The 14th Annual General Meeting of the Trust was held on Saturday 17th April at Whittington Village Hall. Some 42 members and friends gathered to receive and approve the Directors' Report and the annual accounts for 2003 . The Chairman presented his report (Click here) on a successful year's activities and brought members up to date with recent events. Retiring directors Brian Kingshott and Stephen Pitt were duly re-elected for another 3 years and thanks were expressed to Rob Davies who was standing down as a director after 6 years service. 3 new directors who had been co-opted in December 2003 were also duly elected; Mike Battisson, Michael Brown and Peter Magee. The re-appointment of West - Chartered Accountants as auditors was confirmed. A resolution proposed by Council to increase the Concessionary Membership subscription rate from £5 to £6 from 1st May 2004 was voted on and carried.

After the formal business and refreshments, and a chance to view our display and sales stand, there was a site visit to see progress with the restoration work at Tamworth Road site.

Phil Sharpe

Early Spring Progress
In spite of the inclement weather, our programme got off to a good start this year, the Lichfield Green Team meeting on two Sundays at our Darnford conservation site. A lot of invasive bramble has been cleared. Foxgloves and violets have been planted on the banks, and kingcups and wild celery in the wet area by the brook. Thanks to Ann, Hilary, Julie, June, Linda, Pat, Barry, Dave P, Geoff (our plantsman member of Staffs Wildlife Trust) and Roger.

The hedging has progressed very well. All the length down by Lock 18 has been completed and a start made on the desperately poor section between Lock 25 and the A38. Well done Dave Simkins, ably assisted by Dave Murcott.

The new hedge at Lock 18, Fosseway Lane; newly laid and now showing plenty of growth. (Photos by Dave Simkins)

By the time you read this, the season for hedging will have finished, but if you would like to try your hand at this ancient craft, there will be plenty to start in the late autumn. Dave Simkins will welcome help and give instruction based on training provided by the British Trust for Conservation Volunteers (BTCV) staff at Rugeley Power Station, hours of practice and the advice of an elderly countryman friend.

In his spare(?) time, Dave S has not only made significant advances in hedge recovery by the Hatherton as well, but has also managed to plant primroses in the banks at the back of Lock 18 at Fosseway - should look great when they have spread.

April marks the launch of the Lichfield District Council's 'Bio-diversity Strategy'.
This weighty tome sets out an action plan for the re-generation of lost natural environments across the region. Targets have been set for many types of eco system - including hedges, ponds, wetlands, in fact threatened habitats of all types, aiming to encourage the return of insects, birds, invertebrates and mammals.

I believe this offers a unique opportunity for our Trust to confirm our desire to return our special canal environment to a position of significant importance for wildlife, supporting our claims for commercial and leisure benefits to the region.

There may even be grant money available to help with the restoration! And who knows, eventually the ecologists might begin to accept the notion that canals were originally built for narrow boats, especially if we can get their frogs, toads and newts back into the pounds?
The trust is sending a delegate to the Lichfield District Council launch, so more information will be forthcoming.

The 'Environmental Corner' of the Trust's stand at the Caravan, Boat and Leisure show at the NEC proved to be very popular. It went down so well, showing off our recent activities and successes, that it may well be used again at the various shows we support across the Midlands and elsewhere.

We seem to be settling into a routine of meeting for a few hours in the morning of the second Sunday in each month. If you are interested, any new volunteers will be warmly welcomed; there is no lack of work to be done.

Please contact me on 01543 300090.

Mike Battisson, Environmental Officer

The NCA brings together a wide range of organisations involved in canal restoration in the north of England. This is a broadly defined area and includes most of the schemes here in the Midlands. Of course, it covers complete restorations such as the Huddersfield and the Rochdale. It includes a wide range of ongoing projects from the Northern Reaches of the Lancaster Canal to the Droitwich and ourselves in the south. Conferences are held three times a year, usually based on, and hosted by, one of the component restorations organisations.

On Sunday, 28th March, the NCA was hosted by the Trust at The Nag's Head, Hammerwich. The focus of the meeting was to view the aqueduct and to visit some of our restoration sites. Some 27 people attended the meeting. Our Finance Director, Bob Williams, gave one of his amazing audio-visual presentations which placed our work in its historical context and then showed what there is to be done and what has been achieved. He was followed by Mike Smith who explained how we are organised and how we intend to address future policy, now that most of the M6 Toll projects are behind us. The questions which followed both presentations showed how valuable representatives of other restoration schemes found this.

During the lunch break came the formal handing over of a sales trailer to the Trust (see Marketing Report for photo). The Huddersfield Canal Society has given us its trailer and this will be invaluable to the Marketing Group when it goes on the road to the many events it attends this summer and in the future. Huddersfield C.S. Chairman, Keith Gibson, formally handed the key to Mike Brown.

During the afternoon, Vice Chairman, Phil Sharpe, led site visits to the aqueduct and then to Tamworth Road. The aqueduct continues to be a powerful achievement and our visitors were suitably impressed.

Visiting the Lichfield Canal Aqueduct		NCA visitors at Lock 26, Tamworth Road
(Photos by Phil Sharpe)

We are most grateful to all who attended and who made the day such a success.

Brian Kingshott

LICHFIELD HERITAGE CENTRE

Lichfield Heritage Centre has invited the Trust to put up a temporary exhibition in two glass cabinets about the restoration of the Lichfield Canal.

In one cabinet there is a display on the historical aspect of the canal, with items on loan from local members of the Trust and also from The Waterways Trust Museum at Ellesmere Port.

The second cabinet has an arrangement of photographs on the restoration of the canal which has been put together by Chris Haselwood. The display is brought to life by the superb 3D art work of Wolverhampton artist Paul Clarke who has created a canal scene using two model working boats donated by The Round House at Gailey.

The Lichfield & Hatherton feature. Part of "The Lichfield Story" Exhibition
(photo by Terry Fullwood)

A 15 minute continuos "loop" video on the restoration of The Lichfield Canal and the work of the Trust was especially produced for the exhibition by Terry Fullwood.

The exhibition is on until mid September when it will be closely followed by an exhibition on the Titanic! Do go along and visit the Lichfield Heritage Centre in the Market Square. There is much to see about the history of Lichfield through the ages.

Janette Horton. Publicity/Lichfield Canal

MYSTERY LOCK GATE

Our Minutes Secretary Chris Pattison recently came across a mystery lock gate whilst walking his dog in Lichfield. The gate is lying in the corner of some allotment gardens on the western side of the A51 Western Bypass, just north of Christ Church at Leomansley, and can be accessed from the sports field car park. The lock gate can be seen from the footpath to Christ Church, or even from the A51 through the hedge if you know where to look, but for a closer inspection the gate into the allotments is often open. The canal lock gate is a single top gate, complete with balance beam although this is detached, and it appears to be a standard BCN style, without a gate paddle. The big question is - did it come from the canal in Lichfield, and if so how did it get where it is now ?

The Ogley to Lichfield section of the Wyrley & Essington Canal was abandoned 50 years ago and the section through the city was filled in about 30 years ago. However, the gate is in surprisingly good condition and there are also some 'modern' features such as rubber sealing strips down the mitre post and plywood panels on the inside of the planking which indicate that it is unlikely to be that old. Perhaps it came from some other part of the BCN more recently, but why ?

BW do sometimes give away old lock gates: we know because they gave us a top gate to put in Lock 25 for appearances sake for a twinning ceremony in 2000. They also offered us the old gates from Curdworth Top Lock when it had to be replaced for the M6 Toll construction, but the design of the bottom gates was incompatible (Curdworth has single bottom gates) and even the top gate would have needed a lot of work. Also, timber lock gates soon deteriorate if not used, and we had no immediate prospect of reusing it. However, lock gate timbers are often recycled into seats and benches or even art works. Did somebody acquire this gate to reuse its timber perhaps, and not quite get around to doing so ?

If anyone local, or elsewhere, can throw any light on this mystery lock gate - where it came from, and when, and why - we would be most grateful to hear from you. Perhaps it is after all an original Lichfield Canal gate, miraculously preserved, in which case - can we have it back please ?

Phil Sharpe

COME AND JOIN US

Membership of the Trust is now above 1400 and support for our work stands at an all time high. Dedicated members work hard for us in so many ways, seen and unseen. Most obviously we have those who work in all weathers on our restoration sites and their achievements are there for all to see. The Marketing Group raises amazing sums of money, recruits new members and takes our sales stand to an ever-increasing number of events. We have recently welcomed new recruits to our engineering team and they are most welcome.

As the work of the Trust increases all our teams will need reinforcement. We have passed the point at which a small number of directors and officers can do everything and attend every meeting. We must also build for the future and ensure continuity and succession at all levels. Of course, everyone will support us in the way which suits them and matches their own abilities, skills and interests. However, it might help if I set out the specific areas where more help would be appreciated. There are many ways for members and supporters to offer help and these do not always require commitment to lengthy committee meetings.

Marketing
Staffing exhibitions, selling Trust merchandise, general publicity and marketing. This is a very committed and sociable group activity and takes members far and wide across the Midlands. Contact Mike Brown - email: mike.brown@lhcrt.org.uk.

Land
Land purchase and discussions with land owners is a time-consuming task but one which is essential if we are to succeed. At present we have only one person toiling away with an ever-increasing work load. You do not have to be a specialist in this area but just have a few hours a month available. Contact Mike Smith - email: mike.smith@lhcrt.org.uk.

Engineering
We need help at all levels. Our work requires ever-increasing input from qualified engineers, surveyors, bricklayers and even gardeners.
Contact Brian Kingshott - email: brian.kingshott@lhcrt.org.uk or Phil Sharpe - email: phil.sharpe@lhcrt.org.uk. .

Finance
Our work in this area becomes ever more demanding, especially since we registered for VAT. Our Finance Director wants to build a strong team. This area also includes fund-raising and support work in producing this magazine. Contact Bob Williams - email: bob.williams@lhcrt.org.uk

Please do not hesitate to come forward, even if you just want more information. We are a team of enthusiasts rather than a group of experts. This is an exciting project and we look forward to hearing from you. You will find all our contact details on the Contact Us page.

Brian Kingshott