No. 245 Spring 2015 Registered as The Surrey & Hampshire Canal Society Ltd A Non-profit Distributing Company, Limited by Guarantee, Registered in England No. 126598. Registered as a Charity No. 273085. Affiliated to the Inland Waterways Association. Presidents: Tim & Elizabeth Dodwell Vice:Presidents: John Humphries, OBE. Paul Vine. David Gerry. Robin Higgs, OBE. David Millett. Dieter Jebens. Alan Rice, TD. Rt Hon James Arbuthnot, MP. Rt Hon Michael Gove, MP. Rt Hon Philip Hammond, MP. Rt Hon Maria Miller, MP. Gerald Howarth, MP. Jonathan Lord, MP. Anne Milton, MP Apologies for the late arrival of this newsletter, The big unknown is the outcome of the study but I wanted to include a report from the Joint that has been done by JBA Consulting on the Management Committee meeting on 26th possibilities for the future of the canal, and February. where this will lead. The study started with an assessment of the canal’s economic, social and The meeting was an odd mixture of environmental value and we understand that disappointments, good news and a vague local residents were found to value it very sense that something big might be lurking in highly. At the moment we do not know what the wings. the options are that are being considered for the future, although it is not hard to guess. It was disappointing, but not very surprising, to hear that the work Assuming that the Counties are not to complete the repair of the contempating filling the canal in, which seems Dogmersfield slip would not take unlikely given the amount of money they are ork Party ork place until next winter. Work on a spending on it, the big choice is whether to W couple of culverts and Swan retain ownership of it or pass it to another body. cutting will be similarly delayed. If they are happy to remain owners, the actual However, 3 sets of lock gates are management could be passed to another body, Duncan Paine Duncan being fitted, the telemetry system such as a Trust, either existing or new; whether The Canal Society Society Canal The is going in, repairs to the wing this would save them any money seems a bit Photo: Photo: walls of Locks, 10, 20, 22, 23 and unlikely. If they want to get rid of it, the only 26 are starting and it is all due to realistic possibility would seem to be give it be complete by Easter. to the Canal & River Trust with a significant endowment to pay for future maintenance. This Cover Picture : : Picture Cover clearing the eastern portal of the Greywell tunnel. Greywell the of portal eastern the clearing A good bit of financial news was would be a large sum of money, but it might that they have persuaded Surrey well be the cheapest option for the Counties if County Council’s Estates they are able to look at things in the long term. Department to hand over the £90,000 annual income from the houseboats to the BCA, albeit Whatever happens, it is certain that the Canal after deducting a £30,000 management fee. Society will need to remain strong and active This is something that the Canal Society has in order to help secure the best future for the been lobbying for for some years and is fully canal and to continue to provide volunteer justified by the amount of effort that the BCA support. has to put in to deal with the boat owners’ needs. The only slightly sour note is that this These are exciting times, so the appeal for more new income only compensates for the County help from members on page 20 really is taking the income from the fibre optic cable important. Please give it some thought and and the Canal Centre café away from the please come to the AGM in May to find out BCA’s budget about a year ago. the latest on what is happening. page 2 Basingstoke Canal News Spring 2015 Chairman’s report It is now 25 years since Stan Meller wrote his large sections of the route of the towpath remain excellent booklet ‘The Promise of the Western in place although some lengths are on private End’ advocating the restoration of the land. Basingstoke Canal west of the tunnel and as far as Penney Bridge in Up Nately. At the time, the Adopting this idea, the Society has been working canal was on the brink of re-opening as far as behind the scenes with Basingstoke & Deane Greywell Tunnel and other successful Borough Council and Hampshire County restorations were coming to fruition including, Council to promote the Last 5 Miles path. Our most notably, the Kennet & Avon. These were efforts have been focused on the inclusion of followed by several major re-openings the footpath in the Borough Council’s plans including the Huddersfield and the Rochdale and an important milestone was reached last Canals and even the establishment of a new year when the route of the footpath was included canal in the shape of the Ribble Link. in Basingstoke’s Green Infrastructure Strategy. We have also been working with the Councils The constitution of the Society includes in its on the identification of sections of the towpath main objects “the restoration to good order and which could be restored and used without condition …. of the Basingstoke Canal”. It is running into land ownership issues. clear that the original founders of the Society envisaged that the whole canal would be The preservation of the remaining restored as far as its original terminus in accommodation bridges is also an important Basingstoke Town Centre (ironically now on objective and we have been pressing, for many the site of the bus station). However, the years, for the interesting bridge known as Little construction of the M3 motorway in the early Tunnel to be restored. Other initiatives have 1970s effectively precluded the restoration of included the creation of the Canal Exhibition at the “Last 5 Miles” as it has become known Milestones Museum in Basingstoke (the subject (although its actually at least 6 miles). of a report elsewhere in this issue) which tells the story of the canal in Basingstoke, and our Bearing these historical facts in mind, it is participation in the neighbourhood planning perhaps an appropriate time to consider what, processes which are currently underway. if anything, the Society can do to protect and preserve the remaining sections of the canal Although the reconnection of Basingstoke to west of Greywell in the hope that those that the canal network will remain a pipedream for come after us will, one day, be able to restore the foreseeable future, I think we owe it to Stan the line into Basingstoke. Meller and to all our other predecessors who have worked on the Last 5 miles Project to In any consideration of this question, the ensure that Basingstoke’s important canal starting point is a suggestion made some years heritage is not forgotten. ago by the Basingstoke Heritage Society that as much as possible of the course of the canal Philip Riley should become a public footpath. Surprisingly, Basingstoke Canal News Spring 2015 page 3 Work party Before After The Canal Society’s work party has had a busy At Ash Lock, work has begun on refurbishing winter. Having finally disposed of the fallen the BCA’s little patrol boat which has been trees at Dogmersfield and sold most of the lurking in the shelter of the entrance to resulting logs (contact Duncan Paine if you Greywell tunnel for some years. Despite this would like some - 01252 614125), they have shelter, it became clear as bits were removed, turned their attention to some spring cleaning. that the condition of the boat was considerably worse than expected. It will be interesting to The eastern portal of the Greywell tunnel had see how much of the original boat remains become almost completely overgrown with ivy when the job is finished. and brambles and the banks on the approach to the tunnel were also very overgrown. At the BCA’s request, the work party took both the Society’s work boats down to the tunnel entrance and used them as work platforms to remove the vegetation (see Cover). The fence has also been replaced and extended and the banks cleared back to the remains of the old Lock 30. (Thanks to Duncan Paine for photos) The work party has also been doing bank clearance work in the Odiham area and WRG’s Future plans for work include BITM (“Bit In THe Middle”) group spent a weekend recently cutting back overhanging • Improvements at the Colt Hill car park rhododenrdons near the Dogmersfield slip. • Tidying up the Redway Cottages depot, Thanks go to Mr Revelle, the landowner, for and refurbishment of the tug his consent to this work. page 4 Basingstoke Canal News Spring 2015 Work party • Breaking up of lock gates at the Deepcut The tug needs to have its gearbox refitted to depot get it working again. Fly II needs to have its • Complete the works around Lock 28 stern modified to take an outboard motor. If it started by WRG (eg Wilderness weir) is feasible, the cabin will also be modified to • Clearance of rhododendrons downstream flatten the roof to provide a safer work of Canal Centre platform. • Refurbishment of the workboat Fly II • Landing stages at Farnborough Road/ Spot dredging is also a possibility if BCA plans Runway’s End to get a contractor to do a depth survey come • Contribution to Ash Wharf to fruition this year and highlight where it’s redevelopment most needed.