| Bugsworth Basin Report Ian Edgar |
Recollections Ian Edgar |
Editorial Don Baines |
Northern
Canals Association David Turner |
| Diary Dates | Barnsley Chronicle | News from the IWA | Babblings Pete Yearsley |
| Steam, Coal, Canal | How We Saved the Barge | Horseboating News | Manchester Quiz |
| Return to 174 Newsletter Archive Index | Go to the IWPS/PFCC Sales Pages |
The "Last Plank", no not either of the IWPS stalwarts, Ian Edgar and Mike Malzard, but the last replacement deck plank being fitted to bridge 58. Since this photo was taken, bridge 59 has similarly been redecked. Photo: Don Baines
by Ian Edgar Chairman and Hon Site Manager
On re-reading my report from the last '174' it is very pleasing to know that, despite the most appalling weather conditions since January we have achieved so much on site with a small band of regular workers. Hopefully the weather will now improve, we can get the site dried out a bit and we can make some further progress ready to welcome our spring and summer visitors.
Like everybody else working in the countryside we have been hampered by the foot and mouth disease regulations and for a time the footpath through the Basin was closed. It has now been re-opened (beginning of April 2001) but only from Buxworth to Whaley Bridge. The footpath from the junction with the Whaley Bridge Arm down towards New Mills and Marple is still closed at time of writing but boating has restarted with restrictions. The past weeks have been very difficult, especially for British Waterways and we hope boaters have kept to the rules and taken all steps to prevent the spread of this disease. The goodwill of neighbouring farmers and land owners helps (and in some cases is essential for) the restoration and maintenance of many waterways and in their time of need now a lack of forethought and consideration for the landowner and his animals could well rebound on all of us. Many of the restoration sites operated throughout the country by Waterway Recovery Group and local Societies have been closed down but there has been no alternative. Bugsworth has been very fortunate in that we have been able to work but even so we have been very careful about where we go and what we do.
I reported in the last '174' that the re-decking of Bridges 58 & 59 was in progress. This work has now been completed and we are concentrating now on repainting the barrier rails when weather permits ( which has not been very often in the past months). We are also tackling at long last the de-rusting and repainting of the steel railings at the higher level of the Lower Basin Arm and, like the Forth Bridge, this work will go on for some time. This work is mostly scheduled for mid-week working which is coming on very well as we get more volunteers willing to work these (usually) two mornings a week. The week-day 'crew' have also started the conversion of one of our 20' containers in to an exhibition area and, hopefully, we shall have this area operational in a few months. This will be open on normal working days and be un-manned. It will complement the Sales Area at Blackbrook House operated by Linda and Gordon Anderson with the Peak Forest Canal Co. Ltd.
The beams on Bridges 58 & 59 are also being treated with bitumen paint using the BW boat as a platform. This is a bit of a messy job but has to be done as these beams have only been painted once since the bridges were built. Again any help on these jobs would be very welcome. We can get the task completed faster the more hands we have. Now that Spring seems to have finally arrived the grass will start to grow again and we have another 2/3rds acre to cut now that the dredgings tip area at the head of navigation has been levelled graded and seeded with good quality meadow grass.
Due to the restrictions imposed by the foot and mouth regulations work on the ground investigations
has been delayed and is due to start now 30th April or thereabouts and, we are told, will last from three
to five weeks. We can see the solutions and remedy to the leak problems at Bugsworth being pushed
further and further forward in to the future but our target still remains the same - re-open to boats
Spring 2003. The piece of good news is that the underground CCTV Survey has been completed and
can be evaluated but we think that conclusions cannot be reached until such time as the consultants
have the results of the ground investigations. Watch this space.
Our land, part of the former Peak Forest Tramway, approx of an acre, above the head of navigation, cleared, levelled and ready for seeding. Photo: Ian Edgar
Enough to make any WRG volunteer drool, let alone myself (Ed), this brand new Volvo 14 tonne excavator (actually a re-badged Samsung) made short work of levelling the tramway area. Here it is seen moving the pile of tramway sleeper blocks to be used to edge the cleared area to create a barrier to deter would-be long-term parkers. Photo Ian Edgar
The 'Assessment of the Archaeological and Historical Significance of Bugsworth Basin' has now been completed and delivered 23rd April 2001 to High Peak Borough Council who have covered the cost and who support us so strongly. This document has been authored largely by Alan Findlow with substantial expert professional contributions from other members of IWPS including our Hon. Sec. Dr. Martin Whalley. This important document has been produced after many days hard work over several weeks by Don Baines using a draft produced internally by High Peak Borough Council staff. This is a really well produced document which will promote the significance of the Basin to grant making authorities. It is a result of a High Peak Borough Council initiative made to work by a tremendous team effort on the part of volunteers working for your Society. Your Editor has written elsewhere in this '174' about this mammoth task.
On a more pessimistic note two more voids have opened up in the wharf areas of the Basin showing long standing erosion through leaks. As no water is presently passing through these due to the lowered water level we are not doing any remedial work as any spot repairs may be undone by a more radical approach advocated by the consulting engineers. However the consultants actually examining these voids on site are worth a thousand words in written evidence as they can see and examine what might be happening in several other locations on site. A solution will be found. Failure is not an option. Keeping the Basin closed is not an option. Re-opening is everybody's target. Will you get more involved in this fantastic project? Don't leave it to 'them' or 'they'! Get in touch with me on 01663 732493 now and pledge your services in whatever way you think you would like to help.
When one gets to my ripe old age of 62, amongst other things, one gets free admissions to museums, a Senior Citizens Rail Card, Discounts at B&Q and complimentary copies of SAGA MAGAZINE. Snippets of information recall memories which either reinforce old opinions or cast a new slant on past friendships and experiences.
We have recently lost our President Dr. Warwick Buckler. By way of a kindness to his widow Margaret our Hon Secretary, Dr. Martin Whalley, sent her a print off one of his slides of the first official 1971 Bugsworth Entrance Canal opening ceremony. Pictures of Warwick are scarce but there he is attentively listening to the speech being made by Sir Geoffrey de Freitas MP. Also Bessie and John Bunker, and Spencer le Marchant (former MP for High Peak). Alas all are now dead but not forgotten as important personages in our long task to get Bugsworth Basin restored. That ceremony, like several later, turned out not to herald imminent navigation back to Bugsworth but a long slog against tremendous odds. Still that section defies our efforts to make it watertight.
And Saga Magazine? In the April 2001 Edition there is the remarkable story of Tony Ireson who has spent the last 30 years fighting to protect his historic cottage and garden in the middle of Kettering. He has withstood everything councillors, officialdom and government have thrown at him and still he lives in the cottage he moved in to in 1947. He has lost his garden long ago and his cottage is now surrounded by shopping malls, office blocks and the other nondescript architecture found in almost every modern redeveloped town. A town centre full of character, history and individuality was lost long ago.
And where is the connection between Kettering and Bugsworth Basin? Well it turns out that an anonymous donation was paid to the Civic Society who supported Tony Ireson. That anonymous donation came from Sir Geoffrey de Freitas, then MP for the town and precluded from making such donations openly. It seems that our Former Patron was a generous benefactor for other supposedly lost causes.........
Both Tony Ireson and IWPS Ltd. have to be grateful that in those awful years people like Sir Geoffrey supported us. Even after his untimely death his Sir Geoffrey de Freitas Trust funded the Society in its aims and work. Kettering may have lost its soul but Bugsworth Basin remains with a future assured. We hope Sir Geoffrey looks down on us now and approves of what has been achieved and maybe, with some incredulity, sees the unbelievable changes of the past years over the sterile attitudes which prevailed in his day.
by Don Baines
Roger Houseman
It is with much sadness that I report the death of Roger Houseman. I first met Roger forty-three years ago when I was still an apprentice with A V Roe & Co Ltd at Woodford. We worked together for nine years on the Blue Steel project and later I worked with him for twenty-one years at ICL in Manchester. Roger was a member of the IWPS for several years and donated a number of home-grown trees which are now planted on the banking of the nature reserve above the Gauging Lock. He was something of an expert in trees having planted and nurtured his own small wood in the field at the back of his home in Adlington. His knowledge came from spending many months studying with the wardens of the National Trust at Alderley Edge. During the last five years he has been the parish tree warden, year by year, painstakingly photographing the trees and, using overlays, comparing the density of the canopy as a record of their growth and health. There are also, two of Roger's Christmas trees, named after my two granddaughters, which are now planted near to the Gnat Hole kilns, and which will always remind me of a sincere and generous friend.
Behind the scenes
Little has been reported on the archaeological side of Bugsworth Basin for some time now. This is due to the total commitment, over the past eighteen months or so, of our archaeologist, Alan Findlow, in producing a very fine document entitled: 'An Assessment of the Archaeological and Historical Significance of Bugsworth Basin'.
Quoting from the summary serves to describe the subject matter of this superbly prepared and presented 116 page document:
"..... Recognised as a site of international cultural importance for its contribution to a deeper understanding of a wide range of historical socio-economic issues and their underlying archaeological fabric, the heritage merit of BUGSWORTH BASIN lies principally in its intimate relationship with the limestone extraction industry of north west Derbyshire. As an extant monument to post-mediaeval industrial and transport activity within the regional and local economic infrastructures, Bugsworth Basin has, upon re-opening to full navigation, become a focal point for pleasure boaters who use this former inland transhipment port for short-term moorings, and will function increasingly as an important recreational amenity and educational resource for the benefit of visitors of all ages and abilities.
Bugsworth Basin also comprises a surviving intermediate stage between the development, from canal-based origins, of the railway technology which was to revolutionise transport systems throughout the world, a context which is already recognised by visitors from many parts of the world....
".....Recognition has also been made of the wider historic landscape, especially that of the immediately adjacent Peak Forest Canal to the west, and its inherently associated Peak Forest Tramway to the east. What remains of this linear historic landscape comprises an essential compliment to the site in question; that adjacent to Bugsworth Basin is as unique as the monument with which it was formerly so closely connected through the localised socio-economy of a society on its journey between the almost total rural agrarianism of the late eighteenth century to the mass-industrialisation of the early twentieth century."
The reasons for producing the document are set out in the AIM AND SCOPE OF THE ASSESSMENT:
"....This Assessment of the archaeological and historical significance of Bugsworth Basin:
While standing as a definitive document in its own right, this Assessment will also contribute towards the construction of the projected 'Conservation Plan for Bugsworth Basin'. This Plan will be used as a definitive guidance document, jointly by the Inland Waterways Protection Society Ltd (IWPS Ltd) and High Peak Borough Council, for all continuing development and cultural work connected directly with the Bugsworth Basin Restoration (and its subsequent Conservation) Project during the first quarter of the twenty-first century."
The document together with 'Conservation Plan for Bugsworth Basin' will, of course, form an essential integral part of any future applications for major funding.
Alan has included in the Assessment a summary of the achievements of the IWPS over the years:
"IWPS Ltd has, since 1968, achieved:
An integral part of these achievements has included strenuous, and successful, attempts to safeguard the historic and archaeological integrity of the site by:
We can all be justifiably proud of these achievements, made by a small society with limited funds!
Quoting further from the document, Alan acknowledges the authorship, assistance and collaboration which has gone into publishing this definitive assessment:
"This Assessment has been co-ordinated and written by Alan Findlow, with assistance from Don Baines, Ian Edgar, Dr Martin Whalley and Peter Whitehead of IWPS Ltd. Additional assistance has been rendered by Adrian Fisher, Forward Planning Manager, Joanne Mayne, Senior Forward Planning Officer and Richard Tuffrey, Conservation Officer for High Peak Borough Council; Jon Humble, East Midlands Regional Inspector for English Heritage; Dr Nigel Crowe for British Waterways and Alan Morrison for Derbyshire County Council."
The real achievement is Alan's and he is to be congratulated for his dedication and expertise. This has been one of those tasks that goes on behind the scenes, largely unaware of by the membership, and totally unknown by the public (especially the gongoozlers who make inane comments and ask daft questions). What is admirably demonstrated is the close working relationship which has developed between ourselves, HPBC, EH, BW and DCC and which will ensure the long-term sustainability of Bugsworth Basin.
These notes are from David Turner of the Sleaford Navigation Trust and I have, with his permission, used them on the principle of "Never put off until tomorrow that which you can get some else to do today" to save me the effort of doing it myself ( and in any case I didn't take any notes on the day!). Thanks David.
The April meeting of the association was held at British Waterways' Regional Offices in Leeds. The new building on Fearns Wharf is right by the river Aire and from our top floor meeting room we enjoyed good views up and down the navigation. Sadly with the recent restrictions on boat movements there was nothing moving on the river although sandbags around the ground floor car park were a vivid reminder of that other big problem of late, the flooding last autumn.
The meeting started as usual with a supposedly brief report from each society or trust in attendance, the intention being to take an early lunch and then go sight seeing on the Leeds river front before returning for the afternoon session in the office. The reports were taken in alphabetical order and with over 30 groups to report and despite over-running by nearly an hour several of us at the Sleaford end of the queue did not get an airing. The sight-seeing also had to be restricted to views from the balcony.
The main speaker of the day was to have been Dave Fletcher the BW Chief Executive. Sadly he was unable to appear, being required to appear on television to talk about the Foot and Mouth situation. His place was taken by Ian White the BW North East Regional Director whose report contained very positive references to the Slea. I think without exception the Sleaford Navigation is the cheapest restoration currently being attempted in the north of England.
The other guest speaker and no less distinguished was Roger Hanbury, Chief Executive of The Waterways Trust. From its founding in 1999 TWT has stepped straight into the big time handling some £30m pa mainly on canal restoration. Roger felt that even when the current burst of high profile major schemes are complete TWT will still be able to generate a turnover of some £20m, £15m of which will be expended on restoring navigations. The rest of the money is not going to be lost in administration and overheads since the Trust has important other duties including the running of the three main canal museums and archives at Ellesmere Port, Gloucester and Stoke Bruerne.
In order to widen the funding base for canal restoration and provide funds for the other important functions of TWT they have engaged consultants who have suggested several schemes to tempt the general public to part with their hard earned cash. One of these is the 'Friends of the British Waterways in America' which it is hoped will bring in more than a few dollars . At present this scheme will provide exclusively for the two canals in Scotland that link Edinburgh and Glasgow and are currently being restored under a £78m project. TWT has committed itself to raising one million pounds pa to assist with ongoing maintenance.
On this side of the Atlantic there is to be a Wildlife Appeal emphasising the contribution that canals play in creating wildlife habitats, this appeal is targeted at those with an interest in the countryside in general. Another scheme is the James Brindley Society which is not really a society at all in the usual sense of the word but a vehicle by which the more wealthy can be parted from £250 per year. The final suggestion based on the high public profile which canals and river navigations currently have is the good old street collection for which unfortunately a trial was recently held in Croydon. Croydon may well be a very nice place (I have never been) but even if Railtrack were to close the main line to Brighton there are few who know the Croydon Canal lies underneath much less regard its restoration as worth pushing for. The 'street' collections will be tried again but next time it will be near to honeypot canal locations where it may be assumed that a majority of visitors have at least a passing interest.
Here's a nice little poem from 'Old Lockjaw'
A Bad Day Editing
In my computer lives an invisible bug
The hole that I'm in, the deeper gets dug
Confusion reigns, my mind's in a fug
I'd love to see him, perhaps give him a hug,
But he treats me like a gullible mug.
He screws up my programs, 'cause he's just a thug
Already booked by Andy Eadon, is this year's annual bash, once again to take place at the Navigation Inn, Bugsworth. The date is Saturday the 15th December 2001, Andy will be sending out full details later in the year. So, there you are, with plenty of warning you shouldn't miss this year's do. Put the date in your diary now and mark the calendar with a large unambiguous legend.
In response to my request for help in putting up IWPS web pages, Dave Kitching quickly talked himself into doing the job as we waited to set out on the guided tour round the Ancoats Conservation Area. You can see the result on:
www.brocross.com/iwps/index.htm
We plan to develop and improve the pages further to include a photographic archive of the restoration. You can also read this and the last three issues of the newsletter.
My thanks to Dave and to those others who also volunteered to do the job.
Copy for Newsletters - Please note that the deadline for publishing the next newsletter is 1st July 2001 so please try to let me have your copy before that date.
Please send any newsletter input to me, Don Baines, if possible on a 3½" disk (disks will be returned or provided if required). Typed input, photographs, sketches or drawings, can be scanned in.
You can email any input, text or graphics, to me at don.baines1@btinternet.com
Don Baines - Editor 174
Mailbox
I recently heard from Alan Hall, our old friend and former Chairman of the Barnsley Canal Group, who writes:
....I have recently received the January 2001 edition of your excellent magazine, 174.
The receipt of the magazine coincided with my recent trawl through local newspapers in Barnsley Central Library for snippets of interest concerning our two local canals, the Barnsley Canal and the Dearne & Dove. I hasten to add that the newspapers have long since been transferred onto micro-film!
During my search, I came across an article concerning the abandonment of the Dearne & Dove Canal and the name Bunker leapt out at me. Someone, I know, that you and the members of the IWPS will be acquainted with.
I appreciate that the article is about a canal in Barnsley and district but I thought that Mrs. Bunker's involvement with an early campaign to save it might be of interest to you. I sent a similar item to Pete Yearsley about the Barnsley Canal which appeared in the IWPS Newsletter (as it was then) of April 1998,
Please use it, discard it or edit it as you wish, with my compliments.
Please excuse the typed copy but I do not have any new fangled equipment (or any real need of any). My typewriter and I are growing old together!
Kindest Regards - keep up the good work....
Thanks, Alan, for the kind remarks and here are the two cuttings he kindly sent to me:
BARNSLEY CHRONICLE - Saturday - 23 November 1957
PROTEST MEETINGS TO STOP CANAL SHUTDOWN
Plans to hold a series of protest meetings in Barnsley and district against the impending abandonment of the Dearne and Dove Canal which runs from Barnsley down to Swinton are being discussed by the Inland Waterways Association. A spokesman for the Association called on the Mayor of Barnsley, Coun. S. Jubb, this week, urging that the people of Barnsley should demand that the town should not lose its last remaining link with the national network of waterways.
In its present state the Dearne and Dove Canal could not carry any traffic, but at a cost much less than the cost of abandonment it could be made once again to serve as part of the transport system of the district.
This is the view of the Inland Waterways Association, given through their spokesman, Mrs. John Bunker, honorary secretary of the North East Midlands branch of the Association, to a Barnsley Chronicle reporter this week.
"When it is so obvious that the roads of this country are inadequate to carry the increasing volume of traffic, any suggestion that we should abandon our canal system is ludicrous" she said.
Canals provide by far the cheapest and safest means of conveyance for heavy and bulk cargoes, And, submits Mrs. Bunker, it is only through "deliberate negligence" that the canals no longer are able to carry traffic..."in failing to maintain the canal in a usable condition the Inland Waterways Executive has ignored its statutory duties"
A well-maintained canal is an invaluable national asset - it is a wonderful heritage which must be preserved, not sabotaged, she added.
Plans to abandon the Dearne and Dove Canal have already reached an advanced stage. The Barnsley Canal - the canal which served the paper mill and glassworks at Old Mill and continued to its junction with the Dearne and Dove at Hoyle Mill - has been officially abandoned.
According to Mrs, Bunker, the task of filling in this section of the Barnsley Canal will cost Barnsley ratepayers somewhere in the region of £10,000. If the Dearne and Dove Canal is abandoned, Barnsley ratepayers would have to meet expenditure running into many thousands of pounds.
NATIONAL SERVICE
"If the people of Barnsley were successful in a demand that the canal should be once again made into a navigable waterway, it would not cost them a penny. The canals are a national charge - they are a national service.
It was as a result of the breaking of the canal bank at Lundwood some years ago that led to the Transport Commission being successful in their application to abandon the (Barnsley) canal.
Yet at a cost of £500 this breach could have been repaired rather than face the bill for many thousands of pounds which has been paid out to owners of land and property along the remaining section of the canal.
The Dearne and Dove Canal links the Barnsley Canal with the South Yorkshire Navigation Canal. It passes through Hoyle Mill, Stairfoot, Worsbrough, Aldham Bridge, Wombwell and Elsecar. It is fed by Reservoirs at Worsbrough and Elsecar.
To make the canal a feasible project as a means of bringing goods into the town it would be necessary to re-open a short stretch of the Barnsley Canal from Hoyle Mill junction to Old Mill.
I don't mine being called a nobody
as everyone knows
NOBODY is PERFECT
IWA STATEMENT ON WATERWAY CLOSURES DUE TO FOOT AND MOUTH DISEASE
At its meeting on March 17th, the Council of the Inland Waterways Association (IWA) discussed the issue of inland waterway closures following the outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease.
Council supported the decision taken by British Waterways to act quickly to impose widespread restrictions as an emergency measure while the full implications of the situation were assessed.
Council noted that British Waterways has commissioned ADAS to rapidly assess the risk of re-opening individual waterways in liaison with the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) and the National Farmers Union (NFU).
Officers of the Association are in daily contact with British Waterways senior management and have encouraged the re-opening of waterways as quickly as can be responsibly permitted.
Council was particularly mindful of the impact of the closures on businesses that depend on the inland waterways for the bulk or all of their income. Many waterside businesses are already suffering severe financial losses as a result of the closures and if the restrictions continue their situation will rapidly worsen.
Council considered that it was inappropriate to consider the issue of licence refunds and compensation at this stage. It was mindful that British Waterways management is fully stretched in working for re-opening and that this is the current priority. Council will consider this aspect at its May meeting if appropriate.
FULL-LENGTH LOCKS ON MILLENNIUM RIBBLE LINK CAN NOW GO AHEAD
Full-length locks on the Millennium Ribble Link, the new waterway that will connect the Lancaster Canal to the main inland navigation system, are now set to be constructed.
The funding for the locks was assured today with the news that the Inland Waterways Association (IWA) has guaranteed a total of £45,000. This will be matched by The Waterways Trust, the owner of the new canal. A total of £90,000 was needed to enable all the locks on the Link to be built to pass the standard full-length narrow boat of 72 feet (22m), rather than the 62 feet (18.9m) length which the budget allowed. This is consistent with the standards of the Lancaster Canal. Navigation of the Link by full-length narrow beats will however require special supervision and manoeuvring where the channel is constrained by the road and rail crossings at Tom Benson Way. British Waterways who will manage the new Link will, if necessary, provide manpower to help full-length craft navigate this pinch-point.
In February 2001, IWA took the initiative to raise extra funds by pledging £20,000 towards the estimated £90,000 required to build full-length locks, and The Waterways Trust offered to match any funds raised by the Association £ for £. The Association called on other organisations with an interest in boating to make contributions to finance the shortfall. The deadline for the decision on constructing the full-length locks was the end of March 2001. Funds raised so far have left a shortfall to be underwritten by IWA at just over an additional £22,000, i.e. around £42,000 in all.
IWA have given their guarantee at this stage so that work can proceed, but their appeal for funds will now remain open.
IWA National Chairman, Richard Drake, said "IWA is delighted that the scheme to build full-length locks on the Millennium Ribble Link will now definitely go ahead. Raising the additional funding has been a real challenge, given the very short timescale involved, and we are delighted that The Waterways Trust has offered to match all monies raised through IWA's efforts."
"Constructing full-length locks at this stage is much cheaper than lengthening existing locks at a later date, and, importantly, the scheme will allow full-length narrow boats to use the Link when it opens. We would stress that it is not too late for other organisations to contribute funds to the scheme and would encourage them to do so."
Roger Hanbury, Chief Executive of The Waterways Trust, said "I am delighted that The Waterways Trust has been able to extend its financial commitment to this worthwhile scheme in partnership with the IWA. This is an important development for narrow boat owners that will improve access to the Lancaster Canal, soon to become an integral part of the UK waterway network. I applaud the IWA for their initiative and all those who have already made generous contributions to the appeal. I hope that boat clubs and canal societies as well as individuals will be able to make further contributions to the IWA, thereby releasing some of their funds for other waterway causes"
Historical Note
The original 1792 plans for the Lancaster Canal intended it to be constructed from Wigan to Kendal with aqueducts over the rivers Lune and Ribble. The sections from Wigan to Walton summit (near Preston) and from Preston to Kendal (including the Lune aqueduct) were eventually built but then the money ran out. The southern length from Wigan to Whittle-le-Woods became part of the Leeds & Liverpool Canal and from Whittle-le-Woods to Walton Summit, a branch of that canal. A horse-drawn tramway connected the canal from Preston to Walton Summit, but the intended Ribble aqueduct was never built. The tramway was closed in 1879 and the Lancaster Canal has been isolated since then. The northern part of the Lancaster Canal, above Tewitfield was closed in 1955 and the M6 motorway subsequently blocked the canal line; this section of the canal is the subject of separate restoration proposals.
The Millennium Ribble Link will provide an alternative route for a link to the national system via the Rufford Arm of the Leeds & Liverpool Canal and the Ribble Estuary. The project has been made possible by a partnership between The Waterways Trust, Lancashire County Council, the Ribble Link Trust, British Waterways and a grant of £2.7million from the Millennium Commission. The Waterways Trust has contracted British Waterways to supervise the construction and subsequent management of the link.
Funding raised for the locks so far includes: £1,000 pledged by the Historic Narrow Boat Owners Club, £500 donated by TBA - The Barge Association, and £500 offered by IWA North Lancs and Cumbria Branch.
Ashton Canal
British Waterways and the North West Development Agency have announced £742,000 worth of regeneration works to improve the environment of the Ashton Canal in east Manchester. Most of the funding is being provided by the Development Agency, with BW making a contribution towards the towing path improvements.
The works to be undertaken include laying paving stone along the towing path, creating new access points to the canal, improving lighting and landscape works, all of which are designed to provide a safer and more pleasant environment and so encourage greater use by the wider community around the canal. These works will cost £560,000 and a further £182,000 will finance demolition of the derelict Star Iron works adjacent to the canal.
Bridgewater Canal
Manchester City Council has extended the towing path closure at Hulme to 4th April. Contractors are improving the towing path between Hulme Hall and Egerton Street prior to its re-opening; a temporary pedestrian diversion around the stoppage is currently signposted.
The government has indicated that it will support the continued existence of the Daresbury Research Establishment with a multi-million pound investment. The Manchester Ship Canal Company, owner of the Bridgewater Canal, currently earns approximately £40,000 revenue from sale of water to the Establishment, and had previously indicated that if this income were lost, they might look to increased boat licences costs to try to make up the loss.
Barton Aqueduct will be closed for steel work repairs from 5th March to 17th March. The annual maintenance closure for the aqueduct will take place from 24th September to 6th October.
Caldon Canal
Stoke-on-Trent City Council has identified a building on the offside of the Caldon Canal at lock 9 as unsafe, and the canal and towing path have been closed until the building is made safe. During the emergency stoppage, BW intends to inspect Bedford Street Locks and Engine Lock to bring forward next winter's maintenance work programme.
Chesterfield Canal
British Waterways has provided a draft of its Chesterfield Canal Conservation Plan, covering the next phase of restoration, from the present head of navigation to the eastern portal of Norwood Tunnel, to interested parties, including IWA.
The Plan sets out a framework of BW's policies for the restoration of this section of the canal and clearly articulates its historical importance.
IWA has written to support the draft Conservation Plan, with reservations on some points of detail, and reiterating the Association's strong support for the restoration of the entire Chesterfield Canal.
Huddersfield Narrow Canal
British Waterways are testing up to 250 foot 'trains' of boats through Standedge Tunnel, before opening to the public in about two months time. The charge for passage through the tunnel is likely to be about £35 if booked 3 days in advance and £40 without booking, provided there are places.
'Standedge Visitor Experience' will be open to visitors at a charge of £4.95 single or about £13 for a family ticket. This will include a 30-minute boat trip into the tunnel. BW is currently recruiting staff and volunteers to run the operation with an agreed commitment of assistance from Huddersfield Canal Society.
Lancaster Canal
The Heritage Lottery Fund has offered a grant of up to £39,420 for restoration of Change Bridge over the now infilled Lancaster Canal in Kendal. The grant is offered to Kendal Civic Society, who submitted the lottery bid in liaison with South Lakeland District Council and the Northern Reaches Restoration Group.
The bridge is Grade II listed and the Civic Society has campaigned for its renovation over many years for its value as a historic structure independent of, but complementary to, the full restoration of the Northern Reaches of the Lancaster Canal.
Change Bridge was constructed in 1819 when the Lancaster Canal was extended to Kendal, and is a unique feature in South Lakeland. The bridge has cobbled ramps on either side that allowed horses to change sides of the canal, without going round boats moored in wharves at the former basin to the north of the bridge.
Cumbria County Council's South Lakeland area committee has allocated a £2,000 grant towards employment of a project manager for the Waterways Trust to progress restoration of the Northern Reaches. South Lakeland District Council's economic development subcommittee has also agreed to allocate £15,000 towards the cost, but deferred making a decision on the £1.25 million commitment that would be expected of the Council as its share of the restoration costs over the next five years.
Lichfield and Hatherton Canals
Construction of the Birmingham Northern 900 Relief Road, where it is set to obliterate part of the route of the Hatherton Canal at Cannock, intended to link the Staffs & Worcester Canal at Calf Heath to the Cannock Extension on the Birmingham Canal Navigations, is due to start in May.
The road-building consortium is required to provide the foundations for an aqueduct on the Lichfield Canal, but has no obligations to provide any part of the culverts that will be needed on the Hatherton Canal. The total cost of the works needed for both crossings is about £4 million, but some of these works can be left until a later date.
The road-building consortium has offered to install culverts under the new motorway, possibly with staged payments for the work. However, the Lichfield & Hatherton Canals Restoration Trust needs to commit £200,000 towards the most essential part of these structures within the next two months, before work begins.
If the culverts are not included when construction starts in May, they will cost at least ten times as much to build later, and cause massive disruption to motorway traffic. The Trust has therefore launched an appeal for £200,000 to provide these funds, headed by the Trust's vice president, actor David Suchet.
Anderton Boat Lift
The restoration and renewal of Anderton Boat Lift remains on target for completion by the end of September. The associated visitor centre has yet to receive planning permission from the local authority, but assuming that this is achieved within the next three months, the centre should open in about 12 months time.
By mid March the following works on the lift had been competed:
Rochdale Canal
Substantial works are now underway on the Rochdale Canal restoration. Wrekin Construction has been awarded the major contract for digging out the infilled section in Manchester and Land & Water have started major dredging works through the Rochdale area. Smithy and Ben Healey bridge works are due to start during April. The first contract on the A627 terminal roundabout is due to be awarded at the beginning of May.
British Waterways has recruited an additional six maintenance staff for the canal and is trying to raise standards of the waterway through Manchester. BW has now removed its 100th car from the canal.
The Littleborough flight is now restored and is usable, subject to the availability of water supplies prior to the installation of back pumping. Craft may navigate from the summit to Littleborough using a Rochdale Canal Trust licence, but need to give notice and make arrangements with BW's South Pennine Waterways office.
Two potential obstructions to broad craft on the canal are being remedied at the expense of those who were responsible for them. In Manchester, Town Centre Securities are clearing an obstruction caused by a recent building project at Dale Street. At Chadderton, the Highways Agency are to widen a channel constructed as part of the M60 road construction carried out two years ago.
Manchester Bolton & Bury Canal
British Waterways has commissioned an economic and leisure study, including a boat movement
model, for the Manchester, Bolton & Bury Canal. The canal is now seen as a key element in the
Chapel Street development in Salford and has the potential to forma link between Salford development
areas and Manchester City Centre. A team has been set up between British Waterways, Bury, Salford
and Bolton metropolitan councils and the Manchester Bolton & Bury Canal Society to take the
restoration of the canal and associated developments forward.
Vandals Strike Again
Half term, once again, brought a visitation from the vandal brigade. This time the work boat was the target, sunk with a variety of missiles: steel angles, concrete blocks and walling stone. Fortunately the hull wasn't punctured and it was a relatively simple operation to refloat the vessel. Photo: Ian Edgar
by Pete Yearsley
Mikron Theatre Company
The seemingly indestructible Mikron Theatre Company set out on their 30th National Waterways Tour in May with eleven shows on the newly re-opened Huddersfield Canal. Quite naturally, the Marsden based outfit have written an all new show about the canal which many saw as the impossible restoration. Also playing in repertoire with the new show which is called "Warehouse Hill" will be the very well-acclaimed tale of transport systems, "Don't Start From Here."
As usual the company will be aboard their ex-GUCC narrowboat 'Tyseley' which will be enjoying its 65thbirthday this year.
The waterways tour, which is coming to a pub or church hall fairly near you, ends on September 8th. This gives the company just a fortnight to prepare for the autumn tour of Pennine outposts, now unbelievably in its twentieth year of roaming the hills.
Mikron still maintains its original aim of taking theatre to people who would not or could not visit a theatre. A quote from Wychavon's arts development officer Louise Fenton sums them up.
"It is vital that the arts can be taken to the communities... A role that Mikron does particularly well.... I never fail to be delighted, the blend of toe tapping music, humour and talent delivers shows that can be enjoyed by any age virtually anywhere.
RNLI
News from that August body, the RNLI, that in the wake of the Marchioness disaster lifeboats will be stationed on the River Thames. Gravesend, Tower Pier and Chiswick Pier are likely to be the sites for the new stations which will enable a search and rescue service to be maintained 24 hours a day, 365 days a year on the tidal stretch of the river. Manning arrangements are yet to be sorted, but it would seem a crew would need to stand ready to react to a 'shout' rather than run in (through London traffic) when the pager goes off. Boats, too, have to be finalised, with the Atlantic 21 rigid inflatable boat, which does such sterling work on inshore rescue, being a possible choice.
The RNLI is working with the Port of London Authority and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency to establish these stations which should be in service by January 2002. Elsewhere, an inland waters pilot scheme is being set up to cover Lough Erne in Northern Ireland, which sees high levels of activity over its 50 sq miles. The station at Enniskillen will be built on land donated by the Lough Erne Yacht Club and will initially use an Atlantic 21 R I B. Similar schemes are being actively investigated for the Lake District and the Norfolk Broads.
Question. Onto which English canal was a lifeboat regularly launched to enable it to take part in a rescue?
Answer. The Bude Canal. At certain states of the tide the boat would be put in the canal and dropped through the sea lock to get it out into the briny deep.
Huddersfield Hike
The first walk of the new year visited the Huddersfield Narrow Canal to look at the restoration works prior the canal's re-opening.
Laurence Sullivan led us from Armentieres Square through the centre of Stalybridge pointing out the obstacles which had been demolished to allow the route to be reclaimed.
We then caught the train to Mossley from where we walked the towpath through Uppermill to the bottom of Diggle lock flight. Here the party split, some going on to the summit whilst the majority took lunch in Uppermill before walking back to Mossley station. Here we caught a train for Greenfield, one stop down hill, where we rejoined the towpath and walked down to Stalybridge, passing through Scout Tunnel and passing the infamous pylon in the cut, now cleverly circumnavigated.
We finished back at Armentieres Square where we thanked Laurence for his work in putting the walk together.
Ancoats Amble
The society visited the Ancoats conservation are in Manchester and enjoyed an informative walking tour of old Ancoats in the company of Steve Little, chairman of the Ancoats Buildings Preservation Trust.
We looked at the first municipal housing both communal (Victoria Buildings) and terraced (Anita Street) and learned that only after the front 'S' and back 'ry' were chopped off its name were people happy to live in the Sanitary Board's masterpiece!
On then through the back streets with every building having a story to tell until we reached Murray's Mill, one of the first steam powered cotton mills in the world. Adjacent to the Rochdale Canal and reached by a tunnel from it, the basin within the mill complex could still be discerned.
The mills are in a parlous condition, but the hard work of the A B P T is giving them a chance of salvation.
The area is short-listed as a UNESCO world heritage site and is a vital part of the story of the Industrial Revolution.
The Balmy Bridgewater
The upshot, for us, of the foot and mouth epidemic was that with all rural towpaths closed, the Stratford walk had to be postponed. Plan 'B' went into operation and a walk along the Bridgewater canal from Castlefield to Worsley was hastily organised. Unfortunately, both myself and Sue, and Mark and Ruth Tiddy were committed to a Stratford visit on that weekend as we had tickets to see 'King John' at the Swan.
In the event the walk was led by Dave Kitching through the rejuvenated Castlefield where other F&M refugees, the Manchester Archaeological unit had re-opened the Roman site, past the 'new' link into the Ship Canal and other sundry attractions. Lunch in a pub with no food and fizzy beer by the Barton Swing Aqueduct, then through Patricroft where Nasmyth built his steam hammers and finishing at Worsley by the Delph, the birth place of the modern canal era. The walk was blessed by some 'gentle' April showers.
Meanwhile, we who were wandering around Stratford observed a fast flowing River Avon from the Memorial Theatre tea rooms where we were keeping our strength up, before catching a glimpse of Stratford Town lock by Holy Trinity church where the bard is buried. The lock, with its RSJ lintels was once famously described by a protester as 'Mr Hutching's monstrous erection'. It now looks totally in keeping with its surroundings as twenty-odd years of growth around it help it harmonise into the riverscape.
It would seem that the Louth walk will have to be put off as public footpaths we would walk are in the red total closure zone of that area. Other walks are being actively researched with the Leeds area being a possible venue.
One other aspect of navigation spotted in Stratford was "Ragdoll", Rosie and Jim's boat from the TV series. Not bobbing about in Bancroft Basin but in the Ragdoll shop in company with the Teletubbies and Brum, the little car with a mind of its own. The associated merchandising of these kids programmes is done in an emporium half playground half shop and appears to be very successful with a scrum of people around the till apparently anxious to be parted from their cash.
Creating the Bridgewater Canal Linear Industrial Heritage Park
extracts from NEWSLETTER Issue No 8 Spring 2001
The opening of the Bridgewater Canal - the superhighway of its day in 1761 proved to be a catalyst for the Industrial Revolution. Now 240 years later it has joined the 21st century by displaying its presence on the World Wide Web for all to see just how super is was then, and still is today. In the first five weeks of the web site's existence it received more than 1,000 hits. Our site can be found at -
You will be able to discover more about the canal and places of interest along its banks from your swivel seat or armchair. However, if you are feeling more energetic you can print off a copy of the map and follow the trail on foot or by boat. Please don't feel left out if you haven't got a computer, you can obtain a copy of the map by sending an sae to the office.
Steam Coal and Canal is a project to create a Linear Heritage Park along a corridor of the Bridgewater Canal. The Park includes 3 main sites on its route. These include Worsley Delph in Salford where the canal starts, Barton Swing Aqueduct in Barton - Upon - Irwell in Trafford and Astley Green Colliery in Wigan.
Worsley Delph is currently closed to visitors by foot or boat as the site is clogged by deposits of ochre. The tow path along the canal is open and it is possible to walk to Worsley from either of the other sites and see for yourself how this attractive Salford village was shaped by the presence of the canal.
Barton Swing Aqueduct has been justifiably described as an engineering miracle by experts and lay people alike. The aqueduct operates to re-position a section of the Bridgewater from across the Manchester Ship Canal to a parallel position whenever large ships pass by. From 26th March to 23rd Sept the Aqueduct usually opens and closes at these times: 9.15 am daily, Mon-Thu 6.30pm, Fri - Sun 8.30pm. Chapel Place, off Redclyffe Head, Barton - Upon - Irwell.
Astley Green Colliery Museum is set in an authentic pit village. The museum is dominated for miles around by its pit head. However, there is something even larger to be seen here - its free to discover what by visting during the following hours:-
Tuesday & Thursday between 1.30 - 5.00 and Sunday 12 - 5.00 Higher Green Lane, Astley Tel 01942 828121
Project Co-ordinator
Steam, Coal and Canal
la Chapel Place, Barton upon Irwell, Trafford M417LE
Tel 0161 748 4414
E-mail info@steamcoalcanal.co.uk
For information or to arrange a Guided Tour or Illustrated Talk contact the office.
by Arthur Helliar & Cuthbert Clarke (1908).
I'm a Captain, that's what I am, sir, a nautical man by trade,
Though I ain't decked out in a uniform with buttons of gold and braid.
I ain't the Captain it's true, Sir, of one of these floating hotels,
It's true as I ain't the skipper of the Clacton or Yarmouth Belles.
I'm the Captain of this 'ere barge, sir, wot's known as the 'Slimy Sal,'
And a faster boat there ain't on the length or breadth of the whole canal.
Though I'll own so far as the breadth's concerned that ain't much praise o' course,
And the number of knots an hour she makes has summat to do with a horse.
Have I ever had any adventures, the same as one meets at sea?
I should rather just think I 'ave, Sir, not one but a dozen maybe.
If it wasn't as 'ow my throat's so dry as to almost stop my breath,
I'd tell yer the way as the missis and me, was snatched from the jaws of death.
Her courage it was too as saved us, 'er courage what pulled us through,
Or I wouldn't be standing here thirsty... well thank you, don't mind if I do.
One morning some two or three weeks back, our cargo had all been stowed,
We'd eighty odd tons of coal aboard which o' course was a fairish load.
We'd got a new 'orse that day, Sir, too good for the job a lot,
He'd once been a Derby winner, though 'is name I've clean forgot.
He was standing harnessed on to the barge, the missis and I was aboard.
When all of a sudden we feels a jerk and he starts of his own accord.
Something or other had startled him, what it was I never could think,
Though 1 fancy he'd 'eard some gent like you wot 'ad offered to stand me a drink.
I flew like a flash to the rudder, and I pushes it 'ard to the lee,
And the missus 'ad 'oisted a flag of distress to the chimbly, I could see.
We 'adn't a fog'orn or whistle aboard but the missus she yells like two,
But the louder she screamed out "Clear the course!" the faster the old 'orse flew.
He thought he was back in the days gone by, an' winning some famous race,
'Twas a race with death for the missus and me... at that awful 'eadlong pace.
'Ouses and trees went flying by a mighty splash and a shock,
And we'd passed bang through, without paying too, the closed up gates of a lock.
Just then, when we'd whizzed through a tunnel, she yells from the lower deck
And says "If that 'orse ain't pulled up right quick, I can see as we're in for a wreck.'
We'd only got thirty or forty miles till we gets to the end of the course,
It's a case of which 'olds out the longest, the bloomin' canal or the'orse,
But before I tells 'ow we was saved, sir, there's one thing I'd like yer to know,
My missus was once in a circus, as an artiste... I mean, years ago.
She used to perform on the tightrope and wonderful tricks too she done,
But of course, that's all finished and over, her weight being seventeen stone.
Then she stood on the deck where I stood, Sir, and I sees a gleam in her eye,
She says "It's a chance in a thousand, but it's one as I'm willing to try!
"The 'eadlong career of the 'orse must be stopped, it's our last and our only hope.
There's only one way to get at 'im, I must walk to his back... on the rope!"
She gives me one farewell 'ug, Sir, takes an oar for a pole in 'er hands,
Then smiling, as tho' in a circus, on the towrope a second she stands.
I closed both my eyes after that, Sir, for the sight would a made me unnerved,
For a 'orrible death 't would be, Sir, if the barge for a moment had swerved.
But I opens 'em wide for a moment, for there came a loud kind of a crack,
And I sees that there 'orse all collapsed in a 'eap, for the missus 'ad broken 'is back.
As soon as the crisis was over, on the deck in a swoon, Sir, I dropped,
But the barge went on for a mile and a 'arf, on its own afore it was stopped.
Why didn't we cut thro' the rope, sir, and let the old horse loose instead?
Just fancy you thinking o' that, Sir... why it never came into my 'ead!
The Wooden Canal Boat Society organises a monthly recycling run on the Ashton Canal. Their horseboat Lilith, usually towed by the motor boat Forget-me-Not, collects scrap metal and bric-a-brac from houses near Fairfield Junction. On April 1st 2001 Lilith was towed by a boathorse for the first time since she came into the WCBS' ownership. Queenie, supplied and driven by Sue Day, introduced many people to their first day of horseboating. It was also another first - Sue's first time pulling a cargo of goods, not passengers.
Lilith is 100 years old, and the WCBS plan to celebrate her centenary year by taking her horsedrawn to Huddersfield between June 4 - 15, carrying scrap to a canalside yard near Huddersfield and returning loaded with coal and beer!
Horsedrawn Commercial Cargo Returns to the Huddersfield Narrow Canal!
This canal was last cruised from end to end in 1948 by LTC Rolt and Robert Aickman. It reopens to through traffic on May 1 2001 after years of restoration, and meanwhile local boat movements have begun. Bonny the Boathorse towed Olive, a 1929 iron-built LMS Railway boat, through the newly opened section in Stalybridge Town Centre on April 10. Not only was it the first horsedrawn boat on this section, but the first commercial cargo since (probably) the 1940s. The load was a 3 ton girder from the canal bridge at Melbourne St, Stalybridge rescued from its intended fate as scrap to be re-used at the Heritage Boatyard of the Wooden Canal Boat Society. Full details and some excellent pictures are on the Internet at www.penninewaterways.co.uk . Sue Day supplied Bonny, Ed Mortimer supplied Olive and Society members made up the rest of the crew.
Crew Urgently required for Maria
It is intended that Maria will be the first horsedrawn boat to travel the length of the Huddersfield Narrow Canal when it reopens to through navigation on May 1, 2001. In January, Sue Day applied for permission for Maria to be legged through Standedge tunnel, Britain's longest canal tunnel (3¼ miles), and this permission was given verbally. The proposal has been in writing since mid-February, but 2 weeks from the planned passage permission has just been withdrawn on "health and safety grounds", despite a comprehensive health and safety risk assessment and management proposal (which was not referred to in BW's letter). So, like last year we are making a last-minute stand to fight for the historic art of legging.
As to the remainder of the canal - 20 miles and 74 locks - a return journey must be made, as Maria, at 70 ft, cannot pass the 57 ft. locks on the Huddersfield Broad Canal.
Crew members are urgently required for Maria, April 25 - May 29. Please contact Sue Day immediately if you are available for any of the days in this period. Please wear appropriate clothing for an 1854 boat - we will be in the limelight and the media if last year's MillenniuMMaria trip was anything to go by. It takes at least 4 people to work a horsedrawn boat safely on a busy waterway, so no crew - no horseboating. Enthusiasm is more important than experience - you'll soon learn.
If you want to know more about the Horseboating Society (membership costs just £5 per person) or are interested in crewing the boat contact Ray Butler, 351 Mount Road, Manchester M19 3HW ray.butler@dial.pipex.com . or Sue Day on 01457 834863
April / May / June (dates to be confirmed) Huddersfield Narrow Canal Journeys with horseboatsMaria, Lilith & Olive Ashton - Huddersfield & return. Maria to be legged through Standedge Tunnel (3¼ miles, Britain's longest, deepest, highest canal tunnel).
April 25-May 29, Maria travels from Ashton under Lyne to Huddersfield and return on the Huddersfield Narrow Canal. Crew urgently needed
May 1, The Huddersfield Narrow Canal re-opens to the public. Last cruised in 1948 by LTC Rolt & Robert Aickman. Standedge Visitor Centre opens. Maria to be legged through Standedge Tunnel - we hope!
May 1 -June 30. Uppermill, Lancs - exhibition about horseboating at the Saddleworth Museum (on Huddersfield Narrow Canal)
May 18 - 20, Uppermill, Lancs - Oldham Council Festival on Huddersfield Narrow Canal, - Plans for Maria and Lilith to attend.
May 26 - 28, Stalybridge, Cheshire - Tameside Council's Stalybridge Renaissance Festival, Huddersfield Narrow Canal.
Summer, June / July (dates to be confirmed) A journey along the Huddersfield Narrow & Broad Canals, the Calder & Hebble, & the Rochdale Canal to Littleborough over the Summit - Suitable boat still being sought, maximum 60 ft, joint ownership proposals welcomed contact Sue Day.
Foot and Mouth - All events such as horseboat movements which involve travel are affected - Please check before travelling to any forthcoming event listed.
Flyboats
On the subject of horse drawn boats, and flyboats in particular, the following question and answer was spotted in the Daily Mail of Tuesday, February 20, 2001 in their 'Answers to Correspondents' section:
QUESTION In Hornblower And The Atropos, C. S. Forester's hero takes an express canal boat service, drawn by teams of fast horses, with other traffic obliged by law to get out of the way. Did this service ever exist?
EXPRESS canalboats (called fly-boats) existed on several canals, but the service mentioned in Hornblower And The Atropos did not. In the story, Hornblower is on his way from Gloucester to London for Nelson's funeral, following the admiral's demise at Trafalgar on October 21, 1805.
Hornblower 'legs' the packet boat through Sapperton Tunnel under the Cotswolds, and negotiates a 'flash lock' on the Thames.
The historical truth, sadly, is that the poor state of the river between Oxford and the junction with the Thames and Severn Canal prevented reliable traffic developing after the canal opened in 1789.
In 1819 - 14 years after Nelson's death - a fast boat service which by-passed the Upper Thames was operated from Gloucester to London following the opening of the North Wilts Canal.
Colin Dexter's Inspector Morse story The Wench is Dead is based on the real murder of a person on a Pickford's flyboat, where the passengers had to accommodate themselves as best they could amid the cargo. Hornblower's packet boat seems to be based on the more luxurious Duchess Countess, which worked a short distance on the Bridgewater Canal near Manchester. This carried a knife on its fore end to slice through towlines of oncoming boats.
Flyboats in pre-railway times paid a premium toll and were accorded priority by some canal companies. They were also worked by relays of horses and crews. They survived until well into the 20th century with some services being mechanised.
Examples of these ran between London and Birmingham, Ellesmere Port and Birmingham (the latter being horse drawn) and from Leicester to London.
One of the last flyboat services was the 'paper dasher', a nightly run from John Dickenson's paper mills at Apsley on the Grand Union Canal in Hertfordshire, to Battlebridge Basin, Kings Cross, with newsprint for Fleet Street. It survived into the late Fifties.
David Blagrove,
Commercial Boat Operators Association,
Towcester, Northants
I understand there were such boats operating on the Macclesfield Canal, anyone got any information? Perhaps you would like to write an article for the next issue of '174' - Ed.
The missing words are all districts or areas in or around Greater Manchester.
e.g. Why does a dog always ____________ his bones? - The missing word is Bury.
No prizes for getting them all right but, if you do want to know the answers send a £5 donation to the IWPS and we will post them back.