ROUND THE SHOWS
The show season last year was a long one, starting in March with a local
history fair at the Helmore Textile Museum in the picturesque Ogden Valley;
and ending at Spike Island with "Sailing the Sankey". Halton BC hosted us
on several other occasions, as we took the caravan to Pickerings Pasture
on May Day and also to the Town Park and Halton Shows. St Helens Show was
the hot spot this year and as temperatures soared, so also did our takings.
Every porch in town must now boast a painted horseshoe; our superb
selection of bric-a-brac soon disappeared, (as unfortunately did my purse
and several far more lucrative items from other stalls). Some frantic
re-stocking was necessary to prepare us for the St Helens Ranger Service
Rural Craft Fair and our annual weekend at Castlefield. Thanks to everyone
who passed on their unwanted goods and to those who lent a hand on the
stall.
After 18 days of shows and 6 nights away, I hesitate to say this, but if
you have an event near you which would welcome SCARS, why not let us know?
Letters to the Editor
Your note in the last edition of Canal Cuttings about the photograph of
Robert Aickman walking along the towpath towards the Sankey Viaduct
reminded me of a passage in Roger W Squires book "The New Navvies".
He talks about support for the continued use and rejuvenation of waterways
in the North West being generated by the IWA and goes on to say "The first
activity came in the late summer of 1948 when IWA founder R Aickman and
secretary LTC Rolt made a voyage through the Northern Waterways to gain
public support for their use and retention".
Presumably this trip included the Sankey and if they tied up at the Sugar
Works, there would have been a decent walk up to the lock to exercise his
dog. The photograph does show him walking his dog. The overcoat, though,
and what looks like snow on the towpath suggests that there is a very
early frost or that it is late, late summer time. Cynthia Greenall
Robert Aickman and the Sankey Canal?
I remember the Sankey being open and Aickman leading a campaign to
keep it open. This would be circa 1959-1962. It was all reported in the
then IWA bulletin.
I believe Aickman had fought for the Sankey during the 1950's and
presumably this would be in those bulletins (as it was then called). Hope
these memories from an old codger help.
Delighted with Sankey progress. Regards, Mike Handford, Hinckley,
Leics..
Editor’s Note: Has anyone got the relevant Issues of the IWA Bulletin? Or
any further information on Aickman’s trip to the canals of the North
West ? Or my copy of his 'The River Runs Uphill' ?... loaned but never
returned.
Canal Cuttings Issue 3.4 Index
David@SCARS.demon.co.uk
http://www.blacksheep.org/canals
Web Edition Edited by Phil Long
(http://www.geocities.com/broadway/1701/index.html)