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| Volume 6, Number 11 - Summer 2008 | |
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From the Chairman
Around the country it interesting to note that despite the hammer-blow of British Waterways pulling out of the project with no notice whatsoever, the Cotswold Canals restoration scheme is still one of the handful that has made solid strides this year. A real case of knuckling down in the face of a degree of adversity and making sure that the rest of the partnership stands strong. Elsewhere, the Droitwich Canals project, linking the Severn and the Worcester / Birmingham Canal is close to completion with local fundraising through The Waterways Trust helping to put the last few pieces of the jigsaw together. For decades the Droitwich scheme was a parochial affair, the canals themselves something of an unknown backwater despite their more salubrious (in waterways terms) neighbours. But those decades of local effort eventually brought forth the promise of serious cash injections from the local authorities if a valid plan for full restoration and future maintenance could be established. And the promise of £2m tends to concentrate the minds. The Droitwich is undoubtedly a smaller scheme than the Sankey, but its history should be both aspiration and inspiration for us. "From little acorns" might best sum up two of the more recent developments – both early stage events but both could lead to much greater things. Halton have confirmed that they have the funding to secure a swing bridge replacement for Carterhouse Bridge – half way between Spike Island and the Warrington border near Fidlers Ferry. There are two fixed bridges on the Halton section of the canal, Carterhouse, and the old railway bridge at the top of Spike Island, both of which need replacing with movable structures to allow navigation on the whole of the Halton length. We like to think that the case for improving the Spike bridge is probably easier to make in terms of holding future events on the island, and it was therefore Carterhouse that we thought might need more of a push from the Society. We look forward to assisting the Council with design and other issues, so that bridge can be put in during the 2009/10 financial year. In Warrington, the Parks & Green Spaces Forum was formally launched at the end of July, with Colin (photo in next story, armed with his windlass) standing in for me at the photo-shoot in the Town Hall gardens. The Forum is likely to have decent input into a number of aspects of the emerging Warrington Regeneration Framework, and without wishing to pre-empt things, the Sankey Canal looks likely to play a significant part in the Greenway and Healthy Living programme. We are in the process of discussing the remit for a recreation feasibility study that will need to be carried out, which could pave the way for some significant enhancements to the canal and its immediate corridor, possibly in conjunction with works that the Environment Agency have recently consulted us on. So we enter the waterways' close season with real cause for optimism on at least two fronts. A third opportunity, this time in St Helens, is just starting to take shape and may have to wait till the next issue before there is anything we can say. As ever, those of us on the Exec would welcome any other members who would like to get involved, to whatever extent, in any of the activities that you read about in the pages of Canal Cuttings, or even new activities that you haven't read about. From recruiting speakers for our winter talks programme to putting together a circular walks booklet to lobbying local MPS and councillors; there are plenty of ways you can help to realise the dream. Please don't be shy. We look forward to seeing some of you over the coming months. All the best, Andy Screen
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Well another glorious British summer seems to have passed us by! The last few boating holidays are being taken, and even those of us who indulge in the less exotic pastime of just wandering down the towpaths of our inland waterways system will be thinking of hanging up our boots for another year.