1) IWA has released the latest edition of its Inland Waterways Handbook. Copies are available at £3.25 each or at the special rate of £2.50 to IWA members.

2) A new office covering the South Pennine Ring Waterways has been opened by British Waterways at Castle Quay, Manchester. Projects on the Ashton, Huddersfield Narrow, Manchester Bolton and Bury, and Rochdale Canals will be overseen from the new office.

3) BW has responded to the Government’s Waterways Minister’s “Partnership with the People” Consultation. It proposes to initiate a membership scheme to encourage more public involvement and interest in BW’s activities; and to consolidate the setting up a separate charitable trust, the Waterways Trust. The Trust’s role is to raise funds and undertake waterway projects that would normally fall outside BW’s scope. BW also intends to bring in an information service, financed by subscription. The Waterways Trust is intended to be a means by which the public can satisfy its desire to make donations to a worthy good cause. BW’s proposals fall very much in line with IWA’s feelings on the subject.

4) The National Waterways Museum at Gloucester Docks has been refurbished thanks to a £1.5 million Heritage Lottery Fund Grant.

5) Manchester Bolton and Bury Canal Society have scooped a major publicity stunt. Their patron, steeplejack Fred Dibnah, the TV personality with the strong Lancashire accent, was persuaded to venture onto the Canal on a floating tricycle. Fred’s picture appeared in most of the local and regional newspapers, and on the local TV News. 6) Smiles of collaboration could be seen all round when British Waterways and the Environment Agency announced that they had signed a collaboration agreement on June 18th. The two Authorities controlling navigation on Britain’s inland waterways, now share good common practice in their ways of operation, which should improve their working efficiency. The announcement was neatly timed just ahead of the Government’s white paper “Waterways for Tomorrow”.

7) IWA’s North West Region will have representation within the Waterways Trust. John Fletcher, the regional chairman, has been appointed a trustee and director.

8) The Waterways Trust has taken over responsibility for the Ribble Link Project. As a main provider of funds Lancashire CC will retain appropriate financial safeguards.

9) BW’s Annual Report and Accounts were presented at its AGM in July. Some encouraging advances were highlighted:-

Record annual spending of £157 million on waterways.
Trading income increased by 11%.
A record rate of waterway restoration by BW.
The Safety maintenance backlog was reduced from £83 million to £71 million.
Repairs were completed on 193 bridges, 209 lock gates, 125 miles of towpath and 72 listed or scheduled buildings.

10) The 2001 National Waterways Festival is to be held at Milton Keynes.

11) Manchester Branch of IWA’s millennium rally at Salford Quays was highly successful. 100 boats took part, many of them having completed a Mersey Basin Cruise en rout - across the Mersey, up the Ship Canal, up and down River Weaver.

12) IWA is sponsoring the Project to restore the Upper Reaches on the Lancaster Canal to the tune of £4,500: £1,500 towards the cost of re-building two bridges and £3,000 for dredging. These will be preliminary works ahead of the main project to restore the 14 miles to Kendal. The grant is intended to encourage further investment from public and private sources. Total cost is likely to be in the region of £30m.

13) Prospects continue to look bright for the Anderton Boat Lift Appeal; the £250,000 target is now within sight. Another bright bit of news is the official naming of the lane leading to the site as “Lift Lane”.

14) The Rochdale Canal turns out to have an ecological feature of special interest. It has the most prolific population in the UK of the floating water plantain; a rare plant which has legal protection. A length of the canal is to carry the designation of Site of Special Scientific Interest and is being considered as a possible Special Area of Conservation.

15) A member of the Manchester Branch of IWA has had his efforts on canal utilisation recognised by the award of an IWA Richard Bird medal. Ben Williams has been an enthusiastic promoter of the “Waterways for Youth Campaigns”. The Mersey Basin Trust has also presented him with their Kingfisher Award

16) IWA has taken issue with Railtrack over its application for a works order. The order would allow Railtrack long stoppages on the Trent and Mersey and other canals at any time of the year it chooses while work on adjacent railway lines is undertaken. IWA seeks to restrict canal stoppages to limited, clearly defined, periods after discussion with interested parties.

17) The cost of repair work caused by vandalism continues to soar. The annual cost to British Waterways is estimated at around £600,000, and rising. The problem is most acute in less salubrious urban areas.

18) A lengthy stoppage is imminent on the Leigh Branch of the Bridgewater Canal. The canal will close from 23rd. October through to 2nd. February, 2001; while a large gas pipe is laid under the canal. Water will be dammed off either side of the excavations.

19) BW has acquired the White Bear Marina on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal from its current owners. The Marina has 109 moorings, a chandlery, offices and a boat workshop.

20) Work continues apace on the Rochdale Canal. As the Huddersfield Narrow Canal nears completion, major effort moves on to the Pennine Sections of the Rochdale Canal. Heavy construction work is scheduled for the winter period.