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Issue No. 19

August 2014

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Contents Branch Chairman’s Chat……………………………….3 Chesterfield canal Trust Festival……...………………4 New Members…………………………………………..4 Chesterfield Canl New Footbridge…………………....6 River Derwent…………………………………………..6 Word Search……………………………...……………..7 From The Archives……………………………………...8 Don Catchment Area Trust…………………………….10 IWA Press Release……………………………………..11 A Tale of Two Canals…………………………………...12 Himalayan Balsam…………………………….………..15

Keels and Cuckoos is published on behalf of the South Yorkshire and the Dukeries Branch of the

Inland Waterways Association by

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

Printed by Colour Image, Loudwater.

Views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the Inland Waterways Association or of the South Yorkshire and the

Dukeries Branch Committee but are published out of interest to members and other readers.

The Inland Waterways Association: Registered Office Island House, Moor Road, Chesham, HP5 1WA

Tel 01494 783453 Website www.waterways.org.uk E-mail iwa@waterways.org.uk

Founded in 1946, incorporated in 1958

The Inland Waterways Association is a non-profit distributing company

limited by guarantee (612245) Registered as a Charity (No 212342)

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Branch chairman’s chat

In the last edition of Keels and Cuckoos I asked for your ideas for future branch events. The over-whelming response was that the branch should continue to organise occasional events for members and friends, but a more central venue would be appreciated. As for the content of a social evening, opinion was heavily in favour of water related talks. So thanks to your responses we can now try to deliver on your ambitions. Also in the last edition branch members were invited to meet the committee, in the branch exhibition tent, at the Chesterfield Canal Trust's Staveley Water festival. This was held on the 28th and 29th of June at Staveley (of course) on the restored western section of the canal. I would like to record my thanks to Colin and Mary Crofts who came to man the stand, as they have done so many times in years gone by and to Malcolm Fielding for all the preparation work he undertook.. Part of Malcolm’s contribution was a supply of original pre-war Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation Company posters. These had been abandoned by the company, presumably at the time of Nationalisation and had lain undisturbed for some forty years, until the canal company offices in Sheffield Basin were due to be demolished at the time of the Sheffield Canal Basin redevelopment in the 1990’s. Branch members, including Malcolm, were alert enough to rescue many artefacts and stationary supplies,. These were eventually passed to the British Waterways Museum at Blisworth and then to their ar-chive at Gloucester Docks, Anything they not wanted by them was retained by the branch, and a large percentage of this stock was placed in the local British Waterways archive at Fearns Wharf in Leeds. This allowed us to sell original 1930’s SUSAN Co posters. Stocks remain and are still avail-able to members, (contact Malcolm Fielding for further information). These make ideal gifts and evocative wall hangings, when suitably framed. It was also pleasing to meet several branch members, and indeed IWA members from other branches, who had come to Staveley to see for themselves the magnificent job being done by the CCT: ably assisted by out own WRG, who will, again be holding two week-long work camps in Staveley this summer. There are a few places left so if you fancy a “dirty weekend!” in Staveley , here is your chance. There was a steady flow of local people visiting our tent who wanted to recount tales of the canal from their youth. One gentleman insisted that the “canal” used to be a brook “when he were a lad”. Indeed in the early 1960s the canal was so overgrown and shallow that it could have been taken for a natural stream. An equally mature lady told of games played in the summer. The challenge was to run as fast as possible across the canal from tow-path to off-side and back. Running slowly could cost you your Wellington boots in the sticky mud!. She also recalled the family from Hollingwood Lock cottage and listed the several children by name. Both these, and indeed all the local people seem to be delighted that their canal is “on the mend”, and all are keen that they “will live to see boats from the other side, arrive in Staveley, before they pass-over”. So there is a challenge to us all not to let these folk down and to speed the restoration of this very early waterways. It was also inter-esting to meet Richard Parry, the C&RT CEO in Staveley , even though this stretch of the Chester-field canal is actually owned and operated by Derbyshire County Council not, of course the C&RT. Another part of the branch exhibition was a set of images which had been called Canals at War. These were not local, but a random display of images from 1914-1918 and will be used again in Hay-ton Church near Retford, for a WW1 service in July. Some of you will be aware of the IWA's Restoration Committee, which was set up to support, advise and sometimes help fund waterways projects. In July ResCom plans to visit the Barnsley, Dearne and Dove Canal Group and I hope to report on that meeting and progress with the project in the next edition. David Dawson SY&D Branch Chairman

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Chesterfield canal festival

A great success

The formal opening of Constitution Hill Bridge got the Chesterfield Canal Festival off to a flying start. The ribbon was cut by Cllr, Joan Dixon from the Trust trip boat “Seth Ellis”, the first of three trip boats in the VIP flotilla which included the Mayor of Chesterfield and Natasha Engel MP. The banner on the bridge proclaimed “Working in Partnership” because it was a combination of Der-byshire County Council, The Chesterfield canal Trust and the Waterways Recovery Group which built and paid for the bridge. Despite dire weather forecasts earlier in the week, the rain held off and there was some sun on the Sunday. Thousands of people came to enjoy the fun. The Festival itself had a host of attractions. The music and dance in the Entertainment Marquee was fairly traditional, but the outdoor performance area featured more unusual fare such as belly dances , birds of prey flying , ukulele band and Black Pig Border Morris. The Waterways Recovery Group, were teaching children how to drive a mini-digger, kindly supplies by Hewden. This was one of many activities and rides for children. Add in vintage vehicles, dozens of stalls of every sort, several different caterers and A REAL Ale bar and you had a great day out for the whole family topped off by boat rides taken by hundreds of people. Eckington School’s Boat, Madeline, was on the water and many people came to admire the superb work carried out by staff and students to completely fit it out. Late on Saturday afternoon Richard Parry The Chief Executive Officer of the Canal and River Trust paid a visit and saw the Chesterfield Canal Trust work party laying bricks on the new lock that they are constructing. Sunday saw the Festival featured on BBC Radio Sheffield's Clueless programme the same crew that have recently attended two SY&D Branch clean ups) , with the intrepid reporter having a go on the zip wire. Pictures on page 5. Rod Augton

New members

We would like to welcome the following new members to the breach. You are most welcome. Mrs P and Mrs R Heginbotham from Sheffield Miss S Davies from Doncaster Mr A and Mrs L Hambleton from Sheffield Mr A Mason and Family from Doncaster Mr J Ramsbottom From Sheffield Mr P Tapper from Doncaster. DiID YOU KNOW A former aqueduct on the Glasgow,, Paisley and Johnstone Canal is now the world’s oldest railway bridge still in active use

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Chesterfield Canal Trust’s

June Festival

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Iwa branch socialWednesday October 15th 2014

We have booked the large room at the RED LION HOTEL, Todwick. S26 1DJ

The hotel has been extensively re-furbished, has a vast car park and is so easy to find. It has its own service road access, directly off the first roundabout, heading east towards Worksop on the A57 after junction 31 of the M1 motorway. The meeting is 7.30pm for an 8.00pm start. The Committee has invited our Region Chairman, senior officers from the Chester-field Canal Trust, and the Retford and Worksop Boat Club. The theme will be based on two events of fifty years ago, the restoration of the Southern Stratford upon Avon Canal and the arrival on the Chesterfield Canal of the narrow boat “Nelson”. We are fortunate that our Branch Chairman was involved with both these events and will entertain us with anecdotes, colour slides and cine film of those far off days. Tea, coffee and biscuits will be provided. Admission will be free, but a donation to cover expenses would be appreciated. Members and non-members will be welcome.

River derwent again

Possible lowering of the weir at Kirkham

In the 1980s and 1990s The IWA along Dr Graham Smith and others looking after the River Der-went in East Yorkshire fought a legal battle regarding navigation rights. Unfortunately the case was lost on appeal . Its seems that navigation on the Derwent is again raising its head with proposals by the Environment Agency to lower the height of the weir at Kirkham. Dr Smith states that “ the lower-ing of the weir will affect through-navigation from Mlalton and Norton to the connected Waterway net-work. There can be no doubt that this will irretrievable, so any opportunity for revival will be gone for the foreseeable future and likely for ever”. “Lowering the weir will have two effects which will effectively prevent navigation as far Kirkham Pri-ory. Loss of depth for navigation is one effect, a second will be the increase in the velocity of the flow which will inhibit or prevent upstream passage”. Councillor David Lloyd-Williams a member of both Malton and Norton councils said he was “very concerned about the treat to the river and its potential impact on the two towns”. The Environmental Agency said in a statement: “We are investigating the possibility of adapting the weir at Kirkham on the River Derwent to help fish migrate to impotant upstream spawning grounds. The weir and associated sluice gate act as a barrier to fish and lamprey and there is a cost to the EA in their ongoing maintenance. As part of our investigation we will be carrying out a temporary lowering of the river in September to help us assess all possible impacts of the works including water levels. I have informed East Yorkshire Branch about this , hopefully a solution acceptable to all parties can be reached without more legal arguments.

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Word search

In the grid below are the names of seventeen Lock Names on the Chesterfield canal. All are single word names. They can be written forwards, backwards, vertically, horizontally or diagonally . The answers are inverted at the foot of this page.

GOOD LUCK

ANSWERS

C E G D I R B E C A R B P

A S A O E D G H K S T V D

O R B O U N D A R Y N I G

F O E W B N O R W O O D H

O M F G O O N A T H R I S

R L M N R E P R O H T X K

E Q W I D E E P O I E O N

S O U L T B G J H C W N A

T L M L S H A W O T T O B

A C D O T I C D V L U T E

A S S H I R E O A K S P U

P C I D H J T E R T S A L

T O D O O W R E N R U T B

Tapton Turnerwood Town Morse Shaw Bluebank Stret Forest

Bracebridge Hollingwood Osberton Thorpe Norwood Dixon Deep Shireoaks Boundary

Chuckle Lines

Tom was in court for stealing a tin of peaches. The judge told him that he would

give him one year for each peach in the tine. The prosecution barrister opened

the tin and found that it contained seven peaches. ‘I therefore sentence you to

seven years ‘ said the judge. ‘Anything you wish to say before they take you

down?’ ‘I’m glad I put back the tin of peas’ , the accused replied..

Fair weather friends go indoors in a storm.

Most families have a dark horse in the stable.

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From the archives

The following article is taken from material found in the old offices of the Sheffield and South York-shire Navigation Company’s at Sheffield Basin, after nationalisation it became the DAIWE North Eastern offices. Going through the material I came across Tom Rolt’s log of his trip in 1947 in Cressy on the then named Shropshire Union Canal Welsh Section now commonly known as the Llangollen Canal. It is reproduced as printed.

Log of the ‘Cressy’ Hurleston to Ellesmere and Return, 1947

The heavy drawbridge over the Welsh Canal at Wrenbury was damaged by American Army transport shortly before the end of their ‘occupation’ and was then fixed down , thus making it impossible for any craft larger than canoes or rowing boats to proceed beyond this point. Having been informed by the company that the bridge was at last being repaired, we proceeded northwards up the Shropshire Union Main Line, arriving at Basin End Nantwich, on June 30th. We ascertained that repairs to the bridge had been completed on June 28th. We found IWA member Mr. R.C. Grundy with his cruiser “HERON” waiting at Basin End to go up the Welsh Canal. He left for Hurleston on July 1st. July 3rd Thursday. Having refuelled and taken on stores, ‘Cressy’ left for Hurleston at 11 a.m., crew consisting of my wife and myself. We had been warned that traffic on the main line had thrown a bar across the mouth of the Welsh Canal at Hurleston, so we stopped in the bridge-hole just short of the junction where my wife went ashore with a very long line. Then, while ‘Cressy’ went full ahead, my wife swung her bows round and then moved on to the lower gates of Hurleston bottom lock so that she could take a direct pull. In spite of this, however, we came to rest in soft mud. Easing up the engine then lifted the stern slightly so that a strong pull brought her over and we came fairly and easily into the lock. Locks 1, 2, 3 and 4 Hurleston were in good order, worked readily, and we ascended without incident. Obtained a pass from lock-keeper by the top lock, writing it out myself and paying no money as he did nor know how much to charge. In my case neither of us could tell how far we should get. Pound above locks was a little low but not too weedy, and we were able to travel slowly but easily. Stopped for lunch by the third overbridge from the top lock. Continued to travel easily to and through Locks 5 and 6 Swanley which were in fair order and worked easily. Above lock 6 the canal was more weedy and we had to come astern occasionally to clear propeller. Owing to the state of the canal we could not keep sufficient way on to counteract a strong side wind, and we were twice blown on to the inside. We hauled and shafted off without much difficulty and so came to Lock 7, Baddiley. Dunce weed collected at head of this lock which we drifted through in neutral to avoid fouling. Short pound to Lock 8, Baddiley at the tail of which we found “HERON” stopped with engine trouble. Mr Grundy informed us that trouble was overcome and that he would follow us shortly. Both locks 7 and 8 were in fair order and worked easily, but on Lock 9, Baddiley Top, ‘Cressy’ jammed fast when three parts into the chamber. The reason was obvious, for the inside lock wall was in a very bad state and had bulged inwards just below the bottom gates. We attached pulley block to fore-end stud and, with the aid of two lengthmen who turned up , attempted to haul her in, drawing top paddles and flushing at the same time . No result. Lock-keeper (who lives beside Lock 8) came up and said that from past experience it would be necessary to drop the level of the pound between 8 and 9 until ‘Cressy’ dropped below the bulge. This was done, everyone hauling without result as the water level dropped. Eventually we discovered with alarm that ‘Cressy’ had settled on the bottom sill, and while water was let down through top paddles, I set off on bicycle to drop paddles at lock 8. I returned to find ‘Cressy’ in the lock chamber. After all the fruitless efforts, she had suddenly floated easily in. The he lock was then filled carefully as she occasionally tended to jam. We then hauled out and waited while the ‘’HERON’ locked through without difficulty, passed us and proceeded towards Wrenbury. Unfortu-nately, the trouble at this lock had drawn a lot off water off and dropped the level in the pound above. It is a 4 mile pound, but owing to weed, the water did not make up readily. However we proceeded fairly well under power to the first fixed bridge (about 3/4 mile) where our screw became fouled with what proved to be a large bungle of wire netting. We then entered a cutting spanned by a foot-

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Bridge where the depth of waterways obviously more restricted at the best of times . It was also a dense blanket of weeds which, combined with lock water, make progress almost impossible. Our pro-peller was useless, and it was all we could do to force our heavy boat through the weeds. We shafted and hauled for a short distance, but found we were only just afloat in mid channel ( max, draft 2 ft). Owing to delay at Baddiley top, it was getting late so we decided to stop for the night. Miles from Hurleston Junc. 5m 2f. July 4th Weather fine, less wind. Found level had risen an inch or more overnight. Managed to shaft and haul three hundred yards to Wrenbury Hall stone bridge. Here the canal goes under trees (an attractive section) and on this account was clear of weeds. Having dredged out various large pieces of iron-mongery from canal under the bridge, we then started engine and travelled well for a few hundred yards until the canal cleared the trees when the weed was as bad as ever. We continued laboriously, clearing propeller every hundred yards and assisting the engine by shafting from deck. In this wasy we reached accommodation drawbridge where we found ‘HERON’, Mr Gruncy in bathing suit clear-ing propeller which is otherwise inaccessible. Fortunately, ours can be cleared from above. We con-tinued by the same methods through dense weed to Wrenbury Drawbridge, Heron bow-hauled just astern. We assisted each other through this bridge. The bridge itself has been well repaired, but the foundations of the winch by which it is opened were in a rocky state. Normally, these bridges are pulled up with a chain, but Wrenbury Bridge carries a public road and is much heavier. Stop for lunch here. The weed appeared to be just as bad beyond, so a plan of mutual aid was evolved. It was de-cided that ’Cressy’ should take ‘Heron’ in tow, the latter steered by Mr. Grundy’s sister, while Mr. and Mrs. Grundy and my wife assisted our engine by bow-hauling. The next accommodation drawbridge was a little difficult to open owing to the platform jamming, while approx . 1/4 mile beyond there was a bad scour from a stream coming in on the outside. We avoided this by holding well over on the in-side. These things apart, we travelled well, water deeper and the weed progressively becoming less so that the bow-haulers were able to walk along with a slack line. Cast off the tow as we approached Loch 10, Marbury, which was in good order and worked well. Both locked through and stopped above for tea, relieved to find the pound above up to weir level and free from weed. After tea, Heron went on as they wanted to clear Grindley Brook locks that night, but we decided to remain at moorings as squally cross wind has risen and the pound above was exposed. Walked to Marbury village. A fine church (though locked) beautifully situated overlooking Marbury meres. Beer at a rather cheerless inn ‘The Swan’.

Miles 3. From Hurleston 8m 2f July 5th. Saturday Strong N.W. wind made travelling almost impossible so remained at moorings hoping it would lessen by evening. After a sharp squall, wind suddenly died completely at 8.30 p.m. so cast off without delay and travelled well through good clear water for approx. one & a half miles to Lock 11, Quoisley which, though it looked dilapidated, worked well. Lock 12, Willeymoor also looked dilapidated but gave no trouble. From Marbury to Quoisley the canal runs through flat, marshy country, but from Quoisley to Grindley Brook there are many trees and rising ground on right—very pleasant in the late evening light. Coming out of Lock 13. Povey’s, we jammed, the copings having come in just by the top gate. We managed to, haul back and took another run at it, going full ahead, and this time we cleared the lock. At the stone bridge a little way ahead we noticed that most of the parapet wall had broken away. We therefore eased up and drifted very slowly into the bridge hole. Sure enough, large blocks of stone were lying in the canal, but we managed to avoid them. (We later learnt that the maintenance boat which had been down with timber for the Wrenbury Bridge had fouled them and moved them to one side.) We moored at the bottom of Grindley Brook locks just as darkness was falling. No weed and good water throughout this run.

Miles 3m 7f From Hurleston 12m 1f

To be continued in the next issue

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Don catchment area trust

The Don Catchment Rivers Trust is an organisation working to protect and restore the rivers of South Yorkshire and North Derbyshire to condition that they were in before mass industrialisation polluted and made them devoid of life. The catchment area also include the Rivers Rother, Dearne, Loxley, Rivelin, Sheaf, Porter brook, dove Went and many meandering stream that pas through the and discharge into the various rivers. The River Don earned the reputation of being one of the most polluted rivers in Europe. . This was achieved by straightening channels and building weirs all to meet the requirements of the industry of the day. Recently these rivers have begun to improve as the heavy industry, which caused the pollu-tion has declined. Recently the rivers have improved but there is still much to do for the rivers to recover. One way, now that fish including eels and salmon can be helped to return to the upper reaches is for fish passes to be built alongside the many weirs that hold back water flows. What can the Trust do to foster this carry out these works and foster an understanding of the areas needs . In the Trust’s own word they must identify funding streams and work with other agencies . This includes:-

• Installation of fish passes

• Restocking of young eels (elvers)

• Installation of eel passes

• Installation of eel friendly valves on drain outlets

• remeandering straightened stretches of river

• removal of weirs where possible

• control of invasive species

• Education

• Habitat management

• Removal of stream litter Membership of the trust is free, they only want your enthusiasm and support. Alternatively you can be their eyes and ears, helping them gather intelligence in what is happening in the Don Catchment . This is extremely important with the case of invasive species, as the sooner they are spotted , the quicker they can be dealt with. Invasive species is a major concern of the IWA and we have a major campaign currently running to clear them from our waterways. The Don Catchment trust can be contacted by e-mail at info@dcrt.org.uk their website is www.dcrt.org.uk Did You Know The Merthyr Tydfil to Abercynon section of the Glamorganshire Canal was closed in 1898 to protect the village of Aberfan. James Fussell built a working boat-lift on the Dorset and Somerset Canal at Barrow Hill in 1800, but the canal was never completed due to lack of finance. The summit level of the Oxford Canal south of Napton junction is one of the most twisting sections of canal in England. The abandoned Coombe Hill Canal is now home to a number of rare beetles, and two species of fly not known elsewhere in the UK

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Iwa press release

IWA Welcomes APPWG Inquiry into Canal & River Trust

The IWA welcomes plans announced by the APPWG (All Party Parliamentary Waterways Group), to hold an inquiry into Canal & River Trust , to evaluate the development , progress and future plans of the charity. CRT was established in 2012 to take over management of 2,000 miles of British Waterways’ navigations, which accounts for 50% of the UK’s waterways. IWA was heavily involved in cam-paigning for the creation of the new charity, to open up new streams of revenue, create a greater role for volunteers, enable better maintenance of waterways and give users greater involvement in their management. The intention of the inquiry is to understand the aims, goals, progress and challengers of the new charity. APPWG, led by Chair, Sir Tony Baldry MP (a former Waterways Minister), proposes to hold an evidence session which would produce a report of the Inquiry’s findings, together with recommendations for government and other relevant bodies. Topics for discussion include:

• Funding (including the use of volunteers

• Mooring problems

• CRT’s relations with the Environment Agency (EA) and the transfer of EA Navigations over to CRT

• CRT’s response to recent flooding

• CRT’s relationship with the wider waterways community IWA welcomes the opportunity to celebrate the Trust’s achievements over the past two years, and to highlight some of the issues IWA has been campaigning for, particularly the transfer of EA navigations. IWA was a major influence in ensuring that CRT received an adequate financial set-tlement from Government when it became a charity in 2012, and is now lobbying for the transfer of EA navigations to CRT, subject to the right financial terms.

List of Witnesses

• Dan Roberson MP (Waterways Minister)

• Tony Hales (Chairman of Canal and River trust)

• Richard Parry (Chief Executive of Canal and River Trust)

• Paul Leinster (Chief Executive of the Environment Agency)

• Harvey Bradshaw (Director of Regulated Industry with the Environment Agency)

• Angela Morris (Environment and Business Manager with the Environment Agency

• Les Etheridge (Chairman of The Inland Waterways Association)

• Tamsin Phipps (Government and Public Affairs Manager with the British Canoe Union) ENDS About iWA APPWG - APPWG reconvened in 2012 to consider matters relating to the system of navigable rivers and canals in the UK, estuaries and lakes upon which boating takes place, and associated activities. IWA acts as the group’s secretariat, assisted by Shaw Business Partnership (a consul-tancy) Canal & River Trust—is the guardian of 2000 miles of historic waterways across England and Wales. We are among the largest charities in the UK, maintaining the nations third largest collec-tion of Listed structures, as well as museums, archives, navigations and hundreds of important wildlife sites.

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A tale of two canals

A few years ago we found that we were hardly using our forty foot narrow Boar and decided to our beloved “Kalimera”. Having spent quite a number of years as proud owners and enjoying the free-dom of exploring our wonderful inland waterways it proved difficult to be away from the water for long periods of time. Since that time, we have tried to compensate our loss with a number of boat and ship-based holidays. This year, we have been fortunate to have two such “holidays”, the first being a twenty one day trip on board the Queen Elizabeth sailing from Dubai and reaching Southampton via the Suez Canal. This has been on our wish list for quite some time now (as is the Panama Canal which we still have yet to achieve) and was a fabulous experience. The second was a much simpler one day trip along to Manchester Ship Canal from Salford Quays to Liverpool but it was equally won-derful and, again, ticked off another of our wish list events. It is this latter cruise that I’d like to de-scribe to you in this report.. The Suez Canal trip may follow in a later edition (editor-willing!) Yes please...Editor)

We had heard that it was important to book early for the Manchester Ship Canal cruises….that infor-mation was correct. We were fortunate to get tickets for our chosen trip on Monday 16th June and eagerly awaited the appointed day. Being a great one for planning and logistics, Dave investigated the means by which we could safely arrive at Salford Quays by 0930 to get the 1000 cruise. As it turned out, we chose to travel by car and park in the Salford Quays shopping centre (The Lowry Out-let) car park—literally just around the corner from the starting point for the cruise—and, despite the cost of parking for twelve plus hours, it still turned out the most cost effective mode of transport.

We boarded the Mersey ferry boat “Snowdrop” at 0945 and found a good vantage point on the front deck, starboard side, to see the vessel depart the quay. The commentary started up straight away with a myriad of features of interest ; Media City, the new studios where BBC and ITV have studios, and the Imperial War Museum to name just a few. The first lock we came to was Mode Wheel Lock - seemingly very exciting for many of those on board and the commentator made the most of explain-ing how the lock worked—but equally thrilling for those who have a wealth of locking experience, es-pecially since we didn’t have to put our backs into opening and closing those big gates. The atmosphere on board was enthusiastic, the crowd being generally fifty plus in years but there were younger people on board. The “heads” and refreshment facilities were far from basic (not up to the Queen Elizabeth standard of course) and a good time was had by all. I’ll run through the order of the bridges (some lifting but mostly swing) and locks on the route … Trafford Road Bridge, The Lowry Footbridge, Mode Wheel Locks, Centenary Bridge, Barton Swing Aqueduct (we were pleased to see this from a different angle since the last time we had been in this area was to cross the aque-duct on the Bridgewater Canal on our way to Worsley on our narrow boat), Barton Road Swing bridge, Barton High Level Bridge, Barton Locks, Irlam Locks, Irlam Viaduct, past the Mersey Weir, Cadishead Viaduct, Warburton High Level Bridge, Rixton Junction, Thelwall High Level Bridge, Latchford Locks at which point it looked as if our journey might be ended… there was a problem with the bottom gates and help, in the form of the MSC boat Buffalo and some brave divers allowed us (one and a half hours later) to pas down the lock and continue on our Journey. Then followed Latch-ford Viaduct, Knutsford Road Swing Bridge, Latchford High Level Bridge, Northwich Road Swing Bridge, Chester Road Swing Bridge, Acton Grange Viaduct, Moor Lane Swing Bridge, Old Quay Swing bridge and lastly the two bridges at Runcorn…the road and rail versions. The five locks along the route vary in depths but lower the canal by seventeen metres along its length. After the bridges at Runcorn we sailed up the interesting stretch where the canal and River Mersey run closely side by side, passing the Ellesmere Port Museum (well worth a visit if you haven’t already been!) and reach-ing the Eastham entrance and out onto the River Mersey. The change from smooth passage along the canal is markedly different once on the but the ups and downs are worth putting up with for the amazing sight of the approach to the beautiful City of Liverpool. The original schedule had allowed for a two hour stay in Liverpool but the Hiccup at Lattchford Lock had meant that we only had half an hour in the city before we had to get the coach back to Salford Quays.. A great shame because Liverpool demands more like two days,not hours to do it jus-tice.What a fabulous da!; I would certainly recommend it to those who, like me love being on and around the waterways..

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Snowdrop at Salford Quays

MSC MV Buffalo to the rescue at Latchford Locks

The first bridge leaving Salford Quays

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Ellesmere Port Boat Museum

The Runcorn Bridges and the River Mersey

Arriving at the City of Liverpool

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Himalayan balsam

Himalayan Balsam (botanical name impatiens galndulifera) is an invasive plant introduced into Brit-ain in the mid 19th Century by Victorian gardeners. It is the tallest annual plant in the UK, growing to height of over three metres. HB crowds out native plants and can take over whole areas of river and canal leading to the erosion when the plant dies back in the winter. The seeds , up to 800 per plant, are released explosively from the seedpods and can travel for up to seven metres from the plant. If the seeds land in a stream , river or canal, one of the reasons this plant is so difficult to con-trol. # Over the last ten years, this [plant has become more established on many of out waterways; how-ever , Himalayan Balsam can be controlled by pulling it up before the seeds develop. IWA plans to follow up a successful 2013 HB Campaign in 2014 with the return of work parties to known HB sites as well as work parties at new locations. IWA is working in conjunction with CRT in order to coordi-nate efforts and remove more HB than ever before. IWA branches plan to hold work parties throughout the HB pulling season (June –August) with a particular focus of combined efforts from CRT and IWA in a HB week from 19th-27th July. During HB week , a number of work parties will take place and IWA and CRT hope to further raise awareness of the problem. A list of HB work parties can be viewed at www.waterways.org.uk/himalayanbalsamdates. IDENTIFICATION GUIDE If you know of an area affected by HB, IWA’s Branch Campaign Team would like to hear about it. In spring, HB has pinky-red hollow stems and shiny green lance shaped leave. The plant has flow-ers that range from purpulish–pink to almost white in colour and are slipper shaped, they appear between June and October

Himalayan Balsam in bush form

Himalayan Balsam the flower head

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Your branch committee

CHAIRMAN David Dawson Tel 01777 704224 21 Smeath Lane Email dawsondavida@yahoo.com Clarborough Mobile 07501 803918 Retford DN22 9JU VICE CHAIRMAN AND PLANNING OFFICER Colin Crofts Tel 01302 841619 Staddlestones Email cjcrofts@btinternet.com South Bramwith Doncaster DN7 5SY TREASURER Pat Davies Tel 01709 526725 12 Boundary Green Email pat dav@fsmail.net Rawmarsh Rotherham S62 6NJ BRANCH SECRETARY AND KEELS AND CUCKOOS EDITOR Malcolm Fielding Tel 01302 873127 1 Vicarage Way Email elliemalc@aol.com Arksey Doncaster DN5 0TG MEMBERSHIP OFFICER John Bower Shaw Tel 0114 258 2535 72 Norton Lees Crescent Sheffield S8 8SR

PUBLICITY OFFICER Dave Scott Tel 0114 237 5372 17 Bowshaw Avenue Email acp2004naburn@hotmail.com Batemoor Mobile 07900 275327 Sheffield S8 8EY

COMMITTEE MEMBERS Mavis Paul Tel 0114 268 3927 116 Sandygate Road Email mavis.brian_paul@btinternet.com Sheffield Mobile 07725 464611 S10 5RZ Helen Dawson As David Dawson Mary Crofts As Colin Crofts