Communications Update 1st July 2016 News Round up If your head is spinning from all the Brexit fall out, take a look at the calming waterway related news here · Development & engagement manager Liz Fleuty and volunteer Mick Harrison had a nice chat with BBC Radio Nottingham about plastic pollution on Nottinghamshire’s waterways · BBC South Today (30/06/16) reported on our inspection of the waterway walls on the Kennet & Avon Canal at Hungerford Wharf · ITV regional news (23/6/16) spoke to principal engineer Tony Sims about the inspection by drone of the Iron Trunk Aqueduct on the Grand Union Canal · There was been continued interest in our Great Nature Watch, with Trust ecologists speaking on regional radio: • Ecologist Laura Mullholland gave BBC Wiltshire (2 9/6/16) the model interview as she chatted to them about herons on the Kennet & Avon Canal • BBC Radio Leicester included the survey in news bulletins (25/6/16) • Richard Bennett spoke to London Live TV (30/06/16) • Phillippa Baron spoke to BBC Radio Sheffield (24/6/16) with the story also repeated on news bulletins • Imogen Wilde gave a great interview to BBC Radio Derby (28/6/16) · BBC Radio Merseyside broadcast live from Ellesmere Port this morning (30/06/16). They spoke to Graham Boxer and volunteers about the 40 th anniversary of the National Waterways Museum, the opening of the Window on the World project and also the upcoming lock open event · Former Canal Laureate, Jo Bell, appeared on Jonathan Ross’s BBC Radio 2 Show (23/6/16) · The Birmingham Mail (30/06/16) reports on plans to regenerate the city’s Roundhouse. BBC Radio West Midlands (29/06/16) also covered the story · ‘Crocodile spotted in London’s Docklands’ reported the Evening Standard , Metro and Daily Mirror (29/06/16). The crocodile turned out to be a bit of rope In social media: · Our post about Lizzie, who paddle boarded along 400 miles of canals in 22 days, reached 5,794 people on Twitter, gaining 154 engagements (retweets, replies, likes and post clicks) · Our update on Elland Bridge reached 7,261 people on Facebook and Twitter · We’ll be promoting Dance on Water across our social media channels this week. The hashtag is #danceonwater2016 And coming up next week: · We’ll be launching an appeal to catch the people who are repeatedly vandalising a bridge on the Peak Forest Canal · Matthew Symonds will be filming in Bradford upon Avon with BBC’s Inside Out programme about families who continuously cruise on the Kennet & Avon Canal. The programme will be broadcast at the end of the summer · We’re expecting to reopen the Calder & Hebble Navigation to boats at Elland Bridge next week, following this winter’s flood damage · We’ll be issuing a call for volunteer ‘seal spotters’ to help with a study on the River Tees · A section of the Erewash Canal towpath is set to be officially opened on Friday after a £500,000 revamp · We’ve been awarded a stage 1 pass from HLF to develop restoration plans for the Wendover Arm Canal · We’re working with Birmingham City Council to highlight the benefits of the city’s new improved towpaths · We’ll be issuing a press release about volunteers from Jaguar Land Rover being out on the Staffs & Worcs Canal · We’re inviting media to see our clean-up of duck weed on the Lancaster Canal · Media are being invited to see the work we’re doing at Standards Lock on the Bridgwater & Taunton Canal What’s on this weekend…? • Stratford-upon-Avon River Festival For two whole days every summer the riverside comes alive and 2016’s event will feature more free events and activities than ever before, whilst also welcoming back a host of old favourites by popular demand. 2nd July 2016 to 3rd July 2016 Address Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, CV37 7LS Come along to the 8th Stratford River Festival. This two-day free celebration invites you and your family and friends to join last year's 60,000 revelers to enjoy music, food, drink, 100's of stalls and crafts and more. More information to come, for more info on last year's event visit: http://www.stratforward.co.uk/events/stratford-river-festival/whats-on • 40th anniversary celebrations and opening of Window on the World 2016 marks the 40th anniversary of the opening of the National Waterways Museum at Ellesmere Port and to commemorate this important milestone for the UK’s inland waterways, the museum is hosting a weekend of celebratory activities. 2nd July 2016 to 3rd July 2016 10:00am - 5:00pm National Waterways Museum South Pier Road Ellesmere Port Cheshire CH65 4FW The anniversary weekend will be packed full of things to see and do including the opening of its new ‘Window on the World’ experience, performances from the Museum’s artist in residence and the one-off chance to venture into the canal lock at the museum which will be specially drained for the replacement of two hand crafted oak lock gates. This is a very exciting time for the volunteers and staff at the museum as we celebrate our 40th anniversary as well as opening the ‘Window on the World’ project. We will be inviting visitors to step back in time, meet the characters who worked on the slipway, and explore how the historic winch would have raised boats from the Manchester Ship Canal. Window on the World has been made possible thanks to generous grants from the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Wolfson Foundation and AIM Biffa. It will showcase why Ellesmere Port was a ‘window on the world’ with the opening of the Port’s historic slipway, which was used for boat building and restoration between the 1840s and the 1920s. The Leeds and Liverpool short boat George is being rebuilt, and a grant of over £50,000 from the Wolfson Foundation has funded the preservation of the Mersey flat Mossdale. Returning for the anniversary weekend will be Francesca Millican-Slater with her sell out performance of ‘Walking the Shroppie’, devised during Francesca’s ten month period as Leverhulme Artist in Residence at the NWM. There will also be the opportunity to take a look into the work the Canal & River Trust does to keep the canals and rivers open as work is carried out to replace the locks gates on the Shropshire Union Canal within the grounds of the museum. Other events coming up… • Over & Under Adventure Walk in the footsteps of the original tunnel controller. 3rd July 2016 10:00am - 3:30pm Standedge Tunnel & Visitor Centre Waters Road Marsden Huddersfield HD7 6NQ Run in partnership with Marsden Moor National Trust, our Over & Under Adventures prove extremely popular year on year. Take a boat trip all the way through Britain's longest, highest and deepest canal tunnel as our guide tells you the tales and tribulations of the navvies who built it. Once you have experience the depths lying beneath Marsden Moor, take a guided walk back to the Visitor Centre over the top on the old packhorse route, walking in the footsteps of the original tunnel controller. Start time: 10am Booking essential - call 01484 844298 • Birmingham Roundhouse: The un-tour A unique opportunity to see one of Birmingham's hidden gems before restoration. 9th July 2016 to 20th August 2016 11:30am - 1:30pm Birmingham Round House Sheepcote Street Birmingham B16 8AE A rare chance to experience a tour with a difference, the ‘Un-tour’ is history but not as you know it, with a twist where you get to teach the tour guide. Includes a treasure hunt and a quest? The Un-tour is a tour with a difference. A fascinating building that tells the stories of the underbelly of Birmingham, revealed by two of the city’s leading performance poets, Spoz and Kurly. Timetable for tours on each day Two tours are available each day, lasting for approximately two hours. Timings Tour 1: 11:30am – 1:30pm Tour 2: 2:00pm – 4:00pm Dates Saturday 9 July – Spoz Saturday 16 July – Kurly Sunday 17 July – Kurly Saturday 23 July – Spoz Saturday 20 August – Spoz–(2-4pm only) Prices £8.20 per adult, children under 12 go free. 25% discount for National Trust Members and Friends of the Canal & River Trust. See website for further details . Accessibility Please be aware that Roundhouse is in a pre-restoration state. There are some areas that are not yet accessible via wheelchair (but we’re working on this). There are uneven cobbles at a gradient on entry, and some uneven floors. Dance on Water Dance on Water begins its unique canal journey tomorrow, 1 st July, in Birmingham. Twenty young dancers will make a seven day boat journey from Birmingham to Salford where they will perform a brand new waterways-inspired dance piece at The Lowry in Salford, as part of the National Youth Dance Festival. They’ll then return to Birmingham for a performance at the Birmingham Hippodrome. Working with world renowned Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures and Re-Bourne , our arts director Tim Eastop is running the project with the help of project manager Helen Prosser. Thank you to Trust staff, particularly in the waterways teams who helped advise on the route/mooring arrangements. Dance on Water is part of the Trust’s Arts on the Waterways programme. Heritage Heroes We're working with Help for Heroes on a two year programme to offer wounded servicemen and women, and veterans the opportunity to gain new skills and qualifications to help them make the most of life outside the Armed Forces.