Happy 200th Birthday to Claverton Pumping Station

1813 - 2013

On this day the 13th March 1813 it is recorded that the pumping machinery at Claverton Pumping Station was fully functional for the first time and being operated by Mr John Brown  It had cost the Kennet & Avon Canal Company a sum of £6,279 to install.

The fact that it has survived for 200 years, more or less in its original state is a fine testament to the original engineer John Rennie who designed and installed the Station. 

We must not forget the maintenance teams from the Great Western Railway who carried out some essential works until nationalisation of the railways in 1948. Their skilled work can still be identified around the site.

After the machinery stopped work in 1952 its future looked to be in doubt. It became semi derelict until 1967 and from then until 1976 the whole site was restored. This restoration project was first undertaken by Bath University Students and continued by the Kennet & Avon Canal Trust, expertly lead by the late Derrick Dudden. This restoration and preservation was conducted by volunteers to such a high standard that the machinery has now run for many years without any major problems.

In 2012 the newly formed charity The Canal and River Trust took over control of Claverton. This was at an opportune moment as the time had come for a major overhaul of the water wheel timbers, a very large and expensive job. Most of the existing team from the K&ACT have stayed on to ensure that the group’s mission statement, “To pass Claverton on to the next generation in as good a state as possible”, is achieved.

We regret that on Claverton’s two hundredth birthday the group are unable to pump water into the canal but rest assured,  this restoration work is well underway and all the materials are in place to complete the water wheel refurbishment in the near future.

Once the works are complete a grand reopening will take place and Claverton Pumping Station will once again be able to perform its original function of pumping water into the Kennet & Avon Canal.

Claverton is staffed entirely by Volunteers and although not open to the public in 2013 we are able to give guided tours for pre booked individuals and groups. They will have the opportunity to view the site and the on-going restoration work

Peter Dunn

Claverton Pumping Station Group Leader

Trust Council Minutes January 2013

Click here to read Trust Council Minutes from January 2013

Devizes Branch - Update

Winter has seen the branch and boat crews provided marshals for the Devizes Lantern Festival, with Santa being escorted from his grotto on the Wharf to the Market Square by hundreds people with home-made paper lanterns.  Our Carol Service was led by Sue Rodd and accompanied by the Town Band, and the branch’s usual “We survived Christmas” party was a great success, held in the Café on the Wharf.  

A new event ‘Canals and Coffee’, an informal meeting in the Café on the first Sunday each month, has brought together a few friends, but more would be very welcome. The branch needs a few more active members if we are to make an impact – volunteers with trades or admin experience, for example, or simply willing workers! Do make contact if you’d be interested in helping. We particularly will need a new Branch Secretary as Val is stepping down.

Winter maintenance is well underway on Kenavon Venture, and hard-working volunteers will soon be putting everything back together ready for the first cruise on Mothers Day. 

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT:  There is a skittles match against the Wilts and Berks on Saturday 16^th February in Melksham. All welcome. Details on the events calendar.  Dates for a quiz night and on-board cheese and wine party will be circulated as soon as finalised.

We hope to improve our e-mail communications, so please ensure we have your up to date address.  We will duplicate all this information onto the branch notice board outside the office in the hope of maximising the number of members able to access it.  Postal mailings are simply not economic these days.. 

Finally, please note Bank Holiday Monday May 6^th in your diary.  Devizes Branch will have a stand in the Corn Exchange at the Lions May Fair, with a focus on recruitment and fund raising. We have been offered a remarkably generous gift as a raffle prize – a week in a canal-side holiday. If you have canal-related books, memorabilia or small objects that could also be used as prizes, or sold on the stand, these would be very welcome.

Paul Jakeman

Chairman, Devizes Branch

Reading Branch Annual Dinner

Kennet &Avon Canal Trust Reading Branch

All welcome

Weds 13 March 2013

7.00 for 7.30 p.m.

‘The Traveller’s Friend’,

Crookham Common Road,

THATCHAM  RG19 8EA

0118 971 3156

A carvery of

ROAST RIB of BEEF

HONEY & MUSTARD ROASTED GAMMON

ROAST CHICKEN QUARTERS

or

STILTON & VEGETABLE CRUMBLE

Served with seasonal vegetables with roast and boiled potatoes

Wide choice of delicious desserts

or

Cheese & biscuits

£12

Contact Andy James, 3 Caroline Court, Bath Road, READING RG1 6HW

with cheque for full amount  - by 26^th Feb - and details if  :

Vegetarian choice or Cheese & biscuits or Special diet

Please ring Andy on 0118 950 7965 if circumstances change

Call for Nominations for John Gould Award 2012

Just as a handful of inspired engineers built Britain's canal system in the late 18th century, so too did a handful of inspired individuals rise to the challenge of saving the system from threatened closure in the 1950's. In the case of the Kennet & Avon Canal, the efforts of John Gould of Newbury are the stuff of legend, for it was he who inspired so many to embark on a 40-year restoration campaign that ended with the reopening of the waterway by Her Majesty the Queen in 1990.

Born in Newbury in 1913, John Gould began his love affair with the waterway as a small boy playing with toy boats on the River Kennet, which flowed past the backyard of his grandfather's harness shop in the market square. Little did he know then that he would become involved in the canal throughout his adult life - as canal labourer, crewman, boat proprietor, hirer, skipper, trader, agent and, most unexpected of all, as one of the waterway's saviours.

For over 40 years, John Gould devoted his considerable energy and expertise to the restoration cause. He played an active part in the Kennet & Avon Canal Association (later to become the Trust), acting as secretary of the Newbury Branch and as a Trust Council member, typically turning up to meetings wearing his favourite duffel coat, complete with windlass poking out of his pocket! He ran his hire boat business until the late '70s and even after retirement he continued to manage moorings in Newbury and act as a British Waterways agent. In 1986 he was made an Honorary Life Member of the IWA and in 1992 was awarded the MBE.

In 1997 the Kennet & Avon Canal Partnership (established to oversee the HLF Grant, awarded to BW and the K&A Canal Trust to complete the restoration of the canal) invited John to unveil a plaque at Newbury Lock recording a public vote of thanks for his dedication to the waterway.

At the same time, BW donated a trophy, to be called the "John Gould Award" and presented annually to a person or group who has "undertaken noteworthy actions or deeds for the Kennet & Avon Canal in the past year". The award is made by the Chairman of the K&A Partnership, acting on advice from the Trustees of the K&A Canal Trust.

Nominations are sought for the 2012 award. These should be submitted to the Chairman of the K&A Partnership, Rob Dean via Jean Cook trustadmin@katrust.org.uk by the 28th of February 2013, and should be accompanied by a 1-page submission summarising the reasons for nomination.
(Biographical notes on John Gould compiled with acknowledgment to David Harris, Elaine Kirby, and Waterways World, May 1999)

Trust Council Minutes December 2012

Click below to read the Trust Council Minutes December 2012

http://www.kennetandavontrust.co.uk/trustcouncilminsDec12.pdf

The K&ACT's 2012 Annual Members’ Survey

The 2012 Annual Members’ Survey can be downloaded here. If we have your email address we will send you a link to the survey.  Therefore, please only fill in this survey if you have not provided us with your email address.

Please note that if you answer ‘no’ to Q4, you should proceed straight to Q7.

Once you have filled it in, please send it to:

Rebecca Wells, assistant administrator

The Kennet and Avon Canal Trust

Couch Lane

Devizes, Wiltshire

SN10 1EB

 

If you have any questions about the survey, please contact Sarah Chidgey at: chidgey.sarah@yahoo.co.uk.

 

The deadline for responses is 15^th January.