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Newsletter of IWA
Lee & Stort Branch
Spring 2013
We say Welcome...
...to Mike Jones – our new Branch Secretary.
I volunteered to take on the role of Secretary from John Shacklock
in a weak moment a few months ago. I won’t be able to take up where he
left off because I don’t have John’s knowledge or experience, but will
fumble along and learn as I go. My wife, Carol, and I joined the IWA in
2000 at the Ware Boat Festival, but have until now been very inactive
members.
I first became involved with narrow boating about 30 years ago as a
member of a society that owned a single, high specification boat, which
was allocated week-by-week to members, in an annual ballot. Carol and I
now have a one-twelfth share in a 58 foot boat called Farndon, currently
moored at Great Haywood on the Trent and Mersey. Farndon is an exOwnerships boat and we are relieved that the liquidator decided not to
pursue any claims to title. We were, incidentally, told that it is named after
a village on the Trent in Nottinghamshire, but were attracted because my
late mother had lived in another village called Farndon on the Dee.
I recently took over for a spell as Boat Syndicate Chair and have
been interested in getting involved in all the things I trusted our previous
Chair to deal with for me. I appreciate that this is narrowboating for softies
compared with many of you who own and maintain your own boats, but it
gets us three to four weeks afloat each year, and we love it.
We have three daughters and four grand children, aged three months
to nearly three years. Some years ago, the middle daughter was appointed
captain of a hire boat on the Kennet and Avon for a hen weekend cruise,
because she was known to have had narrowboat holidays as she grew up.
They did all survive! We are now looking forward to taking our grand
children with us when they are old enough.
In the real world of working and earning a living, I started life as an
engineer and then moved into purchasing. For the past eleven years I have
worked as a purchasing tutor, delivering workshops and undertaking NVQ
assessments, which I have now reduced to only about one day per week.
Full retirement is looking increasingly attractive!
In the unreal (?) world of leisure, we have an allotment which
occupies us a lot in the growing season and we like to travel whenever our
cats allow. Taking this story full circle, we went on a fascinating river
cruise last September that took us along the waterway from St Petersburg
to Moscow through some seriously large locks.
I am looking forward to meeting and getting to know as many of you
as possible over the coming months – please just be patient with me.
Mike.
On the Lee, and the beautiful Stort
Note from your Chairman.
I would like begin by welcoming the
new members who have joined our branch in
the last few months, and hope to meet you
soon. We meet every second Monday at the
New Inn public house in Roydon. Full details
of our event schedule are available on our
website.
As you will be aware, our branch
inherited funds from the Lee and Stort Rivers
Society when we formed as an IWA branch
over 10 years ago. We have also accumulated
other funds over the years. The last thing we want is to have funds sat in
our bank account that could support projects and organisations that benefit
our waterways. I am pleased to announce that we have now donated some
of our funds to the Wendover Arm Trust, Herts Boat Rescue and
Canalability.
I have also been in contact with the Canal and River Trust to
ascertain if any projects are being considered on the Lee and Stort that we
could contribute towards, thereby improving local facilities. I await a reply
from CRT with a view to supporting appropriate improvements in the
2013/2014 year.
The issue of the unauthorised fence being erected at Ware Common
Wharf has dominated our time over the winter. The IWA has made it clear
to Ware town council, East Herts District Council and CRT that we
strongly object to the erection of the fence, and asked that lawful action is
taken to remove it. We have also asked that the CRT enforcement team
take appropriate action to enforce the visitor mooring and terms and
conditions of continuous cruising licenses.
The IWA have agreed to fund new mooring signs in Ware at the
common wharf, town quay and shopping stop opposite the Saracens Head
to enable visiting boats to moor up and explore the town.
Finally, the branch is supporting the wider London Festivals
campaign this summer by ensuring the Ware Boat Festival (first weekend
in July) is on the list of festivals for boats to attend. We have already had
our first meeting so plans are underway to make sure we build on the
success of previous events.
Craig
From some of the Clubs
The Lee & Stort Cruising Club was first formed in 1956 and
met in an old boat, on the site of the present Lee Valley Marina at
Stanstead Abbotts. The boat soon sinking, those early members found the
present site by Stanstead lock, and with much hard work hacked out
moorings, and finally put up the clubhouse in 1963.
Many improvements have been made over the years, and we are
fortunate in now having a lovely site. Our present membership is roughly
180, with many older members keeping in touch through our quarterly
'Gazette'.
The LSCC is also proud to be one of the four founder members of
the Association of Waterways Cruising Clubs. (AWCC).
The Stort Boat Club has recently celebrated its 19th Birthday in
January 2013, having been formed on the 25th January 1994.
The Club offers its members, be they cruiser, narrowboat, canoe or
kayak owners, the opportunity to meet up socially throughout the year.
More formal meetings, held twice a year, take place at the New Inn pub, in
Roydon, on a Monday night.
The Club is affiliated to the AWCC, who offer an emergency
service for boaters, and safe overnight moorings – ideal for those members
who go long-term cruising during the summer months.
However, we
do not have any premises of our own, preferring to meet up on the
riverbank, or at local pubs and restaurants. As well as our programme of
local events, we also enjoy travelling further afield, and over the years
have visited Scotland (the Falkirk Wheel, Royal Yacht Britannia,
Caledonian Canal) the Tall Ships Race in Hartlepool, and Chatham
Dockyard. This year we are scheduled to visit the Historic Dockyards in
Portsmouth, and Bletchley Park.
Full annual membership covers a maximum of two co-owners of a
boat with full voting rights. We ask that all members ensure that their
cruising activities, mooring practices and the vessel(s) for which they are
responsible, are compliant with the rules and regulations of the relevant
organisations which have authority over conduct and management of the
waterway and associated properties.
Broxbourne Cruising Club was founded in 1964 as part of
Broxbourne Rowing Club and moved to new premises in 2007, still
situated on the reach below Carthagena Lock on the River Lee on the
border between Herts and Essex.
We have increased our membership and are an active club with
cruises, social events, and help from fellow members in looking after
each other’s boats.
We offer reasonably priced leisure moorings with facilities for
boats up to 40’ long.
New members, either social or mooring, are welcome. If you are
interested in the river (and canals) and/or boating do contact us and
arrange to visit us.
Broxbournecruisingclub@ntlworld.com
First Speaker of the Season
Chris Barltrop was
introduced, in October, as a
ne’er do well, live aboard for
the Olympics, as it evolved; it
became apparent that this was a
biased opinion. The squashy
tomatoes, in bowls thoughtfully
provided by the events officer (a
well known welcome greeting
by occasional cruisers to liveaboards) were not needed, and
the landlady of the New Inn has
expressed her thanks, largely
since this avoided the need for a messy post evening clean up. Chris
proved to actually be a thoughtful well mannered graduate in American
History, a sports writer for Swindon Football, as well as having served his
apprenticeship as a primary school teacher.
It would seem that getting a boat through the exclusion zone
demanded much persistence to get past obstructive group four (G4S) and
British Waterways AKA C&RT officials. ‘You can’t do that ‘ere’ seems to
have been the byword, as well as impossibly conflicting mandates,
regarding when you could start, when you were not allowed to stop, what
you had to do with a boat that was not allowed stop and yet wasn’t allowed
to proceed. Mainly due to a late start (remember ‘You can’t do that ‘ere,
now’) caused by Olympic Standard jobs-worths, arising at 5.30am was
thwarted, as G4S don’t start until 9! Other curious hurdles ‘we can’t lift
the boom to let you through, on account of all this floating duckweed ’ere,
see, it would be dahn to the Limpics like a shot mate, give it arf a chance, I
tell yer’. The curious may wonder why duckweed can travel through the
lock system so easily when the craft that pay to use the navigation cannot.
Life afloat seems to have been interesting with dog clubs that meet
3 times a week (presumably fitting it in between job interviews and
collecting their Job Seekers Allowance). Delighted to hear of altercations
between towpath cyclists, which resulted in one of the contenders bathing
himself and bicycle in the Regent’s.
Life as a games maker seems to have been one long hectic round of
doing nothing outside hotels, waiting for their guests who didn’t turn up.
The upside was the meeting with famous sporting personalities, fitting in
the occasional event and watching Chris Wiggins win an award. Me, I
thought Wiggins was a Jasper Carrot character from one of his TV shows?
But then I never did take any interest in sports.
A great shame that the Olympic park could not have been left open
until, say, November before the demolition began, as people of London had
paid good money for it to be built, had paid good money to see the site
when it was operational, and the chance for the rest of us to see it before it
disappears, seems to have been overlooked.
Well done Mr Speaker, pity about the IWA flag pole that went
AWOL on the journey through the exclusion zone, but do come again, we
did enjoy your fascinating talk.
January’s Monday Meeting
An entreating evening of song, chanty, shanty, shandy and
debunking of myths, hosted by a bearded
ex shanty group singer Roger Nesbit.
Recall if you will that a previous
speaker, (May 2003) swept away the
misconception that traditional narrow boat
back cabins had lace plates and ate
Ploughman’s
Lunches?
Ploughman's
lunches aren’t, and never have been
traditional eating by ploughmen. The
Ploughman’s lunch was a well post war
invention, by the licensed victualler’s trade
association and the Milk Marketing Board back in the Swinging Sixties.
True its provenance does go back to the Cheese Bureaux in the fifties to
promote the use of cheese. Hence
that lunch is mere urban legend.
What has this to do with Roger's
talk? It would seem that chanties
may
stretch
back
before
ploughman's lunch, but only just!
Even the origin of the name is of
doubtful entomology, possibly
from the French, possibly not.
Some of the chants do seem to have a practical aspect; one for
example traces the sailing passage hazards, type of sea bed and depths
(which can be seen as a mouth to mouth passing on of traditional sailing
knowledge). This charts, from Ushant to Scilly, detailing the distance (34
leagues) the depths (55 fathoms) the route and the type of sea bed (sandy
bottom). Fortunately there was no contravention of Mary’s Music Licence
for this evening of perceived urban folk lore!
Did you know that Tommy Cooper
reputedly went into a pub and had a
Ploughman’s Lunch?
Apparently the ploughman was livid!!!
I’m sure we’ve all heard several times about the narrowboat that ran
into difficulties on the Thames close to Limehouse, so not to bore
you with it all again, here are the relevant highlights:
‘Through hull fittings, vents and exhaust outlets should be
positioned as high up as practicable on narrowboats, to meet the
conditions likely to be encountered. Where through hull fittings,
vents and exhaust outlets cannot be moved to a safe location consideration should be given as to whether the vessel is suitable to
navigate on the tidal Thames.
When purchasing a vessel it is essential to have a prepurchase survey undertaken by a competent surveyor ensuring the
surveyor is aware of your intended use of the vessel.’
A Little Bit of
Feedback
One of our readers
has pointed out to
me that in the last
edition, with
reference to the
London Boat Show,
a statement was
made that the IWA
stand suffered a
reduced area.
That was not so.
I have it on good
authority that the
same equipment
has been used every
year since the days
of Earl's Court, and
still takes up the
same amount of
space!
Thank you for that,
Norman.
For those of you for whom this is not too
late, there is going to be another Bishop’s
Stortford Clean-Up on Thursday 21st
February, organised by the Canal & River
Trust.
From 10am-3.30pm, at the visitor
mooring, we aim to clean along the edges
of, and around, the mooring rings.
The other activities planned for the 21st,
are cutting back part of the reed bed in the
winding hole, and collecting towpath and
floating litter along the river, with the aim of
working our way along to South Mill Lock.
How much is achieved, of course,
will depend on how many volunteers are
able to turn up.
The Bishop’s Stortford Canoe Club members
will be holding an organised litter pick on
Saturday 9th March. They will be setting
out from Southmill Lock at 10am and
working their way towards the town centre,
arriving there by about 12:30.
The day has been chosen to coincide with a
towpath litter pick by the TUBS
(Tidy Up Bishops Stortford) group, whose
team of land-based volunteers will be working their way along the towpath in parallel
to us. It is planned that the bags of litter
generated by both groups will be gathered
in by the Canal & River Trust litter boat
the Pride of Stortford.
If anyone would like to get involved by
helping from the bank, please contact
TUBS, who will be very glad to hear from
you – see their web page at
http://www.tubs12.info/
From the Region
Writing this on a cold grey day it
seems strange to think that spring, and
the chance to get the boat out and about
on the waterways, is only a few weeks
away. This time last year I was talking
about the formation of the Canal & River
Trust and the probability of restrictions
on the use of the canal network due to
lack of rain. Well I got one right, British
Waterways has gone, and we have a shiny new CaRT running our waterways. Hopefully
this summer the weather will be better so we can enjoy our canals without too much disruption.
This year’s main objective for the London Region is to try and find a solution to
the mooring problems in London. We have produced our proposals which we have widely
circulated, and received mixed response. Some have accused us of being too lenient,
whilst others have accused us of an out and out attack on boaters. But I have had a number of expressions of support as well, including some from continuous cruisers who are
also concerned about the situation. I am having regular meetings with local residents,
overstaying boaters, CRT and our friends in RBOA and NABO under the auspices of a
group called The London Waterways Better Relationships Group. We are also keeping up
the pressure through our regular contacts to find a way forward. I will keep you informed
of any progress and anything you can do to help through your branch magazine.
This year the Region is hosting the National Festival at Cassiobury Park. I’ve had
a chance to look over the site. It’s a bit smaller than we are used to but looks ideal. Talking to the festival team it looks like we will have a great festival. All we need now is lots of
boats (the booking form is on the website) and good weather. We are trying to put together a stand showing the diversity of IWA in London. If you are able to help us please
contact our co-ordinator, John Brice, or your Chairman.
I hope to see you at your branch AGM in March when I will be available to try and
answer any questions you may have about IWA Nationally and in the local Region
Paul Strudwick, Chair Person.
IWA Lee & Stort Branch
Notice of Annual General Meeting
The New Inn, Roydon
Monday 11th March 2013 @ 20.00hrs
AGENDA
1. Apologies for absence
2. Approval of minutes of the previous meeting
3. Matters arising
4. Chairman’s report
5. Financial report
6. Election of committee
Nominations for election to the Committee must be proposed and
seconded by Branch Members and may be presented at the
meeting or may be sent to the Branch Secretary by post or email:
Mike Jones
26 Greenways, Hertford, SG14 2BS
mike.jones10@ntlworld.com
The Region AGM will be held at
Hillingdon Canal Club on 12th March.
Our Guest speaker is Simon Salem of C&RT.
There will be a finger buffet.
Committee Members
Chairman
Vice Chairman,
Publicity Officer
Craig Haslam
Les Hunt
h: 01279 860 507
m: 07801 260 579
e: les.hunt@waterways.org.uk
m: 07956 848 025
e: boatyboy96@hotmail.com
Secretary
Membership Secretary,
Treasurer
Mike Jones
h: 01992 584 310
e: mike.jones10@ntl.com
Carole Beeton
h: 01992 468 435
m: 07976 517 749
e: robandcarole@msn.com
Joint Events Officer
Joint Events Officer
Banny Banyard
h: 01279 771 552
m: 07860 669 279
e: banny@tesco.net
Terry Stembridge
h: 01992 575 702
m: 07709 205 498
e: terry.stembridge@btinternet.com
Newsletter Editor
Monica Hawes
h: 020 8520 0461
m: 07943 169 800
e: monicaforboats@hotmail.com
Frank Wallder
tel/fax: 01992 636 164
m: 07985 013 032
e: naymenachur@talktalk.net
The IWA may not agree with opinions expressed in this newsletter, but encourages
publication as a matter of interest. Nothing printed may be construed as policy or an
official announcement unless otherwise stated. IWA accepts no liability for any matter in
this newsletter. Registered Charity No. 212342