Always room for more skills and talent !

There has been quite a stir of excitement about the prospects for the Peterborough Arms becoming a viable pub and restaurant alongside the proposed visitor centre and restored canal. It will be a long haul from here to there so the Trust is urgently seeking to put together a team led by a project manager with suitable skills to mastermind the scheme. If you think you might be interested, or have other skills to offer, please contact Chris or Kath. There is an open meeting about the next steps for the scheme on Monday 4th August at 7pm in the Civic Centre at Royal Wootton Bassett-please come along and find out more.

The Trust Council of Management met on Tuesday and unusually will meet again next Saturday to consider proposals for a Special Purpose delivery company to carry out major construction projects.
The Trust has been without a Chairman for a long time now and the strain is starting to tell on the other directors - do you know someone who could fill this important role?

Last week Ainscough Strategic Land held two public meetings/exhibitions about their plans for part of the proposed Eastern Villages in Swindon. A number of the Trust team attended and further meetings are planned to discuss design opportunities to build the canal as part of the development.

If you are a Trust Member you will have received the latest copy of Dragonfly - congratulations to the new editorial and production team.

As part of my role with Wiltshire Council I attended the Cotswold Canals Partnership meeting last week. It was good to hear of the continuing progress in and around Stroud.

Ken

Canal Centre at Dauntsey moves a step closer

On Friday, contracts were exchanged between Wadworth and the Trust for the purchase of the Peterborough Arms at Dauntsey Lock. This very exciting purchase has been made possible by loans and donations from members and supporters. Now that contracts have been exchanged we will be finalising all the legal documentation relating to the loans that members have made. As many of you know, the pub has been closed for about 15 months and is looking rather sad. Work has already been started on the plans for a complete refurbishment to turn it into a community-based canal centre whilst retaining it as a pub. The next stage is to set up a team to carry forward the project and we would welcome volunteers with experience or just enthusiasm to register an interest in that – contact Chris or myself. There will be a lot of money to be raised and priorities to be established, but this is a great step forward.

Rumours have been circulating in the media lately about possible funding for building a road tunnel under the M4 to link up with the Wichelstowe development. I can confirm that we are in touch with the team from Swindon BC about our long-held ambition to put the canal under the motorway, by co-siting it in a tunnel alongside the new road but decisions are not likely yet, as the money is only allocated at the moment, not awarded. Be assured, we are watching it closely.

Staying at Wichelstowe, the interpretation boards that Ken mentioned in his blog on 7th July outside the Waitrose store are proving to be a great success with everyone, including the staff at the store who are not having to answer endless questions about “what canal is that?” or “I didn’t know Swindon had a canal”.

Plans for the River Festival at Melksham on 6th and 7th September are continuing apace following the news of the support from Leekes that Chris reported in the last blog. We now also have some support from Hall & Woodhouse, the Dorset based brewery and pub operators, who have just opened a new pub, the Milk Churn, on the A350 at Melksham. (only a short walk from the new route of the Melksham Link at Berryfield when it is built). They will support the music and programme prizes. We are very grateful to them. For all Melksham traders - we are just seeking advertisers for our Festival programme so please get in touch if you are intereste- Email Paul Lenaerts: lenaerts@waitrose.com

And finally, membership is now standing at 2457 – getting close to my target of 2500 by the AGM.

Kath Hatton

A cunning plan?

For some time now Canal and River Trust (CRT) has been showing much greater interest in restoration than its predecessor, British Waterways. There was further evidence of that last week with the announcement that CRT, together with the Inland Waterways Association, is launching a national restoration campaign, drawing attention to our lost waterways. It is supported by the well-known TV presenter Sir Tony Robinson who said: “The waterway network is part of the fabric of our nation but it’s easy to forget that not so very long ago some of our most popular canals were almost lost forever”. We were already in touch with CRT to find out about their new approach to the question of restoration, and have been visited by Richard Parry, their Chief Executive, and Jason Leach, Restoration Manager. We are thinking about how we can follow these visits up, as well as how we can build on the campaign to help move our own canal forward.

We had some very good news about the forthcoming Melksham River Festival during the week. This is a very important event for us, marking the centenary of the Act of Abandonment in 1914, but with the strong message that a hundred years later we are back, restoring the canal. It is also intended to publicise the Melksham Link, and acknowledge the support of the town of Melksham for the project. Such events do of course cost money, and we were worried that we had lost our original intended source of funding. Fortunately, thanks to the efforts of event organisers Paul Lenaerts and Ian Simpson, they have persuaded Leekes of Melksham to step into the breach and support the event. We are very grateful indeed to Leekes for their timely and welcome help. The event will be on September 6th and 7th, so make a note in your diaries!

This week we are meeting Derek Gow, one of the country's leading experts on water voles, to see how we can enlist his help in two ways. First, we need his expertise to be available to us as we have to deal with any water vole colonies along the canal when we are carrying out our restoration tasks. Second, we want to make the canal an environmental asset for the community, so we want to find out how we can make a responsible contribution to the protection of this endangered species.

Chris Coyle

CRT and restoration ,Studley Grange, Peterborough Arms and a trip to the supermarket

In May the Canal & River Trust and IWA held a workshop on the theme of Water Adds Value. As a follow up to that event we were pleased to welcome Jason Leach, CRT Restoration Manager, to Chippenham last week to have a look in more detail at the Wilts & Berks restoration. CRT is very clear about what it can (and perhaps as important cannot) do to help. It is certain that there is a will to help all restoration projects and we look forward to further discussions on what assistance might be available in the future for the Wilts & Berks.

It has taken a little time but I am very pleased to report that the proposed restoration at Studley Grange Royal Wootton Bassett now has planning consent. Its not quite time to either pop a cork or to send in the diggers but it is a significant step forward albeit with the 'strings' of having to satisfy a number of planning conditions. Significantly the consent is a trigger for the site owners to move forward on a lease for the Trust. Final construction drawings are being prepared by consultants in preparation for a tendering process to seek a contractor to do the work. This all subject to raising a further significant amount of funding. One of the features of restoration of this section of the canal will be the wildflower planting plan as one of the funders is seeking to make the corridor attractive for bees and other pollinators.

Wednesday evening saw a number of Trust Directors assembled in the beer garden of the Peterborough Arms . The open air meeting was to discuss some of the details of the proposed contract to purchase the site- the only thing missing was a supply of beer! We expect to make an announcement imminently on progress.

Finally another trip for me to canal side Waitrose in Swindon on Sunday morning -not only to replenish the household supplies but to install two new information boards. This is possibly the most viewed section of the Wilts & Berks so we are keen to promote the project as much as possible. If you pay a visit look out also for the new (currently experimental) QR coded signs for the Wilts & Berks Canal audio trail.

Ken Oliver

Volunteer Award for the Trust

Last week Involve Swindon held a 10th anniversary celebration and the Trust was invited to attend. Involve Swindon works with companies to encourage their employees to volunteer for local community projects. Rod Hacker as Chair of Swindon branch attended and was presented with a special recognition award for the number of local volunteers from companies that we use on the canal. Special mention was made of Ray’s continued efforts and the flexibility and co-operation he shows in dealing with volunteer opportunities. The actual Award will be displayed in the shop. Well done Swindon!

The week before, Ken, Chris and myself attended a Business Expo in Chippenham organised by the Economic Development department of Wiltshire Council. A good number of local businesses and some community organisations were in attendance and our stall generated some good interest. It really felt as if the Trust “had arrived on the scene” if you understand what I mean!


I had an interesting morning at the National Trust headquarters in Swindon on Thursday – their head of legacy fundraising had invited myself and a couple of other fundraisers from local charities to learn a little from their more experienced team. There are some surprising statistics about legacies – although 74% of the UK population support charities whilst living, only 7% leave something to charity in their wills. It would only take a 4% increase in that figure to generate an extra £1 billion pounds for good causes. Enough of stats, suffice to say that I learnt a few things that will emerge in our literature soon. I think the most important thing is to note that people give support in different ways. Some prefer to donate, some to become members and some to leave a legacy. And all need to be looked after.

A disappointment this week with the Melksham River Festival plans for September – we failed to get the grant from Big Lottery’s Awards for All. Don’t worry, we are meeting tomorrow night to come up with plan B – the show will go on. As I walked the dogs along the towpath at Semington in the sunshine this morning, I was amazed at the number of boats, cyclists and walkers – can’t wait until they can all turn up to Melksham along the Wilts & Berks.


Kath Hatton

A Terrific Event

Last Friday and Saturday the MCC branch of the Trust organised a terrifically successful event based on the theme of Sharing Heritage Days.

The first part of this event actually took place in February, at Chippenham Museum. 

Children were invited to come into the Museum for a week of activities based on the canal, including making model narrow boats, tying knotted key rings and painting canalware.  This proved very attractive, and many more children came than the Museum had expected.

Val Melville, who master-minded the whole event with the enthusiastic support of the whole branch, then organised two days of activities at Pewsham Locks.  This site is a key part of the Trust's plans, as it has a good deal of industrial archaeological interest, as well as being ideally suited as an education resource centre.

On Friday, Val arranged for parties of children from four schools in the Chippenham area to be taken to the site.  There they had a great day, listening to Trust members playing the roles of people associated with the canal, and telling their stories.  There were also hands-on activities for the children, giving them a taste of a number of the different trades associate with the canal, from brick-making to metalworking.  The sight of small children using a long double-handed saw was something to behold! There were a number of people talking about traditional crafts such as spinning and lace-making, which were important on the canal.

On Saturday the site was open to the general public, and a steady stream of visitors came to see what was happening, as well as the passers-by in the form of walkers and cyclists.  Part of the funding for the activities had come from the Heritage Lottery Fund, and we were very pleased to welcome Cherry Ann Knott from  HLF (South West), who came to visit, and stayed three hours!  She was very impressed by a number of aspects of the event, including the strong educational elements, which she saw as very important.  She also thought the collaboration with the Museum was a good thing; I know from talking to Museum staff that they are intending to continue to feature the canal in their displays, and would be willing to work with us again. 

All in all, a very, very successful event. Congratulations and sincere thanks to Val and all the team who  made the day so memorable.

Chris Coyle

Partners Peterborough Arms Pewsham & Melksham

Last  week the Wiltshire Swindon & Oxfordshire Canal  Partnership  held its quarterly  meeting  and   a wide  range  of  restoration issues were  discussed.
Following the success so  far  of the Towpath Challenge there was much encouragement  for the Trust  to  recruit a  new project  manager  to  follow up the excellent  work done by Tim Pyatt.
The challenges of  restoring  the  Wilts  &  Berks in and around Swindon were also highlighted  following the completion of  the Examination in Public  of Swindon Borough Council' s Local Plan.
 

If you  had  thought  that  all  had gone quiet about  the purchase of the Peterborough Arms I am delighted  to report  that the Trust has reached agreement in principle on the deal.  As ever with a property purchase  much detailed discussion on the sales contract still continues and we hope to bring more news shortly.  Regarding finance there is still an opportunity to help with the funding scheme-  please see the Trust  web site for more details.

The Melksham Link  project  team met on Tuesday  to  get updates  from project  manager Paul Lenaerts  on  the detailed work that is going on to satisfy the requirements for  the Environment Statement that will be submitted as part of the planning application.

We are all hoping that the current settled spell of  weather will continue over next weekend when the Canal Heritage days  will  be held at Pewsham Locks near Chippenham. A joint event with Chippenham museum , and funded by the Heritage Lottery  Fund , over two  days  schools (Friday) and then the local community (Saturday)  will be able to find out why  this site was so important to  the operation of the canal.

Ken Oliver