We are a nation of sport lovers. Whether it’s the Rugby World Cup (I won’t elaborate), the Ashes, Formula 1, the new football season or the high of London 2012 that we are still riding, there is plenty to choose from. I tried my hand at something new last month – the muddy obstacle course… In the last 2 or 3 years, these races seem to be becoming more and more popular and I now see why. You do not have to be particularly fit or fast and you enter as a team to help each other around the course. At the start there is a cheesy group warm up, but it breaks the ice and gets you in the mood to embrace the challenge. Here’s my favourite photo from the day (I’m in the green t-shirt):
Quite understandably, this is not most people’s cup of tea! But whether you watch sport or take part, it is a fun social activity that can forge friendships and bring together communities. Here at CRT, we are promoting sport and its benefits with Sports Participation Manager, Joe Sammon, who is encouraging more people to get out and enjoy the health rewards of the great outdoors. I am very excited to announce to you the CRT ‘Two Arms on Two Legs’ half marathon and 10k run on Sunday 11th September 2016. Starting in Aylesbury, runners will take the Aylesbury Arm to Marsworth, then turn right down the Wendover Arm, to finish in Wendover. If you, or someone you know, would like to set themselves a challenge, why not tell them about this. Aimed at first time runners, we will be providing help, tips and training plans. I’ll provide more details in the coming months, so just pencil it in for now!
Let’s kick things off at Stoke Bruerne where a mass CAATS (Competency Assessment And Training Scheme) day was well attended by members of Stoke Bruerne Canal Partnership, Buckingham Canal Society, Rickmansworth Waterways Trust, IWA Northampton branch and volunteer Lock Keepers! Instigated by SBCP who required assessment in power tools and generator, the offer of an assessment for more volunteers in mowers, strimmers and hedge trimmers too, was well received. Many thanks to Mike Dalzell from the GUN Customer Ops team for leading the day, I always learn something new! The reason for SBCP wanting CAATS on power tools is so that they can install their new interpretation panels around the village. These super panels look the part, made from oak and iron, courtesy of Bob the Blacksmith. They are to be installed in October so I’ll update you next month. In case you are unaware of Bob the Blacksmith, he is based by the entrance to Blisworth Tunnel and is usually open for visitors to his workshop. Also open next door in the newly refurbished horse shelter is a stained glass studio and shop.
SBCP also held their regular task party which fell in the week prior to their Village at War festival, so the order of the day was to tidy and trim around the top lock area, where most of the action was to happen. And what a weekend that was! Cited as their best yet, Village at War was a fabulous affair with visitors dressed in authentic outfits, Spitfire fly-pasts and a wartime spirit buzz in the air. For the full report, read here. My highlight was meeting Sir Winston Churchill…
Paul Stafford from Willows Residents’ Association in Hemel Hempstead was off to a flying start as he passed his CAATS assessment in brushcutters this month to assist in his bramble bash and litter picking day. A whopping 20 local residents turned out to help in the tidy and the area looks much better for it now. Thank you all!
Also being CAATS assessed this month was one of our newer groups, Blitz & Klean, the practical sister group of Bicester & Kidlington Ramblers. Mike, Stuart & Rob all passed on brushcutter use, then took the ball and ran down the towpath accompanied by fellow volunteer Margaret wielding the loppers. This stretch of towpath is now lovely and clear for all to walk…
The early 1800’s were high achieving years for the canal builders who got off to a flying start, as we celebrate three significant anniversaries this year! Back in May, we had the Northampton Arm’s bicentenary, and in the last 6 weeks we have seen Hillmorton’s double locks’ 175th and the Aylesbury Arm’s 200th. The Old Mortonians of Hillmorton celebrated with a Duplicity festival to mark the making of the double locks, with historic boats a-plenty, music and refreshments. Previously a bottle-neck on the Oxford Canal, a parallel lock was built at each of the three locks which also worked as mutual side ponds, thus saving water and allowing ultra-fast operation (1 min 20 secs). In 1842, 20,859 boats (not a ballpark figure) were recorded passing through Hillmorton Locks! I’m not sure quite that many pass through these days, but it tops the ‘busiest flight in the country’ list. For more information on the history of Hillmorton Locks and the Duplicity event, see the websites of Old Mortonians and Hillmorton Lock Keepers.
Aylesbury Canal Society held an Open Day to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the opening of the Arm and their recent move from Aylesbury Basin to Circus Fields. With stalls, a BBQ, boat trips, fire brigade demos, Morris dancers, children’s games and a massive birthday cake, a fun day was had by all. Did you know that the Aylesbury Arm was originally intended to continue to meet the Thames at Abingdon and be called the Western Junction?!
The festivities were also happening down south with another very successful Wendover Arm Trust open day at Drayton Beauchamp. This biannual event is a great opportunity to showcase the hard work and dedication of the WAT volunteers who spend a full week every month restoring the Wendover Arm. With the addition of refreshments, delicious cake and a top notch Grand Draw at a serene canal-side church, it is a lovely event. They were then bowled over by the awarding of a purpose-built publicity box trailer from IWA Chiltern branch which will really help WAT with all the events that they attend. Read the full story here.
Braunston Canal Society turned their attention this month to vegetation clearance. It was a game of two halves as they eased in with a tidy and mow of the Stop House garden, then a big bash of the vegetation on the towpath bank between top lock and Braunston tunnel. Armed with pruning saws and bow saws, the group made a very noticeable impact on opening up this section. Have a look for yourselves here.
Buckingham Canal Society are above par this month and have been excavating, as group leader Athina explains:
“The group continued the work started on Sunday and volunteers worked on discovering what remains of the first bridge on the Buckingham Arm and uncovering as much as possible of the stone work on the bridge without disturbing the farm crossing.
We were delighted to find that a lot of the stone work unearthed was in very good condition and it appears that most of the bridge is still there, only part of the arch seems to be missing.”
Exciting finds, well done BCS!
Banbury Canal Partnership have had mixed successes this month. They started strongly by painting the fence they replaced at Aynho Weir in August. The following week, the weather hit below the belt and the planned Banbury Lock painting became nigh on impossible! The group did what they could to tidy around the lock, and BCP finalists Brian & Jenny borrowed some kit to come back on a drier day so the lock would be resplendent for Banbury Canal Day in October!
CRT’s Sports Participation Official, Joe Sammon held 2 events to encourage the general public to engage in outdoor activities. Here is his report:
“Over 50 people attended the Give it a Go Canoeing & Paddle Boarding day at the Aylesbury Basin. The paddle boarding appeared to be the star draw with a large number of paddlers choosing to have a go on the 9 newly acquired CRT paddle boards. Thanks are owed in a big way to Chiltern Canoe Club with whom the Trust have established an excellent partnership; working on the Aylesbury and Wendover Arms as well as the Weston Turville Reservoir.
“The Banbury Canal & Park Activity Day followed on from the success of a similar event in Aylesbury in late May. The aim of the event is to spark an interest in the type of activities that can be applied to the canal and towpaths on the network; in this instance we chose canoeing, running and cycling. Our partners on the day were Cherwell Canoe Club, British Cycling and Banbury Harrier’s Athletics Club. Thankfully the good weather came out and so did the residents of Banbury, it was a great day with people very pleased to see us and they jumped at the opportunity to try out the various water craft available and try out the cycling course set up by British Cycling. A large number of people asked for membership details from the Cherwell Canoe Club coaches and staff and also took a number of canal information sheets from the CRT welcome station. Thanks is owed to CRT Team Leader Steve Powell for assisting with the day.”
Wow that sounds like a lot of fun and great to have so many partnerships formed with local groups. There’s no I in team!
Heavyweights Rickmansworth Waterways Trust picked the only dry day of the week for their task party. Indeed the sun shone as local volunteers were joined by corporate volunteers from GE Capital and Arco. RWT’s Mark Saxon (also a CRT Lead Volunteer) organised the day, complete with a 4:4:2 task tick off list and between the 20 volunteers, I think they were all done – repainting the footbridge ironwork, graffiti removal, painting the Braunston mile marker, litter picking to Stockers Lock, weeding the lock steps, painting non-slip on the lock gates… A great day with lovely volunteers, fuelled by delicious cakes and deuce! Weeding the lock steps did pull out quite a bit of mortar, so RWT & WRG volunteer John had a second wind the following week to re-point. Very smart.
In its second month, Oxford Towpath Taskforce saw volunteer numbers increase as Customer Operations referee Diana Loureiro set them to painting Isis Lock. Isis Lock is where the Oxford Canal leads onto the River Thames and so is a busy portal for many boaters. It also sees huge numbers of pedestrians and cyclists who cross Isis Bridge, which sits over the lock, as a commuter route to and from the city centre. The paintwork was looking rather worn with graffiti’d beams, but now it looks like a smart asset and a pleasant welcome for boaters coming from the River. Keep up the good work OTT’ers! They even made an appearance in the local paper.
Wyvern Shipping were very keen to paint Leighton Lock this month, so when the rain moved the goalposts, they immediately set a new date the following week for which the sun was shining! I joined James Griffin and three of his staff for the annual paint of this busy lock. Not only did they paint the lock, the side pond fence and the doors of the pump house also received a coat or two. With the group also keeping the pump house garden in check, it looks pretty pristine here now. Good work guys!
IWA Northampton were also out lock painting. This time lock 13 was on the hit list. I believe this is the last of their 17 locks to be painted in the 2 years since the group adopted the 4.5 mile Northampton Arm. Slam dunk!
Blisworth Canal Partnership are on the ball, gearing up for the autumn task parties as Jan Andrews explains:
“We are cranking up for our work party season again. This Sunday morning a group of volunteers from Costa Coffee are joining us for a tidy-up of the Spinney and surrounding area, low key, hand tool stuff – litter picking, de-ivying, cutting back vegetation with loppers / secateurs.”
Great to hear Jan, thank you. Getting more local groups and businesses involved in the tidying of an area not only spreads the good word, but also discourages anti-social behaviour. With lots in the pipeline to come, I’ve no doubt that I will be writing more and more about this group in the coming months!
Have you seen CRT’s new website? If not, have a quick peek now www.canalrivertrust.org.uk and see how the design has improved. Also worthy of a look, is ‘Britain’s wonderful canals’ photo gallery in the Telegraph.
“FISH: an animal that grows the fastest
between the time it’s caught
and the time the fisherman
describes it to his friends.”
I’m teasing! Angling is a proper sport, and one that is rather a big deal on the canals. Fishermen make up a large proportion of our users and bring in a substantial income from fishing rights, leases and licenses, not to mention the value of our fish stocks (£40m). If you have listened to our Angling Manager John Ellis speak, you’ll no doubt have been impressed by his passion for angling and the good humour in which he makes it interesting whether you are an angler or not. I don’t want to stick my oar in, but I recommend that you read John’s blog for an entertaining read. The world of blogs does seem to be growing, and you can find many more from CRT staff here. There is quite a selection and it will give you a fascinating insight into what my colleagues get up to…
And on that note I think it is time for me to throw in the towel. They think it’s all over, it is now!
South East Waterway Volunteering Blog 