We went to a Southern Canals meeting on Sunday at Halberton on
the Grand Western Canal in Devon. Southern Canals Association brings together representatives of all the canal restoration societies in the
south and meet at a different canal
venue each year. A great opportunity to swap ideas and experiences with a visit
to the Grand Western where we were able to see the scene of the huge
breach that occurred in the winter of 2012.
Devon County Council who own the canal were quick to respond to the
problem and put up £3million for the repairs that have now been done. It is a
beautiful canal and we managed to avoid the rain on our walk. In the morning we
had several talks including one from Jason Leach, restoration manager for Canal
and River Trust. CRT are definitely more supportive to restoration than BW used
to be. An interesting day all round.
On Saturday Chris
attended the official opening of the Sack House in Wantage. Right on time the blustery April showers
came, but they could not dampen the enthusiasm of the large crowd gathered for
the ceremony. The Wantage Silver Band
played a selection of airs, all with a nautical theme, before the Mayor of
Wantage, Fiona Roper, declared the Museum open.
The Sack House is a
fascinating survival from the very busy days of the canal. It was on the edge of the wharf, and did what
its name implies - it rented out sacks to farmers and others who needed to move
their produce. There was a very strict
control of the sacks rented out, and woe betide a farmer who lost one; the
charge for replacement was a punitive ten shillings.
The building was
due to be demolished as part of the redevelopment of the whole wharf site, but
the Trust managed to persuade the developers to restore the building, and sell
it to the Trust for a nominal amount.
Since then Brian Stovold and his team have done a tremendous job in
completing the restoration, and fitting it out as a museum.
Voles! – we have
been moving the voles from the site at Studley Grange and now we have to clear
the vegetation to discourage any new ones taking up residence. We have a digger in to do this job. Andrew
Chapman has been leading the project with a lot of help from John Bower and his
team. Well done and many thanks to them
for all their hard work so far.
Kath Hatton
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