Issue No 16 November 2013

Newsletter

Published on behalf of the South Yorkshire and the Dukeries Branch Committee by

M.H. Fielding, 1 Vicarage Way, Arksey, Doncaster, DN5 0TG

Views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the IWA, or of the Branch

Committee but are published as of interest to members and others.

The Inland Waterways Association is a registered Charity No. 212343

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CHAIRMANS NOTES

I would like to extend a warm welcome to any new members that have joined us since the last issue of Keels and Cuckoos and I do hope that you will manage to make it to one of our meeting. The Meetings are held at Strawberry Island Boat Club, Milethorne Lane, Doncaster. I hope you are all enjoying the continued good summer weather. It does make for a longer and more enjoyable boating experience. The Next Social meeting should be on December 11th where we usually have a social with SIBC. Due to the continued lack of members attending this we have decided this year not to have it in December . Instead we are going to have a meal on January 15th at the Black Lion Inn at Firbeck near Rotherham. If any member would like to join us on this evening would you please let me know by NOVEM-BER 23rd So that I can book the tables. We have been notified that due to build-ing work the dining room is restricted to 20, therefore places will be allocated on a strictly first come first served basis. By the time you read this we will have had the Autumn canal clean up. Once again most of the success is due to the Abbeydale Rotary Club whom without their help we would not collect nearly as much rubbish as we do. It really would be nice to see more of our members there. The next one will be held in March 2014. Please make a note and try to attend we would love to see you. As I have already mentioned the branch are in need of new committee members. Without people on the committee we cannot do what is necessary to run the branch successfully. At the last committee meeting we took stock and we have only one member under sixty years of age. Of the other six two are over 80m, years old and them other 4 are somewhere in between. This means the branch are only just functioning. We really would appreciate input from some younger members , so please help us with new ideas and enthusiasm. If we do not get some new volunteers soon the will still exist , but in name only. If you can help please get bin touch. Thank you. Mavis Paul SY&D Branch Chairman DID YOU KNOW Only one third of the Caledonian Canal is man made, the rest being formed by Loch Dochfour, Lock Ness and Loch Locky.

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BRANCH AGM

Notice is hereby given that the Annual General Meeting of the South Yorkshire and the Dukeries Branch of the Inland Waterways Association will take place on Wednesday 19th of February 2014 at Strawberry Island Boat Club, Milethorne Lane, Doncaster, DN1 2SU at 8.00pm.

AGENDA

1. To confirm or otherwise the Minutes of the Branch AGM held on February 19th 2013 2. Matters arising from the minutes 3 Report of the Branch Chairman. 4 Report of the Branch Treasurer. 5 Report of the Branch Membership Secretary 6 Statement of Committee size. 7 Election of Committee Members. 8 Report of the Region Chairman 9 Any other relevant business Pat Davies, Mavis Paul and Mary Crofts are due to retire by rotation . All are will-ing to stand for re-election. .

NEW YEARS DINNER

The branch will be having a New Years Dinner on the January 15th 2014. The venue will be The Black Lion Inn, 9 New Road, Firbeck, Rotherham S81 8JY. Places are severally restricted and therefore will be allo-cated on a first come first served basis with no exceptions. If you would like to attend please contact Mavis Paul at 118 Sandygate Road, Sheffield, S10 8RZ by post or by email on ma-vis.brian_paul@btinternet.com 0114 268 3927 by telephone. Please do this by NOVEMBER 23RD 2013 to enable bookings to be made. DID YOU KNOW The 1699 Act of Parliament which allowed the River Tone in Somerset to be im-proved stipulated that profits were to be for “the benefit and advantage of the poor of Taunton”, but no such action occurred until 1843, when £1000 was used to build a new wing for the Taunton and Somerset Hospital.

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OBITARY GERALD CARLISLE SMITH

I am sorry to have to report the death of Gerald Smith who was cremated at Hutcliffe Wood Crematorium on October 1st 2013. Gerald was born in Cambridge in 1929, living there in his early years; then towards the end of the Second World War he joined the Air Training Corps. This was followed by National Service in the Royal Air Force where he gained his pilots ―wings‖. In civilian life Gerald trained as an engineer with the London North East Railway finally in London. It was in London that he met Dorothy, and in June they celebrated their Diamond Wedding; soon after they decided to move to a post in Sheffield; a move they never regretted. In Sheffield Gerald worked for the North East Midlands Hospital Board which covered a much wider area than Sheffield; largely working on the design and instillation of hospital heating systems. He remained in this role until his early retirement in 1983. The family started taking boating holidays and in 1965 they purchased the first of three boats. Gerald initially joined the old IWA North East Midlands Committee in 1968and for a short period in 1970was Branch Chairman. Gerald then joined the Sheffield Branch, later to become the South Yorkshire and the Dukeries branch following an IWA reorganisation I 1974, until the 1990s. Gerald and Dorothy kept their narrow boat ―Mayfield‖ at the derby Motor Boat Club on Sawley Cut and regularly supported events organised by the Ere-wash Canal Preservation and Development Association and the IWA Nottingham Branch. Gerald and Dorothy attended Sheffield IWA meetings at the DEGA on Hunters Bar and supported the IWA stand at various events in the Sheffield area. Then following his retirement was persuaded to do a slide talk on waterways for Probus; and over the years Gerald became a very popular speaker in South Yorkshire, with any donations made at the meeting given to the IWA. As their daughter Jill moved to Canada they cruised there and also in Scotland and Portugal; all very useful always gathering information he could use in his talks. We send our sincere condolences to Dorothy, Mi-chael and Jill and his grand and great-grand children.

CHRISTINE POTTER We are also sorry to report the death of Christine Potter who often was seen in the Not-tingham area on various boats called ―Polly Otter‖. In later years Christine was harbour master at several IWA National Festivals, and was often accompanied and assisted by Peter Hart who died last year. Christine lived in Birmingham overlooking Farmers bridge Junction and her well attended memorial service in Harbourne showed the breath o0f her interests. John Baylis

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OCTOBER CLANAL CLEAN UP

The dates of the clocks going forwards and back by one hour heralds the biannual canal clean up on The Sheffield and Tinsley Canal. Again we had the invaluable help of the Abbeydale Rotary Club and Adsetts Canal Project. As in past years we worked in two directions with one group heading down the Tinsley Lock flight and the other heading towards Sheffield. In all twenty two people one baby and one dog took part. . From the lock flight we worked on the towpath and non towpath sides of the canal. There were several sites where people had had picnics and fires unfortunately most of the sites people left their rubbish. I am not anti angling but two things really anger me are discarded fishing line, of which there were hundreds of yards and discarded luncheon meat tins. Luncheon meat is used as bait to feed and thus attract the fish. When you consider the weight of tins of luncheon meat being carried to a fishing peg surely it would be just as easy to take in home the empty tins that must weigh less than 5% of their full weight. Approximately 45 bags of rubbish was collected, some other items included Canvas chairs, yards of fishing line a television, a fridge and a fishing rod.. The next clean up will be held on March 30th 2014, meeting at Tinsley Marina.. Hope to see you there. Malcolm Fielding We are looking at a redesigned front piece for the magazine in 2014 which should be forward looking and reinforce the identity of the branch.

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NEW MEMBERS

We give a warm welcome to our new members who have joined or transferred to the branch recently. Mr J Gregory of Doncaster Mr P Smith of Sheffield Ms H Rogers of Whatstandwell Mr P Brunt And Miss J Chaloner of Sheffield Mr & Mrs G Hopwood of Barnsley Mr & Mrs P Stevenson of Matlock Mr & Mrs A Pugh of Sheffield

CHRISTMAS ON THE CHESTERFIELD CANAL

The Chesterfield Canal Trust will be again running Santa Special Cruisers this year. They will run from Chesterfield, Hollingwood, Worksop and Retford. The cost is £6.00 per person for up to the minute details contact the Chesterfield Canal Trust at www.chesterfield–canal-trust.org.uk

WRG

WRG issued a press release on October 22nd 2013, it reads Waterway Recovery Group, volunteers were invited to join Canal & River Trust , Doro-thy Thornhill (Mayor of Watford), Herts County Councillors and Three Rivers Councillors in celebrating the reopening of Lady Capel’s Bridge and three miles of new towpath along the Grand Union Canal from Cassiobury Park, Watford to Hunton Bridge. Over the summer WRG volunteers spent a total of 287.5 hours bringing the Grade II listed Lady Capel’s Bridge, back to its former glory. Before WRG’s big volunteer effort could start, a team from CCRT removed the old paintwork. WRG volunteers then re-moved the damaged brickwork, cleared out the joints and carefully repointed the brick-work. The volunteers then repainted the entire bridge using a special white paint—which required three coats! Jenny Black from WRG, said ―We had a great time helping restore this iconic bridge during IWA’s National Waterways Festival in Watford. Thanks must go to all the volun-teers involved in the project who spent hours carefully repainting the bridge and carrying out repairs. We hope to continue to build on our good relationship with CRT and it’s great that they have acknowledged the skill and enthusiasm of our volunteers on this project. Https://www.waterways.org.ul/em-change/4b756cf46cfb5

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CRT EAST MIDLAND & NORTH EAST CUSTOMER MEETINGS

It was announced that May Gourney one of CRT’s major contractors is now owned by the Kier Group and will henceforth be known as Keir. The Trust has for several years opened up major works for visits by the general public at specific times. Bingley five Rise Locks on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, Bulholme lock on the Aire and Calder Navigation and lock on the Chester-field Canal are examples in this area. CRT has announced that Sprotbrough Lock on the Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation will be closed for maintenance in 2014 and will be open to the general public to look round on 15th February 2014. See local press nearer the time for more details. CRT have Biffa have appointed national waste contractors for recycling. You will not have to separate items for recycling at onsite as this will be carried out by Biffa at one on their major depots. Most of the notices bearing the old BW logo have been converted to the CRT logo using plastic self stick labels, but if do happen to come across on still showing the old BW logo you are asked to inform your local CRT office stating its location so it can be updated or if no longer applicable removed. The CRT website is due to be updated shortly with new pages. One section will deal with any problems that you may encounter on your cruise with an explana-tion. The weed problem on the Chesterfield Canal has increased this year but has now finished, works are continuing for up to a further month to remove encroaching reeds. Bank protection work is to be carried out at Whitsunday Pie Lock also relay-ing of slabs at Turnerwood . Misterton Lock bottom gates are to get attention and West Retford Lock is to be repainted. The scheduled stoppage for Wiseton has been cancelled. Email addresses for general enquiries at out two local waterway offices are:- Chesterfield Canal and the River Trent is enquiries.eastmidlands@canalrivertrust.org.uk For the Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation and the New Junction Canal is:- enquiries..northeast@canalrivertrust.org.uk Malcolm Fielding

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CHESTERFIELD CANAL TRUST APPEAL

Following the opening of Staveley Town Basin in January 2012 intensive work has begun on Staveley Town Lock. The trust need funds to complete this project which when complete will add further to their objective of complete through restoration of the canal to Chesterfield.. The Trust has raised over £30,000 so far with its Donate a Brick Appeal . Large amounts of money is to be spent on many cubic metres of ready mixed concrete which can be delivered directly to the site. Using ready mixed concrete may seem like an extravagant way of laying concrete but it is preferable to hav-ing to mix concrete in the amounts needed onsite. Plus it is a more secure system than leaving tonnes of aggregate and cement onsite making it open to theft and vandalism. You can donate monies towards the ―Donate a Brick Appeal‖ for £5 per brick or you can donate a cubic metre of concrete for £80. If you pay tax you can Gift Aid your donation making each £80 donated worth £100 to the appeal. Donations can be made in memory of a loved one or as a Birthday or Christmas gift and the Trust will provide a certificate to commemorate your donation. You can donate online by following the links on the Chesterfield Canal website or send a cheque made out to Chesterfield Canal Trust to The Treasurer, Chester-field Canal Trust, 47 Whitecotes Park, Walton, Chesterfield S40 4RT.

THE BRANCH COMMITTEE

WOULD LIKE TO WISH EVERYONE

A MERRY CHRISTMAS

AND A VERY HAPPY

2014

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GREAT OUSE TRIP

Part four of Justin and Sarah Smith’s trip

Having negotiated the (worryingly named, not without reason) guillotine lock we cruised on towards Huntingdon and Godmanchester. This is a lovely section of the Great Ouse and we began to forget the stresses of our first trip through a lock in a boat with a wheelhouse roof….Godmanchester is worth mooring up for. Go for a walk along footpath into the town and over the famous Chinese bridge (originally built in 1827 then rebuilt in 1960). Next comes Huntingdon, a town steeped in his-tory with its medieval bridge over the Ouse built in the 1330s. More recently its fame comes from it’s last MP, former Prime Minister, John Major, but arguably, rather more famous than the latter, was one of it’s former MPs, Oliver Cromwell. Now one of the delights of the Great Ouse is the lack of significant amounts of oth-er boat traffic, you really can get away from it all. Unless you happen to be cruising on a Bank Holiday Monday that the Ouse Valley River Club are out! Like most boat-ers the OVRC are a great set of friendly lads and lasses, they’re based at a marina just north of ST Neots and had been for a weekend away, I can’t remember where , Possibly Ely. Suddenly it was like the Norfolk Broads in the school holidays , a great queue of boats. It reminded me of driving to work. Except it didn’t at all. Cruising down a sylvan British waterway, even in a queue of boats, is paradise compared to being stuck in a traffic jam. Having said that, the problem with a queue of boats is what happens at locks….Ohh yes. You’d think the country through which the Great Ouse flows is fairly flat, but there are still a fair number of locks and loads of boats and locks equals traffic jams. On the one hand many of the locks on the Great Ouse are big things which can take quite a few boats, but on the other hand one has to remember that most of the boats are fibreglass river cruisers. Worse, there're pri-vately owned. Now why, I hear you say, does that matter? Well fibreglass boats and locks don't really mix very well, potential for damage wise. And if there’re privately owned those owners are, quite understandably , pretty keen to avoid cracks ap-pearing in their pride and joy. This all adds up to very, very slow use of locks. Boat-ing holidays are very relaxing, but slightly less so when you’re in a hire boat for a set length of time, you’d planned to get somewhere, and it seems to take all after-noon to get four or five boats into a lock! We’re used to steel boats in which most boaters just motor straight into a lock and don’t even bother tying up , certainly not front and rear, as the lock water rises (or falls). On the Ouse some of the boats were actually being manually hauled in by their crews! I thought it might be tight to get to Bedford but there was no way it was go-ing to happen now…. Anyway, at least we've plenty of opportunity to indulge in that other great passion of boaters, chatting about boating to other boaters! And what an easy to chat to the OVRC are, it certainly passed the time on, particularly at Offord Lock which took an age to get through.

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Just south of this lock the river runs next to the East Coast Main Line from Kings Cross to Scotland and , in fact, at Offord D'Arcy, the course of the waterway was altered slightly in 1970 so as to straighten out then alignment for the railway. That enabled to speed limit on the line to be raised from 70Mmphto 100mph, now its 120mph! Is it not interesting how most boaters don’t mind cruising next to a railway but very much object to a road, particularly a motorway. I don’t think it’s just that many boaters also like trains I think it’s the fact that bust roads are constantly noisy, whereas even the busiest railways are actually quiet for most of the time! It Hadn’t been sunny for much of the day but at least it hadn’t rained, but, as we approached St Neots, that all changed. The clouds came over and the rain started falling. Great…. Anyway we tied up for the night at the GOBA (Great Ouse Boating Association) moorings at Lammas Meadow just north of the town. We’d hired our boat from Bridge Boatyard in Ely and all their boats are entitled to use all the GOBA moorings on the Ouse. I have to say we normally like to moor up by ourselves, if possible as far away from any other boat (or house) as possible, but that doesn't apply anywhere near a built up area and this was just a short walk from St Neots so it was an odd feeling for us watching all the boats which approached and actually hoping they’d stop beside us form the night! We had planned to go for a meal into St Neots, but in the event the aforementioned weather rather put us off, so, not for the first time on this trip , we had a meal on the boat, however to be frank, what can beat having a nice meal, and possibly a bit of vino, on a boat on the river? Justin Smith

St Neots and a glass of vino

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S M E T H W I C K G D M S

N G R I V D W A L S A L L

E A C P O R T Y C A S L F

Y D O T R T U P B I T L A

D S N O W Y J B I K E A C

C L O N G W O O D U E H T

F E D B I R C H I L L S O

B R O M F O R D L T O U R

H Y B R Y I N S E C Q R Y

K N D E L C A T S H I L L

S A L F O R D E S M E D I

P G V L L A H S E D A R B

O J A D E E P F I E L D S

WORD SEARCH

In the grid below are the names of fifteen canal junctions on the Bir-mingham Canal Navigations. They may be written forwards, back-wards, vertically, horizontally or diagonally. The answers can be found elsewhere in the magazine, all answers are single words.

GOOD LUCK

Chuckle lines

John answered the door the find a very irate man waiting for him. “Do you remember

me? The Man asked. “NO” Said John. The Man continued “Two years ago you bought

double glazing from me and you haven’t paid a penny off it yet”. John with an even

more puzzled look replied “You told me it would pay for itself in eighteen months!

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BRANCH COMMITTEE OFFICERS

CHAIRMAN Mavis Paul 116 Sandygate Road Home 0114 268 3927 Sheffield Mobile 07725 464611 S10 5RZ email mavis.brian_paul@btinternet.com VICE CHAIRMAN AND PLANNING OFFIER Colin Crofts Staddlestones Home 01302 841619 South Bramwith Stainforth Doncaster DN7 5SJ email cjcrofts@btinternet.com TREASURER Pat Davies 212 Boundary Road Home 01709 526725 Rawmarsh Mobile 07977 113021 Rotherham S62 6JN email patdav@fsmail.net BRANCH SECRETARY Malcolm Fielding 1 Vicarage Way Home 01302 873127 Arksey Doncaster DN5 0TG email elliemalc@aol.com MEMBERSHIP OFFICER John Bower Shaw 72 Norton Lees Crescent Home 0114 258 2535 Sheffield S8 8SR PUBLICITY OFFICER Dave Scott 17 Bowshaw Avenue Home 0114 237 5372 Batemoor Mobile 07900 272 5327 Sheffield S8 8EY email acp2004naburn@hotmail.com COMMITTEE MEMBER Mary Crofts Staddlestones Home 01302 841619 South Bramwith Stainforth Doncastter DN7

Smethwick Bromford Deepfields Oldbury Factory Bradeshall Tipton Walsall Sneyd Catshill Birchills Longwood Rushall Salford Longwood

WORD SEARCH ANSWERS