The Waterway Recovery Group (WRG) is the national co-ordinating body for voluntary labour on the inland waterways of England and Wales. Founded in 1970 as an independent body, it became a division of the Inland Waterway Association in 2002.
The Waterway Recovery Group (WRG) is the national co-ordinating body for voluntary labour on the inland waterways of England and Wales. Founded in 1970 as an independent body, it became a division of the Inland Waterway Association in 2002.
The formation of the Waterway Recovery Group was a logical progression from events which had happened over the previous eight years. Mr T. Dodwell had been responsible for organising volunteers who had cleared part of the Basingstoke Canal in order to facilitate a boat rally at Woking, which was held in 1962. With this experience in mind, he suggested that the London and Home Counties Branch of the Inland Waterways Association should set up a Working Party Group, whose members would be available to travel around the country, giving help to local restoration schemes as required. The idea was well-received, and working parties on the Kennet and Avon Canal, the Stourbridge Canal and the River Wey were organised and run during the next few months. Just over a year later, the first edition of Navvies Notebook was published. It listed sites where restoration was occurring, so that members could be informed and volunteer as they saw fit. [1]
Navvies Notebook was the idea of Graham Palmer, at the time the secretary of the London and Home Counties Branch. Although its primary function was to outline the work programme of his local group, and report on its achievements, he informed IWA members that any restoration work could be included in it. Working parties planned at Brantham Lock on the River Stour, the River Wey and the Kennet and Avon were announced in the first edition, and there was a report on the progress that had been made at the 16 locks on the Stourbridge Canal. The publication enabled a network of working party organisers to develop. [2] By the end of 1967, 350 copies were being produced each time it was printed. Notable successes included a party of 45 who had worked on the Stourbridge Canal for a weekend, and a party to clear a section of the Kennet and Avon Canal in Reading which had been attended by 97 volunteers. [3]
Another major step forwards was taken in 1968, as part of a renovation scheme around the Ashton Canal, which was semi-derelict at the time. The scheme was called "Operation Spring Clean", and Palmer set about mustering support for "Operation Ashton" through Navvies Notebook. The idea was to demonstrate that a large co-ordinated working party could be organised, and that such a party could achieve much more than a small group of professionals could in a similar time. The working party was held on 21 and 22 September 1968, when over 600 volunteers turned up and demonstrated the value of such an exercise. It attracted considerable publicity, which the IWA recognised as being almost as valuable as the actual work done. [4]
Progress continued through 1969. In the years 1967, 1968 and 1969, the number of working groups, now called "Digs", had risen from 11 to 16 and then 23. Two major events, at Marple on the Peak Forest Canal and at Welshpool on the Montgomery Canal had each attracted over 200 volunteers. The time had come to organise such numbers more formally, and the Waterways Recovery Group was formed in 1970. [5] Navvies Notebook continued to be published until April 1971, when it was renamed Navvies. [2]
The work of the newly formed group continued to grow. In October 1971, Navvies announced a working party on the Grantham Canal, which turned out to be the first of many. Two months later, the British Waterways Board, the Inland Waterways Association, and the local authorities through which the canals ran agreed to restore the lower Peak Forest Canal and the Ashton Canal. Palmer set about organising something that would demonstrate what could be done to the local population. A dig was organised for 25–26 March 1972, with the codename "Ashtac". The event was a success, as over 1000 volunteers from all over Britain arrived and removed large quantities of rubbish from the canals. The British Waterways Board were complimentary, and published a document outlining the contributions of volunteers since 1968. [6] On 27–28 October 1973 the Droitwich Dig was another major dig, organised jointly with the Droitwich Canals Trust; WRG used their experience of such campaigns to ensure that the 500 volunteers who attended were put to good use. [7] [8]
Although originally formed as an independent body, since 2002 WRG has been a division of the Inland Waterways Association. [9] [10] The IWA covers WRG's core costs, while WRG relies on fundraising and voluntary donations to further its restoration aims. [11]
Since 1996 the chairman of WRG has been Mike Palmer. [11]
WRG run a series of canal camps each year, typically week-long, and open to volunteers of all ages and abilities. The canal camps are 'working holidays' contributing towards restoring canals and navigable waterways throughout the country. There are many such camps throughout the summer, and WRG also run a Christmas camp, which runs over Christmas Day and Boxing Day. [12]
WRG also helped to set up, run and tear down the Inland Waterways Association's National Festival. The festival was the IWA's primary fundraising activity, and was a chance for boaters and the general public to see the work of both the IWA and WRG. In 2012 there was no National Festival, as WRG and IWA volunteers were helping to run the Waterways for the Olympic Games London 2012.[ citation needed ]
WRG owns a fleet of vans, and a range of plant including excavators, dumpers, pumps, mixers, winches, and other sundry equipment.
WRG have regional groups across England, who co-ordinate weekend visits to restoration projects. The current local groups are London, Essex, North West, South West and Bit In The Middle (mostly the south Midlands). [11] The WRG publishes a newsletter titled Navvies six times a year.
Waterway restoration is the activity of restoring a canal or river, including special features such as warehouse buildings, locks, boat lifts, and boats.
The River Avon in central England flows generally southwestwards and is a major left-bank tributary of the River Severn, of which it is the easternmost. It is also known as the Warwickshire Avon or Shakespeare's Avon, to distinguish it from several other rivers of the same name in the United Kingdom.
The Kennet and Avon Canal is a waterway in southern England with an overall length of 87 miles (140 km), made up of two lengths of navigable river linked by a canal. The name is used to refer to the entire length of the navigation rather than solely to the central canal section. From Bristol to Bath the waterway follows the natural course of the River Avon before the canal links it to the River Kennet at Newbury, and from there to Reading on the River Thames. In all, the waterway incorporates 105 locks.
The Stratford-upon-Avon Canal is a canal in the south Midlands of England. The canal, which was built between 1793 and 1816, runs for 25.5 miles (41.0 km) in total, and consists of two sections. The dividing line is at Kingswood Junction, which gives access to the Grand Union Canal. Following acquisition by a railway company in 1856, it gradually declined, the southern section being un-navigable by 1945, and the northern section little better.
The canal network of the United Kingdom played a vital role in the Industrial Revolution. The UK was the first country to develop a nationwide canal network which, at its peak, expanded to nearly 4,000 miles in length. The canals allowed raw materials to be transported to a place of manufacture, and finished goods to be transported to consumers, more quickly and cheaply than by a land based route. The canal network was extensive and included feats of civil engineering such as the Anderton Boat Lift, the Manchester Ship Canal, the Worsley Navigable Levels and the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct.
The Wey and Arun Canal is a partially open, 23-mile-long (37 km) canal in the southeast of England. It runs southwards from the River Wey at Gunsmouth in Shalford, Surrey to the River Arun at Pallingham, in West Sussex. The canal comprises parts of two separate undertakings – the northern part of the Arun Navigation, opened in 1787 between Pallingham and Newbridge Wharf, and the Wey and Arun Junction Canal, opened in 1816, which connected the Arun at Newbridge to the Godalming Navigation near Shalford, south of Guildford. The Arun Navigation was built with three locks and one turf-sided flood lock. The Junction Canal was built with 23 locks
The Montgomery Canal, known colloquially as "The Monty", is a partially restored canal in eastern Powys and northwest Shropshire. The canal runs 33 miles (53 km) from the Llangollen Canal at Frankton Junction to Newtown via Llanymynech and Welshpool and crosses the England–Wales border.
The IWA National Festival & Boat Show run by the Inland Waterways Association is one of the key annual events on the United Kingdom's inland waterways. Generally referred to as the "National" it serves several functions:
The Inland Waterways Association (IWA) is a registered charity in the United Kingdom which was formed in 1946 to campaign for the conservation, use, maintenance, restoration and sensitive development of British canals and river navigations.
Dudley Tunnel is a canal tunnel on the Dudley Canal Line No 1, England. At about 3,172 yards (2,900.5 m) long, it is now the second longest canal tunnel on the UK canal network today.. However, since the Dudley Tunnel is not continuous this status is sometimes questioned:.
Bugsworth Basin is a canal basin at the terminus of the Peak Forest Canal at Buxworth in the valley of the Black Brook, close to Whaley Bridge. It was once a busy interchange with the Peak Forest Tramway, for the transport of limestone and burnt lime.
The Bugsworth Basin Heritage Trust (BBHT), formerly known as the Inland Waterways Protection Society (IWPS), is a British organisation founded in 1958 to work for the restoration of the canal system. Its members carried out surveys of canals and produced reports in support of their retention when much of the canal network was under threat. Following official support for use of the canals for leisure activities in 1967, the Society have concentrated their efforts on the restoration and operation of Bugsworth Basin, located at the southern end of the Peak Forest Canal, which was one of the first canals that they surveyed in 1958.
A canal ring is the name given to a series of canals that make a complete loop.
The Stourbridge Canal is a canal in the West Midlands of England. It links the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal with the Dudley Canal, and hence, via the Birmingham Canal Navigations, to Birmingham and the Black Country.
The Dudley Canal is a canal passing through Dudley in the West Midlands of England. The canal is part of the English and Welsh network of connected navigable inland waterways and forms part of the popular Stourport Ring narrowboat cruising route.
Ufton Lock is a degated lock on the Kennet and Avon Canal, between Padworth and Sulhamstead, Berkshire, England.
Montgomery Waterway Restoration Trust is a British registered charity, number 510448, which exists to promote the restoration of the Montgomery Canal.
Delph Locks or the Delph Nine are a series of eight narrow canal locks on the Dudley No. 1 Canal in Brierley Hill, in the West Midlands, England. They were opened in 1779, and reopened in 1967 following restoration of the Dudley Canal and the Stourbridge Canal in a joint venture between the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal Society and the British Waterways Board.
The Wilts & Berks Canal Trust is a registered charity no. 299595, and a waterway society based in Wiltshire, England, concerned with the restoration of the Wilts & Berks Canal.
