K&A Celebrations, Peterborough Arms Open Day and a thank you

It was a beautiful sunny day for the Kennet & Avon Canal’s 25^th Anniversary celebrations last Friday and a lot of people turned up to celebrate with them on Caen Hill, Devizes. The Lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire, Mrs Sarah Troughton, was aboard the K & A Trust boat Kenavon Venturer and they passed through the same lock as the Queen did 25 years ago, breaking through a ribbon in a similar way as when the canal was opened  in 1990.  The Wilts & Berks Canal was not forgotten though – Mrs Troughton spoke in her speech about the opening of the landing stage at Wichelstowe and Richard Parry, CEO of Canal and River Trust spoke of taking inspiration from the K&A story to grasp the opportunity of  restoring the Wilts & Berks.  Our Events team had a stand and there was a steady stream of people the whole of the day who were interested in hearing about the Wilts & Berks and our progress.  BBC Radio Wiltshire covered the event and in the afternoon invited our Chairman on to talk about the economic benefits resulting from canal restoration. Rod spoke of the substantial progress that he hoped would be made in the next 10 years and the benefits for all the communities along the route especially in Swindon.

This coming Saturday 15^th August, the Peterborough Arms team are holding an open day at the pub, from 10am to 4pm, for members, investors and supporters to see what progress has been made and the plans for the future.  We also hope to display some details of the proposed new management structure of the Trust and Chair Rod Bluh will be present some of the day. A chance to meet the new Chairman!  Refreshments will be available as last time including some beer I believe ( Donations much appreciated).  I am told that a dedicated team have being painting the community room and Engineering office. Others have been cleaning and dusting ready for Saturday. Hope to see lots of you.  

The Trust received a small legacy last week from a member who lived in Chippenham all her life and was very interested in the canal. This is extremely welcome, as it provides some vital funds to carry out some restoration in the area that she knew and we will be able to acknowledge her contribution by providing some lasting memory for her family like a bench with a plaque. 

I promised a breakdown of the raffle ticket sales to date but I can just tell you that we have received around £2000 so far which is great. Please keep them coming – every penny counts!

 

Kath Hatton

Studley news, management changes, & draw tickets on sale

 Well at long last I can report that the ‘big machines’ are on site and starting to excavate and profile the canal at Studley Grange Royal Wootton Bassett. (see Facebook https://www.facebook.com/wiltsberkscanal ). If you  have followed progress on this you  will realise  that  there have been a number of delays with the project  and directors of WBCT have had to  make some difficult  decisions to keep things on track. Perhaps a good time to remind you of the continuing need for funds- see details about the appeal at  http://bit.ly/1w23LrJ

 
You may have read in the last few months that  management changes are being planned for WBCT. The proposals will be announced shortly with a series of ‘road shows’ to gauge members views before the final changes are proposed for ratification at the AGM on 17^th October .

One of the issues that is being addressed is maintenance. A new policy is being devised by Derek Flexer in consultation with Branch Chairs . Making the canal look good after restoration is an essential part of the project. It is the ‘shop window’ to encourage further support so getting this aspect right is taking high priority.

 

Apart from the obvious publicity surrounding the opening of the Wichelstowe landing stage, it is good to know that further positive things are coming from the event. Following looking at the canal and housing at East Wichel one of the guests, a major developer from Chippenham, met the Swindon Borough Council Wichelstowe team last week to learn how they might use the same idea of a canal for water management in their proposals.

 

Finally Kath reports a good response so far to the purchase of draw tickets by members since the recent issue of  Dragonfly – she received £1100 in the first week and some coming back into the office too.  She will give a fuller update in the next blog. Draw ticket monies are always very useful to fund those small tasks that other funding sources can’t help with.

 

Ken Oliver

An apology, Studley starts, and a restoration audit

Firstly an apology: due to completely unforeseen circumstances, some of the Dragonfly magazines went out last week without the promised Draw tickets inside. I am very sorry about this - I know some of you will be as disappointed as I was, as this is a great chance to support the Trust. I am very happy to send out tickets to anyone who lets me know on kath.hatton@wbct.org.uk or by phoning the office on 0845 2268567 (leave a message if no-one there).  This year every penny of the profits will go to Restoration and the top prize in the draw is £500.

Work on the restoration at Studley Grange is progressing now and we will shortly be putting up an Interpretation Board on the fence at Chaddington Lane Bridge to explain the project. Kate Jones, who is working on the Community Engagement part of the project, has contacted local schools and groups and is busy compiling a list of interested parties who would like to be involved. This involvement  ranges from making and putting up bird and bat boxes, to planting trees, hedgerow whips and wild flowers and to just visiting a peaceful place.  We are also working with Friends of the Earth who will be advising on planting bee-friendly plants and putting up “bee hotels” and with Wiltshire Wildlife Trust who we hope will help us design a trail for young people to discover wild life and birds. We now have a dedicated email address for the project: studley@wbct.org.uk so get in touch. 

Canal & River Trust (CRT) and the Restoration Committee of the Inland Waterways Association(IWA) have jointly issued a questionnaire to all canal restoration societies in England and Wales (and there are a lot!). It is a Review of Waterway Restoration and Restoration Opportunities which has not been done for 10 years. It will give an insight into the scale of the task ahead and will enable CRT and IWA to explore issues around the potential value of schemes to regeneration and development.  It will enable them to put the best possible case to communities, local and national government, sponsors and funders for the support of waterway restoration.  For the Wilts & Berks it is a massive task to collate all the structures, locks, bridges etc and record their current state, but when done will give us a much clearer idea of what we have to do to re-open this fabulous waterway. 

Kath Hatton

Moving On..

After all the excitement of the visit by our Patron to inaugurate the landing stage, life is coming back to normal.  Just a final word on it  First of all, thanks to the many people who helped to make it such a success, including of course the boat team, and Juanita Poulton for working so hard on the invitations.  The overall reaction has been very positive, we had good media coverage, and many of our guests have commented on how much they enjoyed it.  We are trying to work out ways in which we can capitalise with some of them on the goodwill generated.

One of the things that we are keen to move forward on as quickly as possible is Swindon Borough Council and their joint venture partner’s plans for the next phase of development at Wichelstowe. Incorporating our canal scheme for the Wichelstowe Link into these plans is now crucial to join the existing sections at Kingshill and East Wichel.

Talking of the boat team, they are working out the detail of operating Dragonfly now that we will be starting the public trips from the new landing stage. Details from http://www.wbct.org.uk/boat-trips/schedule

As Ken suggested might be the case in last week’s blog, our contractors Land and Water are mobilising this week at Studley Grange.  Due to circumstances completely outside our control, we have been delayed by a few weeks, and that puts a little more pressure on getting the work completed before the bad weather comes in,  We are hoping that they will be able to make up a little of the time lost.

The holiday season is on us course – many schools broke up at the end of last week – so that will have some impact on the pace of things, as it becomes less easy to get together for meetings, or contact people.  But it is a chance to restore batteries, and perhaps reflect on what we have achieved, and what comes next.

Chris Coyle

A Royal day, project recognition and an update

If only we could legislate for the British weather! -I heard these words many times on Monday when many of us were dodging the showers.  The day was very significant for  the Wilts & Berks Canal Trust as we were all delighted that the Trust’s Patron, HRH The Duchess of Cornwall, made a visit to Swindon to officially inaugurate the new landing stage at the Waitrose store in Wichelstowe.  The event  is well recorded elsewhere on the Trust’s web site and social media but Roderick Bluh wanted to use this blog to record his thanks to  all who were involved:-

The visit by HRH the Duchess of Cornwall on Monday went off very smoothly and was a great success.   Even the rain couldn’t dampen the occasion.

The visit may have been all over in little more than an hour but that belies the huge number of hours and number of people involved in making it all happen.  Such a visit is a massive undertaking and my sincere thanks therefore go out to everyone who worked so hard.  In particular, I must mention Chris Coyle and the event team who have spent a huge amount of time ensuring that the arrangements were all in place.
We used the short time we had on Dragonfly, very effectively, to fully apprise our Patron of the current plans and work taking place to accelerate the delivery of the canal and she responded very positively and with great interest.

Well done everyone!

The Trust’s newly appointed President, Sir William McAlpine, hosted the event together with the ever supportive President of the Wiltshire Swindon & Oxfordshire Canal Partnership, Lord Lansdowne.  We were pleased that a large number of invited guests from Partnership organisations and sponsors of the project were able to attend to see this latest milestone in  the canal’s restoration.

Some more recognition for the Wilts & Berks this week as it was announced that the Pewsham Locks Centenary Celebration is a finalist in this year’s Living Waterways Awards. The awards ceremony will take place  in London at the beginning of October and is hosted by the Canal & River Trust.  Special thanks to Val Melville and the team - we will all be keeping our fingers crossed when we hear the winner is........

 

Finally a quick update on Studley Grange  -  I am sorry and frustrated  to report yet more delays in starting the actual excavation work but all other things being equal I hope that next week’s blog will confirm that work has started.

 

Ken Oliver

 

 

Topping out and a Royal opening

We are all looking forward to next Monday’s event in Wichelstowe, Swindon where we will welcome our Patron, Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cornwall on to our trip boat Dragonfly for the journey  to the new landing stage outside the Waitrose store. The Duchess will then alight, meet invited guests, and unveil a commemorative plaque on the landing stage.  It is hoped that the visit will prove a boost for the “Wichelstowe Link” project, that is, joining up the restored section of the original line at Kingshill with the new length of canal that has been built through East Wichel. The link will include a junction where the main line will continue towards Royal Wootton Bassett.

Last Friday Melksham, Calne and Chippenham branch of the Trust celebrated the completion of the rebuilt culvert that carries Cocklemore Brook under the canal at Pewsham. This culvert was breached during the heavy rains in December 2013 and has been completely rebuilt by volunteers from the branch who received £10000 from Yorkshire Building Society (YBS) to buy the materials. The Rotary Club of Chippenham has also contributed £200. The last brick in the culvert was put in place by Lee Hathaway, Manager of the Bristol branch of YBS watched by the local MP, Michelle Donelan, the Mayor of Chippenham, Councillor David Powell, Trust Chairman Roderick Bluh and many volunteers from the branch.  The culvert will now be covered with clay over the next few weeks and then the canal will be put back into water over the top of it. This in turn will allow work boat Boswell and her butty to be moved along the canal.

The planned excavation at Studley Grange has suffered some issues that have caused a slight delay, but we are optimistic that it should be starting in a week or so. Graduate Kate Jones has started work on the community engagement programme for the Wildlife Trail. She would be very interested to hear from groups in Royal Wootton Bassett and Swindon who would like to be involved in some way – kate.jones@wiltshire.gov.uk  or who would just like to visit the site in the Autumn when the towpath is open to the public.

Kath Hatton

 

Two Big Announcements

Kath and Ken have only just returned from holiday, so I have again been asked to provide a short blog.  I am very pleased to do so, because the Trust has a couple of big things to announce.

First, the Trust has a new President.  The Hon Sir William McAlpine Bt FRSE  has kindly agreed to become our President with immediate effect. 

Sir William was a director of Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd for more than fifty years.  He is Chairman of: The Railway Heritage Trust - The Dart Valley Railway - Romney Hythe & Dymchurch Railway - SS Sir Walter Scott on Loch Katrine – Railnews - SONE (Supporters of Nuclear Energy).  Sir William is a Governor of Shiplake College and is President of the Transport Trust and other organisations.   Sir William has served for several terms on the ZSL Council (Zoological Society London) and is now on the Development Committee.  He has accepted the Presidency of the Wilts & Berks Canal Trust as an extension of his interest in historic transport.

We are looking forward enormously to working with Sir William, and benefitting from his very extensive experience and expertise in the field of heritage transport.

We are very grateful to our previous President, Dr David Fletcher CBE, for his great support over many years, and are pleased that he has agreed to become one of our Vice-Presidents, so that we can continue our connection with him.

Second, we will be having a visit from our Patron in about two weeks.  Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cornwall will inaugurate the new Wichelstowe landing stage alongside Waitrose at West Wichel on the afternoon of Monday 13th July at 2.30 pm.

Her Royal Highness will arrive at the event on our trip boat Dragonfly, and will unveil a commemorative plaque.  The unveiling ceremony will be attended by local dignitaries, Trust volunteers, sponsors and supporters, and we hope by a large number of Trust members.

Chris Coyle