Phones 4 us! Issue 44/1 2012

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1 SNIPPETS STAMPS! STAMPS! STAMPS! Firstly, let me thank all those members who have been sending stamps to me over the past months. I also received a kind donation of Post Cards. This has raised the sum of 70 so far, so well done to everyone who has helped. However, we CAN do much better, as I have only received stamps from about a dozen of you out there! We get 1 per Kilo of GB stamps and more for foreign ones. So if every member puts the word around to family, friends, employers and neighbours it should be possible to collect a Kilo per member over about 3 months. With over 900 members of the Trust now, it should be possible for us to raise over 3,000 a year. This will also raise the profile of the Trust too. So please get involved and send your stamps to any Trustee, or to myself, Mal Evans, 231 Monkmoor Road, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, SY2 5SW. Please remember to cut a ½ round the outside of each stamp and not try to steam them off as this helps to add to the weight! ink cartridges If any members would like to donate their empty ink cartridges to raise money for the Trust, I will collect them from any Shrewsbury Group or Trustees meeting or, alternatively, they can drop them off to my address, or post them to: Kelly Dales 34 Wilderley Crescent, Meole Brace, Shrewsbury SY3 9NZ. Phones 4 us! With the growing success of our efforts to collect stamps and ink cartridges we are now, as reported in the previous edition of S&News, collecting old mobile phones. All these recycling projects raise much needed cash for the Trust. So give us your support! Mobile phones can be given in at any Trust event, meeting or posted to: Kelly Dales, 34 Wilderley Crescent, Meole Brace, Shrewsbury SY3 9NZ. So that s another way you can help our aims! Send us your stamps, used ink and copier toner cartridges and now mobile phones. It all adds up! Some time ago we started to include some historic facts about towns along the canals route. So here is an entry about Newport. He incorrectly calls the canal Shrewsbury Canal not Newport Canal! His entry is shown below In 1887, John Bartholomew's Gazetteer of the British Isles described Newport like this: Newport, market town and par. with ry. sta., Shropshire, on Shrewsbury Canal, 11 miles SW. of Stafford, 17 ½ miles NE. of Shrewsbury, and 141 miles NW. of London, 566 ac., pop. 3044; P.O., T.O., 2 Banks, 1 newspaper. Marketday, Saturday. The town has a pleasant situation near the border of Staffordshire. It is a place of considerable antiquity, and was incorporated as early as the reign of Henry I. It has a town hall, a market house, and corn exchange, a grammar school (1656), and several charitable institutions. Mfrs. of machinery and agricultural implements employ some of the inhabitants. Considerable trade is carried on with neighbouring collieries, iron mines, and limestone quarries; and in addition to the weekly market, live-stock markets are held on alternate Tuesdays. The quarterly newsletter of the Shrewsbury and Newport Canals Trust Issue 44/

2 welcome to 2 The Shrewsbury & Newport Canals Trust is a Registered Charity, no and a Registered Company, limited by guarantee, no Patrons: John Craven OBE and Nick Owen Chairman: Bernie Jones Tangalooma, Caernarvon Lane, Withington, Shrewsbury SY4 4PX Tel: chair@sncanal.org.uk Vice Chairman: Brian Nelson Brookfield, Wroxeter, Shrewsbury, SY5 6PH Tel: bnelson@sncanal.org.uk Secretary: Steve Bean 4 Arscott, Pontesbury, Shrewsbury, SY5 0XP Tel: secretary@sncanal.org.uk Treasurer: Paul Havell Heather Brae, Southall Road, Aqueduct, Telford TF3 1EQ Tel: treasurer@sncanal.org.uk David Adams Beeston House, 2 Princess Gardens, Newport, Shropshire, TF10 7ET Tel: dadams@sncanal.org.u David Crow Wappenshall Farm, Wellington, Telford, Shropshire, TF6 6DE Tel: dcrow@sncanal.org.uk Steve Jones 15 Waterford Drive, Newport, Shropshire, TF10 7AU Tel: sjones@sncanal.org.uk Sherrel Fikeis Bridge House, Wappenshall, Wellington, Telford, TF6 6DE Tel: sfikeis@sncanal.org.uk Trustees Derek Hillaby Rowan House, Withington, Shrewsbury, Shropshire SY4 4PY Tel: dhillaby@sncanal.org.uk Alistair Price Ellerton House, 50, Monklmoor Road, Shrewsbury, SY2 5AU. Tel: aprice@sncanal.org.uk RECENTLY CO-OPTED TRUSTEES Julie Harris 3 Kinley Cottages, Preston upon the Wealdmoors, Telford, Shropshire TF6 6DF Tel: julsharri0703@aol.com Alan Harding The Villa, Wappenshall, Telford, Shropshire TF6 6DE Tel: alanharding@gmail.com John Tudor 9 Newlands Road, Oakengates, Telford, Shropshire TF2 6NE Tel: john.tudor@hotmail.co.uk Eric Cox 35/36 King St, Broseley, Shropshire TF12 5NA Tel: ericanddot@yahoo.co.uk Items for S&News John Myers, 18 Meadow Lane, Derrington, Staffordshire, ST18 9NA editor@sncanal.org.uk The views expressed by contributors to S&News do not necessarily represent the views or policies of The Shrewsbury and Newport Canals Trust. In the next few months the waterway world will change as BW evolves into a new charity, the Canal & River Trust. This is unlikely to have any immediate effect on the SNCT but it will certainly impact upon us as we start to raise funds and move towards restoration, The original proposed aims for the new charity included to promote encourage undertake and assist in the restoration of the inland waterways but unfortunately this phrase was later removed and there is now little reference to restoration. Restoration charities like ourselves will have to shout to be heard. Money will obviously be tight even for maintenance so it looks like restoration will be very low on the list of priorities. The new CRT will be managed by a board of trustees but it will be advised by a Council which will be responsible for providing guidance to the Trustees. It will also have the power to appoint or dismiss Trustees. Many of the councillors representing e.g. the walkers or the anglers will be appointed but four places have been reserved for election by boaters. The IWA has always campaigned for canal restoration and five of their trustees have put themselves forward. Can I appeal to anyone with a boating license to vote in this election to try to make sure that we do have some friends at the table. The only IWA candidate that I have talked to for any length of time is Paul Roper and I would certainly recommend him to fight for the restoration of our canals. John Myers, Editor Cover photograph: Lock 20, Newport. Christmas Day, 2010 The quarterly newsletter of the Shrewsbury and Newport Canals Trust 4 Dates for your Diary 5 Notes from the chair 6 The Eytons and the Shrewsbury Canal 10 The Humber Arm and Lubstree Wharf 12 A Shrewsbury Canal pub crawl 15 Letters to the Editor 16 Late summer and autumn work parties 18 S&NCT Profiles 20 Landing some good deals 22 Photo Call - The Trench Arm Web Site: 3

3 Please also watch the website for updates and further details (Events page). Monthly work parties in Newport and Wappenshall - see page 21 for details Thursday 15th March 2012 Trustees Meeting - Newport The Navy Club, (off High St.) 7-30pm Saturday 24th March 2012 IWA Local Branch AGM and talk on Newport and Shrewsbury Canals The Junction Inn, Norbury - see page 18 for details Saturday 24th March 2012 SNCT quiz. The Red Barn, Shrewsbury - see page 19 for details Sunday 15th April 2012 Bugsworth Basin trip - see article on this page for details Saturday 5th - Monday 7th May 12 Norbury Canal Festival - look on websit for more details Saturday 16th June 2012 Annual General Meeting Wappenshall Wharf - details nearer the time 4 Dates for yourdiary Please contact the Secretary to confirm date and location of the Trustees meeting if you would like to attend. Members may be asked to withdraw for certain confidential items. Next issue 45/ Publication date: 8th May 2012 Please get your copy to us in plenty of time NEW Members We welcome the following new members Maurice Harper, Milton Keynes Clive & Grinshill History Group, Shrewsbury Be Bold Media, Newport Richard Cousins, Amersham David Crowther, Shrewsbury Civil Service Motoring Association, Shropshire Benjamin Bather, London Len & Annie Jones, Bexley Heath, Kent Bugsworth Basin Trip 29th April 2012 We are lucky to have been offered a conducted tour of Bugsworth Basin and buildings, at the head of navigation on the Peak Forest Canal, by Ian Edgar MBE and the Inland Waterways Protection Association. Further along the canal, at Whaley Bridge is the transhipment basin and building and terminus of the Cromford & High Peaks railway. We are planning to visit both sites and possibly arrange to travel between the two by canal boat. Cost and final plans will depend upon numbers so therefore please express your interest by reserving a place before the end of February Given sufficient numbers we expect the cost to be 25 per head to include collection from Shrewsbury and Newport, coach travel to and from Derbyshire, boat trip, lunch and tour of Bugsworth Basin. Contact Alistair Price on or alistair.price1@virgin.net or mail to 50, Monkmoor Road, Shrewsbury SY2 5AU for more information or to book a place. The Norbury Festival organization is well underway now and I have received the first 7 Boat entries already. We are hiring a bigger marquee this year and using it to hold a Bands Night on Saturday 5th May, then a Comedy Night on Sunday and for International All-In Wrestling on Monday. We have the use of the BW land and car park on the other side of the canal too. This has enabled us to have more stallholders and attractions. But we need as many members possible to Notes from the Chair support the biggest event on the SNCT calendar. Please get in touch to see how YOU can help this year and have a really good time too! Perhaps the most important progress made since the last edition of S&News is that the Trust has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Norbury to Newport Restoration CIC. The two organizations are now working in tandem to connect Norbury Junction to Newport. There will be many opportunities for members to get to know each other at joint work parties and joint events, such as towpath walks. Watch the website and future editions for news. Also, I am very pleased to report that we have not only managed to persuade Eric Cox to take a seat as a co-opted Trustee again, but we have 3 new co-opted Trustees too. Julie Harris, our Caretaker at Wappenshall, Alan Harding, who lives in The Villa next door to the Wappenshall site and John Tudor from Telford all bring fresh blood enthusiasm and some great ideas to the Trust. Dee Nelson, who has been our Membership Secretary for over 11 years now, has decided to step down from her Trustee s position, but will carry on with the Membership Secretary s job. I would like to thank Dee for all the work she has done in this role, which I now know is much more involved than I would ever have believed. We now have another new support group to add to the Shrewsbury and Telford groups. Steve Heise has taken on the Chairman s job for the Newport Support Group. There is no doubt that having these locally focused groups along the 25 miles length of our canals will really enable local members to get involved in restoration of their bit of the cut. Both groups will be holding meetings at which you can get involved, so please support them. Also, both groups will from now on be holding monthly work parties, so come along to these and get stuck in! We are about to appoint a Project Organiser (funded by an AHF Grant) to produce the necessary documents that will enable work to start on the restoration of the buildings at Wappenshall. Chief amongst these will be the bid to the HLF for the 1.3M to do the actual restoration work. 5

4 50 YEARS AT THE HEART OF BUILDING TELFORD John Freeman of Freemans of Telford Ltd Hirers of: Access Platforms, Compressors and Air Tools, Compaction Equipment, Mini Excavators, Dumpers, Concreting Equipment, Pumps, Saws and much more TELFORD WINNER OF THE 2012 PASSIONATE HIRER AWARDS SMALL TO MEDIUM HIRE CENTRE TABLE TOP SALE Saturday 17th March am Wappenshall Wharf - 5 per table - Pre-book with Mal Evans on come and give your support! The Eytons and the three generations of The Eyton Estate Thomas Eyton was born in 1753 and inherited Eyton estate in east Shropshire on his father's death in This comprised land at Eyton upon the Weald Moors, Wellington, Wrockwardine and Kynnersley. Although the family's ancestral seat was at Eyton itself, Thomas's father had moved with his family in the late 1750s to a mansion in Wellington which was apparently more commodious than the family home in Eyton that had never been fully restored following the depredations of the Civil War. Added to this, town houses were becoming fashionable in the 18th century, and another local family, the Charltons of Apley, had already established a residence at 'The Vineyard' in The new Eyton family home, later described simply as 'The Mansion', was also on the then northern edge of the town. A gentleman of the county Like his father, Thomas Eyton was to play the traditional role of landed gentleman in the social and political life of the county, and he took up a number of county posts after he succeeded his father. But first, he had to marry: his wife Mary was the daughter of John Rocke, who owned property in Trefnanny, Montgomeryshire and in Shrewsbury. Thomas became High Sheriff of Shropshire in 1779 and later Deputy Lieutenant, and in 1791 he was Mayor of Shrewsbury. From 1795 to 1809 he was Captain of the Wrekin Company of the Yeomanry Cavalry. He was called out to help deal with the occasional outbreak of disorder Shrewsbury Canal: involvement - part 1 With the Eyton on the Weald Locks article appearing in our last newsletter, we now have a two part piece about Thomas Campbell Eyton s involvement in the canal by industrial workers on the coalfield in times of hunger and distress, as at Madeley Wood in 1795 and Coalbrookdale in Thomas also appears to have financed another of the activities typical of his class - the Grand Tour; a preserved document at Eyton Hall, written in French, indicates that his son was permitted to travel across France and Switzerland in 1802 during the short break in the Napoleonic Wars. But there was another side to Thomas Eyton: he was sympathetic to the Anti-Slavery movement in its early years. He also seems to have exerted a patriarchal influence over local affairs, his benevolence towards both his family and the poor of the area being recorded by a friend of the family. Canal promotion Thomas was involved in setting up banks in Shrewsbury and Wellington and, presumably because of his financial acumen and social standing, in 1787 he was appointed Receiver General of the Crown in Salop, with the duty of forwarding to the Exchequer taxation collected in the county, such as the land tax. He had shares in the three canals built in Shropshire during the 'Canal Mania' - the Shropshire ( ), Shrewsbury ( ) and Ellesmere ( ); but although the first two paid a steady return on investments, it was not until after the Ellesmere Canal was amalgamated with the Chester Canal in 1813 that its first dividend was paid. This had proved not to be a good investment for Thomas Eyton. All three of these Shropshire canal companies banked Thomas Campbell Eyton with the Shrewsbury bank of Eyton, Reynolds and Bishop. These three partners were fellow canal shareholders; and they were joined as partners in the bank in 1793 by the ironmaster John Wilkinson and a little later by Eyton's brother-in-law, the Rev. John Rocke (Vicar of Wellington), both of whom were also fellow canal shareholders. Canal Management Thomas Eyton not only promoted and invested in local canals; he was also involved in their management. He regularly chaired the annual general assemblies and the management committee meetings of both the Shropshire Canal and the Shrewsbury Canal. He was elected to the committee of the Shropshire Canal at the first General Assembly of the proprietors, held in June 1788 at the Tontine Inn, Madeley Wood, which became the canal company's regular meeting place. Thomas's greatest commitment was during the busy years of construction between 1788 and 1792, but his involvement fell away dramatically after 1797; in fact from that time he attended only 6 7

5 4 of the 18 annual general assemblies and 3 of the 17 committee meetings that were held up to the time of his death in January An examination of Thomas Eyton's record of attendance in the minutes of the Shrewsbury Canal reveals a more sustained involvement. Perhaps this is not surprising, since he had a far bigger stake in this canal - he had sold some of his land to the company for the construction of the canal, he was likely to get a better return from the greater number of shares he held and the canal would directly help the development of his Eyton estate. Thomas was elected to the management committee at the first Annual General Assembly in July 1793, held at the Talbot Inn in Wellington. His attendance at these committee meetings is again more pronounced in the canal's busy construction years from 1793 to 1797, but he seems to have made himself scarce at the fewer-called meetings during the last decade of his life. Similarly, his five absences from annual general assemblies were after The earlier meetings of the canal company were held at the Talbot, Haygate (Falcon) and Cock inns in Wellington and the Talbot at Atcham, but after 1798 all meetings up to the time of Eyton's death were held at the Bucks Head, Long Lane (just north of Wellington) The Shrewsbury Canal had a number of notable features and, as a committee member, chairing many of the crucial decision-making meetings during the construction years, Thomas Eyton can at least share some of the credit for the decisions to build structures such as the inclined plane at Trench, the series of eleven guillotine locks between Trench and Eyton, the aqueducts over the rivers Tern and Roden, and the tunnel at Berwick. The committee had originally appointed Josiah Clowes as engineer ('under William Reynolds') but, on his death in early 1795 and with the work on the canal incomplete, Thomas Telford was engaged to finish the job of construction. Thomas Eyton has been credited with the idea of suggesting the use of iron for the completion of the aqueduct over the Tern; but it seems more likely that Telford and the most experienced of the committee members, William Reynolds, who were aware of the developments that were taking place in the use of iron at the time, convinced Eyton of the practicability of the material for the Longdon aqueduct. It then seems likely that both Telford and Reynolds were involved in the design of the structure, the cast-iron parts for which were made at the latter's Ketley ironworks. Fall from grace Rents from his estate and profits from his investments, including those in canals, had helped to make Thomas Eyton a rich man. But, with his main source of income affected by the agricultural depression that came with the defeat of Napoleon, Thomas's financial affairs took a turn for the worse. To maintain his style of living he had apparently been embezzling funds in his role as Receiver General and it seems certain that, threatened with exposure by the Exchequer, he committed suicide on 22 January Newspapers simply announced his death as 'Monday, at his seat in Wellington, after a few days illness, Thomas Eyton Esq.' But a contemporary diary reveals that he had fired a pistol down his throat. This was presumably done with the intention of leaving no external injury to the body and so attempting to avoid the scandal of suicide which might ruin his family and cause a run on the banks where he was a partner. It also seems likely that he took his own life because he could not face members of the Hill family Eyton Hall circa 1900 of Hawkstone and Attingham who had stood security for him in his financial undertakings and who now, following his exposure, faced a massive demand from the Exchequer. Financial consequences However, immediately after his death, all but Thomas Eyton's settled estates was seized by the Crown and, following an injunction on 6 and 7 February at the Falcon Inn in Wellington, this was sold to recover his debts. His canal shares were sold as part of this process. Then, on hearing that the Eyton & Rocke bank in Shrewsbury was having to suspend business, the committee of the Shropshire Canal passed the following resolution on 12 February: Therefore for the present and until other directions are given by the Co. or Committee to the contrary Mr Henry Williams [the canal company's engineer and manager] is directed to deposit the tonnage and other payments made to him for the Canal Co. in the bank of Messrs Reynolds, Charlton and Shakeshaft in Wellington and they are directed to make payment to Mr Henry Williams and Mr David Davies [the canal company's clerk] when applied for under their hands upon the Canal Co.'s account. In other words, they switched to another bank. The committee of the Shrewsbury Canal did not take such drastic action. Their resolution of 1 March 1816 stated: That Mr Henry Williams be authorised to retain the money arising from the Shrewsbury Canal in his hands until the next meeting of the committee, and that the Clerk be directed to call a meeting of the Committee as soon as the Old Bank resumes its payments, for the purpose of electing a Treasurer. When the bank reopened, with three new partners joining Thomas Eyton junior and Rev. John Rocke, the committee made the latter treasurer of the Shrewsbury Canal, and this appointment was confirmed at the canal's General Assembly in October So now, following the death of his father and the loss of family assets, Thomas Eyton junior left the family's Wellington residence and returned to the ancestral land at Eyton. It was left to the Hill family 'bondsmen' to negotiate with the Exchequer a reduction in the amount they had to pay to settle Thomas Eyton senior's debts - and this took four years. Part two of this interesting article will appear in the next issue of the newsletter. This article has been reproduced from the Journal of The Railway and Canal Historical Society with the kind permission of the author and the RCHS. Details of the RCHS can been found on their website: Neil Clarke 8 9

6 The Humber Arm and Lubstree Wharf In the 11th century Godebold, Lord of the Manor and Canon of the Augustinian abbey of Lilleshall, built a water mill using the Humber Brook and Lubstree Pool. The abbey also had extensive interests in coal and limestone. In 1536/41 with the dissolution of the monasteries, Lubstree Park passed into the hands of the Manors of Preston and Eyton Moors. In 1580 William Levison was given permission by them to construct a large water powered hammer forge. The area became known as The Hammers and by 1678 was corrupted to The Humbers. Eventually work ceased there and moved to Donnington. When the Birmingham & Liverpool Junction Canal was first considered, the company looked to make a connection with the Shropshire canal network by building a branch from Cowley, near Gnosall, to the Donnington Wood Canal at Pave Lane. This would have been 7¾ miles long and level. However, this plan fell through and permission was obtained instead for the Newport Branch The Newport Canal was opened in It was planned to have arms to Edgmond and Lilleshall, but these were never built. In 1844, some 9 years after the opening the Newport Canal, the Duke of Sutherland built the Humber Arm off Humber Lane 10 Canal-Rail Transhipment Shed, Lubstree Wharf, at the end of the Humber Arm taken in 1978 Photo: Tony Clayton just south of Kinnersley, to service his business interests in the Donnington and Lilleshall areas. This was a more cost effective route than the Shropshire Canal and Trench Incline Plane. Coal, pig iron and limestone was transported to Lubstree Wharf at the head of thehumber Arm by means of a tramway. In 1870 the Shropshire Union Canal Carrying Company (SUCCC) eased the wharf from the 3rd Duke and operated 30 boats to service the mines. They replaced the tramway with a standard gauge railway with additional sidings and goods were charged at 1 / 2 d a ton. Eventually, trade lessened due to the railways and road transport. The charges were renegotiated based on tons a week of iron ore. It was hoped that trade would also pick up with increased shipments of coal and pig iron. In 1891 and 1905 the SUCCC had new leases for the wharf, installing new sidings in 1891 and seemed to be doing reasonably well. However, the 5th Duke closed the wharf in 1922 and with the canal system slipped into disuse finally closing with the London and Manchester Scottish Railway Act of In the last three years of the wharf, cheese was shipped in from Cheshire and it became known as the cheese run or the Cheshire run although coal was still being shipped out. BRINKLOW BOAT SERVICES Offer a full restoration service in wood or steel. Rebottoming, refooting and riveting. New cabins and fitouts, gunwhales, cants and butty rudders. Anything from a small patch to full museum piece restoration. New boats built to order. Full fitouts, painting, graining and signwriting. We also have a floating dry dock and can now offer pressure washing and blacking, or D.I.Y. use at competitive rates. Phone Steve Priest and Simon Wain on or Rex Wain on Brinklow Boat Services, Units 2 & 4, The Wharf, Stretton-under-Fosse, Rugby, CV23 0PR Inaugural meeting of the Newport Support Group The first meeting of the Newport Support Group took place on 8 December 2011 in the Cosy Hall. Although somewhat poorly attended, the meeting elected Steve Heise as Chairman and set out a programme for the group to pursue. This centred around holding regular meetings; arranging work parties on the Newport stretch of the canal on every first Saturday in the month from 10 am to 4 pm; liaising with the local angling clubs; updating the information boards along the canal and raising the profile of the Trust via a fund-raising and awareness programme. If you are a member in the Newport area, please do come along and get involved in the group s activities. You don t have to do physical work like scrub bashing as we need help to man the Trust stand at the Black Hut and spread the word to non-members too. Come and meet other members and get involved! 11

7 THE DIAMOND JUBILEE WALK A sponsored walk between Newport and Norbury Junction Saturday March 31st 10am from Newport This will be a joint event with the Norbury to Newport Restoration Community Interest Company. The walk meeting point is the Junction Inn at Norbury at 9:30 am, where we can leave cars for the journey home. From there we will travel, using as few cars as possible, to Newport where we will start the walk from the Black Hut opposite Cosy Hall. The idea is that we walk the route of the canal, as closely as possible, to the Junction Inn at Norbury where there will be some very welcome soup and sandwiches! For those people who do not wish to do the whole walk it has been suggested that the halfway point be the Red Lion public house in Sutton, Staffordshire, from where people will be picked up by car and taken back to the Junction Inn. The walk will take approximately 3 hours, and will require suitable footwear and waterproofs. Although the route is mostly flat, there are some stiles and one upward stretch to negotiate. Although we will not be able to cover the canal s entire route, we will see many points of interest: bridges, locks, an aqueduct and other features. It will also be a great opportunity to meet other members of both the CIC and the SNCT. For those of you asking friends and family to sponsor your efforts, please get your form from our website. Registration for the walk and full details are available from Bernie Jones: chair@sncanal.org.uk or telephone: PHOTO CALL Another photograph to add to our collection is of High Onn Wharf on the Shropshire Union from Alan Harding. Although not on our patch, it shows a warehouse similar to ours at Wappenshall Wharf. We would like to thank member Tam Hazan for donating hundreds of photographs to our library. Many of these pictures are aerial views of parts of the system but some cover more historic items as shown below. Lubstree Wharf daybook Just in! 45 people, including Trust members, turned out on the IWA walk along part of the Shrewsbury Canal which started outside the Flax Mill. It was led by Alan Wilding and was very interesting. A Shrewsbury and Newport Canals pub crawl Until they acquired their own offices, canal companies usually held their meetings at local hotels or inns Shrewsbury Canal The place where the canal company held its meetings was indicative of where the most influential members lived. Early in the canal s life, meetings tended to be at the Wellington end; later they were normally at Shrewsbury. The first meetings were at the Talbot Inn, Wellington. This had stood since at least 1723 in Church Street on the corner of the Market Square, on the site of what is now the entrance of Station Road. An important meeting place for many local organisations, it was owned by Lord Forester. In 1846, the Shrewsbury and Birmingham Railway obtained an Act of Parliament to build a line through the centre of Wellington, passing through the stable, coach houses and offices of the inn. The railway company purchased the site in 1848 for 5,286.15s. A day-long auction of the inn's effects was held, before demolition work began. For a while, meetings of the canal company were held at the Hay Gate Inn on Watling Street, just outside the border of the Wellington Borough, in the parish of Wrockwardine. It had been founded in the seventeenth century. The present building dates from the late eighteenth century, when it was a leading coaching inn. However, the coming of the railway destroyed much of its trade, so it closed about 1856 and for many years it was a farmhouse. It reopened in 1971 as the Falcon Hotel. After that company went into liquidation it was refurbished and is now an up-market hotel called the Old Orleton, named after the Orleton estate on which it is situated. The owners would like to have reverted to the original name, but that had been adopted by a modern pub nearby. The third location used at Wellington was the Cock Inn on Watling Street, which was also a coaching inn. This was visited many times in the 1790s. These premises are now a thriving real ale pub indeed the pub has been Shropshire CAMRA Pub of the Year several times. Meetings were occasionally held in the 1790s at the Talbot Arms, Atcham. Built in 1735 and situated by the bridge over the Severn, this was also a coaching inn on Watling Street. In the 1830s the name of the inn was changed to the Berwick Arms when it came into the same ownership as Attingham Park. The development of the railways led to the decline of coaching inns. It closed in the 1860s and the property became known as Atcham House. In the 1930s the house was purchased by Sir Clough Williams Ellis, the architect who developed Portmeirion. The building was converted back into a hotel and given the name of The Mytton and Mermaid. The name Mytton derived from that of a Shropshire squire who squandered his fortune, whilst the Mermaid is the crest of the Portmeirion Hotel

8 From 1798 to 1815 most meetings were held at the Buck s Head, Long Lane, where the canal is bridged by the road from Wellington to Hodnet. This inn was probably built to serve the boaters on the canal. It is still open, offering particularly good value meals. From 1816 to 1843, General Assemblies were held at the Raven Hotel in Castle Street, Shrewsbury. There had been a hostelry on this site since at least It was here in 1706 that George Farquhar is said to have written his comedy The Recruiting Officer (dedicated to all Friends round the Wrekin ), which is set in Shrewsbury and still occasionally performed. The hotel was rebuilt some time in the nineteenth century and demolished about 1965 to make way for an extension of Woolworth s. The last few General Assemblies before the creation of the Shropshire Union were held at the Lion Hotel, Wyle Cop, then Shrewsbury s top coaching inn. Partly dating back to the late fifteenth century, the Lion Hotel also has literary associations, as Charles Dickens is said to have written Pickwick Papers here. The building is listed Grade I. From 1820 committee meetings were generally held at the premises of Rocke, Eyton & Company (known as the Old Bank ), Market Square, Shrewsbury. John Rocke, Philip Eyton and a third partner in the bank, William Bayley, were all for considerable periods directors of the canal company. The building is now occupied by the Britannia Building Society. Newport Canal (built by the Birmingham & Liverpool Junction Canal Company) The meeting places varied, but the location used most frequently was the Talbot Hotel, Shrewsbury. The Talbot Hotel, which had been important in the coaching trade, was in Market Street. It closed about 1850, very shortly after the coming of the railway to Shrewsbury. Although not near the Birmingham & Liverpool Junction Canal it was no doubt convenient for many of the committee members, including the Chairman, Lord Clive. Also frequently used was the Jerningham Arms Hotel, Shifnal, a coaching inn on the then recently upgraded turnpike road between Wolverhampton and Shrewsbury. Originally built in 1705 it was refaced about 1800 and was remarkably little changed externally until recently, when it was converted into apartments. Several meetings were held in Newport, a town well endowed with substantial inns as it lay on the main road from Wolverhampton to Chester, a principal port for Ireland. The first General Meeting (1826) was held at the Lion Inn. The canal company used the Union Hotel from 1830, the year in which it opened. Following a visit by the Princess Royal (later Queen Victoria) in 1832 it was renamed the Royal Victoria Hotel. It still has a function room with a capacity for up to 150 people and a conference room for smaller meetings and events. Refurbished in 2008, it retains its position as the town s premier hostelry. Changing fortunes The changing fortunes of the canal companies meeting places show an aspect of transport history and also social trends. The transport history does not relate to canals but to the effect of railways on road transport as a direct consequence of the loss of trade from the opening of the Birmingham Shrewsbury railway, several coaching inns closed. The market towns were able to support one principal hotel as the social centre for the local gentry until about three quarters of the way through the twentieth century. Some then managed to adapt for new types of customers; others became increasingly shabby and went into a spiral of decline. Let s hope that someone can put in the necessary investment to revive them. Peter Browm Extracted from an article that first appeared in Cuttings, the journal of the Shropshire Union Canal Society Letters (or s) to the Editor John Myers, 18 Meadow Lane, Derrington, Staffordshire ST18 9NA : news@sncanal.org.uk Dear Editor, I just wanted to say how pleased I am that the SN and the CIC have agreed to work together. I know that my late husband Dennis would have been very happy about this development. As many of you will know, Dennis, as a former trustee, was heavily involved in very many aspects of the development of the plans to get the canal open. He was instrumental in many different aspects of trying to solve the many various problems right along the whole route through to Shrewsbury. During the last eight years of his life, working for an average of eight hours a day, seven days a week, Dennis would, each year, spend a week with Victor Abbot working along with students and volunteers on all levels of the route. By nature, he was an engineer who was involved in as many of the various projects to which he believed that he could contribute positively. Amongst others, these included designing various new lock gates ; the development of concrete channels ; designing a way to get to the River Severn ; and trying to overcome the problem associated with the A5 and A41 I don t think he ever missed a trust meeting. I know that if one fell around holiday time we would have to postpone our holiday, that was how dedicated he was. Many of you will know of his designs and extensive plans for the "Incline Plane" at Norbury Junction. Whilst there was a great deal of intense debate around this major project, Dennis had extensively researched all of the other options. He of course believed that the Incline Plane was not only the best solution, but also the best viable option to gain funding for the problem of getting down from the Shropshire Union. The alternative, of using several locks, he felt would take up a large amount of water as he had been advised by Severn Trent. His solution was certainly a Grand Plan, and unfortunately sparked strong views both for and against. Whatever the eventual outcome of this important aspect of the rebirth of the canal, I would hate to think that his extensive work towards the reopening of the canal will only be remembered for this one project alone. So much of what Dennis did was regarded by everyone as positive. He would have wanted to join me in wishing you all the very best for all of the positive strides being made in the reopening of the Newport Canal. Have a good and prosperous New Year. Melville Rogers MEMBERSHIP DRIVE With things moving at a pace, we need to increase our membership and are now trying to get every member to recruit another person or family to our Trust. Membership forms are available from any Trust event or by contacting: The Membership Secretary, Brookfield, Wroxeter, Shrewsbury SY5 6PH membership@sncanal.org.uk 14 15

9 Work party updates October saw the last scheduled work party at Wappenshall Wharf but it was then decided that work would continue on a monthly basis, hence the November work party. Similarly work parties in Newport, on the section of the canal in water, will continue from January onwards. It s hoped that work on unwatered sections may be considered for remedial work. Work parties are an important part of our restoration plans and we encourage members to join the work at both Wappenshall Wharf and Newport. said Bernie Jones, Chairman of the Trust. He went on to say that there had been criticism from members on how slowly things have moved. The last few months have seen projects we have been working on for some time come to fruition and I hope that members will see that things will be restored starting with the buildings at Wappenshall Wharf. These buildings will form the centre of the project with provision for a museum and interpretation centre, an area for meetings for both the Trust and the wider public. The smaller warehouse will be rented out as a restaurant facility. These are all ideas for the future, the first step will be to secure a lottery grant, which looks quite hopeful. November Wap. work party! November saw the first of our continuing work parties at Wappenshall. Exposing more of the basin edge brick work was one of the jobs undertaken. But perhaps the most useful addition to our team was a JCB digger. Recent members Steve and Ruth Evans came with their digger and truck to help us keep the site in an acceptable state. 16 Steve Evans makes short work of clearing the area by the stop lock (above) while his wife, Ruth prepares the toilet block for painting (left) A suggestion of pink with yellow dots was soon overturned by the work party! Glyn Whitehurst exposing the basin brickwork. (top left page 15) Brrr! December work party at Wappenshall Wharf As the regular work party attendees were keen to have a December event, Julie Harris organised this on 10 December She also organised a wonderful Christmas lunch for those who turned out (even cooking turkey in her neighbour's oven whilst she ran the work party!). Alan Harding, who lives next door to the Wappenshall site in The Villa, kindly invited us all into his house to eat the splendid feast. Many thanks to you both! The shot of those remaining by the end of the day shows (from L to R) Stuart Dady, John Stevens, Steve Heise, Julie Harris, Viv Rosario, Bernie Jones, Alan Harding, Eric Tanner and Glynn Whitehurst. Don't forget that in 2012 work parties will be held at Wappenshall regularly on every 3rd Saturday, starting on 21 January, then 18 February and 17 March and so on. Call Julie on to check details. Steve Evans puts the JCB to work, whilst Steve Heise exposes a little more of the winding hole brickwork. Some of the hardy members who turned out to the December work party and enjoyed Christmas lunch at Alan Harding's house next to Wappenshall Wharf. Newport Canal work party in Newport January saw the first work party of 2012 with continued clearing of the undergrowth from the banks. Some work has also been undertaken to expose Meretown Lock east of the town. Derek Hillaby in his element, having just finished strimming some undergrowth at Summer House bridge (No.13) 17

10 SNCT profiles Each quarter we introduce some of the members of the Board of Trustees as well as some of the other people involved in thetrust s activities Helping the SNCT save money Members can help the SNCT keep its costs down by: - paying their subscription by standing order - getting their S & N News by . Many members already do this and it helps to keep down our administration, printing and postage costs. Paul Havell Treasurer and Trusteee Paul has been a Trustee since 2009 and Treasurer since He is a civil engineer who worked initially in the construction industry. He then moved into lecturing in 1984, eventually at the University of Wolverhampton where he taught several civil engineering subjects and specialised in land surveying including satellite positioning. He retired in July Paul has been interested in canals and rivers since an early age and he spent much of his time boating and fishing on the River Lee and other waters in the north east London area where he grew up. 18 David Crow Trustee David is a long standing trustee who farms land at Wappenshall, home to his pedigree herd of South Devon cattle. Uniquely his land is bordered by both the Newport and the Shrewsbury Canals and it abuts Wappenshall Wharf. David has been much involved in securing the future of the buildings at Wappenshall Wharf for the benefit of members and the general public. Among his many interests is vintage motoring and perhaps he will become interested in vintage barges! The Inland Waterways Association Shrewsbury District & North Wales Branch invite you to a talk on The History of the Shrewsbury & Newport Canals by Peter Brown, at The Junction Inn, Norbury ST20 0NP on Saturday 24th March at 2-15pm followed by an update on the latest developments from the SNCT and the Norbury to Newport RCIC. The talk forms part of the SD&NWB AGM starting at 11.30am with a pre-booked lunch at 12-45am ( 7.95) Contact: carolyn_t@mac.com or Janet on to book your lunch (veggie option available) John Tudor Chairman of the Telford Support Group and Trustee John has owned a narrowboat for some 6 years after previously hiring. He currently holds the position of Sales Manager for a local fabrication company specialising in access covers for the civil engineering sector. He has close links to education and believes this is a major area for the Trust to focus on as we move ever closer to securing funds to restore the Shrewsbury and Newport Canals. He looks forward to setting up a STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) project with The Lord Silkin School, TCAT College and Wolverhampton University and delivering a long term sustainable relationship which will engage both students and parents alike. Steve Heise Chairman of the Newport Support Group Steve has had an interest in boats from an early age and now owns a 62 foot trad narrowboat. His working life has been spent as a heavy goods technician including three years working in Germany in this trade. He also likes to do a spot of fishing so his interest in the canals is quite wide and his Chairmanship of the Newport Support Group further reinforces his commitment to the project. Dee Nelson Membership Secretary Dee joined SNCT shortly after it was formed and was quickly enlisted as the Trust's first Membership Secretary, a post she has held ever since. She has been a Trustee for 10 years but in January decided to stand down from this position to give others a chance to get more involved. She has always loved the canals but it wasn't until 1990 that she went on her first narrow boat trip and she has been a regular on the waterways ever since. Helping the SNCT with advertising Placing a small advert in the SNCT newsletter each quarter helps us with the restoration by contributing to the costs of newsletter production. Your advert can be of any size. Our most popular size ( 1 /4 page) is only 10 plus VAT per issue or a block booking price of 35 for four insertions. This includes all the artwork for both the electronic and the printed versions and the ad will be published on our website. the graphics team at graphics@sncanal.org.uk for more details. NEXT SNCT QUIZ NIGHT PLEASE COME ALONG AND GIVE YOUR SUPPORT Saturday 24th March starting at 7-30pm. All invited if anyone can bring a raffle prize (bottle of wine or chocolates etc.) it all helps! at The Red Barn 108 Longden Road, Coleham, Shrewsbury SY3 7HS 19

11 Landing some good deals Afriend of the Trust, Sandra Day, contacted one of our Trustees to let us know that she had a quantity of equipment left over from the business that she and her late husband ran until his death in She could not give this away, as it is worth a considerable amount of money, but thought that the Trust might make good use of it and was, therefore, prepared to sell it to us for a nominal sum, provided that we came to collect it all. This was duly organized but 20 had to be completed in two loads. Our thanks to members Steve and Ruth Evans for the use of their truck and to Steve Heise (and Ruth!) for the muscle power to lift it all. The lot includes two 8m x 4m marquees, two 6m x 3m marquees and ten gazebos, as well as a few kilometres of hi-vis plastic fencing and posts (see photos). Members and friends can hire these items. Please contact Bernie Jones on for details and prices. The Hare Hounds Walcot Road, Withington SY4 4PY Telephone: Just like the old days... come and enjoy a sociable drink and a game of darts or dominoes in your local local REAL HOME COOKED FOOD Friday 6.00pm pm Saturday 6.00pm pm Sunday lunch pm The Junction Inn Country Inn and Restaurant T he Junction Inn is a well situated, tastefully modernised, busy and popular rural pub. Reflect on the idyllic canal-side scene while enjoying the finest food and drink from either our plush lounge, accommodating restaurant or well maintained beer garden. There is a pleasant and welcoming atmosphere in our family-run business where we take great pride in our polite and friendly staff. We have a large, comfortable bar decorated with canal prints and ceramics. There are low beams throughout and a hand-painted mural depicting a working horse from times gone by. Norbury Junction, Stafford, Staffordshire ST20 0PN Tel: (01785) Newport Canal Work Parties come and help us with maintenance work on the Newport stretch of the canal Starting January 2012! Every first Saturday of the month 10am - 4pm If you are planning to come along please confirm the date and time with Contacts: Steven Heise: steven.heise@btinternet.com Telephone: or Julie Harris as below Wappenshall Wharf Work Parties do your bit for the restoration of these historic canal buildings, basin and canal Every third Saturday of the month 10am - 4pm If you are planning to come along please confirm the date and time with Contact: Julie Harris julsharri0703@aol.com or Telephone:

12 PHOTO CALL ExTRA THE TRENCH ARM Although we now refer to the section of derelict canal running south from Wappenshall towards Trench lock as the Trench Arm, this is misleading as this was the original main line of the Shrewsbury canal. We need to go back to 1788 when William Reynolds constructed a private canal from Wombridge to Snedshill to transport coal from his open cast coal mine at Wombridge to his blast furnace at Wrockwardine Wood. By 1793 plans were in hand to construct a canal from Oakengates to Shrewsbury, mainly to supply coal to the County town and avoid the high tolls on the Holyhead road. By this time William Reynolds coal supplies were becoming exhausted and he agreed to sell most of his canal to the Shrewsbury Canal Co. to become the first mile and a quarter of their canal. At Wombridge the canal connected to an incline plane which lowered the boats by 75 feet ending by the Blue Pig public house. From here the canal dropped down through eleven locks on its way to Shrewsbury. The locks on this canal were originally built to take tub boats, with the locks being 81 feet long and only 6 feet 7 inches wide and with guillotine lock gates at the bottom of the lock. This allowed four boats to pass through the lock at one time. Of course at this time the buildings and junction at Wappenshall did not exist. In 1835 the Shrewsbury canal was connected to the main system when the Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal Co. built a canal from the junction at Norbury, connecting at Wappenshall. Although the two locks on the Shrewsbury side of Wappenshall were widened to seven feet, the standard canal width, the nine locks between the bottom of the Trench incline plane and Wappenshall were never altered and could only be navigated by tub boats or specially built boats narrow enough to pass through. Interestingly the remains of what is likely to be one of these specially built narrow boats was discovered on the Montgomery Canal at Crickheath Wharf. The NB Usk worked between Wappenshall and the Trench incline plane until one day when, passing under the guillotine gate, one of the locks trapped a crew member resulting in him being decapitated. After this horrendous accident, crews were reluctant to work the boat, believing it to be a jinx boat, and it was sold on and worked a section of the Montgomery canal. At the end of its working life the Usk was moored up and forgotten until restoration of the canal reached its resting place and the rotted framework of what is believed to be the Usk was discovered with some of its metal work embedded in the trunk of a tree. Alistair Price 25th November 2011 Photographs - clockwise from top left Trench Lock during demolition, Tony Clayton Turnip Lock in Bernie Jones Alistair Price explains the workings of Hadley Park Lock to members on the Trench Arm Walk in Susan Freestone Early photograph of Trench incline plane Overgrown Peaty Lock Bridge in Tony Clayton Bottom gate of Turnip Lock, 1976 Tony Clayton Not to Scale Wombridge Canal Trench Incline Plane Trench Pool Trench Lock No. 1 Trench Bridge Railway bridge Baker s or Castle Wharf There was a lift bridge at the begining of this arm Baker s Lock No. 2 Baker s Lock Bridge Whittingham Bridge Turnip Lock No. 3 Hadley Park Lock No. 4 Hadley Park Bridge Peaty Lock No. 5 Peaty Lock Bridge Shucks Lock No. 6 Wheat Leasowes Lock No. 7 Wheat Leasowes Bridge Kinney Bridge (Thought to be a lift bridge) Britton Lock No. 8 Wappenshall Lock No. 9 Wappenshall Bridge Newport Canal 22 23