Heartland

This is of course a key stage in the restoration process. Planning has been on going for years and in view of the money already spent it is relative in perspective. With this link made much of the canal could be made through to Brownhills and put craft on the M6 Toll Aqueduct for the first time. It will also be a useful cycle route, provided suitable width is given. May be Sustrans would assist with costs?

If finance was the only obstacle, I would think more progress might have been made. Besides, there is a certain appeal in restoring dead end waterways. If this had been frowned upon, the Llangollen would be still simply a reservoir feeder. Rip off ecologists are one factor that delay reconstruction. In one piece for the RCHS Modern Transport Newsletter, I include details of the construction company Buckingham who included in their costs for the improvement to the Oxford- Bicester route, the charges made for plant, bird, animal and invertebrate surveys. This is quite a regular thing, and where factored in construction costs perhaps acceptable. In the case of Buckingham it was Network Rail that paid the additional charges. We as tax payers, of course subsidised the pay for the ecologists. Though this sentiment is most important in the modern way of things (some may disagree), I cannot help feeling that the commercial charges made, can make a difference to those who can least afford it. Especially if preservation schemes have within their membership those who could undertake such tasks for the good of the restoration scheme. This is exactly what happened on the Llangollen Railway extension to Corwen East, where members assisted with the protection of nesting birds and help avoid the regular and expensive ecologist consultations. Patrick also touched on the diverse issue of land ownership, but political support is also important. The difficulties the Rochdale and Huddersfield encountered were partly smoothed over by assistance from many quarters. This assistance helped the relocation of roads and the building of new bridges and tunnels

Well I understand the tidal section is south of Tewkesbury. And by this definition covers the river to Gloucester Lock and over towards Over. But then there is Tidal part where the river becomes an Estuary So what can this be called. The Lower Lower Severn. And what about the navigation at Shrewsbury is this the Upper Upper Severn. Being a historian, I prefer anything north of Bewdley to be called the Upper Severn and that below the Severn. I also recall that a few years ago there were plans to restore the navigation upstream of Bewdley and that restoration had the name Upper Severn

Yes, for the popular waterways, there may well be an excess on certain stretches, but as the number of craft in use increase the best places are new marinas. There however remains places where suitable moorings are a potential benefit. Besides slowing down for moored boats is not the exclusive reason for reducing speed. Wash can destroy or damage banks and then there are the fishermen......especially those that hide between bushes so that they are hard to see, and their rods too if the light is not good

The term Upper Severn is an interesting one, as the navigation from Stourport to Gloucester, I would prefer to call Severn rather than Upper Severn. So where does start Upper Severn start? There are limited navigation sections at Coalbrookdale and Shrewsbury. That at Shrewsbury was made possible though the making of a weir of sufficient height to permit a trip boat to run between the English & Welsh Bridges. Navigation was once possible up river as far as Pool Quay and in real terms the sections from Shrewsbury to Pool Quay and Shrewsbury to Bewdley are best referred to as Upper Severn. Above Pool Quay there was a high weir made in Medieval times that prevented barges from travelling further up stream, although it is believed that it was once possible. For those who visit Pool Quay today there is still an inn there that was once used by the barge owners.

I believe there are various suitable site for linear moorings on our waterways and I would like to see more on the less used waterways. There are sites on the BCN where this could apply. One in particular is at Galton Bridge where the towpath, nearest the station, is disused and overgrown. There is a long length here that would be useful for moorings and would have access controlled through a gate placed near the bridge where road and a link to the used towpath is possible. The down side is that CRT would have to spend money for dredging, and constructing the moorings. An advantage would be the access to the train station and buses.

When the whole of the posted images are looked at on Ian and Irene's blogspot it appears the cruiser was in difficulty and had run aground on the offside of the canal. This rather shabbily painted craft received help from a passing narrow boat who threw a rope to the steerer in order to assist. The cruiser was pulled back into the channel but it would appear the steerer had little control, whether through wind factors, engine difficulties or simply a lack of experience. The damage caused to the moored narrowboat, should be down however to the cruiser owner to put right, I believe, and as the name is clearly visible on the blog page, I would assume that this craft is traceable and a claim from the owner for repair costs possible.

In April 2005 Waterways World published a spoof or, at least. hopeful article on the Cromford Canal where restoration was intended by 2020 including an image of a narrow boat passing towards a navigable Butterley Tunnel (following restoration in 2015 and the move of a portal from Sapperton to adorn the entrance!). Inspired by the restoration of the Huddersfield and Rochdale Canal, the scheme was said to be part of an intended British Waterways plan. April Fool, or not, restoration of the Cromford Canal has proceeded sluggishly and in fact the momentum of canal restoration across the country appears to be in reverse gear now. So what will happen to the Cromford in the real world? And, indeed, the rest of the restoration schemes?

There is sadly no boat show at the NEC, and I was told this week that the name is still in the ownership of the previous organisers, So any chance of a new boat show there appears remote, at present

If I recall Stewart's & Lloyds did allocate plant numbers to wagons and locomotives, which were white plastic and glued on. Whether it applied to boats, cannot say, but it is possible that records were kept and passed down to an archive or into private ownership. Has it been established if all these post 1948 craft were open boats?

There appear to be a lot of negative waves regarding the IWA (1) It has been suggested that there is favoritism, i believe, in the allocation of mooring places. (2) The IWA's organisation skills in planning the events had effectually ceased to have any reference to skill and more an inability to deliver. (3) The lack of finding a cross section of sales stands for the boaters and public needs (4) A non provision in general to attract a suitable attendance to finance costs. The IWA has had its ups and downs and in one of those many troughs they had they made the ill advised decision to expel both Charles Hadfield and Tom Rolt. At the moment they may well be in another trough and need more support. Yet if is the case there needs to be a change in policies. Failure to change may well result in the establishment of a rival organisation or at least the rise in importance of existing Operators organisation

I often wonder if heritage is a word invented by those who have difficulty in describing the age. It seems to cover the time span from the bronze age to five minutes ago. For motor bikes the terms veteran and vintage have some rough time period, but for the dug out log boat, clinker and carvel built boats there appears to fit the description "heritage will do". If Heritage has some meaning that is something that has a "heritage value". In this aspect it came to mean that it had a certain importance and may be deserved either preservation or recording. It is often a mystery how Historic England decides on listing structures and their criteria may well be some sacred hidden text for what actually receives listing status. Classifying boats is equally of concern. For those who can tell a Bantock from a Cuckoo or a Star Class from a Town Class are genuine enthusiasts, but not every body has those perceptions. Still telling the difference between a bolinder powered semi diesel engine, a modern diesel and a steam boat with boiler and engine (or even a boat driven by producer gas) should be reasonable to expect. Yet things move on. It is like me, the other week, talking to a young man in the Telford at Trevor, and trying to explain Town Gas and Coking plants after his father mentioned the town, which he had grown up near Doncaster was where Coal from Askern Main was sent to be converted to Coke. This young man had reached his 18th Birthday and had no knowledge pf these things.

I am not sure that the term Wych applies in this case, but if it was such a craft then the cargo may well have been salt. In Colin Green's book Severn Trader mention is made of the fact that Severn Trows were regular visitors to the Stroudwater and Thames & Severn Canals. He also states that trows were built at Saul, Cams Cross, Eastington, Stonehouse, Stroud, Chalford and Brimscombe. The craft in the view may well have been built locally. For this reason it is perhaps better to state that this craft was a trow. As to traffic, movement of coal and textiles were two important cargoes. As a side issue the other form of vessels, passing this way, would have been Thames barges that worked from the Upper Thames

Making a canal part of a long distance walk attracts more people to do it. And there are different types of people who do it. They may chose to camp or organise accommodation en route. Some simply walk a section, go home, and then do some more, but classifying a canal into the long distance walk category is important and is a form of recognition by the ramblers and other organisations. Besides,there needs to be a balance for towpath use.

It was in July 1993 that the Grand Union Walk between London and Birmingham was inaugurated. Is it time for more such walks to be instituted. Walks do touch onto canals in many places, but how many actually follow a canal from end to end? I do not recall if one exists for the Leeds & Liverpool/ Aire & Calder, but if it does not, it would form a canal version of a coast to coast walk.

I wonder why Mike chose this post. Was he thinking about Rudyard Lake and that wonderful if not impractical scheme to link the Macclesfield Canal through Rudyard Lake with the Caldon Canal. Now Rudyard was Kilping's first name and there is a poem called "If" by Mr Kipling: IF you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,But make allowance for their doubting too;If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,Or being hated, don't give way to hating,And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;If you can meet with Triumph and DisasterAnd treat those two impostors just the same;If you can bear to hear the truth you've spokenTwisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools: If you can make one heap of all your winnings And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,And lose, and start again at your beginningsAnd never breathe a word about your loss;If you can force your heart and nerve and sinewTo serve your turn long after they are gone,And so hold on when there is nothing in youExcept the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!'If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,' Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,If all men count with you, but none too much;If you can fill the unforgiving minuteWith sixty seconds' worth of distance run,Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!

I blame the negative vibes.... But it is true the Walsall deserves better boat traffic

If a safe distance of a metre is agreed then the required towpath segregation would inevitably result in towpath widening if possible. A barrier system may also be required to stop the rogue cyclists straying onto the pedestrian towpath. With the bulk of canal towpaths such a change may not be possible and so should barriers be introduced, or reintroduced, to prohibit, or reduce, cycle movement?

Sometimes the drawings and illustrations include features which may have added to the area. Walsall Town basin as proposed in 1993 has features not there now, but which might have been of benefit-

For a National to attract the widest group of people decent transport services need to be included. This would include good parking and not the bogged down fields that are found at some sites. Public transport is also an important factor. A main factor would be boat access and a location where boaters have the space to moor up and a good harbour master to organise them. Another factor would be trade stands at a cost effective price. Then there is the society stands that reflect current restoration schemes as well as the long standing societies who have served particular canals or areas of boating. Current events fail to reflect the total spectrum, which the National went farther to achieve. It may need a central location instead of moving around the country, although a nomadic festival does have the advantage of highlighting specific canal issues. If a central location was chosen then there are possibilities in the North East, North West and East Midlands, especially where both wide boats and narrow boats might reach. In this way the major boat ownership would be catered for. I sort of feel that Greater Manchester has possibilities in this regard. There are locations where all groups of boaters might reach and transport by rail and road are good. Yet there are dangers in choosing a central site ans needs re-invention from time to time. The Royal Show was peripatetic for a number of years, and then settled at Stoneliegh. Whilst the RASE are still there the show has now ceased to be!

If the CRT was perfect, how would services improve?

The general comments so far have been rather negative as regards the IWA. But I, personally, have not had the same issues so far. With the sales stands that I ran for the RCHS at Wolverhampton and Burton, there was no real issues and I believe both events were well attended. As to Watford I went there for a book signing on the warm Saturday. It was a difficult site to get to and having walked across the park asking officials (ie park security) there where the boat festival was had the answer "dunno mate". When I did get there, the split site of stands and boats looked to be user unfriendly. I do think that a national event should be organised in the future, if only to focus attention again on a waterways. Whether the IWA should be entrusted to the organisation can only be a matter of debate. But then who else can do it?

The Stroudwater Canal had a wharf/ basin at Stonebridge. This image shows a Severn Trow and railway wagons on the siding. Ordnance Survey maps show a single siding. The Railway Clearing House book of 1904 mentions the siding as Stonehouse Wharf, Midland Railway. This railway was the Nailsworth Branch and the image of the trow would indicate there may have been traffic from the Severn to interchange with the railway.

Looking at the image it was registered at Leigh 315? and has the name Mary & Ralph Wadosoe, I think. Leigh registration would imply a boat based roughiy in that area which includes both the Bridgewater and L & L. The amount of collieries in this area would suggest the craft carried coal

The IWA National was an institution that brought boaters and the general public together. Organisation, costs and location became troublesome factors in the end and the IWA chose to end what had become the highlight of the canal festival calendar. They were a symbol of the canal restoration movement and a question that can be asked is that movement in decline. Are the many obstacles now facing canal restoration easily dealt with by the internet instead of the face to face dialogue that has helped in the past? Perhaps not, but the issues encountered at Watford appear to have sealed the Nationals fate, but is it permanent? If there is a change of opinion where could a new National be held?