Secretary's news

Items from Milestone – Sept 2007.

Secretary’s Notes

The main talking point this summer was bound to be the weather; not the dry warm weather of the last few years which was finished in May, but the wettest summer months for some years. It’s as if the average rainfall has been reverted to at one go, but to be fair we were warned that global warming would lead to extremes in weather. The rain has been a handicap for the painting of the railings at Ramsdell Hall, where we needed dry weather for the gloss paint to harden. In July the Marple Locks Festival was unusually windy and the Middlewood Way Open Day at Higher Poynton was abandoned because of persistent rain in mid-afternoon. Despite these trials, the Society display that Alan and Stuart have re-jigged has stood up well to the tests.

Unusually the worst of the flooding, after cloudbursts over the West Riding, was in the Midlands and lower Severn. Pat and Angela were to be busy at the Saul Junction Festival in June, but it was called off with a few days to go as the car park was under 4 ft of water. We have seen the grim scenes in the news, of lock gates wide open and river levels the same above and below weirs. Apparently the watercourses could not cope with the large rainfalls locally and in the Welsh hills too. Fortunately we got off lightly and whereas all the river sections have been closed around the country, users on the Caldon were not troubled too long by the Churnet. We are also lucky in that the peat on our moors acts as a massive sponge and our watercourses tend to be deep stone-lined culverts. And without the scale of built-up areas in the south we do not suffer their flash flooding after heavy rain. Any bad cases here are memorable, like Wildboarclough in the late 80’s and the Dane in the late 90’s. Certainly it’s good to see the reservoirs full.

Now the talks begin on combating such extremes and weighing the costs against the likelihood of a reoccurrence. In these situations I am reminded of how Leicester dealt with this in typical Victorian style in the 1860s, when the canalised river regularly flooded the lower town after heavy rains. The Council resolved to remedy this once and for all by digging the “straight”, a mile-long channel with 2 locks removed to be replaced by one to the south of the town. The cost was great, equivalent to one year’s rates spread over a 7 year period, but the problem was solved. Will we see anything of this scale? I doubt it.

Canal Conservation Area Partnership Plan

The July meeting of the Steering Group was postponed until later that month, and I deputised for Kate, Tim Boddington was in the chair as usual and David Rushton also represented the Society. Debra Lewis is the new Conservation Manager at Congleton Borough Council, and has taken over Louise Wallace’s role in leading the Plan and arranging the meetings. It is encouraging that one councilor from each of the councils attends, but it is disappointing that progress is very slow on some fronts, especially when there are still substantial sums awaiting allocation to projects. Again BW was not represented although a report was submitted. And again there is no progress on the Appraisal and Buildings at Risk survey.

Year One work: the work on the Hovis Mill Engine House is almost complete although a visit to inspect the work has still to be arranged. Our own work at the Ramsdell Hall railings was reported fully (see elsewhere) and we provided photos by Tony Bonson of the first length to be painted and of BW’s section of rebuilt wall and restored railings. All were extremely impressed.

Year Two has progressed little. The ownership of land around Vaudreys Wharf is not clear and David submitted information on this issue for Congleton Council to pursue. We expressed the fear that a deadline for possible grants might have been missed, but Congleton BC is intending to apply for grants. The Society is holding discussions with Macclesfield BC on interpretation panels along the canal.

For Year Three, the group awaits to hear from BW regards application for grants for possible works at the Dane Aqueduct and Bosley Locks. Cllr Bob Grayson and Debra Lewis undertook to view the collapsed steps under the Hightown flyover in Congleton and pursue this with BW. At Bollington there is coordination between bodies regards the intended footbridge across the canal near to the Clarence Mill. A grant for further funding has been applied for by the Bollington Civic Society, and we have written in support.

Under AOB, Cllr Bob Grayson said that many objections had been received by Congleton BC regards a Planning Application for a Poultry Farm to the west of the canal near Lamberts Lane Bridge (77). We heard of this rather late but have objected to it on the grounds that a heavy vehicle required access to the farm across the bridge, which is only intended as a bridle path. Unfortunately council refuse lorries already access properties on the offside nearby by making use of the bridge, and the Canal Conservation Area is intended to stop such abuse of the canal infrastructure. There have already been problems with the earth foundations in this area and a 180-year-old bridge without strengthening would be extremely vulnerable.

There was also a query about listed structures along the canal and although all felt they were listed, no one was sure. I undertook a review of the Macclesfield BC’s list of 1995, and agreed to update it with current information and provide a similar one for Congleton BC. (Stockport MBC will soon be making a similar collection).

The next meeting is planned for mid-October in Congleton and it is hoped to precede it with an inspection of progress at the railings.

Ramsdell Hall Railings

Our efforts at the railings have been hampered over the summer by the poor weather. The paint, particularly the gloss, needs a good spell to dry and harden. Even though we tried to hold weekday WPs, we only managed 2 sessions in each of June and July, and apart from David’s tests with white gloss, none in May. August looks to be little better, but we have had between 2 and 7 people attending, and working in pairs on either side of the railings speeds up the job. Groups consisted of Chairman Tim, Alan and Sonia, Stuart, Cliff and myself, and a welcome new face has been Ken Barlow. With the permission of Brian Taylor the farmer, we have parked cars near to Bridge 86 which is much closer to the work front. This now extends along 50 bays (one bay is 2 stanchions and the 3 rails between) and is made up, in mid-August, of 29 in black and white gloss, 18 in grey undercoat and 3 in white primer. About 20 are left to be treated up to the gate, and this will complete the length we hoped to treat this summer.

More and more people are passing our WPs by foot and boat (even canoe!) and everyone congratulates us on our efforts. This and the lunch-breaks with splendid views over the Cheshire Plain to Beeston Tor make the work particularly rewarding. It has been a disappointment to hear that Mr Humphreys at the Hall objects to the brightness of the white paint we have used as it contrasts with the green of the fields behind. Peter Birch Heritage Manager at BW W&BC Northwich has mediated and he provided us later with 3 grades of creamier white to test on the rails of 2 bays after the initial 17. Both Peter and Terry Dale agreed with us that there was little or no difference between the shades of white when applied, so we resolved to continue with the creamiest colour. This was surprising because this paint looks almost custard pink in the pot. We even canvassed opinions from passers-by and they thought it was all the same colour! BW has supported us by telling Mr Humphreys that the shade will dull in time with ultra-violet light, weathering and bird-lime, and it has been left that we agree to disagree.

The contractors used by BW, to rebuild a section of wall and restore the railings along the first section up to where we started painting, have finished their work. Those who saw it will acknowledge this was a substantial job, as an overhead gantry was needed to lift into position some hefty slabs and it’s a pity one has to be in the field below to appreciate the quality of the work. The metal worker also repaired the stanchions and replaced some rails. However there were some minor shortcomings, such as some mild steel rails were used, not fixed adequately and not treated with rust-inhibitor or primer. We are trying to liaise with BW who dealt with the contractor to resolve this so that hopefully we can paint some of this stretch before the weather deteriorates.

We intend to meet BW to discuss the next steps with the railings this autumn. Now the benefits of the work are obvious, it would be prudent to apply for funding to complete the work within the framework of the Partnership Plan, especially as we have experience of the painting and BW of tackling the metalwork. It is possible that the most expensive work is now completed. The more bays we manage to paint, the smaller the scale of repairs will appear. I have estimated that of the 300-plus bays, 210 are good for painting; this is made up of 43 in the contractors’ length, 70 in our current stretch and 97 in the remaining longer piece by the moorings up to Bridge 87. This last length has got very overgrown again over the past 2 years and we will try to get BW and Mr Taylor to help by cutting the hawthorns back further. More winter bonfires!

Thanks go to those who have been on the work parties and to David Rushton who has liaised with the farmers, with BW over the paints and has stored and brought the equipment for these sessions.

Tourism in Macclesfield

Stuart and I have held a further meeting at the Town Hall regards putting information panels along the upper level of the canal, and the Council is to consult BW about complementing their panels. We suggested they view the new panels at Bugsworth Basin and Ian is helping with this. There are other interesting projects that are in the early stages that might surface shortly. The Council also feels that the legendary footbridge at Clarence Mill will be built and they hope it will be opened at the next Bollington Festival in 2009. We have written a letter in support of this and we wish the Bollington Civic Society well in their grant application.

Maps

Our new maps are flying through the map boxes, thanks to Alan, Sonia and others who keep the boxes stocked. Tim B has also updated the version of the map on our website. I had a phone-call the other day from a walking group in Newcastle under Lyme who had pasted together print-outs of the website version and were checking that the towpath was all still walkable!

News on Members

Derek and Barbara Cheeseman have moved to Dorset but the future for their boat Lyme Lady is not known.

I had an email from Michael Reece in late May to say he and Anne were about to move to the West Country and ask if he could pass on a copy of the 1825 Act for the Macc Canal to a good home. It’s not often there’s an offer like that, so I popped over to bid farewell and accept the copy which will be invaluable for our historical group’s researches. Michael had copied the Act around 14 years ago, when he was NW secretary of APCO (Assoc. of Pleasure Craft Operators) and there were disputes with BW about constructing marinas and connecting them to the canals. There was also a covering letter from the late Nick Glazebrook, the Midlands solicitor who gave IWA much assistance then, and even what looked like relevant pages from the T&M Act of the 1760’s.

They moved from Chorley, Nantwich, in late July after fellow “old Apconians” who had also sold their businesses gave them a farewell lunch. He sends best wishes to those of us who remember him from when he ran Heritage Narrowboats, and he kindly said that without the MCS the Macc would be a poorer place.

I hear that Bob Heath is making a slow recovery from his recent illness. Let’s hope we see him and Penny soon at meetings and on walks.

Chairman Tim and Sheila were interviewed in June for an article in the Stoke Sunday Sentinel about the work on the railings at Ramsdell Hall. It’s all good local publicity but Tim cringed at the “don’t fence me in” title, but he made contact with someone who knew about the Scholar Green wharfhouse.

Councillor John Jackson Seat

A small ceremony was held at Bosley Lock 3 on the late May Bank Holiday Monday to unveil the bench seat positioned there on the offside by BW in John’s memory. There was a gathering of his family and Tim, Sheila, Kate and Tony from the Society; I’m told it was marked by sunshine and short heavy showers. Others will have seen the seat since and will surely agree it is a splendid addition here as it provides a rest for walkers and a good view over to the Cloud. Another good example of much appreciated help and cooperation from BW.

Historical Group

As autumn approaches our group undertaking studies of documents and maps of the Canal will be re-congregating to plan further studies and lines of research. Tim D has studied ownership of land along the line and I have tried to work out where Crosley saved on the length of the canal by straightening the planned line. Tim B has found a reference to the Rookery in Bollington (close to the Middlewood roundabout on the Silk Road) in 1832 when the tenant was a Mr William Crossley at an annual rent of £52 15s. Graham says William Crosley, engineer of the Macclesfield Canal who was then about to complete his contract, was not fussy how many “s’s” were in his name – this is too much of a coincidence as there would have been few who could afford that rent.

The group will be invigorated by the influx of David Kitching who has just retired and Graham Cousins who will retire this coming winter, provided no other tasks intervene for their attention.

Along the Line

When Stuart, Keith & I returned along the Macc in late May, we couldn’t help but notice the good condition of the Macc compared with the Caldon and the T&M. As regards vegetation clearance one minor length to be overlooked is the offside below the stop lock on the T&M branch. This is noticeable because the rest is so good, but 2 boats can pass without bother. It was not surprising to hear at Bosley that some staff from the Macclesfield were to be seconded to the Caldon and the T&M to help with the backlog of work there.

Paul Clegg is now foreman on the whole of the Macc and Dave Tomkinson has moved to be foreman on the Caldon. The extra hands are clearing vegetation starting from Froghall and are reported to be making great inroads. Grand Trunk, magazine of the T&MCS, has complained about the state of the locks there, and I think effort is now going into these. Perhaps they’ll be as good as Bosley!

There is contention elsewhere about the number and size of marinas springing up around the system, especially on the northern parts of the T&M. Waterways World had an article about those opened last year and planned to open in the next two years, and most noticeable was the lack of new marinas along the Macclesfield and Peak Forest Canals. BW is said to have improved its processing of marina plans to meet the demand for moorings. Perhaps I asked the wrong question at the last User Group meeting as to whether this is working well in the case of the Macc. Answer, “Yes”. I believe there is no movement on the Bosley plan, but there was interest earlier this year in developing Marineville at Higher Poynton which is subject to probate. One wonders why the wide at Poynton cannot be dredged for more boats to be moored at an angle, rather than have the towpath moorings. At the present it seems to be used solely for angling.

With the Macc team spread more thinly, we see less of them as most are travelling daily to work elsewhere in W&BC. George Ball has extended his territory to inspect and work on the feeders and reservoirs, but he’s sometimes to be seen at the locks.

In early September, BW kindly removed the waste bin and overflowing refuse that have been beside the moorings just south of Bridge 86, near Ramsdell Hall for some time. Where this originated no one knows, as such bins are only installed by BW or the local council with an agreement for emptying it. After many complaints Terry Dale cleared the area, so we hope the moorers will take their refuse with them to a disposal point, which is more than can be said for those moored near Lyme Green.

News Elsewhere

Douglas Flack, who with Judy gave May’s talk on the Derby Canal project, emailed to say that shortly afterwards they had spent 4 weeks cruising the T&M, Shroppie and Llangollen and had only 5 dry days. He also reminded me that in the context of H&S documentation, an ASBO is “a statement of the b* obvious”!

Stone railway station is on the branch to Stafford where this leaves the main line (close to L30 on the T&M) and is now an oddity in that it was modernised during the recent revamp but never re-opened. The latest Grand Trunk says the T&MCS committee now meets at the station and it feels as if trains are heading straight for the meeting room, although they do give a toot before roaring past.

Canalside Cranes

Tim’s item in the Spring issue with the photo of the boating party at Styperson Wharf got me looking at the 1891 plans for reference to cranes, which must have been important items for business on the canal at that time. At Marple Top Lock Wharf one is marked, and the one at Styperson in the photo is referred to as “old crane” even then. Tim commented on the odd spelling there, by Bridge 20, of “Stypherson”, but the stone mill further along by Hibberts Brow Bridge 21 is “Styperston Stone Saw Mill”, and that had 2 travelling cranes. There was also a crane at the north end of Clarence Mill.

At Bollington opposite the Adelphi Mill was a warehouse with a crane marked “10 ton”. The stone yard there had a 5 ton crane and there was a travelling crane by the stone saw mills on the yard. Outside the Adelphi Mill was a 16 ton crane. At Kerridge Stone Yard (now the Dry Dock) there were 2 travelling cranes, but the contemporary OS map shows more detail with a number of cranes by the water’s edge to the south. The next one marked was halfway along the Buxton Road wharf. The one now by the offside properties just north of Bridge 39 is not marked and perhaps this was re-sited in recent times (anyone remember?). They get more sparse further south, as there was one on the west side of Congleton (Canal Street) Wharf, and another on the north side of Kent Green Wharf, what is now Heritage Narrowboats.

Halous 2007

This year’s Halous (Have a Lock On US, and our 15th in my reckoning) began on July 25 with a meeting of 9 of us at the Harrington Arms, Bosley, to make preliminary arrangements. A sure sign that it is imminent is when Denry and Jack arrive at the Dry Dock for their annual blacking in the week before the Bank Holiday. Their journey back on the Friday was via a (pre-booked) meal at the Fools Nook, but not before Keith & I had set off on Kerridge, to moor in the L5/6 pound below the main road bridge. Eventually Kerridge, Jack and Denry were moored there, and Jack did a daily pirouette each day above and below Lock 5 to drop items off for the stand.

The Society gazebo, stand and stock appeared at 9.00am with Stuart, Alan and Sonia who arrived by road, and all were soon erected. The arriving volunteers were dispersed down the lock flight by Tony. New this time was the extra gazebo of Trevor and Audrey which allowed our stock and display to expand for better viewing. We were blessed with dry and mostly sunny weather and there were plenty of towpath walkers and casual visitors, besides the passing boaters. Audrey’s cakes disappeared like the proverbial hot ones and Trevor’s 2nd hand books proved popular. Someone even paid generously for a collection of old canal magazines, which has left space in my canal office for vacuuming. The stand makes a good area to congregate off the towpath, and Audrey, Frances, Sheila, Maureen and Sonia must be thanked for their arranging and running of it each day.

Sheila kept a tally of the boats and this showed that, at 70, numbers were down on previous years, but the rush on Monday was again more than the whole of Sunday. There were a creditable 22/23 helpers on each day, but for much of the Saturday we were very stretched with Tony operating Locks 11 & 12. The gate paddles on Locks 4 & 5 were very stiff again and I tried to help the crews on both locks. Things eased as Angela & Pat (Chouette) and Kate & Tony (Ferric the Red) arrived and for much of Sunday and Monday Locks 2 to 12 were manned. They joined Chris & Liz Tonge to make up another MCS boating community at the bottom lock, but we did meet to view Chouette, new from David Piper. Even the Top Lock was manned for a time by Mark Steadman. A pleasant side of Halous is greeting friends who we don’t meet regularly, such as Stephen Bish from Peterbrough, Ron & Chris Marsland from Sale, and Alan Walker from Poynton.

The new working arrangements by BW are for no lock keeper during the week, and like us they have been plagued by the bad weather not letting them paint the gates at the weekends. Mike McGrisken (BW joiner) kept us entertained by painting those in the middle of the flight while we kept the boats moving and occupants off the wet paint. The BW Wales & Border Counties Acting Manager, David Baldacchino, visited us on the Saturday, as well as other W&BC canal events over the holiday period. We were able to quiz him and pass on views about the Partnership Scheme, work at Ramsdell Hall railings and the problems with mooring at Scholar Green.

The variety of boats and crews was as entertaining as ever, and each of us will have our own memories. Mine was of the boater who wanted to get away from it all by taking his Springer single-handed down to moor on the embankment over the weekend. He had just completed the design of a jaffa cake making machine for Iran and was exhausted by having to prove that it could not be employed as a weapon against us! All boats from below were well aware of our work on the railings at Ramsdell Hall, and this was emphasised in our display. Perhaps this accounts for their generosity as more than £800 was donated despite the fewer boats. I noted that most of the boats from afar were heading for Bugsworth and anyone not knowing of the Basin is a rarity.

Monday turned out cooler with a northerly breeze, but the increased traffic kept us warm with almost continual locking. Trevor and Audrey had to leave by mid-morning to get through Harecastle Tunnel, and the rest of dispersed at about 1pm. The cruise home showed how busy and popular the canal has become. One crew commented it was almost as bad as the roads. We spotted an ultra-modern looking narrowboat named Muddy Waters at Lyme Green heading south, with low-level side-windows. Has anyone else seen it?

Thank you everyone who helped. I hope you enjoyed yourselves, and please pass on to the committee your views on the operation of the event and the pros and cons of having the stand at Lock 5 against the bottom lock 12.

Scholar Green Moorings

We raised this topic with the BW Acting GM on his visit to Halous, as the topic has mushroomed in the previous 2 weeks and much has been assumed and misquoted, we found out. Most of us are aware that an offside property between the Scholar Green wharf north of Bridge 87 and Heritage Nb erected notices requesting boats not to moor on the towpath opposite. We noticed on our walks to work on the railings that the moorings by Br 87 were extended northwards for boaters to use the Rising Sun down Station Road. Recently BW have erected fence panelling here to stop boats mooring and to put back reed beds to put the bank back to as it was.

The 2006/7 Waterways Ombudsman Report has just arrived and it explains (Cases 25 and 91) that before extending the moorings BW should have shown good-neighbourliness and informed the owners of their plans under their Environmental Code of Practice. There have been tales of rowdy moorers that have made the situation worse. Meanwhile BW offered to move the new moorings to the south side of Br 87, but this year’s flooding problems have delayed this work. The precise timing of past events is not clear, but they intend to start this work in mid-September.

Naturally boaters feel that people are directing BW as to where they can and cannot site new moorings, and this whole topic is difficult when new waterside residents appear to object to canal-related businesses that existed long before their housing was constructed. As the GM said we cannot object to the finding – this is final – and this is water under the bridge. However lessons need to be learned and BW could consult users for help and advice under the ECP, and so avoid such a waste of time and funds.

Work Parties

These are held on the Sunday following the monthly meeting. Further details from a committee member.