TWT Planning a bonfire!

[AMModels]

We have a handful of volunteers come into the yard twice a week, and a lot of their time is spent on maintenance. I can't think of that many who have hands on experience of restoring wooden boats. So how do you propose they restore something like Aries and make that £40k saving? Dave and us three trainees are paid members of staff, so wages are not £0..

Ah I thought you were all volunteers, I shall step out now as it is a commercial operation and not what I thought.

 

The point still stands the easy boats get the money and the rarer more involved boats are left to rot as in my post on the previous page, remember CHILTERN should be the watchword of the museum and its staff either voluntary or otherwise.

[Pluto]

As someone who gave a wooden wide boat to the museum, where vandals set fire to it and destroyed it, I probably have more reason to be critical than most. There certainly were problems with the unrestricted acquisition of boats at the end of the 20th century, and attempting to preserve too many. That said, many of the wooden wide boats would not have survived elsewhere. The Norfolk Wherry Trust are possibly the only group to look after successfully a wide inland boat, and keep it sailing. Perhaps the main problem with the museum was/is national government's refusal to designate it as of national significance, with the resultant financial problems that lack of this status brings. As a result, the museum's management have to spend too much time looking for funding, rather than looking after the collection.

[Tiggers]

You are merely reinforcing my point that these boats are in the wrong hands and I don't understand how you can say " for the first time, a proper 20 year maintenance program has been drawn up for all the boats " when you acknowledge that there isn't the expertise there.

 

You still haven't expanded on this "proper 20 year maintenance program" either.

 

I would really like to have a look at it and see what plans there are for the wooden boats (all of them).

I haven't acknowledged that there are no expertise here, again, they have brought Dave Linney on board who used to work with the Brinklow boys and has years of experience (and who was not ere when Chiltern was cut up and would probably be the first to say that it was a crying shame it was, in fact, none of the people who made that decision are here at the yard any more). And there are volunteers with experience, but like Mac said, it'd take one person 2 years working on it full time.

I'm sure you would like to look at the maintenance programme, but that if not for me to distribute amongst the public, certainly not on a forum that regularly takes to pulling apart everything they attempt to do.

And AGAIN, they have offered wide boats to people and no one has taken them up, the only offers we ever get are for the Joshers.

And instead of making assumptions about whether they would or wouldn't let you have Aries, why not approach them

And the 'easy' boats get funding as it is offered, like Ferret which when it arrived at the museum came with funding.

I have already said that they have spent an awful long time getting a huge amount of funding for Mossdale and are close to getting a similar amount for George, and yet you guys seem to be completely ignoring that.

Similarly, the boat we have just finished IS a rare wooden boat that they sought funding for and will hopefully be relaunched in the next couple of weeks

And it is not a commercial operation as we are not making money, they are paying daves wages as it means they have a hugely knowledgable person on board 5 days a week. My wages come from the grant from the Heritage Lottery Foundation and their Skills for the Future project that the museum sought.

We do not take on outside work for a profit, the sole job of the yard and the couple of paid staff is to work on the boats within the museum

Edited October 18, 2013 by Tiggers

[carlt]

I'm sure you would like to look at the maintenance programme, but that if not for me to distribute amongst the public, certainly not on a forum that regularly takes to pulling apart everything they attempt to do.

That is unfair.

 

Just because you have taken it personally does not mean people are "pulling it apart".

 

I have been a supporter of the museum for the past few years and I believe I have a right to question where my money goes and I do it here because there has been little or no communication from the museum.

 

As a supporter I think I should have a copy of this "20 year program" or do you believe we should just blindly throw money at you?

[Tiggers]

 

A picture of the boat we have just finished! The only reason we are doing shad is because it was supposed to be a quick job to do before this went back in and ferret came out

And if you are a supporter/contributor to the boatyard, you should be on their mailing list to receive all their updates and news, would you like me to check that you are on the list?

And the next time you are up, I really would like to show you around and show you exactly what we are doing and talk about the plans for the future. That goes for anyone

[carlt]

And if you are a supporter/contributor to the boatyard, you should be on their mailing list to receive all their updates and news, would you like me to check that you are on the list?

No point, I cancelled my direct debit and redirected the funds to another cause.

 

The only thing I ever got was the magazine and my free entry card.

[Tiggers]

Well that's a shame you no longer support us, at least you don't have to worry what your money's going on

[AMModels]

Kudos for the work done on 337 but you are taking this personally, I think this has proven that some of the problems with the museum have not gone away. The lack of direct communication and explanation of the work is obvious, and this forum is not for pulling things to pieces but if you read back through the threads you will see that seasoned discussions are common place.

Well that's a shame you no longer support us, at least you don't have to worry what your money's going on

I dont think Carl ever said it was about money, its about the fabric of the collection and the work done or not done to conserve it. Your obviously sarcastic comments do nothing for you nor the museum, you may be upset about the perception of the museum and the work you are doing but that is the fault of the museum and not those who question it.

[carlt]

Well that's a shame you no longer support us, at least you don't have to worry what your money's going on

I guess you missed the fund raising course then.

[Tiggers]

I'm sorry for being sarcastic, but it's frustrating that people don't realise how much the place has changed in the past couple of years.

There is to be a sizeable press release for the launch of the box boat, but we only got confirmation today that the lift will happen in the next couple of weeks.

I know she has said when he first started there was not one boat that was even remotely respectable to show the public, and so there did need to be a couple of quick hits so at least there would be something to show visitors. Now we are starting to get down to the big work, and Merak like i say is hopefully the next boat.

And that is the first time anyone has even mentioned the fact that we have just restored a wooden boat, even though everyone keeps saying that's what we should be doing

[carlt]

And that is the first time anyone has even mentioned the fact that we have just restored a wooden boat, even though everyone keeps saying that's what we should be doing

I am pretty amazed that you didn't mention it at the start of the discussion.

 

To be honest it is regular updates I wanted, for my money, not the magazine (and I paid to get in rather than use the card when I visited).

 

The boat looks very nice and I wish you'd posted the picture before we all got grumpy because it shows that I was wrong and, based on this new evidence, progress is being made with the less sexy stuff.

[Tiggers]

Thank you Carl they are starting to get to grips with communicating better, they've started a fantastic Facebook page which is updated on our work almost daily, but there's still a long way to go, but were getting there. And like I said, if anyone is down this way, please do come and see us

[AMModels]

Good to know about the facebook page, it is very much a step in the right direction with regards to communication which I think we all can agree is a vital part of the museums remit.

Now please take this not as criticism but as a suggestion, the website for the museum seems to have airbrushed the Ricky's from the collection which I admit just fuelled my fire after seeing that picture of Ariel; I have no idea of the reason for that and I dont expect you to have an answer straight away but even though they may be in a poor condition a presence on the web is more likely to elicit some interest and possible donations than the absence there is at the moment.

 

We all want the same thing at the end of the day.

[Tiggers]

Good to know about the facebook page, it is very much a step in the right direction with regards to communication which I think we all can agree is a vital part of the museums remit.

Now please take this not as criticism but as a suggestion, the website for the museum seems to have airbrushed the Ricky's from the collection which I admit just fuelled my fire after seeing that picture of Ariel; I have no idea of the reason for that and I dont expect you to have an answer straight away but even though they may be in a poor condition a presence on the web is more likely to elicit some interest and possible donations than the absence there is at the moment.

 

We all want the same thing at the end of the day.

Funnily enough, this was brought up not two hours ago! The descriptions of the boats were lifted straight off the BMS website, and someone has just been given access to change the museum webpage and has asked if we can supply info on the boats that aren't already listed! It's in hand, I've designated a day in the archives so we can get some accurate stuff on there

[AMModels]

excellent, make sure they know you are raising at least some opinions of the museum almost single handedly; now, while you are down in the archives..........

 

Edited October 18, 2013 by AMModels

[Tiggers]

excellent, make sure they know you are raising at least some opinions of the museum almost single handedly; now, while you are down in the archives..........

 

I think every man and his dog has said to me 'as you have access to the archives'! They are open Monday to Thursday to the public :-P

[Laurence Hogg]

I think every man and his dog has said to me 'as you have access to the archives'! They are open Monday to Thursday to the public :-P

Except they are near to useless as the ability to find things is seriously hampered by crass mis identification, lack of correct titling, guessed dates, poor annotation, items not actually there, need I go on... Its a "black hole" at the moment, they got rid of anyone with the brains to know what is what. Roger Hanbury did the archives the biggest dis-service possible by removing them from Gloucester and losing Caroline Jones who had rapidly gained superior knowledge of what they had.

 

Thats why so many people find their information through here (CWDF) because the archivists on here at least know what they have.

Edited October 18, 2013 by Laurence Hogg

[DHutch]

Other than her history being steered by Charlie Atkins how is Mendip more important than any other josher on the system?

But is that the only consideration?

- If because of the link, you can get a third investor to pick up the associated costs, you have a good looking maintained boat, without the costs involved.

 

Personally I think induvidual 'fund a boat' type ties between various boats, and companies/individuals who would barely notice the money involved, is a great way to look after them.

 

The donation process on the CRT website works, although I'm slightly surprised there is not an option for setting up a standing order. BMS want to sort a more electronic, faster, method of becoming a member in exchange for cash.

 

 

Daniel

[DHutch]

...they are starting to get to grips with communicating better, they've started a fantastic Facebook page which is updated on our work almost daily...

 

Do you have a link to it, cant seem to find it?

 

*found it: https://www.facebook.com/NationalWaterwaysMuseum

[DaisyJ]

"Roger Hanbury did the archives the biggest dis-service possible by removing them from Gloucester and losing Caroline Jones who had rapidly gained superior knowledge of what they had." - why thank you Laurence, nice to know someone appreciated what I did in Gloucester!!

[Heartland]

I agree about the loss of Gloucester Archives. For a researcher such as my self Gloucester was a useful, centrally located, waterways archives. To date recent experiences at Ellesmere Port have led me to feel that they are unhelpful. It seems that any enquirer is now requested to check their canal website and they appear to lack the knowledge to deal with general enquiries. It is a sad state of affairs.

 

Ray Shill

[Pluto]

For some of us, Gloucester was anything but centrally located! Linda at Ellesmere Port does do her best, even when it means sending queries to me, and I am sure she would be happy to have other contacts with detailed knowledge of specific canals to answer queries. With the move of the archive material from Gloucester, she is now trying to do Caroline's job as well, and two into one means you just get half the amount of time.

[pete harrison]

For some of us, Gloucester was anything but centrally located! Linda at Ellesmere Port does do her best, even when it means sending queries to me, and I am sure she would be happy to have other contacts with detailed knowledge of specific canals to answer queries.

I am on Linda's list, and have dealt with numerous boat related enquiry's

[Pluto]

Should we have a list of who's on the list?

[Derek R.]

If you kept them aboard you could end up with a list.

 

. . . coat