Crt: Are They Selling Off The Family Silver?

[oldironsides]

I see that CRT have trawled their offices for heritage items to sell on EBay here

 

Some of these items appear to be of historical importance and should be deposited in their archives. This is a very important matter. Maybe they have already been rejected as copies but this is not stated.

 

Please take up this matter with anyone in CRT and English Heritage, County Archives etc that you know as a matter of urgency.

 

Whilst I acknowledge the CRT archive at Ellesmere Port is not necessarily the easiest of places to find things, it is a much better bet than items flogged off to who knows where as they might look pretty on the wall.

[carlt]

Which ones seem to be of "historical importance"?

[Paul H]

Several items including original prints and a GJCC iron post have now been withdrawn.

[carlt]

There seem to be a couple of very mediocre water colours from the 90s, some modern newspaper clippings, slides from the boat show and an off the shelf "Ye Olde" county map.

 

I quite like the Tring reservoir plan but not one that has been stuck back together with sellotape.

 

I'm afraid I trip over more historically significant stuff every time I go into the shed without putting the light on.

Several items including original prints and a GJCC iron post have now been withdrawn.

Ah. Okay.

 

Shame I'd quite like one of those posts.

[Ray T]

From Facebook:

 

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.490623187691270.1073741831.165159950237597&type=1

 

Canal & River Trust Please have a look at our Facebook page, to read a statement from John Dodwell, one of our Trustees, regarding our Heritage Hunt project. Kind regards, Anja

2 hours ago · Like

• 

  Andrew Instone-Cowie Utter, utter disgrace. You should be ashamed, and if your "archivist" hasn't resigned in shame yet, he or she should be sacked. Appalling.

  2 hours ago · Like

[ditchcrawler]

 

 

Shame I'd quite like one of those posts.

Me to

[RLWP]

 

Richard

[carlt]

 

Richard

Now all I need is one of those fancy 3D printers.

[OldGoat]

Just like anyone on here, CaRT is clearing out it's old tut (?sp.) to raise a few bob. - Somebody spotted the good stuff and had it pulled; or could it be a case of 'ow much do you want for it, Guv?

Don't think it's the family silver more like some old Sheffield plate with the copper showing through. Not Elkington.

 

I do take exception of the Trust being a "proper" charity, not that there are many of those left.

 

To me it's a bit more like Stafford hospital.

 

That should get you all going............

[JamesWoolcock]

I see that CRT have trawled their offices for heritage items to sell on EBay here

 

Some of these items appear to be of historical importance and should be deposited in their archives. This is a very important matter. Maybe they have already been rejected as copies but this is not stated.

 

Please take up this matter with anyone in CRT and English Heritage, County Archives etc that you know as a matter of urgency.

 

Whilst I acknowledge the CRT archive at Ellesmere Port is not necessarily the easiest of places to find things, it is a much better bet than items flogged off to who knows where as they might look pretty on the wall.

Hi Andy.

 

Any decent line for the fore end of LINDSAY?

 

James

[Heartland]

I believe that it is important to decide what is the heritage value of the items being disposed of. There have been various trawls through what was held in British Waterways days and of course the CRT still have heritage items like boundary posts still in the ground and signs still fixed to the infrastructure. I wonder from where these disposals of items to make money for the Trust has come from and what is planned for the future. There is also the disposal of canal side properties which may or may not be of concern. Those who came on the BCNS walk last night might note that lock cottage 206 at Birchills was sold and now is the subject of redevelopment. Thinking outside the BW frame, it would be interesting to compare their policies with the Manchester Ship Canal/ Peel Holdings. In my Merseyside Book I reproduce an image of the lock house at the top lock Woolston Cut, Warrington as it looked and subsequent enlargement. The same might be said of the BCN cottage at the bottom of Titford Locks which now bears little resemblance to the original structure.

 

Ray Shill

[carlt]

CRT still have heritage items like boundary posts still in the ground

If they sell one on Ebay and it makes good money then they may not be in the ground for long.

[Derek R.]

Posted on a Facebook page, this comment from John Dodwell which appeared on the 1st August:

 

The following appeared on the CRT Facebook page this afternoon after many of us
had commented when it first appeared yesterday:

----
I am John Dodwell, volunteer Trustee of the Canal & River Trust.
I can tell you that the Trust is not engaged in a sale of valuable heritage
assets. I hope that, when you read what’s below, you will understand the
thinking behind our Heritage Hunt.

My involvement with inland waterways goes back 50 years. I personally value the
various aspects of the heritage of the waterways. I welcomed the idea that staff
should start a search for documents and other items that might be lying in a
building. Far better they are properly looked after in one of our museums. And
if we have duplicate copies or if they have no heritage value then why not sell
them to waterway-lovers and raise money for the Trust?

The vetting process means all items found are assessed by a combination of our
expert heritage team, our archive and collections team and by someone from the
local waterway. Our Heritage Advisory Committee approved the concept and my
fellow Trustee Simon Thurley (chief executive of English Heritage) commended the
idea.

I quite understand why people have got concerned because our posting on Facebook
did not fully explain this. We have listened to your comments and you may have
spotted that 4 of the 10 items have been withdrawn. These items are being
rechecked individually and we are also strengthening our vetting processes.

Going back to the purpose of what this is all about, we have already found some
interesting examples of hidden heritage which are now being added to our
collections and archive. Examples include a BW shield presented to the best pile
driving team each year covering 1959-79 and commemorative plaques from the
Braunston Boat Show in the 1990s – all found at the Braunston Stop House.

-------------

 

Copied from HNBC forum.

Edited August 3, 2013 by Derek R.

[Tuscan]

If they sell one on Ebay and it makes good money then they may not be in the ground for long.

A very good point !!

[Heartland]

_{If I recall correctly, there was a plate in the Braunston Stop that fixed to one of the boats under the Sanitary Registration scheme where Birmingham Corporation required this fitting and was thus specific to the early registrations made in Birmingham. Does anybody know what happened to it?}

 

_{Ray Shill}

[Laurence Hogg]

They need to understand HOW to sell on ebay, given the appalling pictures, lack of info, wrong categories, lack of keywords they havent a chance of a good price on anything. This is a typical amatuerish unresearched approach which seems to be par for the course with CRT MK.

[John Holden]

They need to understand HOW to sell on ebay, given the appalling pictures, lack of info, wrong categories, lack of keywords they havent a chance of a good price on anything. This is a typical amatuerish unresearched approach which seems to be par for the course with CRT MK.

 

And at ater bad spelling

[RLWP]

They need to understand HOW to sell on ebay, given the appalling pictures, lack of info, wrong categories, lack of keywords they havent a chance of a good price on anything. This is a typical amatuerish unresearched approach which seems to be par for the course with CRT MK.

 

So, an excellent opportunity to volunteer to help them out Laurence?

 

Richard

[John Holden]

 

So, an excellent opportunity to volunteer to help them out Laurence?

 

Richard

 

Well for what it is worth, I fired off a list of questions (the answers to which should have been in the listing) about one item. Whether they take the hint or not remains to be seen.

[RLWP]

 

Well for what it is worth, I fired off a list of questions (the answers to which should have been in the listing) about one item. Whether they take the hint or not remains to be seen.

 

Top man!

 

Richard

[Laurence Hogg]

 

So, an excellent opportunity to volunteer to help them out Laurence?

 

Richard

I actually suggested this idea to Simon Salem when we were out boating recently, I am disgusted that no approach for help has been made. This typifies the amateur "micky mouse" operation that exists down there. Ebay sales are a major part of our operation and I would have been happy to set it up for them, instead you get a series of listings, some "withdrawn" before ending and none with a description that really is of use.

 

Our shop here: http://stores.ebay.co.uk/TRAIN-BOAT-DEPOT

Edited August 3, 2013 by Laurence Hogg

[John Holden]

 

Top man!

 

Richard

 

Well, there's fun! Answer to my question - they can't tell me cos they are all different! I asked what year the slides were taken, what subject matter and things like that.

Also, being a book dealer I very easily checked two previous book sales that yielded CRT 99p each, and found a few available with prices starting at £15 for one and the other at £20!

 

Yee gods.

[RLWP]

Also, being a book dealer I very easily checked two previous book sales that yielded CRT 99p each, and found a few available with prices starting at £15 for one and the other at £20!

 

Yee gods.

 

Not by checking ABEbooks I hope? I can often find the same book on there at anything between £1 and £320

 

Richard

[sueb]

Do they own the things offered as at Stoke Bruerne they found out some objects were on loan.

[Laurence Hogg]

 

Do they own the things offered as at Stoke Bruerne they found out some objects were on loan.

A very good question, currently they cannot find stuff of mine which includes two FMC brass boiler gauge glasses, a Jess Owen stool and various other bits. Records are a shambles, Roger Hanbury (thankfully gone) had no ability to orginise proper record keeping so stuff is "lost".

Despite acknowledging that they had the stuff no recompense was forthcoming, how much would FMC marked boiler gauges fetch on ebay???