TPT December 2023

Tech advice: Keeping your boat safely afloat

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December 20, 2023

AS WE experience the wetter months, it’s important to give your boat a thorough safety check and familiarise yourself with all its workings, writes Stephanie Horton of River Canal Rescue. This may sound obvious, but do you really know how your boat has been built, where important items of equipment and machinery are located and…
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Change of tune for Standedge visitor centre

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December 18, 2023

An ambitious music project at a former canal warehouse in an iconic location could soon be underway. Sally Clifford pays a visit and makes a few notes of her own. IT IS a scheme to bring music to the ears of music lovers and visitors to this iconic West Yorkshire canal location. Recently the waterways…
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Call to action: just add water

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Web Editor

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December 15, 2023

Jonathan Mosse’s monthly look at freight developments on the inland waterways. SO READS the strapline of the recently published one-page waterways freight promotional document, put out jointly by the Commercial Boater Operators Association (CBOA) and the Inland Waterways Association (IWA) Freight Group. Starting from the premise that people want cleaner air and reduced congestion in…
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National Trailboat Festival to return after five-year break

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December 13, 2023

THE Inland Waterways Association has announced that next year’s IWA National Trailboat Festival is to be held at Moira on the Ashby Canal. It will be hosted and organised by the Ashby Canal Trust over the weekend of May 18-19, and will be hosted and organised by Ashby Canal Trust. The event is the largest…
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Boat stripped out for hull inspection

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December 11, 2023

TRIPBOAT Birdswood, operated by the Friends of Cromford Canal, was recently lifted out for the biennial hull inspection by the Maritime & Coastguard Agency, writes John Guyler. It involved craning the boat out of the mooring position beside the Arkwright cafe and placing it on to boat stands, kindly loaned by Langley Mill Boat Yard…
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Mersey on the work beat at Wigan

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Colin Wareing

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December 8, 2023

VOLUNTEERS have been operating from the workboat Mersey clearing vegetation from the canal wash walls in Wigan, Greater Manchester, writes Colin Wareing. The boat is a nearly new addition to the Canal & River Trust’s fleet and was built by Aqueduct Marina. It was collected by CRT volunteers in early October from the marina on…
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First lift bridges opened on Surrey canal

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December 6, 2023

A MAJOR restoration achievement was celebrated when the Wey & Arun Canal Trust officially opened its first two lift bridges in Birtley, near Bramley in Surrey. This completes the restoration of a 700m section of canal and construction of two lift bridges which means that the causeways that blocked its route have been removed. The…
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Past volunteers recognised with honours board

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December 5, 2023

AN honours board recognising the work of canal volunteers was unveiled at the recent Stourbridge Open Weekend. Handcrafted from scratch and lettered by local artist Meg Gregory, it will take pride of place on public display in the town’s Bonded Warehouse. The board was officially unveiled by the Mayor of Dudley, Coun Andrea Goddard, and…
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The canal that never was!

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December 4, 2023

THE Grand Contour Canal project was an ambitious endeavour, both in name and scale, as it would have dwarfed the current HS2 project – whichever bit is going ahead – but it may have achieved more. It aimed to build a 100ft wide, 17ft deep canal with 25ft headroom down the spine of England to…
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Boats to use stretch of Monty for first time in 90 years

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December 1, 2023

THE Canal & River Trust in Wales (Glandŵr Cymru) has started the second phase of dredging on the 200-year-old Montgomery Canal. Restoration of the canal has included decades of work by volunteers and partners. Now, more than four miles of the canal between Llanymynech and Maerdy is being restored thanks to Glandŵr Cymru’s successful Levelling…
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Traditional skills revive tramway wharf

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December 1, 2023

IN A world stuffed with technology it’s great to see that traditional skills and methods are still being used to great effect. This is true at Grinshill Stone Quarry where masons are dressing large coping IN A world stuffed with technology it’s great to see that traditional skills and methods are still being used to…
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Vandals deface newly painted artwork

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November 30, 2023

Within hours of its completion a beautiful canalside mural – designed to promote well-being – was defaced. Sally Clifford finds out more. WHEN the canalside mural he’d painstakingly spent a week creating was defaced, Jaydon Rowbottom decided to write those who’d done it a letter. Unconventionally, he didn’t put pen to paper; his medium was…
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Little Star canal trip for Wrexham schoolchildren

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November 27, 2023

A CLASS of Year 4 and 5 pupils from St Anne’s Catholic Primary School in Wrexham recently enjoyed a 45-minute boat trip. They cruised along the Llangollen Canal and crossed over the World Heritage Pontcysyllte Aqueduct on board Anglo Welsh’s trip boat Little Star. Teacher Rebecca Hughes said: “The children had a lovely time on…
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NABO highlights Calor Gas supply shortages

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Phil Pickin

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November 23, 2023

FOR many in the boating community, the problems surrounding the availability of Calor Gas have become a part of daily life, something that the National Association of Boat Owners (NABO) highlighted in its October newsletter. In the article, the association stated: “The small 3.9kg and 4.5kg cylinders are virtually unobtainable, and the 6-13kg propane are…
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