly seeking redemption following herwoeful performance on Sunday (in her de-fence she was cooking breakfast!). Howevershe made a habit of this through the weekand I for one think this sort of behaviourshould be encouraged! The morning onlyimproved with the discovery of blue skiesand sunshine! However this was temperedby finding a fellow camper shaving his toesin the sink in the toilets. Dextrous fellowsthese canal campers!

The working day pre-sented more brick cleaning(and the formation of a hardyclique of women called theBrick B*tches � Wee Jen,

Angie, Claire, Eileen, BigJen, StomperÖ and SirClive) followed bybridge demolition withJames� which waslike brick cleaningonly standing up!Word is tomorrow is abig brick day for brickcleaning. Day 2 sortof spilled into day 3with an attempt at the�who can be the lastone to bed� record.

4.01am wasachieved andremained therecord for thisparticular camp.

Sadly forme, day 3illustrated whythis was a poorplan. That said,

Rambling of a WRG campWritten by Sir Clive Knight, Lord

of Bedford

A week of sunshine, shandies and brickcleaning in the Cotswolds...

I sit considering how to write up myview of this event. I kept a diary for the firstcouple of days with a view to maintainingthis for a week. It seems late nights andsimply having too much fun put paid to thatplan. But still I feel it would be wrong to notdocument this most interesting of experi-ences. And so I trust to memory, a fewnotes and my limited scripting ability toattempt to paint a picture of what it was toCanal Camp in the Cotswolds.

Wet weather forecast and heavy over-night rain didn�t bode well for a 20 strongworking party arriving on site Sunday morn-ing. The initial plan - �take a look at the site,have a wander round and if it is too wet �well we will find something else to do�. How-ever the gods were kind and the weatherimproved allowing us to progress in manyareas. As camp virgin I believe I observedmy right of passage at brick cleaning school.The day passed swiftly and spirits were high.For a time I thought we were being treatedwith many observations of the newly re-turned Bustard. However upon striking myhand sharply with a skutch hammer Iavoided a possible fine with an observationof my own!

At theday�s end weretired to a localwatering holewhere we ex-changed tales ofbridge-buildingthat would putAlex Guiness toshame andexcavations thatwould have cutthe great escapeby half! Whis- John working on Rucks Bridge demolition

page 13

Camp ReportsCotswold Canals

�More brick cleaning...followed by bridgedemolition... which waslike brick cleaning onlystanding up...�

pepped up with coffee and custard creams Imade it through the day unscathed. Sadlyhowever I failed to make it through theevening�s lecture, by Ken, on the canal wewere working on. I hear it was a good one!

It is about thispoint in the week thatmy notes run out andI rely on a shabbymemory for points tomake. As for theraison d�être - theweek progressed thebridge was graduallyput together andopportunities to dem-onstrate brick layingabilities, mortar mixingand tree felling camemy way. In addition Iwas particularlypleased to have a goat �tirfor-ing� withStomper, Digs and One Can Chris. This is theact of extracting a root from the ground usingnothing more than a steel cable and a handpumped winch. It sounds so dull but is pecu-liarly satisfying. Especially for one who has dugand axed for days with less success in the past!

Whilst I was gaining much satisfactionpulling and pumping another group workedon clearing the overflow weir atEisey Lock -both Clive (the otherone) and Rach spent much oftheir time in this muddy ditchclearing earth and getting verydirty (they definitely deserved apint or rather jug of pimms fortheir efforts at the end of thecamp!) Work also continued onRucks Bridge with Sian the Silenceand Rob B laying bricks meticu-lously to ensure there work was upto the supervisors� standards.

The comedy continuedcourtesy of some outstandingpersonalities. To name nameswould be unfair but you know

who you are. The week ended with the lastnight BBQ (thanks Karen for organising acracking evening of mischief). Interestinghow you think you have got to know peopleand then you get so much more. There was

salsa dancing thanks to Jen anddirty dancing extraordinairenaughty boy Adrian (they areplanning on entertaining StrictlyCome Dancing next year)pimms drinking by... well eve-ryone and much more that cannever be written in a campreport - Rick the B*tch!

There was some wackystuff this camper never sawbefore. There were speechesand thankyous. All in all aterrific week.

Massive thanks to KenBurgin, local coordinator, andKaren Shaw who let the ladiesof the camp use her fantastic

shower facilities. And also thanks must go toFrank: without his supervision and cookingwe would have been lost and hungry!

For any technical questions regardingthe camp please email [email protected].

Clive KnightPS This happy camper got home and dulybooked another camp!

�Ask Frank�

The �Brick Bitches�

page 14

Camp reportsKESCRG on the Wilts & Berks

Is this a first? A CanalCamp report written in

the style of JaneAusten...

�Oh Mr Craig!�A tribute to Jane Austen

It is a truth universally acknowledged that agroup of WRGies in possession of a disusedcanal must be in want of good food and beer(and showers).

Chapter I

With the dawning of Saturday, LordRichardson and Lady Penn welcomed gueststo their humble estate in the enchantingcounty of Wiltshire. After settling in to theirlodgings in the Foxham Reading Rooms,entertainment was provided by the substitu-tion of the safety DVD (note DVD not video �what modern times we live in!) by CasinoRoyale. Mr Ireson escorted several eagermembers of the party on a tour of the localcanal, detailing interesting features such asthe floating rabbit hutch.

Mrs Wilson, the delightful cook, hadsurpassed herself creating an exquisite mealwith the assistance of Mr Powell. After allhad partaken of the fine refreshment, LordRichardson led his guests to the Foxham Inn,where a pleasant evening was spent gettingacquainted.

Chapter II

Sunday saw a leisurely start to the day, withmany wishing to remain abed longer thanwas permissible. However due to the sterlingefforts of Miss Vivian, Mr Alderman and MrWalker early on, the pump was theoreticallyworking by the time rest of the party arrived.Lord Richardson saw the wisdom of creatingthe post of flight case attendant fromamongst his staff, after displaying uncharac-teristic forgetfulness.

The morning�s activities constitutedvarious preparatory tasks and the afternooncontinued in the same vein. After a fewmoments vigorous exercise, declaring them-selves too fatigued, Miss Lauren Proctor andMiss Rose de Winton observed the exertionsof Mr Worthington, Mr Vie, Mr Wickett andMiss Jane Phillips lifting blocks. Alterations tothe scaffolding were ordered, whilst MissRowena Gaskell received further instructionin the art of excavating.

A fine roast supper had been pre-pared for the weary labourers upon theirreturn before their inevitable departure tothe local tavern.

Chapter III

An earlier embarkation to site had beendecreed favourable for Monday, with MrWilliamson and his Land Rover companionspreceding the main party. Lord Richardsontook one of the glorious red carriages toZebedees for maintenance, but to his dis-pleasure was told �to return 8am Wednesday,kind sir�.

Following a tiring morning digging inthe horrid clay, the ankles of Miss Lauren andMiss Rose were declared to be �Six inchesdeep in mud�. Such indifference to decorumwas not to be tolerated and they retired tocleaning bricks � a more fitting activity foryoung ladies. Mr Todd, Mr Vie, Mr Wickettand Mr Ireson were then able to continuedigging unhindered before joining Miss�A few moments vigorous exercise�

Row

ena

Gas

kell

page 15

Rowena, Lady Penn, Mr Nicolas Bennett andMr Mark Bennett cleaning more bricks. After-noon tea was interrupted for the arrival of Mrand Mrs Edward Jones, who immediatelyjoined the others in fussing over the dogs.Unfortunately Mr Jones acquired a traumaticinjury within half an hour of his appearanceon site.

After consuming the delicious repastawaiting them, the party enjoyed an eveningof innocent frivolity. Some visited the localfolk society, whilst at the manor the rest ofthe company engaged in the new jigsaw fad.

Chapter IV

Tuesday brought with it the first of the trulyinclement weather, but nobly work contin-ued. Vast numbers of bricks arrived and werelooked after by Lord Richardson, Mr Robert,Mr Jones, Mrs Williamson and their dumpers.

Meanwhile great progress was madedigging more horrid clay to make an evenbigger hole and preparation for the brick-work commenced, supervised by Mr Brother-ston and Mr Clayton. Mr Sutton meanwhilemade adept adjustments to the old wall.

Later Miss Rachael Ban-yard and Miss Di Smurthwaiteorganised the great skittlescompetition, including a back-wards bowling round � whichwas a truly felicitous occasion.

Chapter V

Wednesday heralded the arrivalof Mr and Mrs Brian Amos, andfurther demolition and con-struction at the seven locks site.

Mr Nicolas Bennet, LadyPenn, Mr Miller and Mr Viebegan fabricating the blockwall, their efforts were �toler-able, we suppose� but couldnot compare to the simplyastounding edifice erectednearby by Miss Lauren and Miss

Rose (with apologies, but it is true). Theconstruction of these architectural master-pieces was expedited by the tireless endeav-ours of Mrs Jones, Miss Jane and Mr Wickettwho made a splendid mixing team.

Taking leave of site early, allowed amplepreparation time for the planned foray alongthe Kennet and Avon Canal. Hampers oftempting delicacies accompanied the expedi-tion onto the delightful narrowboat, ensuringall had full stomachs before they sojournedto the Foxham Inn.

Chapter VI

The sun graced the site with its golden rays,which allowed for an enterprising day. Final(fated) plans were made by site leader MrWilliamson and Lady Penn, and Lord Richardsonwas pleased with progress in the round.

However a disgraceful departure frompropriety occurred with the christening of theday as �Strapless Thursday�. It would havebeen far more seemly to have replicated theingenious tarpaulin device that shaded theblock team, protecting them from frightfulstrap marks.

Camp ReportsKESCRG on the Wilts & Berks

�The sun graced the sitewith its golden rays,which allowed for anenterprising day...�

�A simply astounding edifice� (in other words, a brick wall)

Row

ena

Gas

kell

page 16

Camp reportsKESCRG on the Wilts & Berks

�...the young ladiescould barely contain

their excitement atthe planned

excursion to Bath...�

Casino Royale was finally shown to acaptive audience in its entirety, Mr Craig wasacknowledged by some to be a very fine andagreeable young gentleman, whilst MissGreen was declared by others to be a sweetgirl. Great forethought meant that the assem-bled were well sustained by popcorn. For theless cultured the film was ignored in prefer-ence of more puzzles!

Chapter VII

Owing to the incessant rain the previousnight coupled with the inability of some to

swim, it was decided that work was to besuspended on Friday.

Some of the young ladies could barelycontain their excitement at the planned excur-sion to Bath. A day of merriment was spentvisiting the wonderful Jane Austen Centre andseveral other respectable establishments sellingdelicious confectionery. It was only at the closeof the diverting day, that it became apparentjust how great the rainfall had been; with thetrains suspended, the party was forced to get ataxi carriage back.

Meanwhile those who had remained weremore acutely aware of the problems caused by

the copious precipitation, whichhad led to worrying levels offlooding at the manor!

However the cessation ofthe rain in the early eveningallowed for a final night barbe-cue and more jigsaws! Mr Jonesdelighted the company with hismusical talents, playing hisaccordion and there were gen-eral speeches and toasts for asuccessful camp!

Chapter VIII

On Saturday all the guestswere able to depart on delayedtrains and flooded roads, afterthe staff had performed theirduties wonderfully cleaning theaccommodation and kit beforehanding over to Miss Rachaeland Miss Di for the next camp.

Postscript

The authoresses would likecongratulate Lord Richardsonand Lady Penn for a splendidcamp and pray that they areblessed with more fortuitousweather next time!

Rosie DeWintonLauren Proctor

Ian

Will

iam

son

Liz

Will

iam

son

Above: the offside wall with demolition completed andrebuilding under way. Below: the same scene after Friday�s

page 17

Camp ReportsGrand Western Canal

Reporting from thefirst Canal Camp atthe Nynehead BoatLift on the GrandWestern Canal...

Nynehead Camp Report

Day One, Saturday 20 OctoberAn auspicious day

Some of England�s finest were collecting totake on the challenge of a lifetime � andmuch sweat and stamina would be required.But not only was the first day of the WRGCanal Camp at Nynehead in Somerset � therewas something about England vs the Spring-boks in the Rugby World Cup Final as well.

Home for the week would beBurlescombe Village Hall which, according toplans displayed on the cork-board, was soonto be demolished before being rebuilt to aluxurious spec. However, in the meantime,WRGies could still enjoy its charmingwooden-chalet-style features and �Ye Olde�ambiance of an October night.

After the Meetings and Greetings(scarily, everyone except me and one otherhad canal-camped before) our leaders,Adrian Fry and Jenny Black, gave us the low-

down on the project ahead and let us knowwhat was planned in the name of InlandWaterways: firstly, it was arranged that Mitchwould stuff us with her amazing grub; thenwe�d progress to watching the ruggers on theprojector already rigged up in preparation;and, following on from that, a team wouldbe organised in order to hit the pub. Oh, andAdrian also told us that we�d be doing some-thing to the remains of the Nynehead boatlift in the morning. All went according toschedule (save for the score in the Game)and walking the 30 metres home from thepub later on, the stars were dazzlingly bright� truly breathtaking in a chillingly clear nightsky (and making the prospect of freezing tothe bone in a skimpy sleeping bag a worry-ing reality).

Mitch cooked: a full-on buffet.

Day Two, Sunday 21 OctoberSwing home, sweet chariot

Woke up (although some claimed they hadn�tactually slept at all) with ourbreath clearly visible in the Balticair and a breakfast-spread thatwas fit for the 5000.

After checking-off the check-list of equipment (most of whichI�d never even heard of) we piledinto the big red vans and headedto site. We would be working on asection of the Grand WesternCanal containing a historic boatlift, at the invitation of DennisDodd, a local waterways enthusi-ast/amateur historian/industrialarchaeologist/kind-hearted soul.

Back in the 1830s, engineerJames Green experienced manyobstructions and setbacks duringthe construction of the lift atNynehead, and the local land-owner caused the route of thecanal to be altered and complexcuttings and embankments wererequired to hide it from view.Putting up scaffolding in the lift chamber

Alan

Lin

es

page 18

However, when the lift was eventually com-pleted it proved commercially successful andremained in operation for nearly 30 years.Today, the Nynehead boat lift is uniqueamong the seven that operated along thischallenging stretch of terrain in that it stillincludes a substantial amount of survivingmasonry. We found that, although muchwork had already been done to clear thebottom of one of the caisson chambers, thesides and top of the construction were cov-ered with dense shrubbery and the wholearea was now pretty much a wood. Our mainman, Adrian, gave us the full health andsafety, helped us on with our hard hats andbegan organising us into swat teams. Therewere trees to be felled and scrub to bebashed; there was scaffolding to erect andbonfires to be built. Everyone set to it withgusto.

Following more chronic over-eating atdinner, it was down to the local again but notjust for beers - there was to be a bit of com-petitive sport as well. Alan Lines revealedhimself to be a right old skittles shark, andwas the last man standing in the SuddenDeath.

Mitch cooked: an industrial-sized porkroast plus all the trimmings and an exquisitenut roast for the lucky veggies

Day Three, Monday 22 OctoberBaa Baa Black Sheep

It started out as a dank and misty morning,and we shivered and whinged (well, I know Idid) on the way to work. But then the sunbroke through and one of those magicalautumn days of brightest blue emerged. Oursurroundings were truly idyllic, and Dennishad made us so welcome on his land that itfelt like home. There was honestly no betterplace to be at 10.30am on the 22 Octoberthan sitting by the Nynehead boat lift asshafts of light passed eerily through thesmoke from the fires, with a plastic WRGmug of tea in one�s hand. The project waswell underway and the difference we hadmade in a couple of days was staggering.The lumberjack boys had been busy andabout 10 trees had already come down;huge Turkey Oaks and Ashes that had cre-ated a thick canopy overhead were nowblazing heartily, and a clearing was beingcreated. The engineering guys and gals hadperformed some tricksie manoeuvres of thescaffolding around the base of the lift andthe brickwork was now exposed at the top toallow for proper assessment. A crack team ofbashers, choppers and pyromaniacs weremaking regular sweeps of the site to ensure

safe movement andkeep the fires burning24/7. By the end ofan exhausting butproductive day, itseemed the onlysensible thing to dowas go for a drink(which then turnedinto a surprisinglydifficult word game/drinking game).

Mitch cooked:Rich, warming andspicy curries, supple-mented by offeringsfrom the kitchen ofthe local�s landlord

Camp reportsGrand Western Canal

�...There was honestly no betterplace to be at 10.30am on the 22

October than sitting by theNynehead boat lift with a plasticWRG mug of tea in one�s hand...�

John

Haw

kins

Nynehead Lift emerges from the undergrowth

page 19

Day Four, Tuesday 23 OctoberThe day of the diggers

No-one saw much of Adrian today. Usuallyhe�d be popping up all over the place, tomonitor and advise, to delegate and orches-trate. Yet he seemed to have found his spir-itual home in the cabin of a JCB. He was atone with the machine, and barely even gotout for tea break. �Men and machines�,sighed Jenny, with a knowing shake of thehead.

A huge pile of silt and mud that hadcome out of the bottom of the canal basinduring an earlier excavation needed shiftingand immense tree stumps had to be hauledonto the fire (where they failed to burn). Bythis time, there were enough logs on thewoodpile to keep Dennis warm for many awinter, and all of them had to be cut, carriedand stacked by the hardy gang.

The group divided for the eveningactivities, with the hardcore off down the pubwhilst a splinter group sought their entertain-ment at the cinema. Not quite sure whatJohn made of it, but the majority were howl-ing with laughter at New Zealand spoof-horror flick Black Sheep.

Mitch cooked: Fabulous pasta bake.And Sir Clive Knight made an extraordinarypudding involving Jammy Dodgers, caramel,condensed milk and custard.

Day Five, Wednesday 24 OctoberHe�s a very naughty boy

The wrgies continued their hard graft withsatisfying results. By the end of the morning,the top of the lift was clear of vegetation andshrubs and the scaffolding could come down(ahead of schedule). To access the trickierareas, some brave individuals had foundthemselves perched on 20ft-high ladderswielding mini-scythes or balancing on theprecipice above (only if authorised to do so,naturally). In the afternoon, those who�wanted a go� were instructed by Adrian onhow to control the JCB and those who didn�thappily toasted marshmallows on the embersand tried (unsuccessfully) to avoid beingcaught in compromising poses by Alan andhis candid camera. Before the sun wentdown, the group visited a couple of sites thatWRG had worked on last year, including theimpressive lime kilns and a new boat slip-way. And to finish off an action-packed day,Dennis gave a highly informative talk on the

history of the canal systems of the WestCountry and the various designs of boat liftswhich evolved in the UK during the IndustrialRevolution. He also filled us in on the specif-ics of the history of the lift at Nynehead, withillustrations of how the lift would havelooked in its glory days and describing unu-sual items found at the site, such as an al-phabet plate and rustic leather boots. Lateron in the pub, most people proved they hadno abilities at playing pool whatsoever. Andit got a bit messy.

Mitch cooked: Her famed lasagne

Day Six, Thursday 25 OctoberLast orders

Unfortunately, I wasn�t there for the finalday. But I can imagine that the comradesdemonstrated great grit and determination tofinish off the job properly (before finishingoff themselves off properly down the pub).The verdict? Surely the best holiday you canhave for six quid a day and a massive thankyou to WRG, to Adrian and Jenny and to allwho took part!

Mitch cooked: something spectacular,no doubt!

Alan

Lin

es

Bungle wears his pulling pants

page 20

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

Navvies diaryYour guide to all the forthcoming work partiesDec 26-Jan 1 Camp 0720 Grantham Canal Camp: New Year Camp. Scrub clearance, landscaping an

Dec 26-Jan 1 W&BCT Wilts & Berks Canal Camp: New Year Camp. Scrub bashing and hedge layLeader: Rachael Banyard, Cook: Di Smurthwaite.

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

Jan 6 Sun WRG Committee & Board Meetings

Jan 12/13 wrgNW Chesterfield Canal

Jan 12/13 London WRG Chelmer & Blackwater Navigation

Jan 12/13 KESCRG Wilts & Berks Canal: Dig Deep project

Jan 12/13 NWPG Basingstoke Canal: Dig Deep project

Jan 12/13 wrgSW Hereford & Gloucester Canal: Yarkhill

Jan 19/20 wrgBITM Cotswold Canals: Towpath clearance near Stroud

Jan 19 Sat wrgNW �Paper Chase� waste paper collection

Feb 2/3 London WRG To be arranged: possibly Wendover Arm?

Feb 9/10 KESCRG Lichfield Canal

Feb 9/10 NWPG Thames & Severn Canal: Dig Deep project

Feb 16/17 wrgBITM Droitwich Canals: to be confirmed

Feb 16/17 wrgNW Hollinwood Canal

Feb 16/17 wrgSW Grand Western Canal

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

Feb 23 Sat wrgNW �Paper Chase� waste paper collection

Mar 1/2 WRG/KESCRGBarn Dance: and Leaders training event

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

Mar 8/9 wrgNW To be arranged

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

Mar 8/9 NWPG Wey & Arun Canal

Mar 15/16 wrgBITM Grantham Canal

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

Mar 15/16 wrgSW Cotswold Canals

Mar 15-22 Camp 0801 Wilts & Berks Canal Camp: Steppingstones Bridge

Mar 22-29 Camp 0802 Wilts & Berks Canal Camp: Steppingstones Bridge

Mar 29 Sat wrgNW �Paper Chase� waste paper collection

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

Apr 5/6 London WRG BCN Cleanup

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

page 21

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

'Camp 0801') should go to WRG Canal Camps, PO Box 114,Rickmansworth WD3 1ZY. Tel: 01923 711114.

Email: [email protected]

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

d bank protection. Leader: Phil Rodwell; assistant: Martin Worsley [email protected]

ying. Rachael Banyard 01249-892289

Martin Ludgate 020-8693-3266 [email protected]

Mike Palmer 01564-785293 [email protected]

David McCarthy 0161-740-2179 [email protected]

Tim Lewis 07802-518094 [email protected]

Eddie Jones 0845-226-8589 [email protected]

Graham Hawkes 0118-941-0586 [email protected]

Nick Coolican-Smith

Dave Wedd 01252-874437 [email protected]

David McCarthy 0161-740-2179






Mitch Gosna



Helen Gardner 07989-425346 [email protected]

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






Rick Barnes 07976-748345 [email protected]

01923-711114 [email protected]

01923-711114 [email protected]


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



page 22

Canal Societies� regular monthly orweekly working parties

Please send amendments to DaveWedd (address on previous page)

3rd Sunday of month BCNS Jeff Barley 01543-3732842nd Sunday & following Thurs BCS Buckingham area Athina Beckett 01908-661217Anytime inc. weekdays BCT Aqueduct section Gerald Fry 01288-353273Every Sunday ChCT Various sites Mick Hodgetts 01246-620695Every Saturday DCT Droitwich Canal Jon Axe 0121-608 0296Last Sunday of month EAWA N Walsham & Dilham David Revill 01603-7386484th Sunday of month ECPDA Langley Mill Michael Golds 0115-932-8042Second Sun of month FIPT Foxton Inclined Plane Mike Beech 0116-279-26572nd weekend of month GCRS Grantham Canal Colin Bryan 0115-989-22482nd Sat of month GWCT Nynehead Lift Denis Dodd 01823-661653Tuesdays H&GCT Oxenhall Brian Fox 01432 358628Weekends H&GCT Over Wharf House Maggie Jones 01452 618010Wednesdays H&GCT Over Wharf House Wilf Jones 01452 413888Weekends H&GCT Hereford Aylestone Martin Danks 01432 344488Every Sunday if required IWPS Bugsworth Basin Ian Edgar 01663-7324931st Saturday & 3rd Wed. IWA Ipswich Stowmarket Navigtn. Colin Turner 01473-7305862nd Sunday of month LCT Lancaster N. Reaches Paul Shaw 01524-356851st, 2nd, 4th Sun + 3rd Sat LHCRT Lichfield Sue Williams 01543-6714273rd Sunday of month LHCRT Hatherton Denis Cooper 01543-3743702nd & last Sundays PCAS Paul Waddington 01757-6380272nd Sunday of month SCARS Sankey Canal Colin Greenall 01744-7317461st Sunday of month SCCS Combe Hay Locks Bob Parnell 01225-428055Most weekends SHCS Basingstoke Peter Redway 01483-7217102nd Sunday of month SNT Sleaford Navigation Mel Sowerby 01522-8568101st weekend of month SUCS Newhouse Lock Mike Friend 01948-880723Every Tuesday morning TMCA Brian Macnish 01732-823725Every Sunday & Thurs WACT varied construction Eric Walker 023-9246-3025Mondays (2 per month) WACT tidying road crossings John Empringham 01483-562657Tuesdays WACT Tickner's Heath Depot Colin Gibbs 020-8241-7736Wednesdays WACT maintenance work Peter Jackman 01483-772132Wednesdays WACT Loxwood Link Peter Wilding 01483-422519Thursdays WACT Winston Harwood Grp Laurie Wraight 01903-721404Saturdays WACT Conservation Group David Jessop 01403-269384Various dates WACT Hedgelaying (Oct-Mar) Keith Nichols 01403-7538821st w/e of month (Fri-Mon) WAT Drayton Beauchamp Roger Leishman 01442-8745362nd Thursday of month WAT Drayton Beauchamp Pete Bowers 01255-504540Every weekend WBCT Wilts & Berks Canal Rachael Banyard 01249-892289

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

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

Mobile groups' socials(please phone to confirm before

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

Navvies diary

page 23

TransportWanna buy a van?

You really do need to getyourself a digital tachographcard if you�re going to carryon towing... unless you�replanning on buying RFB...

News from the Transport teamPart 1:

Hands up all those who think they cantow trailers with wrg vans.

OK now if you don�t have a digitaltachograph card put your hand back down!As you may be aware, for the past couple ofyears we have been buying vans with digitaltachographs and we are now at the stagewhere (out of the vehicles used on the maincanal camps circuit) only RFB is left with ananalogue one.

The decision has been taken to replaceRFB sometime this winter or spring so fromnext March (and possibly earlier) you MUSThave a digital tachograph card to tow withWRG vans.

Getting one of these cards is reallysimple. You don�t have to have a photocardlicence (although you can apply for one atthe same time if you want to). Simply ring0850 1074110 and follow the automatedsystem. A fewdays later theapplication packwill drop throughyour letterbox.

Fill the formin [and note thebit where it saysyour signaturemust fit entirelywithin the boxfor it to be valid....Ed], enclose acheque and apassport photo(if applicable),and hey presto acard will soon beyours. Even bet-ter, let JennyBlack at headoffice know youhave done it andWRG will refundthe cost!

News from the transport teampart 2:

Observant types will have noticedin part 1 that we are selling RFB.

Technically we are selling the van, whiltthe registation R10RFB will live on as a newFord Transit for next season.

Although now starting to get a bit tiredfor the number of miles we do in it eachyear, it would be ideal for a local society orgroup who need a 9 seat crewbus (alterna-tively it could easily be converted back to 6or even 3 seats). Specification is: 1997 RedDiesel Ford Transit (recently re-sprayed),equipped with a heavy duty Safety Bar rearbumper with tow hitch, three rows of threeseats (all with belts) and a tachograph. Theplan is to sell it around Spring 2008 with afull year�s MOT, so if you know someone whomay be interested, get in contact with us byemail to [email protected]).

George �Bungle� Eycott

For sale: one careful owner

page 24

Lettersto the editor

The Chichester issue: should we belooking to the future of canal

restoration in fifty years� time? Orshould we be looking to find

something else to fill Navvies with?

Dear MartinI have barely finished reading your editorial (Navvies 225) and I already have my digits

pounding the keyboard in response. As someone who has been sitting on the sidelines since1987 (well I did emigrate to America that year) I have had to make do with a distant ring-side seat watching in envy as canal after canal has been restored and opened for publicconsumption (not literally I hasten to add).

If one were to take all this restoration to the extreme, that means in the long-distantfuture every canal will be restored and even those nineteenth century designs on the draw-ing boards will also be built. Is this a good thing? Yes! The country isn�t getting physicallyany smaller; however no-one has said let�s stop populating, or let�s stop all immigration tothe UK. No, there�s going to be more and more people living here.

What does that mean, a distinct lack of quality of life issues. How does one measurequality of life? One important way is how much open space does everyone get to play in. Afifteenth story balcony doesn�t quite cut it. And a lot of countryside is off-limits as farmingland, forestry land, not to mention those sites of special scientific interest.

One way out is to utilize canals as providing multiple roles for people and their qualityof life needs, such as long and short distance hiking routes, safe pedestrian traffic routes inurban areas, fishing, biking where appropriate - and of course boating.

Canal restoration and recreational use ought to be promoted in this way, and inte-grated into the larger issues of how society functions and will function in the future. So,Martin, I think you need to be championing a much longer term view, looking at the next 25- 50 years and what kind of society do we want to live in and how our canals can play a rolein that future. I believe this is what people both inside and outside of the Chichester ShipCanal Trust should be thinking about.

Jeremy G Frankelex-London WRG, Berkeley, California

Dear MartinWithout wishing to unduly interfere in the affairs of another canal trust, sadly Richard

Plowman�s response in Navvies 225 contains some misleading statements which requireclarification.

The Trust began life as the Portsmouth and Arundel Canal Society and only changed itsname at a later date. It is therefore highly appropriate that the Portsmouth and ArundelCanal should form part of its objectives, for this was the intention of its founders � to re-store the Portsmouth and Arundel Canal, of which the Chichester Ship Canal was a majorbranch. There never was a Portsmouth part of the canal. Presumably what is being referredto is the Portsea Canal which continued the route from Chichester Harbour into Portsmouth;this closed soon after completion as it contaminated the local drinking water with salt water.It was subsequently replaced by a navigable cut across the top of what is now Portsmouthisland to give direct access to the port itself and this cut is still in use.

I entirely agree with your editorial comments on the subject. It would be a sad day ifthe Wey & Arun Canal Trust adopted a similar attitude because of the loss of the Bramleysection to redevelopment in the 1950�s and 60�s; does that make this canal restoration �im-possible�? We don�t think so. As you say, the Huddersfield was redeveloped in Stalybridge, butis now reopened and the Hereford & Gloucester and Uttoxeter Canals subsequently becamerailways, as did the Oakham � all lost causes? Lichfield & Hatherton Canal Restoration Trust,Chesterfield Canal Trust, Barnsley, Dearne & Dove Canal Trust and the Wilts & Berks CanalTrust would all, I am sure, challenge the idea of redevelopment being insurmountable.

As a member of the Wey & Arun Canal Trust, I am aware that the Trust is very uneasy

page 25

Lettersto the editor

...in which case can somebodystart writing some letters to theEditor about a few other subjectsbesides Chichester for the nextissue? Please?

about the implications of this resolution. The last IWAAC �priorities� report listed the Wey &Arun Canal as of �National� importance when taken in conjunction with the Portsmouth andArundel Canal; indeed the Chichester Ship Canal itself is of �Regional� importance whentaken in conjunction with the Portsmouth and Arundel Canal. If all mention of the Port-smouth and Arundel Canal were to be deleted now, where would that leave both trusts?

I believe that, if the Portsmouth and Arundel Canal were to be abandoned by theChichester Ship Canal Trust, then a new Portsmouth and Arundel Canal Trust would berequired to cover it and this would inevitably lead to a split in the available support andfunding for the two trusts. Would it not be better for one trust to cover both and perhaps setup a sub-committee to maintain a watching brief on the Portsmouth and Arundel Canal toprevent any further loss and promote what remains, with a view to possible future restora-tion when the Chichester Ship Canal project is completed?

Yours sincerely,Brian Andrews

Dear MartinRegarding your editorial view of the current termoil within the Chichester Ship Canal

Trust. I agree that optimism is a basic requirement for any involved in waterway restoration,but the pros and cons of a society�s own aspirations should be for the Trust itself to resolve,or do I see months of letters published in Navvies publicly debateing their internal politics,in the main to the boredom or the majority readers?

Navvies is an excellent vehicle to inform others of the progress or frustrations of resto-ration work across the country and I see it as an �at the coalface� hands on publication, not adebating medium for those with particular axes to grind, which should be confined to theTrusts� own newsletters or a wider platform such as IWA Waterways magazine.

Although this type of debate is good for filling pages (I also have struggled to findmaterial to fill space in the past) please don�t let our publication be hi-jacked by the personalin-fighting of society members with their own agenders. An opening prayer used by many�good cause organisations� at their meetings goes something like �....give us the courage tochange the things that need changing, the humility to accept the things we cannot change,but the wisdom to know the difference�. This last phrase should perhaps be kept in mind asregards certain projects, possibly even my own society�s master plan for the Sussex Ouse.Optimism is fine but should always be tempered with practicality and realism

Paul Morris

I am happy to see (and indeed to join in) discussion about what people would like to see inthe magazine. Especially if it is constructive discussion (such as the correspondence a coupleof years ago that got the �progress� section going again), and even more so if it comes withthe occasional offer to contribute something that might be of interest to the readership.

However I take issue with the implication that I used the Chichester issue to fill emptypages in Navvies. Issue 225 was 40 pages - that�s four more than a standard issue, althoughnot quite up to the bumper-sized 224. I could have left it all out and kept it down to theusual 36. I chose to include Simon Couzens� letter because I thought he made some seriouspoints, I included a reply from the Trust because I felt that they should have the right toreply to his criticisms, and I covered it in my editorial because I thought (rightly or wrongly)that there were important issues raised - the Wey & Arun angle, surprise that any groupseemed to be lowering its sights when others are raising theirs, and concern that failure toreach an acceptable compromise was putting a project at risk. You might disagree with mychoice, but please don�t accuse me of using it to fill space. ...Ed

page 26

Progress...on the W&A and MBB...

Our roundup of progressaround the country�srestoration projects

begins in the Deep Southon the Wey & Arun Canal

Wey & Arun Canal:BITM get stuck in!

A wash-out alongside an overflow sluice atTickners Heath on the Wey & Arun Canalcaused a major breach in the canal bankwhich was successfully repaired by WRGBITM during a recent weekend dig.

Forty tonnes of sticky clay had beendelivered to the site in preparation for atiring operation to clean out and then puddlethe clay into the eroded trench. Due to thepresence of a medium voltage cable in thebottom of the trench (the backfill to thisexcavation probably causing the originalweakness in the bank) all reinstatement hadto be carried out by hand.

The sealing of the bank was assisted bythe use of bentonite sheeting at criticalsections and liberal use of bentonite powdermixed with the clay. This work should en-able water levels in the pound to return tonormal with the winter rains.

The weekend activities were not con-fined to �barrowing and tamping� however asmembers also undertook towpath clearancework and bricklaying to form a generatorhousing at the Trust�s Tickners Heath depot.21 weary volunteers then dispersed to allparts of the country on Sunday evening tohave a well-earned rest.

Graham Baird

Manchester Bolton & Bury Canal

The Manchester Bolton & Bury Canal Societyhad another weekend working on the canalon 22-23 September.

This time we concentrated on the lengthat the foot of the six Prestolee (Nob End)Locks, cleaning the copings and setts tobeyond Prestolee (Silver Hill) Bridge.

This bridge is slightly famous for beingused in the closing scenes of the JamesMason film Spring and Port Wine (1969).Once again we were assisted by WrgNW.

We hope to tackle the locks next March.Paul Hindle

WRG NW working on the Manchester Bolton& Bury towpath, and the finished job

Paul

Hin

dle

Paul

Hin

dle

page 27

Progress...Sleaford Navigation, Chesterfield, Sussex Ouse ...

Sleaford Navigation

Sleaford Navigation Trust�s current majorproject is working to re-create the terminusin Sleaford including replacing a low-levelfootbridge with a lifting span, and building anew slipway and winding hole.

Progress with the footbridge is continu-ing: there is not a lot to see but much isgoing on behind the scenes. There are twosevices under the current bridge, water andelectricity; the water has been diverted al-ready but the electricity has had to be re-thought as the projected route for diversionis under the site of some new offices.

The new slipway and winding hole havealso started to move forward again with theTrust employing consulting engineers toconduct topographical and soil surveys, andto produce designs and tender documentsfor the works.

Steve Hayes

Chesterfield Canal

Although it doesn�t actually involve anyprogress on the ground, there has been amajor step forward in dealing with one ofthe most difficult problems on the canal.

Norwood Tunnel, one of the longest inthe country at 2880 yards, is also one of themost badly damaged, thanks to the effects of

opencast and deep-level coal mining. Resto-ration would have been more of a case ofbuilding a new tunnel from scratch. Alterna-tives suggested have included reusing anearby disused rail tunnel (which was ru-moured to be on a slope, necessitating un-derground locks!) but a study has now comeup with the preferred option. The easternsection of the tunnel is in fair condition andwill be restored, following which the canalwill emerge into a cutting and climb via twonew locks to ground level. It will cross theformer Kiveton Park colliery site then climbthrough a further series of locks to a newshort summit. Passing under the M1 using anexisting farm culvert, the canal will descendthrough a third flight of new locks to meetthe original line close to the original westportal of the tunnel, near the top of NorwoodLocks which will be restored.

With a diversion already plannedaround a housing estate at Killamarsh neces-sitating two more new flights of locks, theChesterfield looks set to eventually rival theHuddersfield and Rochdale as one of themost heavily-locked in the country.

Sussex Ouse Restoration Trust have completedexcavation of Isfield Lock (see Navvies 224 cover)

The Norwood Tunnel Study is officiallylaunched at the bricked-up east portal

page 28

Progress...the Wendover Arm...s

Grand Union Wendover Arm

Wendover Arm Trust has just completed avery successful ten day work party (Oct 5th to14th) that has been a very satisfying turningpoint in the progress of Phase II (the drylength beyond the current limit of navigation)of the restoration of the arm. We were ablyassisted by KESCRG and by recruits fromRAF Halton over the first weekend.

For some time now we have been con-cerned about the re-growth of briars, poten-tial saplings and the like on the banks of thePhase II dry bed. BW had offered to flail thebanks for us but muddy conditions, then theloss of their tractor made this impossible.Fortunately for us, RAF Halton offered theservices of about 50 of their recruits both onthe Saturday and Sunday and they did asuperb job clearing the towpath bankfrom Little Tring to the former pumpingstation at Whitehouses.

On the Saturday and Sunday,KESCRG cut 90 pieces of reinforcementfor the concrete slab which is installedto cap the pipe in the canal bed thatcarried water past the dry length, com-pleted the formwork for block lining,fenced off part of the towpath for build-ing the mooring bay in Stage 1 andworked very hard laying Bentomatwaterproof sheeting on the banks,covering it with hollow concrete blocks,mixing concrete and filling the blocks.

The Trust�s grateful thanks to KES-CRG and the RAF and to Phil Cardy,Mark Gribble, Dave Wedd of WRG(BITM) and Anthony Tidey of the Wilts& Berks Canal Trust, and my thanks inparticular to our own volunteers, all ofwhom helped on various days.

At the end of the ten days 30metres of lining from the Nuttalls bundhad been completed, making it 70 me-tres in all, together with a waterproofbund allowing the re-watering of 60metres of restored canal that was due tobe planted with aquatic plants and the

water let in at the November work party.Since the method of working described

in the last progress report we have had tothink again. We had hoped to complete thespoil bed over Bentomat lining before placingthe spoil above the coir rolls so that anyspillage just fell onto the spoil bed. Ourlining is so watertight that any rain is nowcaught in the �pond� created by the bed mak-ing it too muddy for plant to operate on. Weare therefore completing both banks and amooring bay up to the site of the next tem-porary bund before laying the bed. Thismeans that we are having to protect theBentomat that comes down the bank where itis exposed at the bottom of the block liningwith a layer of plastic so that it is clean foroverlapping with the Bentomat on the bed

Roger Leishman describesprogress on work to

rebuild and reopen one ofthe leakiest bits of canal

on the system

KESCRG covering Bentomat lining with concreteblocks, and the completed length ready to re-water

page 29

when it is laid, maybe months later.I am sure that we will have further

changes but feel that we have surmountedthe learning curve for the time being. Never-theless it has come to my notice that furtherconsultation with James Brindley in Coventryhas taken place!

Our next task will be to complete the pipecapping for Stage 1 so that the offside bank(that has to be disturbed to lay the pipe cap-ping in most lengths) can be restored over thecapping and left as long as possible to consoli-date before profiling. At the same time,weather permitting, we will be excavating forthe 50 metre towpath mooring bay that startssome 50 metres beyond the completed lining.

My last estimate for the cost of Phase IIwas £620,000 but this was based on spoilfilled gabions and did not allow for the verywet weather we have encountered recently. Itwas also dependent on the results of the trialsection at Drayton Beauchamp just completed.

The cost of hollow concrete blocks,associated concrete fill and coir rolls againstwire gabion cages and spoil fill is significant.My initial shot estimate is that the lining willcost on average around£500 per metre, 2,058metres = £1,029,000! Tothis must be added thecost of ancillary works,footbridges, weirs, enlarg-ing the 60ft winding holeat Saxonway Bridge andoverheads so a targetfigure of £1.25m couldwell be realistic.

In round figures, todate we have spent£100,000, have £350,000in the bank and have£110,000 yet to comefrom the BW contribution leaving a further£469,000k to be raised. For this we havemainly been dependent on the annual Festi-val but the weather let us down this year andthe future of the Festival field is in doubt.

David Andrew, our Fund Raising Director,has proposed an appeal on the lines of �buy aconcrete block� or �sponsor one or more metresof canal lining�. This appeal is going to proceedand could well be the mainstay of our fundraising for completing Phase II.

Further funds will then be needed toreinforce the canal banks between BucklandWharf and Wendover so as to raise the waterlevel to Tring summit level for navigation to

open as far as the winding hole west ofSaxonway Bridge under the new Aston Clintonby-pass. This work is currently under review bya fund raising committee of the Council.

Turning now to timescale. The originaltarget was to complete the five stages in fiveyears. We have already lost over a yearbuilding footbridges, repairing Nuttalls bundand carrying out trials for lining the canaland it is more realistic to think of one stageevery two years � work will speed up thenearer we get to Little Tring. Currently welose at least two hours a day just gettingplant and equipment to and from DraytonBeauchamp! This gives a target completiondate of 2016, six years more than we origi-nally hoped. The bright side is that this doesgive more time to raise the funds needed...

On both cost and timescale it has be-come apparent that it will be much moreeconomical to concentrate on one operationat a time, i.e. pipe capping or bank lining orcompleting the bed leaving the mooring wallsas an �hospital� job. We are working in aconfined width and find that carrying outmore than one operation at a time finds us

�tripping over each other�!Another option is to

extend the length of ourfour- day work party toeconomise on plant hireand handling ready-mixconcrete. One operationat a time does not requirea large labour force onany one day, say 6 to 8volunteers. If we couldwork to a pre-bookedvolunteer schedule usingthose still at work overthe Saturday and Sundayand retired volunteers on

weekdays, it would speed up progress andreduce plant hire costs.

Laying and filling the hollow concreteblocks is a time consuming task. I am won-dering, when we have a good length profiledready for lining and blocking, whether wewould be able to engage the services ofyoung offenders, either on community serv-ice or residing at HM Prison, the Mount for aconcentrated effort at this work?

Any further ideas for fund raising oradding to the volunteer force will be welcome.

Roger Leishman01442 874536

[email protected]

Asking James Brindley�s advice

page 30

Progress...and finally the Mont

Another half-mile of theMontgomery has been re-

watered - and SUCS are hardat work at Crickheath

preparing for the next section

Montgomery Canal

The Shropshire Union Canal Society�s Octo-ber 2007 working party saw the first twomajor sections of work on the CrickheathWharf site finished. The 35 volunteers madeuse of perfect conditions to complete boththe heritage wharf and the visitor mooring.

The last few coping stones of the herit-age wall were fixed, together with the finalpointing of the face. In addition, backfillingand levelling of the wharf itself were com-pleted. Similarly, on the visitor mooring thecoping, french drain, pointing and backfillwere finished off.

A start was made on the winding hole.The location of the edges had been peggedout previously, and the task was to provide alevel surface for the accurate location of thepiles. This was a more complicated task thanit sounds since, although most of the pro-posed line was on dry land, about 15 metresor so was in a watered section. Making upthe level in these sections with fill required agreat deal of skilful digger driving to dealwith steep gradients and the proximity ofsome deep water.

The need to backfill the walls posed theproblem of how to move large quantities ofspoil or aggregate around the site. Theproblem was solved by using technology thatwould have been familiar to the canal�s origi-nal engineer G. W. Buck himself � wheelbar-rows. The modern refinement was the use ofthe digger to load three barrows side-by-side, so eliminating time consuming (andbackbreaking) manual loading. Using sixbarrows, large quantities of loose materialwere shifted very quickly.

There is also considerable progress toreport elsewhere between Gronwyn andCrickheath. The rewatering of the Gronwyn/Redwith section has happened. WRG spentthe weekend finishing the approach walls toPryce�s Bridge, and BW contractors havefelled all remaining trees between Pryce�sBridge and our site. Quite a change in a fewmonths.

WRG NW planting reeds in the eco-friendly bankprotection on the Gronwen to Redwith length,

before (Below) BW let the water in

Dav

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page 31

PlantThe KL15 Crane

...in which Bungle finallyfinishes taking the KL15crane to pieces and startstrying to work out how itgoes back together again...

The story so far

The bottom king post bearing has beenfound to have excessive play. The crane hasbeen moved into position for the superstruc-ture to be lifted off so the bearing can beremoved and examined.

Removing the superstructure

The new Claverton gantry crane (for thosewho haven�t been following the story, all thisis happening at Claverton Pumping Stationon the Kennet & Avon Canal) was riggedover the superstructure and the main hoistdrum was removed from the frame: this was

to reduce the weight for the main lift. Thenthe king post keeper plates were removedand following a couple of trial lifts, the stropswere adjusted for the correct length and thesuperstructure lifted clear from the kingpost.This is almost certainly the first time that thebearing has been exposed since the cranewas built 60 years ago! Considering this, theremoval was quite straightforward.

The truth revealed

Once the superstructure was safely on theground, the assembled engineering team atClaverton closely examined the bearingsurfaces: the bottom bearing was badly

Rigging the gantry crane to lift the superstructure from the king post

page 32

PlantThe KL15 Crane

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

Below: the team get to examine the bottombearing, exposed for the first time in six

decades. And as a result of their examina-tion, Welsh Phil gets to make a new thrust

washer on his lathe (above left) and machinethe bearing on his vertical mill (above right)

page 33

PlantThe KL15 crane

�Reassembly is the reverseof disassembly except thatyou swear in differentplaces. And boy, was theresome swearing!�

worn, as was the thrust washer and thebearing surface on the king post itself. Thereason for this soon became obvious. Thebottom bearing is lubricated by a greasenipple which is connected to the bottombearing by a tube: the tube had broken andhence all the grease was squirting out use-lessly under the footplate of the crane!

The solution was to make a new thrustwasher, a sleeve for the king post and tomachine the bottom bearing to fit the sleeve.Unfortunately this was not going to be possi-ble with the equipment at Claverton, butluckily �Welsh Phil� Scott came to the rescue.Phil has both an industrial lathe and a verti-cal mill, and what�s more he knows how touse them! After careful measurement of whatwas required, he spent several hours machin-ing various chunks of metal and the resultwas a pile of very shiny parts to re-assemblethe crane.

Above left: the shiny bits arrive back fromdeepest Wales. Left: Nevill marks out theslew gear to fit the brass thrust washer.

Above: the king post bearings all reassem-bled, lubricated and ready for the rebuild

Re-assembly beings

On the basis that there was nothing more todisassemble, every step from here was a stepcloser to finishing reassembly. The newsleeve was fitted to the king post, the thrustwasher attached to the top of the slew ringand the machined bearing clamped back intothe base of the superstructure. Most impor-tantly the grease tube was replaced and anew brass grease nipple fitted to avoid theproblem re-occurring.

In the next episode, re-assembly is thereverse of disassembly � except that youswear in different places! And boy, was theresome swearing......

George �Bungle� Eycott

All p

hoto

s co

urte

sy o

f Bun

gle

page 34

Dig reportLondon WRG on the M&B

A first-timeron a London

WRG weekendtells it like

it is...

Digging Mon & Brec

Being the only girl (and the only vegetarian)on the latest London WRG weekend wasn�t atall a problem, and it was nice to have myown bathroom (and my own a la carte meals� cheers Frank!). Here�s my diary for theduration.

Friday 7pm, Waterloo

�You won�t believe the smashes we�ve had inthis thing,� says Martin starting the engine.�Went into the back of a ParcelForce vandoing ninety on the M11 just last week.Lucky to be alive we are. And then the week-end before that I drove it into the GrandWestern canal. Talk about laugh!� I grip theroof handle tightly. As we build up speed onthe Hammersmith flyover the mysteriousrattling sounds begin.

It�s late when we get to the village ofCross Keys just outside Newport and youcan�t see the mountains because all the dark-ness is getting in the way. At least the churchhall seems pretty comfortable. There areeleven of us including some faces I recognisefrom the National, although luckily I don�t feel

awkward about being the only new person.We waste no time in getting to the pub.

Friday night 11pm

We order ten-and-a-half pints and the bar-man laughs. I don�t know why he�s laughing;the inside of this pub hasn�t changed sincethe miners� strike.

�Is Thatcher still in power?� one of thecustomers asks me. �Or is it safe to go out-side now?�

�This is a local pub, for local people,�explains Mafys the proprietess. And later:�Ten and a half pints again, is it?�

Saturday

We need to have a safety induction. �Don�tfall in the canal. And don�t eat the lime�pretty much covers it. Then they spend halfan hour teaching me to put cement in cracks.�Think of it like icing a cake,� says Tim,pleased to have found a simile he thinks I�llbe able to relate to. �Hold the trowel by thewooden end. We call that �the handle�.� Hepats me on the head and I start work. Afterabout twenty minutes we have a tea break.The group talks about how great Top Gear isand I worry about Amy Winehouse�s chaoticlifestyle. When all the good biscuits are gone,we start work again.

Nigel comes over every few minutes tocheck my work. �Think of it like icing a cake,�he explains. Tim comes over to explain tome why you should never leave an automaticcar in gear and I take the opportunity todecide whether I like Keira Knightley�s newhaircut, or if it really does make her jaw looktoo strong.

We break for lunch. Sort of getting usedto throwing tea bags into the canal now butsomehow it feels wrong. Martin gives me abrief geopolitical history of the Mon & BrecCanal whilst I wonder whether it really isankle straps or nothing this autumn, or if Ican get away with last year�s rouched pixieboots at least until Christmas.The author points stonework...

page 35

Dig reportLondon WRG on the M&B

�...Martin gives me a briefgeopolitical history of the Mon &Brec Canal whilst I wonderwhether it really is ankle strapsor nothing this autumn...�

Saturday 5pm

Really pleased to have repointed a wholesection of the wall by the end of the day. Tocelebrate our hard work on this overflowdrain, we take a walk up about a mile ofovergrown, crumbling canal and the fourteenplant-clogged locks which have fallen intodisrepair. Realise it�s just the tip of a very bigiceberg and unlike an iceberg, it isn�t goingto help by melting even a little bit. Feel a bitdepressed by this when we get back to basebut luckily what Frank is cooking smellsdelicious.

Disgusted to report very little evidenceof washing taking place before dinner. Mostof group now looking like coalminers. Iscrub and scrub to get the lime out of myskin � worried it�ll eat big holes in my facewhile I sleep, and I�ll wake up looking likeDaniella Westbrook.

Later we go to the pub again where thelandlady is training her fat spaniel to be inthe circus. She throws snooker balls which

the dog gamely catches. It doesn�t have anyteeth left but the act is really coming on.

I get my knitting out and as everyone�stoo tired to talk about car engines, Top Gearand plumbing tonight, we sit around andwatch me knit until midnight.

You make your own fun in South Wales.

Sunday 8am

Slept okay but getting really grumpy now.Luckily builders� tea really perks me up, alsothought that television will be arriving. Won-der if there�s a film on this afternoon?

Sunday 9am

Argh! It isn�t a television but a televisioncrew that are arriving, to film somethingcalled Water World (I think it�s a sequel to aKevin Costner turkey). Luckily I will be wear-ing a hard hat so no-one�ll notice I haven�twashed my hair since Friday. Everyone pre-tends not to be really excited about the telly

crew getting here but Inotice quite a few peopleseem to have ironed theirred t-shirts.

All the excitement ofthe telly crew visit over, weget back to the real businessof the day � drinking tea.

Sunday 11pm

Finally get home, nothanks to Transport forLondon. Darling is de-lighted to see me. �Thewashing machine broke.I�ve had these pants on forthree days now. Did youknow you�re getting mudall over the floor?�

Despite all this, I amhoping to do anotherweekend soon�

Sophie Smith...and gets inverviewed by Waterworld

page 36

WRG Boat Club News

I am so sorry to hear of the death of MikeStevens: what a smashing bloke he was,great sense of humour and, although not amember, he was always very supportivetowards the boat club. The boaters� maga-zine at the �National� was always a good readand I made a point of ensuring that I got acopy of every edition, especially the last oneeach year which was numbered edition 5½. Iwill miss his expertise and cooperation.

As we approach the end of the year Iwill recap on some of the exciting bits � rain,floods, mud, unscheduled tidal voyages,mud, cancelled festivals, mud, trains hangingoff bridges and more mud all have theirplace in our memories.

Our boat club�s only official awardgoing to Aileen Butler in recognition of herhard work and contribution to wrg.

Here are some unofficial awards: Worstvalue for licence money goes to the mem-bers who bought a gold licence so they couldget to St Ives early to help and, due to circum-stances beyond their control, have only madetwo trips to the water point(100 yds from theirmooring) all year! Most confusing sign: �LiftGate Close� and when you press the button somarked a guillotine gate goes down!

Any more suggestions?The club house is being well main-

tained, I hope you are all keeping an eye onthe notice board updates. If so, you knowthat SUBS ARE OVERDUE. Anyone not paidup by now will be dis-membered and, evenworse, off the Christmas card list!

Lynne has done a stalwart job attendingAWCC meetings on our behalf. Here aresome extracts from the last minutes.

Boat Licensing Consultation Document:http://www.britishwaterways.co.uk/images/bw_licence_fee_consultation_oct_07.pdf. Freepaper copies are available from BW on 01923201120. (I failed to get a copy from the internetaddress, so phoned and listened to Handel�s WaterMusic for a while until someone got round tospeaking to me. All at mobile phone prices.)

Closing date for consultation is 7th January 2008Reading this document is not good for the bloodpressure, as you may gather from these commentsfrom AWCC regional Chairman...

�I do not know if it is I, but I believe the canalsare generally in a poorer state than last year. Some ofit can be put down to the DEFRA cuts, but not all.The amount of bonuses paid out to Robin Evans &Co beggars belief! £171,000 paid to members of theBW board for a total of 400hrs. Over £2m paid toeleven top BW men including four who have now leftwith a golden handshake. How can BW justify a bonusof £65,000? Pensions are another huge increase, oneperson leaving with a pension of over £39,000 and alump sum over £260,000. What next year�s figureswill show I hate to think. Now for the sting in the tail.This is the so called consultation. BW has alreadytold us that licensing will go up by 30%... a bit likethose phone-ins where you vote for an act you likebest, but in fact they have already made the decision.Talk about a stab in the back, after all that Save OurWaterways against DEFRA cuts...�

There was, justifiably, quite a bit on boat firesafety including Keeping Safe with Solid Fuel Stoveswww.boatsafetyscheme.com/fire and The Solid FuelAssociation guide to buying suitable fuels for different typesof appliance and getting the best out of the fuel atwww.solidfuel.co.uk/pdfs/solid_fuels.pdf. Diesel Consul-tation was also mentioned but by now we are waitingfor news of results of the consultation. And as part ofBW�s minimum Health and Safety standards �All bridgesin this (East Midland) region are to have their numberplates fitted...� Well that news will help me sleep better!

Further meetings are: January 12th StaffordBoat; March 8th Soar Boat Club

Well the closures are upon us, so checkbefore venturing out this winter. There isnothing worse than getting to a closed bridge�ole and the winding hole is the other side! I speakfrom experience, though the BW office con-cerned �forgot to mention it, sorry� when I hadphoned them. It was a long way to reverse!

Better luck to all who venture forth thisfestive season. Of course you might get frozenin. I just like to look on the bright side.

What digs or �bashes� can we get to byboat in 2008? Someone let us know please.

xxx Sadie Dean

WRG BCNews from our boat club

�Talk about a stabin the back, after all

that Save OurWaterways against

DEFRA cuts...

page 37

Camp ReportWilts & Berks extra

Di Smurthwaite reportsfrom an impromptufive-day camp atSteppingstones and SevenLocks in September

A Birthday Bash

The last week in September saw threenavies celebrating birthdays � MartinThompson reaching the big 50; Adam�Digger� Morris half that at 25; and RachaelBanyard a little bit more than either ofthem � so the question of how to celebratecame up.

Of course they could have buzzed offto some hot sunny place and done some-thing really boring like lazing on a beachand getting skin cancer. Or, far more excit-ing, arrange an impromptu dig on somecanal or other along with some friends.Yorkshire people say there�s nowt sostrange as folk, and most folk think naviesare strange, so we might as well live up toit�

On Adrian Fry�s August camp onSteppingstones Bridge on the Wilts &Berks, we had made great progress withtwo of the four side walls being finished upto corbel height, but we were frustrated inthat we hadn�t been provided with enoughscaffolding to do any work on the othertwo, so it was looking a bit uneven.

Having decided that we wanted torectify this, Rachael Banyard set off to tryand find a hall for a five-day dig in theShrivenham area on 26-30 September butthis proved impossible at such short no-tice; however we were able to get BushtonVillage Hall near Wootton Bassett. It meanta bit of travelling each day, but it is a reallynice hall, wide and roomy, and even betterfrom my point of view it has a splendidkitchen � two large cookers, two sinks,almost catering size fridge and a smallfreezer. Equally important, the pub is only400 yards away.

Rachael arranged to borrow somescaffolding from the WBCT SwindonBranch, and George �Bungle� Eycott trans-ported it for us to Steppingstones. The firstday and a half were spent erecting it, withMartin and Rob itching to get their handson some bricks and mortar � but eventu-

ally they got started and on Friday goodprogress was made despite it being rainyall day, and they arrived back at the hall fortea slightly earlier than the long day thathad been planed.

Luke and Digger arrived on Fridayevening, and a concrete pour had beenarranged for Saturday morning at Lock 4 ofSeven Locks so the day was spent workingthere. Despite this, by Sunday evening oneof the walls at Steppingstones had beenbuilt up to six courses of brickwork and thefirst two courses on the fourth wall.

Steve Moody had enjoyed his firstcamp in August so much that he joined usor the five days and got his dumper ticket.John Hawkins had also celebrated hisbirthday in September so we were pleasedthat he was able to join us.

Unfortunately we had at least threesnorers in our group of up to eleven on thedig, and Martyn W found that he couldn�tsleep very well in his hard hat and eardefenders and had to retreat to his car onenight.

We had a bit of a party on Saturdaynight with several more friends joining usand Jenny Black came hotfoot from ahockey match to take part (and to workwith us all day on Sunday). I didn�t haveroom on the birthday cake I�d made for allthe candles so each name had two eachand on the count of NOW they were allblown out at once.

I must remember to tell Martin that anewspaper article describes 50-year-olds as�the new 30s� and that he is now a �Goty� ��Getting older, thinking younger�. A womansaid that she doesn�t mind a bit beingdescribed as �over the hill�, as one gathersspeed on the way down! They are moreambitious and have more goals than 30-year-olds. Like finishing SteppingstonesBridge?

There�s nothing like a gathering offriends all doing what they enjoy most!

Di Smurthwaite(Yet another Cook Report)

page 38

Contacting the chairman:Mike Palmer

3 Finwood Rd,Rowington, Warwickshire

CV35 7DHTel: 01564 785293

email: [email protected]

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

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

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

products.asp?cat=126

Stampswanted

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

Dial-a-camp

To contactany WRG

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

NOTICEBOARD

New arrivalCongratulations to

Emma & Dan Evans on the arrival ofJack Charles on September 11th

Change of address...

Ed Walker and Suzie Pouncehave moved to:4 Blackwater Way, Didcot,Oxfordshire OX11 7RL

The former Izzy Gascoigne wouldlike people to know that since shegot married she is now Izzy Rutterand has got a new email address:[email protected]

If you move house, don�t forget totell Navvies subscriptions

Navvies DirectoryThe next issue of Navvies willcontain the full directory of WRGand canal society working partycontacts. If you have any addi-tions, deletions or updates pleasesend them to the editor.

A Merry Christmas

and a

Happy New Yearto everyone from the Editor.

Don�t forget to save the stamps fromyour Christmas cards and

send them to the WRG StampBank - see belowSee you in 2008

Attention WRG leaders!Leaders� training day on March 1 atBenson Village Hall before the BarnDance. Contact Mike Palmer (see

right) for details

Boat Club News Stop PressAs subs have come in, club funds havepassed the required £500 mark so, as

agreed at the AGM, we have donated thisamount to The Cotswold Canal Trust. A

small drop towards the ocean of loss theysuffered to their restoration funds be-

cause of the need to cancel Saul Festival.More details next time.

Sadie Dean

page 39

WRG Tart?

The phrase �WRG tart� hasrecently been coined tomean a WRGie who will digwith any and every group...

...so the editor pro-duced an appropriate pud-ding on a recent LondonWRG dig on the H&G.

InfillIs the editor a tart?

Although Chris doesn�tknow it, he was actuallyconceived on a dig: theJune 1979 Grand Union,led by Mike Warton.His parents Dave andSue got married eightmonths after that camp.Canal restoration�s inhis blood and Chris canalways be relied on todrive the van, work theequipment and organisethe Lavender boat gang.If his Dad�s not usingthe family scaf spanner,it�s in Chris�s backpocket. He�s well likedaround camp by all theother WRGies, althoughhe doesn�t quite getalong with MikeWarton. Ironic really, asMike has equal claim tobe Chris�s father.

WRGieotypes No 1: The Second Generation WRGie

Own safety hat: the signof a serious WRGie

First editionThern-A-Rest

Keys for the Landy(What else?) Chris and his dad often

share socks on a dig (�achange is as good as awash�)

T-shirt from his firstever dig. It�s gettingquite old now: in an-other ten years time hemay have to think aboutreplacing it.

Ancestral scaf span

Calling Becky Gross

We recently received an email from a chap who believed thatthe cover pic in issue 225 showed his old friend Becky Grosswho used to live on a boat with her husband Rob atCosgrove then Weedon but who he�d lost touch with.

We contacted Mel who is actually the person pictured onthe cover. She said �maybe I was Becky Gross in a previouslife and having suffered a bump on the head I forgot I evenowned a boat or had a husband for that matter and justcalled myself Melanie Parker.� Although she admits that whileforgetting she had a husband is possible, forgetting she hada boat is another matter...

Anyway if anyone knows the real Becky Gross couldthey contact the editor so (a) we can put her in touch withher old friend (b) Mel can find out whether she�s got adoppelganger or an alter ego and (c) assuming the former,we can put photos of both of them in Navvies with thenames swapped over like they do in Private Eye.

page 40

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