Latest News on Wappenshall
On 26th June Telford & Wrekin
Council considered a report on the Council’s support for the Trust’s proposal
for the acquisition of the canal warehouse buildings and basin at Wappenshall.
The report to the Council set out four
options:
These options were considered by the
Council’s Cabinet on 16th June, who recommended that Members approve
option 4.
Councillor Eric Carter, cabinet member for
regeneration, warned: “If the buildings are taken over by another body or turned
into holiday flats or something they will be lost forever.”
Council leader Andrew Eade said the
potential for economic spin-offs from the redevelopment was huge: “If we don’t
grasp the current opportunity the canal will never open at Wappenshall and then
go onto Newport, let alone go on from Newport to join the national canal network
just seven miles away.”
The full Council supported the
recommendation and agreed the funding to buy the stretch of waterway, warehouse
buildings and the canal basin at Wappenshall.
The Council will now negotiate an
agreement with the Trust to enable it to undertake initial structural repairs to
safeguard the warehouse buildings and to develop the project.
Trust Chairman, Chris
Chambers, said:
"The announcement today that Telford and
Wrekin Council has approved the proposal to buy the Wappenshall site is nothing
short of momentous. It is a decision that will have national and very local
implications.
The Wappenshall site has long been
recognised as one the most significant and important group of canal side
buildings in the UK; mainly because it has lain largely untouched since it fell
into disuse in the 1930’s. With the decline of the Newport branch and the
disrepair of the Norbury flight these buildings had been lost to the remaining
canal system and only the most intrepid canal enthusiasts managed to seek them
out. The site was not forgotten….it just seemed an impossible dream to suggest
that one day boats would again be moored under the warehouse.
Well, that impossible dream is no more
just a flight of fancy. Whilst the future of the site is very much back in the
hands of those that care, thanks to the foresight of Telford and Wrekin Council
and in particular the Leader Cllr Andrew Eade and his deputy Cllr Eric Carter,
the fact remains that the Shrewsbury and Newport Canals are still fractured from
the national system. However there are schemes bubbling in Newport and indeed
Shrewsbury in which the canal is going to be playing a major role.
With particular regard to Newport, the
council officers and members recognised how important a restored canal would be
to the local community, in terms of both social and economic uplift. By securing
control of Wappenshall the council is in effect facilitating a restored route to
the west of Newport, perhaps embracing the Humber arm. Clearly there will be a
renewed enthusiasm to link eastward to the main line through Norbury.
Whilst there is some detail to be sorted
over the next few weeks regarding leases and legal agreements between the
current owners of the site, the Council and ourselves, we are confident that
this is sending out a clear signal to the other local authorities that have an
interest in the canal, as well as potential future funding partners,
particularly as Telford and Wrekin Council have expressed a desire to be our
partners in the greater restoration."
Hardy SNCT members brave bitter February wind on Flaxmill tour.
On the morning of Saturday 23 February a
sizable contingent of members gathered in the compound of the Flaxmill,
Shrewsbury.
The tour was conducted by SNCT Trustee,
and English Heritage Senior Building Inspector, John Yates. John provided a
running commentary of diverse information and thought provoking points as the
group was lead around the site and inside the Flaxmill itself – right up to the
top floor of the Grade 1 main mill itself. From the earliest days in the late
1790s through its change of use in the mid 1800s, the buildings were a hive of
industry - until the late 20th century when it fell into disuse and
disrepair. The history of the structures was pointed out and the potential for
adaptive re-use suggested – with accompanying problems highlighted. For
example, the cost of the present scaffolding alone is one third of a million
pounds!
Having now seen the Ditherington Flaxmill
or Maltings – whichever name is used – the greatest feelings with which one
leaves are of vastness of scale, potential complexity of architectural solutions
for future use, uniqueness of heritage status and pride that this magnificent
creation is all due to the proximity of the Shrewsbury Canal!
Our thanks to John Yates and supporting
English Heritage staff who made the visit possible.
Wappenshall Appeal
Launched
The buildings at Wappenshall Junction have just
been placed on the open market by the current owner. The future of this site is
crucial to the continuing restoration programme of the Shrewsbury & Newport
Canals.
The Trust has contacted the Selling Agents and
registered our interest in acquiring the property. A guide price has been
given as “£450,000 to £550,000”, with the sale process to be conducted by
informal tender. The timescale set is extremely short with completion on Friday
18 January 2008. The only good news – possibly – is that the seller is ‘not
bound to accept any offer, nor necessarily sell to the highest bidder’.
The Trust Board is now very actively engaged in
discussions with various organisations to obtain funding, to enable these
buildings to be preserved as canal buildings rather than being converted into
residential units.
However - it is absolutely imperative that it can
be demonstrated to potential financial partners/funders that the Trust, the
members of the Trust and local people show genuine support for this project by
raising money to form the seed-corn finance for the purchase. The Trust is
appealing for donations to a new account – the Capital Account – which will be
used as the basis for purchase of Wappenshall or, should this purchase prove
unsuccessful, later to other property along the line of the Shrewsbury & Newport
Canals.
If you would like to donate, please print the
following form, complete and return as instructed. Please be as generous
as you can, and respond as fast as possible!
Wappenshall Planning
Permission Obtained
The Trust has obtained planning permission in respect of
the warehouse buildings at Wappenshall for their use as a
Canal Museum/Heritage Interpretation Area, Canals
Trust Office and Education Centre. These buildings
provide a unique example of a trans-shipment warehouse on the canal system in
this country, largely unaltered and retaining many of its working features. They
are enhanced by the proximity of Thomas Telford’s equally unique skew bridge,
carrying both separate towpath and roadway.
However, the owner of the buildings has also been granted
permission for the conversion of the
buildings to form three dwellings. Implementation of the
housing development will deny the opportunity to allow the public to see such an
original building in its original context for ever. The owner has decided to
offer the site for sale by tender. The owner has indicated that the sale
may not necessarily be to the highest bidder and the Trust is keen to compete in
this process.
The Trust is pursuing major funding opportunities to acquire
the buildings. However it is likely that some match funding will be required
and, as the timescale is extremely short, the Trust will be seeking pledges of
financial support towards this end from members, the public and other
organisations.
Trust Trip to Dudley &
Netherton Tunnels
On
15th September an enthusiastic party of 43 members embarked on a full
day tour of the Dudley and Netherton Tunnels . The journey began in beautiful
sunshine as we cruised silently on the open, electrically powered “Electra”,
through crystal-clear waters where every reed, every fish (and every tin can)
could be clearly seen as we travelled silently along.
Then came the first of
the two major tunnels, the 3027yd Netherton Tunnel. As we emerged back
into the sunlight we were greeted with an impressive spectacle, as half of the
Black Country seemed to have descended on the “Bumble Hole Conservation Area”
for a day of pure nostalgia, with working narrowboats, traction engines, canal
painting, endless stallholders all trying to catch your attention, plus a lively
funfair for those with a strong stomach and a head for heights.
Eventually the party
embarked on Electra once again for the final leg of our journey. This was to
take us through the 3,172yd Dudley tunnel which could not have been a greater
contrast with the Netherton, with Electra only just about squeezing into the
portal. When we were deep into the tunnel the whole tunnel was suddenly plunged
into pitch darkness and it was announced there had been a power failure! Various
teams of leggers were enlisted to rescue the situation and, for novices, they
did remarkably well in the circumstances. However, there was some relief when
the lights came back on again and the skipper proclaimed that the “crisis” was
at an end and power had been restored.
Electra then took us
through into the interconnecting tunnels and caverns for which the Dudley tunnel
is best known. These are the earliest sections of the tunnel system which were
built to help with the transport of limestone extracted from the mines inside
Castle Hill through which the tunnel runs. In here there were displays showing
how the work was carried out during the working life of these mines and a very
large screen audio-visual presentation. One of the caverns is now used for
concerts and even weddings and certainly makes for an unusual and impressive
venue.
So came the end of a
very full and interesting day which was much enjoyed by all.
4th Norbury Junction Festival
This was the
fourth, and most successful, of the Trust's May Day
Festivals held at Norbury Junction. About 30
boats, including a number of working boats, made the
journey.
To
entertain both boaters and over 1000 who visited by
road there were up to 30 stalls set up by various
local groups and craftsmen, including Wild Over
Waterways fun events for children. Boat trips
were available and entertainment provided, ranging
from bands (including Newport Town Band) and choirs
(including Newcastle Male Voice Choir) to belly
dancing and Stafford
Morris Men. Elvis even turned up on Sunday
evening!
Click
for larger image:
Oh, and there was Trustee and event
organiser Eric Cox who got too close to the face painter!:
IWAAC
Report Published
The Inland Waterways Amenity
Advisory Council (IWAAC) is an advisory and consultative body created by
the 1968 Transport Act. It is consulted by and gives advice to BW, the
Secretary of State for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs and Scottish
Ministers on all matters connected with amenity and recreation on BW's
2,000-mile network of canals and rivers.
They have now published
their Third Review of Inland Waterway Restoration and Development Projects in
England, Wales and Scotland report.
The Shrewsbury and Newport Canals is one of 23 schemes rated as "Nationally
Significant", the "Key Assets" being High Built Heritage Value and the "Key
Benefits" being identified as Strategic Link and/or extension to national
connected system, Urban regeneration and Rural Regeneration.
Their commentary on the scheme reads:
"Council welcomes progress by Trust since the last review on this outstanding
heritage waterway. Feasibility study and detailed engineering report completed
(showing that full restoration is feasible in engineering terms) and partnership
being formed. Implementation issues, including water supply and wildlife,
considered with care. Privately financed development initiatives expected to
provide about 25% of restoration costs but success in obtaining
regional/national funding will be key. An early priority should be the
conservation of the surviving heritage structures on the route. A successful
restoration would be a significant addition to the national system and the
waterway heritage."
The full report can be downloaded from the IWAAC website at
http://www.iwaac.org/downloads/reports/iwaac_inland_waterway_review_dec2006.pdf
(1.7Mb pdf file).
Wappenshall Work Party - 3/4 February 2007
Five RAF volunteers from Shawbury
joined an elite team of SNCT members to give the Wappenshall Junction site
an annual tidy up. The weekend started on a very grey and cold note:
luckily the sun broke through during the Saturday morning and the weekend
work task brightened up.
The young officers, who had just
completed their Flight Operations training, became quite enthusiastic about
the restoration project and carried out some exploration work under the
bridge itself: they attempted to trace the extent of the brick towpath and
edging. The compacted earth certainly tested their stamina, but they
continued nevertheless. Unfortunately time and daylight limited the length
of towpath that could be exposed: another task for another day?
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Wintry start on Saturday
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Sunny finish on Saturday
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Exploration to find the extent of the brick edging
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Two of the cheerful RAF volunteers
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Newport
Work Parties - Christmas/New Year 2006
Between Christmas and
the New Year, and over several following weekends, members of the Trust assisted
‘Newport in Bloom’ to clean up the canal and clear vegetation surrounding it on
the watered length through Newport. Work was concentrated at Fisher's and
Tickethouse Locks. Below are some before, during and after photographs
(click thumbnail to view larger photograph).
At Fisher's Lock....
...and at Tickethouse Lock
If you think you might
like to get involved with future work parties please
contact Tam Hazan
and he will be pleased to put you on his mailing list to be informed of
future projects.
Lubstree Wharf Work Party – 5 November
2006
It may
have been Guy Fawkes Day, but for the S&NCT volunteers it was another tiring but
satisfying day.
The
work parties are an important but integral part of the S&NCT strategy to enable
the restoration of the canal to occur. Our task at present is to clear away all
the debris and oppressive vegetation that masks the important facets of the S&NCT.
On this Sunday it was another ‘go’ at clearing the ivy from the old buildings
that still remain at Lubstree, and at trimming up the neat brick wharf edges
that are still present under a mass of earth and weeds for the full length of
the remaining waterway.
Twelve
members arrived at 9.30 am, and it encouraging to meet two ‘new’ recruits – Tony
& Jennie Perks from Shrewsbury. During the day the assistant gamekeeper of the
Lubstree estate popped by for a chat: Mark Taylor said that the owner of the
land was very ‘on-side’ and then also offered his own services to help us! Mark
(with his brother Steve) runs a restoration building business, and Mark said
that they could offer advice and guidance when we come to the reconstruction
work ourselves.
Another
welcome visitor was Nick Southall from BBC Radio Shropshire. Armed with a
microphone and recorder, he spent about one hour chatting with workers: he was
then ‘directed’ to Wappenshall where he saw previous clearance work and the
historic Duke of Sutherland’s warehouse building and Telford’s roving bridge.
He was much taken by the project and hopes to return a few more times to create
a series of canalside interviews about the various aspects of the canal, its
history and the restoration project. The finished 5-minute programme was
broadcast on the morning of Monday 6 November. [To listen click
here]
Muscles
may ache at the end of these parties, but it is fun and the work is vital if the
Shrewsbury & Newport canals are to be regenerated. If you can help in any
way, please get in touch with
Tam Hazan.
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