Lichfield and Hatherton Canals Restoration Trust Ltd

Lichfield & Hatherton Canals Restoration Trust Limited

CUT BOTH WAYS WEBSITE ARCHIVES
The Magazine of the Lichfield & Hatherton
Canals Restoration Trust
Issue No. 32 - SUMMER 2002
Other Reports

REBUILDING THE OGLEY LOCKS (1834 - 1850)

Ray Shill is well known locally for his historical research on the Birmingham Canal Navigations (BCN) and has published the results in several books and in articles in Boundary Post, the BCN Society magazine. Research he has carried out on the Wyrley & Essington Canal has uncovered some fascinating facts about the rebuilding of the Ogley Locks on what we now refer to as the Lichfield Canal. It has been clear to our working party volunteers for some years that we were not the first to rebuild these locks. Although most of the brickwork below the bottom water level is clearly the original 1790s locally hand-made red bricks, full of stones and now rather crumbly with very soft mortar, much of the lock structure above that level has been rebuilt or refaced in harder machine-made blue engineering bricks. We long suspected from the style that this must have been done after the merger of the Wyrley & Essington Canal with the BCN by Act of Parliament in 1840 (see article in CBW20, Summer 1999). Now we have confirmation of that, thanks to Ray's research into the BW archives at Gloucester where many of the BCN Board Minutes and records are lodged. Most, if not all, of the 30 locks were rebuilt between 1843 and 1850 and gates and paddles were replaced. Ray has extracted the following details which give some idea of the extent of the works at that time:

Sept	1843	Lock 10	Part of wall to be taken down and repaired
Feb	1844	Lock 22	Stone quarries to be repaired
March	1844	Lock 27	Parts of lock to be rebuilt
April	1844	Lock 26	Lock to be substantially repaired
April	1845	Lock 1	Lock to be substantially repaired
May	1845	Lock 6	Lock to be rebuilt on plan shown
Nov	1845	Locks 27 & 30	Locks to be rebuilt and culverts lined with clay
March	1846	Locks 9 & 10	Gate paddles and groins to be replaced
Nov	1846	Lock 2	New paddles to be fitted
Oct	1847	Lock 2	New masonry and brickwork for lock
Oct	1848	Lock 12	Brickwork and wing wall repairs planned
July	1849	Locks 3 & 4	Wing walls to be rebuilt
July	1849	Lock 5	Lock to be taken down and rebuilt
July	1849	Lock 7	New hanging stone to be provided
April	1850	Locks 21 & 22	Gates and paddles to be replaced
June	1850	Lock 8	New stone quoin to be installed
July	1850	Lock 15	Lock taken down and rebuilt with cast iron quoins

No doubt, trawling the records would reveal even more fascinating information, as well as work at later dates. One thing they show is that extra labour had to be drafted in from other districts of the BCN to help. For example in September and October 1848 there were 3 stone masons and 3 or 4 extra bricklayers employed on the reconstruction of Lock 12. We could do with some of that help now, especially the stone masons! Many of the jobs carried out 150 plus years ago are still familiar to our volunteers, but the speed they must have completed them gives pause for thought.

Phil Sharpe

HONOURS

The Golden Jubilee seems to have enjoyed success far beyond the earlier gloomy expectations. There have been festivities up and down the country badged as Jubilee events and, unlike "Millennium" this has proved to be a bonus rather than a burden. Perhaps we should have had a Jubilee Dome. The Trust has not run any Jubilee events as such but could well have given the Lichfield Canal Walk such a title. It is good that two people closely associated with the L&H have received honours in the Queen's Birthday Honours.

Our Vice-President, David Suchet received an OBE for services to his profession, although he certainly would qualify for an honour for his services to the waterways. We have sent him our warmest congratulations. Seeing the "Suchet Culvert" at Churchbridge in water recently brought home to us yet again what David has done for the Trust.

Dr. David Fletcher, Chief Executive of British Waterways, received a well-deserved CBE. Again the Trust sent him warm congratulations. As he approaches retirement many tributes will be paid to Dave's outstanding work in confounding the cynics and transforming BW in a way few of us could have expected. Only those of us close to the tense discussions which resulted in a change in government policy to restoration and the building of two culverts will ever know just how much we owe to Dave and his team.

Finally, the Trust itself, received the Kenneth Goodwin Trophy from IWA at the Crick Boat Show. This is given to the society or trust which has made the most significant progress in achieving its objective. The Trophy itself is a miniature JCB in a glass case. It will be displayed for the next 12 months on the Trust stand at all major events. This is a great honour for all of us. Jubilee Year has certainly reached every level of the L&H.

Brian Kingshott

10 YEARS OF MEMBERSHIP GROWTH

A large and active membership is vital to the progress of our restoration projects and the Trust has been particularly successful in steadily recruiting new members at the many events attended by our Marketing team and lately in connection with the high profile David Suchet Appeal. Membership income is the bedrock of the Trust, paying for the magazine and our administration overheads and contributing significantly to the direct costs of physical restoration work. Having a large membership also demonstrates the extent of public support and influences donors and funding agencies to support us with grants. So-called "armchair" members are just as important to us as those who are able to help with labour or campaigning. However, the rise in membership has not been matched by a rise in the number of active officers and we would welcome a greater involvement from anyone with time or talents to offer our committee or the land, finance or engineering sub-groups so that we can further increase the pace of our restoration.

Meanwhile, it is encouraging to look back on what we have achieved with recruitment. The graph shows how numbers have steadily grown. Starting from nothing in 1992 when the separate 'Friends of the Lichfield & Hatherton Canals' was formed, and really taking off from 1996 when membership became part of the Trust itself and our Marketing Group was formed. The total membership is now well over 1,200 and still growing, but we would like many more yet to help us achieve our aims faster. As usual, we are listing the names of all our new members for this quarter in these pages.

It is instructive to compare our membership numbers with other waterway groups. IWA's Waterway Societies Guide (October 2001 edition) gives totals for 67 waterway societies, trusts and associations out of which we were 10th in size, although the numbers are somewhat out of date and are constantly changing. Way ahead of everyone else was the Kennet & Avon Canal Trust with 6,000 members, the next nearest being less than half that. Of the 9 groups ahead of us, 6 are in the wealthier areas of Southern England. However, we were 4th in the Midlands and North and not far behind the other 3, the largest being the Huddersfield Canal Society, which has also now achieved its aim. More recent figures, and our continuing strong growth, encourage us to think that we could become the largest restoration group in the Midlands and North with a bit more effort. Your help in persuading friends and relatives to join us this year could bring this target within reach. For membership details or leaflets contact our Membership Secretary, Finance Director or Marketing Group, or join online.

Phil Sharpe

NEW MEMBERS FROM APRIL - JULY 2002
Mr W. A. Stephens	Horsham, W Sussex	Ms M. James	Lichfield
Mr A. Hopkins	Thornborough, Bucks	Mrs S. Stevenson	Lichfield
Mr M. Jones	Moseley, Birmingham	Mrs M. Lister	Lichfield
Mr W. M. Franklin	Castle Donington	Mr J. B. Roberts	Streetly
Mr & Mrs B. Wilkins	Sutton Coldfield	Mr R. Grafham	Lichfield
Mr M. W. Rayner	Newbold on Avon	Mr R. C. Gumbrell	Cambridge
Mr R. Fountain	Leighton Buzzard	Mr & Mrs D. Male	Lichfield
Mr & Mrs A. Tooth	Elford, Staffs	Mr W. A. O'Leary	Lichfield
Dr D.G. Hawkes	Tilehurst, Reading	Mr M. Day	Tixall
Mr D. Dumbleton	Stoke on Trent	Mrs H. Day	Tixall
Stratford Canal Society	Stratford on Avon	Mrs A. Swindale	Brownhills
Mr G. Hayward	Wolverhampton	Mr P. Swindale	Brownhills
Mrs A. Schwarzenbach	Lichfield	Mr C. K. Collins	Lichfield
Mrs V. A. Raffle	Barnton, Northwich	Dr R Henshaw	Lichfield
Mr & Mrs Ranshaw	Rugby	Mr D. Jackson	Lichfield
Ms G. Nixon	Deal, Kent	Mr N. P. Egginton	Lichfield
Mrs L. Hurst	Kingswinford	Mr F. Daysh	Lichfield
Mrs J. Pearce	Amington, Tamworth	Mrs D. Daysh	Lichfield
Mr & Mrs. J. Wallace	Burghill, Hereford	Mr R. J. Chuter	Lichfield
IWA Branch	Kent & East Sussex	Dr C. Lock	Lichfield
Mr D. Brabner	Taunton	Mr Cureton	Lichfield
Mrs P. Brabner	Taunton	Mrs Cureton	Lichfield
Mr A. L. Jones	Moore, Warrington	Mrs Hawes	Lichfield
Mr & Mrs C. D. Forster	Holbrook, Derbys	Mr W. K. Hawes	Lichfield
Mr P. J. Lee	Barton-on-Humber	Ms H. Jordan	Freeford
Mrs A. J. Lee	Barton-on-Humber	Mr T. A. Brown	Cannock
Mr C. P. Dick	Saint Ebbes, Oxon	Mr D. J Eldon	Cannock
Mrs G. Hodges	Melton Mowbray	Mr H. R. Haywood	Cannock
Mr E. J. Pincher	Birmingham	Mr M. C. Crossman	Streetly
Mrs M. J. Maynard	Dorking, Surrey	Mr D. A. Parkes	Shenstone
Mr R. Teale	Hammerwich, Staffs	Mr & Mrs Brearley	Lichfield
Mr K. V. Wasdell	Hammerwich, Staffs	Mr R. Talbot	Streetly
Mr P. Maddison	Sutton Coldfield	Mrs Talbot	Streetly
Mr J. R. Smith	Hednesford	Mr I. West	Leicester
Mr & Mrs B. Martin	Stoke on Trent

NATURE TEAM

Mike Battisson has volunteered to co-ordinate a new Nature Team. This team will do such jobs as planting and environmental-type activities on the Lichfield Canal restoration sites. Anyone who is interested in helping, please phone Mike on 01543 300090.

(photo Jan Horton)

Mike Battisson planting marsh plants on the
environmental wetlands area at Darnford Site.

GRAND PRIZE DRAW

We must admit to being victims of our own success this year! In CBW 31, it said we were including THREE books of Draw tickets with the mailing to members. However, sales had been so good, and membership numbers up that after committing the magazine to print, we could only spare TWO books with most magazines to keep sufficient for sales at the summer shows. Thanks to many who kindly pointed this out with their returns, and to those who asked for a few more books to be sent out. A pleasing aspect has been that many members took the opportunity to add a donation to their remittance to assist our fund-raising. Thank you all for a great response!

As a reminder, the Draw will not take place until 2nd November 2002, so there is plenty of time to buy (or sell?) outstanding tickets and return the counterfoils with payment to the promoter named on them.

IF YOU HAVE TICKETS TO SPARE,
PLEASE SEND THEM BACK TO US TO SELL ELSEWHERE.

Bob Williams, Finance Director
ANNOUNCEMENTS
We regret reporting the deaths of four of our members.
Mr David Smallman of Burntwood, a work party helper, died 27th February.
Mr Tony Grantham MBE, lately of Hillmorton, who had a long career with British Waterways (finally as Amenity Services Manager) a President of Lichfield Cruising Club from its formation in 1978 to 1989, and Vice-President of Tamworth Cruising Club and Coventry Canal Society, died 26th April.
Mr G W Bentley, Cannock, died 3rd June.
Mr William J. King of Fradley near Lichfield, prominent among local bee-keepers, died 23rd June.

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