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CHELMSFORD BRANCH

N e w s l e t t e r M a r c h 2 0 1 2

Campaigning for the conservation, use, maintenance, restoration and development of the Inland

Disclaimer:The IWA may not agree with opinions expressed in this Newsletter but encourages publication as a

matter of interest. Nothing printed herein may be construed as policy or official announcement unless stated otherwise. The IWA accepts no liability for any matter in the Newsletter

Cover Photo Paper Mill Moorings - John G Carlaw

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ContentFrom the Editor Page 2 Canal du Midi Page 9From The Branch Chairman Page 2 Essex WRG Page 11From Your Regional Chairman Page 3 The Hazel Project Page 12Doug Beard An Appreciation Page 4 Paper Mill Slipway Page 14Food For Thought Page 5 Just For Fun Page 15Canal Camp Page 6 Branch Web Site Page 15Helmsman Course Page 7 The Essex Water Vole Page 16Social Scene Page 8 Committee Update Page 16

From The EditorThe sands of January and February have fallen down the hour glass of 2012 and spring is only just around the corner. Although with the cold snap we had at the beginning of February the longing for warmer days is not far away.With the clocks looking to jump forward an hour it gives us time to start looking forward to those evening strolls along the tow path and making use of the 14 miles of our local Navigation. Make time to look out your photos, articles and ideas and send them in. For those on e-mail please send your input to chelmsford.news@waterways.org.uk. Those without just give me a call to arrange to collection. 07837 576464.

John G Carlaw

From The Branch ChairmanIn spite of the heading, I have to make it clear that I am NOT the Branch Chairman. Following Molly’s resignation, as I am Vice Chairman I had to step into the breach. This is only temporary, as I don’t think it good practice for someone to be both Treasurer and Chairman. Hopefully, before long, we might find ourselves a new Chairman.As we are coming up to the AGM, it is probably a good time to review 2011. (By the time you read this the AGM will have passed, so those of you who attended will have already heard most of this). The year started off with a change from Eastern Region to London Region, as we felt that we had more in common with the latter. There were extensive discussions about the cost of the Branch magazine, which was considerably more than the portion of members’ subscription allocated to the Branch for it. As a result the Branch funds were diminishing. Eventually it was decided to have it printed at Head Office as the cheapest option. Unfortunately, this required a change of format, and in

the process Wendy felt obliged to resign as she did not agree with the decisions. Our thanks are due to her for producing a first class magazine for over three years.We received the sad news that Betty Adams, Branch Chairman in the mid eighties, had died, and several of us attended her funeral. However we did get a pleasant surprise; she had asked that instead of flowers, donations should be made to the Branch. This resulted in a total of £730.Also in the early part of the year Jan Thurston, our chairman, had to resign as she was about to undergo treatment for cancer. Stuart Thurston also resigned to look after her. (At the time of writing this treatment is still ongoing.).In June we held a Branch walk from Springfield Basin to Paper Mill Lock. Although numbers were less than we hoped for, it proved very successful, and our thanks are due to Paul for organising it. We plan to repeat this in 2012.As the Committee had drastically reduced in size, Molly sent out a letter with the July Newsletter asking for volunteers to join the Committee. We were both surprised and delighted with the response, and in October six new Committee members joined us. We now have a new Magazine Editor, a Web Editor, a Social Secretary, a Publicity Officer, a Waterways for Youth Officer and a Membership Secretary, in addition to the existing officers.However, this good fortune was not to last, as at the end of the year Molly resigned to look after her sick husband (see article about Doug elsewhere in this Newsletter).I must finish with thanks to the new, existing and past members of the Committee, all of whom have helped make Chelmsford Branch the success that it is.

John Gale

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From Your Regional ChairmanSpring is here at last and we can start to look forward to enjoying our canal network over the summer. This year is going to see many changes. Assuming that the legislation gets through parliament we can look forward to the launch of the new Canal and River Trust and the demise of British Waterways in late June. By the way, thank you to all those who lobbied their MP’s over the funding for C&RT, it worked. The settlement is better than we could have hoped for. The time table for including EA in the trust still looks 50/50 for 2015 but there are clear signs that Defra wants shot of the EA Navigations.

You might have noticed that 2011 was a very dry year. In fact there was less than 70% of the national average rainfall, with the South east and the Midlands the worst affected. Last year was the driest for nearly 100 years. British Waterways are reporting that their reservoir holdings are a real concern and that the current position in the Midlands and the South east is significantly worse than in 1975/76. Their key areas of concern will be familiar to you all:

• Oxford summit where there is an additional problem with Boddington reservoir caused by badger activity!

• Leicester summit.

• Grand Union Tring summit.

• Kennet & Avon.

British Waterways are proposing that all the key lock flights in the South east region: Buckby, Braunston, Watford, Foxton, Napton, Claydon, Kilby Bridge, Grand Union Tring and Kennet and Avon summits will start the season with restricted opening times. The Tring summit is a special problem. It is currently closed and will remain so until 26th March. Consideration is being given to some comprehensive closure with only infrequent targeted reopening. This is already agreed for the Aylesbury Arm and is under consideration for the Northampton Arm and the northern end of the Leicester Line beyond Kilby Bridge.

There is a lot of speculation about the future of the National Festival. Can I reassure you that it is intended to hold a Festival in 2013 as promised. At the time of writing the IWA Festivals committee had started looking at possible venues. They are trying to decide what we can offer in these difficult times. The trustees are unanimous in their support for the festival.

This year’s National AGM will be in Chelmsford on the 29th September. We are going to try to do something different and make it a weekend of waterways interest, for the members who come from all over the country. After the normal Members meeting and AGM on the Saturday we are arranging a cruise on Victoria from Paper Mill to Chelmsford on the Sunday. Transport will be arranged to get people to Paper Mill so that they can travel home from Chelmsford. There will also be a chance to join the return trip on Monday. If anyone in the Chelmsford area can put up a member from another part of the country for this please contact me.

Finally, I have to say how sorry I was to hear of the untimely death of Doug Beard. He has been one of the greats of the waterways movement. Without Doug’s dedication, the Environment Agency’s preferred solution to the problem of the Chelmer & Blackwater Navigation, resulting from the administration of the Company of Proprietors would have come about and the Navigation would have been abandoned.

Paul Strudwick

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Doug Beard An Appreciation

                                                           In 1985 the Chelmsford Branch issued a report entitled “Springfield Basin … and Beyond”, advocating restoration of the (then) derelict Springfield Lock and Basin and connection to the rivers through the town.This was circulated widely to Councillors, MPs and the press. Among the many favourable reactions was a letter from a certain Douglas A Beard congratulating us on a fine report.Several years passed, and although the various members of Chelmsford Council said they were in favour, nothing happened. In the meantime Doug and Molly joined the Committee in 1991. Doug initially became membership secretary – a post left vacant after the death of Francis Booth. But it wasn’t long before he announced at a Committee meeting that we were going to restore the lock and basin. This was typical Doug! There was no “Wouldn’t it be good if ...”, and no consultation, just an announcement – a fait accompli. Jaws dropped and the general thought was “Where’s this man coming from, we can’t possibly afford that”.But Doug had the bit between his teeth. He sought and obtained permissions; he wrote thousands of letters and obtained grants, some big and many small, until we could afford it. Doug didn’t know the meaning of the word “tact”, but when he put his mind to it he could talk anybody into anything! Somehow he discovered that the National Rivers Agency had some money left over in their budget, and persuaded them to dredge the basin. I don’t think we ever discovered exactly how much this cost them, but it was vastly more than the surplus they were trying to use up. The County Council were persuaded to restore the bridge by the lock, the Borough Council gave us free use of the Wharf Road Car Park, and the Branch and WRG restored the lock. Roy Chandler played a not insignificant part in these plans, but it was Doug that was the driving force.

It is impossible to quantify the exact amount Doug raised, as much of it was given in kind. The cost of the dredging and the repairs to the bridge are examples. We were also given two dumpers, the use of two redundant electricity board sub stations, and a lot of materials. We were given twenty-two oak trees that we then felled to make the lock gates. The lock and basin were reopened on 29th May 1993 by the Vice Lord Lieutenant of Essex, accompanied by many local dignitaries.Doug didn’t stop there. Over the next few years he continued fund raising to pay for repairs and improvements to the Navigation in conjunction with the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation Company. He also found time to become Region Chairman and serve on IWA’s National Council, as well as cruising the canal system aboard his new narrow boat “Essex Girl”. In 2003, the Canal Company went into administration; Doug was IWA’s representative on the Creditors’ Committee, which supervised the Administrator. As no local Council or other body could be found to take over the navigation, he persuaded IWA to form a subsidiary company – Essex Waterways Ltd - to run the navigation, and in 2005 he became the first Chairman of that company. Once EWL was up and running, he handed over the reins to Roy Chandler, as running a going concern didn’t present the sort of challenge he was interested in.Doug delighted in presenting an abrasive personality to the world, but those of us that knew him well, could see past this, to the real person who was trying to do what he thought was right, and he wasn’t in the slightest bothered whether others agreed with him or not.During the last couple of years he suffered from increasing ill health. He suffered, and recovered, from throat cancer, he had a pacemaker fitted, but it was liver cancer that he was unable to beat and he died in hospital late January. He will be very greatly missed, and all our sympathy goes to Molly.

- o 0 o -Doug’s funeral took place on Friday 10th February. The service was noticeable for the large number of people attending. There were various eulogies covering Doug’s many interests, after which we walked into the snow covered woodland where he was laid to rest.

John Gale

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Food For ThoughtMy wife and I have spent many enjoyable hours on the Waterways in the UK and after a day at the tiller a tasty meal as the sun sets, with a glass or two of wine, was always something to look forward to. With the galley of most narrowboats being of limited size, being able to prepare and cook a meal can sometimes be harder work than a flight of stair case locks. Like most people we have collected many recipes over the years, snippets from newspapers, family favourites and why not try this. I would like to share a meal or two within the Newsletter over the future editions. If you have tried and tested dishes that you would like to share then please send on to chelmsford.news@waterways.org.uk . So with minimal use of all those kitchen gadgets here is some food for thought. Open the wine and get cooking.

John G Carlaw

LAMB CHOPS WITH SHREWSBURY SAUCEFeeds 48 lamb cutlets or 4 chump chops4 tbsp redcurrant jelly1 & 1/2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce1/2 lemon (juice)1/4 - 1/2 pint stock1 tbsp flourSeasoningFreshly grated nutmeg2oz mushrooms, slicedHeat the redcurrant jelly in a saucepan, along with the Worcestershire sauce and lemon juice until blended.Heat some oil in a frying pan, season the chops and brown them. Put aside in an overproof dish and keep warm. Mix the flour with the fat in the pan to make a roux, then stir in the redcurrant jelly mixture. Add enough stock to make a thick gravy season and sprinkle in the nutmeg. Pour the gravy over the chops, cover and bake for 3/4 hour (or until done) at GM4, 350° F. When cooked, drain the sauce into a pan and adjust the seasoning and consistency as necessary. Add the mushrooms, heat though, and it is ready to serve.This goes well with jacket potatoes and broccoli. For a variation try adding some orange juice or the zest of both lemon and orange rind (about half the rind from each and a sprinkle of Rosemary).

Enjoy

Stop The PressBRITAIN'S CANALS AND RIVERS GETS NEW LEASE OF LIFE WITH FUNDING PLEDGE

British Waterways are about to receive a boost with an announcement by Richard Benyon, the Environment Minister, of a new 15 year funding settlement. It will help to secure the financial future of the new Canal & River Trust, a “National Tust” for canals and rivers which take over from the British Waterways in April. The Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has committed to provide £460m property endowment and £390m of funding for the next 10 years. The Trust will give local communities a greater role in the caring for Britain’s 2200 miles of waterways.

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Canal Camp 2012/01The first Waterway Recovery Group Canal Camp of 2012 was held on the Chelmer & Blackwater Navigation in February. Twenty-seven week long camps are planned by WRG for 2012 and four of these will be based on our local waterway.

Unusually, apart from Alan and Jonathan, WRG regulars, this camp had virtually all “first timers” including eight students completing the residential aspect of their Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award. It was also a first time for the camp leader, Alan Wiffen, a veteran IWA volunteer known for his work as Commercial Director of the National Festivals. Alan used to live locally and was assistant leader on the last WRG Canal Camp in October, so he knew the work site and area well. However supervising eighteen volunteers throughout the week is still a challenge especially when they are “first timers”. Needless to say, Alan handled all this in his stride and a successful camp resulted.

Accommodation was once again the Haybay at Heybridge Basin and this comfortable venue together with a very capable camp chef obviously helped make the week.

The weeks work was to continue vegetation management between Hoe Mill Lock and Beeleigh Lock as reported in the last Newsletter. A site inspection on the first day of the camp confirmed that the area was still snow covered, but it was still safe to work the following day and the forecast was for a slow thaw. The Navigation was however still frozen with thick ice especially on the Long Pond and in the lock cuts and this was unlikely to be clear before the week

was over. It would not be possible to move the workboats as planned. It was therefore decided that work would concentrate on the tow path bank and the overhanging branches on the opposite bank would need to be dealt with at a later date.

The camp was assisted by the Essex Waterways Lengthsman Mike Cole and Essex WRG volunteer Bob Crow, who both provided chainsaw expertise for the week. The EWL Chairman and Waterway Manager were also to be seen working with the camp!

Ricketts Lock was the site base for the week with work taking place both downstream and upstream from here. Bonfires were soon established to deal with the endless brambles and dead nettles and the EWL wood chipper turned the larger branches into wood chip which was spread along the tow path surface.

By the end of the week and six hundred volunteer hours later over half a mile of tow path and bank had been cleared. The need to continue the regular maintenance of the area was highlighted during the camp so as to avoid a repetition of the inherited neglect that was now being dealt with.

Once again the volunteers received many favourable comments upon their work from users of the tow path.

One of the WRG vans was collected by James, leader of the camp last November, and he confirmed that he had booked to lead the 2012 October camp which will also undertake further vegetation management on the Navigation.

Roy Chandler

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Essex Waterways RYA Helmsman's CourseMyself and Kirsten were unsure what to get each other for Christmas, when we happened to stumble across the Essex Waterways page on the IWA website. There is a link to training and it mentioned about the RYA approved Helmsman training course, which they run, so we both said, “That’s our Christmas present sorted!” We then sent an email to request a date and time. Shortly after, our confirmation arrived along with some course information and we were all set to go.It was a lovely Tuesday morning and we thankfully arrived at Paper Mill Lock, on time, for 9 am (those of you who know us, will appreciate what an impressive feat that is). We were greeted by our instructor, Hugh Turner, who promptly offered us tea and biscuits - always a nice way to start the day.We started with a brief introduction to the course in the office, swiftly followed by rope tying and tossing outside. At this point Kirsten’s face fell, as her throwing skills are renowned for being atrocious. However, they had definitely improved after Hugh had shown her the ropes!

Not to left hanging around, we went back to the office for more tea and biscuits.

The next part of the course, introduced us to our vessel for the day ‘Caffell’. We have seen her many a time going up and down the canal, so we were very excited to be taking charge of her for the day.We set off from Paper Mill, with myself at the stern, up towards Little Baddow Lock. All of a sudden, there was a big splash; I checked to see whether the camera had fallen over the side; Kirsten was still there too. It was at this point that we were introduced to our ‘man overboard’ - you’ll have to do the course to find out his name.In a way we were relieved to discover that we, ourselves, did not have to volunteer in order to practice this important procedure, as the water must have been well below 10 degrees centigrade that day. However, after a short - lived respite, we were suddenly faced with the prospect of doing a 3-point turn, in a boat, as quickly and as safely as possible. Once the rescue was complete, we carried on our way.Next up was mooring practice just below Little Baddow Lock. We used some of the newly acquired skills from the rope tying section earlier on and after practicing these a few times, our instructor then thought it would be a good idea to tackle turning in the weir. Now I may be exaggerating but I am sure that It was worse than normal.

Thankfully we all survived and we then slowly made our way back to Paper Mill, for lunch, as this time it was Kirsten at the stern.

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The second half of our day consisted of putting into practice all that had been done before but this time downstream from Paper Mill Lock. There was mooring, 3 point turns, weir practice and just enough time for one more ‘Man overboard’, splash ! Kirsten and the camera were thankfully still safe and dry in Caffell.

Sadly it was now time to return Caffell to her mooring and to go back to the office for more tea and biscuits.

Then came the most important part of the day; receiving our certificates, which thankfully we both achieved.

Many thanks to Hugh, as it was a very enjoyable day and has also helped us to gain more confidence when using the waterway... that is if we ever finish restoring our boat.

Adam Wyllie

Social Scene

12th March 2012

London Region AGM

This will take place at the New Inn, Roydon, CM19 5EE at 8 pm.

The agenda for the meeting will be:

Apologies for AbsenceApproval of minutes of Last AGMMatters Arising from MinutesChairpersons reportPresentation of AccountsBusiness notified under bye-law 1.3

Election of committee members. (Nominations for committee can be made to the secretary before or at the meeting.)

12th April 2012

My Early Days in Barging

by Jimmy Lawrence

Jimmy Laurence is a new speaker on our circuit, from Brightlingsea, and comes recommended by Colin Edmund, the Essex Waterways Navigation Manager. He is used to larger audiences than we can accommodate at Moulsham Mill but I’m sure the welcome you give him will be just as great

10th May 2012

The Lowland Canals

by Richard Thomas

Richard is a well known waterways historian who through his illustrated presentation, will make us aware of the pleasures awaiting us in the Lowland Canals.

10th June 2012

Walk the Canal

Walk from Heybridge Basin to Paper Mill Lock. Meet in the Daisy Meadow car park at 9.30am. The walk will take about 3hrs and we will have a vintage bus to take us back to Heybridge Basin.

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Canal du MidiLike most, our holidays are taken during the school summer break of July and August. For a number of years our family has escaped to the warm water, sandy beaches, food and wine of the Med. We have enjoyed many pleasant hours in the Languedoc region of France. One of the feats of engineering that starts its journey from the Med to the Atlantic is the Canal du Midi.

The idea of building such a canal dates back to the Romans. François, Henry IV and Richelieu all commissioned studies to this end, none of which bore fruit. Finally Pierre-Paul Riquet was granted authorization in 1666. Over a period of 14 years, 10,000 to 12,000 workmen were employed in this massive undertaking.The Canal du Midi can be considered as a whole, comprising the waterway itself, as well as the landscape and the engineering that accompany it, and the buildings that serve its operation.To collect water, artificial lakes were created and reservoirs held back by dams. Reservoirs provided water to the canal during dry periods. The Canal du Midi is located at a watershed: from the Narouze basin, water flows towards the Atlantic and the Mediterranean on the other.The canal has 91 locks, which serve to ascend and descend a total of 190 metres (620 feet). It has 328 structures including bridges, dams and a tunnel.The Liberian, a meeting at Laurens of two streams, the Nubian and the Savanè, runs along the coast for about forty kilometres. The river crosses the plain and the vineyards of the Languedoc before flowing into the Mediterranean at Vias Plage along an artificial bed dug in the XVIIth century. The Liberian has a course resembling that of a wadi, its bed remaining dry for

much of the year, but susceptible to violent flooding under storms (mostly August and in the autumn).Even at the time the Canal du Midi was built, crossing the Liberian was a problem, today the construction of an aqueduct still remains impossible because of the low land level (3 meters above sea level).During torrential flooding the Liberian caused considerable damage to the Canal du Midi, depositing in the canal sediments of sand and silt which blocked the canal to navigation. In order to protect the canal, a mobile raft or pontoon was installed across the bed of the Liberian in a masonry framework, forming a conduit perpendicular to the canal.

The “raft” was tied up near the headworks, on the side of the canal, near the lock keepers house. When there were rain storms and the Liberian swelled, the lock keepers had to position the ‘raft” so that the water of the Liberian flowed over the “raft”, which acted as a gutter, channelling the water above and across the canal. During the time of this operation, navigation on the canal was interrupted, to be reestablished after the Liberian ebbed, when the lock keepers removed the ‘raft”. These tedious maneuvers required two lock keepers and had to be replaced each time there was a violent storm to prevent the canal from silting up.

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The locks on the Canal du Midi are in oval form, to create better resistance to the pressures of the land mass.

When you get to Béziers there is a combination of canal engineering that is worth spending time to review. First there is the staircase of eight locks to bring it to the river Orb.

The locks had to be cut from solid rock, and descend a hillside whose gradient varied. All the locks had to contain the same volume of water, but could not have precisely the same shape. This amazing piece of engineering was subcontracted out and was built mostly by a workforce composed mainly of women.

The next is to see one of the few tunnels on the canal. Known as the Malpas tunnel it had an adventurous start as a few metres of digging in hard rock revealed a very brittle sandstone subject to slippage. The work was halted by the then prime minister, Colbert, and the portal was blocked. Riquet’s had his master mason continue to tunnel in secret despite the risk of collapse.

In less than eight days the tunnel was completed with a concrete ceiling throughout. The tunnel is 165m long and removed the necessity for an extra locks.

The third item to see is the aqueduct that crosses the Orb

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The opening of the aqueduct allowed boats to avoid the sometimes dangerous and unpredictable river which often caused extended delays.

Just two miles inland from the Mediterranean is the L’Écluse Ronde d’Agde. (Agde Round Lock). It connects the Hêrault River to the canal. It is almost unique because it is round.

This allows the boat to turn around, and in fact it has three sets of lock gates, each with a different water level. It was built in 1676 of volcanic stone and was originally 29.20m in diameter, 5.2m deep. It is no longer round. It was expanded in 1978 to allow for barges up to 38.5 metres long.

As you can see a very interesting piece of history and engineering and having visited the area many times, I have only seen a small part of the canal. We are looking forward to spending more time, this year, in the region and to explore more of the Canal du Midi.

John G Carlaw

Essex WRGOur January outing was, once again, to the Chelmer and Blackwater, where we were working on the “North Quay” behind the new piling. It was very, very muddy. When the contractors had put the piling in they ripped up old concrete because this had been undermined by up to eight feet by the canal, and was therefore unsafe. Some dredging was also done - adding mud to the water. So it was not in a very good state.

Our job was to put in ducting and manholes for the services and once this was completed crushed concrete to form a firm base was added. The mud made things interesting. At one point, Bridget, (on her first dig) got stuck. She had to be hauled out of her waders she was wearing, and then the waders had to be recovered. The Essex Waterways excavator also got stuck and had to be winched out by Land Rover. But, over all we completed the allocated task.

In February we made a return visit to the Wendover Arm of the Grand Union for a bit of ‘Jungle Bashing’. This was clearing the shrubs and brambles growing in the bed of the canal before they grew into trees, and then we had bonfires to burn them. The bonfires were very welcome on what was a cold Saturday.

However our two day weekend became just one day as we woke up on Sunday to thick layers of snow, it was decided that safety was paramount and the we could not, in the circumstances, work safely on site.

John Gale

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The Hazel ProjectThe craft of wooden boatbuilding, canal history and looking after people’s mental well being are not obvious bedfellows, but the restoration of the 1914 built narrow boat Hazel in Stalybridge, Greater Manchester, brings all these elements together in a innovative project to restore the old boat and put her to work providing waterway holidays for people under stress or recovering from stress related illness.Hazel was originally built at Runcorn to carry coal and salt on the canals of North West England. One of many Runcorn ‘wooden header’ boats, she piled her trade pulled by a single horse or mule until some time in the 1940s. With the decline of canal transport after 1945, many of her sisters were broken up or left to rot in abandoned arms of the canal.Hazel was luck. In 1951 she was brought by a member of Manchester’s Halle Rochester and the hold that was used to contain her industrial cargoes was cabined over to provide a home for the musician and his wife. The old back cabin, the tiny home of the boat family that used to work the boat, was made into an engine room so that Hazel could travel without equine assistance.Many families have lived aboard Hazel over the years, she was eventually donated to the Wooden Canal Boat Society (WCBS).An inspection showed her to be in need of all her timbers being replaced. In short term this was beyond the resources of a small charity, so she survived for over 20 years with gentle treatment and occasional patching.The WCBS has a policy of putting restored boats to work on projects that benefit the community rather than just having them as museum exhibits. As some members had a personal experience of depression, and canal boating is known to lift spirits, Hazel was earmarked as a boat to help people recover from depression. However, though a fund was steadily built up over the years, it often seemed that the boat would fall apart before they was enough money in the kitty to start her rebuild.A surprising collaboration between Tameside’s Health and Social Well Being Commissioners and canal boat enthusiasts have brought the restoration of the boat forward in the nick of time. By widening out the scope of the project to attract a wider group of people with

social or health needs, Hazel became eligible for funding at a time when many welfare services are being curtailed

In July 2011 Hazel was dragged from the Huddersfield Narrow Canal and a combination or professional boatbuilders (one of whom had travelled from Colorado USA to work on the project) and volunteers set to work to carefully dismantle then faithfully reconstruct the old boat, now the last of her type.

Hazel is expected to go into service in 2013. She will travel the canals, sometimes towed, sometimes horse drawn. For about 12 weeks of the year she will provide hotel boat style holidays, particularly on the trans-pennine Huddersfield Narrow Canal., which is one of the most scenic, but, with 74 locks , one of the most daunting canals in the national network. For the rest of the year she will provide long and short breaks at as low price as possible for local people identified as being in need of an opportunity to unwind. Research has shown that such a facility can pay for itself in terms of reduced demand for more expensive NHS services.

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“Hazel”, Re-assembly Begins?

With the moulds fitted and planks spiled the old sideplanking was dismantled. The job of cutting out the new sideplanks was completed and the garboard strakes had bevels, copied from the original planks, carefully planed on to their edges. The wrought iron knees went away to be shot-blasted, then were treated to prevent future corrosion . Setting them up again in the boat turned out to be a tricky task. They were obviously reclaimed knees from a variety of boats that were used when Hazel was built in 1914. Getting them to actually line up and stay within the 6'10” beam necessary for the Huddersfield Narrow Canal took a lot of patience. With the lining up complete they were all bolted to the bottom boards and sealed with a layer of chalico. With them all re-fitted, Hazel began to look like a boat again.

Re-planking began with two steaming sessions as the garboard strakes for bow and stern were steamed to take the bend and twist necessary. With these fitted, the long slow job of driving about 400 metal spikes up through the bottom began. You can never be sure quite how many planks a log will yield until you actually mark the planks out.

The timber available turned out to be a few planks short of what is needed, so the hunt is on for more logs. Two have been located in Cumbria and planked in situ using a chain-mill. These are now awaiting transport. However, these may not be entirely suitable so, more timber is being sought.

The wood needed is oak logs, no less than 2 feet in diameter and no less than 20 feet long, reasonably free of branches and preferably slightly curved. Anyone willing to sell or donate such a log should get in touch by ‘phone or email.

Help with transporting timber by road would also be appreciated.

Anyone who would like to help with this project can ring on 07931 952 037 or email theboatman@mail.com

If all goes to plan Hazel will enter service around Easter 2013. She will need pre-arranged tows to move her about the canal system. We would like to hear from anyone with a suitable boat who may be interested in doing some towing in the future.

Chris Leah  

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Paper Mill SlipwayCommercial timber barges ceased using the Chelmer & Blackwater Navigation in 1972 and the Company of Proprietors gradually permitted private recreational craft to use the waterway.

When we launched our own boat on the Navigation in the early 70’s, there was no slipway on the Navigation, and the launch operation took place over the river bank at Paper Mill, just above the lock. Not an easy operation with a twenty foot boat and even longer trailer. Needless to say, the trailer received damage in the process, but we were pleased to have gained access to this delightful local rural waterway after many years of trying.

Some years later when we wished to remove our boat we found that this was only possible above Black Bridge at Heybridge where there was a shallow “beach” type edge that would allow the trailer insertion and boat collection.

The Chelmsford Branch of IWA therefore proposed that a slipway should be installed on the Navigation and offered the Proprietors assistance with this. The slipway was duly constructed by volunteers at Paper Mill Lock, Little Baddow.

Following the taking over of responsibility for maintaining and operating the Chelmer & Blackwater Navigation in 2005, IWA’s subsidiary company, Essex Waterways Ltd has been carrying out a continuing programme of repairs and improvements on the waterway.

The latest of these has been the piling of the bank above the Paper Mill slipway to form a landing area for those using the launching facilities.

The adjoining Paper Mill Tea Room is a popular hive of activity and the tow paths in this area are well used throughout the year. The work, which involved the use of heavy plant, therefore had to be undertaken at a quiet time of the year and January was chosen.

Boaters wishing to use the slipway should make contact with Hugh Turner, Moorings Manager at Essex Waterways, 07910 558465.

Roy Chandler

PLACE  

COFFEE  CUP  

HERE

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5 4 1

8 1 6 3 2 7

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Just For FunSUDOKUFill in the grid so that each row, column and 3 x 3 block contains the numbers one to nine (1 - 9)

IWA Chelmsford Branch Website

For those of you who don’t know, we have our very own Chelmsford Branch pages on the IWA website. It is my job to keep them up to date and hopefully add interesting items to encourage you all to check the site often.

On our pages you will find information about the Navigation, Social events and the Chelmsford Branch Committee. There is also a link that will take you to the Essex Waterways pages. Here you will find information on mooring fees, craning at Heybridge Basin, who the caretakers are along the waterway and anything else that isn’t covered under the IWA Chelmsford Branch pages.

The Branch site is currently being updated with new and additional information. You will find a link to a colour version of the Newsletter, various photos of the Navigation and also in the pipeline are pages with videos of the navigation. I have been trawling You Tube and have found many different subjects in video form, from fishing, canoeing, Chelmsford Raft Race, wildlife and flooding of the Navigation (not nice but interesting none the less). If you have any videos of the Navigation and would like to share them, then please upload them to You Tube and email the link to me – adam.wyllie@waterways.org.uk.

I would strongly recommend anyone who visits the site to register, it’s free for existing IWA members and it will allow you to access many more things, notably the ability to upload any photos you have of the navigation. There is information about registering on the Photo Gallery page.

There is a discussion forum and I would encourage anyone with anything to discuss about the waterway to jump in at the deep end and start one.

Our page can be found by going to http://www.waterways.org.uk/branches_regions/london/chelmsford/

Alternatively if you go to the main page on the IWA website, you can click the option along the top “IWA Local” and then click Chelmsford in the drop down menu.

Water In IdiomA flawed plan will hold not water, a plan that is exposed might be dead in the water, or risks being blown out of the water, whereas a plan that will stand close scrutiny is watertight - unless someone pours cold water over it (and even if they do, it might just be water off a duck’s back). To carry water to a river is like taking coals to Newcastle, and while you can lead a horse to water, you can’t make it drink. If you have muddied the water you might seek to pour oils over troubled waters, a true friend will always seek to be a bridge over troubled water. If you fail to keep your head above water, you may find yourself in hot water or deep water (not forgetting, of course that still water runs deep). You may not take to a backwater like a duck to water - indeed you may feel like a fish out of water. However, since much water will have flowed under the bridge it is advisable simply to tread water and avoid the temptation to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Remember always that blood is thicker than water, come hell or high water.

16

The Essex Water Vole Recovery Project Comes to the Chelmer

Water voles have had a hard time over the past 30 years earning them the unenviable title of the UK’s fastest declining mammal. By 2006 it looked bleak for this species in Essex as colonies were wiped out year on year by hungry mink looking for an easy meal. Mink are a North American species which along with coypu, were farmed for fur from the 1930s. Both species had escaped and were breeding in the wild in such numbers by the early 1960s that they were the subject of official culls. While coypu were successfully removed by the early 1990s, mink were left to landowners to sort out without any help from the government.

Now Essex Wildlife Trust are co-ordinating a project with over 200 partners, including Essex Waterways, to try and reverse this situation and allow the water vole to return. In Tendring water voles are re-colonising all their usual streams after five years of work to save them, but in a recent river survey of the Chelmer and Backwater Navigation, only one remaining pocket of could be found between Chelmsford and Maldon. This is a 98% reduction in their numbers on the river and if nothing is done they face total extinction.

We are hoping that it is not too late and will be undertaking new surveys as we improve the habitat and exclude mink from sensitive areas. If the Project is as successful as it has been in the north of the county then in a few years the ‘plop’ of a water vole could be a common sound as we walk, or boat, along the Navigation.

Darren TansleyWater for Wildlife Officer

Essex Wildlife Trust01621 862995

Branch Committee

If you have any topics or subject that you wish to bring to the committees attention please use the contact details below

John Gale: Vice Chairman & Treasurer. 24 Longleaf Drive, Braintree CM7 1XS

Paul Strudwick: London Region Chairman. Paul.strudwick@waterways.org.uk

Chris Chandler: Secretary. Chris.chandler@waterways.org.uk

Roy Chandler: Planning and Conservation. Roy.chandler@waterways.org.uk

John Carlaw: Newsletter and Membership. Chelmsford.news@waterways.org.uk John.carlaw@waterways.org.uk

Mike Huggett: Publicity. Mike.huggett@waterways.org.uk

Stephanie Mason: Refreshments. None

Jean Maxwell: Social and Fundraising. Jean.maxwell@waterways.org.uk Kirsten Smith: Youth. None Adam Wyllie: Branch Web Editor. Adam.wyllie@waterways.org.uk