navvies 228

Issue No 228April-May

2008

Issue No 228April-May

2008

waterwayrecoverygroup

waterwayrecoverygroup

navviesnavviesvolunteers restoring waterwaysvolunteers restoring waterways

Lookingforward tosummer2008...

...and2028!

Lookingforward tosummer2008...

...and2028!

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

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

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

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

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

Waterway Recovery Group is part of TheInland Waterways Association, (registeredoffice: 3 Norfolk Court, Norfolk Rd. Rick-mansworth WD3 1LT). The Inland WaterwaysAssociation is a non-profit distributing com-pany limited by guarantee, registered in Eng-land no 612245, and registered as a charity no212342. VAT registration no 342 0715 89.

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

ISSN: 0953-6655© 2008 WRG

Tim

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all the latest news of WRG's activities

Chairman MKP gets on his bike 4-5Coming soon Training, Little Venice, Saul andGrand Western festivals, Summer Camps 6-10London WRG on the Chelmer & Blackwaterand the Wendover Arm 11-14Forestry WRGFT on chainsawing 15-162028 8-page preview of Navvies 348!17-24Beginners Guide Wot is a canal? 25Diary camp and working party dates 26-28Letters Thanks for the Barn Dance 29Logistics Keep the food crates clean! 30Progress restoration news roundup 31-34Obituary RIP Jonathan �Tay� Taylor 35WRGBC Boat Club news 36-37Noticeboard Save your stamps for WRG! 38Infill Sheep and National Festival leaders 39

Contributions...

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

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

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

Press date for issue 229: May 1st.

Subscriptions

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

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

ContentsIn this issue...

Above: the new Ynysbwllog Aqueduct,just installed on the Neath Canal toreplace one washed away by floods inthe 1970s. Left: KESCRG at work onLock 4, Seven Locks, Wilts & Berks.Below: What�s with the Lego? See p31to find out Front cover: London WRGon the Wendover: installing reinforcingand formwork for moorings. (see digreport on p13-14; photo by the editor)Back cover: our bricks at the outdoorshow and the celebrities who signedthem (main photo by Jen Leigh, celebritypics copyright dmg world media (uk) ltd)

Dav

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iller

ChairmanMKP on the Cotswolds...

Chairman�s comment

Well it seems to have been a very, very busycouple of months since the last Navvies sothis will be a bit of an epic. I write this recov-ering from three hectic days running a pub-licity stand complete with bricks, celebrities*and an inflatable JCB at The Outdoor Showat the NEC. It was a very successful show forus � a chance to meet lots of people whoshare our interests and convince them tocome along and get involved. In fact it is justpossible that the some of the people wetalked to are now reading this. If so, thenwelcome to WRG and we hope to see you ona dig very soon. My thanks everyone whohelped out on the stand, especially JennyBlack for co-ordinating it all.

On the Cotswold Canals...

Probably the biggest news since the lastNavvies was British Waterways pulling out ofthe Cotswold Canals restoration. No doubtthis particular bit of politics will rumble onfor ages but please be in no doubt: ourSummer Camps on the Cotswold are goingahead. Indeed I was really flattered that, de-spite the fact they clearly had bigger issues (sixmillion of them!) on their plate, one of the firstthings that CCT worked on was making surethat our Camps could still go ahead. It is nowmore important than ever to demonstrate thatvolunteer restoration is effective; recentlyvolunteers have been seen by some as just a�gap filler� and I think that is a big mistake.We have the passion and commitment thatmeans we are actually the glue that holds itall together when other bits of the structureare found to be not quite as strong as theylook. I hope you will all get behind ourefforts to support the Cotswold restoration.

...and elsewhere too...

The work planning a successful summer onthe Cotswold is also being repeated all overthe system as lots of people are putting

together all the thousands of little details thatmean the Summer Canal Camps should betickety-boo. As we speak, project plans arebeing assembled, permissions granted, plantis being hired and leaders are starting torecruit the skills they need to run a successfulweek. This is not just a one way processthough; every year we run a Training Week-end in May to train up people for the sum-mer ahead. So if you fancy booking on acamp that features a lot of bricking then youcan come along and get an introduction tobricklaying that will mean you can get stuckin from day one of your camp. We alsofeature scaffolding, plant operation, survey-ing and all sorts of skills � see the articleelsewhere in this magazine. This year we aremoving from our usual base of Hatton to afamiliar site in Lichfield. Whilst the site isideal, it is the accommodation that gives usreal benefit this year as it is spacious enoughto host a fundraising Race Night on theSaturday, so be prepared to roll up yoursleeping bag as 80 or so generous puntersjoin us for fruit cup, big hats and horseplayin order to raise money for the DroitwichBarge Lock Appeal.

And speaking of Droitwich...

Wychavon Council are running their �Returnof the Ring� sponsored cycle ride on 22nd

June. It�s a 15 mile event for all the family totravel from one end of the Droitwich Canalsto the other with a chance to stop every timeyou cross the cut to have the current worksexplained by those involved (which willinclude us in Vines Park of course). In amoment of foolishness I said I would lead ateam of WRGbikes so expect more info, anda sponsorship form, in the next Navvies.

Logistical things

We had a few letters about the Logisticsarticle in the last Navvies, both about whatwas said and how it was said. While I�m notgoing to comment on the way it was said I

�Recently volunteershave been seen by

some as just a �gap-filler� and I think that

is a big mistake�

Chairman...the Droitwich, and the drink!

�It is often a scarything to ask �I�d liketo help a bit more -is there any littlejob I could do?� �

do think that it raised some very valid pointsthat apply to the whole organisation. Articlessuch as that one are always born of frustra-tion � and as someone else who ends uphaving to try and make sense of scribblednotes or finds out three months after the factthat something has (or hasn�t) been dealtwith I can heartily sympathise with Jenscomment of �triviality is subjective�. Thereare a lot of people who do vital jobs withoutwhich we really would struggle to do whatwe do. So please don�t dismiss their actionsas trivial or unimportant � it might not actu-ally be putting bricks in the wall but all ofthese background tasks have evolved be-cause they are very necessary. It�s not for funnor are we trying to occupy ourselves, weare just trying to maximise the contributionfrom you all. Which neatly leads into...

Help wanted!

One of the problems with volunteer organi-sations is that you tend to accept that everynow and then people can�t do all they offerto do. That is only natural � however some-times these jobs simply become �ongoing�and they simply never get done.

So the WRG committee had a goodhonest look at what it was failing to achieveand came up with list of about 20 �jobs wereally should do but never seem to make itto the top of the pile�. Some of them arestandalone jobs, others are just pullingtogether what other people are alreadydoing. Some of them are quite time specific,others can be done anytime in the year. Wethought we would publish it because werealise that it is often a rather scary thing toask �I�d like to help a bit more � is there anylittle job I could do?� as you feel you will getlumbered with chairmanship or editing nav-vies or some other horrendous task.

None of these are big jobs but they aresignificant (back to that triviality is subjectiveagain) because, if we did manage to dothese jobs in the background then we couldachieve a lot more on the ground, and issues

like the Cotswold show us that it is moreimportant that ever for us to achieve asmuch as possible. By the time you read thisit should be published on the website (orring Head Office if you don�t have internetaccess), together with a contact detailsshould you want to find out a bit more aboutwhat it would involve.

And finally...

Finally I should mention one of the mostfrantic weekends � the combined Leaderstraining day, Barn Dance and WRG commit-tee meeting on March 1st/2nd. The leadertraining had a perfect start with a very realis-tic recreation of one of the classic dilemmasfor all leaders - �what do you do if yourvillage hall is double booked?� - swiftly fol-lowed by �what do you do if the hall youthen transfer to has a booking in the after-noon?� Anyway the day was a great success� some of the sessions were light hearted,some were serious but all of it was veryuseful. This is not just a chance for leadersto learn but also a chance for them to feed-back their thoughts and concerns.

One issue that did crop up was thatthey were concerned about having to dealwith people drinking excessively. One verydrunk navvy often encourages and justifiesothers to drink more than they would nor-mally do and there were events last year thatwere made very difficult through a couple ofpeople�s irresponsible actions. This feelingwas also backed up by some comments fromthe Camps feedback survey. The Board agreethat, although generally speaking we all doenjoy a drink and it rarely gets out of hand,where it does affect both leaders and volun-teers it is not fair to ignore the issue. So Ihave recently written to several people tell-ing them they are no longer welcome onWRG events and we will not be acceptingbookings from them in the future.

Mike Palmer

* I�ve got a brick signed by Brian Blessed!

Trainees needed for theTraining Weekend.

Volunteers needed forCanalway Cavalcade...

What�s next?Festivals in the heart of London...

Cavalcade update

Just an update on where we are for the Little Venice Canalway Cavalcade, as you all knowand have marked in your diaries - but just in case it�s the 3rd, 4th and 5th May 2008. For thosewho have no any idea what Cavalcade is, a little background....

Little Venice is a place in London close to the Paddington Railway Station, where the Re-gents Canal meets the Paddington Branch of the Grand Union. There is an open spacesurounding a basin at the junction called Brownings Pool, which has a tiny Island. CanalwayCavalcade is an annual festival run by WRG�s parent body The Inland Waterways Association -which involves lots of boats converging on Little Venice for the May Day bank holiday weekend. Wehave so far 90-plus boats booked in and these will be moored in the pool with bunting and flagsflying, making a very colourful scene. The event aims to promote the waterways in and aroundLondon, plus such attractions as the London Canal Museum. On the towing path we will havestands from various traders and canal societies - not forgetting London WRG and WRG BITM.

What I am after is volunteers to help me and a very small team to run the Site andServices for the evnt. We put up the Market Stalls, put out tables and chairs, take traders totheir allocated space, and all the other jobs that help to make it a successful weekend. Andwre also need a cook to feed the volunteers for the weekend: they are likely to have to ca-tered for 20 to 25 people. Accommodation is slightly different from other events such as theNational Festival, in so much as we use boats to sleep on. I will be on site from Wednesday30th April and the accommodation will hopefully arrive either the 1st or the 2nd, then fromWednesday onwards thre will be plenty of work for us as suppliers will be bringing in suchthings as the marquees, tables, chairs and so on.

Before people cry �Why no mention of beer?� - yes, we are having an on-site bar,which should have ten real ales, proper cider and other drinks. And I�m sure Site and Serv-ices will be involved with the Beer Tent somehow?

Anyone interested in helping please call me on 07961 922153 or even better drop mean email on [email protected].

Dave �Moose� Hearnden

Last call for the Training Weekend

The Training Weekend will be held on the 10th-11th May. It is hoped that the training willnow take place on the Lichfield Canal and we will probably be based at Burntwood VillageHall - subject to confirmation. Until the site is confirmed, the training programme cannot befinalised however we hope to offer the usual favourites - excavators, dumpers, vans, trailers,surveying, bricklaying, banksman, scaffolding and first aid, In addition to this, I am currentlyconsidering a chippers course as well as the need for training on tractors or forks for theNational festival and using and reading digital tachos.

As soon as the exact details are confirmed I will be sending out a booking form to thosewho request one where they will be able to prioritise their training needs; however if anyone hasany other suggestions for sessions that would be useful to incorporate, please do not hesitate tocontact me preferably by email to [email protected] The cost of the weekend will be £15 forthe whole weekend inc. meals and accomm. A daily rate of £5 is applicable to those wishing toattend for a part of the weekend. If anyone is willing to volunteer as an instructor for the week-end, offers will as always be very gratefully received.

Many thanks to those who have already made suggestions and indicated an interest in trainingAli Bottomley

..and also to join WRGSouth West�s team at theNational Trailboat Festivalon the Grand Western...

What�s next?...and in the wilds of Devon

Fancy a week camping in Devon?

WRG South West would like to invite you to a week�s camping in the Devon countrysidealongside the Grand Western Canal near Tiverton.

The 2008 Trailboat Festival �A Grand Western Weekend� will be held over the LateSpring Bank Holiday weekend of 24/25/26th May at the North Devon Show Ground, Tiverton.WRGsw will be running a camp to assist the local Country Park Rangers in the set up, run-ning and take down of the Festival site and we would like your help!

There will be the usual fencing, car parking, assisting the traders, litter picking andother jobs associated with running a Festival to contend with. There will also be the opportu-nity to partake in the evening activities which include the Boaters BBQ, and there will be atrip up the canal on some of the Festival boats should you wish to see the Country Park andCanal from a different perspective.

Accommodation will be on site and we will be living in caravans and tents, with a mar-quee for cooking and eating.Showers will be courtesy ofthe local sports centre. Thecamp will run from Wednes-day 21st May 2008 to Wednes-day 28th May 2008, howeverwe will be setting up ourcompound on Tuesday 20th

May and you are invited toarrive after 12 noon on theTuesday to get your pitch!

What if you don�t have acaravan or tent? Well it�s not aproblem. We have access totents should you require one.

Booking is throughJenny Black at Head Office(01923 711114 [email protected]).When you book please statewhat you will be bringing withyou, i.e. caravan or tent so wecan plan space, or let us knowif you need a tent to use. Costfor the week will be £49, andthe camp will be limited to 20people, so book early to avoiddisappointment.

We look forward toseeing you there. If you haveany questions then please calleither Jenny or myself.

Mitch Gozna07768525469

Trailboats cruising on the Grand Western (above) andlaunching using the trailboat that WRG built in 2003 (below)

Pete

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Pete

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What�s next?...and the depths of Gloucestershire

Help to make thisyear�s Saul Festival

the success that theCotswold Canals

Trust really needs

Saul Festival 2008 including �Folk on the Water�

For those who don�t know, Saul has become a major event in the folk music calendar but itis not just about good music, there is lots of real beer, boats and stalls. In fact everythingyou need for a good festival. As a bonus, every penny raised (and there are lots of them)goes to the Cotswold Canals Trust to help restoration.

This is like doing the IWA National Festival, but because it is smaller we also get to dosome of the more specialist jobs that on bigger events get done by contractors. Everythingfrom building the bar and chiller room to helping with the big barge Sabrina (which be-comes a theatre for the event). This year it is even more important that usual that plenty ofmoney is raised as the event was cancelled due to flooding last year....

As many of you will know, supporting the Saul Canal Festival is a WRG South Westcamp, but you don�t have to be a regular wrgSW volunteer to help - the more the mer-rier! The team is being assembled, Adrian Fry leading and Eli cooking. The only personmissing from this team is you! Because the event has grown, so has the camp and so thisyear it will run from Tuesday 1st July through to Wednesday 9th July and will cost theprincely sum of £56.

So stop thinking about it, write out a cheque payable to wrgSW, fill in the form andpost it with the cheque to: George �Bungle� Eycott, 36 Grange Court, Boundary Road, New-bury. RG14 7PH.

I would like to attend the 2008 Saul Festival Canal Camp on July 1st to July 9th

Forename: Surname:

Address:

e-mail:

Phone: Any special dietary requirements?

I will be joining the camp on and leaving on

I enclose payment of £ (pay 'WRG SW') for food (£56 for whole camp; £7.00 per day)

Do you suffer from any allergy or illness, such as epilepsy or diabetes, about which we shouldknow, or are you receiving treatment or under medical supervision for any condition? YES / NO(If yes, please attach details)

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

Name: Phone:

Signed:

Please send this form to George Eycott, 36 Grange Court, Boundary Rd, Newbury RG14 7PH

waterwayrecoverygroupSouth West

inassociation

with

And then what?...a whole summer of camps!

Adrian Fry givesyou the latest onthe first half of thissummer�s CanalCamps season

Canal Camps Preview 2008

We�ve already started...By the time you are reading this, we�ll

have successfully completed the first twoCanal Camps, either side of Easter at Step-pingstones Bridge on the Wilts & BerksCanal, and I am sure the bridge will bemuch nearer completion with all brickworkon the parapets well above ground level, andmuch landscaping around the site completed.

This Summer (it will be a good one)

June: Mike Palmer starts the summer CanalCamp season as leader of the first camp onthe Barge Lock in Droitwich, WRGs biggestproject of the year - a complete lock restora-tion in 4 weeks. Week 1 (21st-28th June) willbe chamber clearance and excavation, thenonce it�s all clear we can really assess thework required and no doubt there will bemany bricks to remove and then put back induring the subsequent weeks. Mike guaran-tees to keep any brick cleaning to a minimum!And... this is likely to be the last WRG projecton the Droitwich, so this summer may wellbe the final chance to work on this canalbefore it re-opens in a couple ofyears.

Also in June, we are return-ing to the Chesterfield Canal(21st-28th June). The work looksvery interesting, the accommoda-tion excellent and the locals arefantastic. The site is near Staveleyand we starting a project restoring,rebuilding a bridge and associatednarrows. So the first job will be toexcavate and pour the foundationsfor the bridge wing and trailingwalls. The accommodation is verygood with a shower and the pub isdirectly above the sleeping area!

July: We begin July in thefar South West and the East, working on theGrand Western Canal and the Ipswich andStowmarket Navigation. On the Grand

Western �Teacher Chris� Blaxland will be ourlocal, as we spend 2 weeks (28th June- 5th

July, 5th July- 12th July) building a large damacross the canal to allow restoration ofLoudwells Lock to be undertaken in the nextcouple of years. The dam will be made ofmany, many tons of clay - moved with ma-chines. So for those that want to play withbig excavators and dumper trucks, this couldbe the project for you. There will be otherworks: possibly restoration of the lock�s lowerwing walls and also continuing the works onNynehead Boat Lift. Unfortunately this year wecan�t stay in Burlescombe because the villagehall is being rebuilt, but I am sure there will be

the opportunity to spend afew evenings in the excel-lent Ayshford Arms.

At Ipswich (28th

June- 5th July) Liz Wilsonand Nina Whiteman arepromising an even bettercamp than last year, sothat�ll be very very goodthen. Work is restoringthe historic Baylham Lockon the River Gipping(about 5 miles north ofIpswich). The work willinclude brickwork, demoli-tion, landscaping and likelast year another big con-

crete pour, mixing on site. The accommo-dation is the same as last year, in a newvillage hall, with showers within walking

Concreting on the Gipping

Loudwells Lock on the Grand Western

distance. A variety of social activities arealready planned for the evenings including aboat trip on the River Stour and a visit toColchester Spa.

WRG is returning to the Cotswolds fortwo Canal Camps (5th-12th & 12th-19th July).These camps are especially important asWRG helps Cotswold Canal Trust to keeppushing forward the restoration following thesetback of British Waterways withdrawingfrom the project. The precise location anddetails of the work are to be decided but anumber of possible projects betweenEastington and Stroud are being looked at.

This years� KESCRG Camp (5th-12th July)is on the Wilts and Berks near WoottonBassett. Bobby Silverwood and Kate Pennare leading. This Canal Camp will be com-pleting Lock 4, laying the final courses ofbrick each side and completing the concretebackfill, before installing the bullnose copingbricks and landscaping the area. Accommo-dation will be at Bushton Village Hall.

For the third year running WRG will beingworking on the Lord Rolle Canal in Devon,working to preserve the Sea Lock on 12th-19th

July. Spencer Collins is running this one andwork will be laying more coping stones andalso hopefully removing siltfrom the bottom of thelock, using a specialclamshell bucket excavator.The site is in a fantasticlocation near Bideford andthe accommodation is abarn converted into aholiday cottage (with bedsand power showers!) justone minute walk across thelawn to the worksite.

In late July RobDaffern will lead a weekon the Mon and Brec(19th-26th July), while EdWalker and Nigel Lee (19th-26th July) and BITM(26th July- 2nd August) will run camps on theBasingtoke Canal. We end July with the 2nd

week on restoring the lock in Droitwich (26th

July- 2nd August): this camp will be brick-work and concrete construction, and the planis that by the end of this one the Lock will beat least half way to completion.

August sees WRG complete the lock atDroitwich, two camps on the Montgomeryextending Aston nature reserve and anotherweek on the Cotswolds - and there will bemuch more about these in the next Navvies.

As ever the Canal Camp summer seasonends with the National Waterways Festival, solet�s hear from the leader David Worthington...

All the fun of the fair: Yes, I knowit�s ages away, but it really is time to startthinking about the �National�.

Much like going to the dentist, we haveall forgotten last year � well, apart from themud and the trek from the accommodationto site, it was all pretty good.

So how is this one going to be different� well, it�s in Wolverhampton � (or, moreaccurately, Pendeford), it�s being led by me andit�s going to be fine and sunny throughout.(Some of this may not be true). Jenny Blackhas agreed to forsake her desk in Watford toassist me, so it can�t all be bad, can it?

So how does this involve you? Well, togive us an idea of who is coming, you couldbook on. Miss B, wearing her stylish HeadOffice hat, (and flip flops) will be delightedto hear from you. The compound is follow-ing the shrinking trend, and as it is boundedby a road and a canal, there is little chance ofincreasing its size � so if you are intending tolive in a caravan, tent, cool-box, or whatever,you better let me know soon!

There will be much of the usual non-sense � in varying quantities.

Oh, and a plea from theheart � canal camps, likearmies, march on their stom-achs. This requires food andfood requires people to cookit. If you have ever felt theurge to cook at the National,please let me (or Jenny)know. There are plenty ofexperienced cooks to talk itthrough with you and discussany doubts or fears that youmay have. Consider gettingtogether and sharing theload.

So, for now, while I rush around goinggreyer, all you need do is book on, andvolunteer to cook � simple really. If you needto contact me, [email protected], or if youwould rather use the telling bone, try 01732365615 or 07799 794099. (OK, I can hearthose of you who have seen me strugglingwith a mobile phone chuckling at this point,but I promise to practice)

Dave Worthington(or Daddy Cool for the moment, and hop-

ing - with your help - to stay that way)

The Rolle Canal Sea Lock

London WRG...on the Chelmer & Blackwater...

�If the new girls think it�salways this luxuriousthey�ll go home and telleveryone WRG menare pansies...�

Chelmer & Blackwater Jan 12-13

Conversation with my boyfriend, ahead ofthe Chelmer & Blackwater dig:

Sophie: Darling � Do you fancy comingaway for the weekend? We�ll probablysleep on the floor of a church hall andspend every daylight hour doing hard,dirty manual labour. On the plus side,sometimes it doesn�t rain.Darling: Actually I�m busy that weekend.

Conversation with my friend Rachel, ahead ofthe Chelmer & Blackwater dig:

Sophie: Rach? Do you fancy comingaway for the weekend? There will be men.Rachel: Ok.

I admit the above is a précis of the conversa-tions I had with my nearest and dearest butsuffice it to say that Darling still refuses tobelieve scrub bashing can be a better way tospend his weekend than watching football ina pub in Chiswick. Luckily my mate Rachelhas more balls and she dragged her friendJane along as a birthday treat. I hadn�t metJane before the weekend but I thought that ifthis girl�s idea of a treat is coming away on aWRG weekend, we�d probably get along likea house on fire.

Friday: �The accommodation isn�tnormally this good�, I feel obliged to tellthem both as we are shown around theHeybarn. A sizeable barge kitted out with akitchen and large social room, the Haybay isbasically a floating scout hut, albeit a rathersuperior one. Downstairs are 8 snug littlecabins with bunks and insane luxuries likepillows and showers.

�Yeah, we don�t usually get beds oranything,� Martin chimes in, worried they�llthink WRG weekends are cushy.

�Or hot showers,� says James, trying tosound tough. The honour of WRG men isunder threat! If the new girls think it�s alwaysthis luxurious on a London dig, they�ll go

home and tell everyone WRG men are pansies.�Usually we work until about midnight

and then we all shelter under a dock leaf andshare a small packet of mini cheddars forsupper,� pipes up Tim, who�s noticed there arenew girls on this dig who may well be Up For It.

Luckily London WRG�s reputation forextreme hardiness is saved when the sewagesystem backfires and the ladies� showers startflooding with �solid matter�. Everyone breathesa sigh of relief (but not through their noses).London WRG�s reputation is restored!

�It�s not poo, it�s mud!� insists dig leaderHelen, before Eleanor heroically cleans it up.

Once we�ve established that the accom-modation for this dig is far, far superior toanywhere else we�ve ever stayed, been orheard about, ever, we go to the pub to cel-ebrate our good fortune.

Saturday: The next morning we strollalong to site, which is on a canal which joinsthe Thames estuary near the little fishingvillage of Maldon, famous for supplying thefamous Delia Smith with her famous MaldonSalt. Which, if you haven�t tried it, is very likenormal salt but 6 times more expensive.

After digs such as the poor old Wendo-ver Arm where the canal�s fallen into suchdisrepair that it�s really just a dry ditch, it�sgood to see a happy, healthy and functioningwaterway which is obviously a real localasset and well-used.

On the Chelmer & Blackwater, the canalnot only fulfils that most basic of criteria(being a hole with some water in) but it�sobviously well-used and well-loved. In fact,it�s ticking along quite nicely without WRG�shelp: on this dig we�ve just been draughtedin to do some hairdressing. The mooringsare choked with craft and the overgrownbanks are lined with little sheds that youcould maybe call summerhouses if you werein a generous frame of mind.

When I was growing up my Dad usedto have one such shed, which he used for thepurpose of avoiding my mother. In this man-ner they avoided divorce and serious vio-lence. I can see that the Chelmer and Black-

water sheds serve a valuable social purposefor the domestic contentment of the Maldonsaltworkers. After all, if the towpath�s soovergrown that they lose access to theirsheds, divorce may become unavoidable. Ifthey�re too busy divorcing to make Delia�ssalt, Delia won�t be able to write her cookbooks and then where will the nation be?With no-one to teach us how to boil eggs,we�ll be catapulted back into the dark agesand be forced to sit around in the darkgnawing raw meat. Goodness only knowswhat will become of Norwich City.

Mindful of this threat to civilisation aswe know it, London WRG set to with theloppers. Entire hedgerows fell under theassault of our bowsaws, a legion ofblackthorns were despatched; passing visi-tors from California saw our bonfires andwept. 11 o�clock came and went with shrieksof horror: the gas had blown out and teawas nearly 22 minutes late.

�Of course, normally we have tea on thedot of 11,� Helena assures Rachel and Jane.

Worse still, we�ve forgotten to pack thebiscuits in the brew kit. As it�s her birthday, welet Liz walk the mile back to camp in search ofour custard creams. Too late we realise weshould have sent someone else along to makesure Liz didn�t eat them all on the walk back.

Rachel and Jane seem to be enjoyingthemselves and they�re making matchsticks ofthe hawthorn hedges. It�s always difficult todescribe to �folk back home� what it is that soappeals about these digs � it�s often hard toexplain to your loved ones why you go awayfrom them so much at the weekends � and itwas a relief for me that these visitors under-stood and appreciated what it was that keepsme coming back. WRG for me is a communitythat you opt into � it hard to reconcile itsometimes with your permanent communityback home. Later I realised that I�d been a bitnervous about bringing people from my �reallife� into my neatly-compartmentalised WRGexistence. Would they understand? I thinkthe only parallel situation must be bigamy.

By mid-afternoon we�ve made one hellof a dent in the foliage lining the bank side.Married men start sneaking back to their shedsclutching broken clocks and fused toasters (�I�mgoing to my shed to get this fixed, dear�).Some of them feel guilty and join in the scrubclearance and their overexcited dogs aresoon running about clutching sticks.

London WRG are starting to flagthough. �I�m so OVER scrub bashing,� de-

clares Helena, who had a week of it over theNew Year. Even WRG Tart and self-confessedcanal-addict Martin is bored of brush cutting.Never mind guys, soon the season will beover. We knock off as the light fades andscramble for a space in the boat. It�s a diffi-cult balancing act even with the Burco asballast. �We can either take Moose or 3 otherpeople,� says Tim at the rudder.

Back at the Haybay, the delicious cook-ing smells from the galley are managing tomask the appalling smell of sewage stillemanating from the ladies� showers. Mel�scooking cottage pie and two sorts of crum-ble, so whilst she�s busy in the kitchen wetoast Chad and Ellie�s recent engagement andadmire the engagement ring. As it�s Liz�sbirthday, her dad joins us for dinner andlater we have a cake.

�Essex WRG would all be in bed by now,�Frank says wistfully at 10.30pm. �Please may Ijoin Essex WRG?� I yawn. Later there areheroic efforts to drag ourselves to the pub butthis amounts to very little and all four bunks inmy cabin are full by 11pm.

Sunday: Mel overcomes her horror ofmushrooms to cook us a slap-up breakfast.We�re on site at the crack of ten to recom-mence our annihilation of the foliage.Midmorning we�re joined by a man in hiseighties who strips down to his pants for hisdaily swim in the canal. We manage not totitter as he dons a pair of clogs to wanderthe towpath surveying our work.

�Apparently they�re thirty years old buthe had to get them repainted last spring,�Helena informs us.

Later that day we�re astonished to findwe�ve done all of the work we had scheduled.Some bloke from Essex water pops along tosay ta very much and�er� would we mindtidying the place up a bit now seeing as we�vemade such a mess of it? We redouble ourefforts to burn everything we�ve cut down andcut the tree stumps right down to the groundlike we should have done in the first place.

By the time the light fades the bank istransformed. Reluctantly we take our leave ofthe Heybay which is now bobbing enthusias-tically on choppy waters, reeking of sewage.We all agree it�s been a brilliant dig and thenewbies seem to have enjoyed it immensely.I can honestly say the Heybay provided thebest night�s sleep I�ve had in a long time.Highly recommended for other groups � solong as they don�t mind a bit of poo.

Sophie Smith

London WRG..and on the Wendover Arm...

�Helena, James and I are onpump duty which involvessplashing around in whatlooks like an enormousspillage of Frappuccino�

Wendover Arm: 2-3 Feb

For the first time ever I am first to arrive at adig - just goes to show that Birminghammust be very central! James and I set upcamp in the Robin Hood pub after failingmiserably to find the accommodation - theScout Hut in Tring. A cosy corner of thepub becomes increasingly populated byWRGies. The most cunning amongst thecrowd get a lift back to the accomm leavingthe rest of us to stumble back home (well,back to the hut). The good news for thosewho walk back is that the toaster has beenunloaded and had been put into operation! After breakfast we leave for site - this week-end we have the luxury of not having tomake sandwiches (and even get treated tohomemade flapjack at tea break) - thanksRowena and Suzie! We meet up with the locals at site compound who explain that the workwill involve pumping water over the temporary bund at the current limit of the restoredlength of channel, digging a manhole cover out, scrub bashing, cutting and bending rebarand erecting some formwork and shuttering on one of the mooring bays. After sorting outwhich tools would be needed we all travel over to the main site.

We divide up into groups and disperse along the towpath. Moose and the scrub bashteam (Maria, Purple Fairy, Stuart, Alan, Bob, Richard and Tim) get to work on the first bon-

fire. Moose is first to fall victim tothe gloop after taking a tumbleand getting plastered in the stuff. The locals spend the weekenddriving excavators and trackeddumpers along the canal beddigging out loads of the mud.

Helena, James and I are onpump duty which involves splash-ing around (or crunching aroundafter we have broken the ice!!! -yes the weekend was a tad chilly)in what looks like an enormousspillage of Frappuccino. Our dayinvolves using lots of technicalskills - namely the ability to�sloosh� rhythmically to encourageall the gloopy water nearer thepump. Helena and I have several�out-of-wellie� experiences. Mineinvolves me scrambling up thebank in my socks leaving my

Helena has an �out-of-wellie� experience

A shed emerges from undergrowth by the Chelmer

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wellies stuck in the mud which have to bedug out later, and Helena�s ends up with herwashing her feet in the icy cold canal underthe bridge.

We return the accomm where those ofus covered in clay attempt to get clean -slightly tricky when the washbasins aren�t bigenough even for hands - a bucket (aftercobwebs and inhabitants have been re-moved) serves the purpose well enough. The evening�s entertainment is the LondonWRG AGM which seems to pass by relativelyquickly (Farleigh the Bear having decided tokeep his opinions to himself) and painlessly(large quantities of beer and Pringles havingbeen consumed). We are joined by Kate andBobby for a lovely dinner of chicken pie andmash followed by chocolate sponge andchocolate sauce. Later some of us watch theWaterworld DVD (featuring London WRG onthe Mon & Brec) and some energetic soulswalk to the pub.

On Sunday the pumping team are outof a job so we (joined by Bobby and Krzysiekand later by Sleepy David) volunteer to bendthe rebar into the formwork needed for themooring bays. The locals have developed a

unique system for this; however, unfortunately, some of the pieces of the necessary bendingframe had been dismantled and scavenged for another job so our energy turns to burningthe brush at the end of the site compound and filling in the ruts in the roadway with barrowsof rubble. Krzysiek, James, David and Olly focus on cutting the rebar to size with bolt cut-ters whilst I decide to race them with the Stihl saw after said saw has been abandoned forinefficiency reasons. Whilst the Stihl saw is not quicker than blokes with bolt cutters at first,as soon as the blade starts to warm up there�s no contest: the cutters are abandoned and wetake it in turns with the Stihl saw, producing three large piles of rebar for the pipeworkcapping.

Back at the othersite I gather that therehas been another enor-mous bonfire and ateam has done a greatjob on completing theformwork and shutter-ing before a concretepour on the Mondaymorning.

On return to theaccommodation the toolsand equipment are sortedinto different vehiclesand we all go our sepa-rate ways. Despite thetraffic jams (and with thehelp of the AA requiredfor Rowena�s car) we allget home safely.

Melanie Parker Cutting re-bar the$hard way (left) and the easy way (right)

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Formwork and reinforcing for mooring bays

WRG Forestry TeamWRGFT roundup 2006-7

�BW refused uspermission to workon the groundsthat we wereinexperienced...�

WRG Forestry: the last two years

We have been busy in this time, admittedlynot as much as in previous years but whenyour ship�s rudder is damaged it�s not alwayseasy to sail in a straight line, which probablyshould lead onto �when zee seagulls followzee trawler it is because� etc.etc. Think Icould be writing for the wrong publicationhere�.. me hearties.

So what have we been up to? WellAlison has been out on The Hollinwood andMon. & Brec. Canals flying the flag whilst SuWebster and I joined her at LlanymynechWharf one weekend with 5-star accommoda-tion provided by Alison�s Uncle. Jen and Ispent a day on the MB&B clearing trees fromthe wash walls on a NW weekend then spentmonths trying to explain to British Waterwaysthat their presumptions regarding my health& safety procedures in a pic. published in awell known canal magazine were unfounded!

Things got even worse next month whenBritish Waterways stopped us from working onthe Grantham canal both on the Bonfire Bashand on work in Harlaxton cutting.

We were organising a forestry projectprior to the trail boat rally which would haveincluded in our personnel two professionaltree surgeons I know, who were willing togive up their time to come and join us for aweek. BW refused us permission to work onthe grounds that we were inexperienced, andyou can imagine how I felt when I had tocancel this event. We may never get thechance to work with such experienced, �inex-perienced� climbers ever again.

Not one to bear grudges with BW, wepaid two further visits to Foxton in 2006 notworking on the incline this time but under-taking preparatory work on the �fairy path�and removing some dangerous ash trees onthe visitor car park. Not exactly restorationwork - and there was some heartfelt discus-sions over this type of work - but I felt thatwe desperately needed practice to keep upour skills level: more on this subject later. Wewere working more closely with BW ecolo-

gists on these two jobs, in fact being super-vised by an ecologist on the former. It wasafter this that Su and I decided to attend anArboriculture and Bats course to gain a littlemore knowledge on this subject. So youcould say that we are both bats but what�snew? We helped kickstart the restoration ofOrchard Lock on the Cotswolds with WRGSW in Oct 06 with BW�s ecologist, Clare Guyin attendance. Clare�s views on ecology andrestoration I found refreshing compared tothe hard line stance of some ecologists Ihave met over the years. Sadly she no longerworks for BW leaving the Gloucester officebefore the Cotswold project �collapsed� butnot before assisting me on a site visit to Overon a project which unfortunately has notcome to fruition yet.

We had some fun at Orchard Lock witha brand new 18m tracked mobile platformand a brand new tracked chipper. Togetherwith trailers and a brand new WRG van wereckoned we had close-on £100,000 of kitthat weekend. No wonder the locals gotupset but that�s another story...

A visit by us all in November toFroghall coincided with a tree planting cer-emony by the basin in memory of �himself�. I�dnever visited the completed basin before so itwas more than a little emotional to revisit thissite with all its memories. These were swiftlywashed away with the aid of a few pints up atthe Fox and Goose. Nice to see again so manyold faces. So that was 2006.

The following year has been a littlemore disjointed in some respects with Cliveand Martin Worsley teaming up on the Wilts& Berks and Grand Western while the rest ofthe team has paid visits to the Lichfield andDroitwich canals.

So what does 2008 hold in store? Wellprobably a personnel change for one thing.When Tenko and I set up WRG Forestry itwas with the aim of providing a service �a cutabove the rest� if you�ll excuse the pun. That�swhy we branched off into climbing. (Oh yes,keep �em coming) I think what we need todo now is to find out who out there is happy

doing what. Not everybody wants to fell a�large� tree; some are probably quite happyjust paddling along as they are. By nowevery chainsaw operator on the WRG listshould have received a letter from Jenny Blackrelating to insurance and refresher training andnot before time. I�m a great believer in trainingand I don�t think that just because I received acertificate of competence 15 years ago that it isstill relevant today. For one thing in thatamount of time the training schedules havechanged dramatically, new techniques haveevolved and certain practices have been out-lawed. However the NPTC certificates areissued for life there is no scheme for re as-sessment; what there is however - and whatis recommended - is refresher training at 2-3year intervals for us casual users.

What I�m hoping to try and arrangewith the approval of WRG is a series of re-fresher training weekends with possiblevenues in the North, Midlands and Southareas with the same trainer(s) so that we canget some continuity in the training. We mightalso be able to extend that to some first timetraining if enough people are interested andarranging NPTC assessment for those whohave had the relevant training. Remember mywords in a former article, Lantra Awards fortraining and a certificate of attendance andNPTC for assessment and certificate of com-petence.

If the insurance company are happywith Lantra training stick with that if youdon�t want to go into an NPTC exam typesituation but steer clear of the ITA schemewith its restrictions on felling sizes. In thesaid letter a dia. of 20cm (that�s 8� in realmoney) is quoted as the maximum for fellingunder the cover provided by the insurers. Sothe way I read it at the moment, with the extrainsurance cover only applying to WRG Forestryand the Basingstoke Canal boys, only Clive andAlison can fell trees up to 15� (their NPTClimit) I can fell up to 30� dia. (my NPTC limit)and the rest of you and that means everyone islimited to the 8� maximum. News to me aswell, folks. Possibly before WRG FT wasformed we (like the rest of you) were fellingtrees we shouldn�t have. Getting a bit toocomplicated, I agree: let�s sort out the re-fresher training and take it from there.

I personally feel that this refreshertraining should be offered to all users, WRGor IWA, hopefully all society and canal trustswill be in receipt of the above information. Ifyour local chainsaw operative has been

trained and assessed to fell trees up to 38cm(15�) or more then they should be allowed todo so but get your details up to head officebefore starting work.

Let�s go down to the old Nitts &Stuffs, haven�t been there for a while. Localorganiser Sydney Wood has invited WRG FTover for a little clearance work on theTorchwood section. Anyway he�s been usinga saw since 1953 which is probably the lasttime he had one in pieces so no problemsthere then! He has however brought along anew volunteer: Archie McSporran who hasjust come down from the fair country afterworking for Forest Enterprise inDramnachullish forest for 16 years formerly asa motor manual operative and latterly as atraining instructor. You get the picture...

You know what�s coming next. So Syd-ney takes us to site and we (that is, me)hesitantly enquires as to any sort of qualifica-tions, certificates etc. Sydney promptly in-forms me that he has just felled that oldgnarly oak in one corner of the site lookingat least to be 42� in girth and probably about300 years old - what�s the problem?�Hmmmm� says I. Undaunted Sydney with-out catching his breath and maybe sensing aproblem here carries on �...and Archie�s lasttraining exercise was on some very largeCoast redwoods over 60m in height�. We findSydney�s old Fastco certificate �and you�venever sent this up to head office?� I query.�What head office?� he replies. Archie thank-fully shows me his NPTC id card with im-pressive list of certificates including theelusive CS33 which enables him to fell big, Imean big, big trees. �Great!� I say, �now allwe have to do is get a copy to head office�next week and you�ll be able to fell trees upto 8� in dia. And you Sydney are going tohave to undertake a refresher course as aminimum, that old papyrus Fastco cert. ain�tworth the papyrus it�s printed on...�

As I feel myself being propelled air-borne into the cut I cry out �but you couldwork as WRG Forestry, Archie�. Too late, I hitthe plop. No amount of the folding stuff willget him in now!

Far fetched, of course, but there aresome elements of truth that I come acrossquite regularly. Perhaps all chainsaw userswanting to fell over 8�, together with anyother climbers out there, might come underthe Forestry insurance umbrella. I�d be inter-ested to know your views.

Graham �Sparky� Robinson

page 16

navviesissue 348

April 2028

�Crikey what was that? A photon torpedo?��No, just Tim taking another flash photo�

Editor�s Log, stardate 1/4/2028Welcome to the new-look Navvies issue 348. The good news is that we have a full

programme of canal camps lined up for summer 2028, including three weeks restoringboat lifts on the Rhine-Danube Canal, a fortnight on the Martian canals, a reopening fes-tival on the Thames Berks & Andover Canal and a final week on the Montgonery Canal.

The not so good news is that I�m afraid we don�t have a chairman�s page in this issueas Mike was too late sending it again. But that should finally be remedied in the next issuewhen we commission the WRG time machine.

The Editorpublished by: waterway recovery groupnational co-ordinating body for volunteer labour on the waterways of the known universe

page 01

Work party report for the Charlotte Church Memorial Canal (formerly the Mon & Brec)

London WRG spent a pleasant weekend recently on the Charlotte Church MemorialCanal (formerly the Mon & Brec), scrub bashing and culling the mutant swamp rats whichare sadly now so infesting this quiet area of the Republic of Wales.

In attendance on this dig were the usual suspects: Chad Rothery (nee Reed) justback from a second honeymoon on the fifth moon of Endor with wife Elly, Helena Howarth,Tim Lewis, Liz Wilson, Frank and Nigel Lee. Absent were Helen Dobbie, David Miller andPaul Ireson; the tragic victims of last month�s exploding burco incident which readers mayalready be familiar with from the news reports. Our thoughts of course are with theirfamilies.

Despite expecting her fifth child any day now, Melanie Parker arrived on the Satur-day morning and there was much speculation in the group about who the father might bethis time. James Butler OBE, CBE also took some time out from his role as president ofthe Caravan Club to lend a hand on the Sunday. Also present were youngsters WilliamNelson and Sophie Williamson, enjoying a bit of fresh air now that they are both out onbail. Edwina Walker (formerly Ed Walker) also joined us on her first dig following herrecent significant operation.

Also in attendance were Moose, Maria and their new puppy, Major #3 (London WRGwere sorry to hear about the recent death of Major #2 and we were pleased to see thecloning has again been successful). We were also joined by Mark II, who has recentlydefected from KESCRG to join London WRG following a disagreement over KESCRG�s newno-clothes policy.

Martin Ludgate, who recently opted to have his personality downloaded into thebody of a smallbrushcutting android sothat he can attend morethan one dig at once,attended �in spirit� whilsthis original body went ona simultaneous dig withKESCRG on the soon-to-be-finished Montgomerycanal. We understandfrom KESCRG that Mar-tin�s new bionic arm alsocame in very handy andwas apparently �just likehaving an extra tirfor�.We also heard of plansby the British Library tohave the rest of Martin�spersonality downloadedto microchip for storagein their transportationreference archives. Bestof luck with that Martin!

On the Saturday�No, no, lay them straight or they�ll never burn!� - Cybermartinthe brushcutting android provides useful bonfire lighting advice

navvies issue 348 April 2028

London WRGReport

London WRG�s volunteersspend a weekend in what�s

left of South Wales...

page 02

Mark II (right) with giant swamp-rat (left)

morning, after making our way to the site by hoverboard, we found the canal site muchovergrown by brambles and blackthorn and in need of attention. Our light sabres fortu-nately made short work of the worst of the tree stumps and we employed a range of me-dium-sized handguns to despatch the little critters (our thanks to the local canal trust forsupplying these firearms).

Work proceeded slowly in the balmy February heat and was interrupted only by abrief tropical rainstorm at 11am. Sheltering from the acid downpour, we enjoyed our teabreak safe in our vehicles. This also gaveeveryone a chance to check out the newFord hovervehicle, RFB#4.

Later that day, Helena sustained anunfortunate leg injury and some arterialbleeding following an attack by one of themutant swamp rats. Following this incident acloud of acid rain passed overhead and wewere forced to take shelter until it passed.As the rain didn�t stop, we retired earlyback to the accommodation where we allpresented our ID cards and underwent theusual biometric testing before receiving ourlasagne. Although we did discuss a trip tothe local pub, so few of the group wereover the legal drinking age of 55 that wedecided it wasn�t worthwhile.

The next morning we returned to siteto find tunnelling activity by the vengefulswamp rats had caused large sections of thecanal bank to collapse during the night. Weset about laying traps for the remainingrodents and passed the rest of the morningskinning those that we had shot the previousday, which provided some solace. The skinswere later sold to raise funds for the ongo-ing Droitwich Barge Lock appeal.

We continued to scrub bash and laytraps during the afternoon until we gotalmost as far as the Cymbran tunnel. Unfortunately this part of the canal ventures a bittoo close to the Bluetongue Plague Pits of Pontypool, so we couldn�t proceed any furtheruntil the zone is decontaminated in 2031. That�s a date for the diary!

Altogether a smooth and productive dig with none of the unfortunate casualtiessustained on our last weekend. And our thoughts are of course with their relatives.

Everyone agreed that, as usual, a weekend�s digging with London WRG was milesbetter than staying at home fretting over the food shortages, rampant ebola epidemic andbitter war with France.

Thanks to Ellie for volunteering to reconstitute the food!

*Please note that next Tuesday�s scheduled social has now been postponed to avoidclashing with the state funeral of Victoria Beckham KCMG.


London WRGReport

�Our light sabres made lightwork of the worst of thetree stumps...�

page 03

Transport

Some of you will have seen the �new, new, new� RFB. It is very shiny and we wouldlike to keep it that way, so a few points that are worth bearing in mind:

1 You can ONLY use the hover function on the road if you have both category 324 onyour driver authorisation digi card AND category 28b on your driving license card.People without the necessary driving license category can of course continue to usethe hover function on site if they have 324 on theirDA card. Come on folks, it isn�t that hard to workout�..

2 Although the van has a hover function THE TRAILERDOES NOT! We know that some people have managedto go down the road in hover mode with a trailer onthe back, DON�T DO IT! This applies even more sooff road (yes, I�m talking to you Harry Watts, youare old enough to know better). We are looking intohover trailers but these will be some time away.

3 Although the hover function does mean the van will notget stuck off road, it doesn�t move gateposts/treestumps/other vans out of the way - look what youare doing!

4 Apparently some people have not yet got the messageabout �Autodrive�. This van will not allow you to ac-cess motorways until Autodrive is engaged. This is toprevent people attempting to manually drive on themotorways - we all know where that leads (morepoints than old Mike Palmer in a 2027 Jag). Note thatas per the recent legislation, all the vans will be re-programmed with this function by the end of the year.

5 Despite all the hype about Hyperhyd, this van runs ongood old fashioned Hydrogen. It will run on Hyperhydas well so just buy whatever is available.

In other news, the Pasty Waggon is back on the roadagain, with its new engine and gearbox (only the third en-gine in 20 years). At a recent wrg committee meeting it wasworked out that following the accident a few years ago theonly original part left is the pasty oven. If you can prisethe keys (yes, it still uses keys, not a prox tag) out ofBungles hands, remember you are driving a classic vehiclethat still uses brake discs! It won�t stop as quickly as youare used to, Bungle will mumble something anorak like aboutit being better than brake drums� just ignore him. How metal had to be machined before


TransportUpdate

How to use the hoverfeature on our brand new

vehicle RFB#4

page 04

Plant

Bungle is still restoring the ancient JCB 803 - �Blue��. In the last episode, we finallygot the engine sorted and new tracks fitted. This time we look at the hydraulics.

You may remember that the reason all this work started was because of a minorhydraulic fault, three years later we finally on the home straight of a full rebuild. Theslew is controlled by a valve assembly under the floor, with the cab removed this wasmuch easier to get at so we took it out. It is completely knackered, hardly surprising I

suppose.The problem is that since that huge accident

with the Dancing Diggers that caused JCB toclose, all the parts are sourced from some chap inthe midlands who bought the stock. I quoted theserial number to them and when the bloke stoppedlaughing, he asked if we were restoring the ma-chine to show at a museum. When I explained wewanted to use it he laughed some more then hungup. Not exactly customer service then�.

How we ever coped before holophones I don�tknow, a few views of the valve block were sent toWelsh Phil (since south Wales fell into the sea afew years ago, he has of course moved, but wealready have a Bristol Phil, and hovertrain drivingBristol Phil is too much of a mouthful, so for thepurposes of this article we will continue to callhim Welsh Phil).

Phil doesn�t have Etherwave yet so we had tosend the views by email - how quaint! Welsh Philthen made us a new valve block using tools called a�Lathe� and a �Mill� - this is how metal was ma-chined before Ectotanks. Can you imagine Healthand Safety letting people use machines like thesenowadays - I mean blades and belts whizzingaround - you could hurt yourself!

The new valve unit arrived and was fitted -worked first time - thanks Phil!

Next job was to re pipe the boom controls -can you believe we found some old style hoses -they must be over 15 years old, amazing! We arehaving to get the pipes made specially, it is hard toget metric thread pipes made nowadays. Ofcourse, since hydrocarbon based oils are no longeravailable, we are using new seals that are designedfor the vegetable based fluids (it was the use ofthis stuff that caused all the problems in the firstplace).

Next time - the cab goes back on, and thencomes off again...ectotanks existed: Welsh Phil uses his ancient �lathe�


PlantReport

Bungle is still rebuilding a1996 JCB 3CX excavator.Will he ever finish it?

page 05

National Festival Camp Report: 25th - 34th August 2027

Once again, the National was held at Waltham Abbey. It looks as though theLivingstone government may soon withdraw the �temporary� ban on non-essential freightmovements, following strong opposition from the House of Lords, led on our behalf, by�Biscuit� Baron McCarthy and Lord Redway and next year we may be able to move theTardis to another site.

However, it was good to be back on familiar ground and to see the same faces on thecamp.

The accommodation this year was superb � no marquee this year as we were allowedto use a small part of the new Heathrow Terminal 12. Positively palatial and only a shortwalk from site, this was part of the sponsorship deal with the Starbucks British AirportsAuthority (who haven�t yet obtained permission to use the new runways).

The new backpumping scheme was put into operation and water from the Thames waspumped up the Lea giving a generous 8 inch depth, allowing all but the oldest licensableboats to attend.

The crew had the usual problems with the rollasite. It appears that when the rollswere put back in the Tardis last year the numbering system went awry. Having laid outall the rolls it was discovered that they were in the wrong order and all 7 acres had to berolled up, rearranged and re-laid. This amused some of the older navvies who launchedinto interminable tales about tracking and fencing that never went into the correct placefirst time.

They soon shut up when it was discovered that they had placed the pseudo-mudacross the entrance to the near-beer tent, instead of the main gate and the whole area hadto be shuffled around.

The fencing crew had an enjoyable time with the new Heras forcefield, althoughturning it on while standing astride the grid line turned out to be not as much fun as ex-pected. It is expected that Chad will recover shortly and that no lasting damage has beendone.

The minor problem with the lavender boat crew was overcome when we managed toobtain suitable protective clothing and once these had been fitted with appropriate buoy-ancy aids, the HSE inspector was satisfied. He did point out that the standard Armyissue NBC suits do not carry a Euro Standard kitemark but was prepared to overlookthis.

There are times when having the Chief of Defence staff on site can be a real help.Thanks, Rachel.

Daddy Cool was given the opportunity to drive on the field (while site was closed tothe public) and appeared to have a great time hovering around in RFB. Unfortunately no-one told him that the hover function had not been fitted to any of the other vans, so it allwent wrong when he attempted to deliver lunch to the lavender boat crew in NUH2. Hap-pily the water at that point was very shallow and we were able to rescue both van anddriver with very little damage to either. Obviously this episode gave the old boy a clearlead in the Bungle Award stakes.

The evening entertainment for the campers included a quiz from Martin, and a rideon his new boat, Pulitzer II. This was enjoyed by all, although the absence of sunshinemeant that the solar panels failed to do their job as well as they might, and occasionallywe had to get out and push.

The show itself was well attended, (prior to the beer tent problem), with large


CampReport

Grandaddy Cool reportsfrom the Waltham Abbey

Festival Camp

page 06

crowds flocking to see the British crochet team doing their stuff in the main arena andthe evening entertainment proved very popular with the boaters and campers, with FastEddys�s Allstars proving very popular. It�s always good to see superstars give the likesof Jools and Courtney the opportunity to play in front of a large audience.

Obviously, as was reported in all the national newscasts, the entertainment wasclosed down on Saturday. For those of you who may have missed it, a rumour went roundon Saturday morning that the near-beer sold in the bar actually contained alcohol (forthose who aren�t familiar with this, ask your parents). Within a short time word hadspread and all 16 lanes of the M25 quickly became blocked as most of the population ofSouth East England (sorry, I still can�t get used to referring to it as Europa NW) flockedto the show.

Following the intervention of riot police the crowds were dispersed by Sunday, butwe then had to erect signs assuring the public that there were no �noxious substances� onsite.

The tear-down was even quicker than usual with more of the exhibitors using self-packing gear and as soon as the last one had hovered away, the site was rolled up andpacked away.

The end-of-festival party went well, providing much amusement to some of theyounger campers who had not previously met barbecued food, and took some persuading toeat something that wasn�t taken out of a packet and microwaved.

Next year, all being well, we will be off up north to a new site on the newly openedGrand Contour Canal in Newcastle. See you there.


CampReport

�Following the interventionof the riot police the crowdswere dispersed by Sunday�

Flashback to 1990 and a surprisingly prophetic entry by London WRG for the pageant at LittleVenice. Indeed, as I�m sure the rally chairman said �Martin, that entry�s bloody prophetic�

page 07


NavviesNews

The Cotswold reopening,safety clothing, and pouring

coal on troubled waters...

Lo-vis clothing

Please note that following the discov-ery that most people will drive much morecarefully if they don�t have seat-belts,crumple-zones, bull-bars and all the otherparaphernalia that people used to thinkmade them invincible in their cars, the sameprinciple is being applied by the Health &Safety Executive to on-site clothing.

As of this summer�s camps, high visibil-ity jackets will therefore be banned, and anew system of �lo-vis� clothing will be imple-mented. All volunteers on chamber clear-ances will wear brown, bricklayers will dressin dark red, and scrub-bashing will be done ingreen. Be sure to follow this code of practice,and watch out for the HSE inspectors on theprowl... if you can see them, that is.

Cutlery classes

Please note that although we hope torun cuttlery training classes again at thisyear�s training weekend, unless you haveknives, forks and spoons on your WRG au-thorisation card you should avoid camps 04,06, 09 and 12 as these are expected to fea-ture cooks who have the appropriate CITBtraining and certifcation in the use of kitchenknives and will be serving solid food. Allother camps are liquid diets only so you willnot need any special training beyond what isprovided by the introductory hologram.

Book now for the BCN Dirty-up

Concerned at how clinically clean thewaters of the Birmingham Canal Navigationsare becoming, this event aims to returnsome of these waterways to something liketheir traditional state to enhance the expe-rience of boaters and others enjoying them.This year we will be working from theIcknield Portopolis complex via theSponlaneland theme park to the recentlyrenamed Shiny White Country Museum.British Waterways will be helping us by

supplying sacks of special chemically syn-thesised coal dust to add to the water, asnatural coal imported from the asteroidbelt is simply too expensive these days.

Cotswolds reopening

There was an excellent turnout for theofficial reopening by Lord Evans of WillowGrange of the recently completed CotswoldCanals. Congratulating everyone involved inthe project, he singled out as the key to theentire restoration the moment back in 2008when BW made the inspired decision to�stand back and give the project thebreathing space that it so desperatelyneeded in order to thrive�.

On behalf of the Kingdom ofBrimscombia, King Bruce I pointed to thedeclaration of independence, freeing up thelocal authority from any UK or EU taxes, asthe key to funding the project, while theEnvironment Agency Chairman saw the EA�shard line on flood risk as crucial to theproject�s success: �If the decision hadn�tbween made to use the route of the recentlyabandoned A419 road rather than the muchless suitable old canal bed, we would neverhave seen such a high-class, sustainable,viable restoration.�

�And what�s more�, added IWA Chair-man Angela Lamen, �the choice of an entirelynew route for much of the restoration made itsimpler to increase the gauge to 14ft to suitthe Dutch Barge fraternity. And that, in turn,made it so much easier for us to really annoythem by building it to 12ft 6in anyway.�

Finally on behalf of WRG, MikePalmer briefly paid tribute to the WRG�sfinal contribution (rebuilding SappertonTunnel using stone salvaged from the ruinsafterthe infamous Selsley Village HallCurry Disaster*) before departing hur-riedly for the Montgomery Canal. As herushed off to catch the Oswestryhovertrain from Sappertoni Temple MeadsStation he was heard to mutter �I reckonone more camp should do it...�

*Of course it was the typo in Navvies that said �Curry Fight�instead of �Curry Night� that should really get the credit for it. ...Edpage 08

Everything you ever wanted to know about canalsbut were too afraid to askMartin in case he went on and onabout flange shafts and the historical evolutionof lock gates and the decline of governmentfunding and stuff like that for ageswhen all you really wanted to know washow did the Druids dig them in the first place andcan you see them from space?

�with Harriet the curious HedgehogWot is a canal?

A canal is an artificial channel for water. Canals are used for irrigation (shifting water about the place)and for transportation (shifting goods and people about the place).

Ok that wasn�t too technical � dare I ask about locks?

Locks are used to allow a canal to take a reasonable direct line across country that is not level. Earlycanal builders often tried to get away without using locks by detouring around hills. This worked okayfor fairly flat routes but as engineering became more ambitious,they realised locks allowed for more ambitious routes. A lock isbasically a chamber, large enough to accommodate a boat, withgates at both ends.

How do locks work?In the picture, the boat needs to travel from a higher water level toa lower one. The boat owner needs to open the nearest gate andthen close it behind them.

The boat now needs to let the water in the closed chamber flow outuntil it is level with the lower body of water, sort of like emptying abathtub. As the water level in the chamber goes down, the boatdescends with it.

When the chamber is finally drained to the same level as the lowerbody of water, the boat owner can open the next gate and steer out.

For going up to a higher water level, the boat is steered into thedrained lock, the gate is closed and water from the upper body ofwater is allowed to flow in. When the levels match, the upper gateis opened and the boat steers out.

Tell us something interesting about canals.

The first attempt to build the Panama canal (by a French engineerin 1850) failed because his Caribbean workforce complained theykept getting attacked by zombies from the surrounding jungle1 .

Next week�a bit of history1 This must be true: I read it on the internet.

Beginners� guide...to canals and locks

We return to (relatively)normal after the last 8 pageswith the answers to somequestions you�d probablyrather not ask our regulars...

page 25

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

Navvies diaryYour guide to all the forthcoming work partiesApr 26/27 London WRG Thames & Severn Canal: Dig Deep project

Apr 26/27 wrgSW Wilts & Berks Canal: Steppingstones Lane Bridge

May 3/4 KESCRG Wendover Arm

May 3/4 wrgNW Chesterfield Canal: Sat & Sun only.

May 3/4/5 Essex WRG Wilts & Berks Canal

May 3/4/5 wrgBITM Canalway Cavalcade at Little Venice: BITM sales stall

May 10/11 NWPG Wilts & Berks Canal: Dig Deep project

May 10 Sat wrgNW �Paper Chase� waste paper collection

May 10/11 WRG WRG Training Weekend

May 15 Thu wrgNW Ad Hoc meeting, 7.30pm

May 16-18 wrgBITM Rickmansworth Waterways Festival: Site Services and sales stall.Setup on Friday, open to public Sat & Sun.

May 18 Sun WRG Committee & Board Meetings

May 20-27 wrgSW Grand Western Canal: Trailboat Festival (Tue to Tue. Open to public Sat 2

May 24-26 KESCRG Wendover Arm Festival: Bhaji stall

May 24-26 wrgBITM Wendover Arm Festival (Tring): Site Services and sales stall. Setup on Sat, open to

May 31/Jun 1 London WRG Chesterfield Canal

Jun 7/8 KESCRG Sussex Ouse: Isfield Lock

Jun 13-15 Essex WRG Foxton Rally: Setting up on site on Friday

Jun 14/15 NWPG Mon & Brec Canal: Dig Deep project

Jun 21/22 wrgBITM Mon & Brec Canal: Dig Deep project

Jun 21 Sat wrgNW �Paper Chase� waste paper collection

Jun 21-28 Camp 200803 Droitwich Barge Lock - Canal Camp

Jun 21-28 Camp 200804 Chesterfield Canal Camp

Jun 28/29 London WRG Wilts & Berks Canal: Dig Deep project

Jun 28-Jul 5 Camp 200805 Grand Western Canal Camp: Lowdwells Lock

Jun 28-Jul 5 Camp 200806 Ipswich & Stowmarket Navigation - Canal Camp: Baylham Lock

Jul 2-9 wrgSW Saul Junction Festival: Site Services (Wed to Wed. Open to public Fri 4 to

Jul 5/6 Essex WRG To be arranged

Jul 5-12 Camp 200809 Wilts & Berks Canal Camp: Dig Deep project at Seven Locks. Led by KESC

Jul 5-12 Camp 200807 Grand Western Canal Camp: Lowdwells Lock

Jul 5-12 Camp 200808 Cotswold Canals Camp: Gough�s Orchard Lock

Jul 12-19 Camp 200811 Cotswold Canals Camp: Gough�s Orchard Lock

Canal Camps cost £49 per week unless otherwise stated. Bookingsfor WRG Canal Camps (those identified by a camp number e.g.'Camp 200803') should go to WRG Canal Camps, PO Box 114,

Rickmansworth WD3 1ZY. Tel: 01923 711114.Email: [email protected]

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

Tim Lewis 07802-518094 [email protected]

Adrian Fry [email protected]

Eddie Jones 0845-226-8589 [email protected]

David McCarthy 0161-740-2179 [email protected]

John Gale 01376-334896 [email protected]

Dave Wedd 01252-874437 [email protected]

Graham Hawkes 0118-941-0586 [email protected]

David McCarthy 0161-740-2179

Jenny Black [email protected]

Jean Helliwell


Mike Palmer 01564-785293 [email protected]

24 to Mon 26) Mitch Gozna 07768-525469 [email protected]


o public Sun & Mon. Dave Wedd 01252-874437 [email protected]




Graham Hawkes 0118-941-0586 [email protected]


David McCarthy 0161-740-2179

01923-711114 [email protected]





Sun 6) Adrian Fry [email protected]


CRG. Eddie Jones 0845-226-8589 [email protected]




Canal Societies� regular monthly orweekly working parties

Please send amendments to DaveWedd (address on previous page)

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

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

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

Mobile groups' socials(please phone to confirm before

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

Navvies diary

Letters...to the editor

Thank you toeveryone who madethe Barn Dancesuch a success onceagain

Dear MartinThe fifth annual Navvies� Barn Dance at Benson Parish Hall was a great success with a

sell out crowd of nearly 150 people making for a great atmosphere. 450 sausages and 50kg(110lb) of mash was eaten, and three barrels of ale were drunk (along with a few Navvies!)

Huge thanks are due to Helen �Bushbaby� Gardner for all her hard work organising andrunning around, Eli for slaving over the hot stoves and Nic for sorting out and running thebar. Also to Bill Nicholson (and girls) for running the raffle and whisky game, and to thefabulous band Tumbledown Dick for getting (almost) everyone to dance. Plus the army oflittle helpers who chipped in here and there all evening serving, washing up, etc.

Finally, thank you also to everyone who came along and raised so much money forKESCRG, London WRG and NWPG.

See you again next year!Bobby Silverwood

A date for your diary: next year�s dance will be on Saturday February 28

Barn dance essentials:barndancers, beer,band and Bush! (plusher team of helpers,of course)

LogisticsHow clean is your kit?s

Guess what I did last time I sorted thekit out? The clue is in the title� And to behonest it�s not exactly something new � themain difference from usual is that I spent anawful lot of time cleaning the Curver boxes(see picture if you�re not squeamish!) and thecool box on the outside. They were dis-gusting! I suppose the shock came from thefact that the catering kit is usually the partthat is clean when it comes to the trailers�

Now I was going to write this in thestyle of a certain TV programme but Icouldn�t face the thought of the research ofwatching those two annoying women so I�mjust going to prattle on in my own wayinstead! Plus I don�t have a lot of time andMartin only needs a short article�

I�ll admit that the cool box was actuallymore of an ingrained dirt build-up ratherthan just being caked in mud and that hasmore to do with the silly texture of it thanlack of cleaning. We�ll not mention AnneBayston, cotton buds or the yucky �hidden�part of the cool box handle other than to saythanks very much! A veritable shiny cool boxwas the result of the right abrasive, a tooth-brush and a good bit of elbow grease (workswell on the griddle).

As for the Curver boxes please can youwipe them down on the outside as well asinside. Believe me, after having cleaned themould off them I appreciate that they havevery un-user-friendly ledges on the outsidebut that doesn�t mean you can just ignorethem. And when packing them in the trailersas I�ve said before please don�t thread theratchet straps through the handles (see otherpic) � their strength lies in the top surroundand as long as they are properly stacked youonly need to stop the whole lot toppling over(which to be honest isn�t very likely) byputting a strap over the edge and don�t over-ratchet it!

Another item of catering kit that hasseen better days is the griddle� far too muchcarbon burnt on. In the last few years wehave had to strip the carbon off the griddlesat the very least annually which wasn�t the

case before. I suspect it�s because people arenot scraping them well enough. Please canyou all ensure the cast iron is scraped thor-oughly whilst in use. Alice does enjoy usingthe �Nitromors for carbon� (and if I�m honestso do I!) but it costs money and we neverneeded to do it that frequently before.

The fridge freezers always seem toneed cleaning though (ask Harry!) so pleasecould you take note that they too need awipe down before being packed away. Itwould also help if you could unplug them onthe last night of the camp (important if youhave a camp out of the main season) so thefreezer part can dry out rather than sit thererusting in the damp because it�s just beenturned off and shut away in the trailer. Ta.

It seems that the message of keepingthe tools clean is slowly sinking in althoughKit A�s tools are really quite filthy after eitherthe October camp or the Bonfire Bash� hardto tell which as I was at neither! But gener-ally speaking they are coming back a bitcleaner than they have done for some years -please keep it up!

I would like to say a huge thanks toThe Bayston�s for providing the perfect B&Bservice including catering kit packing at aridiculously late time and shopping for toolsat auctions! You really are a great help and Ivery much appreciate it!!

The main thing to remember is thatyou/your camp could be on the receiving endof a really smeggy kit and I�m sure youwouldn�t want that so please be mindful ofhow you leave it for others.

Just [email protected]

Not for the squeamish: mould on the food crates

Jen

Leig

h

ProgressLapal and Lichfield

Our regular roundup ofrestoration progress aroundthe country begins for novery good reason with twocanals beginning with �L�...

Lapal Canal

In the Birmingham districts of Edgbaston andSelly Oak, one of the largest non-city-centreprojects in Europe is currently being under-taken to develop the Queen Elizabeth Hospi-tal into a comprehensive medical centre forthe entire West Midlands.

The vast scale of this ten-year projectinvolves a partnership between a large anddiverse range of participants whose contribu-tion will augment that of the hospital trustand Birmingham City Council. Amongstthem, Sainsbury�s are seeking to relocate tonew premises which they intend to buildalongside the former junction of the derelictCoombeswood to Halesowen length of theDudley No. 2 Canal (also known to restorersas the Lapal Canal) and the Worcester & Bir-mingham Canal. A third feature in the triangu-lar parcel of land which Sainsbury�s will de-velop is a new road to bypass Selly Oak andprovide an uncongested main route intoBirmingham from the South-West. Eventuallythis road (A38) will sweep past the QEH siteand pass underneath the railway and the W&Bcanal but, for the time being, it will serve as anauxiliary access link into the hospital for theconstruction plant and workers.

For this reason it is now under con-struction commencing with a key feature inthe form of a new bridge to take it over theLapal Canal in Harborne Lane. The first thirdof this structure has been constructed overthe winter period as if to establish just ex-actly how viable the first length of the Lapalrestoration project will be. Once con-structed, boating visitors should be able tomoor in the former basin which will bealongside the Sainsbury�s supermarket, toshop for their supplies. There will then bethe further possibility of an overnight staywhen the former Harborne Wharf adjoining,Selly Oak Park, has been restored as aninterim winding terminus.

Lichfield and Hatherton Canals

The work at Tamworth Road on the LichfieldCanal has continued apace. The AggregatesLevy Grant has to be spent by the end ofMarch. Our own team and several visitinggroups have achieved a great deal in a shorttime, as have the environmental team.

The new towpath wall below Lock 26has been constructed using the large blocksof recycled materials and fixed to the con-crete foundation. The new footbridge has

A new bridge for the Lapal Canal at Halesowen... ...and a wall of �Lego� recycled blocks at Lichfield

Stan

Hol

land

Dav

id M

iller

ProgressMont and Basingstoke...

�All is ready for the firstBasingstoke dredging

weekend by volunteerssince 1993� - sadly not

steam-powered this time

been installed over the tail of Lock 25 andlooks wonderful. The offside wall throughSandra Attwood�s garden, partly financed byIWA, has been built and we should soon beable to let her have her garden back.

There has been considerable scrubclearance alongside the A38 and up to theA51 with associated planting of trees andbulbs. The Borrocop Locks Park should beofficially opened in April as part of the Li-chfield Twinning celebrations.

Montgomery Canal

Shropshire Union Canal Society restorationwork parties have begun again and will beheld on the first weekend of every month upto and including November.

Work at Crickheath has been suspendedby the Society because of uncertainties re-garding the site and the volunteer team isrelocating to the stretch between Redwithbridge (83) and Prices Bridge (84) to contrib-ute to the ongoing work to extend the newlyrewatered section from Gronwen to Redwith.

The Society has also organised success-ful winter work parties during February onthe far end of the Montgomery Canal, thepart not owned by British Waterways. Thesevolunteers carried out a hedgelaying exerciseon the line of the canal between FreestoneLock and Newtown which is currently ownedby Severn Trent Water. Looking very much tothe future, the Society are hoping to acquirethis section so that the line of the canal intoNewtown can be protected.

Finally, the Society is very pleased tohave been awarded self supervising statusfor volunteer workparties after approval of itsHealth and Safety Management system byBritish Waterways.

Basingstoke Canal

Towpath improvement works are proposed forthe Surrey section of the canal. Finance forthese works is being raised by a partnershipagreement with Surrey County Council, Woking

Borough Council, Sustrans and the CanalAuthority. Sustrans are Project Managers.

At the public consultation the Surrey &Hants Canal Society raised a number ofconcerns: in general we accept that towpathworks are necessary, but on terms acceptableto the heritage environment of the canal,public safety for users of the towpath and theuse of materials visually compatible withexisting towpath surfaces.

The long awaited draft of the Basing-stoke Canal Conservation Management Planarrived on the computer, 80 plus pages. Arecovery programme and action for Sites ofSpecial Scientific Interest (SSSI) has beendrafted and incorporated in the ConservationManagement Plan; some aspects are accept-able, and others certainly need clarification.The canal is a multi�user facility with naviga-tion and ecology interests requiring firmmanagement to achieve improvements for allinterests and users of the canal. The Conser-vation Management Plan will provide a man-agement guide for the future working ar-rangements on the canal. It is essential thatwe try and achieve a balanced approach,rather than a return to detrimental conflict.

At Brookwood SSSI the Society isworking with the Canal Authority to improvemarginal habitat but not close the windinghole to navigation. We consider a win /winresult is possible, providing a precedent forfuture projects.

Work party report: The weed growththrough Woodham and Woking had coveredthe canal in places; working parties concen-trated on clearing the channel so that theilluminated boat gathering for December hadreasonable passage up the canal. A total of 8weekends were expended clearing weedfrom the canal; this disrupted the volunteerprogramme, unfortunately Woking towncentre still requires extensive work to recovera cared-for appearance.

Deepcut: The new gates for lock 18were delivered to lock 15, the nearest roaddelivery point for Deepcut locks. Our boatBelfast Girl had a frustrating journey from St

Progress...and finally Wendover

Johns to lock 18: branches and leaf litterwashed into the locks as they were filled,lodging behind the lower gates as they wereoperated; every gate opening had to becleared so the gates fully opened before thedredger could enter or leave the lock. Thepassage to lock 18 took all day Friday andmost of Saturday morning.

The replacement of the gates alsoprovided some challenges. On removal ofthe old gates, their pivot pins dropped out,the towpath side pin remaining in the sup-port block. After a number of attempts thepin was recovered and the new gates low-ered into position The top beams were at thesame level and with the same water levelclearance. Balance beams were normal onthe towpath side but at 45 degrees on theoffside, mitre posts and heel posts were atdifferent heights on each gate.

By Saturday night dusk descended; nochoice but to close the gates, secure the siteand return on Sunday. Andy and James(Canal Rangers) performed some chain sawcarpentry, modifying the gates. Result: bal-ance beams fitted and gates adjusted. Thedredger was turned above lock 18 afterwater had been rundown from lock 28.

At lunch time Sunday we started thereturn to St Johns. The new gates sealed aswe left lock 18, but again debris accumu-lated in the lock chambers causing delay, itwas dark before we cleared lock 12.

Note: follow up checks confirmed amanufacturing error between gates.

Workboat: a return to Ash Lock in thenew year resulted in welding work and rustcleaning inside the cabin A security box forthe Transit tool store was also modifiedduring the weekend.

Western end: Newbury Working PartyGroup returned to the Basingstoke, helpingclear the growth from the canal banks. Thewestern end has now been designated aLocal Nature Reserve which we hope willenable funding for improvements on thecanal. Dredging is a high priority involvingvolunteers.

St Johns and Hermitage: The inva-sive weed in the Woodham and Wokingsections of the canal has not yet spreadupstream, so before working in Hermitage,the dredger and barges used at Woking hadto be sterilised. A weekend of silt disposalfrom barges, steam cleaning and pumpingresidue away from the canal was an experi-ence we would have missed if at all possible.

All is ready for the first dredging weekend byvolunteers for many years, since 1993 if mymemory is correct. The silt dredged will beused to form marginal shallows for reedbeds, filtering the surface water run offwhilst providing habitat.

Peter Redway

Wendover Arm

After the February work party I was re-minded of the immortal words of the poet,Robert Burns:

�The best laid schemes o� mice an� menGang aft a-gley�On the Friday morning all went well and

the materials and formwork for the base of themooring bay wall and pipe capping (we arecapping over the pipeline that carries the watersupply along the dry length of the canal as partof our work to rebuild the channel) were trans-ported to the work site. Work carried on erect-ing the formwork for the first base of themooring wall but it was not in our plan tocomplete this and pour the base until theMarch work party. On the Friday and Saturdayas much as possible of the water in the �dry�bed leading up to the temporary bund waspumped back over the bund. Let us hope thatthere is not another wet spell to fill it up again.

The excavator and tracked dumpersworked all day Friday on clearing the layer ofmud from the 100 or so metres of bed fromthe end of the completed pipe capping to thenext manhole just into stage 2. It was slowprogress as the glutinous mud was not verykeen to part company with the dumpers! Wewere joined on Saturday by London WRG forthe weekend excavation of two trial holesover the pipeline which showed that theroute of the pipeline near the manhole wasnot as expected. There was also over a metredepth of spoil then to be excavated at theend nearest the manhole before the pipecapping trench could be excavated � it was aforlorn hope that this could be completed fora pour of concrete on the Monday.

On Sunday morning the situation was

reviewed and it was agreed to commenceexcavation, from the end of the completedpipe capping, down to 300mm above the topof pipe capping level working towards themanhole. As this did not close access to themooring bay, the formwork for the first baseof the mooring wall was completed, mainlydue to the sterling efforts of a four man gangfrom London WRG who soon picked up theintricacies of our formwork (see front coverphoto). It was successfully poured on theMonday morning and, after the pour, thearea adjacent to Bridge 4A, where it hasbeen agreed with Herts CC to tip a metredepth of spoil at the toe of their tip, was de-stumped and cleared ready for bonfiring. Anaccess ramp was formed for plant to get upto the higher level of this area. Preparationof this tip site will give us a site on which todispose of excavated spoil that is not re-quired for reinstating banks.

The formwork to the base of the moor-ing bay wall was loosened on Tuesday

It was the plan for London WRG to bendall the reinforcement for the Stage 1 mooringwall but we could not find the bending frame.After it was last used in May 2006 we arepretty certain that it was dismantled and storedaway � but where? Can anyone rememberdismantling the frame and where it is stored?In lieu of bending, London WRG cut a goodsupply of reinforcement mesh for the pipelinecapping and carried out repairs with crushedconcrete to the road through our storage site.

Scrub Bashing: The plant moving upand down the bed of the canal has kept plantgrowth well under control but the banks arehaving to be cut back regularly to preventserious re-growth. RAF Halton started thegood work scrub bashing last year, PeteBowers� weekday work parties continued it aswell as spare volunteers at the monthly workparties. London WRG gave the work a boostat the February work party and most of thebanks are now under control.

London WRG visit: I have alreadyreferred several times to London WRG at theFebruary work party; they put in a lot ofeffort over the weekend and completedvaluable work. Well done and many thanksto them for spending their time with us.Hopefully they will visit us again and theycan then try their hand at steel pan formworkfor the reinforced concrete wall?

Design of lining: Because of theamount of spoil required to make up banksthat have had to be cut into, consideration

has been given to the continued use of hol-low concrete blocks. They form a solid wallonce they are filled with concrete, a necessityto make them withstand the impact of boatsbut, if the bank has not consolidated 100%,could lead to voids between them and theBentomat layer. For the next length we aregoing to use solid concrete blocks only100mm deep, therefore lighter to handle, ontop of the first row of hollow concrete blocksthat are bedded into the in-situ concretebase. They will have to be tamped into posi-tion on the Bentomat with rubber malletsbut, once that is done, the job is finished.

Materials Deliveries: Our purchasingmanager, has been rather busy orderingmaterials. This is necessary so that we can takemaximum advantage of the BW 2007/2008allocation of £40,000 for restoration in lieu ofrenewing the pipeline. It is also advantageousin that materials prices are going up and weare taking advantage of current favourableprices. Talking of prices going up, our firstdelivery of ready-mix in April 1999 was at £68/cubic metre ex. VAT. As from February 1st

2008, the price is now £100/cubic metre ex.VAT, + 47% in 9 years! This is mainly due torising fuel costs and the government imposingtaxes on aggregates - yet we are told thatinflation is only 2% p.a. or thereabouts. Forreinforcing mesh the increase is +50%.

Looking Ahead: As I said in the lastnewsletter, the use of tracked dumpers, al-though expensive, has meant that we havebeen able to keep working despite atrociousconditions along the temporary road in the�dry� canal bed. It has however highlighted anew drawback � these machines are evenwider than the 5t excavators that we normallyuse and this has meant cutting further intoexisting banks, both towpath and offside, toenable the machines to move alongside thetrench excavated for the pipeline capping. Thisraises the problem, not so much of restoringthe banks, but leaving them for sufficient timeto enable settlement to take place before layingthe Bentomat lining and cover, desirably a year.This should not affect the overall completiondate but means that we will probably spendmost of 2008 extending the pipe cappingthrough Stage 2 and working on mooring baysrather than completing the lining for Stage 1.Fortunately the work method we have adoptedwill allow us to line banks where consolidationis not necessary or has already taken place butthe bed for Stage 1 must be completed in oneoperation, probably now in 2009.

Jonathan Taylor

Those who were at one of the last three orfour Canalway Cavalcades - or BCN cleanups- will have seen or heard of Jonathan Taylor,or �Tay� as we knew him in WRG.

Tay started digging on a London WRGweekend dig I leading on the Wey and Arunin January or February a few years ago. Ihad this phone call from someone introduc-ing himself as Tay, he asked about WRG andall the various bits and pieces you need toknow to go digging, and during the conver-sation he mentioned that he had come out ofthe RAF, and was looking for something thathad the type of camaraderie that he hadalready experienced in the Forces, so I men-tioned that I was ex-Army and explainedhow things ran. He said he lived at Stroud,and the dig was a very long way away. But Isaid that even though we were called LondonWRG, I live on the other side of London, wehad someone coming from Derby-shire and also someone coming upfrom South Devon, to which Taysaid after a little hesitation �Oh, soI can�t use the distance as an ex-cuse then?� To which I replied�no�.

Tay turned up Saturday lunchtimeand left Sunday evening,having enjoyed himself... well hemust have, because several of ushad mentioned the BCN Cleanupover the weekend, and during thefollowing week Tay phoned to sayhe was booked in and couldn�twait.

He was hooked. He enjoyedthe BCN so much that he wasalmost booking a year in advance.The following year, he volunteeredto come to Canalway Cavalcade.He arrived at my compound, askedwhere he could put his bed, Idirected him, and ten minutes laterhe was back ready to go to work.

He was one of those peoplewho had a big grin, always happyeven at 06:30 in the morning whenhe was going to help traffic move-ment at Little Venice. Full of bounceand eager to work - in fact it was aCamp Leader�s nightmare trying tokeep him busy. You would all sitdown to a well earned rest andbrew, Tay would be off with black

sacks, a litter picker and gloves. Again with thebig smile as ever.

During my time that I knew Tay, I foundout he was a very accomplished cartoonist - histopic always had sheep - plus he was also exArmy and had served in the Royal SignalsRegiment, he had been a policeman and wasnow working for Local Government.

Tay was a fit young man (38 years ofage), who died of causes unknown (at timeof print), and will be sorely missed by all thepeople who he met.

Dave �Moose� Hearnden

ObituaryJonathan �Tay� Taylor

Tay in action at last year�s BCN Cleanup

WRG BCNews from our boat club

WRG BC news March 2008

Well what a rotten start to the year.Most devastating is the news of BW pullingout of the Cotswold Canals Restoration Part-nership, as if the Trust hasn�t enough of a setback because of the floods last year. The letterthat I received form the Cotswold Canals TrustChairman (club member Liz Payne) started abit like an obituary, but despite such a bloweveryone is determined to overcome problemsand meet the challenges with renewed com-mitment. I�m sure club members feel thesame. I hope that as many as possible willbe able to come to show support at thefestival at Saul in early August.

I have been wading through muchpaperwork trying to make sense of some ofit. Oh for the simple life when I could under-stand most things. All those initials andacronyms instead of words* make it so hardgoing. Trying to understand all kinds oflicence increases and mooring pricing andallocation mysteries, then the news about�red diesel� won�t cheer any boaters up. I�msure things will only get more complicatedwith form filling alongside tank filling, espe-cially if you have diesel heating, and it�s allgoing to be more expensive!

When it comes to money there are somany restoration projects that are in needand so little cash to go round. Often our bestway to help is by volunteering our labourand/or helping at fund raising activities.

Then there is �The National� in August.It will be held in the Wolverhampton area butbeware of local given information as theWolverhampton Neighbourhood News con-tained information that �Last Year�s Waterway�sFestival was held in St Ives, Cornwall� and �Theevent, known as �Black Country WaterwaysFestival... will be coming to Pendeford overThe August Bank Holiday�. I do hope mem-bers make it to the right place at the righttime. (The Black Country Boating Festival isheld at Windmill End in September).

Did you study the IWA MembershipSurvey 2008? Under Q20 �Do you regularly

read any of the following publications?� Theyonly missed out the most important one! I trustyou all entered �Navvies� where it asked for�Other� (and ticked �thoroughly� of course).

News from our foreign correspondentleads me to think that KESCRG�s �AppealingFood� outlet�s cookery book would be wel-come in Crete. Is there such a publication?

I hope more news will be forthcomingfrom AWCC meeting in a few days and fromany members or groups that are kindenough to send it to me please! (HINT)

Soon the closures will be finished and therivers back in theirown beds. Thatshould cheer me up.

I need cheer-ing as I have beenon a non-voluntarycrash course on�Hospital Speak�. Iwas in an RTA � XJ6went in a dyke(drainage ditch tonon Fen people) andH2O. Mike-driverOK, Fred RPS OK,Me FPS a bit KOed.To A&E ASAP X-raysSpine OK STERNUM= STER-NUM. ECGNBG. To MAU forfew days. Then BTBwith TTO PDQ and needing TLC.

There were lots of other initials and acro-nyms and not necessary those included, but youget the idea. Please let�s have some plain English.

See * above - to keep folk from want-ing to strangle you, let them know what youare talking about. What you are saying mightnot cheer them up but at least they canunderstand what is going on!

Wishing you all good boating and Ihope to see you about the cut and at variousrestoration related activities.

XXX Sadie Dean07748186867

[email protected]

WolverhamptonNeighbourhood news said

that �Last year�s waterwaysfestival was held in St Ives.

Cornwall...�

Are you coming to...

WRG BC...and AWCC report

What do you getfor your 15p to bea member of anAWCC affiliatedboat club?

AWCC meeting report

The Midland Region Meeting and AGM ofthe Association of Waterways CruisingClubs was held at Soar Boat Club on 8th

March. This is on a lovely stretch of theriver and the 2009 IWA National Festival isplanned nearby at Redhill at the north endof the Soar.

Discussions centred on the increasedcost to boaters with price increases for reddiesel and how the tax will be calculated forthe proportion not used for propulsion.

There havebeen rises in licenceand mooring feesfrom BW and reliefthat the promptpayment refundwas to continue.Members wereconcerned aboutlack of maintenanceand shortage of BWstaff. New Marinasare being devel-oped and on linemoorings reduced.Boat clubs arerenegotiatingleases.

Nigel Grantagain reminded us

of the need for Smoke Alarms and CODetectors and not to spray WD40 near gasfridge pilot lights. Since he set up the FireSafety Scheme when working in Warwick-shire as a Fire Officer he was pleased thatmany other Regional Fire Brigades havealso taken up this scheme and are offeringFREE risk assessments and alarms.

Howard Smith retired as our Chairmana position he had held for 10 yrs. He re-ceived a gift of Garden Centre vouchers fromBoat Clubs as a thank you for all his hardwork representing our interests by attendingnumerous meeting, as a representative offorums and of course watching BW.

Sheila Smith was presented with flow-ers in appreciation of her support and or-ganisation. Graham Myatt from Stoke onTrent Boat Club was elected as our newchairman. The position of Treasurer was notfilled.

From 2008 subscriptions to AWCC fromthe 29 clubs in the midlands will be £6 whichonly just covers the running costs. It wasagreed that these would be increased to £8in 2009. With 40ish boats in WRGBC that iscurrently only 15p per boat.

What do you get for your 15p?There are three good reasons to fly theAWCC flag (I have some on sale at £12 - anda new stock of WRGBC red ones at only£10). The Association represents one of thelargest Inland Waterway user groups lookingafter your interests. AWCC club membershipenables you to apply for temporary mooringsat other clubs if there is space available. Thistakes out some of the worry of leaving yourboat if you are weekending or have othercommitments. You are assured of a warmwelcome when club houses are open. Theyhave nearly 50 slipways and secure carparks.

The Handbook lists all the clubs withtelephone numbers and they can provideassistance, transport or help in an emergencywhen out cruising. We aim to help one an-other. That�s what I call value formoney!

Another AWCC bargain is a WindscreenSticker at 60p.

If you need a new handbook contactSadie and for more details seewww.awcc.org.uk.

A forthcoming event is a Boat Rally on23rd -26th May at Langley Mill to celebrate 40years of AWCC and 35th Anniversary of theOpening of the Great Northern Basin by theErewash Canal Preservation and Develop-ment Association.

The next meeting will be held atSwarkstone on 10th May.

Lynne CaterClub Representative

...the Saul Festival?

Contacting the chairman:Mike Palmer

3 Finwood Rd,Rowington, Warwickshire

CV35 7DHTel: 01564 785293

email: [email protected]

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

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

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

products.asp?cat=126

Stampswanted

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

Dial-a-camp

To contactany WRG

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

NOTICEBOARD

New arrivalsCongratulations to

Liz and Ian Williamsonon the arrival of

Sophie Anne on February 7th

(seen here in her new KESCRG shirt)also to

Jo �Smudge� and Dave �Taz� Tarranton the arrival of

Adam Paul on February 8thand to

Ruth and Steven Davison the arrival of

Rowan Oliver on March 11th

Congratulations to

Chad Reed and Elly RotherySally Nutt and Andy Richardson

Matt Taylor and Annette BallantyneAngela �AJ� Lamen and Ken Bullock

...on their respective engagements

Felicitations on your nuptials

...to �Rick B� Barnes and �Harri T� (presum-ably soon to be �Harri B�) Thomsett

Moving houseLiz Wilson has moved to:9 Widford House, Colebrooke Row,London N1 8DD

If you move house don�t forget totell Navvies

Get Well Soon...to Chad

Apologies...

...for the non-appearance of theAgony Aunt column I mentionedlast time. I promise it really will

appear in issue 229.

WRGieotypes No 3: The leader of the National Festival Canal Camp

�Mouse� hasn�t had a wink of sleep since last Friday. The site�s under four inches of water, the beer tent�sblown away twice and the council health inspector�s touring the compound with a sour look on his face.

Five weeks he took off work for this. �We could have gone to Tenerife� his wife keeps reminding him�but you said nobody else was willing to lead it this year�.

Mouse wears a look of grim determination as he empties the icy water out of his wellies. WRG�selderly electric pumps are working round the clock but out there on site it�s Glastonbury without the drugs.Two days until the festival opens and it just won�t stop f***ing raining. Mouse looks at the sky and silentlycurses every god he�s ever heard of.

And where the hell did WRG find these volunteers? He suspects some of them are just on day releasefrom secure units. Can�t follow instructions, don�t wear their safety helmets: he can�t trust them even tohammer a tent peg into the ground. The Lavender crew�s fallen out with Security: Camp Cook isn�t speakingto Sparks and his car parking crew have gone AWOL.

�Never again� he mutters to himself as he storms across the waterlogged arena to deal with a sus-pected concussion.

�Unless they can�t find anyone else to do it, obviously.�

InfillWould ewe believe it?

Remember the Kelpies?

Yes that�s right - the giant nodding horses�head statues that some joker thought wouldbe a better way of filling the new lock at theeast end of the Forth & Clyde Canal than aset of traditional ground paddles.

Well they�ve only gone and securedseveral million of Lottery money so they canbuild the damn things. And meanwhile, toshow that the West of Scotland can go onebetter... the proposed canal from the Clydeto Loch Lomond is to have a boat lift raisedand lowered by a pair of swan sculptures -see the pic (right) if you don�t believe me!

So where will it all end - is our canalnetwork destined to become a concretemenagerie? Quite possibly, it would appear.Because I�ve just seen on Waterscape.com thatthere�s a closure on the Aire & Calder while �new rams are being fitted to the top gates�. I thinkthey�re talking about hydraulic rams here. But can we really be sure they don�t mean sheep...

test

WRG CelebrickiesWRG Celebrickies

The Wall of FameThe Wall of Fame

navvies 228

Documents

london wrg

directors of wrg

wise wrg

rickmansworth wd3

silvester road

john hawkins

john fletcher

john tesshawkins