The latest issue of the WRG magazine 'Navvies' can be read online.

Go to their website at: Waterway Recovery Group

Government plans could compromise safety says BW staff Union


British Waterways staff fear that reliance on volunteers for vital maintenance work could compromise the safety of canal users and they are seeking assurances  that enough employed skilled staff will be retained to prevent potential devastation. 

"We have real fears that the vital maintenance work that is needed on the waterways network will be forced to rely on the efforts of volunteers to fill gaps left by qualified engineers, if enough funding is not found", said Julia Long, the Unite National Officer for docks and waterways. 
     
She continued, "Caring for our 250-year old working heritage that spans canals, reservoirs, aqueducts, bridges and locks, requires intensive management and significant funding, yet year after year central government has only provided enough money to fund 90 per cent of the urgent work.

      
"It is simply not appropriate to hand over essential infrastructure maintenance to volunteers —  BW maintain the 2,200 mile canal network in the UK and the recent announcement by government is very disturbing as it increases the level of flood risk to the homes, offices and buildings along the banks of the canal network.

      
"Unite is calling for the government to give guarantees that there will not be a wholesale cull of the workforce — and that enough employed skilled staff will be retained to prevent the potential devastation which would be caused if just one of the banks gave way."

     
Julia went on to explain that the water network provides a system that gives £65 million worth of drainage from fields as well as leisure and environmentally-friendly freight transport and she she concluded, "Half the population lives within five miles of a canal or river and 13 million people use them every year as part of their everyday life - as a short-cut to work, walking the dog — or simply taking time-out and watching the boats."

Fact file: 

BW employ 1,800 staff who maintain 1,654 locks, 54 tunnels, 3,115 bridges, 
417 aqueducts and 91 reservoirs.

Navigation delays on the K&A Canal near Hungerford 

Monday 11 October 2010 - Monday 31 January 2011 

There will be delays and occassional drops in the water lever on the Kennet & Avon Canal from  the west of Hungerford at Cobblers Lock(72) to Wire Lock(76) on the eastern side of the town for dredging and bank protection work.    


Boaters may experience short delays but they should not be longer than 30 minutes. 


BW says that when the water levels are lowered the pound should still be passable by staying in the middle of the channel. 

Enquiries: 0121 323 1700

Radio Play — Maidens' Trip

On Radio 4 Friday 8 October  2010 at 2.15pm

This is a dramatisation of the classic canal book written by Emma Smith in 1948. The story is a fictional memoir that chronicles the adventures of three 18-year-old women who signed on with the Grand Union Carrying company in wartime Britain.

It is set in 1943 and it follows the maiden voyage of  Emma, Charity, and Nanette aboard the motor-boat 'Venus' and butty 'Adrane' carrying steel from London to Birmingham. It takes them on a journey into the world of boat people, a world that they soon realise is a world completely apart from that of a nation at war. They are often out of their depth — but they face the challenges with courage and good cheer.

The book is available in paperback from Amazon

MAIDENS' VOYAGE

by Emma Smith

Published by The Belmont Press :Feb 2009

ISBN-13: 978-0905366357

208 pages, £8.99, soft cover

Crofton in steam — end of season steam Gala success

Pictures by Bob Naylor

The fourth Steam Gala at Crofton Pumping Station on the K&A Canal was held to coincide with this year's last scheduled steaming of the 1812 Boulton and Watt and the 1846 Harvey beam engines that were built to supply water to the summit of the Canal.

Visitors were able to see the oldest working steam engine in the world that is still doing the job it was built to do as well as a host of other attractions including stationary steam engines, traction engines, vintage and veteran cars, The Ramsbury Silver Band, a fairground organ and Aldbrickham Clog Dancers as well as enjoy local beer and cider. 

Hats & neckerchiefs were the order of the day

Two Aveling and Porter steam rollers and Colin Hatch of Swindon with his dairy boiler

1930 Alvis                                                                                                1920 Model 'T' Ford

Talking about model boats — and beer

The pound below the pumping station was brought to life with a rally of boats from the Devizes and Pewsey Wharf boat clubs.

Bradford on Avon Fringe Festival
Boats & Folk at the Canal Tavern
The Canal Tavern at Bradford on Avon came alive last night as members of the K&A Canal boating community took to the stage with an evening of foot stomping folk and blues hosted by Tom Rockliffe.

Bradford on Avon Fringe Festival
Fantastic first Fringe Festival at Bradford on Avon

Ten days of live entertainment in the town's pubs and clubs — with most of it free — the Fringe Festival in Bradford on Avon aims to complement the town's Arts Festival. 


Pictures by Bob Naylor

Get your boots on and help restore the glory of Bradford on Avon's canalside
Bradford on Avon's lock is reckoned to be one of the busiest in the country for boat traffic and the picturesque town attracts huge numbers of visitors — especially day trippers from the nearby World Heritage City of Bath.

BW tug Burland - for sale

K&A work boats in BW sell off


By Bob Naylor


British Waterways is selling off work boats that are no longer needed — among them are three that have given good service on the Kennet & Avon Canal over the years.

Bath policemen in night time river rescue
By Bob Naylor
Two Bath policeman who saved the life of a man who got into difficulties after he jumped into the River Avon off Pulteney Bridge in Bath have been nominated for Royal Humane Society bravery awards.

Pulteney Weir, Bath: Picture by Bob Naylor

Canal Trust floats its boat for Swindon Canal Fest

'Dragonfly' on the K&A Canal at Semington 

this week before being taken by road to Swindon.

Picture by Bob Naylor

By Bob Naylor


The Wilts & Berks Canal Trust's new trip boat has been craned into a restored section of canal in Swindon in time to be used this weekend to carry passengers at the Wilts & Berks Canal Trust Canal Fest at Wichelstowe on Sunday.


The 36ft narrowboat was named Dragonfly by Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall at a ceremony at Semington on the K&A Canal on Wednesday.

The boat was taken by road from the K&A Canal after being used in a ceremony to celebrate the 200th Anniversary of the Wilts & Berks Canal by marking the start point of the planned link from the K&A Canal to the River Avon in Melksham. On the eastern side of Melksham there will be a link from the river to the canal that, when restored, will form a link to the River Thames at Abingdon.

The Wichelstowe Canal Festival is on from 11am to 4pm on Sunday.

There will be a demonstration by local canoe clubs, Swindon Angling Club will be there to teach youngsters how to fish. Children's entertainment will include a bouncy castle, trampolines, hopper races and an inflatable obstacle course.

There will also be face painting, glitter bugs and henna art.

The trust stand will be there to with information about the canal, its industrial heritage and the techniques being used to restore the canal.

For more information visit:  www.wbct.org.uk/canalfest

How to get there

BY CAR

Recommended route,
Redposts Drive
(off Wootton Bassett Road, Swindon)

ON FOOT

Recommended route,
The canal towpath from the rear
of the Esso Garage, Kingshill Road

Or

The footpath from Old Town to Mannington
that crosses the canal then use the towpath south

K&A Canal Trust hosts museum treasures exhibition

Decorated milk churn
from the K&A Canal Museum.
Picture by Ayesha Robson.

A touring exhibition of photographs of Wiltshire Museum treasures taken by photography and media students from Swindon New College can be seen at the Canal Centre on Devizes Wharf until the end of the month.

The project, Photographing Wiltshire's Treasures, is a collaboration between New College and Wiltshire Council Museums Advisory Service with funding from Renaissance South West.

Nine museums, including the Kennet & Avon Canal Trust Museum had a student on a week long placement. They photographed a selection of objects from the museum collections with guidance from  museum staff  and a professional photographer.

During the project 900 objects were photographed.

The exhibition can be seen at The Canal Centre on Devizes Wharf until 30th September, at Pewsey Heritage Centre from 1st October until 22nd October and at Bradford on Avon Museum from 23rd October until 5th November.

Many of the pictures taken by the students can be seen at: http://www.newcollege.ac.uk/wiltshirestreasures/exhibits.html

Cow rescued from the Kennet & Avon Canal

Firefighters were called out to rescue a cow from the Kennet & Avon Canal near the Cunning Man pub at Burghfield near Reading yesterday (Sunday Sept 5th, 2010). 


The Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue specialist large animal rescue unit based at Caversham Road, Reading was called out shortly after 5pm and they arrived to find the animal firmly stuck in the canal.

In less than an hour they had the animal hauled out and released to rejoin the herd — none-the-worse for the adventure.

BW Corporate typeface

British Waterways' corporate typeface comes from the library of the Berthold Type Foundry. It is: 'Akzidenz Grotesk' (...read it out loud) — an interesting choice for an organisation that puts safety at the top of its priorities. A graphic designer's little joke perhaps?

Duchess of Cornwall to mark the start of Melksham Link and the 200th Anniversary of the Wilts & Berks Canal

Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cornwall will travel aboard a narrowboat on the Kennet & Avon Canal on Wednesday 8th September 2010 when she cruises from from Hilperton to Semington for a ceremony to mark the start of the work on the proposed link from the K&A Canal at Semington to the River Avon in Melksham as well as the 200th Anniversary of the opening of the Wilts & Berks Canal.