For the moment, the work of the Trust seems to have assumed a more normal pace of activity. After several years of unremitting pressure and activity this is a welcome, if somewhat deceptive, state of affairs. As I have observed before in this column, we must soon take a measured over-all view of what we are doing and how we should be doing it. I am hopeful that by the autumn we will be able to achieve a situation which at least approaches this ideal. The Strategy Review, undertaken by Mike Smith and Robert Davies should be ready for discussion in the near future.

The deceptive aspect of this situation exists as we await the outcome of several crucial developments which come from the Trust's involvement in the building of the M6 Toll Motorway. The abutments and central column for the Cranebrook Valley Aqueduct near Muckley Corner are scheduled to be built in late summer. Funding for this has come by drawing on a substantial amount of the £250,000 made available to us by the Manifold Trust. These works are in the hands of the motorway builders (CAMBBA) and the motorway concessionaires (Midland Expressway) who are working for the Highways Agency. Meanwhile, the Trust is doing its utmost to raise the additional sums required to order the fabrication and installation of the steel trough to take the Lichfield Canal across the new motorway. There is a steady flow of funds to the David Suchet Appeal and the Trust has made applications to several national grant-giving organisations. We can make no further moves until we are confident of the funding. Our aim is to install the trough in the later stages of road construction in the later part of 2003.

The support of the members in the raising of much of the money and in supporting the work of the Trust has been phenomenal. This is seen in many ways but nowhere more clearly than in the way members, and very many others, turned out on 21st April to take part in the Walk of the Lichfield Canal. Over 2000 people, plus dogs, took part in the Walk which attracted a great deal of attention. By mid-morning the tide of people sweeping down Tamworth Road made it appear that there was a mass evacuation of Lichfield taking place. The walk was started by Lichfield M.P., Michael Fabricant, and was incorporated into the twinning ceremonies organised by Lichfield City Council. The atmosphere was both relaxed and electric at the same time. When we put this alongside 400 people who attended our public meetings in Lichfield and Cannock the popularity of our restoration work seems beyond question.

I must pay tribute to all those who helped organise the Walk before, during and after the event. The Marketing Group worked tirelessly to see that everything worked smoothly while John and Janette Horton seemed to be everywhere and worked amazing hours to see the event through to success. We were grateful to very many groups and organisations for their input. Lichfield City Council, Lichfield District, Lichfield Tourism and many others helped and supported in many ways. Waterways Recovery Group, our own volunteers plus friends and family played invaluable parts. Lichfield Cruising Club opened up their site for us and all the land owners were co-operative. To the many I have omitted from this list I apologise.

Michael Fabricant M.P. prepares to start the walk		The first walkers set off
Half-way and a welcome cup of tea		Lynn Evans, our roving reporter, chats to walkers at Lock 25

M6 TOLL Construction of the enlarged culverts for the Hatherton Canal under the M6 Toll (BNRR) has continued and as we go to press we heard that water had been let into the 'David Suchet' culvert at Churchbridge on 4th July. An inspection visit was immediately planned and we have a picture to show you. Of course, this is not yet a canal, only the Washbrook, but the extra capacity is there for the future. The other culvert near Walkmill Lane is also nearly complete.

(09/07/2002 Photo Phil Sharpe)

(10/05/2002 Photo Phil Sharpe)

On the Lichfield Canal crossing, further design work for the aqueduct has been done and construction of the foundations is imminent. We are increasingly confident that the supporting abutments and centre column will be installed but still need to raise the balance of at least £140,000 to fund the aqueduct trough. It will be touch and go to do this in time for installation before the motorway opens, especially if it opens early as is now being suggested.

RESTORATION PROJECTS
Our physical restoration work on the Lichfield Canal has been driven for many years now by John Horton, and would not have made such significant progress without his energy and determination. But planning new projects whilst organising work parties on present projects is an onerous responsibility which becomes more difficult as our expectations increase. For visiting groups work has to be planned, materials ordered, plant hired, and accommodation arranged, often at short notice. Most of our own working parties at Lichfield are ably supervised by Peter Matthews, but need a steady supply of materials and labour. If anyone can offer practical or administrative assistance to help share the burden of this ongoing work then please talk to John about how you can help.

The other main aspect of restoration is the Civil Engineering. We need help with project definition, specifying materials and methods, drawing up plans, calculating quantities, costing jobs, and seeking and letting contracts. We can and have done all these things, but not at the same time! We need to be able to plan ahead more and consider alternative methods rather than operating hand to mouth. It is also much easier to fund-raise if we have a clearer idea in advance of the details of each project. Ideally, therefore we would like to recruit a retired, semi-retired, or even a working Civil Engineer (or two!) to help us plan and supervise new projects in a professional manner. If you think you could help with any aspect of this, please contact Brian, me or John to discuss the opportunities.

Another area where help would be useful is the increasingly complicated but important area of Health & Safety legislation. Although we have an excellent record on our sites and take all the practical precautions necessary in conjunction with Waterway Recovery Group, some of the paperwork needed to prove our compliance could be improved. If anyone has some experience in this field and is able to help us with risk assessments, safety plans and supervision we would be very grateful.

DONATIONS AND GRANTS
A full list of donations to the Trust is included on another page, and thanks to everyone for being so generous. Notable among them are several large donations of £1,000 to the David Suchet Appeal from member Mr William B Brown, IWA Kent & East Sussex Branch, IWA Lichfield Branch, and £2,000 from Froud's Bridge Marina. Our general restoration funds have also benefited from the continuing generosity of Dr Hollingworth and many others, and grants received include £500 from Lichfield City Council and £1,000 from Lichfield Conduit Lands Trust. The latter is towards the legal expenses of transfer of the lease on Mr & Mrs Attwood's land, for which we have also been offered a grant of £5,000 by IWA's Restoration Committee. This is however, subject to reaching agreement on some outstanding details. The tax man has also made two substantial contributions courtesy of our many members and donors who have signed a Gift Aid declaration.

We reported last time on news just received of a £5,000 grant from Lichfield District Council to the David Suchet Appeal. In fact it was towards fund-raising for the Appeal rather than directly for the aqueduct. However, this is just the help we need at this time and promises to multiply the value of the grant. We have now appointed an experienced fund-raising consultant to help us achieve our target of funding the aqueduct trough in time to build it before the motorway opens.

Our application for European (ERDF Objective 2) funds for the Hatherton Canal has made further progress with the submission of the full bid document in May, following much hard work with their computerised application package. Other funding bids being progressed include a further Local Heritage Initiative project and support from Barclays Bank, both for the Tamworth Road site. Whilst it is best not to count any chickens, we remain hopeful of receiving some corn!

Phil Sharpe

The Trust has produced its own postcard. It is the first postcard to be produced from the A N Boult Collection of photographs which have been donated to the Trust. "Cats on a balance beam" is an appealing colour photograph for both canal enthusiasts and animal lovers alike. On the reverse is our Trust logo and website address to help promote the Trust. Now on sale at 25p each.

Press & publicity this time covers the period 5th April to 5th July 2002.
The May edition of Canal & Riverboat magazine devoted a page and a half to a well illustrated article by Stan Holland "On tour with David Suchet at Lichfield & Hatherton Canals culvert ceremony". This described our Canal Forum at Cannock and all the events of the day, including David's visits to the culvert at Churchbridge, Walsall wharf and BW's Bradley workshops. A panel gave a plug for The Missing Links video and our Brick Appeal, whilst a separate news item highlighted IWA's £20,000 contribution to the David Suchet Appeal. IWA's Waterways magazine for May pictured the cheque being presented by Richard Drake to David Suchet at the Canal Forum and reported on its success and progress with the Appeal in both the National Chairman's Column and the Restoration Update.

Both Canal Boat and Waterways World magazines in May carried news of progress with funding the aqueduct; "Hope for Lichfield aqueduct" and "Lichfield & Hatherton extend appeal" respectively, and Canal Boat also included our 2002 version of the David Suchet Appeal leaflet. Canal & Riverboat magazine for June reported "L&H now hopeful for an aqueduct at Brownhills". Meanwhile, an article in the Cannock & Rugeley Chronicle on progress with building the M6 Toll included a photo of the concrete culvert for the Washbrook at Churchbridge - "big enough to be used by narrowboats, should the Hatherton Canal be re-opened".

The Lichfield Canal Walk in April was given widespread advance publicity with diary entries in all 3 waterway magazines. Locally, there was publicity in Look Ahead In Lichfield District, and the Express & Star announced "Special walk to show canal restoration". The Lichfield Post had "Invitation to walk canals", with a picture of Trust members at Lock 26, and the Lichfield Mercury pictured members on the new towpath at Tamworth Road. Local reporting of the event itself was initially brief, being combined with reports on the City Twinning events in the Post and the Mercury. However, local magazine The Journal for June reported "MP joins canal walkers" with colour pictures of Michael Fabricant MP at the start of the walk and of Councillor Janet Eagland, Mayor of Lichfield with other dignitaries from the City and twin towns viewing work from the temporary bridge at Lock 26. The July edition of Canal Boat magazine reported "Two thousand walk the Lichfield" and also pictured Michael Fabricant MP with Trust officers at the start of the walk. Waterways World magazine's report was "Toeing the line!", although they seem to have lost 10 of our locks somewhere !

Michael Fabricant also helped to keep the Lichfield & Hatherton Canals in the news with a question in Parliament to DTLR Minister, David Jamieson. It was even mentioned in the Commons sketch column in The Daily Telegraph, although somewhat misreported, but the local Express & Star explained "MP in thank-you to minister over canal". In a rare display of cross-party unity, Michael thanked the Minister for his Department's new guidance on roads and bridges and their help with the BNRR (M6 Toll) crossings. Surprisingly, he also extended his thanks to the then Transport Secretary, Stephen Byers. It appears that Mr Byers, who had doggedly resisted all manner of public criticism over his political advisor and taking Railtrack into administration, etc., could not cope with being praised by the opposition and shortly after resigned ! So perhaps LHCRT unwittingly played a part in national politics !

Back on the ground, Navvies magazine for June-July 2002 had an illustrated article on WRG's activities at Lichfield on the weekend of 20/21 April. Amusingly written in the style of a "Time Team" programme and titled "The 'Grime Team' get to work at Tamworth Road", it chronicled the rediscovery of the spillweir at Lock 26. It also mentioned the Race Night and the Walk, and a letter to the editor from the Trust thanked everyone for their help with these successful events.

"Accolade for canals scheme campaigners" was the illustrated report in the Lichfield Mercury showing the presentation of the IWA's Kenneth Goodwin Trophy to the Trust at the Crick Boat Show. The Express & Star similarly reported "Trophy reward for work on canals".

LICHFIELD PROGRESS
Progress on Lock 26 at Tamworth Road has continued apace this quarter with work on most week-ends and many Wednesday evenings since May. The brick-work at the head of the lock and on the top-end wingwalls has been largely completed, including attractive brick arches above the ground paddle chambers. This has all been back-filled with concrete and the paddle chamber roofs have been cast. Only completion of the brick copings, along with some pointing and repair of the chamber floors remains. The shuttering has been removed from the back of the new chamber walls and extra concrete laid to seal the joint with the old brick-work and puddle clay. The back of the concrete was also given a coat of bitumen to reduce any seepage. Inside the chamber, the scaffolding has been dismantled giving access to the lower part of the walls for repointing, and the remaining fill around the land drain pipe is being removed.

Our own regular volunteers were assisted by WRG in April and a visit from the Newbury Working Party Group in June. The weekend of the Walk, despite a constant stream of visitors, saw some careful 'archaeological' excavation leading to the rediscovery of part of the bywash channel above the shed, enabling us to plan its rebuilding. The Newbury week-end was most notable for some nifty foot-work on the barrow runs moving the ready-mix concrete to backfill the walls. As usual, anyone 'at a loose end' got press-ganged into brick cleaning, which is a great incentive to develop some other skills !

Our other two sites at Darnford and Fosseway, although not currently active, have not been neglected although some more help with regular strimming would be appreciated.

Peter Matthews, our 'main man' and 'Mr Motivator' at Tamworth Road has recently had an operation which will limit his physical involvement for a few months. But he will still be able to organise and supervise to ensure that the work continues and the standards are upheld. We all wish him a speedy recovery.

HATHERTON PROGRESS

Hatherton Canal working parties, under Denis Cooper, have recently installed towpath way-mark posts at Roman Way and Cats Bridge, with 2 others due to go in shortly. The usual Spring growth on the towpath has been even more rapid in places this year with the extra light penetration from reducing the overgrown hedgerow but, unlike last year when Foot & Mouth prevented access, we have been able to keep on top of it. The linear dredgings, however, are un-mowable and leave a narrower path than before. We still hope for some remedial action from BW. Meanwhile we have completed clearing up after the hedging contractors, trimmed overhanging growth, cleared fallen trees and levelled a section of towpath. All this work does at least appear to be appreciated and used by local people, and even discovered by visitors from abroad. It is never too late to join in, and if you are under 65 you might even help reduce the average age of our volunteers ! Give Denis a ring for details.

Philip Sharpe

WORKING PARTIES : NOVEMBER 2002 - MARCH 2003

LICHFIELD CANAL

Lichfield Canal work parties are held on the first Sunday of each month from 10 am. mainly working at Lock 26 at Tamworth Road. (Park by Lock 25 and walk past The Cottage to the entrance to Lock 26). Some additional Saturdays will also be worked but please note the revised schedule of dates. Contact Peter Matthews on 01543-318933 or John Horton on 01543-262466 for confirmation.

Weekend work parties: Sunday 3 and Saturday 16 November; Sunday 1, Saturday 14 and Saturday 28 December; Sunday 5 and Saturday 18 January; Sunday 2 and Saturday 15 February; Sunday 2 and Saturday 15 March.

HATHERTON CANAL

Hatherton Canal work parties are held on the third Sunday of each month from 10 am. Contact Denis Cooper on 01543-374370 (work) for details of meeting place and extra dates.

Monthly work parties: Sundays: 17 November, 15 December, 19 January, 16 February, 16 March.

ALL SITES: Bring old clothes, stout footwear, work gloves, and refreshment. Hard hats and basic working tools can be provided as necessary, although you are welcome to bring your own.

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