IWA News

The following development and restoration information is extracted from the IWA's monthly Head Office Bulletin which is sent free to Association members on request.

Liverpool Link

The first phase of an £8 million scheme to bring a new look to Liverpool's world-renowned Pier Head opened to the public on 28th October. During the past year, the area in front of the Three Graces - the Liver, Cunard and Port of Liverpool buildings - has been transformed to create a new public space incorporating the new Liverpool Link canal. The area includes high quality paving works, a new lawn, an area to stage events and feature lighting as well as two canal basins. The work on the canal link began in December 2006 with the public realm works starting in autumn 2007. The first phase - the south and central areas in front of the Three Graces opened on 28th October, with the northern area reopened at the end of November, and the area around the new ferry terminal in Spring 2009. The canal link is also due to open in spring 2009, when boats will be able to pass across the Pier Head.

Leeds & Liverpool Canal

On 23rd October, a celebratory event was held alongside the Leeds & Liverpool Canal at Shipley to mark the work of reinstalling mile posts along the Leeds & Liverpool Canal. The work is being achieved through a collaboration of British Waterways, IWA's West Riding Branch, Leeds & Liverpool Canal Society and Dreamweavers, which is a social enterprise part of the Bradford Motor Education Project that aims to enhance the natural environment of the canal corridor through education and development of young people. The project has been co-ordinated by members of Dreamweavers, and two if its trainees have been involved in all aspects of pattern making, casting of the mile plates, surveying the sites and installation of the posts. The first phase will be completed between Shipley and Bingley with a view to completing the length between Apperley Bridge and Skipton. IWA's West Riding Branch has surveyed and recorded the location of mile, half-mile and quarter-mile posts along the canal in Yorkshire, and has helped in their maintenance with painting and other work over many years.

Shropshire Union Canal

The campaign to save the historic Taylor's Yard in Chester suffered a blow in October when the boatyard operator who was planning to take on the building renovation, and open a new waterways business there, had to pull out of the proposed tenancy deal with British Waterways owing to the downturn in the economic climate. Chester Waterways Heritage Trust has, however, been able to proceed with work parties to undertake recording and archive work at Taylor's Yard during October.

Manchester Bolton & Bury Canal

On 19th September, the completion of the first restored section of the Manchester Bolton & Bury Canal at Middlewood, Salford, was celebrated. The opening of this section of waterway is considered to be the most challenging phase in the restoration of the whole 15.2 mile long canal, which was once important to the transportation of coal and cotton in the Manchester area during the Industrial Revolution. This part of the canal was filled in during the 1960s, but now the canal through Middlewood represents the focal point for £600 million of urban regeneration that will comprise of a mixed use development.

One of the last major waterways in Greater Manchester to be restored, restoration works have included the creation of a tunnel under the Salford Inner relief road which then extends under the Manchester/Wigan Rail Viaduct. This new tunnel has been named the Margaret Fletcher Tunnel, dedicated to the late and much respected former chairman of the Manchester Bolton & Bury Canal Society, SCARS member and former IWA trustee.

Engineering works undertaken during the restoration also included: the excavation of 80,000 tonnes of rubble and material; the widening of East Ordsall Lane road bridge; the creation of two small circular basins; the restoration of the original Lock 3 and the construction of a new seven metre deep lock which will be the third deepest lock within British Waterways' 2,200-mile network. Although the first section to be reopened is just 437 metres long, its reconnects the canal to the rest of the UK's inland waterway network via the river Irwell and opens up potential for the restoration of the canal to its terminuses at both Bolton and Bury.

The £5.9 million project, delivered by contractors Volker Stevin and led by British Waterways was funded by Northwest European Regional Development Fund (through Manchester Enterprises), Salford City Council, North West Regional Development Agency  those present at the re-opening was Derek Cochrane, former BW regeneration director who was responsible for putting the redevelopment package together. The next stage in restoring the wider Manchester, Bolton & Bury Canal could be achieved within five to ten years subject to funding.

Calder & Hebble Navigation

HRH The Prince of Wales visited Sowerby Bridge Wharf on 24th November to see the extensive conservation and regeneration work that has been achieved there over the past twelve years. A project to regenerate the area was established by his charity; The Prince's Regeneration Trust, in 1996. The project has conserved and restored the historic canal buildings, and this has supported existing businesses at the wharf and encouraged new trade to maintain the historically important site's contribution to the community.

The regeneration of the wharf has been delivered through the Sowerby Bridge Wharf Partnership established by The Prince's Regeneration Trust and including Calderdale Council, British Waterways, Yorkshire Forward, the Heritage Lottery Fund and stakeholders in the local community. During his visit, Prince Charles surveyed the restoration work, talked to those involved in the project and met local business people. The project initially undertook regeneration of the Grade II Salt Warehouse and the Grade II No. 4 Warehouse, leading to the creation of new industrial space and offices; this in turn encouraged further development of the wharf; creating pubs, restaurants, and shops.

Sowerby Bridge wharf operated as a trans-shipment point at the junction of the Rochdale Canal and the Calder and Hebble Navigation. The development of other forms of transport in the early 20th century led to the gradual decline of the wharf, and the closure of the Rochdale Canal. The Calder & Hebble Navigation was also considered under threat and largely kept alive by local IWA members and enthusiasts forming Calder Navigation Society and South Pennine Boat Club.

The warehouses were saved from likely demolition in June 1974 when Mark Andrew, a councillor on the then West Yorkshire County Council, and then chairman of Calder Navigation Society, took a lease on the site and began Shire Cruisers. At the time, the area was at risk of complete site clearance for redevelopment. From the end of the 1970s, much of the boating traffic at Sowerby Bridge was generated by hire boats from Shire Cruisers. June 1974 also saw the formation of Rochdale Canal Society, led by local IWA activists and members of Calder Navigation Society and the former Peak Forest Canal Society. In the same year, Mark Andrew persuaded Calderdale District Council to remove a concrete weir that separated the Rochdale Canal from Sowerby Bridge Basin. Whilst visitor numbers by boat remain low, the restoration of the Rochdale Canal has helped bring prosperity back to the Sowerby Bridge area.

Caldon Canal

Members of the Caldon & Uttoxeter Canals Trust have arranged the installation of a new fingerpost at Hazlehurst Junction where the Leek Branch leaves the main line of the Caldon Canal. Erected by Trust volunteers, funding for the signpost came from the family of local waterway enthusiast and radio broadcaster Arthur Wood to whom the post is dedicated. The sign features boating and walking destinations, including Etruria, Froghall and Leek – where the Trust is promoting a scheme to create a new mooring basin as a focus for tourism and regeneration - along with canal reservoir Rudyard Lake (reached via a footpath alongside the Caldon water supply feeder) and Uttoxeter, destination of the Trust's campaign to restore the Uttoxeter Canal through the Churnet Valley.

Volunteers from IWA's Stoke-on-Trent branch are working with Rudyard Sailability on proposals for disabled sailing facilities which will also have valuable tourism and regeneration outputs for the local canal network and economy and were recently presented with a Sport England VIP Volunteer Investment Programme award in recognition of their dedication and commitment to the project. The project benefited from a visit to Rudyard Lake by Olympic Gold Medallist Sarah Webb on 9th November.

A team led by The Caldon & Uttoxeter Canals Trust, and including support from IWA, has produced a Canal Corridor Study that investigates the potential to restore, extend and develop the canal in Leek. The Trust continues to campaign for improvements to the canal at Leek because the isolated terminus and lack of mooring facilities actively discourage visitors who arrive by boat from stopping to explore the town. During recent consultations the public has also given "overarching support for the creation of a canal basin in Barnfields" along with demanding a broader vision for south Leek.

Uttoxeter Canal

An exhibition about the Uttoxeter Canal, its restoration and regeneration potential has opened at Uttoxeter Heritage Centre, Staffordshire and is on display until 31 January 2009. The free exhibition explores the route of the Uttoxeter Canal, from its junction with the Caldon Canal at Froghall through the Churnet Valley to Uttoxeter; the waterway connecting the heart of the Staffordshire Moorlands to the valley of the Dove in East Staffordshire. The exhibition also features a free Wild Over Waterways activity for children to design their own Boat Livery – invent a name for their boat along with a colour scheme and decoration. This has been provided by IWA's Stoke-on-Trent Branch– with materials kindly sponsored by Staffordshire–based holiday boat company Stone Canal Cruising Co. The exhibition is at Uttoxeter Heritage Centre, 34-36 Carter Street, Uttoxeter, ST14 8EU. (Tel: 01889 567176). Open Tues, Wed, Thurs, Fri, Sat; 10.00am to 4.00pm; FREE admission

Grantham Canal

IWA has arranged a £175,000 funding plan to save Woolsthorpe Top Lock on the Grantham Canal from closure, following the partial collapse of the offside wall to the lock last year. British Waterways had decided that it could not afford to rebuild the wall and proposed that the lock would be filled in. John Baylis, IWA's East Midlands Region Chairman, made the rescue proposal to British Waterways, for IWA to fund the rebuilding of the damaged wall of Woolsthorpe Top Lock utilising a £100,000 legacy given to IWA from the estate of Mr. Fredrick Charles Woodman. Mr Woodman was an engineer in Nottingham until his retirement and boated extensively in the Trent area for many years. IWA had to offer further guarantees that sufficient money would be available to complete the rebuilding, which meant that a joint campaign between the Grantham Canal Society and IWA was necessary to raise additional funds. Grants of £40,000 and £35,000 were obtained from Lincolnshire County Council through the Lincolnshire Waterways Partnership and from East Midlands Development Agency respectively. Other costs are being borne by IWA locally and by British Waterways.

IWA, through its Honorary Consultant Engineer Roy Sutton, also undertook to produce extensive drawings and calculations to demonstrate how the work could be done. Following further discussions and agreement with British Waterways, quotations were sought from several contractors and Morrison Construction's proposals for the method of rebuilding have been accepted. Morrison Construction, part of the Galliford Try Group of Companies, has now been engaged to start work in December.

Woolsthorpe Top Lock was built as part of the original canal which opened in 1797, but the offside wall was completely rebuilt about fifty years after opening, due to pinching. The offside lock wall has now fractured longitudinally at invert level, possibly due to leakage above the lock percolating through the ground at the back of the brickwork. The planned work entails demolition in sections of the offside wall to below invert level, sealing the points of leakage, replacing the damaged brickwork utilising concrete underwater and with bricks backed with concrete to the top. The original coping stones are to be reused.

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