Manchester Packet. Newsletter from the IWA Manchester Branch. Off to fetch supplies

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1 Manchester Packet Newsletter from the IWA Manchester Branch Off to fetch supplies Issue 40 June 2013

2 IWA Manchester Branch Committee President: John Fletcher OBE Region Chairman: Alan Platt Vice President: Jim Ramsbottom, Chairman: Ian Price T: & Editor: 16 Wyedale Close M: Buxton SK17 9RF E: Vice-Chairman, Steve Connolly T: Navigation & 27 Hooten Lane M: Technical: Leigh WN7 3BY E: Exhibition: or Planning: Canal Society & John Palmer Cruising Club 53 Southwood Road Liaison: Great Moor Stockport SK2 7DJ Treasurer: Diana Price T: Wyedale Close M: Buxton, Sk17 9RF E: Membership: Denise Connolly T: Hooten Lane E: Leigh WN7 3BY Programme Sue Day T: & Event 12 Oakwood View E: Coordinator: Lower Beestow, Mossley Ashton-under-Lyne OL5 9QL Sales: Andrew Perry T: c/o The Boatyard, Worsley E: Dry Dock, Worsley, Manchester M28 2WN Walks & Steve Broadhead T: Tours 2 Holland Place E: tours@manchester-iwa.co.uk Macclesfield SK11 7DD Minute Barry McGuinness E: minutes@manchester-iwa.co.uk Secretary 4 Pole Lane Failsworth M35 9PB

3 Editorial Ian Price Next season s programme of talks at our Open Meetings is included in this issue. I hope you will find it interesting. Please note we have a change of venue: the trip boat Emmeline Pankhurst thanks to a generous offer from Eamon Gall of City Centre Cruises. She will be on her usual moorings on Potato Wharf in Castlefield and will remain moored (sorry no cruise). For those who do not know her she is very comfortable with heating, a bar and conventional toilets. I think this will make us the only branch which holds its meetings afloat! It is with great sadness to report the death of Roger Lorenz. Roger was well known by all involved with the waterways. Appropriately the wake took place at Worsley. Cover photo: Dog & cart pictured at Marple sanitary station. Two Bernice Mountain Dogs & their cart and owners travel on the narrowboat pictured behind! The Disclaimer The views expressed in this Newsletter are not necessarily those of the IWA or of the Manchester Branch but are included as being of interest to our members Branch website:

Branch Chairman s Column Ian Price Diana and I set-off on our annual cruise in mid-march en-route to the National Waterways Museum for the Easter Working Boat gathering and Sea Shanty Festival.

4 Branch Chairman s Column Ian Price Diana and I set-off on our annual cruise in mid-march en-route to the National Waterways Museum for the Easter Working Boat gathering and Sea Shanty Festival. Our intention was to be gently boating through the summer. Swallow Falls the weir providing the feed to the Llangollen Canal However, as life would have it, we have spent more time off our boat than on it. Admittedly this was mostly caused by medical and family commitments much of it was walking either from the boat into the countryside or along unnavigable stretches of canal (even when we are not boating we seem to come across new, to us, lengths of canal). A few years ago it was the Tennant Canal near Swansea and this year the Bude Canal whilst attending a wedding in the town. Having eventually found our way to Llangollen we walked the length

5 from the marina to its feed at Swallow Falls before heading into the hills. Returning from Llangollen we detoured into the Montgomery Canal and, having reached the limit of navigation at Maesbury Marsh, walked the non- Lime kilns and tramway at the Hoffmann Furnace site Llanmynech

6 navigable lengths to Welshpool (over two days). It was our first visit to the Monty and we found it to be very peaceful with few boats, very relaxing. The only disturbance to the quiet was the noise of helicopters from the Services training school, somewhat irritating. An example of the unique quadrant paddle gear on some of the Monty s locks The Shropshire Union Canal Society are continually working to extend and join up the navigable lengths of the Monty. They have achieved much and soon hope to have improved the towpath along the whole length to Welshpool.

7 Below some views of what restoration involves.

8 It had been a long time since we last visited the Boat Museum and then by car. Mooring in the museum with freedom to roam around its many exhibits over several days was excellent, particularly with the many visiting Working Boats in addition to those normally there. The Shanty Festival involved singers performing at venues throughout the museum as well as giving two concerts. Shanty Singers came from all over the world and, to my surprise it was not all Heave Ho work songs many were newly written. I highly recommend the annual event to you. A pleasant surprise was that the museum normal mooring charges are waived on event weekends! Tug of war between two working boats at the Easter Gathering Region Chairman s Report Alan Platt The last few months have been interesting ones for the IWA, even if for those of us who are boaters, the unseasonable weather has cramped our style somewhat.

9 The events and rallies season has still to get started, although as I write this the Trailboat Festival is taking place on the river Rother in Kent and I hope the weather has been kind to them. We have the connected string of events around London coming up, but all these are somewhat remote from us in the North West. I know some of you are planning to go to the National at Cassiobury Park in Watford at the end of July, and I hope to see you there. One local event that took place successfully was the second Monty Triathlon organised by the Friends of the Montgomery assisted by local societies, including the IWA and I congratulate the organisers on winning the prestigious Recreation and Tourism category at the Waterways Renaissance Awards last week for the 2012 event. Also on the Montgomery front I was able recently to present Mike Friend of the Shropshire Union Canal Society the NW Region Tetlow Trophy for his sterling work as work party organizer for the Society for the last ten years, during which time they have done excellent work on the restoration. On April 20 th we also presented the other Region trophy, the Kenwin Cup to Madeline Dean for her work over the years for the Lancs and Cumbria Branch, the IWA nationally and the Lancaster Restoration at the other end of the Region. This presentation was one of the highlights of the Region Meeting Not an AGM

10 held at Fiddlers Ferry on the Sankey, which was attended by nearly 40 members and my thanks to those who helped make it a success. Nationally recently I attended a joint workshop in Birmingham hosted jointly by CRT and the IWA on working together and as an output from that, the local CRT Partnership on which I sit is going to look at the position as regards slipways in our area in partnership with the local IWA and others. We are also making progress on the strategic plan, as are the others throughout the country and these are being, or will be shortly, brought out for public consultation so that all may see what we ve been up to for the last year or so. As our National Chairman wrote in his piece in the recent Waterways, we are concerned about the proposals for the new highs speed rail link HS2. It is not the role of the IWA to comment on the merits or otherwise of this as a national initiative, but it definitely is our job to comment upon the effect on the waterways of this proposal. In the Region the planned route will have an impact on the Middlewich branch, the Trent and Mersey in the Dane Valley, and the Bridgewater at Bollington as well as on the Manchester Ship Canal, and possible interference with the line of the Sankey. This is not just a matter of either approving of or objecting to a crossing, but of arguing for greater headroom, or screening to reduce the impact of the proposals etc. This is being centralised nationally to have a significant impact, and Mike Carter is involved in our input into this as our Region rep on Navigation Committee; which is not to say individual branches or members are being discouraged from having their own say. And finally I dropped in briefly to an Open Day in Chester recently to promote the One City Plan which includes a vision for improving the waterways in Chester and specifically of working with other towards enabling navigation on and access to the Dee. This is a long term project and it is great that the IWA is working with CRT and other Chester groups to bring this forward. So with June nearly here and the days lengthening, we can hopefully anticipate some great days on or besides the canals and rivers in our region; which just goes to prove that despite appearances to the contrary, basically I m an eternal optimist.

11 CLEAN UPS The Branch has continued to support CRT s Towpath Task Force with monthly Clean-ups on the region s canals. However we are working towards self supervised status as this will give us more flexibility in selecting where to work and what to do. The CRT Towpath Task Force days will continue so the region s canals will benefit from a dual attack. If you have any suggestions of where we can apply our resources please let us know. IWA Manchester Branch Clean up - 27th April 2013 The Towpath Taskforce/IWA Manchester Branch clean up of the 27th April was carried out on the Rochdale Nine commencing at Lock 92. About a dozen people met up with the aim of cleaning as far along the Nine as possible. As usual people were able to choose between painting, litter picking or grappling and teams were set up on that basis. The litter picking team pitched in to remove broken glass from beneath the veranda s of the bars and clubs between locks 91 and 90, whilst the grappling team removed various items including a security fence. On moving up to lock 89 the grapplers were given dire warning regarding the canal drain plug situated just below lock 89. A lage island of debris was netted below lock 88 whilst further fencing and signs were recovered from above the same lock. A reluctant halt was called at 3.45 pm followed by a warm sense of achievement as volunteers walked back down a pristine towpath and passed the spotless paintwork.

Photo by Steve Connolly Operation Starburst IWA/CRT Large Scale Clean up Following the success of last year s large scale clean up, Ashtac revisited, another is being planned to take place over the

12 Photo by Steve Connolly Operation Starburst IWA/CRT Large Scale Clean up Following the success of last year s large scale clean up, Ashtac revisited, another is being planned to take place over the weekend of 19/20 October 2013, to be called "Operation Starburst". Portland Basin will be the meeting/signing in point and participants will be ferried out in different directions (starburst effect) to work on 5 different locations identified for this year (Ashton flight, Stalybridge, Newton Heath, Failsworth, and Bridge 1 towards Hyde on the Lower Peak Forest). WRG NW and CRT will be providing support: vehicles, tools, etc. It is anticipated that work will start at 10am and finish at 4pm each day. The canals around Portland Basin were selected because C&RT are undertaking 300K of intensive spot dredging on the Ashton Canal and will be disappointed if the grapplers find anything. Look out for more details and calls for volunteers. Last year we had as many as 50 people each day and a good time was had by all, so come along and join the

13 fun. A range of tasks will be undertaken so there will be something for everyone and all ages. Congratulations to John and Kate Fletcher on the birth of their third child Jennifer Rae at on the morning of Saturday 8 th June, weighing in at 2770g 6lb 2oz.

he Navigation Inn Bugsworth Basin Buxworth, SK23 7NE 01663 732072 Friendly Country Inn Log fires, Real ales, dogs and children welcome Home cooked traditional English food Open every day 11am to 12

following themes: Mexican, American Grill, Italian, Chinese/Thai, French, Greek, Caribbean, Indian, Japanese/Indonesian, Moroccan/Lebanese, Spanish.

15 he Navigation Inn Bugsworth Basin Buxworth, SK23 7NE Friendly Country Inn Log fires, Real ales, dogs and children welcome Home cooked traditional English food Open every day 11am to 12 midnight Food served every day 2013 We have embarked on a sail around the world and will be bringing you eleven world food theme nights, spread over twenty-two Friday or Saturday nights, with the following themes: Mexican, American Grill, Italian, Chinese/Thai, French, Greek, Caribbean, Indian, Japanese/Indonesian, Moroccan/Lebanese, Spanish. Courses will be priced both individually and as a set three courses for two people including a 175ml glass of house wine each. Please call or see for more information, menus and year planner For up to date information on available ales, menus and food promotions, entertainment, generally what's on visit our website or visit us on facebook Navigation Inn - Bugsworth Basin

16 Canal and Navigation Societies in the Region Macclefield Canal Society emal: Manchester, Bolton & Bury Canal Society Hollinwood Canal Society Manchester & Stockport Canal Society Inland Waterways Protection Society - Bugsworth Basin ian@theedgars.co.uk Wooden Canal Boat Society on the Ashton canal in Greater Manchester. Less than 200 wooden working boats now survive on over 2000 miles of inland waterways. The W.C.B.S. is saving as many as it can, when restored they function not as dead museum pieces but as living working boats serving today s community. As well as creating a fully functional heritage boatyard the Society is now involved in a range of activities aimed at preserving and using wooden narrow boats. The Wooden Canal Boat Society, 33 Beauchamp Street, Ashton-under- Lyne, OL6 8LF Contact: Chris Leah, Telephone or Mobile wcbs@beeb.net Website: The Horse Boating Society

17 The Horse Boating Society was formed in 2001 at the Boat Museum, Ellesmere Port. The primary aim of the Society is to preserve and promote horseboating and has about 100 members and with other organisations also affiliated, the Society represents over 1000 in total. Website: Branch Visits & Tours EVENTS IN THE IWA MANCHESTER AREA 20 th /21 th July 2013 Falkirk Wheel - cancelled TBA Other Walk along complete length of Manchester & Stockport Canal Do attend these events in our IWA area, whether on foot, by car, or by boat, as spectator, participant, crew, stall holder etc. July/August Sat July 27-Sun Aug 4: South Pennine Ring Canal Festival (replacing the Rochdale Festival) - A festival event encouraging use of our restored Pennine canals and the whole of the South Pennine Ring as well as the biennial Marple Locks Festival in Manchester underground canal tours, arts & crafts, lantern lit boat procession, horseboat Vixen on the Rochdale Canal - passenger trips and poetry workshops, Aug 3&4 Stalybridge canal event - horseboat Maria and other historic boats etc. All year See the events list run at the Standedge Visitor Centre

18 IWA Manchester Branch Winter Talks Programme October 2013 April 2014 Our Open Meetings are held on the 2 nd Monday in the month commencing 8pm prompt onboard the Trip Boat Emmeline Pankhurst moored on Potato Wharf, Castlefield, Manchester M3 4JR 14 October 2013 My life in Bollinders and Sinking Assets - Pt 1 Alan Jones 11 November 2013 Chester s Canal Age Ray Buss 09 December 2013 Christmas Social Bring & Share supper and members photo & videos 13 January 2014 Two Centuries of Boatbuilding Geoff Taylor 10 February 2014 A Journey from the Mediterranean to the Baltic via Rivers & Canals Alan Wells 10 March 2014 Annual General meeting: followed by: My life in Bollinders and Sinking Assets - Pt 2 Alan Jones 14 April 2014* The Sankey (St Helens Canal) David Smallshaw To be confirmed Up to date information on meetings and directions to the venues are on the Branch Website As Manchester Branch funds the Open Meeting venue speaker s expenses [ approx] a donation on the night would be appreciated. If you would like a reminder of Branch Meetings, walks & events let us have your address

20 Montgomery Canal - New residents before restoration is complete and Canoeists making use of a non-navigable section

Manchester Packet. Newsletter from the IWA Manchester Branch. Linotype Factory at Broadheath

Manchester Packet. Newsletter from the IWA Manchester Branch. Linotype Factory at Broadheath Manchester Packet Newsletter from the IWA Manchester Branch Linotype Factory at Broadheath Issue 36 June 2012 IWA Manchester Branch Committee President: John Fletcher OBE Region Chairman: Alan Platt Vice