Welcome to March’s blog – an update on the volunteering going-ons in the South East Waterway. This month is a Lock Keeper special, as we welcome back 90 of our experienced lock keepers, some of whom are starting their 4th season with us.
Here at CRT, we are very proud of our volunteer lock keepers. They give up their time to help boaters and other canal users a great experience on our waterways. And they are very good at it too, as this happy customer wrote in…
“This isn’t a complaint but a very grateful compliment to the volunteers at Foxton Locks. Alan Brook was fantastic with us ‘newbies’ to narrow boating. He was helpful, informative and friendly. He made a very daunting experience into a doddle for us. He was also manning Watford Gap locks when we got there – he even saw us through the locks in torrential rain on a very cold February day. I’d be so grateful if you could send him our thanks from two very grateful Welsh travellers. He made our week!”
Well done, Alan!
So why do lock keepers keep? Recently, Chris Record, a volunteer Lock Keeper at Marsworth, wrote this super article for a magazine and kindly let us borrow it. Read it here.
This year we have seen more interest in the role than ever before, allowing an additional 30 sites nationally to have lock keepers on duty.
In the South East waterway, we have kept to 9 sites, but we are welcoming 49 new lock keepers to the team! This should see each site with a pair of lock keepers on nearly every day – what a great service that will be!
Speaking of good service, a special thank you needs to go out to our stalwart winter Lock Keepers at Foxton and Watford staircase flights. They have manned these flights every day throughout the winter months to provide assistance to boaters. Previously the locks would have been locked and the boater would have needed to call a Waterway Operative from their day job to come and let them through. Now the boaters can go straight through and the staff member can continue their work. It’s a chilly task, but it makes a big difference.
If you have not heard about the Hillmorton Locks website yet, please have a look here. This site has been created by Kevin, one of the lock keepers and is a really great tool to learn more and provide local information. The statistics page is particularly interesting and shows how many people the lock keepers interact with. Nationally, it is estimated that lock keepers talk to 7000 people a week!
In addition to lock keeping, we are giving our ‘lockies’ the opportunity to get more involved in what else goes on so that they can see how the water levels are controlled and what our Waterway Operatives get up to on a day-to-day basis. This is great way to understand how the canals are kept managed and navigable.
Napton Lock Keeper Richard enjoyed his day with Neil, a Waterway Operative on the Oxford Canal:
“I had a very interesting time and gained a much better understanding of the day to day operations on the canals and of the water management in the Napton area. We had 2 good days and I hope Neil did not feel too bombarded with all the questions I threw at him! He showed me a lot in a short time and we still managed to get some work done.”
Over at Foxton Locks, the experienced and new lock keepers came together to help CRT Team Leader Mark Whitfield with a new project to save the old orchard from brambles. Mark reported:
“All went well, we cleared a third of the length and created an access from the arm. We have two large piles of vegetation which I am hoping to get chipped. I am looking to organise more sessions in the autumn as there was such enthusiasm for this from the volunteers.”
Well done! This is a great start to reinvigorating the orchard and its special Apple trees.
A big thank you to Mark, Neil and all the other CRT staff that get involved with making the Lock Keeper experience bigger and better every year.
Going strong throughout the winter months too, was our team of Welcome Station volunteers in the Stop House at Braunston. They are open almost every day of the week now which is really helpful for all the people that want to learn more about the canals or the local area. Keen volunteer Rowena, recorded the visitor numbers for 2014 which totalled 2249! Another great service, Thank You!
Also braving the winter months are our volunteer Mooring Rangers who provide valuable details on where moorings are available and how long boaters can stay.
Despite Stoke Bruerne Museum not being fully open for the peak season yet, the museum volunteers have been busy preparing the displays and shop. Also busy are the Explorer volunteers with school children already flocking to Stoke Bruerne to learn about canals and how the locks work.
Now imagine if every canal pub painted a lock and made a wildlife garden… Showing the others how it’s done, is Berkhamsted’s free house The Rising Sun, with community-minded landlord Nigel and CRT’s Boating Coordinator/Rising Sun regular Debbi, at the helm.
“It’s amazing how much 5 determined people can achieve in a few hours! We tidied the fence on the offside of the lock and litter picked and uncovered the bee garden and replanted it with foxgloves and more. Interpretation plinth is being scrubbed sometime this week to complete the job. Nigel fed us all free beer for our efforts! That’s got to be one of the best things about a pub led adoption scheme!!!”
Thanks for the report Debbi, that sounds like a lot of fun!
A little further north, the Friends of Dudswell Lock were out keeping warm with a small bonfire to dispose of some brash left by tree works. This stretch is looking very well-kept indeed. Thanks!
Every second Saturday of the month, Aylesbury locals come along to help keep this stretch tidy with the assistance of CRT’s Gary Timberlake. This month, the weather was not the best, but despite this, there were 2 new volunteers, and a thorough litter pick ensued. Aylesbury locals and TT regulars Andy & Catherine had an additional task day too this month, when they decided that the brash from a fallen tree at lock 16 should be put to better use and built a superb dead hedge! On the other side of Lock 16, the daffodils that the group planted in October are coming up well now. What a difference from the anti-social hot-spot this lock was a year ago. Great effort, team!
Nearby, whatever the weather, the Wendover Arm Trust volunteers are out re-lining the canal. A little piece of history is happening next month as they re-water their latest section of canal. Good luck!
Braunston Canal Society held a special task party this month after receiving a call for help from a local boater who wanted to see the fire path over Braunston tunnel cleared. It had narrowed to a fraction of its original width. With 23 volunteers heeding to the call, the results were impressive. Graham reports:
“We estimate that over a quarter of a mile of overgrown pathway was cleared by the group and special mention should be made of Cameron, Lauren and Amy our 3 youngest volunteers. Young Cameron did not stop shovelling all day and put some of the older members to shame with his enthusiasm and stamina.
A considerable amount of litter was also collected and bagged.
Some of the group concentrated on cutting back brambles and overgrown trees so that the pathway could be restored to its natural width and is now wide enough for a fire engine to drive down should the need occur.
A number of local residents have also expressed an interest in helping to clear the remaining area and our group will work towards organising a further work party soon.”
Great results Graham! Have a look for yourself here.
Also this month, the group got out for a spot of lock painting led by BCS Chairman Nick Strivens.
Trees are beginning to bud, as Whilton & Buckby Locks Assoc can attest:
“Just heard from Alan that he has spent another hour tidying around Lock 8 and that the new trees WBLA bought and put in are in bud (that’s a relief, because we bought them!). I wish we had someone resident at every lock to put in the time and effort that Alan and family do! I bet you do too!!”
Yes indeed Sue! Let’s get all blog readers to admire your nature reserve at lock 8 whenever they pass through!
Every second Wednesday of the month is Stoke Bruerne task day day! Group leader Rob Westlake reports:
“Louise at the Museum has asked if some of us could help with ‘The Back Yard’ Project – which aims to enhance the area behind the Museum and around the Learning Centre. So we assisted with a new raised bed and bird feeding area which now looks great.
Steve, Kathryn and I completed trimming back the laurel hedge alongside the Museum Green. That should start sprouting soon.
We also cut access points in the hedge between the museum green and woodland walk, ready for future access to the field.”
Thanks Rob and the team, it really does look good around the museum now.
At the other end of the tunnel, Blisworth Canal Partnership have a variety of visitors… They had Beavers from the 49th Northampton Scout group who visited the tunnel hut and then had their packed lunches in the spinney. But also spotted in the spinney – a Rookery with nine nests and growing daily, tree creepers and woodpeckers and lots of deer hoof prints in the wet soil too! What a wildlife hotspot it’s becoming!
Northampton IWA were out in force again this month. Their litter picking mission continued as they race to get as much as possible before the vegetation hides it all! They too, managed to find fair weather and start some painting. Geoff reports:
“What a wonderful day, the weather was great with 14 of us. We painted the top gate, paddles and other bits of lock 2, the garage on the towpath side of lock 1 and a lot of litter picking which went down to lock 13.”
Sounds like the Arm will be spotless for the Festival of Water on August bank holiday weekend! Here are some photos.
The fairer weather has also encouraged IWA MK and local residents back to Fenny Stratford. Rodney reports:
“In the space of 5 hours, we planted 50 whips which completes all hedge gaps up to Bridge 96; staked, collared and watered. We also replaced a few of last year’s plantings that had failed and re-staked firmly a number of last year’s whips.
We weeded and removed dead growth; planted donated new summer plants and bulbs in the pump house garden; cleaned the swing bridge of moss, algae and general dirt.
Finally, we rubbed down and all repainted the white balance beam ends.”
Wow, what a productive day!
As well as their regular tasks days which are currently at Bourton Meadow (not CRT land), Buckingham Canal Society also had an extra task day when they spied an access issue, as Athina reports:
“It was reported to me that at the far end of the Buckingham Canal close to A5 the area was looking very overgrown with brambles and after taking a look we decided to run an extra work party for the BCS just to clear some of these brambles.”
Really good to see so many groups going above and beyond. Thank you all.
And finally…
If you are missing John Highmore, have a look at CRT’s latest campaign which focusses on feeding ducks a healthy diet. This not only helps waterfowl, but helps keep the water healthier too. As national Volunteer Communications Manager, John wanted to get involved in this campaign as well as show his little girl the right foods for ducks. Isn’t she a cutie!
See the full article here: The Telegraph
So there we have it, a very busy month in the South East waterway. Wherever you walk, boat or cycle this month, please be sure to show you appreciation for all the hard-working volunteers who are making the canals a better and more pleasant place to be.
South East Waterway Volunteering Blog 