I finished last time by mentioning the very considerable challenges which the Trust currently faces in Lichfield. I am sorry that, in the best traditions of Dr Who, I created a cliff-hanging end which I must now try to resolve. Sadly, unlike the writers of science fiction I cannot choose my own story line or painlessly send monsters into the voids of space. It is now almost a year since the major difficulties of getting the Lichfield Canal under the Birmingham Road riding tandem with the bypass turned from problem to crisis. During this year Trust Directors have worked with great diligence to find engineering solutions which can be afforded.

Since the last issue of Cut Both Ways we have worked with Staffordshire Highways to take matters forward. The most heartening aspect of these discussions has been the good relationships which we have built up with several departments at Stafford. If good will alone could solve our problems we would now be home and dry. However, we have to enter proper legal and financial agreements with the County and, as ever, the devil is in the detail. As I write these notes in early July we seem to be close to completion but discussions continue and there is good prospect of success. The Highways engineers now understand that the Trust needs to achieve a viable road crossing and have agreed to incorporate this into their designs. Persimmon have agreed to vary their work programme to give time for the new design work to be prepared. Wrekin Construction, who will build the culvert have submitted an acceptable price and also fully understand what is required.

Inevitably, finance is a major factor at both ends of any deal. The Trust must be sure that it can afford the very high costs, once they have been agreed, and must also satisfy its lenders that it will be able to meet all its commitments. We will not have final answers to these questions until this magazine has gone to press. All that I can do is to reassure members that Directors will press for the best deal possible and will not enter financial commitments which the Trust cannot meet. Income to the new Suchet Appeal has been very strong and we are grateful to supporters from all corners of the country who have again shown such generosity an support. Much more is still needed and so, if you have hesitated to make a donation, please now come forward and help

Meanwhile the routine work of the Trust continues. On the Hatherton we are keeping an eye on proposals to carry out major works on the M6 and now the M54. Getting the canal through the obstruction caused by the M6 on the Straight Mile at Calf Heath has always been one of our major challenges. There are 3 possible methods proposed for widening the motorway and the Trust would benefit most from a total rebuild which would give the opportunity of installing a navigable culvert. Meanwhile there are plans to extend the M54 to the M6 northbound and this will also require our close attention. We will continue to press our case with the authorities but will stress that we are only safeguarding the interests of the Trust and not opposing road schemes per se.

The long-awaited Arup Report on the Hatherton is now in the hands of the Trust. We should now have a much clearer idea of how this canal can be restored. The delay has been most unfortunate but the report will still be a valuable resource for the restoration. In an ideal world we would commission complete sets of reports on both canals. These would be very expensive and all our resources are currently committed to the Lichfield Bypass. Ultimately this will have to be done.

Finance will be a major preoccupation over the coming months and years. The priority has to be funding the road crossing but we will try to keep our other activities moving forward. It is important to keep the work at Tamworth Road going to complete our commitment to “Dig Deep”. We also have funds committed specifically to land purchase. We will continue talking to landowners and investigate all the opportunities to acquire the track wherever we can. For the moment we will have to tread carefully but we will be able to purchase some very small areas which we need along the Lichfield Bypass.

It now seems a long time since we celebrated the reopening of Cappers Bridge and we continue to receive good reports about the impact of the new structure, both visually and practically. However, we have had a recent reminder of our celebrations when we had apologies from two of our councillors whose invitations were delivered over two months late. This has its comical aspects but could easily have undermined the goodwill we try to generate on these occasions by apparently snubbing two valued supporters. It is not surprising that e-mail is now heavily used in preference to surface mail.

Let us hope that we can soon be celebrating the commissioning of the new culvert in Lichfield. When this happens we will already be looking forward to taking the canal onward to London Road where it can rejoin its old route to continue down Tamworth Road. Early discussions with Staffordshire Highways and consultations with our own engineers show that we can find a viable route through another difficult area.

Again, we have much to do and great tasks to perform. We must not doubt our ability to overcome our present difficulties and move on to complete our restoration project. If we have any doubts we should pause on the A5 east of Brownhills and look at the aqueduct which once seemed an impossible dream.

Cut Both Ways 47 reported on the opening of the rebuilt Cappers Bridge. This marked a significant step forward in our aim of recreating the navigation between the Coventry Canal at Huddlesford and the Birmingham Canal Navigations at Brownhills. The Marketing Group was out in strength to ensure that the event went off to everyone’s satisfaction. The reception and the Trust’s Annual General Meeting were held in Whittington Village Hall which presented an opportunity to invite many of the local groups to join us in our celebrations. It was also a way to say thank you to the residents of the village for all the inconvenience they had had to put up with during the construction of the bridge. It was a very enjoyable and worthwhile exercise and many new friends were made. There have been several favourable comments about the bridge and one often sees people leaning over the parapet looking and perhaps wondering when they will see boats passing underneath. The Marketing Group was involved with the arrangements both at the hall at the bridge and I am very grateful to all who helped to make the day a success.

Moira Festival on 13th & 14th May (which clashed with the Cup Final on the Saturday) was particularly disappointing. The only sales were some flower baskets donated by Pat Magee and all of these went to members of our own team. Thanks to Bob & Sue, Mike & Bobbie Battisson, Trish, Mavis and Peter Magee for towing the SMART van.

At May Bank Holiday our Crick Boat Show team had to contend with a major fire at an industrial estate close to the festival site and the closing of many of the roads to allow emergency vehicles to attend. The canal was a major source of water for the attending appliances and the main approach road from the motorway was closed to allow a pipe line to be laid. Special mention must be made to Trish Humphries who persevered for 6 hours to travel from home to the site. In previous years the show organisers have been able to pass over a portion of the profits to those charities attending. However, because of the problems and the resulting lower attendance, it has not been possible this year, so for us the event will just break even. All who attended deserve credit for their perseverance and dedication, Rob, Bob, Sue, Mavis and Trish.

Bank Holiday Monday saw Trish out again setting up our display at the Lichfield Bower. No fires or other disasters threatened here; instead she had to compete with the elements, as torrential rain and a mini hurricane threatened to wash out the event. This was the first outing of our new larger marquee and it was put to good use as twice as many people were able to shelter under it, and in doing so they came within range of our draw ticket sellers. Trish was helped at this event by Mike and Bobbie, Hilary Smith, Bev & Paul Marshall, Jean & Terry Brown, Barry Kenn, George Simonczyk, Lynn Evans, Peter Lee and Kathryn Humphries.

The Historic Boat Parade at Braunston (Photo by Bob Williams)

Trust members Mr & Mrs Bob Ross visit the stand (Photo by Sue Williams)

Historic Boats at Braunston is always a colourful and very interesting occasion and as usual we had a stand there. Sales were slow but thanks to some substantial donations we made an acceptable profit, all be it that some of the donations would have come in anyway. We were hopeful that our new line of boatwomen’s bonnet kits would have sold well but although we had several enquiries we had no actual sales. It takes time for the news to pass around and we are hopeful that this line will prove profitable for us. If you are interested in this venture please see our advert elsewhere in this magazine. Thanks here are due to Bob & Sue Williams and May Brown for getting all the bonnet kits ready.

Brownhills Canal Festival is a good local day out and our stand attracted its fair share of attention. We came home with over £200 from the sale of Trust items plus selected bric-a-brac. The team here was Barry Kenn, George Simonczyk, Keith Grice, Trish Humphries, Mavis and I. Both this show and the Braunston event ended earlier than usual on the Sunday due to the football match we were not going to mention!

The Brownhills Canal Festival (Photos by Barry Kenn)

The team also mounted a display in the foyer of Lichfield Library for two weeks in May and are investigating having a display in several sites in Cannock in the autumn.

Also in this issue are details of our Autumn Fair which follows our successful event last year. Unfortunately we could not get the Guildhall so it will be at the Boley Park Community Hall, Lichfield on Saturday 21st October. We are trying to get a good range of traders and bookings are coming in steadily. However, if you know of someone who might be interested in taking a stall, please let Sue Williams know. But don’t forget we have the Huddlesford Gathering on Saturday 23rd September and some may prefer to come there.

We will still have some events planned to take place after you receive this issue, so there is still time to help. Please contact me or any member of the Marketing team if you would like to get involved. And to get rid of that final bit of energy, don’t forget our Jazz Evening on Saturday November 11th at Whittington Village Hall.

BIRMINGHAM ROAD CULVERT It seems to be a strange fact of life that cost estimates only get revised upwards! Since our report in the last issue, the funding needed for the new Birmingham Road culvert has increased by £30,000 to £490,000, but there are elements in that which were not included before. Positive progress has been made with formalities:- Staffordshire County Council are finalising the required legal Agreement under Section 278, Highways Act 1980 where we need to pay £420,000 immediately, followed by the remainder in stages over six months.

Documentation is more or less in place with The Charity Bank Ltd for a 25-year loan of £255,000, secured by a mortgage over Trust property. Venturesome Ltd need to be assured that an unsecured loan up to £70,000 to prefinance the David Suchet Appeal can be repaid in the short term. Other cash resources are being marshalled but there is still a gap which we are anxious to close before making an irrevocable commitment.

DAVID SUCHET APPEAL
The ambitious target of £250,000 for about half the cost of the Birmingham Road culvert (above) has attracted an excellent early response. So far, 370 contributors have donated over £26,000 in cash. A further £9,000 in pledges and £8,500 in Gift Aid tax recovery will come in over the next two years or so. Whilst we are very grateful for these, the high costs NOW mean we would still like to hear from the doubters!

Donors of £100 or more receive a dedicated scroll, whilst those giving £1,000 are granted Life Membership. Leaflets were sent with the last issue, or just write to the Finance Director: you can even pay online through our website – see Online Donations for details.