K&A Canal 60 acre oak wood project needs volunteers

The new Woodland Trust 60 acre Diamond Jubilee oak wood on the Caen Hill Flight in on the edge of Devizes on the Kennet & Avon Canal needs volunteers to help with planting. 

Caen Hill Flight: Picture by Bob Naylor©

Everyone is welcome to the community planting days — but it would be helpful if you contacted British Waterways to let thme know you are coming … and bring your own spade.

29^th January, 10am – 3pm

12^th February, 11am – 1pm

17^th March, 10am – 3pm

Groups of ten or or more can come on different days — just get in touch with Karen Fishwick the BW Volunteer Co-rdinator(South).

Email Karen at: Karen.fishwick@britishwaterways.co.uk,

or Phone her on:  07917424590

Previous story: ➠➠ 60 acre oak wood for Caen Hill to mark Queen's 60 year reign

K&A Canal Caen Hill Flight closed for a day for repairs

The Caen Hill Flight in Devizes — from Youth Division Lock(29) to Sir Hugh Stockwell Lock(44) will be closed to boat traffic on Wednesday 14 December 2011 for essential maintenance work. 

Enquiries: 01380 722859

Caen Hill Flight K&A Canal closed for emergency repairs today

K&A Canal stoppage

There is a one day stoppage on Caen Hill on today (Friday 8th July) for repairs to damaged Quoins and masonry on 

Lock 29.

K&A Navigation update: Sunday 3 July 2011

Water Levels

There are low water levels below Ham Lock (87) — navigate with care.

Because of extremely low water levels on the summit level between Cadley Lock (54) and Crofton Top Lock (55) these locks will be opened at 10am and closed at 3pm. Share locks whenever possible.

On The Long Pound Kennet Lock Devizes (50) to Wootton Rivers Lock (51) the water level is very low and boaters at Pewsey and Honeystreet are reporting that they are unable to get their boats off their moorings because they are stuck firmly on the bottom — however the 14 mile pound is still navigable — but slowly.

Stoppage notice

There will be a one day stoppage on Caen Hill on Friday 8th July for repairs to damaged Quoins and masonry on 

Lock 29 

K&A Canal Devizes Flight stoppage extended

One of the lock gates being removed from AP Herbert 

Lock (46) in Devizes lon Saturday. Picture by Bob Naylor

British Waterways staff worked over the weekend to remove the wooden bottom lock gates at AP Herbert Lock (46) just above the Caen Hill on the Devizes Flight and after removing the lock gates they  found the cill to be in very poor condition.  

This will have to be replaced so the stoppage has now been extended and the lock will re-open at 8am on Friday 22nd April.


Until then through passage on the Devizes Flight will not be possible.


If you need access to the moorings at the top of Caen Hill Flight contact BW Devizes office for more information. Tel: 01380 722859

K&A Canal navigation notes: Friday 8th April 2011

AP Hebert Lock (46), Devizes

Devizes Flight is partially closed until April 14th

BW have issued a notice saying that the Caen Hill Flight is open again. Well that is true - the Caen Hill flight of locks is open — but through navigation of the Devizes Flight is not possible because of the emergency stoppage to replace the failed wooden bottom gates on AP Herbert Lock (46) which is expected to be finished on 14th April.

Reading: County Lock (106)

The floating pontoon at the entrance to County Lock is in a very unsafe state — BW have taken steps to prevent its use. Do not attempt to use it.

Crofton Flight (lock 60)

One of the ground paddles is still out of action.

Great Bedwyn Church Lock (64)

One of the ground paddles is still out of action - as it has been for 3 years.

Crofton waterpoint

Still out of action because of contamination. The nearest water is at Great Bedwyn Wharf or below Wootton Rivers Lock (51)

Great Bedwyn Wharf

A contractor has left a wide beam dumb barge on the waterpoint/pump out at Great Bedwyn Wharf — BW are aware.

Pump outs

There are no reported problems with the BW pump outs on the canal.

A dumb barge moored on the water point/pump out by 

Great Bedwyn bridge 

Cards for BW pump-outs can be bought for £10 each from:

• Aldermaston Wharf Canal Centre

• Frouds Bridge Marina

• Bev & Geoff's Pitstop, Newbury

• The Dundas Arms Hotel, Kintbury

• Tutti Pole Tea Room, Hungerford 

• Great Bedwyn Post Office

• The Waterfront, Pewsey Wharf

• The Canal Centre, Devizes Wharf

• The Caen Hill Café, Devizes

• Foxhanger Canal Holidays, Devizes 

• The Boatyard, Trowbridge

• ABC Leisure Group, Trowbridge

• Sally Boats, Bradford On Avon

• The Bath and Dundas Canal Co., Somerset Coal Canal

• Bath Narrowboats

For contact details for these businesses go to:  www.kacanaltimes.co.uk where they are listed under canal services.

K&A Canal emergency stoppage on Devizes Flight

AP Herbert Lock (46) on the Devizes Flight, above Caen Hill, is closed until Thursday April 14th for replacement of wooden bottom lock gates that have failed.

See story: 

K&A Canal lock gates... 'FRAGILE' handle with care

K&A Canal lock gates... 'FRAGILE' handle with care

It is less than two weeks since the Caen Hill Flight was re-opened following major winter works that included the replacement of seven pairs of wooden lock gates — and already there is an emergency stoppage to replace another pair of wooden lock gates on the Devizes Flight on the Kennet & Avon Canal.

A P Herbert Lock (46) Devizes will be closed 

for the wooden bottom gates to be replaced.

Picture by Bob Naylor

The Devizes Flight lock gates were made between 1987 and 1989 and fitted by early 1990 — just in time for the Queen’s visit to re-open the canal.

Following a five week stoppage after a lock gate failure on Caen Hill in the Summer of 2006, Mike Lee, the Canal Trust Hon Engineer said of the locks on the K&A Canal, “There were a number of deficiencies, some poor quality oak being the main one and the fitting of straps instead of steel caps on the mitre posts; a recipe for the start of rot. 

“The normal life of a pair of timber gates is about 25 years but unfortunately the Caen Hill bottom gates and all the Crofton Flight gates will not last that long as serious rot is developing in the timber and they will all need replacing within the next 2-3 years.

“There are many other gates which also need replacing, but hopefully over a longer time span. “We could reduce the risk of gate failure by more careful boat handling.

“It is a case of treat the gates with care and try to ensure that other users do the same”, he concluded.

Mike Lee's time forecast has passed and because of shortage of money there are still gates that have not been replaced — and  if the K&A is to be kept open for navigation then boating on the canal has got to become a 'non-contact sport' so that a the ageing lock gates can last a few more years.

Mike's sentiments were echoed by Mark Stephens shortly after he took over as waterway manager on the Kennet & Avon Canal.  Speaking at a Canal Users' Forum meeting in Devizes he called for experienced boaters to set a good example by opening both gates when entering and leaving locks to minimise damage to them. 

He said that whereas experienced boaters can get through one gate without making contact — if this becomes seen as normal practice less skilled boaters will, unfortunately, try to do the same and over time the lock gates will suffer.

One of the bottom gates on Lock 46, 

fixed in position so that it cannot be used.

Picture by Bob Naylor

A P Herbert Lock (46) above the Caen Hill Flight and just before Prison Bridge in Devizes will be closed from Tuesday 5 April until Thursday 14 April to have the bottom gates replaced. These gates have had extensive plating work to try to keep them in service but the wood is in such a poor state that they are now beyond 'patching up'. 

The worst of the two lock gates has been fixed in position so that it cannot be used and until the work begins on the 5th of April narrowboats can use the lock — with care.  Wide beam boats will have to contact BW to arrange for an assisted passage. 

The galvanised metal top gates on the Devizes Flight were installed before the wooden gates  — and they are still in very good condition with many years service left in them.

Is it time to revisit the idea of metal or composite gates which clearly have a far longer life with less maintenance?

Stoppage:

AP Herbert Lock (46) closed from Tuesday 5th April to Thursday 14th April 2011.

Wide beam boats ring BW on: 07920824310 to arrange assisted passage until the 5th.

No place for big fish in small pond

British Waterways is relocating over half a tonne of fish from the side ponds of the Caen Hill Flight of locks on Devizes Flight of the Kennet & Avon Canal to improve conditions for wildlife. 

A pike removed from Caen Hill.

This relocation follows a successful trial project in 2009 when a tonne of fish that included large tench, carp, bream, roach, perch and pike were removed from the ponds.

The large number of boats that move through the Caen Hill locks stirs up silt and, surprisingly, so do large fish feeding on the bottom of the ponds. This stirring of the silt releases nutrients into the water and causes the growth of algae and makes the side-ponds less suitable for invertebrates such as dragonflies and damselflies — as well as rare aquatic plants that need clear-water to thrive.

And by removing the large fish a more natural balance is created in the ponds because there are fewer predators to feed on the younger and smaller fish and invertebrates.

Carp removed from Caen Hill. 

BW ecologist, Oda Dijksterhuis said, "In 2009 we removed the first batch of big fish from the ponds and installed silt screen curtains. The results of this habitat management work have been fantastic with aquatic plants, such as the rare potamogetons and hornworts returning to the ponds that we haven’t had in the waterway for years. In addition to these plants we have seen an increase in dragon and damselfly populations, the ponds are now teeming with diverse dragonfly larvae and other invertebrates such as the water scorpion."

Many of the fish will be relocated along the Kennet & Avon Canal and a proportion will go to Toddbrook Reservoir in the Peak District which needs restocking following works at the site.

Crowds flock to see work on the K&A Canal's million pound makeover

More than 200 visitors went to the British Waterways 'winters works' open day at Caen Hill in Devizes yesterday and they were able to watch a lock gate being craned into position. Many took a guided walk down the flight to Lower Foxhangers where there was a coach on hand to take them back


Draining canal reveals bank stability problem

Visitors have a guided tour of the bank damage: Pictures by Derek Milner©

Draining the canal on the Caen Hill Flight has brought to light serious stability problems with the banks which BW's contractors are tackling and Saturday's visitors were able to see just how much work is involved in keeping the world famous flight of locks in good condition.

Bicentenary year

200 years ago on December 31st 1810 saw the dawn of a new through route from Bristol to Reading when the first commercial vessels, two coal barges, ascended the Caen Hill Flight.  Unfortunately the 200th anniversary celebration year saw a very high number of unscheduled stoppages, so this winter BW are spending more than a million pounds on lock gate replacement and bank maintenance.

The replacement programme includes 12 sets of lock gates along the canal, including seven sets of bottom gates on the Caen Hill Flight.

Other maintenance work in progress is on Martinslade Embankment between Sells Green and Foxhangers, installation of weir booms on the River Avon, dredging work around Hungerford and Newbury and works to the iron bridges in Bath.

British Waterways operations director, Vince Moran, said, “Opening up some of our lock gate replacements and other repairs will give people along the Kennet & Avon Canal a chance to see the scale of the work we do to ensure that the waterways are preserved for today’s users and future generations, as well as gain an appreciation for the magnificent industrial heritage in our care.”

Kennet & Avon Canal — winter works open day tomorrow

Caen Hill: Picture by Bob Naylor©

Public hanging at Caen Hill 

British Waterways engineers are replacing seven pairs of lock gates on the Caen Hill Flight and a special open day has been set  aside in the schedule so that the public can come and see just what is involved in maintaining this important scheduled ancient monument.  

You can meet the British Waterways team tomorrow,  Saturday 12th February 2011, from 10.30am until 3.30pm. There will be guided tours on the hour from 11am to 3pm.

Park at the Caen Hill visitor car park which is off the B3101 near Rowde (look out for the brown Caen Hill Flight  sign).

K&A Canal restoration legend dies

Bryan House, Kennet & Avon Canal restorer.

Picture by Bob Naylor©

Goodbye 'Grumpy'

Bryan House, known to all as Grumpy, died on January 8th at the Royal United Hospital in Bath aged 71 and his funeral took place at Semington Crematorium on Tuesday 21st of January.

Bryan was active from the very early days of the restoration of the Kennet & Avon Canal and his ingenuity in finding novel solutions to practical problems as well as his ability to 'aquire' the means to implement them, along with his bloody minded doggedness, was legendary.

Bryan's day job for 30 years was as an engineer for the Cement Works at Westbury and unknowingly they contributed much to the canal restoration.  A mourner at Bryan's funeral who worked with him there said, "Bryan took me to visit the canal and when I arrived at the workshop at the wharf I thought I had walked into the Cement Works engineering workshop."

  The task they faced on Caen Hill

Caen Hill clearing
Speaking about how he got involved with clearing the Caen Hill Flight Bryan said, "In about 1970 we were in the pub in Rowde and I said to Commander Robinson, they managed to do all that work in the old days, so get your kids from Dauntsey's School and we'll have a go at clearing it out again."

And so they set to clearing the locks on the Caen Hill Flight. They used  slashers and hooks — and local people would come along and say "You're flogging a dead horse —  no way will you do that".  But the more they said that, the more determined Bryan and the others were that they were going to do it.

First Bryan brought an old tractor from Bradford on Avon, "We brought it very early one Sunday morning because it wasn't taxed or insured." he said, "And when we got it on site it was very handy — it made us realise that we needed to be more mechanised."

Bryan's Caen Hill railway

Caen Hill Railway

They found some old mini railway track along with some 3ft gauge mining trucks in the old BWB yard. One of the trucks was fitted with a brake so Bryan decided to turn it into a motorised rail truck.

He put together an old diesel engine and part of a car back axle with a chain drive down to the trolley wheels. He then fitted a compressor and some brake cylinders off a lorry and made a 'dead man' breaking system.  Bryan said, "It was very Heath Robinson — but it worked." 

They then laid track from a lock chamber and out into a side pound and they were able to take the rubbish out of the lock into the middle of the pond to burn it.

Bradford on Avon — the Kenavon Queen

Eventually BWB put a stop to the volunteer work on the Caen Hill Flight so Bryan moved on to help out at Bradford on Avon — first putting an engine into a boat called Kenavon Queen that the group there had made.  

An old Lister engine out of a dumper truck was fitted into the 25 foot wooden boat and connected to an old Ford 10 drive shaft and back axle onto which they fixed paddle wheels.  By braking each side independently they were able to steer the boat in the same way as a tracked vehicle.

The tripboat Kennevon Queen

Bryan said proudly, "For years we actually managed to get people to pay for trips on it — and we gave a guarantee with every ticket that we would take people out — but we didn't guarantee to bring them back.  They might have to walk."

Scary weedcutter

Weed was a serious problem so they decided they needed a pair of weed clearing boats.  They 'aquired' two ex-army flat bottomed bridging pontoons, put a weed scraper at the front of one and a silage blower in the other and worked the boats side by side.

The weed was pulled up on a rope and someone stood by the side of it shovelling the weed across into the other boat where it fed into the silage blower that shot the weed onto the bank - it had a six cyclinder Lister engine and it threw the stuff out with great force — beer bottles and everything.  People who saw it in action described it as "pretty scary".

Bryan House on the front of Ladywood

Tripboat Ladywood

They were doing well with trips on the Kenavon Queen but then someone saw an advert in Waterways World for a 70 foot narrowboat at Ladywood in Birmingham.

A group of them set off by car to look at the boat which turned out to be in a terrible state. Completely bare inside with the engine in bits in three bread baskets in a shed — and the propellor shaft removed.

The asking price was £15,000 but after haggling they finally paid £5,000 for the boat and went back to Bradford on Avon with the engine in the back of the car.

The next problem was getting the boat back to the K&A. Bryan called in a favour from Sparrow Cranes, who did work for the Cement Works. They had a depot very near to Ladywood and they agreed to move the boat as a favour next time they were doing a job in Bristol.

Once the Ladywood was at Bradford on Avon they fitted her out and with a refurbished engine she was soon taking people on trips on the canal.

Bryan and his son-in-law, Tupper Abbott, helped to run the dry dock at Bradford on Avon and many boat owners in those early days of leisure boating on the K&A were glad of their skills and inventiveness.  Ray Rogers who kept his boat nearby said, "There seemed to be no problem that Bryan couldn't overcome and he was always willing to help other boaters."  Bryan and Tupp were involved with the maintenance of the trip boat, Ladywood, which had by then been taken over by the Canal Trust.  Through Bryan's wheeling and dealing with suppliers the boat was kept serviceable at almost no cost to the Trust.

Because of the politics of the K&A Canal Trust at that time Bryan stopped volunteering for the Trust and concentrated instead on his own boat, The Lady Peggy, a clinker built wooden converted ship's lifeboat that he kept at Lower Foxhangers. And Bryan could always be relied on to help other boaters with their maintenance problems.

Although Bryan stopped his voluntary work with the Trust he remained a member and he was one of the small number of Trust members who attended every AGM.

In his later years Bryan lived in Bradford on Avon with his partner Pauline Elcock who sadly died last September.

Bryan is survived by his two daughters, Kim and Simone, and five grand daughters and three grandsons.

Bob Naylor

Public hanging at Caen Hill on the K&A Canal

Kennet & Avon Canal — Devizes winter works open day

British Waterways engineers are replacing seven pairs of lock gates on the Caen Hill Flight and a special open day has been set  aside in the schedule so that the public can come and see just what is involved in maintaining this important scheduled ancient monument.  

Lock gate hanging at Caen Hill: Picture by Bob Naylor©

You can meet the British Waterways team on Saturday 12th February 2011 from 10.30am until 3.30pm. There will be guided tours on the hour from 11am to 3pm.

Park at the Caen Hill visitor car park which is off the B3101 near Rowde (look out for the brown Caen Hill Flight  sign).

Historic K&A ice skating picture - more information

This picture of a lone skater on the K&A Canal went online yesterday with a request for more information about the date it was taken. 

Picture by Bob Naylor©

The first response with information is from Tony Adamson the former landlord of the Bridge Inn at Horton who has filled in some of the details:  The skater is Dick Van Klavren who Tony believes still lives in the Devizes area.  

Tony also said, "After BW smashed up his rink in Devizes, Dick was not thwarted and he would skate out on the canal from Devizes to the Bridge Inn at Horton where he would have a chat and glass of lemonade — and then skate back to town."

Tony has also put a name to the crane driver of the crane that went into the canal.  He was Howard Hewitt who was the owner of Devizes Cranes — but Tony isn't sure of the date of the freeze.  So more information and/ or pictures would be welcome.

See previous story: Caen Hill skater
Email: news@kacanaltimes.co.uk

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Ice skating on the K&A Canal - historic picture

I came across this picture of a lone skater on the Kennet & Avon Canal on the pound below Prison Bridge on the Devizes Flight in a box of scrap pictures today.  I remember the story very well ... well up to a point.  The guy skating round the pound was, I am pretty sure, a Dutchman — and a speed skating enthusiast. 

  

Picture by Bob Naylor©

He had been hurtling round the pound practicing for a couple of days before I took pictures of him. The pictures were used in a few newspapers and they must have been brought to the attention of someone at British Waterways who thought it unsafe and must be stopped.  

To stop people going on to the ice BW hired a crane from Devizes Cranes to break up the ice with a huge weight. Unfortunately as the crane was smashing the ice it slid down the bank and into the water - and the driver had to leap to the bank to avoid a soaking in the icy water.  The crane lay in the water on its side for some time until it was safe enough to retrieve it. (I don't have any prints of that - but I am still looking).

Because the picture is out of the scrap box it is not date stamped and has no caption — but there are a few clues that might help a knowledgeable person to identify the approximate date:

It was before the Caen Hill flight was re-opened in 1990 by the Queen.

There are no bottom gates on the locks. 

The top gates have the experimental 'cranked' balance beams — all of those had to be removed to be replaced with the lock gates with straight balance beams that are still in use.  

It was after  1979 — because I had been working in Derbyshire and South Yorkshire before then — where we had real snow in the Peak District. 

Any information to: news@kacanaltimes.co.uk

KA Boaters' Bulletin: 11 January 2011

The ice is now cleared on the Kennet & Avon Canal and traffic is  moving normally, subject to the following restrictions:

British Waterways report that because of the boat fire in Reading on January 4th County Lock (106) is still closed until further notice.

Stoppages:

Devizes Flight (22-50)

Until 11 march 2011

The Devizes Flight from Lower Foxhangers (22) to Kennet Lock (50) in Devizes will be closed — along with sections of the towpath — for fitting replacement lock gates on locks: 24, 25, 26, 27, 35, 39 & 43. During this time embankment repairs will also be done at Martinslade. 

Dunmill Lock (75)

Monday 17 January 2011 - Friday 11 March 2011

The start of this stoppage has been delayed a week to allow the completion of the dredging works and the transit of delayed craft from the Wootton Rivers stoppage.

Navigation Restrictions: 

Oakhill Down Lock (68) near Froxfield is now open — but by appointment only. BW staff will operate the lock at 9am and 2.30pm until futher notice. Bookings must be made at least 24 hours in advance, call Alistair Ogden on 07711 403471. (Bookings for weekend passage should be made before 12 noon on Friday.)

Between Burghfield Lock (103) and Southcote Lock (104) until Friday 11th February 2011 the water level will be lowered by 250mm (approx 10 inches) so that fenders can be installed on piles set below normal water level. The work is on a river section so levels can be affected by changes in the river flow. Enquiries: 07920 824 310.   

From the west of Hungerford at Cobblers Lock (72) to Wire Lock (76) on the eastern side of the town there could be delays of up to 30 minutes and occasional drops in the water lever for dredging and bank protection work. 

Boating facilities

• BW report that all of their pump-outs are working.
• There is no longer rubbish disposal at Hungerford — use Kintbury or Great Bedwyn.

Enquiries to BW Devizes Office:  01380 722859

The KAcanalTIMES website is online at: www.kacanaltimes.co.uk

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