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WH36 Imposed WEIGH-HOUSE THE NEWSLETTER OF THE SOMERSETSHIRE COAL CANAL SOCIETY No 36 SUMMER 2003 ******************************************************************************************* EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE The Somersetshire Coal Canal Society was founded in January1992 with the aim: CHAIRMAN – Vacant ‘TO FOCUS AN INTEREST ON THE PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE OF THE OLD SOMERSETSHIRE COAL CANAL’ SECRETARY – Vacant The Society is aimed at those people who are interested in finding out TREASURER – DAVID CHALMERS more about the history of the canal, preserving what is still there and ‘Shalom’ 40 Greenleaze, Knowle Park, Bristol BS4 2TL walking the parts that are still accessible to the public. ( 0117 972 0423 The Society does not aim to restore the canal, but to protect the remain- MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY – LAURIE GIBNEY ing structures (Midford Aquedauct, Combe Hay Locks etc.) and line of the 1, Hillcrest Close, Bristol BS48 2HP canal from decay, dereliction and vegetation. ( & Fax: 01275 798479 Email: [email protected] ******************************************************************************************* WORK PARTY ORGANISER – BOB PARNELL Registered Charity No 1047303 34, Wedgewood Road, Twerton, Bath BA2 1NX Registered under the Data Protection Act 1984 No A2697068 ( 01225 428055 Affiliated to the Inland Waterways Association No 0005276 ******************************************************************************************* PUBLICITY – Vacant MEMBERSHIP FEES EVENTS ORGANISER – Vacant (as at 1st June 2003) £7·50 (Family / Individual) £5·00 (Senior Citizen / Student) MINUTES SECRETARY – PHILIP WEST £150·00 (Life) payable by lump sum or four annual instalments ( 0117 968 6159 HISTORICAL ADVISOR – MIKE CHAPMAN Membership Application Forms are available from 51, Newton Road, Twerton, Bath BA2 1RW the Membership Secretary at: 1, Hillcrest Close, Nailsea, Bristol BS48 2HP & Fax: 01275 798479 ( 01225 426948 Email: [email protected] ( Email: [email protected] PROJECT OFFICER – Vacant Society Website: http://www.homepages.enterprise.net/rtj/SCCS2.html NEWSLETTER EDITOR – ADRIAN TUDDENHAM ******************************************************************************************* 88, Mount Road, Southdown, Bath BA2 1LH ( 01225 335974 Email: [email protected] THE VIEWS AND OPINIONS EXPRESSED IN THIS NEWSLETTER DO NOT NECESSARILY REPRESENT OR CONVEY THOSE OF THE SOCIETY COMMITTEE MEMBER – ROGER HALSE 4, Westminster Gardens, Chippenham, Wiltshire SN14 0DF ******************************************************************************************* ( 01249 652846 Email: [email protected] The Editor welcomes any letters, articles, photographs etc. for inclusion in COMMITTEE MEMBER – DAVID FRY WEIGH-HOUSE and will try to include them in full, but reserves the right to shorten 14, Monkton Road, Hanham, Bristol BS15 3JG them if space is limited. ( 0117 961 4687 Please send articles and correspondence for the next edition of WEIGH-HOUSE to: Adrian Tuddenham 88,Mount Road, Southdown, Bath BA2 1LH 01225 335974 Email (not HTML): [email protected] ******************************************************************************************* ( 2 23 Sunday 19th October –– 10:00 EDITORIAL WALK – WELLOW TO SINGLE HILL (6 miles) Meet at Wellow Church After 10 years of editing, producing and mailing all of the 35 previous issues of Weigh-House I am For further details please contact Mike Chapman ( 01225 426948 finally standing down from the post. Starting with a simple two-sided, A4 single sheet in 1992 the news- letter has grown to the now familiar 24 page A5 booklet. Production has not always been easy, and sometimes production of an issue has been missed and has had to be substituted with an interim news- Sunday 2nd November –– 10:00 sheet. I have enjoyed (if that is the right word) working on the newsletter, despite the problems, as it is very satisfying to see all your hard work in print, even if it is only 250 copies!. WORK PARTY –– Location to be advised I would like to take this opportunity to thank firstly Terry Paget for his help with the photographs for For further details please contact Bob Parnell ( 01225 428055 inclusion in the newsletter, to all of those who have contributed articles: from the regular Work Party Reports of Adrian Tuddenham and Bob Parnell, to the Walks Reports from Mike Chapman and others, to Sunday 16th November –– 10:00 the members contributions of photographs, snippets of information and other items for Weigh-House. Although I may have not been able to use them all, they were highly valued. A large number of the WALK – SINGLE HILL TO RADSTOCK (6 miles) unpublished items, some dating back quite a few years, but still of interest, are being handed over to the Meet at the Village Hall (Miners' Welfare) in Single Hill next editor who may use them in future issues. For further details please contact Mike Chapman ( 01225 426948 Thank you and goodbye. Roger Halse Sunday 23rd November –– 10:00 Retiring Editor WORK PARTY –– LIME KILNS, Mells Valley PS. Future issues will be edited by Adrian Tuddenham and I am sure that Adrian would welcome any DORSET & SOMERSET CANAL STUDY GROUP help. Park by bridge in Great Elm and walk down the valley about half a mile. For further details please contact Derrick Hunt ( 01225 863066 (not after 9pm please) ******************************************************************************************* COMMITTEE BUSINESS th Sunday 7 December –– 10:00 At the 2003 Annual General Meeting, which took place at Radstock Museum on 17th June, Roger Halse explained that, due to pressures of work, he was unable to continue in the posts of Chairman and WORK PARTY –– Location to be advised Newsletter Editor and was offering his resignation. He would, however, continue to serve on the Committee For further details please contact Bob Parnell ( 01225 428055 in other capacities. At the same meeting, David Fry, a stalwart of our work parties, volunteered to join the committee with a rôle yet to be decided. Derrick Hunt resigned from the Committee earlier this year, also due to the pressures of work , Note: No walk planned for December but he will continue to be a member of the Society and will offer support in other ways. He was responsible for many of our contacts with landowners and other people with an influence over the future of the canal A collection will be made at the end of each walk to help raise funds for interpretation boards – he also arranged our Committee meeting venues. Ron Brake, our Project Officer, has resigned because of family commitments and Philip West ******************************************************************************************* was taken ill shortly before the A.G.M. and was unable to act as minutes secretary (we are pleased to hear that he has now recovered and will soon be able to resume that rôle). SOUTH WEST CANAL SOCIETIES DAY YOUR COMMITTEE NEEDS YOU National Waterways Museum Gloucester, Llantony Warehouse, Gloucester Docks, Gloucester With so many vacancies, particularly in key posts, the Committee is facing a difficult period. The Saturday 27th September 2003, 11 am to 4 pm (museum is open 10 am to 5:00pm) Society is now just beginning to reap the benefits of long and often apparently fruitless campaigning. [email protected] Contact name: John Henn 0117 9681303 Email: With the restoration of Midford Aqueduct and recent discoveries around Combe Hay, we are in a better position to move forward towards our goals than we have ever been. It would be a pity to lose the Canal societies of in the south and west of England and Wales are getting together at the National momentum simply because there is insufficient man-power (within a society of 200 members) to follow- Waterways Museum. Visitors will be shown the latest restoration plans and progress through talks and up the opportunities now being opened to us. displays. In addition, visitors will be free to explore the museum exhibits. Committee work isn’t often fun, it certainly isn’t glamorous and it doesn’t often earn much gratitude, If canal societies members produce proof of membership – a membership card or a recent society but it is worthwhile if you really believe in what the Society is trying to do –– If you think you might have magazine, they will get in for the ‘special’ reduced rate of £2 for adults and £1 for children (just for the day) This applies to all canal societies, not just the ones participating. a skill which would be useful, now would be a good time to volunteer it. ******************************************************************************************* ******************************************************************************************* 22 3 DATES FOR YOUR DIARY CHAIRMAN’S PAGE Note: Work Party venues may change at short notice, always check with Bob Parnell before turning up. This is my last piece for Weigh-House as after nine years as Chairman I stood down from the post at the AGM in June. I could fill this page with numerous reports on what the Society has achieved during my Chairmanship, but most would be repeats of what has being previously reported in the newsletter. So I Sunday 17th August –– 10:00 will keep this report as brief as possible so not to bore you too much! At the time of writing the appointment of a new Chairman has not been made. My resignation as both WALK –– CAMERTON TO TIMSBURY (5 miles) Chairman and Newsletter Editor (see Editor’s Notes), and the resignation of Ron Brake as Project Of- Meet at the entrance to the Camerton
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