March 2015 – a Lock Keeper Special

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.

February 2015

You might think that writing a blog is a piece of cake.  Let me tell you that with crumbs squished down the side of letters J, K and L, and jam on the space bar, it is not.

I have had a lot of cake this week.  First, my friend invited me over for a slice of chocolate cake that she had made to teach her son about fractions.  Then, I visited a patisserie to choose a wedding cake from a pile of photographs that stood at about 12″ high.  Following this, the baker gave me a whole cake to take home gratis.  Maybe I was taking the biscuit, but I didn’t share much of that one.

Wayne and I have now completed our first month in our new roles.  Wayne has been up and down the canal meeting lots of our volunteers and helping at many of the task days reported below.  Those of you that have met him, I’m sure will join me in saying what a great job he’s doing so far.  Keep it up Wayne!!

So now I shall rise to the occasion and celebrate the successes of our volunteers in the icing month of February…

Let us begin with Athina Beckett and Buckingham Canal Society, where the proof is in the pudding (ok, bench)…

“The Buckingham Canal Society have been very fortunate to receive a Local Area Forum grant which has enabled us to purchase wood to be turned into bench seats to replace the ones at our Hyde Lane Nature Reserve site which have rotted away.  With the help of a company called Driver Hire who joined us for a ‘Community Day’ on Thursday 29th January, five new bench seats have been installed.

Local Area Forum grant benches

“Work has also started at our Bourton Meadow site where contractors have been replacing the lining that had previously been installed with a completely new one.  Work here should finish around the end of March when this section of canal can be re-watered again.  After that, the society has the task of planting 4,000 aquatic plants, so any extra help here would be appreciated.”

They look terrific and no donut they’ll be well used.  If you would like to help with their up-coming planting project, click here for all the details.

 

Moving spongily down the Grand Union to Wendover now, where at the Wendover Arm Trust council meeting on 21^st January, Chris Sargeant was elected Chairman & Clive Wilson was elected Treasurer.  Congratulations, Chris & Clive!

The group have also had a jelly tot up of the monetry value of their volunteers over the past 19 years and they have passed the £1m mark!!!  John Reynolds says “this is quite a milestone in our restoration and pays tribute to the dedication of our valiant band of restoration volunteers.”  It certainly does – you only get out what you pudding.

I urge you to have a read of their February newsletter, this group is on the rise.

The Wendover Arm swiss rolling its way through the countryside

 

Here at CRT we have 100s & 1000s of ideas to enforce our ‘Living Waterways, Transform Places, Enrich Lives’ vision and this month our Marketing department have come up with a great one.

New signage guidelines have been published, aimed at making our towpaths friendly and welcoming places.  They use humour and a warm tone to help people enjoy their visit as well as raising awareness of the Trust and the work that we do.

Trials of the new signage are under way in the centre of Birmingham, on parts of the Macclesfield Canal and at our very own Leighton Lock.  These are going to go like hot cakes!

Leighton Lock

Other examples of the new signs

 

Ever short of enthusiasm?  Nip down to a Blisworth Canal Partnership task day!  If you follow the group on Facebook (as I do) you’ll see that they are often down on the cut (canal speak for, well, the canal) or bird watching in the spinney they’ve created.  Just have a read of group leader Alan’s summary of their latest task day:

“Another good morning’s work in the Spinney and towpath, but we were forced to stop at 12:30 to have chilli and jacket spuds followed by Beryl’s home-made coffee cake.”

Don’t be fooled into thinking they’re idle, far from it, just have a look at this action shot!

Clearing the spinney

 

IWA Northampton are gluten for punishment with no less than FOUR task parties in February! This was due to a very special additional project to re-instate a historic mile marker.  Little did they know that the mile markers were put in with a view to not coming out again…

After day 1 of digging, the group found themselves facing a long post with a 12” diameter plate at the bottom, concreted in with broken bricks.  This was not going to be a job for hand tools only!  After making the site safe, they planned a return the following week, this time armed with Wayne’s electric jack hammer… Muffin could stop them now and this worked a treat.  The post popped out and they were able to post-crete it back in at a respectable height.  Wayne says “Thank you guys for letting me be involved, it really was something, seeing the delight on everyone’s face, when that post finally gave in.  I look forward to seeing it painted and finished.”

Before & after

Have a look at more photos of Day 1 and Day 2.

The group also had two planned litter picks for the month. Years and years of rubbish have obviously been waiting to be collected, which is a trifle off.

On the first, Wayne commented “What a FANTASTIC effort by all involved today, you must be very pleased with the amount of rubbish and litter collected, I lost count at 47 bin bags, not to mention wheel barrows, fencing panels, Oh and a toilet! A good days work indeed and a FAB turn out by the IWA Northampton branch.”

The second litter pick was led by Mick Butler “Rubbish includes approx. 40 black bags, half a dozen trolleys and various other items”.  Extraordinary!

 

A group of volunteers we haven’t mentioned much of is our Mooring Rangers.  Here’s Boating Liaison Manager, Matthew Symonds to tell us more:

“There’s more to Mooring Rangers than you might think… Since August 2013 the Trust has been recruiting volunteer mooring rangers to help monitor and record the number of boats moored at some of our most popular ‘honey pot’ sites in the south east.  Some locations can be very busy so it’s important to monitor them and discourage overstaying so that these visitor moorings are available to use by as many boaters as possible.  There are now more than 30 mooring rangers taking sightings at Foxton Locks, Stoke Bruerne, Thrupp, Oxford, Banbury, Braunston, Berkhamsted and Banbury.

“The main job of the rangers is to record the boats moored on visitor moorings at these locations and enter this information into a special website.  The Trust can then monitor to make sure boats are not overstaying the free mooring period.  If boats do overstay, then Trust can issue a daily £25 extended stay charge.  However, the feedback from both the volunteers and many boaters is that the rangers are a really useful source of local information and are asked a wide range of questions from both boaters and other towpath users.  Where is a there a good pub or café?  Is there a shop or chemist nearby?  How far to the next water point?  Our mooring rangers have also helped report a boat that has been broken into, rescued some keys left behind by a boater and helped rescue a boat that had come loose from its mooring pins.

“Some of the mooring rangers also do other volunteer roles with the Trust such as Lock Keeping, so if you’re already volunteering with the Trust but would be interested in being a volunteer mooring ranger as well, get in touch with me at matthew.symonds@canalrivertrust.org.uk”

 

The proof is in the pudding when Braunston Canal Society sets to.  With 2 very successful task parties this month, the village website reports:

“The offside bank opposite The Stop House had become overgrown again since the Society’s last clearance 2 years ago.  The effect on this was to block the vision of boaters coming out of the marina and heading towards the Braunston Turn.  New Chairman, Nick Strivens congratulated all the members who turned out on a cold morning for the work that had been done.  The work party was also able to strim the grass on the island at the Turn which will allow the daffodils to be more visible in the spring.

“Chairman Nick also thanked the Union Canal Carrying Company (UCCC) which is based at bottom lock on the Braunston flight for the use of their workboat ROGER.  Without UCCC’s asssistance it would not have been possible to achieve these works.

“Thanks also to Avril from floating cafe, Gongoozlers who supplied us with hot drinks.”

Working on the off-side

“Later in the month, ten members set about clearing the bank that leads from Top Lock to the Tunnel.  Some of the group also cleared the offside of the lock and uncovered the life buoy and lock sign that had been engulfed by laurel hedging!  A huge amount of undergrowth was cleared from the embankment and local landowner Nick Strivens agreed to the team depositing this in his field for burning at a later stage.  Nick is also Chair of the Canal Society and along with his wife Alison provided hot drinks throughout the day.

“It was particularly pleasing to see 10 year old Cameron and his Mum Gillian from Rugby. Young Cameron outshone some of the older members with his speed and energy and he seemed to thoroughly enjoy his time with the group.”

Great work Braunston, making the canal safer for all its users.

Found: life buoy!

 

You might think that the education programme is dormant over winter, but oh no! Education Volunteer Coordinator, Elaine has this report:

“Our hardy Explorers education volunteers at Stoke Bruerne have supported 227 school children visiting Stoke Bruerne museum in February which is fantastic for such a cold month! We are pretty booked up now for March and April with school groups, so if anybody enjoys working with children and would like to join the team please contact me at Elaine.stanley@canalrivertrust.org.uk or on 07733 124565”

Elaine with the Explorer volunteers

 

February saw the 2015 Lock Keeper applications draw to a close.  It’s been our biggest year ever!  Nationally there were 715 applications with the South East having 67.  During March we will be hosting 8 ‘Meet & Greet’ sessions for them, with a view to them buddying up with our experienced (& fantastic) volunteer Lock Keepers to learn the ropes.

Amongst other things, we will be showing them the new Safe Lock Operations video.  If you’ve not seen it yet, do grab a teacake and give it a view, it’s been receiving rave reviews:

“Yes I have watched the lock keeping video and very good it is too. Well produced and full of useful reminders. Highly recommended – 5 stars!”

“Very enlightening. I particularly liked the aggressive person towards the end, very convincing!”

“I have watched the new training video, very good (well done the actors!).”

Thanks to London’s Volunteer Coordinator, Debbie for forwarding those.

 

Stoke Bruerne Canal Partnership are raisin their game this month with their new tool store.  As well as stocking that up with hand tools and paint for the coming months, they also found time to continue to prune the (seemingly never-ending) laurel hedge on the museum green and litter pick the whole flight.  That is going to look great in a couple of months time with fresh new growth.

 

Over to Sue & Geoff now to d’éclair the goings-on in Whilton & Buckby:

“Last Saturday and Sunday several of our gents, along with the new hedge cutter and a selection of hand tools, made a great job of hedge trimming and general towpath tidying between the Top Lock and New Bridge cottages, and also a section near Lock 8.   It is looking very neat again.

“Also the Memorial Garden at Lock 12 is awash with clumps of huge snowdrops and it looks great.

“Since then, Alan and son have been putting in more work at the nature reserve.   Adam is a groundsman at a big house, so he has been casting his eyes over the trees and he and his Dad have cleaned out any unnecessary/rotting branches.   They hope they can now leave the trees to grow without too much more work being needed.  It is great to have some expertise to call on when needed.”

Well done WBLA!  The Whilton & Buckby flight is really looking super at the moment.

 

Currantly headed up by Jenni Burton, the Braunston Welcome Station volunteers are going strong through the winter months.  With the Stop House reception being manned most days, there is a place where anyone passing through can learn more about the canals and have a friendly face to talk to.

The South East waterway is looking to replicate the success of Braunston welcome station at Foxton and Stoke Bruerne.  If you’d like to help, or know someone who would, please have a look at the adverts here:

Braunston Greeter Volunteer  Foxton Greeter Volunteer  Stoke Bruerne Greeter Volunteer

 

Last but not yeast,  it’s been a quiet year so far for the volunteers at Fenny Stratford.  But after the long hard job of clearing bramble from the Tesco track, they deserve it!  Now that it is a pleasant and safe path for all to use, group leader Rodney Evans is keeping an eagle eye out for what may spring up in the open verges… Rodney has also been watching over the whips that were planted in the hedge gaps and making sure the contractors tend to the now-manageable hedgerow!

 
And here I must stop waffling, for I am being taken into custardy for all these ridiculous buns.  Apparently they are the lowest form of wheat.  I feel like I’m walking on thin icing here and it’s not fairy nice.

A happy March to you all…