2014 06 shroppie fly paper

Summer 2014 Shroppie Fly PaperPage

Summer 2014Shroppie Fly Paper Page

Portfolio - Mark Welton, nb Tallulah

ABOVE: Weaver Aqueduct, Middlewich Branch, Church MinshullFRONT COVER: Evening at OverWater by Mark Welton

LEFT: Tyrley Locks, Shropshire Union RIGHT: Bridge 21. Middlewich Branch

Shroppie Fly PaperSummer 2014

The Editor's cut...

Welcome to the summer issue of Shroppie Fly Paper, whichasusual is full of newsandviews fromaroundour branchareaand, occasionally, a little further afield.

The festival season kicked off in style once more at Norbury,where SNCT’s potentially risky weather strategy of selectingthe first bank holiday weekend of the year paid off again.Althoughperhapsnot quiteasgloriousas last year, 2014’s festival enjoyedenoughsunshine to bring the crowds flocking to the junction to enjoy the pub, the boats andthe traders’ offerings.

Isn’t it strange how the secondMay bank holiday weekend is often worse than thefirst? The Crick Show suffered once again, this time with an epic storm of almostbiblical proportions. That didn’t seem to dampen the mood of the visiting public,though. The waterways media and individual traders have reported a greatersenseof optimismandan increased level of visitor spending,which is encouragingto hear.

We still have plenty of our own shows coming up during the summer, with Audlem,Whitchurch and Maesbury still to enjoy. And towards the end of September IWAis holding its national annual general meeting on the Caldon Canal in theStaffordshire Moorlands at Leek, which is not at all far from our area. Hopefully,many of you will be able to attend both the open meeting and the associatedfestivities that will be taking place over the AGM weekend.

Elsewhere in these pages you will see that we have secured the services ofsomeone who should be a fascinating speaker for our Autumn Social Evening &Talk in November. John Yates, who lives within the branch area at Wem, is a manwith a very full CV, having worked coal-carrying narrowboats for years and now anactive contributor to English Heritage and multiple CRT committees. See page 16for details of the event.

And finally, let's welcome the return of Michael Limbrey as our branch chairman.Michael needs little or no introduction tomany of our readers, but for thosewho areunfamiliar with his name he has been an ardent supporter of the work of the IWA,particularly its restoration efforts, over more years than he cares to admit.

One imagines thatMichael will have been as delighted as the rest of us, if not evenmore so, to havewitnessed the re-watering of the latest stretch of theMontgomeryCanal in early June. Well done to the SUCS volunteers, whom we fervently hopecan keep going, with some WRG assistance, to Llanymynech and beyond!

Michael Haig

Next copy date: October 15, 2014 Printed by Downstream Ltd, Nantwich

Summer 2014Shroppie Fly Paper

The Branch CommitteePresident & Michael Limbrey, Fulshaw House, Llanymynech SY22 6ENChairman 01691 839992 [email protected] Chairman David Aylwin, Wyndcliff, Pen y Garreg Lane, Pant, Oswestry SY10 8JS

01691 830403 [email protected] Region Chairman Alan Platt, Argoed, Pen y Cefn Road, Caerwys, Flintshire CH7 5BH

01352 720649 [email protected] & Dawn Aylwin, Wyndcliff, Pen y Garreg Lane, Pant, Oswestry SY10 8JSMembership Sec. 01691 830403 [email protected] Denis Farmer, 8 Kingbur Place, Audlem, Crewe CW3 0DL

01270 811157 [email protected] & Peter Brown, 34 Waterside Drive, Market Drayton TF9 1HUPlanning Officer 01630 652567 [email protected] Alan Wilding, Priory Lodge, 154 Longden Road, Shrewsbury SY3 9ED

01743 359650 [email protected] Editor Michael Haig, 7 Barnton Edge, Stone ST15 8ZR

01785 813550 [email protected] Secretary Val Haig, 7 Barnton Edge, Stone ST15 8ZR

01785 813550 [email protected] Officer Fiona Pearson, 1 Inglis Road, Park Hall, Oswestry SY11 4AN

01691 662109 [email protected] Members Hugh Appleton, 1 Maes Dinas, Llanfechain, SY22 6YR

01691 828124 [email protected] Farmer, 8 Kingbur Place, Audlem CW3 0DL - contact as for TreasurerGerallt Hughes, Ty’n y Coed, Arthog, Gwynedd LL39 1YS01341 250631 [email protected] Wilding, Priory Lodge, 154 Longden Road, Shrewsbury SY3 9ED01743 359 650 [email protected]

Branch Web pages www.waterways.org.uk/shrewsburywww.facebook.com/pages/IWA-Shrewsbury-Branch/388651831206061

Shroppie Fly PaperTheShroppieFlyPaper is the newsletter of theShrewsburyDistrict &NorthWalesBranchof The InlandWaterways Association with a membership of about 330. Nationally the IWA has about 16,000members and campaigns for the conservation, use, maintenance, restoration and development of theinland waterways. For further information contact any committee member.

Copy for the Shroppie Fly Paper is welcome by email, on disk or in manuscript form. Photographsmaybe in any common computer format or as prints. Please supply a stamped addressed envelope if yourequire photographs to be returned. ‘Letters to the Editor’ intended for publication are invited, as arecomments for the Editor’s private guidance. Copy and letters submitted for publication may be edited.

The InlandWaterwaysAssociationmaynot agreewith theopinionsexpressed in thisBranchnewsletterbut encourages publicity as a matter of interest. Nothing printed may be construed as official policyunless stated otherwise. The Association accepts no liability for any matter in this newsletter. Anyreproduction must be acknowledged.

The Inland Waterways Association is a non-profit distributing company limited by guarantee.Registered in England No 612245. Registered as a charity No 212342.


From The Steerer

It was a surprise – and a privilege – to be asked to actagain as branch chairman. I never tire of telling IWAfriends from other branches that our area includes thecountry's finest canals!Therearesignificant restorationstoo: theMontgomeryandShrewsbury&NewportCanalsboth have features unique in ourwaterwaynetwork, facechallenges to reopening and offer a valuablecontribution to the area, as does the Whitchurch Armproject.

Much has changed since we started out as a branch nearly forty years ago. Thenwe had to campaign for the value of our waterways to be appreciated, and theIWA's new branch structure was a way of bringing that campaign into each part ofthe country.

Today there is a recognition of the value of our waterways and what we do tosustain, protect and promote them makes a contribution to the well-being of ourarea, telling a wider audience what it has to offer.

There is too a new level of enthusiasm within Canal & River Trust. That Trust is ofcourse the realisation of a vision promoted by IWAmany years ago (though so farincorporationg only ex-BW waterways) and we work with CRT more closely thanever for the benefit of our waterways.

Today's recognition of our canals and navigable rivers comes from theirconsiderable social value, their economic, social and environmental benefit. Theybringvisitors from farandwide–many, especially on theLlangollen, fromoverseas–andare oneof themost important features of local tourism, andhenceof the localeconomy.

As well as what we do locally, the branch has a role as part of the nationalassociation. Nationally the IWA is active in protecting and promoting our waterwaynetwork and, when it has to, takes issue with the Government, the Canal & RiverTrust or anyone else.

Nationally and locally there aremanymatterswhich affect ourwaterways, from theextension of the national grid network to the construction of new marinas or theimpact of HS2 and IWA can take a public stance on such issues to reflect theconcerns of members, and is not constrained in the way that CRT might be.

At the same time, any organisation has to adapt to the world around it: I am sure


we spend much more time these days in maintaining contact with publicorganisations and agencies to promotewaterways and our restorations. It is someyears since a council officer had to tell me that not only had 'they' 'changed thegoalposts' but the pitch had been moved as well! So we have to keep our eye onthe ball – and the pitch!

Boats are an essential part of thewaterway scene. I amnot a boat-owner, but havetravelledmanywaterwaysover theyears–andanumberwerenotevenopenwhenI first discovered canals. Most of my colleagues on the branch committee havemuch more boating experience than I. It is important to continue the focus onboating: do you knowany boater who benefits from thework of the IWAbut doesn'tbelong?

So what might happen during my spell as Chairman? In the first place, the branchhas a committee of volunteers who give a lot of their time for the benefit of ourwaterways. Have you noticed that there aremore names in the committee page atthe front of SFP? Extra help means we can be more effective in what we do, anddo more. And actually, I think we all derive some pleasure from meeting regularlyas friends and from joining activities which benefit our waterways. (There may bemany definitions of 'pleasure' of course!)

What would I like to achieve? I would like the branch, its committee and itsmembers –

• to engagewith public bodies and thegeneral public to ensure that ourwaterways,navigable and under restoration, are valued,

• to be aware that the branch and the IWA itself is part of a larger world of peoplewho want the same as we do,

• to encourage people who care for our canals to support events which improve orpromote them,

•and to encourage canal users to value and support what the IWA does for them.

Michael Limbrey - Branch Chairman

Editor's note: In his opening sentenceMichael alludes to the fact that this is not his first termof office as branch chairman. In fact he has served the branch in this role on two previousoccasions: first around 1980 and more recently from 1994-1997. With his many otherwaterways commitments, including the chairmanship of the Montgomery WaterwayRestoration Trust, we are fortunate that Michael could be persuaded to lead the branch fora third term.


Region Chaiman writes

2014 seems to be a year of anniversaries. In IWA termsthe most significant is the centenary of RobertAickman’s birth, and there are plans to try andget aBluePlaque erected outside his former home in GowerStreet, London,whichwasalso the first IWAheadoffice.

Following on from Tom Rolt’s centenary year in 2010, Iam reminded of how committed and eccentric boththese key figures in the history of the Association were.We live in different timesandyour current trustees seemrather less colourful and perhaps less strongwilled. If true, thatmay be just aswell,living as we do in a different age, ruled by risk assessments and KPI analyses.However, though we may exhibit a duller style than our founders showed, I hopewe still have some of their enthusiasm and spirit, and certainly we share their loveof and commitment to the waterways.

This year is also one of events in our area. The Monty triathlon is now becomingfirmly fixed in the calendar and the organisers are to be thanked and congratulatedfor another excellent event. Later in the year we have theMaesbury rally, plans forwhich seem well advanced and this again is another excellent way of achievingvaluable publicity for the Montgomery Canal and its restoration.

With the first phase of the Montgomery’s Heritage Lottery Fund bid accepted, theappointmentof aProjectManager imminentand the recent rewateringof theSUCSrestored section to Pryce’s bridge, things are looking up for the Monty.As they are also for the other major restoration in our patch: the Shrewsbury &Newport Canals. Another successful HLFPhase I bid, by all accounts an excellentNorbury festival inMay, andmajor progress atWappenshall and elsewhere on therestoration all augur well.

I hopemany of youwere able tomake it to the National Campaign Rally at Chesterin early June. I have to confess that, among the many delights offered by theschedule, the one that caught my eye was pole dancing, which must be a first fora waterways festival!

While reluctant to end on a sad note, I must mention the recent funeral of AnnAppleton, one of our valued committee members. Our membership secretary,Dawn Aylwin, remembers Ann in more detail overleaf, but let me add that It wasenlightening to learn fromher eulogy that this quiet unassuming lady, always readyto lend a hand when needed, was so active in so many areas. We shall miss her,and our sympathies go to Hugh and their family.


Membership Matters

We are delighted to welcome the following new members who have joined theBranch since the spring edition of this magazine and look forward to meeting youall at one of our forthcoming events.

Mr & Mrs Allen from No Mans Heath, Mrs Andrews from Hurleston, Mr Bell fromMostyn, Mr Howell from Corwen, Mr & Mrs Keyes from Ellesmere, Mr Mackenziefrom Harpenden Hertfordshire, and Mr O'Keeffe from Whitchurch,

This year, more than ever, we desperately need your help at some of the branchactivities especially at the lockwindandat theMaesburyCanal Festival (full detailselsewhere in this magazine). Our usual pool of helpers has diminished due to hipand knee replacements, broken bones, and other age related reasons. So if youhave two working legs and at least one hand please get in touch! Seriously, if youcan spare an hour or two your help will be much appreciated. Don't delay phoneamember of the committee today - if you leave it till nextweek the chancesare that,having read this magazine from cover to cover, it's likely to be in the waste paperrecycling bin, and then you'll forget!

We will miss them…

It is with great sadness that I have to report that AnnAppleton, a branch committeemember, passed away on 12 May, at the Severn Hospice. Ann and her husbandHugh joined thecommittee twoyearsago, andwereveryactive inbranchactivities.

Before joining the branch, Ann developed an interest in canals through visitingcanal museums and enjoying a week's holiday on a narrowboat on the GrandUnion Canal as a leader with a party of Girl Guides. This interest was furtherincreased by numerous walks along canals, as well as taking part in branchactivities, including the visit to the Dudley Canal Tunnels.

Ann found taking an active role in the Branch very rewarding and helped to easethe workload on other committee members. Along with Hugh, Ann workedtirelessly as a volunteer at the last Maesbury Festival; she also worked at theShrewsbury charity Christmas card shop where she was able to add up quickerthan calculators, a skill she developed when working as an accountant. Needlessto sayAnnwill bemissed.Our thoughts and sympathies go toHugh and their threedaughters.

May was not a good month and sadly our thoughts go also to Helen Love whose


husband, Frank, passed away at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital after a longillness. Frank and Helen attended every festival at Maesbury in their narrowboatGiverny and helped with the children's WOW activities; Frank will be missed notonly by us, but also more importantly by Helen, his children and grandchildren.

Dawn Aylwin

On the Telly again!

ITV Wales came to Llanymynech onJune 2 to film our stretch of the Montyfor the programme ‘Coast andCountry’. They started on the boat ontheWelsh side of the bridge and filmedthe very short trip from Wales to theWharf Visitor Centre. Here, CarlEdwards, the presenter, and hisadorable Shnauzer puppy, Peggy,disembarked to go to the HoffmannKiln.

For the next couple of hours TonyBeardsell took the team around theKiln in the Heritage Area. Jerry, thecameraman, and Helen, the producer,were most appreciative and loved thevenue.

Then, back on the boat to cruise the 600m to the ‘dry bit’. (Thanks to Alan Barnesfor his expert helming of the boat). Jerry spent his time hopping on and off to filmfrom the towpath aswell as the boat. This all tied inwell with the TV crew’smorningengagement - filming the re-watering of the Redwith to Pryce’s Bridge section ofthe canal. Only another 2½ miles to go to get to Llanymynech!

The programme is expected to be broadcast at the end of July. Watch out for it.

You may also be interested in a new phone app for Llanymynech LimeworksHeritage Area produced as part of Powys CC’s ‘Walking with Offa’ project. Lookfor 'Trails Mid Wales'. There is also an ebook (for iPads only). Go to http://bookry.com/user/powys/ , click on 'Public stores belonging to Powys' then 'TrailsMid Wales'. Scroll down to see all the ebooks.

Joan Zorn

ITV in Llanymynech Photo: Joan Zorn


Shropshire Council’s £30,000 Shrewsbury towpath resurfacing

Over the last year Shrewsbury & Newport Canals Trust (SNCT) has held regularwork parties in Shrewsbury to clear the canaltowpath into the town. This length, fromFactoryBridge (opposite Ditherington Flax Mill) toShrewsbury town centre, had fallen intodisrepair in recent years, the surface haddeteriorated and it had become impassable insome areas in wet weather.

Brambles have now been cleared right alongthe length, particularly in the St Michaels Gatearea, and a massive amount of rubbish hasbeen removed. For the first time the Trust wasalso allowed onto the Morris Lubricants site toclear back and clean up the area next to thetowpath on their side of the fence.

Shropshire Council has agreed to spend£30,000 to re-surface the path along the whole

route. The path has now been asphalted and the fall to the edges of the towpathwill ensure that rain water runs off the path, making it usable throughout the yearfor everyone.

John MyersInter-Branch Skittles Evening - Saturday, October 25, 2014 7.30pm

Stafford Boat ClubMaplewood, Wildwood, Stafford ST17 4SG - 01785 660725

The appearance of this itemmay deceive some of you into thinking it’s spring, as the popular SkittlesChallenge was traditionally held in April. But this year the date has changed – to October 25.

Some things stay the same, however. The venue will again be Stafford Boat Club, the hosts are IWANorth Staffordshire & South Cheshire Branch, and the hosts retain the trophy, which they prised fromthe grasp of Shrewsbury District & North Wales Branch in 2012. Once more the contest is a three-cornered affair as IWA Lichfield Branch is joining us again.

So come along, see if you can help our branch recover the trophy, and enjoy an entertaining socialevening in Stafford. Overnight moorings may be available - contact SBC for more information.

Meet at 7.30pm for a supper of Beef Hot Pot and Apple Pie & Cream, cost £7.50 per head includingskittles. You can pay on the night, however the club needs to know by October 18 (forcatering) how many will be attending, so please contact me [email protected] or 07976 280174 as soon as possible to book your place.Why not do it now before you forget and recycle this valuable magazine?


"Time To Say Goodbye"

This is the title of one of the humans'favourite songs and she fancied usingit for this occasion!

Music of all kinds was the theme inAudlem for the May Bank Holiday,when the village hosts its extremelypopular annual festival and the placecomes alive from noon till what seemslike late into the night. Living as we doon theWharf, we got the full "benefit"!The humans remarked that it musthave been a bit like Glastonbury orWoodstock but without the mud.

Lots to enjoy there, so the beginning of June seemed comparatively peaceful withjust the RNLI Open day at Overwater Marina overflowing into the village. Peoplestopping for refreshment on their way home at the end of a glorious sunny daymade us all feel very privileged to be part of a canal village with so much going on.

It was in 1997 when I took over from Ethelted to write for the Shroppie Fly Paper.Before that, I am told, the male human wrote and covered a fewcontroversial topics! I was found to help look after the recently built nbLeo and gave a running report on life on board and our travels. Ethelted was myconstant companion and advisor and we both have good memories.

Now seems the right time to retire and thank people for their interest andfeedback. It was lovely to hear fellow boaters enquiring after us on ourtrips and while we are happy being House bears, we don't forget our boating daysand we are assured that the human's won't either.

Cheers - Tugboat Ted

Audlem RNLI Festival at OverWater Marina

The thirdAudlemRNLIFestival, hostedby themarinaonJune1, proved to beevenmore successful than the previous two years, with over 1,500 people taking partto raise £4,000 in donations to support the valuable life-saving work of the RNLI.

Tugboat Ted & Ethelted bid farewell

Photo: Janet Farmer


The sun shone for the event, which was a fun day for all the family. The return ofthe ‘round the island’ raft race attracted seven teamswith theBridge Inn team fromAudlem winning first prize. After several sinking moments, Audlem’s Fire Stationteam just managed to avoid taking the wooden spoon.

Providing historic interest were thefly-boat Saturn and a steampowered launch. Expert boathandling, hiring and buying advicewas on hand, while the emergencyservices were also wellrepresented.

IWA Shrewsbury & North WalesBranch unveiled its extremelysmart and still very shiny newgazebo, and we were fortunate tobe able to have our branch’s 2015

calendars for sale thanks to an impressively swift turnaround from the design teamand the printers, Downstream of Nantwich. We were also fortunate to have plentyof willing support at the event to man our stand and thanks go to all whovolunteered.

TheAudlemLassboat service ferriednumerous visitors fromAudlemon its regularrun between OverWater and Lock 15. Since its launch three years ago, the boathas notched up an impressive 5,000miles – enough to get from Liverpool to Brazil– and has carried more than 12,000 passengers as well as pushchairs, wheelchairs and over 500 assorted dogs, earning over £16,000 for the RNLI.

Michael Haig

Fly boat Saturn and steam launch at OverWater

Photo: Michael Haig

BOAT JUMBLEat

MAESBURY FESTIVAL SEPTEMBER 6-7, 2014

Put forgotten and overlooked treasures to good use

The Branch Committee plans to sell donated items useful to boaters, canal enthusiastsand others at the IWA stand during the festival. We have some jumble left over afterparting with our narrowboat Leo, including a hand pump out unit, a 2' x 4' luggage trolleyand a number of smaller items, but need more. If you have any spare items that youcan donate please bring them along on the day or contact any committee member (seepage 4) Our space for storage is very limited but I've no doubt we will manage. Direct

to the stand however will be helpful.

Janet & Denis Farmer


From the Social Secretary

Asmany of youwill know, our first brewery tour proved a spectacular success! Thefifty places available on our visit to Joule’s Brewery in Market Drayton on May 6were fully subscribed and we even had a waiting list, which unfortunately we wereunable to accommodate.

However, those who booked early enough were rewarded with an excellentevening, an informative talk about the origins of the Joule’s brand and its brewing,a guided tour of the Brew House, a substantial pork supper and, importantly, asmuch free beer on self-service as desired!

Nowonder I’ve been receiving requeststo make this an annual event. Weprobably won’t actually do that, but maywell arrange a repeat either at the sameor an alternative brewery another year.

So onwards and upwards…in theBranch Diary pages and elsewhere youwill find the programme for the rest of2014.

You will see that we are asking for yoursupport to help us regain the coveted Inter-Branch Skittles Trophy at Stafford BoatClub on October 25. We loaned it two years ago to North Staffordshire & SouthCheshire Branch, but unfortunately have been unable to win it back since!

Members of the committee and I are also working on our Autumn Social Eveningand Talk. We have a date, a venue and a speaker, so please make a note of themin your diaries. TheSocial Eveningwill be onMonday,November 10 at BrooklandsHotel on the outskirts of Shrewsbury. Our after-dinner speaker will be John Yates.

Recalling our 2013 Autumn Talk at the Narrowboat, Whittington, which was verywell attended despite dreadful driving weather, this year we are going for a venuethat is more accessible to most on major roads. We hope you will approve of thisand turn out to support the branch. Details are on the Diary page.

Finally, the Friends of the Leominster Canal extend a warm invitation to branchmembers to join them on any of their regular walks on the Leominster Canal.Details are on the Branch Diary page of Shroppie Fly Paper.

Val Haig

Joule's Brewery visit Photo: Michael Haig


CRT winter stoppage consultation 2014-05

Betweenour springandsummer issuesCRTannounced the timetable for itswinterstoppage consultation for Winter 2014-15 and also details of the proposedstoppages themselves.

Comments on the first version of CRT’s plans closed on Friday, June 20, for CRTplanners to assess the online feedback andmake any amendments that they can.Thereafter the revised plans will be released for a second round of consultationfrom July 14 to August 8, with a final stoppage schedule to be determined onAugust 29.

CRT is proposing that this winter the stoppages on the Llangollen Canal will takeplacebeforeChristmas,and thoseon thenorthernShropshireUnionMainLineandat Cholmondeston Lock on the Middlewich Branch after Christmas.

Specifically, the stoppages include, between November and December, the ChirkandWhitehouses tunnels, Frankton Locks, NewMarton Locks, as well as Poveysand Quoisley locks, while in the new year work will be taking place at SU locationsincluding Audlem, Woodseaves and Cholmondeston. The full list of plannedstoppages in our branch area can be found on the CRT website.

In IWA’s regular dialogues with the three waterway managers in our North WestRegion, they have been very enthusiastic in expressing their wish to receive moreuser comments during the consultation process. So please, when the secondconsultation phase begins, visit http://canalrivertrust.org.uk/notices/winter, checkthe full list of plannedstoppagesandhave your say if you think there are issues thathave not been adequately addressed.

Michael Haig

Water Adds Value : IWA/CRT Conference

It is two years since the trumpeted launch of the Canal & River Trust. How are IWAand CRT getting along? For an answer look no further than their joint conference,Water Adds Value, held in Birmingham – unfortunately on the day of theMontgomery Canal Triathlon!

On displaywas amap showing derelict canals around the country: no less than 95,including of course the three active projects in our branch area.


The conference was built around a study, entitled ‘Water Adds Value’, by theUniversity of Northampton. It looked at the added value of restored canals: theeconomic, social and environmental impacts of restoration. Seven projects wereconsidered, north and south, urban and rural. The study found that canalrestoration has “a huge unrealised potential to support local and nationaleconomies through boosting tourism, regeneration and community action”.

Significant benefits were identified in each restoration: in visitor numbers, whatthose visitors spend, the jobs and business opportunities they bring, and theopportunity for valuable canalside development (that does not mean ribbondevelopment along either bank, but developments such as the Falkirk Wheel orReading's Oracle Centre that have made restoration there worthwhile), plusadditional opportunities for outdoor exercise, conservation of historic structures,flood protection, land drainage and improved biodiversity.

A couple of examples:

•over 50 jobs created in recreation, leisure and tourism from reopening theBridgwater & Taunton Canal, with over 600,000 visits generating spending ofapprox. £1.7million, plus enhanced property values;

•an increase of about 20% in towpath visitors following the reopening of theDroitwich Canal, with £1.1million spend from boating supporting 11 full-time jobs,some £2million private investment in a new marina, and plans for significantwaterside development.

It is actually much more interesting to see all this summarised in a shortpresentation which you can find at www.youtube.com/watch?v=dg0B_2v-bLk.

Following this study we heard from three different restoration projects, all in ruralareas and all facing the challenge of restoring waterways which were abandonedlong before those in our area: the Cotswold Canals running from Gloucestershireto the Thames above Lechlade, the Wiltshire, Swindon & Oxfordshire CanalPartnership focusing on canals centred on Swindon, and the Hereford &Gloucester Canal, a 34 mile canal, derelict for 150 years, where the Trust assistsdevelopments which benefit the canal and the local community.

We have always known that Water Adds Value. It has been very exciting to havethat confirmedand set out by this latest study –and then to present that informationat the Montgomery Canal Forum. It just goes to showwhat opportunities there arefor Welshpool, Pant and Llanymynech, Whitchurch, Newport, Shrewsbury andother towns and villages in our area!

Michael Limbrey


IWA Shrewsbury District & North Wales BranchBranch Diary 2014

All branchmembers are welcome to join us at our regular branch businessmeetings, whichare preceded by an opportunity for supper and socialising. Meetings begin at 7.00pm, withsupper from6.00pm. In order to give our venues an idea of numbers it would be appreciated

if you could let the branch know if you would like to [email protected]

July 14 - Aug 3 Linocut art exhibition at Audlem Mill, featuring the work of celebratedcanal artist Eric Gaskell.

July 14 - Aug 8 CRT winter stoppages consultation period, phase 2. See page 14.

July 20 Aqueduct Marina Church Minshull Open Day. Please come along,enjoy the fun and support the branch stand.

July 26-27 Audlem Festival of Transport and Gathering of Historic Narrow Boats.Over 50 historic boats will squeeze into Audlem for the largestgathering to date. See page 21.

August 2-3 Branch lock wind at Hurleston bottom lock. We really do need yourhelp and support. Please see page 30.

August 11 Branch business meeting at Narrowboat Inn, Whittington SY11 4NU.

August 30 Leominster Canal walk - Orleton Village Hall 10.30am. Hosted byFriends of the Leominster Canal www.leominstercanal.co.uk

Sept 6-7 Maesbury Festival. See pages 19-20.

Sept 20-21 Whitchurch Gathering of Boats. See page 21.

Sept 27 IWA national AGM at Leek, Staffordshire Moorlands. Seewww.waterways.org.uk/agm/agm

Sept 28 Waterway community event on the Caldon Canal at Leek. Seewww.waterways.org.uk/agm/agm

Oct 13 Branch business meeting at Horse & Jockey, Whitchurch SY13 4QJ

Nov 10 Autumn Social Evening & Talk at Brooklands Hotel, Mill Road,Shrewsbury SY3 9JT. 6.30 for 7.00pm supper. John Yates, an EnglishHeritage inspector, a member of CRT's Heritage Advisory Committeeand Museums & Attractions Partnership, as well as CRT Council, willspeak on 'Canal Heritage - a Journey': his personal canal heritagejourney through living on boats and coal carrying to his career inconservation and involvement in CRT's heritage work and museums.The cost of £9 per head includes the talk and a fish & chip supper(vegetarian option available). Please book with Val Haig (contactdetails on page 4) by November 5 (for catering numbers) and paycash on the night.


VOLUNTEERINGJointly with IWA North Staffordshire and South Cheshire Branch, we are supportingShrewsbury & Newport Canals Trust for their first himalayan balsam bash on Saturday,July 12 from 10.00am at Black Shed, Water Lane, Newport TF10 7LD. Contact JohnMyers on 07711 858986 or [email protected]. Please bring gloves and wear suitablefootwear for working by the canal.

Youwill find reportsof variousvolunteeractivities that havebeen takingplace inourbrancharea on pages 18 and 19 of this issue . If you would like to get involved in future activitiesplease contact:

STTV: Paul Mills, 0151 336 1049, [email protected] or Maurice Ward, 01942 260459 /07791 350207, [email protected]

SUMBA: Graham Russell, 01270 522731 / 07853 275222, [email protected]

Grindley Brook Boat CountThe Llangollen Canal is the busiest in the country. When an application ismade for a newmarina, we tell the local planning authorities that congestion will increase and the delaysat locks are likely to seriously interfere with people’s enjoyment of their holidays. As thiscanal has the greatest proportion of first-time hirers, it couldmean that some people neveragain take a canal holiday — bad for the local and national economies, and bad for thefuture of canals.

But there is a big difference between asserting that there is a problem, and proving thatthere is one. If the local planning authority is going to turn down a planning application,it can only do so on good evidence.

Following discussions with CRT’s management, it has been agreed that IWA and SUCSvolunteers will carry out a survey to assess the level of congestion in the peak summerweeks at Grindley Brook, which is the worst bottleneck.

We propose to hold a count of the number of boats in the queue at the top lock on the halfhour from9am to5pm fromSaturday19 July toSunday10August. The count at thebottomis not as straightforward as the boats queue in two places, below the staircase and belowall six locks. These would be done at quarter past and quarter to each hour.

This is no small task and will require help from a number of volunteers. A suggested planis to havehalf-day shifts, 9am to1pmand1pm to5pm,a total of 46 shifts over theproposedperiod. The logging period could be extended for a further week, which will give a betterresult, if volunteernumbersaresufficient. Ideallywewould like to record forhow longboatshave to queue for as well as actual boat numbers.

If you can spare a couple of half days during this period your assistance would be greatlyappreciated. For further information or to volunteer please contact Peter Brown on 01630652567 or email him at [email protected]


Middlewich Branch – volunteers get cracking

The Middlewich Branch of the Shropshire Union has seen a burst of volunteeringactivity during the spring and early summer, as three separate projects got underway.

At Wardle Lock, on the ‘shortestcanal in the country’ (the WardleCanal at 154ft), IWA NorthStaffordshire & South CheshireBranch and IWA ShrewsburyDistrict & North Wales Branchteamed up to promote a series ofwork parties to enhance the lockand its immediate surrounds.

Unfortunately we were forced tocancel the third event at the endofMay due to bad weather andunsafe working conditions, butearlier we managed two well-

attended and productive work parties.

The teams painted the woodwork and metalwork of the gates, as well as variousfences and signs. In mid-May a second coat of white was put on the balancebeams, and some railings by the next bridge were also painted. However, theprincipal job was to expose andtidy-up the offside bank below thelock. Such a massive change wasmade that it looks like a differentplace!

At the other end of the Branch, theShropshire Union MiddlewichBranch Adopters (SUMBA), a newgroup formed by moorers atAqueduct Marina, ChurchMinshull, have adopted the stretchof canal from Barbridge Junction toBridge 11 and started to holdregular monthly work parties.

So far, in addition to litter picks atMinshull andCholmondeston locks and between

Off-side clear at Wardle Lock Photo: Roger Evans

SUMBA's haul of large litter Photo: Graham Russell


Bridges 2 and 3, the group has painted the two benches at the junction itself, re-erectedandpainted the totempost by thewater point, andbegun rubbingdown therusty railings and posts between the water point and rubbish compound for aplanned future re-painting.

April also saw the Small TasksTeamVolunteers (STTV) completeits 50th task for the Canal & RiverTrust since the group’s first projectin 2012. On April 2-4, timber boardand aggregate steps (with handrails) were installed at HoolgraveBridge (Bridge 11) to improveaccess between a public footpathcrossing the bridge and the canaltowpath. Additionally, an accessgate with adjacent fencing wasinstalled at the head of the steps.

Later in May, STTV erected wooden railings at the lock mooring below Hurlestonbottom lock, where a small but steep and potentially slippery grass bank slopesdown from the towpath to the mooring bollards themselves.

Michael Haig

Maesbury Canal FestivalSeptember 6 & 7, 2014

With just over twomonths to go there is now only space for one or twomore boats;so don't delay if you want to come by boat, get in touch as soon as possible. Forthose of you who live locally and don't plan to come by boat, we are also takingbookings (tickets available from Canal Central or by post from David 01691830403) for the following evening entertainment:

Friday September 5 at 7pm: Boaters, Volunteers and Friends Pre Festival Bash£10.00 per head to include supper (soup and spicy mixed bean casserole (V)or cottage pie with cheesy leek topping) and a quiz set by Mike and SueLambourne from Frankton.

Saturday September 6 at 7pm: Open to all£12.50 per head to include supper (chicken curry or mushroom stroganoff plusa pudding) and entertainment by Libby Gliksman

Completed steps at Bridge 11 Photo: Paul Mills


Back by popular demand, festival-goers will be entertained by PercussionUnlimited on Saturday and The Street Band on Sunday. Another returningattraction is the very popular dog show, organised by 'Beastly Thoughts'professional dog services, which will be on Sunday at noon.

In a very welcome change this year, a local scout group will be organising theparking on site and at Peate's Mill, the official event car park. They are using thefestival as part of their fund-raising effort to send a representative to the WorldScout Jamboree in Japan in 2015, so expect them to be shaking their buckets!Theywill also be entertaining the crowdswith their impressive drumgroup. Pleasesupport them.

Festival Photographic CompetitionWe hope to be able to create an exciting and interesting collage of picturesdepicting the highlights of the festival and to do this we are holding a photographiccompetition. There will be a prize for the photograph which best captures the spiritof the event.

Images (a maximum of 5 per person) must be submitted in digital format(preferably .jpeg) and can be landscape or portrait. Please send your name,telephone number and e-mail address with your photo to:[email protected] by 1st November 2014. By entering thiscompetition you agree to your photographs being used in any future advertising.The best 2014 pictures will be displayed on the websitewww.maesburycanalfestival.co.uk.

Silent Auction in support of the FestivalDaveWalker, fender maker, has generously donated the following two fenders tobe auctioned in support of the Maesbury Canal Festival, and to be collected at theevent during the weekend September 6-7:

One Long Button fender and one Button & Wings (tipcat) 6 sides

Please indicate which fender (or both) you are interested in and send your sealedbid to:ButtonAuction,Pen-y-GarregLane,Pant,OswestrySY108JSby1August .As well as the amount of your bid please include your name, address, telephonenumber and e-mail address.

For further details please contactDawn Aylwin - 01691 830403 or visit www.maesburycanalfestival.co.uk

DawnAylwin


Whitchurch Gathering of Boats 2014

September 20-21, 2014

If you wish to book a boat in to the Whitchurch Boat Rally please be aware that we arerestricted by space so don’t leave it too long before making up your mind. The samerestriction applies to stalls and the spaces are rapidly diminishing.

Details are available on our website www.whitchurchwaterway.org.uk where forms canbe downloaded. Booking forms can also be obtained by contacting Lindsay Green,Chemistry Farm, Whitchurch. SY13 1BZ or telephone 01948 662779/07968 339335 or e-mail [email protected]

Our fund raising expert is working hard on our behalf and it is hoped to put a bid in tothe Heritage Lottery Fund towards the latter part of the year with work starting in 2015.

We have also been involved in a project headed by our local McDonalds to tidy up thesection of Sandstone Trail between Chemistry Bridge and Meadowcroft Bridge. The bankabove the footpath has been cleared and seeded with wild flowers and benches havebeen placed for weary walkers. We have mentioned that they will be underwater in thenot too distant future. McDonalds has been very diligent in picking up any litter aroundthe canal area for which we are very grateful.

Audlem Gathering of Historic Boats 2014

July 26-27, 2014

Just over 50 boats have booked in to the Gathering of Historic Boats at Audlem on July26-27, a record entry (nearly 50% up on last year). They range in age from the 1880s toabout 1960, and include a wide variety – the usual large number of Grand Union and FMCboats, but also other fleets are represented – Cowburn & Cowpar, Midlands & Coast,Stewarts & Lloyds, Samuel Barlow Coal Company, and Thos. Clayton (Oldbury).

Some boats of interest include Saturn, the only Shroppie fly-boat remaining as such;Gifford, the horse drawn tar boat; Ilford and Aquarius, carrying around 36 tons of loosecoal to promote the extension of the Ashby Canal; Ian, the last woodenmotor boat built;Tycho, an ice-breaker, still with its five foot steel ice-breaking ram on the bow; andElizabeth, believed to be the oldest converted boat (the conversion is 80 years old, inart deco style).

Whilst the boats will be in Audlem all weekend, the historic and classic car part of theFestival of Transport is on the Sunday afternoon only.

Geoffrey Lewis, popular canal novelist,will be signing copies of his books at various timesduring the weekend at Audlem Mill.

Peter Silvester


Tyrley Tattle

After seventeen happy years at Tyrley this will be my last Tyrley Tattle before wemove to Northamptonshire to take up residence in a house, near the River Nene,which has a much smaller garden for us to look after as we get older.

It is interesting to reflect on the changes to the Shroppie which have taken placeduring the time we have spent here. There is noticeably less boat traffic than thereused to be, whether this is general I don’t know, but my impression is that thissection of the system has never really recovered from the long stoppage causedby the breach at Knighton in the height of the season in 2009.

One consequence is that queues for the locks are almost a thing of the past. At onetime the IWA had Tyrley Locks on its list of bottlenecks and certainly on at least acouple of times each summer boats could be seen queuing from the top lock backpast the 48 hour and permanent moorings to Bridge 59. Now it is unusual to seeeven two boats waiting for the top lock unless there is a hold up for any reason.

Other changes are more general but very noticeable when you live next to a lockflight. The operation of the waterway has altered significantly and whereas thelocally based staff used to be seen here regularly cutting the grass in summer andcarrying out other maintenance, much of the work is now contracted out and thedirectly employed staff work around the whole of the North Wales and BorderCounties area as required.

Muchmoreefficient, nodoubt, but onedoesmisspeople like “Reg theDredge”whoonce sat here for threewhole days doing nothing but read his newspaper and drinkteawhile hewaited for a new bucket to be delivered for his dredger! Not somethingwhich would be tolerated nowadays, I feel.

Health and Safety is now paramount, of course, at CRT in common with all largeorganisations. No longer do you see men working alone and, depending on theactivity, groups of three are often necessary to complywith the rules for a particularjob. The safety measures now taken when replacing lock gates are a wonder tobehold compared with 15 years ago, when precautions to prevent people fallinginto the empty lock were minimal. All for the best, no doubt, but it does sometimesall seem to be rather over the top.

Another noticeable change has been the increase in the number of live aboardboats. Unfortunately, a minority of these choose to disregard the idea of timelimited visitor mooring like the 48 hour places at Tyrley and there is often at leastone overstaying boat to be found here.Whilst this is not a problemwhen things arequiet it is annoying for cruising boats in the height of the season when visitor


moorings in this area are at a premium and it also reflects unfairly on the folk onthe adjacent permanent moorings who have to pay for their spaces.

Over the years I have written about the wildlife to be found here at Tyrley and thisnever ceases to surprise us. Interesting as it can be, it also gives rise to someannoyance, as in the last couple of weeks, when a badger decided to convert thelawn next to the house into a sieve. Goodness knows what it was digging for.Someone suggested bumble bees, but it certainly made the grass look unsightly.The unusual occurrence was one day last month when I went to climb aboard mynarrowboat. Therewere several splashes between the boat and the bank and thenI saw a fully grown grass snake swimming off down the canal.

The past year has also seen a pair of magpies arrive as regular visitors, but untilnow they have rarely been seen inthe garden.Wedid have apleasantsurprise in April when threemandarin ducks climbed out of thecanal and walked to our pond for aswimwhich is the first timewe haveseen any here, no doubt they werelooking for tadpoles.

There has been a marked declinein the number of frogs using thepond to lay frog spawn. At one timeup to thirty pairs could be seenmatingbut this number has steadilydeclined over the years and thisyear we only saw four pairs.

During my seventeen years here I have been a member of the BTO GardenBirdwatch scheme, for which members do a continuous bird count on a weeklybasis. Based on the figures submitted I was very surprised last week to find thatin the course of the 17 years I have recorded no less than fifty different species ofbird, though not all have been regular visitors and some were definitely one offsightings, such as a flock of snipe that landed one day.

A satisfying reminder of the delightful time spent living at Tyrley.

Richard Hall

Ed.Our thanks go toRichard.Wewill miss his regular news and views fromTyrley andwishhim well in his new home

Mandarin ducks spotted at Tyrley

Photo: Richard Hall


CRT’s first welcome stations seek volunteers

Canal & River Trust’s first welcome stations in the Shrewsbury & North Walesbranch area are now open and are looking for volunteers to join the team.

Based in key locations around the country, welcome stations are a newnationwideinitiative from CRT, devised as places to introduce boaters, walkers and othercanal visitors to the local waterways and nearby places of interest.

The first welcome station on the Shropshire Union opened in April at NorburyJunction – in time for the Norbury Canal Festival – and others are now planned forHurleston Locks, Llangollen Town and Trevor Basin.

The site at Hurleston is expected to open in the second half of July. Thanks tovolunteers from the water company United Utilities, which operates theneighbouring Hurleston Reservoir and has “adopted” the Hurleston lock flight, theformer stables next to Hurleston top lock are being converted into a heritage sitefromwhich visitors will be able to get practical, useful information about the canalsand increase their understanding of and affinity with the waterways.

CRT plans to follow Hurleston by refurbishing the portable office at Llangollen,which many readers may recall as the place to pay Llangollen’s visitor mooringcharges, and by incorporating welcome station materials into the Visitor Centre atTrevor Basin, which is primarily occupied by CRT’s Museums & Attractions team.

Volunteering opportunities exist at all these locations, and CRT would especiallylike to hear from people with an interest in helping at the Llangollen and Trevorstations.

CRT says, “You don’t have to be awaterways expert, but we are looking for peoplewho are friendly and approachable.”

Since those qualities surely apply to Shrewsbury & NorthWales branch members– who are also knowledgeable, passionate and articulate about our localwaterways – please consider helping both the IWA and CRT by giving a smallamount of your time to this excellent idea.

You can find out more by contacting our local North Wales & Border Waterwaysvolunteer coordinator, Glenn Young, at [email protected], orapply online to the central volunteering team at http://canalrivertrust.org.uk/volunteering.

Michael Haig


The Prees Branch

The original 1793 Ellesmere Canal Act provided for a branch which went toWhitchurch then rose through three locks and terminated at Prees Heath, but in1795 JohnDuncombe, the company’s resident engineer, resurveyed the area andrecommended a level route to Prees Heath past Edstaston (two miles north of thetown of Wem) and then going a mile to the north of Prees but missingWhitchurch.This upset the Whitchurch lobby, of course, so the 1796 Act included both thePrees Branch and a branch from Whixall Moss to Whitchurch.

Theconstruction contractwas let toSamuelBetton, and thebranchwascompletedas far asQuina Brook, on theWem-Whitchurch turnpike, in 1804 or 1805. The restof the intended branch was never built.

The principal traffic on the canal was limestoneand coal to canalside kilns, where the limestonewas converted into quicklime for spreading onfields in order to improve the yield of crops. Thecanal company built kilns atQuinaBrook, thoughthey were deemed to have ‘acted improperly’because they built them on land belonging toAdmiral George Bowen without getting hispermission. A rent of 10 guineas a year wassubsequently agreed. Over the years, five kilnswere built at Quina Brook, at least two at WrensNest (half a mile west of Edstaston wharf), threeat Waterloo and one by Starks Bridge (Whixall).Surprisingly, no evidence has been found for anylimekilns at Edstaston, the principal wharf on thebranch. Rural lime-kilns had largely fallen out ofuse by the 1860s.

Coal was brought in for use in the towns and alsofor brick-kilns, such as that canalside nearStarksBridge. There was a coal wharf with aweighbridge at Quina Brook and two coalbusinesses, probably also with a weighbridge, atEdstaston.

Thomas Whittle & Co’s advertisement of 1811 shows the types of traffic thenpassing through Edstaston wharf. Unlike a canal company’s list of tolls, which hasto cover all eventualities, a carrier’s advertisement presumably gives a good guideto the traffic actually carried. Slates would have been brought along the coast to

Advertisement in the ChesterCourant of 1 January, 1811

Courtesy of Peter Brown


Chester from north Wales, and could obviously compete with those coming downthe canal from Llangollen— perhaps the quality was higher. Kelp (seaweed) wasused as a fertiliser and also had industrial uses. Although the list largely comprisesagricultural products and timber, that is, traffic going out, records for otherwharvesserving towns show that it is probable thatmore goods forWemcame in thanweredispatched.

The Ellesmere Canal Company and its successor, the Ellesmere & Chester, weresensitive to issues of supply and demand and public pressures. For example, in1816 the tonnage on grain, malt and flour boated from Edstaston to Chester wasreduced from 2d to 1½d per ton per mile ‘upon this express condition that thetraders charge no more than ten shillings per ton for the freight of these articles’.By ‘freight’ the company almost certainly meant the amount for carriage excludingthe tonnage of 4s.10½d for the 39 mile journey, whereas the reference to ‘freight’in Whittle’s advertisement included the tonnage.

The products of the iron foundries ofeast Shropshire (now the Telfordarea) came by road to Edstaston,where theywere transferred to a boatto be taken to Ellesmere Port thenacross toLiverpool. This traffic endedin 1835, when the Birmingham &Liverpool Junction Canal opened,and canal transport could be used forthe whole journey via Wappenshall,Norbury Junction and Nantwich.

The Ellesmere Canal had originallybeen intended to join Shrewsbury to

Chester but the last eleven miles from Weston Lullingfields to Shrewsbury werenever built, the company having exhausted its funds. In 1817 Thomas Telford wasasked to appraise a horse-drawn tramroad connection from Edstaston toShrewsbury, but he thought it would not cover its costs.

Pigot’s 1835directoryentry forShrewsbury states thatPeterHiltonprovidesadailycarrier service from his warehouse in Bridge Place to Edstaston wharf, meetingSwanwick&Co’s fly-boats for Liverpool andManchester, anexample of integratedlogistics.RichardStedmanalsoprovidedacarrier service fromhis house inMardolto Edstaston wharf three or four times a week. Curiously, the entry for Wem doesnot mention Swanwick & Co— the canal carriers are given as Fairhurst, Tilston &Co and Turton & Co, both of whom provided a daily service.

Edstaston Wharf, with the line of the canal in theforeground Photo: Peter Brown


Although the Shropshire Union became the principal carrier on its canals in 1845,it was not until 1860 (two years after the railway through Wem was opened) thatit started tooperate thewharf atEdstaston itself. In 1872 it spent £210onextendingthe warehouse and installing a new hoist; it also provided a new 3 ton crane at acost of £80.

As late as the 1890s, the Shropshire Unionmade awharf besideDobson’s Bridge,Whixall. A crane is also recorded by Starks Bridge. Nearby was a canalside maltkiln complex.

Because of wartime cost inflation and growing competition from motor lorries, theShropshire Union ceased carrying in its own boats in 1921. Private firms took oversomeof the boats, but they struggled to provide a viable service. The last recordedcommercial traffic on the Prees Branch was in 1934: roadstone from Chirk toWhixall and coal from Tunstall to Waterloo wharf.

Back in 1864 an agreement had beenmade to extract clay from land atWhixall forpuddling the canal, then in 1911 an adjacent field was leased for its clay. A smalltramroad, with the loaded wagons drawn by a winch, took the clay to the waitingmaintenance boats. Despite the formal closure of the canal in 1944, thisarrangement continued until the mid-1950s. For a couple of years after that, theclay was moved on-site by lorries. Extraction ceased about 1960, but in 1975 theflooded clay pit reopenedwith a newuse as amarina, and the first mile of the canalwas dredged.

In 1972 dams were built at Waterloo Bridge and Boodles Bridge and a naturereserve created. Now owned by the Canal & River Trust, it is managed by theShropshire Wildlife Trust and is now protected as a Site of Special ScientificInterest containing such uncommonplants asmonkey flower, frogbit, skullcap andwater violet. The former canal to the east ofWaterloo Bridge has now largely driedout; some has reverted to farmland.

But why was the Prees Branch built? The Ellesmere Canal’s other branches hadobvious purposes: to serve themarket towns of Ellesmere andWhitchurch, and toaccess the valuable limestone quarries at Llanymynech — but the Prees Branchdoesn’t evenget toPrees,which thenhadapopulation numbering less than1,500.

Ostensibly it was to also serve the town of Wem, which had a similar sizepopulation. However, I suspect that the underlying reason was to improve theestates of one of the principal promoters of the Ellesmere Canal, John Hill(1740-1824) of Prees Hall — Sir John Hill after he had succeeded his brother as3rdbaronet in 1808.HewasMP forShrewsbury1784-96and1805-6; never active,he gave ‘silent support’ to theWhig cause. A typical country squire, hewas still fox-


hunting when he was 80. He fathered sixteen children, five of his sons, includingViscount Hill (commemorated by Lord Hill’s Column outside Shirehall inShrewsbury) distinguishing themselves in the Napoleonic wars.

JohnHill attended78of the102committeemeetingsduring theconstructionperiodof theEllesmereCanal (1793-1805),more than any othermember, and he chaired24 of them, a number exceeded only by John Kynaston of Hardwick Hall (whochaired 32 meetings). Hill also chaired the first three and many subsequentGeneral Meetings of the company. He was therefore well placed to influence thedecisions.

Peter Brown

Montgomery Triathlon 2014

The rain, wind and mud did not deterthe participants or the volunteermarshals. The 3rd MontgomeryCanal Triathlon attracted nearly 300entrants from all corners of Englandand Wales. Over 200 attempted thewhole course, and most of themsuccessfully completed it.

Jean Ashley from Malpas, Cheshire,reached Frankton locks in only 5¼hours, half an hour faster than theprevious record. Some took twice aslong, but succeeded in raisingconsiderable sums for their charities.

Other notable achievements include:

•MosesTumukende, ofNewtown,whoset himself the target of runningall 35milesand beating the triathletes. He succeeded in a time of 4 hours 48 minutes

•The youngest competitor was 2 year old Scarlett Carter, with a bit of help fromher capable parents, and the bravest was David Greenwood, a blind veteranwho reached the Border with the help of a guide on a tandem, and in a 2-seaterkayak.

•The Liverbirds team, who entered on a tandem and used an inflatable canoe,raising over £800 for the Midlands Air Ambulance.

Wet but happy: Richard Parry and family memberscomplete the canoeing leg

Photo: Peter Richards


We were pleased to have CRT's Richard Parry take part, with his brother-in-lawand niece. Richard not only completed the triathlon in a very respectable time, butalso recovered enough to present the commemorative medallions after the event.

We would like to say many thanks to all the branch members who volunteered.Your help was much appreciated and we hope to see you again at next year’striathlon on May 9, 2015.

Dawn Aylwin and Peter Richards

Montgomery Canal Forum – Restoring the Montgomery Canal

It wasmost appropriate thatRestorationwas the theme for theMontgomery CanalForum on 2 June 2014 because shortly beforehand John Dodwell, a trustee of theCanal & River Trust, had started the process of letting water into the latest sectionto be restored, a length of the canal which had been derelict for over 60 years.

Speakers told the Forum what had been done over the years by volunteers ofWaterway Recovery Group and Shropshire Union Canal Society as theircontribution to bringing the canal back to life, with pictures showing derelictionbeforeworkstarted, volunteersatwork, and the finishedcanal.Someof thesewereof the length from Welsh Frankton to Maesbury, which is visited by hundreds ofboats each year and will be busy on the first weekend in September with theMaesbury Canal Festival.

Alex Ball from Canal & River Trust told of the progress with the Heritage LotteryFund project, where the comingmonths will be taken preparing the submission forthe full grant, onaprojectwhich should deliver another length of restored canal andadditional nature reserves inShropshire, habitat works onboth sides of the border,and a number of community projects.

Michael Limbrey

Thanks for supporting the Acheman Challenge

IWA's national fundraising officer, Toby Gomm, has written to thank those branchmembers who supported the IWA head office Acheman Challenge team, whichsuccessfully completed a 50-mile quadrathlon along the Grand Union Canal inApril. The teamcompleted thechallenge in10¾hours, raising£13,495 towards thecost of a new excavator for IWA's Waterway Recovery Group.


Branch Lock Wind - Hurleston Bottom LockAugust 2-3, 2014

This year the annual LockWind will again be at Hurleston Bottom Lock, during thefirst weekend in August when we hope there will be lots of boaters cruising up anddown the Llangollen Canal.

The lock wind is one of our major fund raising events so please support yourbranch. As we have recently committed money to match-funding for two HLFgrants in our area we need to earn as much as we can.

We really do need your assistancenot only to help wind locks but toprovide lots of things to sell; anysurplus fruit and vegetables fromyour garden, home-made cakes,pies, pickles and jam are verypopular andevery yearwe runout ofsupplies. If you can spare the timewe would welcome yourcontributions and especially yourpresence. A little more help wouldbe appreciated even if it is just anhour or two!

Youare verywelcome to joinusbyboat but please letmeknowbeforehandasCRThave asked howmany boats are likely to attend. There is plenty of mooring spaceon the main Shropshire Union with room to turn round if you need to return to yourmooring after the event.

You are equally welcome if you come by car. There is plenty of parking space onthe old road which is just after Snugbury's Ice Cream shop on the A51 Chester &Tarporley road out of Nantwich. You can't miss it. Just turn off themain road by the'FreeRangeEggs' sign, park, thenwalk down to the bridge and turn right along thetow path.

It's not just aworkingweekend!The lockwind isasocial event givinganopportunityto meet and talk with fellow canal enthusiasts, so please come and enjoy the fun.We look forward to seeting you all.

Dawn Aylwin

Scene at the 2013 lock wind

Photo: Michael Haig


Montgomery Canal RewateringRedwith Bridge to Pryce's Bridge - June 2014

A CRT excavator removes the claydam to allow the Montgomery Canalwaters to reach the stop planks atRedwith Bridge

Photo: Dave Peters

Mike Friend steers nb Montgomery,the first boat down the newlyrewatered length, carrying a barrel ofale generously gifted by the CrossKeys in Llanymynech to the volunteerswho had worked on the length

Photo: Michael Limbrey

John Dodwell (left) and Mike Friendprepare to lift the top stop plank atRedwith Bridge

Photo: D. Aylwin


Norbury Canal Festival 2014

Councillor Leon Murray, Mayor ofTelford,accompanied by MrsMurray, formally unveils a newinformation plaque with SNCTchairman, Bernie Jones

Photo: John Myers

Graham Hayward on nb HakunaMatata, awarded "best decoratedboat" of the festival.

Photo: Michael Haig

SNCT volunteers with their populartrip boat, loaned by Norbury Wharf,which carried hundreds of visitorsduring the festival.

Photo: John Myers

2014 06 shroppie fly paper

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