issue 144 spring 2003 · hcs council members neville kenyon meadow head, tottington, bury,...

LinkLinkMembers Quarterly Journal - Issue 149 - Summer 2004Members Quarterly Journal - Issue 149 - Summer 2004

PenninePennine

239 Mossley Road, Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire, OL6 6LNTel: 0161 339 1332 Fax: 0161 343 2262EMail: [email protected] Website: www.hcanals.demon.co.uk

President - David Sumner MBE Administrator - Bob Gough

Huddersfield Canal Society Ltd

HCS Council Members

Neville Kenyon Meadow Head, Tottington, Bury, Lancashire, BL8 3PPChairman Tel: 0161 339 1332

Trevor Ellis 20 Batley Avenue, Marsh, Huddersfield, HD1 4NAVice-Chairman Tel: 01484 534666

Steve Picot HCS Ltd, 239 Mossley Road, Ashton-u-Lyne, Lancs., OL6 6LNTreasurer Tel: 0161 339 1332

John Fryer Ramsdens, Freeman & Co., 18 Lewisham Road, Slaithwaite,Company Secretary Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, HD7 5AL

Brian Minor 45 Gorton Street, Peel Green, Eccles, Manchester, M30 7LZEditor, Pennine Link Tel: 0161 288 5324 [email protected]

David Finnis Hollin Hall Farm, Hardcastle Crags, Hebden Bridge, HX7 7APPress Officer Tel: 01422 844518

Vince Willey 45 Egmont Street, Mossley, Ashton-u-Lyne, Lancs., OL5 9NBBoats Officer Tel: 0161 339 1332Allan Knott 206 Chapel Street, Dukinfield, Cheshire, SK14 4QL

W.Side Boats Co-ordinator Tel: 0161 343 6400David Stubbs 4 Hollowgate, Thurstonland, Huddersfield, HD4 6XY

E.Side Boats Co-ordinator Tel: 01484 667135Alwyn Ogborn 14 Stanhope Street, Mossley, Ashton-u-Lyne, Lancs., OL5 9LX

Special Events Co-ordinator Tel: 01457 833329Ken Wright Bridge House, Dobcross, Oldham, Lancashire, OL3 5NL

Minutes Secretary Tel: 01457 873599Jack Carr 19 Sycamore Avenue, Euxton, Chorley, Lancashire, PR7 6JR

Tel: 01257 265786Eric Crosland 44 Marina Terrace, Golcar, Huddersfield, HD7 4RA

Tel: 01484 659748Keith Gibson Syke Cottage, Scholes Moor Road, Holmfirth, HD9 1SJ

Tel: 01484 681245Keith Noble The Dene, Triangle, Sowerby Bridge, West Yorkshire, HX6 3EA

Tel: 01422 823562David Sumner 4 Whiteoak Close, Marple, Stockport, Cheshire SK6 6NT

Tel: 0161 449 9084

2 - Pennine Link - Spring 2004

The views expressed in Pennine Link are not necessarily those of Huddersfield Canal Society Ltd

Summer 2004 - Pennine Link - 3

Editorial 4Chairman’s Report 5Keith’s Disconnected Jottings 6HCS Council News 9HCS Crews News 12Mossley Canal Festival 14The Hollinwood Branch 16Marple Locks Bi-Centenary 28GMR Bus in the Basin Again 32 Front Cover: Approaching Stalybridge, lock wheeler

on the towpath. Photo: R Gough

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PennineSummer 2004 Issue 149

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Letter to the Editor 332004 Photographic Competition 3427th Tameside Canals Festival 36Wonders of the Waterways 40The Flower of Gloster 42Canal Crossword - 44 43What the Papers Said 44

Currently undergoing a refit, what will 2004have in store for the Standedge Visitor Centre?

Idyllic mooring at the2004 Tameside Canals Festival

4 - Pennine Link - Summer 2004

EditorialFirst of all can Iapologise for thelate appearance ofthis issue. We werewaiting for somethings to happen(three Festivalevents), and the

timing of the next Issue, celebrating 150editions. Besides, just look at the NationalPress front pages - Big Brother evictions andthe shenanigans at the Football Association.Frankly we think our members and readersdeserve sensible items!

Thanks again to Bob Gough who does allthe work of chasing contributors and themagic with the computer in setting thepages as well as his own contributions.

Nice to read the letter from Norwich, thanksfor your comments Vic. I visited Norwich afew weeks ago for the first time since aBroads visit over 40 years ago. ‘Er indoorswas having a day with Delia Smith atNorwich Football Club (I’m hoping for arash of Mediterranean food this summer) sowe spent a night at a somewhat expensivehotel on the river.

I remembered it as a working port, we hadto give way to large working boats and therewere very limited moorings for pleasurecraft. Now everything has changed.

All the working boats have gone and theriver is full of very exotic hire boats.

The wharf side area is like Salford Quays,with Weatherspoons, Frankie and Benniesetc. Even the flats are the same design asthe ones on the Quays with the idiot,miniscule, useless balconies.

Norwich is a lovely town and a pleasure tovisit. Built on the only hill for miles around,its old streets and buildings have preservedits history. There is a very good market,mainly under cover and plenty of ‘proper’shops.

I went into Radio Norwich to see how theyrun things and found them in a brand newbuilding in the town centre. A building thatis modern architecture at its very best.Would that the designers of the Lowry andthe War Museum had followed thisexample! Perhaps the Norfolk townplanners have a proper sense of aesthetics.

Ken Wright is keeping you up to date withthe various deliberations of the Council ofthe Society. I attended the User Groupmeeting at Castlefield recently on behalf ofthe Society - incidentally we are asked toattend as a commercial user rather than arecreational one.

The main response to almost every questionput to BW is a cogent reason for not doinganything. I have asked several times for BWto put a page (or so) in Plink putting theirpoint of view, but only had a response on acouple of occasions. I suppose we have toremember that to them, canals are workand not necessarily their passion. Still, Ialways find all their senior staff veryapproachable and friendly, even though Isuppose us canal maniacs must be strangeto them!

Brian Minor

B M

inor

Floating ChineseRestaurant boatopposite the hotel.


Chairman’s ReportThere was a goodturn out for the AGMin June and the staffof the Delph BandClub were hospitableas ever. Theentertainment forthe evening was

provided by John Courtman, a TamesideRanger whose presentation was of suchinterest that he continued by popular demandafter supper. The supper consisted of splendidroast beef muffins, freshly sliced before yourvery eyes - a speciality of the house. Localmembers should take advantage of any eventswe organise at the Delph Band Club even if itis just for the food!

Bob Gough and I with two British WaterwaysManagers, Iain Weston and Adrian Sains,walked from Uppermill to the top of theDiggle Flight during the Spring. The BWpeople indicated some of the work that wasbeing carried out by their personnel and wewere able to point out the pristine paintworkon many of the locks - thanks to the work ofTrevor Ellis and Eric Crosland with their teamof volunteers.

During a subsequent meeting we weredelighted that Adrian offered on behalf of BWthat they would fit the bridge plates on theWest Side. Trevor now has almost thecomplete set, so we should see some actionhere before the end of the season.

One of our recent objectives has been to worktowards involving local schools in canalactivities and, in response to one of our mailshots, we were contacted by St Paul’s C of EPrimary School in Stalybridge. They aresituated very close to the Canal and use it toillustrate transport systems as part of thehistory curriculum and in relation to thewildlife and flora that abound in the vicinity ofthe Canal. Bob and I visited the school andBob gave a presentation on the Canal to theentire school including members of staff. Thevisit was followed up by one of the senior

teachers, Paul White, attending an HCSCouncil Meeting and giving your directors aninteresting presentation from the point of viewof how our Canal can be positively promotedto students from a very early age. This was asignificant step in helping us understand thatthe canal is not simply about boaters, it has amyriad of attractions for the wholecommunity. It is our mission to exploit itspotential to the full. If any of our memberswho are involved in education would beinterested in volunteering to help us in thisendeavour, please contact the office - we’dlove to hear from you.

A further mailing will be sent to all schools inOldham during the next few weeks.

In our drive to attract more advertisers todisplay their offerings in Pennine Link, wecarried out, for the first time, an “email shot”to over one hundred potential advertisers. Theresponse was around 6% - very good inmarketing terms - and hopefully we shall beseeing the fruits of this exercise before long.Thanks to council member Vince Willey forcompiling the list. Anyone who fancies puttingan advertisement in our super colour Plinkshould contact Bob at the office.

It seems that the sale of the Mossley Roadoffices is almost complete. As often happensin these cases, there has been a succession ofdelays due to legalities and paper work!Although we have negotiated a lease of theground floor at an attractive rent for up tothree years, we are actively seeking alternativeaccommodation - preferably close to theCanal.

Thanks to all our members whether you are inregular touch or simply support by goodwillthe work we are doing to promote theHuddersfield Narrow (and Broad) Canal for allits devotees. Your support is crucial in enablingus to fulfil our mission.

Neville KenyonChairman


Keith’s Disconnected JottingsAfter the reopeningof our Canal, theRochdale, theForth & Clyde andthe Union Canals,the Anderton Lift,and the creation ofthe new Ribble

Link, the head of steam behind waterwayrestoration seems to have dispersed.

The big factor that allowed so much workaround the turn of the century was theavailability of the major grants to cel-ebrate the Millennium. Not only didMillennium money have a large impact,but other funding bodies provided morein the way of matching funding than theymight otherwise have invested so as tomaximise the benefits of their owninvestments.

In funding terms, waterway restoration isback to the sort of levels of potentialinvestment that existed before the Millen-nium Commission. To see what that mightmean, consider what would have hap-pened to restoration of the HuddersfieldNarrow or the Rochdale Canals withoutMillennium grants.

Both canals were, of course, well on theway to complete restoration. Both hadreceived large grants from European andgovernment sources, but had reached thepoint where very large grants wereessential to complete the work. Carefullypackaged combinations of grants andlottery money might have restored theHuddersfield Narrow through Stalybridgeand - perhaps in a phased project to slowthe rate of spending - through StandedgeTunnel.

The €550,000 that HCS invested in theStandedge Visitor Centre as part of theMillennium scheme might have beenneeded instead to top up grants, forinstance at Uppermill High Street andWool Road bridges. To get throughSlaithwaite and back into Huddersfieldwould have been more difficult, however,with the Yorkshire side of the canaleligible for a more limited range of grantsthan in Stalybridge.

One has to hope that somehow we wouldhave found the money - even if thatneeded a massive fund-raising effort byvolunteers and the Council to matchinputs from grants. My guess is that thecanal might have reopened from end-to-end sometime between 2010 and 2015.

The picture on the Rochdale Canal couldhave been much bleaker. Despite the factthat the canal was open to navigation onthe Yorkshire side, many years of effort bythe Lancashire local authorities had largelyfailed to find grants except for largelycosmetic improvements between Man-chester and Littleborough prior to theMillennium.

The obstructions to navigation here wereso closely spaced that tackling them oneor two at a time would have providedvery few of the benefits that piecemealrestoration brought to canalside settle-ments on the Huddersfield. Only oncomplete restoration of the canal weresignificant benefits likely to justify thegiving of grants. Without the Millenniumgrant making that complete reopeningpossible, it is very hard to see howprogress would ever have been made inrestoring the Rochdale Canal south andwest of Littleborough.


The Millennium clearly was a huge boostfor the waterway restoration movement.The miles of restored waterway resultinghave also led to a situation where mostpotential grant-giving bodies now startfrom a position of understanding thatregeneration benefits will flow from arestored waterway, and British Waterwayshave amassed a great deal of experienceof and enthusiasm for restoration. Tenyears ago, before the Millennium grants,neither of these was a certainty; indeed,years of work was involved for manyrestoration societies to gain theseprerequisites of most restoration schemes.So, although money might be tight, theprospects of most restoration schemes arebetter now than they were then.

In the warm glow of the success of theMillennium schemes, British Waterwayspublished its ideas for those projects withBWs active support in a series of tranchesof work. Progress on the first of these hasbeen slower in the new circumstancesthan we might originally have hoped.

The restoration of the Northern Reachesof the Lancaster Canal is now planned tobe a phased development that mightmeet the requirements of the North WestRegional Development Agency, but thatAgency has no money available in theshort term.

Progress on the Manchester, Bolton andBury Canal is way behind the sort oftimescale that I, probably naively, antici-pated, especially as the economic benefitsof that restoration seem likely to surpassmost, if not all, other waterway schemesin terms of the return to the communityfrom capital investment in the canal.

Further south, the application to theHeritage Lottery Fund for the first phaseof the Cotswold Canals scheme is being

scaled back to have any chance of suc-cess, and it is proving difficult to findgrants to build the proposed new Bedfordto Milton Keynes Waterway.

Perhaps to underline that waterwayrestoration is still a key element in plansfor the future, British Waterways hasissued a new report, Waterways 2025:Our Vision for the Shape of the WaterwayNetwork. This sets out BWs plans forfurther rounds of restoration schemes.Wisely, no timescale is attached, otherthan the hoped for end date of 2025, andeven then the schemes are expressed asones that ‘might be completed’ by thatdate. The report sets out the criteria bywhich BW have assessed schemes interms of need for the project, itssustainability and how it relates to thewaterways network. The followingschemes are identified as ones that willreceive BW’s active support:

PRIORITY ONE:

• Ashby Canal (to Measham)• Proposed Bedford to Milton Keynes

Waterway• Bow Back Rivers• Cotswold Canals (Phase One)• Droitwich Canals• Proposed Fens Waterways Link• Proposed Liverpool Link• Manchester, Bolton & Bury Canal• Lancaster Canal, Northern Reaches• River Carron Navigation.

PRIORITY TWO:

• Ashby Canal (to Moira)• Cotswold Canals (Phase Two)• Grantham Canal• Lichfield Canal• Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal

(southern section to the Usk estuary)• River Leven


• St Helens (Sankey) Canal• Wendover Arm of the Grand Union

Canal• Wiltshire & Berkshire Canal (and the

North Wiltshire branch)

In addition, the report identifies threeschemes that would contribute signifi-cantly to the waterways network, but havelesser relevance to BW, as Priority Three.These are:

• Proposed Slough - Windsor Link• Proposed Higher Avon Navigation• Wey & Arun Canal

The report says that BW ‘do not wish todiscourage’ other schemes. Some, such asthe Cromford or the Shrewsbury andNewport will hardly be surprised to beomitted - as being relatively new andundeveloped schemes. Others, perhaps,smaller schemes, especially rural ones likethe Pocklington may not be too con-cerned, only needing relatively smallamounts of cash - if only they can getissues resolved. Others however must beconcerned.

The Foxton Inclined Plane is omitted thistime on the basis that it is what the reportcalls a ‘heritage/development project’rather than a restoration, which is true.Locally, the Chesterfield through the M1and beyond back to Chesterfield is,perhaps the most surprising omission.

I would have thought that now the canalpartnership has appointed a projectofficer to push this forward, the comple-tion of the Chesterfield was on a par withothers on the list. Perhaps, the difficulty isthat extension of the canal has less of animpact on the BW network than someother projects.

Also, the difficulties in bringing about arestored Barnsley Canal, rebuilt Dearne &Dove Canal and the building of theRother Link between the Sheffield &South Yorkshire Navigation and theChesterfield Canal might be factors in BWthinking. Presumably, the Barnsley etc. donot make the grade because of the limitedenthusiasm shown so far by the riparianlocal authorities and Yorkshire Forward,which is a shame. A little support fromBW might just be the thing to transformattitudes here.

The Environment Agency, which untilrecently has not been noted for enthusi-asm for the waterways in its care, has alsoput down an important marker forwaterways, with the formal launch of theproposals for the Fens Waterways Link byBaroness Young, the Agency’s ChiefExecutive, at a meeting in Peterboroughon 11th June.

This plan (which also features in the BWlist) to link existing waterways to create anew and important link between the riverWitham at Boston and the river GreatOuse near St. Ives is estimated as beinglikely to bring in an income from recrea-tional visits to the area of €14m per yearwhen the work is complete.

The big problem for the Agency and thelocal authorities along the route will beraising the capital to do the work, al-though the commitment shown by thepublic launch and the fact that Lincoln-shire County Council has a budget forwaterways improvements in the Countyare clear statements of intent.

Keith Gibson


HCS Council NewsWe have had threeCouncil meetings andthe Society AGMsince my last piece.The turnout for theAGM was a littledisappointing, withonly 24 memberspresent - the

absentees clearly hadn’t heard about the DelphBand Club hot beef butties! We have found anew venue for the Council meetings - at theTunnel End Inn, Marsden. Very friendly andhospitable - and the beer’s not bad!

17th March, 2004

The sale of 239 Mossley Road is progressingnicely, although the “SOLD” notice on thebuilding has led to speculation, strenuouslydenied, that HCS is closing down.

Council members met BW representativesfrom the West side on 10th February to discusswork programmes. Assistance with dry stonewalling along the Diggle flight was a possibility.

The Chairman met West side BW boss AdrianSains on 16th March and walked him fromUppermill to the Diggle portal. Our lockpainting efforts were praised. Other volunteerwork was discussed, as was the now longlasting saga of the fixing of bridge plates.

The Chairman expressed concern at the ageprofile of Council and stressed the need forthe Society to attract young members. He wasapproaching local schools on the subject.

New promotional items were discussed.

A “yard sale” of surplus constructionequipment had raised €78.50. The Society’ssales trailer had been given to the Lichfieldand Hatherton Canal Society for use in theirrestoration campaign.

Little to report on the volunteer front due toweather and holidays. Listed structures andbureaucracy were still frustrating attempts tofix bridge plates.

The Society is proposing to purchase acommercial quality gazebo to replace the salestrailer as a promotional tool at outdoor events.

The Marsden Shuttle boat has undergone arefit at Portland Basin Marina and volunteerswere to paint it. It will stay on the West sidefor the time being and possibly help at theMarple Flight celebrations in July.

Our boats are very busy due to the success ofPortland Basin Museum even ‘out of season’.An electric auxiliary motor is being fitted tocope with the common propeller blockages.

Photocalls being arranged for the handover ofthe sales trailer, the opening of the boatingseason, and the 30th birthday of the Society.

Questions were asked about the future of ourdredger, still in storage in the ex-BW yard atMossley, as the space was needed by memberAlwyn Ogborn who occupies the yard. It wasagreed to offer it to the newly formedHollinwood Canal Society rather than have itbroken up by British Waterways. (Why we arenot using it to dredge OUR canal remains amystery to me! KW).

After a lengthy discussion about the future ofrelationships with BW on The Narrow andRochdale canals, and the problems of watersupply, the meeting closed.

5th May, 2004

Keith Noble hedged his bets by appearing inthe ‘present’ and ‘apologies’ items!

Keith Sykes was welcomed to the meeting asthe Society’s observer at the East side B.W.User Group meeting.

Sale of Mossley Road office proceeding slowlydue to need to negotiate a lease for ouroccupancy of the ground floor.

Clearing out all the surplus paper is in handand future archive material being separatedout. A small separate office is to be rented toact as a document store and archive sortingoffice.


Other avenues are being explored to find anew permanent home.

Schools in Tameside, Oldham and Kirkleeswere being mail-shot with Society details to tryto encourage younger members.

The colour issue of Plink went down well;other promotional ideas were discussed.

The dredger has gone from Alwyn Ogborn’syard and is now in storage at Stockton in theMidlands awaiting refurbishment. The Societyis helping with some of the removal costs toassist the fledgling Hollinwood Canal Society -the new owners.

The volunteers have agreed some work onEast and West sides for the Summer. Bridgeplate saga is probably solved on the West Sidebut not on the East.

Society to be represented at the TamesideCanal Festival in July.

The Shuttle is operating at Marsden again nowthe Visitor Centre has reopened at weekends.

Approval given to replenish stocks of“uniforms” and wet-weather gear for boatcrews.

Whilst the amount of “operation andmaintenance” volunteer work continues to belimited, the boat crews number some 14volunteers per week, representing a significantpromotional activity for the Society.

Photocalls had taken place recently tohighlight the Society’s 30th anniversary and there-opening of the Cheshire Ring.

Keith Noble took the floor for three items ofany other business, namely

a. The Society’s response to consultationon the proposed Colne Valley Greenway (acycle route hiding under an assumed name).

b. The legislation on Alcohol Limits beingextended to boating on the inland waterways -heaven forfend!

c. The Government seeking views onusers’ impressions of British Waterways -should make fascinating reading!

Keith Sykes circulated and spoke from hisnotes on the East side User Group and, in hisabsence, Bob Gough circulated notes of BrianMinor’s trip to the West Side User Group.Both meetings seemed to be the usual mixtureof criticisms by users and excuses andplatitudes by BW. One sorry note is thereduction in BW staffing members (bank sideand office), and expenditure on canal work,due to Government cut-backs. (And wethought John Prescott was on our side! KW)

Annual General MeetingJune 10th, 2004

Held at the Delph Band Club where theExtraordinary General Meeting was held inJanuary. A pleasant enough spot with decentdraught beer but the clatter of a slot machinefor part of the evening rather lowered thetone.

All the usual formalities were gone through; 13apologies (there were only 24 present soseveral hundred didn’t send apologies norproxy votes), 2003 minutes read out by yourstruly, Chairman’s Annual Report taken as read(by everybody, in Spring Pennine Link). Theaccounts were dealt with by Caroline Jones,from auditors Mazars. She made a delightfuladdition to the function and was asked severalquestions which she answered with aplomb.

The auditors were re-elected as were severalmembers of Council; Eric Crosland and DavidStubbs were elected to the Council. Eric hasbeen a member of Joint Council meetings foryears, being a director of HCS Restoration Ltd;now he’s fully-fledged.

Any other business items were mainly limitedto queries about British Waterways prioritiesand suggestions as to where money could bebest spent. A short but serious discussionabout marketing the Society and enticingyounger members brought the formal event toa close. Council will decide where and whenthe next AGM takes place - it will be on theEast side.

Following the meeting we all slurped our waythrough hot beef muffins dipped in beef juiceand listened to a presentation from John


Courtman of TamesideCountryside Service whotalked (at some length, butvery interestingly) aboutTameside’s three river valleys.Also, Alwyn Ogborn, onbehalf of his wife Joan, waspresented with a book prizefor winning the Pennine LinkSpring competition - thelongest word to be made from“The Grand Union Canal”.Joan won with“nonegenarian” - mind you, itwas the only entry!

28th July, 2004

The meeting was held, again,at the Tunnel End Inn atMarsden - a very pleasant venue.

The Society has sent out a mail shot to allschools in Tameside (106 of them), invitingthem to get involved in the canal - only ONEschool responded, St. Paul’s in Stalybridge,and teacher Paul White gave Council a talk onhow his school uses the canal as a tool inhistory, geography and environmental subjects.

When the Huddersfield Canal Company isfinally laid to rest a new system of guardingthe canal’s future will be established. Ourrepresentatives will be Chairman NevilleKenyon and Treasurer Steve Picot at the“board” level and retired civil engineers KenWright and Keith Noble at the “officer” level.To accord with the wishes of the MillenniumCommission we all have to live 125 moreyears! (He said, jokingly).

This year’s Christmas edition of Pennine Linkwill be No.150 so it is to be a bit special -starting with the Photographic Competitionwhich will be FREE entry with a top cash prizeof €150 (see page 34). Now let’s see if we canraise a bit more interest.

In another effort to involve ourselves in theregeneration of the canal corridor we arecontacting the tourism officers in the threelocal councils. This could also lead to acombined effort in producing a new, veryupdated, Towpath Guide.

HC

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Our finances continue to be in a satisfactorystate, helped by recently recovering €7,500tax repayment, which we thought we had lost,and over €1,500 from Gift Aid for last year.

The volunteers are busily painting Digglelocks.

We took our new publicity tent to the MarpleLocks festivities and raised a great deal ofinterest.

The boat crews continue to work hard on bothsides of the hill and we are hoping to getinvolved in providing the Father Christmastrips at Marsden - now that there are too fewstaff at the Visitor Centre for British Waterwaysto do it.

We continue to give talks to interested groups- at the present time these are mainly AgeConcern lunch clubs.

We are going to organise a brass plaque to besold to boaters who can prove that they have“done” the Huddersfield Narrow.

Two subjects raised at the AGM - wideningWade Lock in Uppermill and improving watersupply on the East side to allow more boats upto Marsden - are to be raised as priority itemswith British Waterways.

Ken Wright

On behalf of his wife Joan, Alwyn Ogborn (left) accepts theSpring Competition prize from Chairman, Neville Kenyon.


HCS Crews News

Still Waters on the Peak Forest Canal

I write this havingjust set off for aleisurely ten daycruise around theCheshire CanalRing and just afterdeparting frombase at FurnessVale, we passed

David Sumner (our President) and ChrisFarrar returning from a trip on his belovedHuddersfield Narrow Canal.

The warm weather of Summer seems toget everyone in the mood for a spot ofboating reflected by the high number ofenquiries and bookings we receive for thetrip boats at the HCS office.

On the day Ashton Market Hall burntdown, Arlies Primary School, Stalybridge,were due to visit the Portland BasinMuseum and the Setantii exhibition atAshton Town Hall. However, due to thetown centre being sealed off, the Setantiivisit was cancelled and so, teacher JoyceHansell, wife of HCS crew member DavidHansell, asked, at short notice, if wecould fill the vacant slot with a trip on StillWaters for her pupils.

Paul Peacock and I duly volunteered andenjoyed a good afternoon out with a verylively bunch of happy children. A fewdays later, much to our surprise, wereceived a whole wad of letters from thechildren on the trip reflecting their variousobservations. Here are some extracts, aswritten, which show how children seethings.

Arlies Primary SchoolBroad Hill RoadStalybridge

Dear Allan and Paul

I thank you both for the boat trip it wasexcellent infact it was the best boat trip Ihave ever been on. When Mrs Hanselltold me we was going on a boat trip I wasrealy realy excited so thanks one more itwas realy smashing.

Conner

… It was a Pleasure to wind the bridge upand then down. … I liked the boatrocking and when I got a mouth full offlys.

Thomas

… Even though we can’t go to Selanti itwas still a good day out. At the beginningI was a bit affraid but it was ok later on.

Victoria

... When we got in the tunnels you couldhear your self echo and it was realy pitchblack. ... as we were coming back Ithought Allan would fall of the side of theboat.

Jack

We loved your boat trip ... so thanks forgiving up your time and taking us, its agood job we listened and kept our headsinside the boat or I would not be writingto you now.

Andrew

I am very happy that you let me andsomeothers help with the liftup bridge.


I think all of Class 3 enjoyed the boat trip,because we Saw geese, chicks, Swans andalot of plants.

Amy

Thanks for a wonderful boat trip. It was alovely view out the window. I enjoyedgoing under bridges and when peoplecranked the bridge up. ... We will all bringa pound in, I promise.

Luke

I had a fantastic time When we went outon the canal. I liked it when we sawducklings under their mums tummy andthen swans, Thank you for telling us thesafty rules.

Loren

I really enjoy boat rides and your’s was thebest ever. ... I was really, really excited,when I heard we were going on one. I gotso excited I almost fainted, (but I didn’tluckerly).

Hannah

Thanks for giving up your time for us, thetrip was excellent. ... you were both funny

and full of laughter I hope when you getthis letter you will feel better.

Thank you Your Pal Joe

I rearly liked liked the boat trip. ... it wasthe best School trip I have ever bin onathow I am slitly glad the town-hall burntdown or I would not have met you twolovly people.

AIT Lyons

Thank you very much it was the first boattrip I have ever been on. The boat tripwas unexpeted but i had a excellent time.... Mrs Hansell realy enjoyed it, so did allthe other teachers it was so cool andwicked.

Lauren

As always, anyone wishing to try theirhand at crewing or skippering the tripboats should contact David Stubbs(East side) on 01484 667135 or me(West side) on 0161 343 6400.

Allan KnottWest Side Boat Crew Co-ordinator

Lauren Jode Fitton


MossleyCanalFestival

The Mossley FestivalAssociation and RoachesLock Public House heldtheir first Mossley CanalFestival from the 30th Aprilto the 2nd May 2004. Theyprovided a stunning musicalweekend, showcasing localtalent, with sideshows andattractions to suit all ages.

The canalside venue was anideal opportunity for EdMortimer’s Astra to offerboat trips and Sue Dayattended with Maria;Britain’s oldest survivingwooden narrowboat,celebrating its 150thanniversary and resplendentin livery restored to heroriginal scheme.

Photos: A. Knott

MossleyCanalFestival


Summer 2004 - Pennine Link - 15Summer 2004 - Pennine Link - 15


The Hollinwood BranchProgress continues on the latest canalrestoration proposal in our area.Ed Mortimer reports on the latest news,plus a couple of interesting items ofcorrespondence.

From little acornsThe article in Plink (Spring 2003) aboutthe Hollinwood Branch created a lot ofinterest. Since then lots of meetings havebeen held, lots of work has been done,and a canal society now exists. Yet noth-ing looks any different on the canal. It isstill as derelict as it was this time last year.

So now I realise just what staying powerall those early stalwarts on the Hudders-field Narrow Canal must have had.Acorns take a long time to grow into oaktrees.

On the Huddersfield Narrow Canal all theearly work somehow seems forgotten,along with those early people who did allof it. What short memories we seem tohave. Instead boaters now moan ‘there’sno mooring bollards’. When theHollinwood Canal is reopened, will all theearly work and endless meetings (with allsorts of organisations) be forgotten just aseasily? I suppose it will.

Hello, I’m David HeyesThe newly formed Hollinwood CanalSociety seemed to have created a lot ofinterest, but yet so many seemed still tobe unaware that the canal exists, or thatthere was a new society with some sort ofidea that it could or should be reopened.

12 June 2004

Dear Ed,

I read your very interesting pages on theInternet; as a kid I used to walk along the canalto school from Drury Lane to Stanley RoadSchool. So it brought back some cheerfulmemories at the time I lived at No. 9 Drury Lanewhich, like a lot of Hollinwood Canal, is nowgone.

We also used to get on the canal and walk theother way, as a way to get into Daisy Nook. Itwas a very nice walk as a kid; not too far andalong the way, near the Mersey Mill, the canalcontained some very large gold fish. I used to doa lot of fishing in those days in the mill lodgesthat were plentiful then, but I cannot rememberseeing anyone fishing in the canal in that area.

I remember what was the first lock on that canal.It was just in front of what was Levi Jackson’srope works, which later, in the first war years,

became Hills’ Aircraft, which did a lot of work forA.V. Roe. I remember it very well because a classmate of mine got pushed in that lock cominghome from school, and the policeman, who wason traffic duty at the junction on Drury Laneand Manchester Road, had to come along climbdown the lock and help Roy back to safety. Therewas no ambulance called, and Roy and thepoliceman had to go home wet through.

Just where the canal was fed from the WharfeYard, there were two skeletons of barges at theopposite side of the canal to the towpath. Justbehind the Yard was a barge building and repairworkshop; but it was derelict in the 1930’s.There was also another lock that went under themain road at Drury Lane. As kids, I recall therewas also a building we called The Marble Arch,where we used to play on the dark nights ofwinter. It was a waiting room for the trams, Ithink, but I cannot remember anyone waiting fora tram in there! There were also a set of publictoilets, also long gone.

F. Shelmerdine, Grasscroft, Oldham



Then I was at a local event in Oldham.Afterwards David Heyes, the local MP,came and introduced himself to me.(This did seem a little wrong, I thoughtcanal enthusiasts are supposed to have tolobby long and hard to get the attentionof the local MP!)

‘Great idea, reopening the HollinwoodBranch Canal’ he said, ‘we might not seeit opened in our lifetime, but it is worthdoing’. Since our conversation he hasjoined the Hollinwood Canal Society.The Society now has 80 members.

Oldham Council takes the leadNow Oldham Council is beginning to leadin arranging meetings and the futuredirection of the proposals. They arearranging meetings that include TamesideCouncil. The discussions are a big stepfrom this time last year, when theexistence of the canal was hardlyacknowledged. Yet the discussions andthinking are still not sufficiently forwardthinking. This is particularly true for theformer gasworks and huge brownfield sitein Hollinwood (opposite).

This site in Hollinwood, next to the M60at Junction 22, could be a huge qualitycanalside leisure and retail development,similar to Broad Street Birmingham orCastlefield in Manchester. Yet OldhamCouncil are concerned instead about‘real’ jobs. So the site may well becomeindustrial units.

An industrial estate is not what many ofthe Hollinwood people actually want.And not many would benefit from iteither. Instead they would like some sortof new and exciting town centre to useand visit, and some open green space aswell. And this could so easily include acanal as a central feature.

R GoughSummer 2004 - Pennine Link - 17


But the site is a very valuable one, and amore immediate financial benefit isperceived to be gained from selling it forsome sort of industrial use. Sad, and justa little bit too short sighted. Sad too forthe local people, who have had a hardtime of it all (years of blight because ofthe motorway).

Canal Society has some successat DroylsdenThe canal route is to be redeveloped atDroylsden. This is at Fairfield Junction(the junction with the main route of theAshton Canal). There has been quite a lotof local publicity about this. Earlierproposals at this site were for a housingdevelopment surrounding a small marina.It would not have been possible tocontinue the canal beyond it, withoutdemolishing some of the development.

Canal Society meetings held with Council-lor Kieran Quinn and Tameside CouncilOfficers led to the decision to adopt anew design for the development thatincludes the line of the canal. Sadly theproposals at the moment do not includefor all of it to be to a navigable depth.Instead part of it is to be constructed as ashallowed water feature! I am hopingthat lessons learnt from constructing theshallowed section on the Rochdale Canalwill result in a change in this decision.

Floating water plantainWhat could have held up or stopped therestoration of the Huddersfield NarrowCanal could have been the cherry trees inSlaithwaite. Well, I think the HollinwoodBranch cherry trees could be a littlesmaller, they are Floating Water Plantain.This small rare aquatic plant is likely to

Artist’s impression of the Droylsden development with amarina connecting to the Ashton Canal to the left and a

water feature preserving the line of the HollinwoodBranch to the right. Courtesy of Watkin Jones

Construction - reproduced with permission


present problems for the restoration of theHollinwood Canal. If Floating WaterPlantain is so important to the world aswe know it, why are we not constructingsuitable lagoons now throughout thecountry for it to thrive?

Sadly, the canal would be easier to reopenif it had all been filled in and built on!(And where would the Floating WaterPlantain have gone then?)

Are we really at the stage of building aparallel canal so that one of the channelscan be used for aquatic species?

Engineering Report says it istechnically feasibleRoy Sutton, Honorary Consultant Engi-neer to the Inland Waterways Association,has carried out a detailed engineeringstudy of the Hollinwood Branch. He hasconcluded that the restoration of the

canal (and the creation of a new link tothe Rochdale Canal) is technically feasi-ble. It just needs a bit of money. Well,quite a lot. His estimate is €16M forFairfield Junction to Daisy Nook CountryPark. And a further €15M for Daisy NookCountry Park to the Rochdale Canal.Sounds a lot, yet each bit is ‘only’ abouttwice what it cost to reopen the Hudders-field Narrow Canal in Stalybridge.

What about the locksThe original Hollinwood Branch had eightlocks. Four are within what is now DaisyNook Country Park, and four moretowards the very end of the canal inOldham. The proposals only include therestoration of the first four locks withinDaisy Nook Country Park. Two new locksare needed for the new short link downthe Rochdale Canal (a level difference of21 feet).

The impressive aqueduct carrying the Hollinwood Branchover the River Medlock in Daisy Nook. Mature treesgrowing around and within the aqueduct are causingsignificant structural damage.


R G

ough


Possibly a drop lock could be used tocross the motorway at Woodhouses(although other more imaginativeschemes are being considered for crossingthe motorway at this point).

What is tentatively being considered iscompletely restoring the top lock of thefour locks within Daisy Nook CountryPark. This is the one lock that iscompletely infilled and buried.The other three locks are capped andstill visible as a feature.

Future threatsIn Droylsden there is the possibility thatManchester Road Bridge could be demol-ished as part of the construction of theMetrolink extension to Ashton. Howeverit has recently been announced thatfunding is not available for the next phase

By EMail:I was very interested to see your website -as a youngster in the early 60’s I oftenused to walk the canal.You mention the pumping engine at theFairbottom Branch Junction. You may beinterested to know that I have a set of quitegood photographs of this just before it wasdemolished. Also, my uncle - who is now84 - has a starting handle from this engine.Now for the interesting bit ... shouldanyone ever think of restoring the canal,they should take a close look in the bottomof the top lock of the staircase pair at DaisyNook (pictured below, Ed.). The ‘beam’from the pumping engine is down there,buried when they filled it in ...

Best Regards, Howard Bolton, Derby

of Metrolink extensions. So, for themoment, this threat has gone away.


Buried Treasure - the original

beam from the Waterhouses

pumping engine is said to be

part of this lock chamber infill.

R G

ough


Society working partiesMeet at the Countryside Centre, DaisyNook Country Park

Sat / Sun 16–17 October

Working party clearing the vegetation thatis damaging the canal structures withinDaisy Nook. 10am to 5pm both days

Sat / Sun 4-5 December

Working party on the canals in DaisyNook. 10am to 5pm both days.This will be in conjunction with WaterwayRecovery Group North West

If you want to support this new society thecontact details are:

Address: 68 Knowl Street, Stalybridge,Cheshire. SK15 3AJ

Or visit the website:www.hollinwoodcanal.co.uk

(Membership is €5 per year; an applica-tion form can be downloaded)

Telephone: 0161 303 7635

Ed Mortimer

Photos courtesy ofHarold Bolton.

Two views, from Howard Bolton’scollection, of the Pumping Engine atthe Fairbottom Branch which wasused to back-pump, and henceconserve, water on the HollinwoodBranch in Daisy Nook.Already long derelict, the pictureswere taken just before the mainstructures were demolished in thelate 1950’s.The inset detail below shows anunusual feature in the use of parallelmotion to the pump rod; this was dueto the pump delivering to quite a highlevel and thence down the ‘launder’ orwater trough shown.The engine could deliver about35,000 gallons in half an hour toreplace the water used in navigatingthe Waterhouses Locks.

The Stamford Group are delighted to be associated with the Huddersfield Canal Society and wish them

continued success.

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HCS Videos

The new video, 'The Impossible Dream', is available from the Society offices, price £10.99 plus £1.95 p+p. This video, commissioned by the Huddersfield Canal Company, tells the story of the complete restoration of the Huddersfield Narrow Canal, from an idea by enthusiasts in the early 1970's, through to the official re-opening by HRH the Prince of Wales, in September 2001.

Running time: 56 mins

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The Huddersfield Narrow Canal

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Marple Locks Bi-CentenaryThe 200th anniversary of the opening ofthe Marple locks was celebrated onSaturday 3rd July with a Festival and a visitfrom a reincarnation of Samuel Oldknow,the man who made them possible.

Sam’s Lime Kilns just behind Lock 16were making money in 1804, but the costof transport to the growing industrial areaof Manchester was harming his profits.The Peak Forest Canal was the answer.

Built in the ‘modern’ fashion, with locksgrouped centrally and designed mainly byBenjamin Outram, the canal was aninstant success. The top end of the canalbrought the raw lime from BuxworthBasin and Whaley Bridge to his kilns andthen carried the vital building materialonward. His Mill lower down the flight,utilising the flow of water down thebywash added to his wealth.

He must have been an enlight-ened employer with goodpublic and labour relations as200 years afterwards theinhabitants of Marple turnedout in atrocious weather to paytribute to his memory. Thelocks are still in operationtoday, albeit with severalrenewals of the gates andmechanisms.

Oldknow Mill

Descending the Flight


Many of the activities of the area wererepresented at the Festival. Marple is nolonger an industrial town, purely a resi-dential area, and the stalls reflected this.The Chess Club, the Guides, a treesurgeon and a couple of local charitieswere amongst those present. Local artistswere painting on the canalside and TudorCruising Club were selling life savingbacon butties at Lock 4.

The show opened at 10.00 a.m. and halfan hour later, the heavens opened and agale blew. A stall from Stockport MBCblew away and the staff decided thatdiscretion was the better part of valourand left.

The stall from the Macclesfield Canalsociety spent an hour trying to take offwith a couple of hefty fellers holding itdown and then they decided that enoughwas enough, and packed up.

But as the 1.00 time for the openingenactment came, the rain died away and

The Rubber Duck Theatre Company


although the odd strong blast madeeveryone grab their tent poles, theafternoon was relatively peaceful.

Sue Day, fresh from the Mossley CanalFestival, was in attendance with thewooden narrowboat Maria, whosestructural alterations showed what someof the first boats to use the canal musthave looked like. The children from theRubber Duck Theatre Company, inVictorian costume, added authenticity tothe scene.

Several guided walks went down the lockshaving the mechanics of the operationexplained to them and a very useful minibus kept up a free service from the top tothe bottom of the flight.

The new HCS tent lasted all day, althoughwe had to make a few modifications to

battle with the elements. Alwyn and Joanbrought everything along and PresidentDavid Sumner, in his home town, was onhand to keep us in order.

Every visitor had nice things to say about‘our’ Canal and hopefully we should getsome new members as a result. Severalmembers came to talk to us and amongstmany old friends it was a pleasure to seeHCS Restoration’s consultant, MikeThompson, again.

Altogether, in spite of the weather, anenjoyable experience and plus pointsgained for the Society.

Brian MinorPhotos: B Minor

Olwyn Ogborn (left)and David Sumnerat the HCS stand.


Sue Day and her boat horse

Artists on the canal bank


GMR Bus in the Basin Again!Once again the BBC GMR Bus has had aday’s stay at Portland Basin. This time it co-incided with the Friday of the TamesideCanals Festival. Every time the bus’slocation was mentioned on air, this meantthat the Festival got a plug!

Presenter Gill Kearsley interviewed TonyWostenholme live in the morning about thehistory of the Festival and what washappening during the weekend, with thesound of Ed Mortimer’s boat engine in thebackground. Tony came over very well andmade his points very clearly. I think also thefact that Gill is an attractive young ladywasn’t lost on him either!

The bus is used by the BBC for twopurposes, the first is the obvious one ofgood PR. Getting out and showing the facebehind the voice, meeting listeners, hearingand sometimes recording their opinions.Many of these are subsequently broadcast inthe series ‘Word on the Street’. Several ofthe daytime programmes are actuallytransmitted from the bus.

The second reason is to introduce thegeneral public to the world of computersand the Internet. A tutor from a localcollege is always on hand and should the‘bug’ bite after a chance to try one’s hand atthe new technology free or very inexpensivecourses can be recommended.

Brian MinorBelow: The distinctive, yellow GMR Bus parked up on thewharf at Portland Basin.Inset Left: Gill Kearsley (GMR) interviewing TonyWolstenholme of the Festival Committee.Inset Right: HCS Skipper, Alan Knott (left) withGMR’s Paul Hurst. Photos: B. Minor



Letter to the EditorDear Brian,

I recently paid my fourth visit to theHuddersfield Narrow, over 5 years, duringand since restoration. I have walked theHuddersfield to Tunnel End sections andover Standedge on previous visits and theUppermill/Diggle section so decided thistime to walk the Greenfield to Dukinfieldsection.

My plans were somewhat thwarted howeveras it was pouring with rain at Marsden onthe morning of my intended walk. So Icaught the train to Ashton and visited thePortland Basin Museum. A most interestingand educational experience.

Two hours later it was still raining but Idecided to walk from the Basin toUppermill. A short investigation of the PeakForest Canal - the towpath was very wet -then I made my way along the short sectionof the Ashton to the Huddersfield. Despitethe rain this was beautiful and the canallooked so serene.

However a small comment (not a crticism asI think the Society has the matter in hand)the overhanging branches above thetowpath in some parts meant the I had tobend almost double (and I am only a littlechap) to avoid having my rain hood rippedoff (I sympathise with Sue Day - ReviewIssue 148 - about the East Side).

I was impressed with the cleanliness of thecanal except at Stalybridge locks (and Iknow it’s not the fault of the Society but theuncaring British public) where the locks andside walk were just a rubbish dump for fastfood plastics, plastic bottles and cans. Apity!

I walked on to Mossley and then having hadmy fill of the rain caught the train toGreenfield and walked the short distance tothe Saddleworth Museum encountering

towpath problems again with the vegetationand overhanging branches. Anotherinteresting and educational experience atthe Museum.

On the morning of my departure, I wasencouraged by my host to walk to Sparthreservoir - again a delightful experience butwhat can you do about the silly scribblingsof the stupid ‘graffiti artists’ on the boardsand lock paddle gates - nothing - as it’s anational disease but it’s a pity they don’tturn their ‘talents’ to helping to paint thelock paddle arms on the East side. (I wouldcome myself to help - not as a ‘graffiti artist!’- but it’s a bit of a way from Norwich).

I was most fortunate in staying at the PearTree Cottage in Marsden - a home fromhome. Mr and Mrs Goodhall made memost welcome - a lovely comfortable hometo stay and excellent breakfasts for ageingwalkers.

Also I ate my two main meals at the Railwayin Marsden - an excellent eating house withfriendly hosts and good food.

All in all I thoroughly enjoyed my visit againand I felt that the canal has matured and -especially in the rain - looked most peacefuland scenically beautiful. It proves that allthe effort and work put in by the Societyand its volunteers (and is still being put in)was exceptionally worthwhile.

I hope it will not be my last visit (but age isbeginning to tell) and my good wishes to allinvolved in maintaining this national beautywhich is so attractive to walkers like myselfseeking peace and quiet.

Yours sincerely,

Vic Edwards (2546), Norwich

A real pleasure to receive your letter, Vic,and to see that the Society’s efforts inhelping to restore the Narrow are trulybenefitting its users. Ed.


2004 Photographic Competition

The eighth annual competition is upon us!And we want to rekindle the enthusiasm wehad in 2002, when there were 95 entriesfrom 18 photographers. Last year wemanaged only 82 pictures from 13competitors. With a membership measuredin hundreds we should do better - the rulesare simple enough and, this year, as you cansee, the prizes are phantasmagorical.

As I have said year after year we aresurprised at the lack of interest from juniors.With the advent of the digital camera, andits computer associations, I would haveexpected young persons to be jumping atthe chance to have a go.

There will be a judge’s prize again this year,awarded to the best junior entry.

At last, something to keep them occupied inthe long, summer holidays!

The adults shouldn’t need encouragement.With over 2000 miles of inland waterwaysto go at - not counting all those foreign ones- and a picture round every corner, thepossibilities are endless.

Older photos are acceptable but new onesare preferred, although who can tell thedifference!

AWARDS

Overall Winner

- Challenge Shield for one year- €150 Cash prize- Replica Shield to keep- Signed certificate

Winners - In all categories

- €50 Cash prize, signed certificate

Runners up - In all categories

- €25 Cash prize, signed certificate

Best Junior entry - special Judge’s prize

Plus selected “highlycommended” and“commended” certificates

In anticipation of our imminent 150th edition of Pennine Link, Councilhave decided to celebrate with a very special Photographic Competition.Not only is entry entirely FREE, but the overall winner will get a cash prizeof €150, the winners in each category €50, and the runners up €25!

Competition organiser, Ken Wright continues:

1998 - P White

1999 - T Briggs

2004 Photographic Competition

1997 - J Goodhall - Cat A

1997 - Anne Wright - Cat C



Every picture entered will be commentedupon by the judge, Past President ofOldham Photographic Society, GeoffHope, and the comments passed to theentrants. Of course, the winning entries willbe printed in Pennine Link, in colour, forthe special 150th edition.

RULES

The competition is open to all Societymembers and their families. There is noentry fee. Prints only, black and white orcolour. Minimum size 6” x 4”, maximumoverall size 8” x 6”.

PRINTS MUST NOT BE MOUNTED.

Any canal-related subject is acceptable inthe following categories:-

a. Huddersfield Narrow - Seniorsb. Huddersfield Narrow - Juniors (16 or

under)c. Other waterways - Seniord. Other waterways - Junior (16 or

under)

HOW TO ENTER

Send your prints (maximum 5 per person ineach category) to:-

Photo CompetitionHuddersfield CS239 Mossley RoadAshton-u-LyneOL6 6LN

Include locations of the photographs(captioned if you so wish) and age of thephotographer if 16 or under.

Include your name and address and thename of the HCS member you are relatedto (if applicable) and return postage or SAEif you want your prints back.

CLOSING DATE

FRIDAY 22nd OCTOBER, 2004

Any queries to the organiser,Ken Wright Tel:- 01457 873599E-mail:- [email protected]

FINALLY

Digital photography encouraged.Encourage those JUNIORS!

Ken Wright

2000 - Anita Crosby

2002 - J Morgan

2003 - J Morgan

2001 - J Lower

2004 - ?

Our past gloriesThe winners since the competition’s,inauguration in 1997 when categorywinners were honoured.



CANALS FESTIVAL PROVIDESANOTHER WEEKENDOF FAMILY FUNBoats, Bands and a huge beer tent wereonce again the main attractions of the 27th

Tameside Canals Festival, which tookplace at Portland Basin in Ashton-under-Lyne, over the weekend of 9th to the 11th

of July.

Despite the weather, which was dampand showery for most of the weekend, theevent attracted over 40 narrowboats tomoor along the towpaths adjacent to thesite. It was once again generously spon-sored by the Ashton District Assembly andwith all set-up costs covered by sponsor-ship, all proceeds from the event were tobe donated to Willow Wood Hospice,raising a magnificent €5,000.

Head of Fundraising at the Hospice, JohnFellowes said: “One of the problems withorganising outside events is the totalreliance on the weather and for the firsttime in many years the attendance at thefestival did suffer as a result of the atro-cious conditions, especially on the Satur-day. However those who did attend wereentertained to the highest degree andeveryone enjoyed themselves”.

27th Tameside Canals Festivalsupporting

Willow Wood HospicePortland Basin, Ashton-under-Lyne

9th, 10th & 11th July, 2004

John continued “Events like this do nothappen over night and I would like tothank everyone on the volunteer festivalcommittee for all their hard work on ourbehalf.

(Anyone reading this and who would liketo become involved in next year’s Festi-vals is asked to ring the Hospice AppealsOffice on 0161 330 7788.)

The Festival featured a large craft tent thatwas busy all over the weekend, a numberof sideshows and a variety of gift stalls aswell as a superb entertainment pro-gramme. This started on Friday eveningwhen as well as the Festival’s legendarybeer tent (which was open over the wholeweekend offering a range of real ales,lagers and ciders), the zany ‘BigglesWartime Band made a welcome returnfollowing their successful performancehere last year. They were supported bythe Navajo Line Dancers, who alsocaptivated the audience with their per-formance!

Then on Saturday, the site opened at11am with a range of entertainmentincluding live music and children’sentertainers. At 2pm, visitors werewelcomed to the Festival by Chairman ofthe voluntary organising committee,


Mr Barry Edwards, who thanked everyonefor their support before introducing theCivic Mayor of Tameside, Councillor BillHarrison who formally opened the Festivalby saying that he hoped that everyonewould have a wonderful time at this eventwhich is one of the borough’s majorannual Festivals.

The Mayor and Mayoress then toured thesite accompanied by Vice ChairpersonHazel Maskell and they especially en-joyed the annual Festival of Dance,spending a leisurely afternoon watchingperformances from the gloriously namedChorlton Cloghoppers, Fiddler’s Fancy,Shuttler’s Clog and the Britannia CoconutDancers, who were all demonstratingdifferent styles of dance from around theworld!

The site reopened at 7pm for a night oflive Irish music. Opening up proceedingswere guitar/vocalists Jim & Bonz and theyset the mood nicely for top-of-the-bill,‘Curraghsons’ whose tantalising electricfiddle playing had toes tapping and handsclapping as they went through theirrepertoire. Unusually, they had visitorsdancing in the aisles (which is quitedifficult when you consider that we wereunder canvas in the middle of a field!)and a great night was had by all, withseveral encores demanded at the end!

On Sunday the site was again open at11am with the boater’s church service,which was led by the Reverend DennisThomas, who after 25 years is standingdown from this duty as he is retiring. TheCommittee would like to especially thankReverend Dennis for his dedication to theFestival and wish him a long and happyretirement.

There was more fantastic family entertain-ment until 4pm, which mainly took place

under canvas to avoid the regular down-pours, and this included Bethany’sAccordion Band, Mossley Hollins BrassBand and the Ruidogrande Samba Bandwhich went down a storm.

More great dance groups performedincluding the Milltown Cloggies, SevenStars Sword and Step Dancers, theManchester Ukrainian School of Dance,Opanka and the Horwich Prize MedalMorris Men, each attracting large, appre-ciative audiences.

With admission to each evening concertjust €2.50 per person and daytimeadmission at just €1.50 (with accompa-nied children FREE!) many commentswere received by the Committee fromsatisfied visitors who were surprised at theamount and quality of the entertainmentthat was provided!

Dates for your diaries for the 2005Tameside Canals Festival are Friday 8th,Saturday 9th and Sunday 10th July.Don’t miss it!

Peter Hawley

Scenes from a colourful festival overleaf ...

38 - Pennine Link - Summer 2004Photos courtesy of

Tameside Canals FestivalCommittee


Tameside Festival 1999


Wonders of the WaterwaysWhen I was forced into a 35 mile journey towork in 1974 I became a dedicated fan ofthe ‘Today’ programme on Radio 4.I delighted in the expert commentary andwit of John Timpson and Brian Redhead andquite fell for the young lady reporter, laterpresenter, Libby Purves. Indeed, I confess toher becoming the only person whose signedphotograph ever graced my desk!

Thirty years on Libby is a celebratedcolumnist, novelist and broadcaster, havingfronted the Radio 4 ‘Midweek’ programmefor 20 years. Guess how pleased I was tofind the following article in which Libby tellsof her love for canals.

The article appeared in May 2004 issue ofSAGA magazine. For an annual subscription(€16.95) please contact 0800 056 1057.Take my word for it, it’s a jolly good read.

Ken Wright

When I was 25 and broke, I fell in loveand threw myself into the new passion,body and soul. A weekend of it would leaveme bruised, exhausted and happy. Andexceedingly muddy. For the object of thisromantic passion was the British canalsystem, and through coincidence andpenury (and, as it turned out, great goodluck) I happened to start from the oppositeend to most people.

Most canal fans begin by having a holidayon a narrowboat in summer. I started byjoining the Waterway Recovery Group andhauling rubbish out of filthy locks with abarrow-hoist – in winter. So long before Iexperienced canals as part of the leisureindustry, I learnt to love them as muddy,freezing, holes in the ground. I have neverregretted it.

For that is how they started, 200 years ago.England in 1800 was newly traversed by

brown canals, the visionary and cutting-edge transport technology of the age. In anera of rough, dangerous roads, there wasease and sense and utilitarian beauty in theaqueducts, tunnels and locks which enabledgreat loads to glide soundlessly between thecities. Hordes of rough navvies built the“navigations” – hence the word navvy,indeed – and songs were composed aboutthe great endeavour, bristling withcapitalised 18th-century formality – “Whenwith Fond Emulation all Parties are Vying, Tomake our Canal of Old England the Pride”.

The canal navvies were a tough mob: theeager unemployed, hired for a pittance todig, lay bricks, line the trenches and pushperilous tunnels through the depths of hills.They lived in turf huts, and from time totime provided a useful rent-a-riot service forpolitical candidates.

They were exploited, but what they builtwas beautiful; canal bridge arches areamong the loveliest man-made structures inthe countryside, and the great aqueductsare matchless. There is something lovely tooin the sheer logic of using the physics ofwater to enable one lean horse to pull withease a load which it could not shift an inchon dry land. Canals are beautiful and useful,but the beauty began with a muddy holeand many aching backs. I consider myselflucky to have first got to know them fromthe navvy’s perspective.

I stumbled on the Waterway RecoveryGroup by accident. It still exists, indeed hasa highly tempting website (www.wrg.org.uk)listing all its camps and work parties. In theearly 1970s it was relatively new, and had tosave up tens of thousands of Green ShieldStamps to buy excavators. The organisation’smission was the same as it is today: to cleanup, repair and restore sections of the canalnetwork which fell into disrepair during the


arrogance of the railway age and the reignof road freight. The aims were ambitious; in1972 they mustered 1,000 volunteers toclear 3,000 tons of rubbish from the PeakForest and Ashton Canal in one weekend.

So I got into my dirtiest clothes one winterSaturday, and was picked up on the Oxfordbypass at dawn by a battered red van. Fiveof us sat uncomfortably on the ribbed metalfloor for the next three hours, heading intoWarwickshire. The canal, when we found it,was a ribbon of brown ice; we were met bya splendid gnome-like figure namedGraham (alas, now long dead) who from adoorway of a hut made of old garage doorsgave us rapid instructions, deploying us tomix cement, clear locks and pointbrickwork. I had none of these skills. By theend of the weekend I had a smattering.Learning is always good. And for deskworkers – which most of us were – there is ahuge pleasure in being allowed to muckabout with spades, concrete and barrows.

Many of us, young and not yet householderswith gardens to wrestle with, felt that wewere entering into a heritage of manualwork which was lost to us when we took A-levels. On the other hand, the leaders whokept us from digging up the wrong sectionswere often builders and landscapers whofelt passionate enough about the canalsystem to give it their weekends, and sleep

on the floor of a village hall after a roughmeal of stew and spuds from a 30-gallonpan, washed down by a gallon or so of beer.I never really understood beer until I didthat cold, heavy, earthy work: it’s the way itlays the dust in your throat that is sowonderful. Then we all sang the modernnavvies’ version of Jerusalem, “Bring me mypick and grappling hook, bring me mymighty JCB/Bring me my boots, oh ecstasy!Bring me my gallon flask of tea…” Weswore not to shrink from seas of mud, norlet our sludge-pump idly stand, till we’drebuilt the waterways of England’s greenand pleasant land.

I got to the stage when I was actually put incharge of the concrete-mixer, one day onthe Basingstoke Cut. But I grew older andbusier and less broke, and ended up as anidle boater instead, gliding along on thesummer surface and looking at the peacefulbanks instead of labouring on them. Thefirst trip was on a working boat, one of thelast, with bunks lashed in its cargo space.Then, with my own family, I hiredcomfortable modern narrowboats for theodd weekend.

But the joy of it is that you can never quiteforget the industrial, gritty roots of yourjourney. One of the best things is jumpingon the towpath to work a lift-bridge, swing-bridge or lock. To be allowed – indeedcompelled – to engage with these lovely,heavy pieces of engineering is magic. Itsatisfies your inner child, the child who oncountry walks was always boringly warnednot to touch big, dangerous things with ironcogwheels, to stand away from lock-gatesand leave things alone. To progress down awaterway you have to move tons of waterby winding a handle, and push great gatesopen, smooth on their hinges … oh,wonderful. Canals reconnect you to an oldinheritance.

Libby Purves


A boater’s dream or claustrophobe’s nightmare?

TheFlower

ofGloster A Talking Book set of 4 CDs - complete and unabridged -

in jewel case with sketch map of the journey and reprintof the original dedication.

by

E. Temple Thurstonread by

Diana Humphrey

First published in 1911, this is Ernest Temple Thurston’s evocativeaccount of a springtime journey by barge around the canals of Oxford-shire, Warwickshire and Gloucestershire. It is a fascinating historicdocument of a canal system which was on the brink of closure.

The personalities and characters of the people of the canal and its ruralsurroundings are brilliantlybrought to life in thisTalking Book version ofthe story by actress DianaHumphrey, who lives amere stone’s throw fromthe Stroudwater Canal inGloucestershire.

The Flower of Glocester - €24.99 (incl. P&P)from record dealers, or order at

www.poppyrecords.co.uk, or by post from:A Tuddenham

Poppy Records88 Mount Road, Southdown

Bath, BA2 1LH


Canal Crossword - 44

Across1 Molehill with no hole by a dark sataniclocation (4)3 Rat gangs found on the Lancaster (8)9 Lent sun dimmed on a subterranean canaljourney (7)10 Nosey lockkeeper found herein Oxford (5)11 Hen or cock seen fishing on a canalbank? (5)12 All Ned needed could be bought belowHalifax on the Calder and Hebble (6)14 The captain would not let Ely try passingthese SU locks single handed (6)16 Eye Mrs Beatle on a ferry (6)19 Small stone Pele found on BondiBeach (6)21 Nacre is too heavy too unload from a boatwith out mechanical assistance (5)24 Bathyscaph would not need a patch onthis lockless canal! (5)25 Rachel’s each way bet on the boat racewas placed a bit further downriver (7)

26 In a suburb of Trentham onthe T & M find a place whereskirts might be raised? (3,5)27 When the sea leaves Malmseywhat remains can be found onthe Bridgewater (4)

Down1 On the Basingstoke canal find atown with a bridge and a lake ofthe same name and a canal officefor good measure (8)2 In Dublin ergonomicallydesigned ships carry morepassengers (5)4 Inescapably had the cabinremoved at a BW yard nearHemel Hempstead on the GU (6)5 Manholes with no men warn ofa shallow area (5)

6 Wigs nan used to wear under the canvasshelter (7)7 Flower beneath Marple aqueduct (4)8 Canal engineer - inventor of indigestionremedy? (6)13 Very near the north end of the Oxfordcanal the army knew of a former collierybranch now occupied the the CoventryCruuising club (5,3)15 Dream he had of cruising through aBroadland town (7)17 Town on the River Waveney lost it’s headto become another town on the Leigh Branchof the Bridgewater (6)18 On the Thames near Old Windsor look foran island with a navigation channel that isdefinitely not old (3,3)20 Oh boy, news at last of restoration of anIrish river (5)22 Near a nasty M6 interchange find a smallOxford canalside village (5)23 Initially speaking there were plans to putlighters aboard ships (4)

Solution on Page 46


What the Papers SaidManchester Evening News

In a major, two page ‘Homes’ article, theTitanic Mill at Linthwaite was featuredwith emphasis on its ‘green’ credentialswith regard to its power generation. Withone and two bedroomed apartmentsranging from €133,000 to €268,000, areal snip! (5/5/04)

Reporter and Chronicle

The first Mossley Canal Festival took placeover the May holiday weekend and wasgiven a very colourful, full page spreadhighlighting the various activities on offer.Also pictured was Ed Mortimer’s ‘Astra’with fellow Society member Martin Clarkat the helm, giving trips for the festivalgoers. In the same issue, the holidayevents at Portland Basin were reportedand special mention made of the verypopular canal boat trips run by Societyvolunteers on behalf of the TamesideCanal Boat Trust. (6/5/04)

Bellway homes are to develop newcanalside housing on three sites aroundPortland Basin. The first phase of con-struction will take place on the 3.63hectare brownfield site of the formerJunction Mills. (6/5/04)

Tameside Advertiser

With headline hyperbole, our volunteerboat crews’ pre-season litter clean-up atPortland Basin was reported as a ‘CanalCrisis over Litter and Vandals’ withreference to rubbish and thugs causingproblems for canal trippers. (11/3/04).

The following week, Jane Thomson ofBritish Waterways gave a more balancedview in the Letters page emphasising theirclean-up work and commending the

Society. She also listed some simpleguidelines whereby the public couldprevent the littering in the first place.(18/3/04)

Front page news for the €110m develop-ment at Droylsden which will feature a 30boat secure mooring off the Ashton Canal.Obvious significance for the newly formedHollinwood Canal Society. (24/6/04) Thisarticle was reworked in the TamesideCitizen, but more interestingly it wasillustrated by an alternative artist’s impres-sion. The Citizen’s impression seemed toshow not only the marina and its connec-tion to the Ashton, but a restoredHollinwood Branch going clear underManchester Road bridge with a tramsuitably placed above! (29/6/04) (seepage 18 and Ed Mortimer’s comment)

The paper gave a suitably upbeat accountof the Tameside Canals Festival despitethe indifferent weather reducing thecrowds that had been seen in previousyears. (15/7/04)

Oldham Evening Chronicle

Anticipating the May Bank holiday, theChronicle suggested a number of localattractions including the Stanedge (sic)Tunnel. Their reference to trying out the‘legging it’ machine in the Visitor Centrewas somewhat out of date, but there wasa good colour photo of the then Society’sStandedge Pioneer (before it became theStill Waters at Portland Basin) waiting for aTunnel transit. (26/4/04)

A major emergency exercise took place atDiggle acting out a fictitious accidentinside one of the Standedge rail tunnels.Boat trips into the Tunnel were suspendedduring the exercise. (26/4/04)


The revamped Standedge Visitor Centrereopened in time for the Spring Bankholiday with a charge for the boat trip intothe Tunnel and free entry to a reducedexhibition area with restricted openingtimes. (27/5/04)

This year marks the bicentenary of theopening of the Rochdale Canal and amajor article listed the planned celebra-tions. Unfortunately, the backgroundhistory referred to the Rochdale as thehighest navigable waterway in Britain,with the Huddersfield Narrow having thehighest and longest canal tunnel. (7/6/04)(It is probable that the statistics weretransposed - Rochdale Summit pound is601ft asl and the Standedge Tunnel poundis 645ft asl - especially as the article refersto the Summit pound as being “well over600ft above sea level”).

Oldham Advertiser

Correspondents to the Advertiser havebeen voicing concern that despite thesuccessful restoration works on theHuddersfield Narrow and Rochdalecanals, they are once again becominglitter strewn, dumping grounds. (2/3 &23/3/04)

A new station for Diggle looks increasinglyremote as budget costs have risenastronomically due to the Strategic RailAuthority’s decision to reopen the twodisused single track Standedge tunnels.(11/3/04)

Directing a recent production of HMSPinafore at the Lowry, Timothy West wasdescribed as a “canals fan and keensupporter of the Huddersfield CanalSociety.” (31/3/04)

The dissent between Oldham Council andBritish Waterways over the maintenanceprogramme for the Rochdale and

Huddersfield Narrow canals rumbled onwith a further article suggesting BW wereblaming the delay in producing a mainte-nance plan on their company restructur-ing, and that a BW representative hadfailed to attend a significant Councilmeeting. (12/3/04)

However, in a ‘Letter of the Week’ BW’sAdrian Sains put the record straight bystating that an operational managementreport had been produced in advance ofthe Committee meeting, but was lost inthe Council’s internal post. Hence, thecouncillors were not only acting inignorance of the facts, but also ignoringtheir legal responsibilities to discuss theirwithdrawal action with other members ofthe Rochdale Canal Trust. (8/4/04)

A nostalgic picture of Walmsley Bridge onthe Rochdale Canal showed theFailsworth Hat factory, famous for itsmanufacture of ‘Stetsons’, with a call forpast employees to share their memories.(8/4/04)

As with the Oldham Chronicle, theAdvertiser devoted a full page to the 200th

anniversary of the opening of theRochdale Canal, though it avoided anyelevation errors. It gave a balancedaccount of the canal’s history and processof restoration, with some interestingarchive photos from the Rochdale CanalSociety. (20/5/04)

Greater Manchester Police - ‘Brief’

The GMP are promoting a City CentreCanal Watch Scheme covering theBridgewater, Rochdale and Ashton canals.Local business owners, residents andboaters joining the Scheme have a map ofthe canal system highlighting access pointsso they can direct police to specifictrouble spots they encounter. (May 04)


Solution to Canal Crosword 44

Gift Aid UpdateA tax reclaim for Gift Aid and Deeds ofCovenant for the tax year 2003/04 hasrecently been submitted and approved; theInland Revenue rebating the Society€1539.18.

Taxpayers, please ensure you have signed atleast one Gift Aid declaration so the theSociety can continue to maximise the valueof your subscriptions and any donations.

Canal & Riverboat - August 04

A piece showing the hand-over of theSociety’s Sales Trailer to the Lichfield andHatherton Canals Restoration Trust creditsKeith Gibson with Chairmanship of notonly the Northern Canals Association(true) but also the Huddersfield CanalSociety!

Colne Valley Chronicle

Following the promotion of the ColneValley Greenway, which seeks to usestretches of the Narrow towpath as analternative transport route and supportfrom the Paddock Community Forum, theColne Valley Society have echoed theCanal Society’s concerns that there will bean unhappy conflict between the varioususer groups. A final decision by KirkleesCouncil is expected soon. (9/4/04)

A fascinating photo from April 1955showed the Narrow in Slaithwaite lookingfrom below Lock 19E towards SlaithwaiteBridge with a host of tall factory chimneyspouring smoke into the sky. (26/3/04)

Huddersfield Daily Examiner

Kirklees is enjoying a tourism boom withthe Huddersfield Narrow at Slaithwaitebeing one of the big attractions from itsassociation with ITV’s drama ‘Where TheHeart Is’. (2/3/04)

A case of wanton vandalism on locks onthe Narrow and Broad Canals left a longstretch of the waterway almost empty,with damage estimated at about €1,000(4/3/04)

Our Press Officer, Dave Finnis, wasinterviewed for a major article celebrating30 years of the Huddersfield CanalSociety and had a double page spread asa result. A succinct account of the trialsand tribulations of the Society concludedwith a free plug for Keith Gibson’s book‘Pennine Dreams’! (19/4/04)

The heroics of fisherman Gary Murphy,leaping into the Huddersfield Broad torescue an elderly man who fell in, makesthe front page and his actions werepraised by the local police. (22/4/04)

Several articles on the Colne ValleyGreenway, Standedge Visitor Centre re-opening and emergency exercise at Diggleeffectively repeat the news in the Lanca-shire media (or vice versa).

Cuttings collected by Allan Knott, KeithSykes & Ken Wright.Compiled by Bob Gough

THE SOCIETY WELCOMES THE FOLLOWING NEW MEMBERS:

ADVERTISING RATES

Page Per Issue Per Year

Qtr €12.50 €50.00

Half €25.00 €100.00

Full €50.00 €200.00

Spring 2004 - Pennine Link - 47

MEMBERSHIP RATES

Individual €9.00Family €11.00Life €90.00Associate €15.00Corporate €150.00

COPY DATE

Articles, letters and commentsfor Issue 150 of Pennine Link

should reach the Editor at45 Gorton Street, Peel Green,Eccles, Manchester, M30 7LZ

by 22nd October 2004

PENNINE DREAMS by Keith Gibson

“This is the story of a canal. Not just anycanal, but a rather special canal … built in theBritish Isles at Standedge under the Pennines… by people who dreamt an impossibledream - that they might profit from a canaltaking a collision course with the backbone ofEngland!”

“Pennine Dreams” is published by TempusPublishing Ltd. and is available from theSociety office at €16.99 (p&p free to members,€1.50 to non-members) or from your localbookseller. ISBN 0 7524 2751 Z.

Please make all cheques payable to‘Loxvend Ltd’

2690 Ms Balfe & Rev Mitchell,

2691 Mr Searby,

2692 Mr Parker,

2693 Mr Tilley,

2694 Mr & Mrs Bacon,

2695 Mr Higgins,

2696 Mr Lord,

2697 Ms Pond,

2698 Mr Kershaw,

UK: £1.00Free to members

issue 144 spring 2003 · hcs council members neville kenyon meadow head, tottington, bury,...

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