Issuu

A Bridge Too Far? Hedge laying on the Northampton Arm

Hedge laying, at its most basic, is relatively straightforward. Between October and March, when the temperature is above 5 degrees, remove unwanted plants (elder, bramble etc) then just thin down the trunks of the hawthorn/blackthorn and bend them over at about a 40 degree Angle Continued on page 10

waterways.org.uk/northampton

Now that we have had the local elections, it is time to contact your new councillors to let them know how important our canals and rivers are and to encourage them to show their support. Healthy living, exercise, relaxation, stress relief and sports like paddle boarding, fishing, wildlife all benefit from our waterways. There are also economic considerations with businesses such as marinas, chandleries, brokerage, canal side pubs and restaurants to name just a few, some of whom have been struggling lately.

They are now going to be used for water transfer to move water from some of the wettest places to where there is a shortage. With house building on a major scale in some areas, there is not enough water for domestic use and businesses in the South East. Global warming has hit this area particularly hard with only about 1% of the normal rain fall during April and May. With hot temperatures expected again this summer, are we going to have the canals closing thus narrowing considerably the options for boaters, anglers etc? Of course, if the canals and rivers were kept clean and free flowing with dredging and maintenance, this would cut down on loss of water but is there the money?

Lets us hope that after last year with so many closures CRT have got a plan in place to stop this happening again this year.

As you have seen on the front page, during the winter months the Branch has been busy on hedge laying on the Northampton Arm along with cutting back offside vegetation . This has to be done over winter stopping at the end of March to protect nesting birds.

If you haven't been down the Northampton Arm before or for sometime it is worth going and seeing what our volunteers have been doing.

June

6th 10am Guided Photography Walk. Canal Museum Stoke Bruerne Learn how to photograph the canal, boats and locks with help from Dan Evans a retired commercial photographer.

6th 11am CRT Volunteer Recruitment Stand Canal Museum

10th 7pm Mikron Theatre Company Admiral Nelson, Braunston Wensleydale Whey

12th June Mikron Theatre Company Canal Museum Stoke Bruerne Topof the World

13th 11am Caring for the Canals Canal Museum

20th 10am Book Binding Workshop with Laura Sturrock

Canal Museum Stoke Bruerne

27th 10am Dry Etching Workshop Canal Museum Stoke Bruerne

27th –28th Braunston Historic Boat Rally and Canal festival See page 12 for more details

July

18th –19th Cosgrove Canal Festival and Craft Fair 10am. Trade and Historic boats, crafts cakes and refreshments on towpath and Cosgrove Village Hall.

18th 11am Crafts onthe Canal. Canal Museum Stoke Bruerne

25th 11am Rag Rugging Workshop Canal Museum Stoke Bruerne

29th

12-2pm Teddy Bear’s Picnic Canal Museum Stoke Bruerne

August 15th

11-4pm Pirate Day Canal Museum Stoke Bruerne

16th 10-4pm Wire wrapped Jewellery Workshop

Canal Museum Stoke Bruerne

Branch Chairman’s Jottings Branch Chairman’s Jottings Branch Chairman’s Jottings Branch Chairman’s Jottings

byBernardMorton byBernardMorton

Well, Spring has truly sprung and what a beautiful season it is. As I write this, gardens look spectacular with blossom, bulbs and shrubs coming to life again after the long winter. Towpaths and grass verges are also at their best with a multitude of wild flowers and hedgerows that abound with blossom. The Northampton Arm has looked resplendent with over 1,000 spring bulbs funded by the Branch and diligently planted by our volunteers over the past few years. What a welcome sight they must be to walkers, cyclists and especially boaters working their way up or down the 17 locks on the Arm!

BRANCH SOCIAL GATHERINGS.

Since my last Jottings, we have held our AGM – this time via Zoom. Holding AGMs face-to-face at the Boat Inn were not well attended with few besides Committee members (even with the added attraction of a speaker or a Quiz) so we decided this year to try Zoom instead. Sadly, this only attracted 4 members not on the Committee. What are we to make of this? In the absence of evidence to the contrary, I can only assume that we are doing what you wish for the Branch and you are happy with the way it is run. Should that not be the case, then please contact me using the details at the back of this issue – we remain open to your suggestions and ideas and would especially welcome some new Committee members, who can be easily co-opted before the next AGM.

Unfortunately, our Quiz organised for our April meeting did not go ahead as there were only 3 members other than Sandie, so John Pomfret (our quizmaster) has mothballed the quiz for another time. Thanks to John and Lynda Payton (who had created some waterways games for the event) for all their hard work.

As I write this, we have sadly just taken the decision to cancel May’s meeting which was to be a walk down the Arm led by CRT Ecologist Penny Foster. We couldn’t guarantee a decent attendance based on recent gatherings and didn’t think it would be fair for Penny to give up her time for 3 or 4 people.

So, what is the future for our Branch meetings? Even with the Boat Inn allowing us the use of their Committee Room free of charge, these meetings have been running at a loss for a number of years, when speakers’ fees and wine for the raffle are taken into account. We have always felt that these meetings are our only opportunity to meet our members and are sad to see them under threat. We are therefore going to explore the possibility of holding them via Zoom which would mean we could open them up to other Branches across the country. This, of course, means that we need to find speakers who are able and willing to deliver a talk via Zoom. John Pomfret has already agreed

to trial the first one in October (subject to be announced later). Hopefully, we will be able to announce full details and dates in the next issue of Endeavour.

Our annual dinner (which last year was a luncheon and successful) will go ahead, providing we have sufficient numbers. We have booked The Boat Inn at Stoke Bruerne for Saturday 21st November so please put this date your diaries. The menu is shown on pg 22 to wet your appetites! The booking form will be in the next issue of Endeavour (Autumn).

IWA’S RISK INDEX. Have you had a chance to look at this study? IWA states “It was produced in response to the Climate Change Committee’s warning to government to prepare for 2 degrees warming by 2050 and consists of a map revealing the possible impact of this on our inland waterways. It follows several winters of severe flooding damage, the worst being the collapse of the Bridgewater Canal in January 2025 and the breach on the Llangollen Canal in December 2025, as well as 2025 being the hottest Spring on record which resulted in large sections of the system closing due to low water levels.

Lack of funding to maintain our waterways in the face of climate change is a key factor in the network’s decline. We have used our expert knowledge of the status of the various navigation authorities looking after our waterways to categorise them”.

So, the map shows waterways colour coded as red (severe funding shortfall and uncertainty about the future, amber (moderate funding threat, situation likely to deteriorate in future and green (currently financially stable).

In our area, the Grand Union including the Leicester Line and the Oxford Canal are all coded as amber with the River Nene coded as red!

If this has aroused your interest, go to https://waterways.org.uk/campaignmap for full details. Whatever your thoughts about global warming, this is an interesting read – especially in the light of recent heavy winter rainfall and resultant flooding/damage and last summer’s drought which saw the closure of large parts of our waterways.

Well, that’s enough from me except to wish you all an enjoyable, safe summer particularly if you are out and about on or around our inland waterways.

Please think of others as you do so – boaters be considerate of other boaters, share locks and be sure to close paddles and gates to conserve water. Cyclists please be wary of pedestrians, dog walkers and fishermen and reduce your speed sounding a warning as you approach – towpaths are spaces to be shared safely and enjoyed by all! Keep a wary eye out for paddle boarders and canoeists who are becoming a more and more frequent sight on our inland waterways - they are not always easy to spot from the back of a lengthy narrowboat.

TASK PARTY DATES

Continued from front page

Finally, drive in some stakes and weave binding hazel rods in between the stakes. It also seemed like a really interesting thing to do, so when, in 2019, Geoff Wood was approached about starting some hedge laying courses in our area, he was keen to support the idea.

The laid hedge

The first course was in 2019, the second in 2020, both on the Arm at lock 6, with others following each year at different locations. This is where the problem hit home. The hedges on the arm are not only a jungle but when they were last laid (we think over 40 years ago) they had been laid downhill, not uphill as the practice requires.

So not so straightforward then for us beginners! Our trainer, Dave Padley, not only had to teach us the basics but also some rather advanced techniques so that we could not only do the laying but also make it face uphill.

Of course, it was only after the training that Geoff casually mentioned that the aim was to get to the bridge at lock 2! Somewhat daunting to

say the least. It’s a lot further than you think from lock 6 to lock 2 and those of you who may have walked the Arm 6 years ago will understand what I mean by “jungle”.

But we persevered and each year got closer and closer while gaining experience and speed and adding newly trained Branch volunteers to the group. By this season, we had nine regulars and the end was tantalisingly close so we decided to move from fortnightly to weekly sessions. We were also now completing the full cycle from harvesting our own hazel binders and stakes under the watchful guidance of Catherine West of CRT to the laying and finally chipping of the brash.

It was a beautiful sunny winter day at the end of February when we completed the task and we were delighted that Catherine came along with bubbly and chocs to help us celebrate.

Roger Island

The finished hedge and the view from lock 6 towards lock 2

Full steam ahead for the 22nd Braunston Historic Narrowboat Rally & Canal Festival 27

th – 28th June,

Tim Coghlan writes:

2026

We are once again holding our own very special annual canal event –the Braunston Historic Narrowboat Rally - in its regular slot over the last weekend in June. This year it will be the twenty second time we have hosted it. With the threat to government funding, the waterways need to have something to celebrate, and hopefully this event will be a showcase for our wonderful waterway heritage that needs to be preserved.

Getting ready for the opening the 2023 Rally: Music legend and steam enthusiast Pete Waterman seen steering the replica steam tug HASTY, with a little help from the Friends of President. The Hasty is towing the FMC butty Kildare.

(Tim Coghlan)

The theme of this year’s Rally is to celebrate the re-restoration of steam-narrowboat President which had been out of action since it’s boiler failed an inspection-test in 2018. The opening will be performed aboard President by the music-legend and steam-enthusiast Pete Waterman.

Built in 1909, President is the last surviving coal-fired steam narrowboat on the inland waterways, and for this achievement it is recorded in the National Historic Fleet Register. So it is important that every effort should be made to keep it in steam.

Ironically our first Rally, which was held in 2003, was to celebrate the then re-restoration, as President had had its boiler and engine condemned in 1998, following its end-of-season inspection. Both restorations received substantial sponsorship from Braunston Marina, boosted by fund-raising by the Friends of President. It is hoped that the recent extensive works carried out should give the boat a good few years of plain sailing. Following the latest restoration, I had the honour to be made a ‘President of the Friends of President,’ joining the existing long serving Chairman David Powell.

Rally festivities will begin at 10.00 am on Saturday 27th June, with the formal plaque unveiling on Braunston Marina’s ‘Wall of Fame’ of the outside wall of the FMC wet-dock by actor Sam West (All Creatures

Crowds at the entrance to Braunston Marina watching the opening of the Rally. The Nutfield and Raymond following behind the Hasty and Kildare. (Tim Coghlan)

Great and Small) in memory of his parents, the former actor and canal enthusiasts ‘Tim & Pru’ – Timothy West and Prunella Scales. The plaque will commemorate their Braunston years from 2002 to 2022 when they played many parts. Their roles included opening several rallies, participating in four Lit Fests and separately the launches of two canal books. The marina was also included in two TV series in which they featured: Waterworld and Great Canal Journeys. Away from the media, Tim & Pru moored their narrowboat ‘Peggy Thompson’ at the marina for over ten years. The ‘Wall of Fame’ commemorates a number of distinguished canal-people who have been involved with Braunston Marina and its antecedents in the latter part of its 200 plus years of serving the canal boater – ancient and modern

With the plaque unveiling completed, celebrations will move out of the marina onto the canal. Here official guests will go onboard the waiting President, and its butty Kildare for the official opening. Pete Watereman will then take the tiller of President, and all-steamed up, and to the sounds of Daventry Brass Band, a peal of bells from Braunston church, and a loud toot on President’s steam whistle, the pair of boats will get underway. They will pause under ‘Peter’s Bridge’ the recently restored Horseley Ironworks bridge over the marina entrance, which received substantial legacy funding from the estate of the late canalenthusiast Peter Andrews. Here Pete Waterman will declare the 2026

Formal cheque presentation of £1,000 by Pete waterman from Braunston Marina to Friends of President (Victoria Jane Photography)

Timothy West and Prunella Scales onboard President & Kildare in the 2013 opening parade. (Tim Coghlan)

Braunston Historic Narrowboat Rally open. The boats will then lead the opening parade of historic narrowboats through the marina and down to the double bridges at Braunston Turn and back.

We have already received an encouraging number of early bookings of historic narrowboats - and they just keep coming in. These leviathans of our canal-carrying past are THE making of the Rally, which has been for some years now, the largest such gathering of them anywhere on the waterways. This could well be a vintage year, setting a new record.

In the spirit of the original IWA Market Harbour Rally of 1950, our event has always been a double-act, with the historic boat parades going hand with our Canal Festival.

Janul, our long-serving music-impresario, is already networking the amazing groups of musicians she produces each year for the famous beer tent - the Dry Dock Inn – a mini-Glastonbury, without the mud!

There will be Morris Dancers galore, and children will again be entertained by Professor Diamond’s Punch & Judy Show in four productions during the Saturday.

VISIT STOWE HILL WHARF FOR ALL YO

Proprietor Robert Gudgeon

• Full Repaints

• Hull Blacking/Stern Gear

• Inspection and Repairs

• Engine Repairs and Maintenance

• Complete Fit-Out and WoodworkAlterations

• Plumbing Installations and Repairs

• Electrical Installations and Repairs

• NEW — Fuel Polishing Service

• Stockists of Morris Oils and Grease

• Full range of Batteries always available (please let us know your requirements)

By road we are easily found, a few yards off theA5 at Stowe Hill towards Nether Heyford. By boat close to Bridge 26

ALL WORK UNDERTAKEN, FROM SIMPLE TASKS TO COMPLETE FIT-OUTS

YOUR ESSENTIAL BOATING SERVICES

When you go cruising again let me know about your trip so we can all share in your experiences. This is where you can suggest new places to visit or to avoid.

Write a report about your cruise, let others know the good and not so good places to moor, eat, drink, places of interest worth visiting and anything else that might help others to enjoy that area. Let us know of any mishaps or interesting things that happened on your journey. Include pictures of your cruise, unusual things scenery and anything else that you want to add. I am looking forward to receiving your reports.

Or maybe you could tell us about the boats you’ve hired or owned.

Send your articles and stories to tony.clarke@waterways.org.uk

There will also be the The Guild of Waterways Artists, provided as usual with their own marquee - sponsored by Braunston Marina. At least ten of its members will have their works on display, including the great canal artist Dusty Miller.

For our pre-Rally theatrical production, we have invited back for a second year the Oxford Canal based trio, the Three Idle Woman, who will be preforming a new show of their own closeharmony canal songs. Entrance tickets at £10 – no concessions - are available beforehand from the marina shop and from the door on the night. The event is sponsored by Braunston Marina, and all ticket sales will be donated to the maintenance of Braunston Church, the ‘Cathedral of the Canals’ –where many former working boatmen ‘tied up’ for the last time.

Mr. Punch delighting the young and not-so-young visitors.

Actress Kate Saffin will again be very much onboard with us for the Rally, bringing canal history alive. She will dress as a traditional boat woman, and be ‘at home’ in an old working boatman’s cabin tied up in the Old Oxford Arm at the heart of the marina. Here she will show visitors round the cabin, explaining to them the mysteries of just how the boatmen-families managed to live and work in such a confined space –what they wore, how they ate, washed and slept, and the tough life they led.

The Rally will also have its usual trade marquee, which will also be shared with a number of canal societies. At least two canal authors will also be there, including Shirley Man with her new book Maggie’s War which she will be signing. Outside, there will be stands for a number of good causes like the RNLI and the Northants Air Ambulance, all of whom are given free space.

On the Sunday evening, to close the event, Braunston Marina will again sponsor a candle-lit choral concert by Fiori Musicali of early Italian renaissance music from the House of Savoy. The venue is across the meadows from Braunston at the ancient church of Wolfamcote. The concert also aims to raise awareness of this ancient redundant church, much admired by John Betjeman, and which was a stopover point on the Middle Ages ‘Pilgrims’ Way’ from Lowestoft in Suffolk, to St David's in Pembrokeshire. Funds are urgently needed for the church’s preservation.

We are fortunate to be able to hold the event in our marina, including parking, with use of the canal outside for the parading of historic narrowboats, thanks to the CRT. The Rally is very much an outdoor event, with some five thousand people attending, who spread themselves out along the mile or so of towpath to watch the parades. So we should be able to hold the event in safety. Here’s hoping we have you onboard!

What the Braunston Historic Narrowboat Rally is all about!

Eamonn Comerford)

The Braunston Historic Narrowboat Rally is sponsored by Braunston Marina and TOWPATH TALK, with support from the Canal & River Trust.

Annual Branch Luncheon

Saturday 21st November at 12.30pm

The Boat Inn Stoke Bruerne

Home Baked Bread Basket

**********

Home Made Winter Soup

Chicken Skewers with BBQ Sauce

Creamy Garlic Mushrooms

King Prawn Salad with Spicy Marie Rose Sauce

**********

Loin of Cod with Creamy Pancetta Sauce

Grilled Rib-Eye with Onion Rings & Tomatoes

(£5 supplement)

Chicken Supreme with Leek & Bacon Sauce

Twice Cooked Pork Belly with Cider Sauce Crackling

Butternut Squash Wellington

Served with a selection of fresh Vegetables

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Apple & Cinnamon Crumble with crème Anglaise

Biscoff Cheesecake

Chocolate Brownie & Baileys Trifle

Fresh Fruit Salad

Cheese & Biscuits (£3 supplement)

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Coffee or Tea with Mints

£34 per head

Booking form will be in the next Endeavour

WHILTON MARINA CHANDLERY

us a visit, just

Tel 01327 844639 E-mail: marinachandlery@gmail.com

The Branch is collecting old printer, and/or inkjet cartridges for recycling. I would be most willing to take them off your hands. This form of recycling may not generate large amounts of funds but, as they say, every little helps.Please bring them to the Branch meetings or email me to arrange collection on sandie.morton@waterways.org.uk

IWA Northampton Branch has a Facebook page. It is at https://www.facebook.com/IWANorthamptonBranch Members will find posts there about our talks, Task Party dates and much more, as well as being able to use it for discussion purposes. We’d like to hear your views. We also have a Twitter account @northamptoniwa where you can leave us a message or engage in discussion on what’s happening.

Please

BUCKINGHAM CANAL SOCIETY

Buckingham Canal Society completes acquisition of Cosgrove Marina

Buckingham Canal Society (BCS) is pleased to announce that it has successfully completed the purchase of the business concerns of Cosgrove Marina, located in the south of Northamptonshire. This significant milestone marks an important step in strengthening the longterm financial sustainability of the society and supporting its ongoing canal restoration work.

The acquisition will see Cosgrove Marina operate as part of the commercial arm of Buckingham Canal Society, alongside Buckingham Canal Ltd, providing a stable income stream to help meet the operational and core running costs of the canal sections restored to date, as well as supporting future restoration, maintenance and community engagement activities. Members of the society have funded it so that by integrating a well-established marina business into its structure , the Society is taking a proactive and responsible approach to ensuring that restored waterways can be effectively managed and maintained for years to come.

BCS is delighted to confirm that existing team including Mick Palmer who has long been associated with Cosgrove Marina, will remain within the business. Their experience, local knowledge, and continuity of service are highly valued, and the Society anticipates that only minimal changes will be made to day-today operations. Customers, boaters, and partners can therefore expect the same friendly service and reliable facilities that Cosgrove Marina is known for.

This acquisition aligns closely with Buckingham Canal Society’s charitable objectives: to restore, conserve and manage the Buckingham Arm of the grand Union Canal which starts at the marina, while ensuring that restored sections are financially resilient and environmentally responsible.

The Society thanks Heald Law LLP and Canal & River Trust for work during transfer and is now looking forward to working closely with marina users, local residents, volunteers and stakeholders as this new chapter begins. The business purchase represents a positive and sustainable model for heritage waterway restoration.

For further information or enquiries, please contact: Terry Cavender Email terry.cavender@buckinghamcanal.org.uk or Phone 07764 623762

All advertisements must comply with the requirements of the Trades Descriptions Act and avoid misrepresentation of goods offered for sale. The Business Advertisements (Disclosure) Order 1977 requires that businesses seeking to sell goods must clearly indicate this in an advertisement.