September 2014

Journal of the IWA’s Milton Keynes Branch

TOWPATH

TELEGRAPH

One of the boats passing through Soulbury during our Lock Help Weekend (see Page 4) was Fel-lows Morton & Clayton conversion “Malvern”. Of iron composite construction, she was built for FMC in 1928 by Harris Bros of Netherton, originally as a butty. Photo: Les Franklin.

The IWA (registered charity no. 212342) campaigns for the restoration, conservation and sensitive development of the waterways, and for their fullest commercial and recreational use consistent with safeguarding their historic and natural environment. If you are not a member and would like to find out more: * contact any of the Branch Committee listed on Page 16; * contact IWA Head Office on 01494 783453, or visit the web site: https://www.waterways.org.uk

Meet “Duke” and “Baron” - the Kelpies

Re-watering begins at Cosgrove

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Welcome to September 2014 Towpath Telegraph It hasn’t been a bad sum-mer, apart from what’s left of Hurricane Bertha, still battering the north of Scot-land as we prepare this edition. The mild weather has allowed both the Buck-ingham Canal Society and the Wendover Arm Trust to make some significant pro-gress on their restorations—see Pages 7 and 15. Talking of Scotland, your Editor visited a new Scottish ca-nalside attraction in July—see Pages 12-13. The Com-mittee looks forward to seeing you at our meetings, detailed on Pages 8-9. Meanwhile, we hope you enjoy this edition.

Chairman’s Column New members Lock Help weekend 23-26 May Dave Darvill, 1932-2014 Branch initiatives Tony Harrison IWA Waterways Restoration Raffle Wendover Arm Trust news Diary Northampton Festival of Water 2015 Re-watering begins at Cosgrove Pedal Power—2 Linslade Canal Festival Meet "Duke" and "Baron" - the Kelpies IWA concern at EU Red Diesel move Bedford-MK Waterway Trust news Getting in touch with MK Branch

2-3 3 4 5 5 5 6 7

8-9 9

10 11 11

12-13 14 15 16

Chairman’s Column Now where's my drum? I did promise some time ago that I would keep on banging it. It is now six months since it was announced that our Treasurer would be standing down in February 2015. If a Roman bean counter had been putting pebbles (or beans) into a can to keep a count of applicants, it would still be empty. If he had used an abacus, no beads would have been moved.

Now we don't expect our new Treasurer to use pebbles, beans or an abacus - there are more modern methods available - but we do need a Treasurer. Without one the Branch will not be allowed to continue, and it is likely it will be closed down by Head Office. You have been warned! This is not an idle threat: IWA's constitution and the Charity Commission regulations require that we have a Treasurer, simple as that. It is not a particularly demanding task. See May TPT, Page 7. A gentle reminder: we are in need of an organiser, or preferably organisers, for our Canal Clean-ups. As most of you will know by now, David King has decided to stand down from organising the Clean-ups. So we need help in this area - it cannot just be left to other Committee members. I am sure amongst our members we have folk with organisational skills. Take the plunge - you will get help, and we will not allow you to sink! We have been fortunate in another area of recruitment. Jane Bidgood expressed an interest in our vacancy for an Education Officer and, after a successful meeting with her, she contacted me to say that she thought it was a role that would suit her and wished to pursue it. The plan was that Jane should meet up with some other Committee members, particularly those who have been involved in Linslade Canal Festival, and that she would then attend the Festival along with others. But the best laid plans of mice and men . . . I had a stay in hospital, and it seemed that nearly every Committee member was away, and no one would be available for Linslade other than Athina Beck-ett, who would be there primarily for Buckingham Canal Society. As it turned out, no meeting took

New Members A warm welcome to the members below who have recently joined the Branch. We hope to see you at our meetings during the coming months—please introduce yourselves to a Committee member. Mr P & Mrs G Birkett, Shenley Church End, MK Mr K W & Mrs K E Cornell, Stoke Hammond Ms M Egert, Leighton Buzzard Mr M Griffiths, Luton Mrs J Pollard, Leighton Buzzard Mr J & Mrs B Rogers, Leighton Buzzard Mr M A & Mrs B M Stainer, Biggleswade

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Chairman’s Column—continued. place. But at the last minute, we did have a presence at Linslade—see Page 11. I was very con-cerned that this may have put Jane off continuing, but it has not. She understood the problems and said, "Better to re-group and be ready for the next opportunity". She did in fact visit the Festival to get a feel for it and, I am informed, came away with several ideas. So my thanks to Jane and the others who attended. For the third time in four years, my personal enjoyment of the summer was marred by having to spend time in Harefield hospital, although I am now home with a repaired hernia, so I cannot do much. As I write this I am now awaiting a plan to evict an “alien” found in my abdomen; by the time this goes to print I will hopefully know what the plan is, and may well be receiving treatment. Jane and I were however fortunate to be able to spend some time on nb Caspar in the spring and early summer. In June we travelled to Dunstable and District Boat Club. As Milton Keynes IWA is their local Branch, I was invited as Chairman to be their guest (the first perk I have encountered in the Chair), to take part in their celebrations to mark the 50th anniversary of the club. We were overwhelmed with the hospitality we received, and they bent over backwards to accommo-date my particular culinary requirements necessitated by being on immune-suppressant drugs. It was a fabulous weekend, with superb food, excellent entertainment, and above all such a friendly bunch of people. It really does show what a club can do when everyone pulls together and does their bit. As reported in May's edition, the Wolverton Train Mural had been in need of some attention, and I would like to thank Jonathan Brown for his efforts in tidying it up so far. My hospitalisation again scuppered plans for Jane and myself to join up with Jonathan to help. There is still some work to be done on the Mural. If you can help out for a few hours, please contact Jonathan via Athina Beckett. Our Lock Help weekend on 23-26 May broke previous fundraising records despite the mostly foul weather. (On the Thursday we passed up the Three Locks in rain, lightning, thunder, hail and ex-tremely strong gusting winds). Well done to everyone who took part—see the report on Page 4. I had no response to my request in the May edition to let me know if anyone supported the Acheman Challenge team along the route through our patch, so sadly assume no one did. We had very good press coverage for the support by the Branch at Wolverton, the finish-ing post for the challenge. Finishing on a sad note, you will all by now know of the passing of Branch member Dave Darvill following his fight against a brain tu-mour. I could not attend his funeral as I was in hospital, but Jane rep-resented me. I was heartened to hear that the Branch was well repre-sented. My condolences go to Dave's wife Heather and his family. The latest news I have on our former Vice-Chairman John Herrick is that he is now in a nursing home near his son Martin, as he has be-come too unwell to be cared for at Martin's home. I look forward to seeing you at September's social evening - do come along and support your Branch. Peter Caswell, Branch Chairman.

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Members of IWA, APCO, BMF, B&MK Waterway Trust, Wendover Arm

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This year's Lock Help week-end took place in mixed weather on 23 - 26 May. When the weather was poor, punters at the pub were scarce, but this was balanced by the generosity of boaters who were only too glad to let us get on with the lock-wheeling.

Lock Help Weekend, 23-26 May

Top: A full-length conversion and a Wyvern hire-boat share the bottom lock during a sunny interval.

Right: Under threatening skies, volunteers pause for tea.

Below right: Barbecuing in style: Philip Strangeway tends his grilled asparagus.

Throughout the weekend, Buckingham Canal Society ran a bookstall beside the bottom lock. On the Sunday even-ing, the weather was fine but cool when volunteers re-laxed for a barbecue. Funds raised for waterway causes totalled £754.57 (plus ten Euro cents and three Danish Kroner), beating last year's total of £736.44. Thanks to all those who gave up their time to enable us to achieve it. With man- and woman-power of 13, 19, 18 and 14 on the four days respectively, volunteer hours added up to around 409. Thanks also to Craig the volunteer C&RT lock-keeper, to Jane Caswell for keeping the kettle hot, and to the Three Locks pub for use of their storage space.

Text and pictures: Les Franklin.

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Dave was born in London. He met Heather in Carshalton, Surrey, where she worked in the library. They were married in 1956, and had two sons, Andrew and Simon, and two grandchildren. As a young man, Dave played for Dulwich Hamlet football club, where he was described as "one of the club's finest ever goalkeepers". He worked in shipping sales for a ship-building company, for which he travelled to the Far East. Since 1976, he and Heather had lived in Leighton Buzzard, where they became very involved in Scouting. Dave was a bell-ringer at St Bar-nabas, and also became a Churchwarden. With fellow Churchwarden Charles, they became known as Chas and Dave, and shared the maintenance work. On one occasion, a power socket needed chang-ing. They turned off the power and did the job. Chas went to turn on the power afterwards, and discovered that they had switched off the wrong circuit and had worked on a live socket!

Many members will know that our much-loved member Dave Darvill died on 27 June, after a rapid decline this year owing to a brain tumour. IWA MK Branch was well repre-sented at his funeral on 15 July at St Barnabas, Linslade.

Dave Darvill, 1932-2014

Dave and Heather owned a time-share in a narrowboat. Dave extended this interest by learning narrowboat painting, and also took much pleasure in general landscape painting. He was an active member of IWA Milton Keynes Branch, participating in the Canal Clean-ups and other events. He is pictured here taking part in the Christmas social entertainment in December 2013.

Branch initiatives Over the summer, with most Committee members away or otherwise unavailable, it has not been possible to make further progress with the proposed Photographic Competition and the Fund-raising Dinner in association with the Bedford-Milton Keynes Waterway Trust (see May TPT, Page 12).

After the Committee re-convenes in September, we hope to announce further details of both these initiatives in due course. Watch out for news at Branch meetings or on the Branch pages of the IWA web site. Needless to say, we would welcome help with organising either of them. We are always interested to have Branch members' comments on how we are running the Branch, but Peter Caswell thought we should be a little more pro-active than simply waiting for them to appear. So Pete Bickers has sent out a trial membership survey, based on questions suggested in Committee, to a subset of members. When he receives responses from this trial, we plan to ask all Branch members to complete a survey.

TONY HARRISON We are saddened to report the death on 31 July of Tony Harrison, former IWA trustee. An IWA member for over fifty years, Tony became IWA’s consultant engineer, jointly with Roy Sutton, in the late 1980s. He instituted good practice in commissioning consultancy work, and later promoted and managed the production of the IWA Technical Restoration Handbook. His expertise in hydrau-lics and hydrology benefited numerous restoration and other projects. He served on IWA’s Restora-tion Committee for twenty years, and also chaired the investment group tasked with making sure IWA’s funds were invested securely yet profitably. A full obituary can be seen at: https://www.waterways.org.uk/news_campaigns/bulletins/iwa_bulletin_midaugust_2014

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IWA has launched its National Waterways Restoration Raffle. It aims to raise £10,000 to support waterway resto-ration and development. All of the profit will go to projects run by IWA corporate members, and to a moorings improve-ment project on the Cheshire Ring to be carried out by IWA vol-unteers.

IWA WATERWAYS RESTORATION RAFFLE

each project will be calculated and the money each restoration project receives will be in direct pro-portion to their total nominations. The nomination system means that waterway restoration across the country can benefit. Waterway restoration can bring social, economic and environmental bene-fits to an area, and the National Waterways Restoration Raffle will support this nationwide effort. There are many exciting prizes to be won. The top prizes are: • 1st prize - a two-week boating holiday (or one-week in the school holidays) with Middlewich Nar-rowboats, worth up to £1,700. • 2nd prize - a one-week boating holiday on a six-berth narrowboat during June, September or Octo-ber in 2015 with The Wyvern Shipping Co Ltd, worth £800 - £1,500. • 3rd Prize - a two-night boating break for at least two people with Cambrian Cruisers, worth £559. Tickets cost £2 each and are in books of five tickets. A book of tickets was included in the Autumn issue of IWA Waterways and will be inserted into the August/September issue of WRG’s magazine Navvies. The raffle will run from 1 August 2014 until 12 January 2015, and will be drawn on 16 January 2015 at IWA’s Head Office in Chesham. To find out more about the raffle, eligible restoration projects, details of all prizes, to purchase tick-ets online and for full terms and conditions, see www.waterways.org.uk/raffle or contact the raffle organiser Toby Gomm at toby.gomm@waterways.org.uk or on 01494 783453 ext 611. Restoration societies with eligible projects can obtain free supplies of the tickets from Toby Gomm (contact details above). IWA would like to thank Middlewich Narrowboats, Wyvern Shipping, Cambrian Cruisers, ABC Leisure, Canal Cruising Company, Harper Collins Publishers, Waterways World, Midland Chan-dlers, Sir Steve Redgrave and Stone Boat Building Chandlery for their support of the raffle.

IWA press release, August 2014.

The raffle gives partici-pants the option to nomi-nate an eligible project of their choice on every ticket purchased. After the raffle has been drawn, the num-ber of nominations for

Second prize in IWA’s National Waterways Restoration Raffle: a week on a Wyvern hire boat. Hope you get weather as good as this if you win! Photo: Les Franklin.

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Capping of the old water pipe under the canal bed was continued eastwards through Bridge 4A during May. Both banks were roughly profiled about 20 metres east of this bridge. KESCRG visited during May, and continued their work at Whitehouses, includ-ing clearing the site of rubbish and unusable materials. They are expected to visit again during August.

Increased house-building activity means that the hollow concrete blocks used for protecting the lining are in short supply. The Trust's usual supplier is busy making solid blocks, so hollow blocks have had to be bought at extra cost from a local supplier. The Trust held a Restoration Open Day on 8 June, coinciding with the June working party. Work in progress ranged from bank profiling to lining the canal bed with Bentomat and spoil, an excel-lent demonstration for the visitors who were led down to the work site, where Restoration Director Roger Leishman explained the work. There is another chance to see restoration work in pro-

WENDOVER ARM TRUST NEWS

gress at the Trust's second Restoration Open Day on 7 September. The results of the Trust's Grand Draw will be announced at the event. See the Diary page. Profiling, lining and block laying has continued during July and August, and will be carried on at the September working party. If this is completed to plan, the October working party will continue lining through Bridge 4A narrows with Bentomat covered with ready-mix concrete and final bank profiling past the bridge for 10 or 15 metres. Weather permitting, the length past the bridge will be lined in November, ready for the bund to be constructed in December. All will then be ready for re-watering the next stretch. The Trust will hold its AGM on 29 October. In celebration of the 25th anniversary of formation of the Trust, an Anniversary Dinner will be held after the meeting.

Paraphrased from Wendover Arm News, Summer 2014, and Restoration Newsletter, June 2014.

June 2014: view from Bridge 4A, with re-lining in sight, with pipe capping completed ahead through the bridge. Photo: Roger Leishman.

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Diary

Sunday 7 September 10.45am

Bedford-MK Waterway Trust: guided walk. Follow the waterway route to Marston Moretaine Forest Centre via the A421 underpass, and see other features through the changing Marston Vale. Start from Memorial Hall ("Green Hut", limited parking), Wootton, MK43 9JB Transport available to take walkers back to either the start point or into Kempston/Bedford following the walk. Toilets and refreshments at Forest Centre. See http://www.b-mkwaterway.org.uk/events/ Part of Bedfordshire Walking Festival - other walks, see: http://www.bedswalkfest.co.uk/Programme.html

Sunday 7 September 12.30—4pm

Wendover Arm Trust: Restoration Open Day. Guided tours of the restoration site - see volunteers at work. Teas and cakes for sale. Grand Draw 2014 – result. Parking at St Mary’s Church, Drayton Beauchamp, HP22 5LS Free admission but donations welcome. http://www.wendoverarmtrust.co.uk/events.html

13-14 September Friends of the Canal Museum: Stoke Bruerne Village at War Week-end. Nostalgia by the bucketful as usual! http://www.friendsofcanalmuseum.org.uk/

Monday 22 September 7.45 for 8pm

MK Branch meeting: Restoration of a 1934 BCN Tug, with John Pattle, P & S Marine. MK Village Pavilion, Worelle Avenue, Middleton, MK

Wednesday 24 September 7.45pm

Chiltern Branch meeting: The Buckingham Canal: its history, heritage and future, talk by Athina Beckett, Trustee, Volunteer Leader and Work Party Organiser. Little Chalfont Village Hall, Cokes Lane, Little Chalfont, HP8 4UD

Our 2014-5 season of Branch meetings begins on 22 September, and we hope to see you there. Our own events are in bold type; those held by others are in regular type. For more information on our own events, please contact Rodney Evans unless other Commit-tee members are named (contact details on back page).

From H6 Childs Way (M1 or Central MK), turn south at Fox Milne roundabout into V11 Tongwell Street. Pass under a bridge, then turn right into Griffith Gate (signed Middleton and Milton Keynes Village). At next roundabout, turn right into Worelle Avenue. The Pavilion is clearly marked on the left after about 1/4 mile. Going north along Tongwell Street, cross H7 Chaffron Way at Monks-ton roundabout, then take first left into Griffith Gate, then as above. Arriva bus No 8 leaves Central MK Station (stop Y2) at 1922, calls at the Point (stop L3) at 1930, and arrives Tongwell Street (stop ) at 1945. Return services leave at 2159 and 2229. Path leads from stop (northbound) to Tanfield Lane, for access to Worelle Avenue. More info: http://www.mkweb.co.uk/Travel/Buses/Milton-Keynes-Bus-Timetables.htm

Getting to the Pavilion

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Diary—continued. Saturday 27 September

2pm IWA Annual General Meeting: Foxlowe Arts Centre, Market Place, Leek, ST13 6AD Agenda and details of events over the weekend are on Pages 6-7 of IWA Waterways (Autumn) or at: https://www.waterways.org.uk/agm/agm

17-18 October MK Branch Autumn Canal Clean-up. Working south from Fenny to Grove lock, with an overnight stop at The Globe. Details to be announced at Branch meetings and at https://www.waterways.org.uk/miltonkeynes/cleanups

Wednesday 22 October 7.45pm

Chiltern Branch meeting: An evening with Richard Parry, Canal & River Trust CEO. Richard will spend about 20 minutes outlining his thoughts after 18 months in post; the rest of the evening he will take questions. Please come prepared! Little Chalfont Village Hall, Cokes Lane, Little Chalfont, HP8 4UD

Monday 27 October 7.45 for 8pm

MK Branch meeting: "The Lost Canal" with Derrick Hunt MK Village Pavilion, Worelle Avenue, Middleton, MK

Monday 24 November 7.45 for 8pm

"Canal Fantasia 2013", illustrated talk by Karen Holowka and Philip Strangeway. MK Village Pavilion, Worelle Avenue, Middleton, MK

Monday 8 December 7.45 for 8pm

MK Branch meeting: Christmas Social - Pre-booked ticket event; details to be announced. MK Village Pavilion, Worelle Avenue, Middleton, MK

Monday 26 January 7.45 for 8pm

MK Branch meeting: The Jubilee River Pageant, with Kathryn Dodington, a participant.

Wednesday 28 January 7.45pm

Chiltern Branch meeting: The Canal du Midi, with Gillian and Peter Bolt. Linking the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, the canal is now, like its UK counterparts, devoid of freight but bustling with tourism. Little Chalfont Village Hall, Cokes Lane, Little Chalfont, HP8 4UD

Monday 23 February 7.45 for 8pm

MK Branch meeting: Branch AGM (agenda in next edi-tion), plus "Canal & River Trust in operation" with John Dodwell, Trustee, Canal & River Trust. Not to be missed! MK Village Pavilion, Worelle Avenue, Middleton, MK

IWA is planning a major event centred around the waterfront at Becket’s Park, Northampton, over the August Bank Holiday weekend (29-31 August) in 2015: the Northampton Festival of Water. It is being organised jointly by IWA Events Team and IWA Northampton Branch, with the full sup-port of Northampton Borough Council, the Environment Agency and the Canal & River Trust. The event aims to celebrate the 200th Anniversary of the opening of the Northampton Arm in 1815, to promote the town’s riverside, and to encourage use of the River Nene for boating and recreation.

IWA press release, August 2014.

NORTHAMPTON FESTIVAL OF WATER 2015

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RE-WATERING BEGINS AT COSGROVE Re-watering of the dry bed of the Buckingham Canal at Cosgrove be-gan on 17 May. Two bunds have now been built, and a third one started. The siphon system installed earlier in the year, which brings water from the section in water to the once-dry section, is working well. The wa-ter is flowing from bund 1 into bund 2.

This is being monitored regularly, with water readings being taken by several of our volunteers. Having water in the canal at Cosgrove has been a long time in coming, but walkers and others can now see its potential, whereas before there was only a dry canal bed to look at! The credit for this work must go to our volunteers and the record number of outside companies who have joined us this year. We had return visits from Santander, Home Retail Group and Delico, and Vinci Technology Centre, based in Leighton Buzzard, joined us for the first time. Much more work needs to be carried out at Cosgrove. Project Manager Terry Cavender hopes that our excavator “Blue” will be on site soon, to carry out more of the excavation work needed there. In the meantime, our regular work parties have returned to the Hyde Lane Nature reserve site to carry out some maintenance work there. This gives our volunteers a chance to try their hand at different tasks with more variety, and gives new volunteers the chance to work on a different site. A small group led by Equipment Manager Jonathan Brown has been keeping the vegetation under control, but more work is now needed to keep this site looking its best for the public walking along the Ouse Valley Walk. Rotten fence posts have been replaced, the grass strimmed, the hedges trimmed back and a considerable amount of weeding has taken place. Reeds were removed from the canal bed last year, but these have regrown, so once again we have a very muddy task for some of our volunteers who enjoy this type of work. Our annual festival was held over the weekend of 19-20 July. This year, as well as our usual Lock Ransom and stalls by Cosgrove Lock, we booked the village hall for a craft fair and moved the cake stall there. A very successful weekend for the Society, and we managed to avoid the heavy rain that was forecast. Before the festival, the area around the siphon was strimmed, allowing visitors a much clearer view of the canal in water. In August, the BCS became a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO), with a new Charity Number: 1156662. We are always looking for new volunteers to join us. So if you are thinking about it, please get in touch with me (contact details on back page), as plenty of tasks remain. Looking forward to hearing from you! Athina Beckett, Buckingham Canal Society.

Watched by BCS volunteers (and the dog), water flows into the dry section at Cosgrove. Photo: Richard Lewis.

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01908 643242

http://www.willowbridgemarina.co.uk office@willowbridgemarina.co.uk

Willowbridge Marina

Willowbridge Marina is a working boatyard specialising in lifting boats in and out of the water, as well as on and off transport. We are a family-run business, working hard to provide services to canal boat owners and users in the Milton Keynes area. We offer the following services: - Well-stocked chandlery, including stainless steel fastenings and Calor Gas fittings; - Red diesel; - All boat services, including coal, LPG and pump-out; - All mooring services, including limited linear moorings, wireless internet and power, toilets, showers, laundry and extensive storage ashore. We offer a 10% discount on chandlery purchases and services in the yard to IWA members.

Linslade Canal Festival I had a couple of responses on cycling on towing paths (see

Pedal Power, TPT May 2014, Page 11).

Pedal Power—2

A lady from Cornwall, who is a Milton Keynes Branch member by request, recalled her experience of stepping back from the lock edge with a centre rope and knocking a cyclist off his bike. She did not know he was behind her. A gentleman expressed his concerns with cyclists in the Leighton Buz-zard area, and made the very valid point that they cycle too fast, con-sidering that one cannot predict what small children (or indeed adults) will do when walking along the towing path - they could suddenly veer from one side to the other, for example. In June I noticed a couple of chaps cycling north from the Black Horse towards the bridge at Target Turn. They were riding at a reasonable pace, and it looked quite safe considering the towing path on this stretch is straight with good vision. But when they got to the bridge, did they dismount or slow down? No, they kept going at the same pace and slung their bikes around the blind turn under the bridge. If anyone had been walking under the bridge they would have been skittled. I rest my case. C&RT, please note.

Peter Caswell.

Although many Branch members were unavailable, we were able at the last mi-nute to muster enough peo-ple to mount a presence at the Linslade Festival on 26 July. On a warm, sunny and very busy day, we once again shared a pitch with Buckingham Canal Society. Philip Strangeway and Dave Roberts spoke with visitors, and Annie Roberts and Dave Porter ran the Marble Race. The winner was Jeremy from Canterbury, who scored 73, and his prize was £5. £18.80 profit was raised for IWA. Athina Beckett and Jonathan Brown took £189 at the BCS bric-a-brac and book stall. Thanks to all who turned out, and to James Griffin for funding the pitch fee.

Page 12

Sheila and I were the guests of friends whom we joined to visit the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow at the end of July. Before that, we had time to visit a spectacu-lar new attraction beside the Forth & Clyde Canal near Grangemouth: the Kelpies - giant 100-foot high figures of horses' heads. We took the guided tour that includes going inside one of the Kel-pies to inspect its structure at close quarters. After-wards we took the short boat trip that allows you to pass through the lock between the two giant figures.

For the Millennium’s re-opening of the Forth & Clyde and Union Canals, a deviation from the Forth & Clyde's infilled route through Grangemouth was built, connecting to the tidal River Carron and thence to the Firth of Forth. But this deviation proved less than ideal for the many yachtsmen who now use the waterway as a short-cut avoiding the hazardous passage around the north of Scot-land. This part of the River Carron is crossed by four fixed bridges of limited headroom when the tide is high, and there is insufficient depth to enter the sea-lock at low tide. The Helix Project, to transform a large brownfield site between Grangemouth and Falkirk into a major tourist attraction, provided the opportunity to remedy the situation. In 2005 the project was awarded one of the top four prizes from The Big Lottery Fund Living Landmarks programme. The plans included a new stretch of canal, with a cut-and-cover tunnel under the M9 motorway, a lift bridge for the A905 road, and two new locks. The lower of these is a sea-lock that offers a connec-tion with the river at all states of the tide. The Kelpies, standing either side of the upper new lock, are the centrepiece of the Helix site, and are the conception of sculptor Andy Scott. In Celtic myth, a kelpie is a malevolent sea-spirit that

Meet “Duke” and “Baron” -

The Kelpies

can appear in any animal form. Andy chose horses as the form the figures should take, and was inspired by the Clydesdale horses that towed the barges on the Forth & Clyde. Andy's original conception was that these huge figures would be pivoted to dip and raise their heads. In so doing, part of their struc-tures would displace water into a boat lift chamber to lift a boat, or in returning would allow water to flow out, lowering the boat. This idea was ruled out on cost and engineer-ing grounds, and the Kelpies have been built as fixed sculptures, but their monumental scale is fully in line with Andy's vision.

The size of the Kelpies is impossible to judge from a distance. Photo: Sheila Franklin.

Photo: Les Franklin.

Page 13

Our guide was Mhairi, a redhead Scots girl, who pronounced her name "Vah-ri" and delivered her talk in fine declamatory style. The two figures, christened “Duke” (head down) and “Baron” (head up), each consist of a structural steel tubular framework clad in hundreds of shining stainless-steel plates (each one unique). Mhairi took us inside “Duke”, where a fili-gree of light flooded in through the chinks between the plates forming his skin. The lock between the two figures is just that - an ordinary broad lock with cranked balance beams on the lower gates to be clear of the circular basin below it. The short boat trip takes you through this lock for a spectacular worm's eye view of the Kelpies. The re-opening of the Forth & Clyde and Union Ca-nals, together with the Falkirk Wheel that now links them, have already transformed the tourist economy of the Scottish Lowlands. The newly-opened Kelpies and Helix Park, though as yet poorly signed, a little raw, and with few facilities, are set to take this pro-cess even further.

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The local youngsters love to take "kelpie selfies"! We failed miserably at this, but the sunny day made the Kelpies themselves very photogenic. It would be good, though, to visit them again on a wild day under scudding skies, for an entirely different - and elemental - impression of them.

Les Franklin.

The Kelpies—continued.

Inside “Duke”. Photo: Les Franklin.

Page 14

IWA remains concerned at the implications for boat owners and boatyards follow-ing the decision by the Euro-pean Commission to take the UK Government to court over current UK laws which allow leisure boaters to pur-chase off-road diesel (red diesel).

IWA CONCERN AT EU RED DIESEL MOVE

The European Commission has referred the matter to the European Court of Justice, stating that the UK is "not properly applying" European excise rules. This is despite the agreement made with Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) in 2008, whereby boaters can purchase red diesel for pro-pulsion whilst paying the required standard rate of tax, with a form of self-declaration allowing a proportion of the diesel used for heating and lighting to be purchased at a lower rate of tax. The outcome may mean the end of the use of red diesel for leisure boating, with boatyards and fuel suppliers having to supply unmarked (white) diesel. Whilst red diesel could continue to be used for heating, it would have to be in a separate tank, and there would be no dispensation for any propor-tion of fuel used by the engine for generating heat and light. Commercially operated boats would still be able to use red diesel, but this would require fuel suppliers and boatyards to have two sepa-rate tanks (and pumps) for the different fuels. IWA is concerned at the increased costs for both boat owners and boatyards if this change is imple-mented. Whilst accepting that any fuel used solely for propulsion should attract the higher rate of tax, IWA considers that it is unfair for boat owners to have to purchase fully taxed white diesel for heating and cooking. IWA is also concerned at the costs to boatyards and other fuel suppliers in having to install a new or second tank and pump in order to supply white diesel. IWA considers that it is not practical for most inland waterway craft to have two tanks – one for red diesel and one for white; that inappropriate modifications would raise safety concerns; and that many diesel suppliers would simply not supply both red and white diesel. IWA has been aware of this latest threat since 2011, when the European Commission first threatened to open infringement proceedings against the UK Government, claiming the UK was not adhering to EU directives designed to prevent the improper use of certain petroleum products. At that time Jus-tine Greening, the Economic Secretary to the Treasury, replied to IWA that the UK Government continued to share IWA's view that the UK's procedures comply with Directives. IWA will continue to make representations to the UK Government to resist pressures from Europe that will cause both additional cost and inconvenience to UK boat owners. Further background appears in IWA’s Briefing Note on Red Diesel, which can be found at: https://www.waterways.org.uk/news_campaigns/campaigns/briefing_notes/briefing_note_red_diesel

Text and picture: IWA briefing note, August 2014.

EASTERN REGION CHAIRMANSHIP Having served as Eastern Region Chairman since January 2014, Richard Collet-Fenson will retire, and has not stood for re-election. This post will be vacant, and nominations will be sought again in the November edition of IWA Waterways magazine.

IWA Bulletin, July 2014.

Page 15

Bedford-MK Waterway Trust news

The Bedford-Milton Keynes Waterway Trust held its AGM on 15 May. Graham Mabbutt retired as Chairman, but remains on the Board. He agreed to temporarily share the Chair’s role with Jane Hamilton, a former Chief Executive of Milton Keynes Partnership, who was elected to the Board as a new Director. The search for a new Chair continues.

TEL: 01525 270214

THE

THREE

LOCKS Web: www.thethreelocks.co.uk Email: info@thethreelocks.co.uk

A very traditional canalside pub . . .

Dating from the early 1900s, the Three Locks is full of character, with the added appeal of wide country views, and of course the passing boats.

The Three Locks is now family-run by Michael and Susan Schwartz. Our focus is on customer service, with high standards in our beers, wines and soft drinks, and in the quality of our food - locally sourced and freshly prepared. We are open daily from 12 noon, and our friendly and efficient staff look forward to welcoming you.

10% discount on food for IWA members - please show your membership card.

At the AGM, Paul Vann, Economic Development Manager (Growth) at Bedford Borough Council and Secretary to the Delivery Consortium for the waterway, reported on implementation develop-ments. A number of challenges to the Bedford end of the proposed route were noted, including a new underpass under the old A421, drainage and water mains, and engineering works needed around the weir at Kempston. Finding funding for the Marston Vale Innovation Park had been un-successful. This meant that it might have to be disposed of to a private developer, which would have implications for the Waterway through the Park.

The Trust's Community Boat John Bunyan is poised for a successful second year of operation, but the Trust is still urgently seeking more volunteers for all aspects of its operation including crew, maintenance and back office jobs. Jane Wolfson's enormous contribution to the B&MK project over some 18 years was recognised by an invitation to a Royal Garden Party in June. She attended with her husband David who has also had long term active involvement to the project.

Based on information from Rodney Evans, B-MKWT newsletter July 2014, and B-MKWT press release July 2014.

The next main initiative for the Trust is the DIG pro-ject, under which the Trust will seek route agreement, production of detailed drawings, and planning consent for a stretch of waterway, most likely in Marston Vale. This will hopefully lead to a stretch being dug by volunteers from the Marston Vale Forest Centre and the IWA’s Waterway Recov-ery Group. “John Bunyan”, poised for its second year. Photo: B-MKWT.

Getting in touch with MK Branch

COPY DATE FOR

NEXT TPT

1

DEC

ADVERTISING IN TPT: IWA Head Office has told us that new arrangements have to be brought in for payment for advertising. We will be contacting our adver-tisers to discuss these arrange-ments; meanwhile this edition carries all advertisements as normal.

DISCLAIMER: The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the Inland Waterways Association or of the Milton Keynes Branch. They are however published as being of interest to members and readers.

CHAIRMAN: PETER CASWELL Email: peter.caswell@waterways.org.uk SECRETARY: PHILIP STRANGEWAY Email: philip.strangeway@waterways.org.uk MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY: PETE BICKERS Email: pete.bickers@waterways.org.uk TREASURER: DAVE ROBERTS See Page 7. Contact via any Committee member. EDUCATION OFFICER: VACANT—for information, see: https://www.waterways.org.uk/support_us/volunteer/vacancies/milton_keynes_branch_education_officer

SOCIAL/PUBLICITY, B-MK WT REPORTER AND FENNY LOCK CO-ORDINATOR: RODNEY EVANS Email: rodney.evans@waterways.org.uk BUCKINGHAM CS REPRESENTATIVE: ATHINA BECKETT Email: chairman@buckinghamcanal.org.uk TRADE REPRESENTATIVE: JAMES GRIFFIN Email: james@canalholidays.co.uk MARIE DRAPER Email: marie.draper@waterways.org.uk DAVID KING Email: david.king@waterways.org.uk DAVE PORTER Email: david.porter@waterways.org.uk EDITOR: LES FRANKLIN Email: les.franklin@waterways.org.uk PLANNING (non-C’tee): TONY BIRCH Contact via Les Franklin. WEBMASTER (non-C’tee): VERNON DRAPER Email: vernon.draper@waterways.org.uk

Get the latest waterway news at these web sites. Addresses change

frequently, but these were correct on 1 August 2014.

IWA homepage: https://www.waterways.org.uk MK Branch pages: at above address, under “IWA Local”, select “Milton Keynes”. Canal and River Trust: http://canalrivertrust.org.uk Bedford-Milton Keynes Waterway Trust: http://www.b-mkwaterway.org.uk Buckingham Canal Society: http://www.buckinghamcanal.org.uk Wendover Arm Trust: http://www.wendoverarmtrust.co.uk Friends of the Canal Museum: http://www.friendsofcanalmuseum.org.uk Leighton Buzzard Canal Society: website down at present

Page 16

Here is the current list of Branch contacts. We al-ways welcome your water-way news and comments. We are still seeking a Treasurer to take over from Dave Roberts; if you can help, Peter Caswell or Philip Strangeway would be pleased to hear from you.